Outcomes from building system courseware for teaching and testing in a discipline-based human structure curriculum

This study investigated the educational benefits of system-based lecture notes and interactive learning objects in a peripheral nervous system component of a traditional first-year medical school human anatomy course. The impetus for the investigation was anecdotal evidence suggesting enhanced learner satisfaction with the learning resources. Retrospective review of existing data from 2006 to 2009 was undertaken to quantify (1) the effects of Web-based system courseware on examination item performance, and (2) differences among learner opinions regarding the benefit level of the five different types of interactive learning objects as evaluated by instructional design questionnaires. Interactive patient-based case studies (IPCS) and review games (Games), simulated interactive patients (SIP), flashcards, and unit quizzes (Quizzes) developed in-house have been peer-reviewed and published in MedEdPORTAL. Statistics included one-way analysis of variance, Tukey's post hoc test, and power meta-analysis (d). Examination item analysis scores remained significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05; d = 0.3938) for learners receiving the instructional treatment incorporating system-based lecture notes and interactive learning objects than for those not receiving this treatment. Using questionnaires with a five-point Likert scale, students reported favorably on the benefit level of all learning objects. They rated the SIP and IPCS significantly higher (P ≤0.05) and games significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) than in previous years, indicating a change in learner preferences. This study reaffirms that online system-based instructional techniques improve student examination performance and overall student satisfaction. Learners indicated stronger preferences for SIP and IPCS over exercises encouraging passive memorization of anatomical content.     

Laptop versus longhand note taking: effects on lecture notes and achievement

There has been a shift in college classrooms from students recording lecture notes using a longhand pencil-paper medium to using laptops. The present study investigated whether note-taking medium (laptop, longhand) influenced note taking and achievement when notes were recorded but not reviewed (note taking’s process function) and when notes were recorded and reviewed (note taking’s product function). One unique aspect of the study was determining how laptop and longhand note taking influence the recording of lecture images in notes and image-related achievement. Note-taking results showed that laptop note takers recorded more notes (idea units and words) and more verbatim lecture strings than did longhand note takers who, in turn, recorded more visual notes (signals and images) than did laptop note takers. Achievement results showed that when taking laptop notes, the process function of note taking was more beneficial than the product function of note taking (i.e., better image-related learning and similar text-related learning). When taking longhand notes, the product function of note taking was more beneficial than the process function of note taking (i.e., better text-related learning and similar image-related learning). Achievement findings suggest that the optimal note-taking medium depends on the nature of the lecture and whether notes are reviewed.     

How college science students engage in note‐taking strategies

A composite theory of college science student note‐taking strategies was derived from a periodic series of five interviews with 23 students and with other variables, including original and final versions of notes analyzed during a semester‐long genetics course. This evolving composite theory was later compared with Van Meter, Yokoi, and Pressley's (Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 323–338, 1994) corresponding composite “college students' theory of note‐taking.” Students' notes in this long‐term study were also compared with a standard of “adequate” note‐taking established by experts. Analyses detected many similarities between the two composite theories. Analyses also provided evidence of inadequate note‐taking strategies, inconsistencies between what students claimed and evidently did with their notes, and weak self‐regulating learning strategies. Recommendations included prompting students during class on how to take notes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 786–818, 2006     

Effects of online note taking formats and self-monitoring prompts on learning from online text: Using technology to enhance self-regulated learning

This study explored conditions under which note taking methods and self-monitoring prompts are most effective for facilitating information collection and achievement in an online learning enviornment. In experiment 1 30 students collected notes from a website using an online conventional, outline, or matrix note taking tool. In experiment 2 119 students collected notes from a larger, more ecologically valid set of learning materials using the conventional, outline, or the matrix tool. One half of the students also received prompts designed to encourage self-monitoring. Results of both experiments indicated that the matrix note taking device was a superior tool for collecting information and for achievement. Results of experiment 2 indicated that self-monitoring prompts have a significant positive impact on notes taken and achievement as well. Results are discussed relative to self-regulated learning and perceptual enhancement theories.     

An experimental test of an extended discretion laboratory approach for university general biology

This was an experiment to test the extended discretion laboratory approach (ED) versus a guided-inquiry (GI) approach for teaching biology in a university setting. It had previously been found productive in a high-school setting. The approach provides considerably less specific procedure for the students to follow than did a guided-inquiry approach and required relatively high independence. Four hundred sixty-nine students taking university introductory biology were randomly assigned to using either the ED learning approach or one characterized as guided inquiry for one semester. Three measures were taken to verify that instructional treatments followed the two approaches. All indicated qualitative and quantitative differences between ED and GI approaches in the direction predicted by the operational definitions. The criterion variables were (1) student scores on a multiple-choice laboratory exam, (2) student scores on laboratory reports, and (3) student scores on six laboratory quizzes given during the semester. The only criterion variable which showed significant differences between groups (laboratory-report scores) also showed significant group-by-instructor interaction. The hypothesis of no difference therefore stood unrejected for all criterion variables. Since the ED approach appears to produce equivalent learning gains in understanding of biology laboratory concepts compared to a guided-inquiry approach, this approach should still be considered for laboratory teaching, because it purports to train for discretionary use of resources during instruction in addition to the conventional development of laboratory concepts.     

