An international comparison using Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment: Fourth graders’ diagnostic profile of reading skills on PIRLS 2016

Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) approach has been increasingly applied to non-diagnostic large-scale assessments to extract fine-grained diagnostic feedback about students’ ability in a given domain and meet accountability demands for student achievement. This study aimed to diagnose the reading abilities of 4324 students from 19 European Union (EU) member countries that participated in the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), one of the most comprehensive international studies that investigate students’ reading achievement. The PIRLS data were analyzed by using the Log-linear Cognitive Diagnosis Modeling (LCDM), a type of cognitive diagnostic classification model (DCM). Students’ weaknesses and strengths were identified based on a four-skill reading ability model. The results revealed that the methodology could provide more fine-grained diagnostic information about students’ reading skills than traditional aggregated-test scoring could. Such information could be utilized by teachers, school administrators, decision-makers, and students for maximizing the learning outcomes of reading programs and instruction.     

Providing Effective Support: Investigating feedback to distance language learners

Interaction and feedback on performance are essential elements of the language learning process. On a distance-learning course, since opportunities for interaction may be limited, feedback plays a crucial role in opening and maintaining a dialogue between tutors and students. Using text analysis, questionnaire and interview data, this study explores both tutor and student perspectives on the feedback offered on a distance language course. It finds that there are considerable individual differences in the feedback offered by tutors and there is also variation in the type of feedback the students want and their reported uses of it. The article suggests that more training for both tutors and students is necessary to adequately exploit feedback's potential in a distance-learning context.     

Effects of staff and student tutors on student achievement

In the problem-based curriculum of the faculty of Law, students of the first year are guided by staff tutors or undergraduate student tutors in small tutorial groups. In this study, academic achievement of staff tutor-guided groups are compared with student tutor-guided groups. After an eight-week course students' level of academic achievement was tested by essay questions. Two methods of assessing students' performance are used: expert judgements and propositional analysis. Results of both methods used indicate that no differences in academic achievement occur. Students guided by student tutors perform as well as students guided by staff tutors. Several explanations are proposed to account for these results.     

Facilitating small-group learning: A comparison of student and staff tutors' behavior

This study focused on students' observations of student and staff tutors' behavior during two academic courses, using a thirtynine-item rating scale. The study took place within an integrated problem-based law curriculum. Six major factors in tutors' behavior were identified. Differences between student and staff tutors' performance were investigated. The results showed that student tutors were better at understanding the nature of the problems students face in attempting to master the subject-matter. Student tutors were also more interested in students' daily lives, study experiences and personalities. In addition, student tutors referred to end-of-course examinations more frequently than staff tutors to direct student learning. Alternatively, staff tutors used their subject-matter expertise more often and displayed more authoritarian behavior than student tutors. No differences were found with respect to tutors' focus on cooperation among group members. The results are interpreted in terms of the nature of the knowledge and experiences of students and staff with regard to problem-based learning and its requirements.     

Peer teaching and higher level cognitive learning outcomes in problem-based learning

Law education at the University of Limburg (Maastricht, The Netherlands) features small-group tutorials alternating with periods of independent study. Every group of 10 students was tutored by a staff member or an undergraduate student from the third or fourth year. Students guided by a staff member scored significantly higher on a test designed to measure higher order cognitive skills than students guided by a student tutor. Student tutors were rated no differently from staff tutors with respect to the way they stimulated learning processes, directed the discussion content and monitored the discussion process. It seems that in a quantitative way, staff tutors and student tutors behave more or less the same. Qualitatively, however, there may be differences in their behavior which the tutor functioning questionnaire is unable to tap. Interventions of staff tutors may be more to the point than those of student tutors due to the fact that they are experts in their fields.     

An Analysis of High School Students' Performance on Five Integrated Science Process Skills

This study determined Jamaican high school students' level of performance on five integrated science process skills and if there were statistically significant differences in their performance linked to their gender, grade level, school location, school type, student type and socio-economic background (SEB). The 305 subjects comprised 133 males, 172 females, 146 ninth graders, 159 10th graders, 150 traditional and 155 comprehensive high school students, 164 students from the Reform of Secondary Education (ROSE) project and 141 non-ROSE students, 166 urban and 139 rural students and 110 students from a high SEB and 195 from a low SEB. Data were collected with the authors' constructed integrated science process skills test the results indicated that the subjects' mean score was low and unsatisfactory; their performance in decreasing order was: interpreting data, recording data, generalising, formulating hypotheses and identifying variables; there were statistically significant differences in their performance based on their grade level, school type, student type, and SEB in favour of the 10th graders, traditional high school students, ROSE students and students from a high SEB. There was a positive, statistically significant and fairly strong relationship between their performance and school type, but weak relationships among their student type, grade level and SEB and performance.     

