Laughter, smiles and grins: The role of humor in learning and facilitating

This article inquires into the role of humor in the relational learning process that takes place in adventure education programs. It presents program episodes, which the authors experienced in their practice as facilitator, staff trainer and researcher, and explores the related literature. Four aspects appear to affect whether humor either facilitates or interferes with participants' learning in development programs. First, humor plays a role in developing relationships among participants and between participants and facilitators, and hence in the relational safety that characterizes an environment conducive to learning. Second, it may play a role in creating a workable distance to sensitive learning issues. Third, humor may offer new and unexpected perspectives, which contribute to revising familiar but restrictive reference frames. Finally, humor seems to fulfill these functions to the extent that it is not planned to do so, and as such may exemplify the 'paradox of functionality' in relational processes.     

Recognising and exploring action-theories: A reflection-in-action approach to facilitating experiential learning

Abstract

Outdoor education has typically presented itself as a specific approach to experiential learning. This article proposes that experiential learning can be understood as a process in which learners recognise and develop their action-theory and that the aim of outdoor development programs — whether in mainstream education, corporate training or therapy — is to facilitate this process. After introducing the notion of action-theory, I will present a particular approach to facilitation, which can be understood as a reflection-in-action approach. I conclude by situating this approach in the wider range of facilitation models in the literature on outdoor education and adventure therapy.     

The role of paraphrased adjunct questions in facilitating learning from prose

Twenty-six college student read a 5000-word prose passage and answered either verbatim or paraphrased inserted questions while reading about international communication. Students either were or were not permitted to review the text while answering the inserted questions. On a subsequent post-test containing new paraphrases of the adjunct questions, students who received paraphrased adjunct questions outperformed students who received verbatim adjunct questions. This result supported the contention that paraphrased adjunct questions could facilitate meaningful learning from prose.     

The role of relationships and emotions in student perceptions of learning and assessment

The paper addresses the way in which participants in a qualitative study drew upon accounts of relationships and emotions in sharing their perceptions of assessment. By first exploring ideas about emotions and relationships in learning and assessment through the literature and subsequently discussing an interpretation of participant narratives, the author suggests that emotions and relationships surrounding past learning and assessment contexts can influence current perceptions of assessment and learning in powerful ways. The study also reveals how students value opportunities to express their beliefs, feelings and emotions during the assessment process. They also expect teachers to balance objectivity in assessment with empathy for those parts of themselves shared in the process. The conclusion is drawn that there are important implications for learning in the emotional response of students to assessment and in the nature of teaching and learning relationships that are worthy of further investigation.     

The role of traditional folklore in facilitating adult learning in Nigeria

Adults, unlike children, have a wide variety of prior experiences and knowledge which they bring to the processes of learning they engage in at later stages of life. This difference between teaching children (pedagogy) and teaching adults was identified by Malcolm Knowles in the 1980s. He coined the term andragogy to describe the art and science of helping adults learn. Andragogy is premised on five key tenets: self-concept; experience; readiness to learn; orientation to learn; and motivation. These are often absent from the conventional facilitation methods used for adult learning and education (ALE) in Nigeria. The author of this article notes that many ALE programmes fail to meet the needs and expectations which motivate learners to engage in a course. She argues that for learning outcomes to be more successful, teaching methods need to be more creative and take learners’ prior experience and knowledge into consideration. After reviewing literature on the topic of adult learning, this article examines conventional methods of facilitating ALE in South West Nigeria. The author points out some of these methods’ shortcomings and suggests that one viable approach to addressing these might be to introduce the use of traditional folklore for andragogical purposes. The author posits that integrating oral tradition would also enable a more playful approach to adult learning. In a practice-oriented vein, she discusses the innovative and andragogical elements inherent in folktales, lullabies, folksongs, poetry, proverbs and riddles, illustrating her discussion with Yoruba examples. She concludes that folklore is useful as an independent or integral ALE facilitation method, with promising potential to make ALE more effective.

