Partner Knowledge Awareness in Knowledge Communication: Learning by Adapting to the Partner

Awareness of the knowledge of learning partners is not always sufficiently available in collaborative learning scenarios. To compensate, the authors propose to provide collaborators with partner knowledge awareness by means of a visualization tool. Partner knowledge awareness can be used to adapt messages toward the partner. This study investigated the cognitive consequences of message adaptation on producers. The authors chose a simulated collaboration scenario in order to dissociate the producer effect from recipient and collaboration effects. Results on 42 participants that had been randomly assigned to either the partner knowledge awareness condition (partner and own knowledge visualized) or the control condition (only own knowledge visualized) are reported here. Participants in the partner knowledge awareness condition adapted their contributions according to the visualized partner's knowledge and benefited with regard to the acquisition of elaborated knowledge.     

The impact of computer supported collaborative learning on internship outcomes of pharmacy students

This article focuses on an evaluation of the impact of an innovative instructional design of internships in view of a new integrated pharmaceutical curriculum. A key innovative element was the implementation of a computer-supported collaborative learning environment. Students were, as part of their formal curriculum, expected to work in a systematic and collaborative way in discussing and solving real-life cases. Students in the role condition were assigned specific roles. The cases were an additional critical variable in the study. The results of the study demonstrate that both independent variables (role assignment and cases) have a significant impact on levels of knowledge construction and, especially, on the attainment of objectives of the new integrated pharmaceutical curriculum.     

分布式CAD环境中基于操作语义的实时协同设计

提出了一种应用于分布式CAD环境中的基于操作语义的协同设计模型. 主要目的是为了减少数据转换的耗时量以及降低对网络带宽的需求, 从而改善协作能力, 提高实时同步的效果. 首先回顾了实时协同设计的发展现状, 讨论了3种实时协同设计模型. 其次, 给出了操作语义的定义, 并提出了一个操作语义模型框架. 操作语义包含原始设计数据和实际操作过程, 表达CAD系统中的设计者意图和操作活动. 最后, 根据操作语义模型, 定义了CAD操作原语, 该原语可以从CAD操作中提取也可以映射成CAD操作命令; 给出了一种基于该模型的分布CAD协同体系结构, 并通过一个实例加以验证.     

Marine environmental awareness among university students in Taiwan: a potential signal for sustainability of the oceans

University students are regarded as future decision-makers in society and have a high likelihood of becoming opinion-shapers in terms of the environment. Their awareness of the marine environment will therefore have a significant effect upon sustainable marine development. This study examines Taiwanese university students’ marine environmental awareness, focusing on environmental attitudes, understanding of marine and coastal issues, and environmental behavior. A total of 825 valid samples in a questionnaire survey are used for the analysis. Overall, respondents possess a highly positive attitude towards the marine environment and a moderate self-reported level of marine knowledge, but are not actively engaged in environmental protection endeavors, particularly ones involving spending personal income and taking legal or political action. Experience in marine-related activities and marine knowledge are important in fostering marine environmental awareness, particularly in regard to environmental behavior. This study addresses the gap between widespread environmental concerns and low engagement in environmental actions by proposing a multimodal approach: improving marine knowledge and experience in marine-related activities, creating safe recreational spaces at seasides, and reinforcing legal education. This study concludes by highlighting the importance of marine environmental awareness in the development of ocean citizenship as well as the sustainability of the marine environment.     

支持协作学习的觉知工具:研究现状总结与思考

"觉知"这一概念在计算机支持的协作学习(CSCL)领域的引入,为促进学习者之间的交互提供了新的方法。现阶段,国内外诸多学者已经相继开发出了一系列"觉知"工具,这些工具为学习者提供不同的觉知内容,基本上涵盖了行为、认知、社会性交互三个方面。对计算机环境中的觉知工具进行研究时需要考虑两个核心问题:如何产生可供学习者觉知的信息;如何让学习者对觉知信息产生觉知。同时也应该认识到觉知信息可能会造成的对学习者隐私的侵犯、对学习的干扰、信息过载等问题。     

Cross-Language Transfer of Phonological Awareness and Letter Knowledge: Causal Evidence and Nature of Transfer

Using a randomized control trial, this study examined the causal evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological awareness and letter knowledge (names and sounds) using data from multilingual 1st-grade children (N = 322) in Kenya. Children in the treatment condition received an 8-week instruction on phonological awareness and letter knowledge in Kiswahili. The comparison group received business-as-usual classroom instruction. Children in the treatment condition showed greater improvement in phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge in Kiswahili and English (positive transfer; effect sizes from .37 to .95), whereas a negative effect was found in letter-name knowledge (interference; effect size, g = .27). No effects were found in reading, nor did the results vary by moderators (e.g., Kiswahili vocabulary). Path analyses revealed divergent patterns of results for different outcomes. Results provide causal evidence for cross-language transfer of phonological awareness and letter knowledge and offer important theoretical and practical implications.     