The tutor/facilitator role in student retention

Open and distance learning provide particular (and sometimes overlapping) contexts for discussions of student retention. This paper argues that the environment for learning created by distance learning tutors is a key factor in student retention, whether retention is taken to refer to student completion of a single course or student persistence through a programme of study. Discussion of tutors' roles in retaining students is stimulated by the recent symposium on student retention and draws on a new analysis of three linked empirical inquiries located within the UK Open University. A fruitful integration of questionnaire surveys, project evaluation and practitioner action inquiries suggest that, where questions of retention focus on the student and their learning experience, tutors' facilitative roles are complex and valuable. Institutional policies and course design practices need to support tutors in their retention roles by using and sharing appropriate pedagogies, systems, student information and integrated professional development opportunities.     

基于 Stacking 的雷达伺服系统故障诊断

为了提高南京某所某型雷达伺服系统故障诊断准确率,考虑到传统故障诊断算法的局限性,提出一种基于 Stacking 集成算法的雷达伺服系统故障诊断方法。针对某所某型雷达伺服系统的历史监测数据,首先采用孤立森林算法识别异常样本|然后基于原始数据构造出新的特征,使用卡方检验进行特征选择,并使用SMOTE 算法解决样本不平衡问题|最后,通过建立一种新颖、准确的基于 XGBoost、随机森林和 BP 神经网络的Stacking 集成模型进行故障诊断。实验结果表明,该方法在测试集上的诊断准确率达到了 96.2%,比传统方法诊断准确率提高了 1.8%,证明该方法能够很好地完成雷达伺服系统故障诊断任务。     

为工科博士生设数学副导师的教学改革探索

为有效整合高校的研究生教学资源,提高工科博士生的现代数学素养,进而提升其从事深层次专业研究的创新能力,应建立一种以工科博士生和专业导师为主、数学导师为辅的三位一体的培养机制,工科博士生与数学副导师进行双向选择,专业导师与数学副导师相互促进,协同开展指导工作。     

The effects of a competency‐oriented learning environment and tutor feedback on students’ reflection skills

This study investigates the effects of a competency‐oriented course and the effects of feedback training on students’ reflection skills. Thirty‐one nursing students enrolled in a conventional course with lectures and assignments following a traditional test. Subsequently, they enrolled in a competency‐oriented course, which included more performance‐oriented tasks based on competencies and a performance‐based assessment. In both courses, half of the students received feedback on their assignments from tutors who were trained in feedback skills (experimental group), while the other half of the students received feedback from non‐trained tutors (control group). After each course, all students wrote a reflection report. Results show that students’ reflection reports after the competency‐oriented course were of a higher quality than the reports after the conventional course. Contrary to our expectations, the quality of the reflection reports of the control group (students supervised by non‐trained tutors) was significantly higher than the quality of reflection reports of the experimental group (students supervised by trained tutors). This study shows that a competency‐oriented design of courses enhances students’ reflection skills, but that the training in feedback skills needs to be reconsidered.     

School tutoring and academic performance: A too close relationship?

In Spain, each student class is assigned a tutor teacher who is also responsible for individually following their tutoring students’ performance, guiding them in personal issues and regularly meeting their families. Although tutors may suppose an important support for students during their school life, their close personal relationship may also influence the teaching and learning process in additional ways. This research analyses whether the fact that the tutor teaches a particular subject makes any difference in students’ academic achievement in that subject and if this differential achievement is conditioned by tutor-student/family relationship or not (being a possible over/under-marking). With this objective we employ a rich administrative census database from the most populated region of Spain (Andalusia), using student fixed-effects within-students between-school subjects. Our main results show that tutors seem to be only slightly inclined to over-mark their tutoring students, being this small bias conditioned by their relationship with the student.     

Rigorously selected and well trained senior student tutors in problem based learning: student perceptions and study achievements

We compared effects of tutoring by students and by staff. In four courses in each of two consecutive first years of an undergraduate problem-based law curriculum we examined the achievements and perceptions of tutors of students taught by student and staff tutors. Achievements were measured by the results on the regular end-of-course tests. After the end-of-course tests students’ perceptions were obtained by an online questionnaire and by a semi-structured focus group interview. The aim of the focus groups was to gain more in-depth insight into students’ perceptions. No significant differences in achievement and perceptions of tutors were found. Students’ perceptions of both staff and student tutors were generally positive. The results suggest that students that are carefully selected and well trained can be effective as tutors in the first year of an undergraduate problem-based curriculum.     

The Knowledge Required for Tutorial Planning: An Empirical Analysis

A significant portion of tutorial interactions revolve around the bugs a student makes. When a tutor performs an intervention to help a student fix a programming bug, the problem of deciding how to help the student appears to require extensive planning. In this article, we identify five considerations tutors appear to take into account when they plan tutorial interventions for students’ bugs. Using data collected from human tutors working in the domain of introductory computer programming, we (1) identify the knowledge tutors use when they reason about the five planning considerations, and (2) show that tutors are consistent in the ways that they use the kinds of knowledge to reason about students’ bugs.     

