Affective and associative qualities in the learning styles of Chicanos and Anglos

The role of affective and associative meaningfulness in the learning styles of Chicanos and Anglos was examined in the present study. Sixty-four Chicano and Anglo undergraduates were compared on their learning of affectively and associatively assessed consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams. Chicanos did not differ from Anglos in their reliance on the affective relative to the associative dimension of meaningfulness in their learning style. However, Chicanos differed significantly from Anglos in affective learning style, manifesting a greater propensity to learn their liked materials more readily than their disliked materials. It was further found that while the performance of the two ethnic groups was comparable in the disliked condition, the Chicano subjects performed significantly better than the Anglo subjects in the liked condition. It is suggested that the intensified Chicano sensitivity to affective meaningfulness is consistent with their cultural concerns.     

学习者情感因素与英语专业精读课程教学

情感因素影响语言习得,而精读课程是英语专业学生语言习得的一门重要课程。精读课程由于其教学学时长、练习多等特征,容易使学习者产生厌烦情绪,最终影响语言习得的效果。因此,解析学习者的各种情感因素,有效发挥情感因素的积极作用,可以增进师生感情,活跃课堂气氛,完善精读课程教学,促进学生综合语言能力的习得。     

Implementing Experiential Learning Activities in a Large Enrollment Introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

ABSTRACT:  Experiential learning activities are often viewed as impractical, and potentially unfeasible, instructional tools to employ in a large enrollment course. Research has shown, though, that the metacognitive skills that students utilize while participating in experiential learning activities enable them to assess their true level of understanding and mastery of the subject matter. The objectives of this study were to (1) create and implement 2 experiential learning activities in our introductory, large enrollment course and (2) evaluate their cognitive and affective impact on student learning. For the 1st activity, completed in class during the nutrition and health section, the instructional team asked the students to complete a dietary intake assessment. For the 2nd activity, completed via the course website, the instructional team asked the students to complete a food safety survey prior to the commencement of the food microbiology and processing section to assess the students' own personal food safety behaviors. The students were asked to evaluate both the cognitive and affective aspects of the experiential learning activities by completing a reflective questionnaire after participating in each activity. The majority of the students that participated in the experiential learning activities reported that the activities helped them learn the course material (97% for the dietary intake activity and 77% for the food safety activity) and that they liked participating in the activity (85% for the dietary intake activity) or were engaged by the activity (77% for the food safety activity). These results indicate that experiential learning activities can be successfully created for and implemented in large enrollment courses.     

Learning Style and Effectiveness of Online and Face-to-Face Instruction

In this study the investigator compared two sections of the same course-one section was online and asynchronous; the other was face-to-face-by examining gender, age, learning preferences and styles, media familiarity, effectiveness of tasks, course effectiveness, test grades, and final grades. The two sections were taught by the same instructor and used the same instructional materials. The results revealed no significant differences in test scores, assignments, participation grades, and final grades, although the online group's averages were slightly higher. Ninety-six percent of the online students found the course to be either as effective or more effective to their learning than their typical face-to-face course. There were no significant differences between learning preferences and styles and grades in either group. The study showed that equivalent learning activities can be equally effective for online and face-to-face learners.     

Assessing learning in a sociology department: what do students say that they learn?

Assessment plays a central role in evaluating and strengthening student learning in higher education, and sociology departments, in particular, have increasingly become interested in engaging in assessment activities to better understand students’ learning. This qualitative study builds on previous research on assessment by asking what students in one American university department see themselves learning in the sociology major. Rather than asking students to reflect on what we think they are learning, we asked open-ended questions about skills, topics and modes of education they considered most significant to their learning. The 25 sociology majors in our study included second-year students, graduating fourth-year students and alumni who had graduated five years prior, enabling us to compare what students have learned or are learning across cohorts. Our findings demonstrate that students emphasise a common collection of skills, topics and – especially – modes of learning in the major, despite their various course selections and interests within the discipline, and also that majors’ orientations to sociology vary as they move through, and beyond, the undergraduate curriculum.     

