Exploring student perceptions and experiences of different teaching and learning approaches in architectural history education: a comparative case study

Learning Environments Research - The purpose of the current research was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of university students regarding three different teaching and learning...     

Research into Practice: Current Trends in Educational Technology Research: The Study of Learning Environments

Educational technology research has passed through a number of stages, focusing, in turn, on the content to be learned, the format of instructional messages, and the interaction between computers and students. The field is now concerned with the study of learning in complete, complex, and interactive learning environments. These environments allow both the simulation of experiences that students might have in the real world and also the creation of compelling experiences that cannot normally be experienced directly. Learning environments also often allow students to communicate their own ideas with the use of a variety of symbol systems. These environments are also frequently inhabited by more than one person, making learning within them a social activity where learning is distributed among both people and artifacts. Finally, these learning environments are complex. Studying how they contribute to learning therefore requires research methods other than controlled experiments. This paper reviews research on learning environments to give both an historical perspective on educational technology research and a selective view of the current state of the discipline. It concludes by identifying implications for both practice and future research.     

美国项目研究模式的学习概论

项目学习法(Project—based Lerning)是一种项目研究模式的学习，在当今美国的中小学里正进行着广泛而生动的实战。它旨在培养学生批判性的思维技能、生成新知识的知能，以及给学生创造一个体验式的学习过程与机会。     

家庭公益教育的障碍及其破解机制研究

开展公益教育是时代环境变化、社会转型的客观要求。家庭公益教育是公益教育的有机组成部分,是突破当前“应试型”教育模式,构建“家庭-学校-社区”三联动下系统、多元的公益教育模式的关键环节。我国家庭公益教育的开展存在诸多障碍。调查发现,这些障碍主要为家长认知障碍、家庭公益行动障碍及制度性障碍。针对这些障碍,在借鉴美国家庭公益教育经验的基础上,提出了破解之策。     

Classroom learning experiences and students’ perceptions of quality of school life

It is generally believed that classroom learning experiences very much influence students’ academic development. However, relatively little is known about whether classroom learning experiences have much effect on students’ affective and social development. In this study, we argued for the importance of learning experiences on students’ affective and social development. From research on Accelerated Schools Project and active learning, we conceptualised Positive Learning Experiences, Teacher Support in Learning, and Active Learning Experiences as three components of learning experiences and developed relevant measures to tap these learning experiences. Using research data from a large-scale student survey in Hong Kong (N = 19,477), we examined the construct validity of learning experiences and quality of school life. Confirmatory factor analysis provided very strong support for the measures and the underlying constructs that they tap. In two-way analysis of variance, the effects of gender and school level (secondary versus primary) on learning experiences and quality of school life were examined. Significant gender and school-level main effects, as well as gender by school-level interaction effects, were found for students’ ratings of their learning experiences and quality of school life. Female students gave more favourable ratings than male students, and primary students gave more favourable ratings than secondary students. In addition, gender differences in these ratings in secondary schools were relatively smaller than in primary schools. In subsequent multilevel modelling, learning experiences were strong predictors of quality of school life after controlling for the effects of gender, school level and average school achievement. These findings provide strong empirical support for the significance of classroom learning experiences for students’ social and affective development.

Teacher enquiry as a tool for professional development: Investigating pupils’ effective Talk While Learning

The Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation was a four year project across England exploring the concept of Learning to Learn in 33 primary and secondary schools. The project was funded through the UK based Campaign for Learning. One of the key aims of the project was to ensure that the locus of control in terms of development remains with the schools, who decided on the focus of innovation relevant to them under the umbrella heading of Learning to Learn. A team from the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University then supported and facilitated the teachers in the systematic evaluation of their experiences. As a result we believe that this process supported meaningful professional development about teaching and learning. This paper exemplifies this process through two professional enquiries into pupil talk in the classroom and how it supported learning. The projects were carried out by teachers in two schools, one secondary (11–18 years) and one primary (4–11 years). Both schools decided that encouraging pupil talk about learning best fit with their priorities and the project aims of exploring Learning to Learn. The paper describes the different research methods and findings of the teachers’ research, focusing on the decision making which occurred and how the process of the research has impacted on their professional development. Conclusions are drawn about how the philosophy of Learning to Learn can be as easily applied to the process of professional enquiry through action research and teachers’ learning, as to the more traditional domain of students’ learning and how this might contribute to the development of a successful Learning to Learn school culture.     