Modeling the student in intelligent tutoring sytems: The promise of a new psychometrics

This paper reviews a number of relatively new and promising psychometric approaches to the problem of modeling student achievement (the student model) within intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). A shared characteristic of most ITSs is their need to estimate a model of the student's understanding of the domain, and use this model to modify and adapt subsequent instructional content and sequence. Sound cognitive diagnosis and the need to advance ITS technology require the development of student models that are integrated with cognitive theory and instructional science. A number of cognitively oriented psychometric approaches — including latent-trait models, statistical pattern recognition methods, and causal probabilistic networks — are described and discussed within the current ITS framework. As measurement-based student models are refined, we anticipate their compatibility with future generations of intelligent tutoring systems.     

A situative metaphor for teacher learning: the case of university tutors learning to grade student coursework

In the continuing concern about academic standards in the higher education sector a great deal of emphasis has been placed on quality assurance procedures rather than on considering how university tutors learn to grade the quality of work produced by students. As part of a larger research project focused on how tutors grade student coursework, this paper offers a new metaphor for such tutor learning, based on a sociocultural perspective. The research project used think‐aloud protocols recorded as university tutors graded student coursework, and this was followed by semi‐structured interviews. The voluntary participants consisted of 25 lecturers in four contrasting domains—humanities, art and design, medicine and teacher education—in three universities, two teaching‐led and one research intensive. We developed a metaphorical framework that helps to understand the work and learning of the lecturers and tested it by applying it to analysis of the tutor interview data. Grading, writing feedback, second marking and moderation are important situated professional learning opportunities for tutors to debate and reach agreement on the academic standard demonstrated by student coursework. The metaphor considers professional learning as interplay between the vertical domain of public knowledge and the horizontal domain of teachers' practical wisdom. The metaphor presented in this paper is proposed for critical consideration and wider use by academics, teachers, academic developers and teacher educators as an aid to better understanding of teacher's professional learning.     

Collaborative Tutor Development: Enabling a Transformative Paradigm in a South African University

Transformation policies in South Africa have seen higher education come under increasing pressure to broaden participation from historically under‐represented groups. This article focuses on the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, as a newly merged institution that is in the process of transforming from a formerly segregated academic context. Recently, student enrolments have become increasingly diverse in terms of cultural, socio‐economic and linguistic backgrounds, as well as the level of preparedness that students have for traditional higher education programs. These diverse backgrounds and levels of preparedness place unique expectations on lecturers and peer tutors. Furthermore, tutorial systems have come to play an increasingly pivotal role in student learning. The researchers argue that without incorporating tutor development into the mainstream disciplines, peer tutors will not be able to effectively act as facilitators of subject content and discourse. They propose that this research can constitute a model for integrating academic development practice within subject‐specific curricula via tutors. This is realized through a collaborative initiative that enables change.     

SERVING STUDENT NEEDS THROUGH WRITING CENTERS

Many community colleges have writing centers to help students develop their writing skills because the ability to communicate ideas clearly and accurately is essential for college success. Writing centers are staffed by faculty members, paraprofessionals, and peer tutors who assist students with planning, drafting, and revising essays and research projects. Many centers also offer computer programs and word processing as writing tools. These findings resulted from a study of 13 writing centers in community colleges belonging to the League for Innovation in the Community College. We used a questionnaire to collect data on the design and operation of each center. Although many similarities exist, each campus has modified such features as staffing, hours, and services to meet the needs of its student body. Usage rates indicate that students need and seek out services that can help them achieve academic success.     

Student and tutor perceptions of effective tutoring in distance education

Questionnaire responses of 457 students and 602 tutors were used to investigate conceptions of a ‘good tutor.’ In each case, factor analysis identified scales that reflected key constructs; cluster analysis identified subgroups with different patterns of scale scores; and discriminant analysis determined the scales that contributed the most to differences among the clusters. Both sets of data yielded conceptions of tutoring that were described as task‐oriented and student‐oriented, respectively. The students’ data yielded an additional, career‐oriented conception. The tutors’ data yielded two additional conceptions that were described as knowledge‐oriented and impersonal, respectively. The distribution of the tutors’ conceptions (but not that of the students’ conceptions) varied across different faculties, suggesting that tutors from different disciplines have different beliefs about effective tutoring. The study suggests that both tutors and students would benefit from having a better appreciation of the importance of support in facilitating learning.     

Investigating the use and effectiveness of diverse types of materials in the delivery and support of lab sessions for multimedia subjects and students

This research study explores the use of different lab material, investigating which types of materials contribute the most to the delivery and support of laboratory (lab) sessions to design, skill‐based and technical courses in higher education in the UK. A qualitative research methodology was employed for this investigation and included both key stakeholders in academia, including 75 students and 12 tutors. An investigation was also conducted tracking student activity on the university's e‐learning facility (U‐link). Our key findings indicate that overall electronic material is considered the most effective type of material for the delivery of a lab session. This is followed by print, video and lastly audio material according to student responses and video, print and audio material according to tutor responses. Student and tutor responses varied per individual module/subject area. Video material was regarded by students and tutors as the most effective type for the delivery of skill‐based lab sessions and generally for independent learning, and electronic material was regarded as the most effective type for the delivery of technical and design lab sessions. Lastly, student tracking revealed that the introduction of video lab material in two modules increased the average time spent by students on U‐link by 58% for the technical module and 97% for the skill‐based module respectively.