The relationship between sources of self-efficacy in classroom environments and the strength of computer self-efficacy beliefs

Motivation and success in computer-science courses are influenced by the strength of students’ self-efficacy (SE) beliefs in their learning abilities. Students with weak SE may struggle to be successful in a computer-science course. This study investigated the factors that enhance or impede the computer self-efficacy (CSE) of computer-science students. Data collection involved a survey of 524 undergraduate computer-science students from 10 Thai universities. The survey measured four items of CSE, 13 items pertaining to the classroom learning environment (CLE), and 14 items related to information sources of SE. Results revealed that perceptions of a CLE with autonomy, meaningfulness, and involvement were positively associated with strong CSE. In addition, perceptions of social persuasions such as meaningful and encouraging feedback or judgment from influential people demonstrated a statistically positive relationship with CSE. Perceptions of vicarious experiences whereby students determine and compare their own abilities with observational experiences of role models also demonstrated a statistically positive relationship with CSE. Perceived physiological and affective states such as anxiety and stress demonstrated a negative influence CSE. Implications for practice relate to students’ perceptions of autonomous learning, the value of positive feedback, students’ input into learning content and activities, role models for students and observation of how peers perform tasks better or worse.     

Does the extent of problem familiarity influence students’ learning in problem-based learning?

This study investigated the relationship between problem familiarity and students’ learning in a problem-based course. Problem familiarity in this study refers to the extent to which a problem fits with students’ prior knowledge and experiences. As part of regular course work, 172 students were given two problems on different occasions. These problems varied in the extent of problem familiarity. Students’ report of their learning activities and tutor’s assessment of the students’ learning were collected at the end of the problems. Results showed that both the students and tutors found the familiar problem to be better for learning. However, some elements of unfamiliarity may not be all that bad. For instance, unfamiliarity may result in more questioning, thinking and reasoning. However, this did not contribute to significant difference in terms of overall critical reasoning. Results also indicated a need to closely examine students’ critical reasoning (in terms of evaluating multiple perspectives) and students’ collaborative learning (in terms of brainstorming and discussion) when given familiar/unfamiliar problems.     

Structuring academic conflicts between majority and minority students: Hindrance or help to integration

The effects of two types of structured academic conflict, controversy and debate, were compared with individual study in a study on desegregation. Seventy-two sixth grade students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for sex, reading ability, and ethnic membership. In all three conditions students studied a controversial issue with materials representing both pro and con views. In the controversy condition each learning group was divided into two pairs representing the pro and con sides. In the debate condition each member of a learning group was assigned a pro or con position to represent in a debate with the other three members. In the individualistic condition subjects were told to learn the material without interacting with other students and each student was given all the pro and con materials. The results indicate that controversy promotes the most cross-ethnic verbal rehearsal and exchange of the assigned material, the most concern that all students master the assigned material, the most active search for more information about the topic being studied, the most reevaluation of one's position and incorporation of opponents' arguments, the most liking for the subject matter and the instructional experience, the highest self-esteem, and the most accepting and supportive relationships among minority and majority students. The debate condition generated higher levels of these dependent variables than did individualistic study.     

Evaluating the efficacy of a teacher-guided comprehension-oriented learning strategy intervention among students in Grade 4

This study examined the effects of a teacher-led learning-strategy intervention program on fourth-grade students’ reported use and perceived effectiveness of rehearsal and comprehension-oriented learning strategies. During 18 program units, teachers taught about learning and various learning strategies, including visualisation, elaboration and categorisation. Strategies were practised in math, language and science classes. Participants were comprised of 82 fourth-grade students in the intervention group and 387 fourth-grade students in the control group. Students’ reported use and perceived effectiveness of learning strategies were assessed before and at least 4 months after intervention using a web-based word-memorisation task and associated reflection questions. The intervention group tended to use more comprehension-oriented learning strategies in post-tests, and the intervention group also showed an increase in perceived effectiveness of comprehension-oriented learning strategies. Still, rehearsal was evaluated as the most effective strategy in both the control group and the intervention group. Explanations for these findings and possible future directions are discussed.

     

A model for teaching an introductory programming course using ADRI

High failure and drop-out rates from introductory programming courses continue to be of significant concern to computer science disciplines despite extensive research attempting to address the issue. In this study, we include the three entities of the didactic triangle, instructors, students and curriculum, to explore the learning difficulties that students encounter when studying introductory programming. We first explore students’ perceptions of the barriers and affordances to learning programming. A survey is conducted with introductory programming students to get their feedback on the topics and associated learning resources in the introductory programming course. The instructors’ perceptions are included by analyzing current teaching materials and assessment tools used in the course. As a result, an ADRI based approach is proposed to address the problems identified in the teaching and learning processes of an introductory programming course.     