Combined Effects of Note‐Taking/‐Reviewing on Learning and the Enhancement through Interventions: A meta‐analytic review

Meta‐analyses of 33 studies were conducted to examine (1) how much the combination of taking and reviewing notes contributes to school learning, and (2) whether interventions in the note‐taking/‐reviewing procedure enhance note‐taking/‐reviewing effects, and if so, how much and under what conditions. Syntheses of findings from note‐taking/‐reviewing versus no note‐taking/‐reviewing comparison studies indicated that the overall effects of note‐taking/‐reviewing were substantial. The advantage of note‐taking with intervention over without intervention was modest but significantly greater than zero. This intervention effect was moderated by two variables: presence of provided notes and academic level of participants. Providing a framework or instructor's notes was more effective in the enhancement of note‐taking/‐reviewing effects than pre‐training or verbal instruction only. The participants at lower academic levels gained greater benefits from interventions compared with the participants at a higher academic level.     

A more equitable account of the note-taking functions in learning from lecture and from text

Previous research investigating the encoding, encoding-plus-storage, and extermal-storage functions of note taking has failed to equate processing opportunities among the groups. The present studies did so by having the encoding group take notes on two occasions without review, the encoding-plus-storage group take notes one time and review notes the next, and the external-storage group twice review a set of borrowed notes. Three forms of note taking were used: conventional, and note taking on skeletal and matrix frameworks. In both Experiment 1, involving lecture learning, and Experiment 2, involving text learning, an advantage was found for the encoding-plus-storage function on tests involving factual-recall and recognition performance but not on tests measuring higher-order performance. With respect to note-taking forms, no advantage existed for any form when information was acquired from lecture. When text material was used there was some advantage for conventional notes and a clear advantage for not taking notes at all, but instead twice reading the material. These findings were explained relative to observed note-taking behaviors, the opportunity for review, and the processing demands proposed by the combination of reading and note taking, particularly when notes must be classified into an existing framework.     

Applying questioning or reading strategy to review technology enhanced coedited notes of elementary school students

The authors examined whether applying questioning review better enhances elementary level students' learning from technology-enhanced coediting-based note taking than does traditional reading review. A nonequivalent comparison group quasi-experimental design was implemented and replicated on four independent units. Two sixth grade elementary classes (66 students) participated in this study and were arranged into coediting notes with questioning review and coediting notes with reading review conditions respectively. The comparisons of student notes and achievement tests do not reveal that the questioning review group achieves better performance than does the reading review group. Considerations associated with technology enhanced coediting notes and questions are discussed based on the results.     

Students' note-taking behaviors and the efficacy of providing the instructor's notes for review

College students viewed a videotaped lecture with or without taking notes. Average performance between the two groups did not differ on an immediate test. The encoding effect of note taking was therefore unsupported. Two days later, note takers reviewed their notes while listeners reviewed the instructor's notes in preparation for the delayed exam. Subjects who reviewed the instructor's notes achieved significantly more, on factual items, than did subjects who reviewed their own relatively brief and unorganized notes. Thus, listening to a lecture and subsequently reviewing the instructor's notes prior to a delayed exam leads to relatively higher achievement than does the traditional method of taking and reviewing personal lecture notes.     

Note-taking in the college classroom as evidence of generative learning

College student notes were analysed with respect to the amount of words copied directly, omitted and added to the teacher’s overheads or PowerPoint slides in order to understand the effect of teacher scaffolds on student generative learning during initial encoding. Scores on quizzes taken at the end of classes from which notes were collected were analysed with respect to the content of student notes and teacher scaffolds. Statistically significant results were found when comparing how much students copied, added and omitted, whether teachers used PowerPoint presentations or overheads, and with respect to the amount of information teachers presented visually. Significant effects also were found on performance quiz items with respect to the amount of information that teachers provided.     

“We've Got to Keep Meeting Like This”: A Pilot Study Comparing Academic Performance in Shifting-Membership Cooperative Groups Versus Stable-Membership Cooperative Groups in an Introductory-Level Lab

This study examined possible ways to increase student engagement in small sections of a large, introductory-level, required university course. Research shows that cooperative group learning boosts achievement through fostering better interpersonal relationships between students. Cooperative group learning is an evidence-based instructional practice engaging students in active learning. The present study investigated whether cooperative groups with sustained-membership functioned more effectively for boosting performance than shifting-membership cooperative groups. Findings indicated that the amount of class time spent in groups influenced the impact of shifting or sustained-membership. A significant difference in performance was found for sustained-group students when group activities were used the majority of the time during recitation.     