Emergence of Progressive-Inquiry Culture in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

The study focused on analysing the emergence of a progressive-inquiry culture in two CSILE (Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environment) classrooms across a three-year period. A principal feature of this kind of culture is the processing of explanatory knowledge instead of merely factual knowledge. The results of the study indicate that the classroom culture changed over the three years following the introduction of CSILE. The explanatory level of knowledge produced by the students became increasingly deeper in tracking from the first to third year. In one of the classrooms, the children's levels of explanation reached substantial depth as we pass from year 1 to year 3; here the difference on this temporal variable was large and significant. In this classroom, the students' inquiry was more and more explicitly focused on construction of their own intuitive explanations, as well as the search for explanatory scientific information. Progress in inquiry culture emerged only through the teacher's extended efforts to expand students' practices of progressive inquiry. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Exploration of teachers' awareness and knowledge of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder ((C)APD)

The aim of this study was to explore primary school teachers' awareness and knowledge of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder ((C)APD). Teachers' awareness and knowledge are crucial for initial recognition and appropriate referral of children suspected of having (C)APD. When a child is diagnosed with (C)APD, teachers have a role in implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of interventions. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to 53 primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. Findings indicated that 89.1% of participants reported poor/very poor awareness, while 92% reported poor/very poor knowledge of (C)APD. Results were compared with specific data obtained from a similar study carried out simultaneously in Northern Ireland. Overall, the majority of the participants reported that they have poor/very poor awareness and knowledge of (C)APD. These findings emphasise the need to establish training programmes for teachers and ultimately to support the provision of an appropriate service for children with (C)APD.     

Developing phoneme awareness through alphabet books

Previous research suggests that children who are successful in phoneme awareness tasks also have high levels of alphabet knowledge. One connection between the two might be alphabet books. Such books typically include both letter-name information and phonological information about initial sounds (B is for bear). It may be that children who are read alphabet books, and thus understand how B is for bear, will learn both letter names and be able to isolate phonemes. To examine this, we gave three treatments to different groups of prekindergarteners. In the first group, the teacher read conventional alphabet books. In the second, the teacher read books chosen to contain the letter names only, without example words to demonstrate sound values. The third group, a control, read only storybooks. We found that all groups gained in print concept and letter knowledge over the course of the study. The conventional alphabet group made significantly greater gains in phoneme awareness than the group that read books about letters without example words, suggesting that conventional alphabet books may be one route to the development of phoneme awareness.     

Interaction and Collaboration Using an Intelligent Collaborative Learning Environment

The goal of this research is to design and prototype an intelligent collaborative learning environment. Within this environment, we study synchronous interaction among group members (students) working on a problem/project. Students use an Intelligent Collaborative Support System (ICSS) and a shared activity space: the Tulka Whiteboard. Two main interaction spaces have been implemented: a planning-communication space and a production space. Dialogue and negotiation are supported through the ICSS permitting exchange and evaluation of free-text communication messages that are initiated by students choosing sentence openers from a menu. Using the whiteboard, a virtual room is dedicated to a group of students who share documents, annotations on documents, drawing tools, and text tools. Each group is provided a dynamic assessment of their collaborative skills based on a communication skills model.     

Student' Strategic Actions in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) can be a powerful tool in creating learning communities in which students have a chance to construct knowledge collaboratively and to develop explanations of the subject to be studied. It is obvious, however, that collaborative inquiry is a cognitively-challenging task for an individual student. More evidence on the nature and quality of students' actions and strategic processes in CSCL is needed to make these models more applicable in different domains of classroom learning. The aim of this study was to analyse students' strategic actions in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. Eighteen secondary school students, ages 13–14 years, participated in CSCL inquiries in their literature class. The networked technology environment used was CSILE. The students had three inquiry-based CSCL projects, each lasting for six weeks. The data-collection procedures used were questionnaires, students' written computer notes and repeated process-oriented interviews. The results show the dominance of a superficial approach toward inquiry. This is evidenced by the students' fact-oriented computer notes and their self-reported, surface-level strategic actions. However, the results show a growing amount of collaborative discussion in the networked database. Collaborative networked discussions manifest an increase in deeper-level cognitive strategies and progressive student inquiries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Teacher professional development through curriculum development: teachers' experiences in the field trialling of on-line curriculum materials

ABSTRACT

This paper, which arises out of wider Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research, examines the provision of information technology in ten British secondary schools. The longitudinal nature of the research allows us to test a model proposed by Wellington, which describes the evolution of information technology in secondary schools from a vertical to a horizontal approach, against the data from the ten schools. We explore tensions between vertical and horizontal approaches and show that the evolutionary process is more complex than suggested by the model. We focus on the role of the information technology co‐ordinator in promoting horizontal approaches to information technology and explore the conditions under which the role is carried out.     