Meaningfulness of a learning experience: A measure for educational outcomes in higher education

Based on assumptions derived from the humanistic education theory that (1) the learners' perceived meaningfulness of a learning experience is an important measure of the educational outcomes, and that (2) the learner is a legitimate evaluator of his own learnings, this study attempts to develop a conceptual model for the meaningfulness and value of a course of study as judged by students in higher education. The model suggests that in a course, perceived meaningfulness and value are related to the perceived learnings in the cognitive-subject matter, affective-personal, and behavioral domains.A Course Valuing Inventory based on this model has been developed and tested on 141 students, participating in 19 university courses. Testing the Inventory showed that it is reliable, and that the relationship between the perceived learnings in the course and its value are as established by the conceptual model. It was also found that the tool successfully differentiates between graduate and undergraduate students, as has been hypothesized.The study was supported in part by the Jewish Memorial Foundation.     

TOPIC EVALUATION

A topic evaluation questionnaire is described which was used with a group of first‐year science undergraduates. Its aim was to determine students’ reactions to individual course topics in terms of: the extent to which they felt they had grasped each topic; those on which they had spent most time; those on which they had wished for more help; and their familiarity with each topic at ‘A’ level. Responses were evaluated in relation to other data collected at the time and highlighted a close relationship between reported ease of grasping and previous familiarity of topics. However, situational and contextual features also significantly affected the extent of grasping. In particular, the pacing and the progressive accumulation of topics in a course which led to difficulties with later topics, and the competing demands of other courses. The paper considers both the results of the topic evaluation questionnaire and how data from such a questionnaire can be more fully interpreted when placed in the context of other sources of evidence.     

Seeking help in large college classes: A person-centered approach

This study assessed students’ (N=883) levels of help-seeking threat, their intentions to seek help, help-seeking goals, preferred helping resources, class-related motivation, and use of learning strategies. Hierarchical cluster analysis suggested four homogeneous groups, with 17% of the students that could be described as strategic/adaptive, formal help seekers and 23% as help-seeking avoidant, expedient help seekers. Strategic/adaptive students were more motivated, had higher mastery approach achievement goal levels, use of rehearsal (the strategy highly related to performance) and course grades. Help-seeking avoidant students were more anxious, performed more poorly and relied less on rehearsal and more on organization strategies. Help-seeking avoidant students also had higher mastery avoid, performance approach, and performance avoid achievement goal orientations.     

FROM “EXPLORING THE MIDDLE ZONE” TO “CONSTRUCTING A BRIDGE”: EXPERIMENTING IN THE SPIRAL BIANSHI MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

The spiral bianshi curriculum, an improvement on bianshi teaching developed by Gu (2000) and in line with Marton’s theory of variation (Marton & Booth, 1997), was tried out in a primary school in Hong Kong. This improved theoretical framework for the spiral bianshi curriculum comprises four types of bianshi problems—the inductive bianshi, the broadening bianshi, the deepening bianshi, and the applicative bianshi. Based on this framework, the research team developed a set of teaching materials on the three topics of division of fraction, speed, and volume. The materials were tried out in 21 Primary 6 classes (a total of 686 students) in a school. The effect was compared with a reference group using standard textbook materials in Hong Kong. A series of instruments, pre-tests, and post-tests were administered to gauge the effects on students’ performance in solving routine and non-routine problems, as well as the affective outcomes including self-concept, attitude towards learning mathematics, approaches to learning, and conceptions of mathematics. The intervention effects of the experimental design were examined by hierarchical regression analysis. The research reveals that students using spiral bianshi teaching materials performed significantly better than their counterparts using standard textbook materials. However, no significant differences were identified among affective learning outcome variables despite the positive results on cognitive learning outcomes. The findings indicate that spiral bianshi curriculum has high potential in enhancing students’ learning effectiveness. However, further studies are needed to map its strengths in detail.     

Facebook: An online environment for learning of English in institutions of higher education?