How students with intellectual disabilities experience learning in one Irish university

Over the last number of years, opportunities to learn in higher education for people with intellectual disabilities have increased. Consequently, this subgroup of students is gradually becoming part of an increasingly diverse college community. Because learning varies across different individual cultures and systems of higher education, our current understandings of how students with intellectual disabilities learn are inadequate. This study set out to explore how people with intellectual disabilities learn in one Irish college. Eighteen students with intellectual disabilities were asked to make a drawing of how they understood learning and were interviewed by six of their peers who trained as co-researchers. The findings indicate that the learning experiences of these students are as complex and as multifaceted as any other college student. A model that captures this learning is presented using four categories: the Cognitive Stages of Learning, Self-regulation of Learning, Learning as Collective Meaning Making and the Supportive Environment and Learning. The learning potential for people with intellectual disabilities presented in this paper goes some way to addressing preconceived notions associated with the label of intellectual disability.     

国内外学习科学、设计、技术研究前沿与趋势——2019“学习设计、技术与学习科学”国际研讨会述评

随着学习科学、学习分析等领域的发展,学习设计也进入了崭新的发展阶段,正在成为国际教育技术领域的新研究热点,需要从更多更新的视角看待和研究。本文以“2019学习设计、技术与学习科学国际研讨会”为抓手,采用文献分析法和内容分析法,对研讨会内容及国内外代表性学者和文献进行了分析,总结提炼了当前国内外学习设计、技术与学习科学领域的研究热点。本文还提出要从新的理论、新的技术、新的证据、新的方法等视角看待学习设计的未来发展方向与趋势。     

Assessment for learning and Teacher Learning Communities: UK teachers’ experiences

In this paper, I explore the experiences of secondary teachers in four London schools [UK] who participated in Teacher Learning Communities, defined as meetings in which professional learning was supported as they learned about Assessment for Learning (AfL). The claim for these communities is that they lead to sustained improvements in teaching and learning, where the following design principles are adhered to: where leaders respect and value a need that has been identified by participants as of importance to themselves; they are school-based and integral to school operations; there is teacher collaboration; and there is input from within and beyond the school to support teachers’ theoretical as well as practical learning. The findings from this research project suggest that Teacher Learning Communities’ benefits were compromised specifically: where they were imposed on teachers; where they were not accommodated sufficiently within other school commitments; where leaders were too directive; where meeting formats were adhered to inflexibly; and where practice was emphasized at the expense of theories. My conclusion is that both AfL and Teacher Learning Communities rely for their success on sustained critical reflection among their participants, which can be inhibited where the above limitations apply.     

Competencies for learning design: A review of the literature and a proposed framework

The term ‘learning design’ is used in this paper to refer to the process of designing effective learning experiences for a variety of contexts: in the classroom or laboratory, in the field, online and via standalone packages using a range of media. Learning design involves a wide set of knowledge, skills and competencies, including: learning theory and its applications, course design principles and procedures, use of media, use of different technologies, relevant business processes and so on. This paper briefly introduces a research project that investigated the field of learning design in the UK and elsewhere, and describes the production of a competency framework derived from the results of that research.     

基于网络环境的研究性学习模式及过程设计

研究性学习是当前教育研究的热点,本在校园网环境下开展研究性学习实践探索的基础上,结合建构主义学习理论的具体要求和我国教育的实际国情,提出了一个新型的基于网络环境的研究性学习模式——“四阶段——双配合——核心模式”(简称“421模式”),并对这一模式的每个学习过程设计进行了详细的阐述。学习模式简单、清晰,具有较强的操作性和实用价值。     

The role of special schools for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties: is segregation always best?

The education of young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties continues to raise challenges and controversies. In this article, Ben Simmons, an ESRC funded PhD student and research assistant, and Phil Bayliss, programme director for the masters degree in special education and disability, both based in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Exeter, describe their research into provision for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties in a special school in the south west of England. Their work, based in an interpretivist, qualitative approach, set out to illuminate issues relating to the inclusion of pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. The findings presented here suggest that the school, in spite of its strong reputation, struggled significantly to provide appropriate learning experiences for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Ben Simmons and Phil Bayliss discuss the need for improved staff development opportunities focused on enhancing current levels of knowledge and skills. They conclude by calling for a reappraisal of the established view that special schools necessarily provide the best learning environment for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties.     