Instructional Sensitivity as a Psychometric Property of Assessments

Standards-based reform, as codified by the No Child Left Behind Act, relies on the ability of assessments to accurately reflect the learning that takes place in U.S. classrooms. However, this property of assessments—their instructional sensitivity—is rarely, if ever, investigated by test developers, states, or researchers. In this paper, the literature on the psychometric property of instructional sensitivity is reviewed. Three categories of instructional sensitivity measures are identified—those relying on item or test scores only, those relying on item or test scores and teacher reports of instruction, and strictly judgmental methods. Each method identified in the literature is discussed alongside the evidence for its utility. Finally, recommendations are made as to the proper role of instructional sensitivity in the evaluation of assessments used under standards-based reform.     

Item difficulty in the evaluation of computer-based instruction: an example from neuroanatomy

This article reports large item effects in a study of computer-based learning of neuroanatomy. Outcome measures of the efficiency of learning, transfer of learning, and generalization of knowledge diverged by a wide margin across test items, with certain sets of items emerging as particularly difficult to master. In addition, the outcomes of comparisons between instructional methods changed with the difficulty of the items to be learned. More challenging items better differentiated between instructional methods. This set of results is important for two reasons. First, it suggests that instruction may be more efficient if sets of consistently difficult items are the targets of instructional methods particularly suited to them. Second, there is wide variation in the published literature regarding the outcomes of empirical evaluations of computer-based instruction. As a consequence, many questions arise as to the factors that may affect such evaluations. The present article demonstrates that the level of challenge in the material that is presented to learners is an important factor to consider in the evaluation of a computer-based instructional system.     

Introduction: Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Special Education

A critical issue facing the field of education is the need to improve teachers' preparation to effectively manage student behavior in the classroom. Many pre- and in-service teachers receive exposure to evidence-based behavioral interventions, such as schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports, during teacher preparation programs; however, face-to-face instructional time is always at a premium given the range of learning experiences that must be acquired prior to licensure. Consequently, many educators begin their careers without strong classroom management skills, which has many unfortunate consequences, including the decision for some to leave the field within the first three to five years. In this study, we evaluated content acquisition podcasts based on validated instructional design principles. We focused on determining the extent to which preservice teachers could learn core information related to schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports using a short multimedia vignette compared to students who learned content using traditional methods (e.g., reading and note taking). Results show students who learned by watching content acquisition podcasts significantly outperformed students who had unlimited time to read a chapter on SW-PBIS and had access to other learning materials on a test of knowledge related to schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports. Implications for practice and future research are presented.     

Investigating Teachers’ Skills in Interpreting Evidence of Student Learning

This study measured and explored the relationships among elementary mathematics teachers’ skill in (a) determining what an item measures, (b) analyzing student work, (c) providing targeted feedback, and (d) determining next instructional steps. Twenty-three elementary mathematics teachers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: analyzing items and student responses without rubrics, analyzing items and student responses with rubrics, or analyzing items and student responses with rubrics after watching a professional development program on providing feedback to students. Findings show there is a moderate to strong relationship between teachers’ abilities to analyze student responses to infer what a student knows and can do and their abilities to take action based on that information through either providing the student feedback or making appropriate instructional adaptations. Findings show it was relatively more difficult for teachers to provide feedback that was likely to move students forward in their learning than it was for them to analyze a student's response or to determine next instructional steps. No teacher skill differences associated with the different treatment conditions were found.     

Powerful learning environments? How university students differ in their response to instructional measures

This study aimed at measuring the effects of a university educational reform project on student learning, and individual differences in students' responses to similar instructional measures. The reforms mainly failed to influence reported learning strategies in the direction of more deep and self-regulated learning. One explanation for this could be that the instructional measures were not powerful enough to create more deep-level learning strategies. In a second study, a different explanation was explored. It was found that student groups with different learner characteristics tend to use instructional measures in different ways, such that they suit their own habits, ideas and preferences of learning well. This makes it quite clear that direct influence of instructional measures on learning processes does not take place. We explore suggestions for adapting instructional practice.     

Note‐Taking and Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities: Challenges and Solutions

As more secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) enroll in advanced content‐area classes and are expected to pass state exams, they are faced with the challenge of mastering difficult concepts and abstract vocabulary while learning content. Once in these classes, students must learn from lectures that move at a quick pace, record accurate and complete notes, and then demonstrate their mastery of the content on tests. This article provides an overview of the challenges faced by students with LD in content‐area classes and discusses the problems that students have learning from lectures and recording notes. Further, the article discusses theory and research related to note‐taking and presents note‐taking interventions that teachers can use to help students improve their note‐taking skills, and ultimately, improve their achievement in these classes.