     

Regarding learning: Children’s drawings of learning in the classroom

This article explores drawings of learning in the classroom made by a class of 6 to 7-year-olds in a UK primary school. The drawings were analysed by considering the choices that children made in their drawings in terms of four themes: self and social relations in learning, the physical environment, learning activities, and learning and behaviour. These are discussed using five drawings as examples. A wide range of images was used by the children, although some drew common views of learning. The article warns against assuming that we know how a young person views their learning, or that a class of children share a common view of it. It is also suggested that talk about such drawings can make a contribution to a joint exploration of understandings of learning by teachers and children.     

Building back better to avert a learning catastrophe: Estimating learning loss from COVID-19 school shutdowns in Africa and facilitating short-term and long-term learning recovery

We model learning losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for cost-effective strategies to build back better. Data from Early Grade Reading Assessments in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, and Uganda suggest half to over a year’s worth of learning loss. In modeling losses over time, we found that learning deficits for a child in grade 3 could lead to 2.8 years of lost learning by grade 10. While COVID-19 has stymied learning, bold, learning-focused reform consistent with the literature reviewed in this paper—specifically reform on targeted instruction and structured pedagogy—could improve learning even beyond pre-COVID-19 levels.     

普适计算环境下远程教育情感交互的设计模型

普适计算强调把计算机嵌入到环境中去,让人们关注的中心能从计算机回归到任务本身,这种理念对远程教育情感交互的实现有很强的促进作用。文章认为制约当前远程教育情感缺失的三大成因是技术主义思潮、师生分离和计算技术的发展水平;而普适计算却能突破传统桌面计算的局限,使得远程教育在情感表达、情感传递和情感识别等的技术实现上有着无比的优势。文章在作者所构建的情感三维模型的基础上,设计了普适计算支持的远程教育人机情感交互模型和人际情感交互模型。     

新课程改革背景下生命课堂的本质、特征及其建构

新课程改革的理念要求当代教育重视人的发展,实现“生命教育”。生命教育的特征体现在以生为本、教师智慧、开放多元和创造性教学等方面,在建构上强调教师转变教学观念、构建开放式教学模式、建立和谐师生关系、营造轻松学习氛围、顺应学生心理发展等。     

The dynamics of online learning at the workplace: Peer-facilitated social learning and the application in practice

Research stresses the importance of social components in learning. The social contact with peers and tutors stimulates reflection and supports higher processes of learning necessary for the internalisation and application of new knowledge. However, merely proposing opportunities for interaction does not necessarily lead to fruitful discussion and collaboration. Social presence and facilitation are key concepts for successful mutual learning. Both are represented in Murphy’s collaboration model; social presence forms the basis of collaboration on which discussions and co-construction of knowledge evolve. Facilitation supports the entire collaboration process. In this paper, an adjusted version of Murphy’s model was applied to analyse 1085 comments shared in an online course between career practitioners of a public employment service. The results show that without a dedicated tutor, learners can still be involved in collaborative learning and co-construction of new knowledge provided that the topic under discussion is highly relevant and controversial. Learners themselves take over social presence and facilitation activities, but less frequently than when a professional tutor facilitates discussions. Ex post summative evaluation revealed that only a few learners applied the gained knowledge in the long-term. As comparisons with related research suggest, higher facilitation support leading to a higher cognitive interaction with the learning could have better supported the transfer to practice.     

Improving adult learning and professional development in a post-conflict area: The case of Cambodia

All over the world, international development organizations try to increase professional capacity of local staff. These attempts are thought to fail because of financial constraints, but this is just part of the story. Professional development and adult learning theories approach learning from a western perspective, while many developing societies are organized according to non-western models. This article describes research conducted in the Cambodian Ministry of Education, focusing on how adult learning theory could be applied in order to improve learning and support transfer. When local experience and the cultural influence on learning are acknowledged, learning outcomes are found to improve.     