The Learning Research Cycle: Bridging Research and Practice

A science teacher and her mentor reflect on their participation in the Learning Research Cycle, a professional learning model that bridges research and practice in both university and public school contexts. Teachers do scientific research in scientists’ laboratories, then bridge their scientific experiences with the design of new classroom learning environments and teacher-driven educational research projects. Science students do scientific research via their teachers’ lessons that bridge laboratory research with classroom learning. Scientists and educational researchers bridge their research interests to create new questions centered on teaching and learning in authentic science learning environments. The authors engaged in this qualitative inquiry present their perspectives on “what goes on,” “what we have learned,” and “what it means to the larger community.”     

远程学习者学习风格测量方法的研究

本首先明确归纳了“学习风格”的定义，指出开展中国远程学习学习风格研究的重要性。然后，介绍了国内外经典的学习风格理论和测量工具。作在辩证地分析评述了国内外学习风格测量相关研究成果之后，总结了当前研究的特点和不足，认为有必要开展大规模研究，设计符合我国远程学习学习风格特征的量表，以帮助其科学选择学习形式和学习策略，提高远程学习质量。     

基于经验学习的学习风格研究述评

美国组织行为学教授科尔布提出了“经验学习”理论,并从经验学习和学习过程角度来探讨学习风格问题。本文分析了经验学习的内涵及其理论基础,探讨了影响学习风格的因素,阐述了人格、个人经验、学习情境对学习风格的影响,并论述了寻求平衡的学习风格研究趋势。以经验学习理论为基础的学习风格对于促进学习效率的提高具有积极的指导作用。     

ICT and resource–based learning: implications for the future

Current learning and teaching methods, such as resource–based learning, require children to make use of a range of resources within and outside school. However, access to learning resources, especially ICT (information and communications technology), depends on the facilities available within a child's school, home and local community. A research project entitled "Children, Access and Learning: Resource–based Learning and the Impacts of Environment and Learning Cultures" was undertaken by CIRT (Centre for Information Research) at the University of Central England in Birmingham, UK between March 2000 and September 2001. This research emerged from concerns that circumstances in and beyond school may disadvantage those children without easy access to resources. This article outlines some of the findings of the research in the context of current debates surrounding the growing importance of ICT in education.     

Enhancing transfer of learning through post-course reflection

Abstract

This article investigates how a structured post-course follow-up reflection activity affects the depth of reflection and facilitates the transfer of learning. The research is reflective, based on the findings from the Action Learning Management Practicum, a 3^rd year paper at Massey University, New Zealand. The initial reflections at the end of the course generally went no deeper than students “noticing”, or “making sense” of the experiences. With the benefit of distance and time away from the course, the students' reflection was deep and insightful. The findings suggest that the post-course reflection activity enables participants to “make meaning” from their experiences with the benefit of time and distance from the initial post-course reflection, thus enhancing the transfer of learning. The article argues for an extension and adaptation to Kolb's “Experiential Learning Cycle” model in relation to the time of reflection based on the empirical evidence provided.     

Ethical and privacy principles for learning analytics

The massive adoption of technology in learning processes comes with an equally large capacity to track learners. Learning analytics aims at using the collected information to understand and improve the quality of a learning experience. The privacy and ethical issues that emerge in this context are tightly interconnected with other aspects such as trust, accountability and transparency. In this paper, a set of principles is identified to narrow the scope of the discussion and point to pragmatic approaches to help design and research learning experiences where important ethical and privacy issues are considered.     

A Dance with the Butterflies: A Metamorphosis of Teaching and Learning Through Technology

This paper describes a web-based collaborative project called A Dance with the Butterflies that applied the brain-based research of the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) and principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to Pre-K-4 science curriculum. Learning experiences were designed for students to invoke the Recognition, Strategic, and Affective neural networks for learning identified in the CAST research. Instruction was based on the Science Education content standard that all students should develop an understanding of the characteristics, life cycles, and environments of living organisms. Teachers designed interdisciplinary projects for students with the metamorphosis of the butterfly as the theme the unit. Participants from nine states and four countries learned about UDL to transform teaching and to collaborate through a blog that supported their learning. They shared new technology applications for use in their projects. The learning that occurred and the excitement to use technology for learning clearly demonstrate the power of the UDL framework for increasing engagement and understanding by all learners.