Facebook (FB) is currently considered as the most popular platform for online social networking among university students. The purpose of this study is to investigate if university students consider FB as a useful and meaningful learning environment that could support, enhance and/or strengthen their learning of the English language. A survey was carried out with 300 undergraduate students at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. It was found that the students believed FB could be utilized as an online environment to facilitate the learning of English. Nevertheless, teachers or language instructors have to integrate FB as an educational project with pre-determined learning objectives and outcomes for the learning experience to be meaningful. It is suggested that future research should focus on the meaningfulness of FB to students' language learning experiences.     

研究性学习与学习的探究性

“研究性学习”作为一门课程列入高中课程计划，对于课程和教材的改革，改变学生的学习方式，改革人才培养模式都将起到积极的推动作用。实施“研究性学习”课程，在认识上，要把学生(终身可持续)的发展作为一切课程的出发点和归宿；在实践上，教师要转变观念、转换角色，组织、指导学生开发和利用各种教育资源，选择研究专题，与学生一起参与研究性学习活动，发挥学生的自主性，并引导学生勇于实践，积极探索，增加体验。获得发展。“研究性学习”作为一种学习方式，对于其他的教学活动有着借鉴和指导的作用。要大力提倡教学活动的探究性，积极探索并建立新的教学模式。     

The Application of Affective Education in Middle School English Teaching

It is acknowledged that affection widely affects cognitive activity of individuals in teaching process. While in learning process, affection will greatly affect the motivation of studying and determine whether learners can get as much information as they can. Starting with the problems existed in English Teaching and the definition of affective education, the paper mainly present several ways to advocate affective education, which includes establish harmonious relations between students and teachers and so on.     

非英语专业学生语块学习策略研究

语块学习有利于提高语言输出和表达的流利性、地道性和生动性。从222名非英语专业学生语块学习策略、语块能力和四级成绩调查结果来看,可以得出以下结论：学生坚持学习语块时需要背诵和用中学两种观念;常用猜测、查词典、记笔记和重复等策略,较少使用元认知、社会情感、编码、活用等策略;语块能力和常用的4种策略不存在相关,但与较少使用的4种策略相关。同时,四级成绩和语块能力之间存在相关;访谈报告支持以上结果。     

Exploring the Relationship Between High School Students’ Physics-Related Personal Epistemologies and Self-regulated Learning in Turkey

This article reports on an empirical exploration of the relations and strengths among Turkish grades 9–11 students’ (n = 209) personal epistemologies (justification of knowledge, certainty of knowledge, source of knowledge, development of knowledge), self-regulated learning (extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation), and achievement in physics (course grades). Established instruments were used to collect data on these students’ beliefs about knowledge and components of self-regulated learning (SRL) such as goal orientations (extrinsic and intrinsic motivation) and learning strategies, critical thinking, and metacognitive regulation. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that students’ personal epistemologies directly influenced their motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic goal orientations), rehearsal and organization strategies, and metacognitive self-regulation to learn physics. Furthermore, students’ personal epistemologies indirectly (mediated through motivation beliefs) influenced rehearsal, elaboration and organization strategies, critical thinking, and metacognitive self-regulation to learn physics. Students’ ideas about knowledge and knowing about the source and development of knowledge significantly contributed to students’ self-regulatory skills and physics course grade. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Investigating the effects of structured and guided inquiry on students’ development of conceptual knowledge and inquiry abilities: a case study in Taiwan

In order to promote scientific inquiry in secondary schooling in Taiwan, the study developed a computer-based inquiry curriculum (including structured and guided inquiry units) and investigated how the curriculum influenced students’ science learning. The curriculum was implemented in 5 junior secondary schools in the context of a weeklong summer science course with 117 students. We first used a multi-level assessment approach to evaluate the students’ learning outcomes with the curriculum. Then, a path analysis approach was adopted for investigating at different assessment levels how the curriculum as a whole and how different types of inquiry units affected the students’ development of conceptual understandings and inquiry abilities. The results showed that the curriculum was effective in enhancing the students’ conceptual knowledge and inquiry abilities in the contexts of the six scientific topics. After the curriculum, they were able to construct interconnected scientific knowledge. The path diagrams suggested that, due to different instructional designs, the structured and guided inquiry units appeared to support the students’ learning of the topics in different ways. More importantly, they demonstrated graphically how the learning of content knowledge and inquiry ability mutually influenced one another and were reciprocally developed in a computer-based inquiry learning environment.