高职"订单教育"简论

"订单教育"是我国高职教育的一种新型教育模式,对高职教育的发展起到了有利地推动作 用。本文就高职教育"订单模式"的形成与特点作了简要论述。     

The role of post-visit action resources in facilitating meaningful free-choice learning after a zoo visit

Places like zoos, where free-choice learning is encouraged, are important for conveying climate change and sustainability issues to the public. Free-choice learning that targets environmentally focused sustainable behavior changes must be meaningful in order to encourage actual behavior change post-visit. However, visitors often fail to translate their learning into behavior change after a visit. This research explores the role of post-visit action resources (PVARs) in facilitating long-term learning for individual environmental sustainability after a visit to the Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo in Manitoba, Canada. An embedded mixed-methods research design used personal meaning maps and follow-up interviews to measure free-choice learning; data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings revealed that the PVARs positively affected free-choice learning after an on-site visit to the zoo. Recommendations and implications are discussed in relation to practical applications and implications for future research in environmental education.     

The challenges of facilitating arts learning in home education

Home education, or home schooling, is a rapidly growing global educational phenomenon. Given the emphasis that educators, policy makers and researchers have placed upon the arts as an important element in a holistic education, the ways in which the growing home education community are facilitating arts learning warrants consideration. Facilitating quality arts learning has been found to be extremely challenging, especially for generalist classroom teachers who may not possess background learning across the range of arts subjects represented in most arts curricula. Revelations from this study on Australian home educating parents identifies a similar dilemma with the facilitation of arts learning in home contexts, and a significant proportion of the home educating participants acknowledged little to no educational or artistic training. In this project, an online survey was conducted to develop insights into the ways Australian home educators (n = 193) approach arts education, the challenges associated with facilitating arts learning and the strategies they employ in light of these challenges. The research highlights that, while home education is pedagogically unique and distinct from traditional classroom education, the challenges participants expressed regarding teaching in the arts aligned closely with those expressed by classroom teachers in wider research; however, the uniqueness of home education contexts means that support structures for classroom teachers are less helpful for home educators. Implications arising from the research are thus beneficial in understanding the nature of support that might be tailored for arts learning in home education.     

Emotional design in multimedia learning: Effects of shape and color on affect and learning

We examine design factors that may evoke positive emotions in learners and investigate the effects of these positive emotions on learning. Recent research showed that the emotional design of multimedia learning material can induce positive emotions in learners that in turn facilitate comprehension and transfer. We sought to replicate these results with a different population and different mood induction procedure and examine individual emotions, and to decompose the effects of the design elements of color and shape. Study 1 showed that well-designed materials induced positive emotions and facilitated comprehension, though transfer performance was not affected by emotional design. Study 2 found that round face-like shapes both alone and in conjunction with warm color induced positive emotions. Warm colors alone, however, did not affect learners' emotions. Comprehension was facilitated by warm colors and round face-like shapes, independently as well as together. Transfer was facilitated by round face-like shapes when used with neutral colors.     

The comic counterfactual: Laughter,affect, and civic alternatives

This project contributes the comic counterfactual to the critical lexicon of rhetorical studies. Using a range of examples from political comedy, this paper offers six distinguishing features and several temporal functions of this concept. I argue that the comic counterfactual invites audiences to critically reflect upon the political, social, and performative consequences of historical events by bringing affective, sensory weight to alternative visions, moving unaccountable private interests into public culture, targeting the subtle determinisms that can easily creep into communication, and creating plausible ways to reworld the status quo. I discuss the limitations of the comic counterfactual in the political economy of media and offer several conclusions for rhetorical research and practice.     

Psychological maltreatment,emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents: The mediating role of resilience and self-esteem

In this study, structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating role of resilience and self-esteem in the relationships between psychological maltreatment-emotional problems and psychological maltreatment-behavioral problems in adolescents. Participants were 937 adolescents from different high schools in Turkey. The sample included 502 female (53.6%) and 435 male (46.4%) students, 14–19 years old (mean age = 16.51, SD = 1.15). Results indicated that psychological maltreatment was negatively correlated with resilience and self-esteem, and positively correlated with behavioral problems and emotional problems. Resilience and self-esteem also predicted behavioral problems and emotional problems. Finally, psychological maltreatment predicted emotional and behavioral problems mediated by resilience and self-esteem. Resilience and self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between psychological maltreatment-behavioral and psychological maltreatment-emotional problems in adolescents. Thus, resilience and self-esteem appear to play a protective role in emotional problems and behavioral problems in psychologically maltreated individuals. Implications are discussed and suggestions for psychological counselors and other mental health professionals are presented.