The effect of problem-based learning on the metacognitive awareness of pre-service science teachers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on the metacognitive awareness of pre-service science teachers. In the study, an experimental design with pre-test/post-test control group was used. A total of 51 junior pre-service science teachers participated in the study. The study was carried out over 10 weeks and within the scope of an environmental science course. During the study, lessons in the experimental group were processed using a PBL approach while lessons in the control group were processed using a traditional teaching approach. Data were collected through a personal information form and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. Data were then analysed using PASW Statistics 18 (SPSS Inc.). The findings of the study revealed that PBL could be an effective intervention to promote metacognitive awareness towards procedural knowledge, planning and debugging. The results are discussed based on the findings of the study.     

论文作者培养和提高"问题意识"的途径分析

具有明确、得当的＂问题意识＂,是一篇论文能够成功的前提与基础,它体现出一个研究者的基本素质。做论文一定要有问题意识,而且一定要发现真问题、研究真问题,争取解决真问题。但现在的论文,有不少缺失问题。在分析这种现象形成原因的基础上提出六条培养和提高研究者问题意识的途径：对学术论文的标准和本质特征具有明确的认识与准确的把握;培育强烈的怀疑精神;跨学科阅读,培养杂学之功,形成兼通的知识结构;认清学术的社会担当,关注现实,把研究现实问题同研究的学术性诉求统一起来;学术期刊编辑把有无明确得当的＂问题意识＂和学术史回顾列入审稿要点;营造一个相对自由、宽松、民主的学术氛围。     

Computer-Supported Collaborative Concept Mapping: Study of Synchronous Peer Interaction

The paper studies undergraduate students' synchronous peer interaction using a shared Activity Space and a text communication tool. Several groups of students collaborated in order to accomplish a data-modelling task in the context of a Databases University undergraduate course. The paper presents the collaboration support environment, i.e. a concept-mapping tool, used in this study. Subsequently, evaluation of the effectiveness of the environment in the educational process is discussed along various dimensions, like group synthesis, task control, content of communication, roles of the students and the effect of the tools used. Special emphasis is given in the ways the tools and the representations used complement each other and support the process. A discussion on the use of computer-supported collaborative problem solving environments is also included.     

Learning to solve complex problems through between‐group collaboration in project‐based online courses

Online courses have been criticized for their focus on knowledge acquisition rather than on how to solve authentic complex problems, a skill that is increasingly being recognized as critical to meeting the challenges in the real world. The purpose of this study was to explore whether between‐group collaboration in project‐based online courses can promote student learning of complex problem solving. Eleven graduate students in an educational technology class participated in this study. Each group of three to four members designed and developed a 2‐week online mini‐course that was later implemented with classmates across groups. During the semester, students were encouraged to visit other group areas, discuss challenges, and share strategies in the online course environment. The results indicate that between‐group collaboration was effective in improving group processes, group project performance, individual student achievement, and confidence in complex problem solving in designing online courses.     

Tracing discursive processes of shared knowledge construction in a technology-enhanced higher education setting

This study focused on combining both the group- and individual-level analyses in studying a collaborative activity in technology-enhanced interactions in a higher education setting. The aim was to make visible, with empirical examples, the quality of the students' web-based discussions and trace the route for shared understanding. By quantifying various communicative functions, the analysis provided general knowledge on the quality and purpose of the discussion in the group and highlighted the different functional positions each student had within the group. However, only a detailed interpretative analysis of the relationships between specific thematic contents, communicative functions, and the collaborative features of the discussion, in the temporal frame, made it possible to trace and gain a deeper understanding of the true acts of collaboration. It also highlighted the individual participants' different participatory and discursive positions in the different phases of the task. Over the study, it became evident that any attempts to define a collaborative activity from either the group's or individual's perspective would only result in a partial interpretation of the collaborative enterprise.     

A Comparison of Phonological Awareness,Lexical Compounding,and Homophone Training for Chinese Word Reading in Hong Kong Kindergartners

Research Findings: In this study, 88 kindergartners received special training in lexical compounding, homophone awareness, or phonological awareness or were assigned to a control condition over a period of approximately 2 months, with 20-min lessons administered twice per week. Chinese word reading improved significantly more in the lexical compounding group as compared to the other groups. Vocabulary knowledge also showed a trend toward improvement in this group (p < .08) and improved significantly in the homophone group. Although phonological awareness improved most in the phonological awareness training group, this group showed no reading or vocabulary improvements relative to the other groups. Practice or Policy: The results underscore the importance of morphological awareness training for both word reading and vocabulary knowledge in young Chinese children.