Evaluation of an Experimental Course in Race Relations

Universities and colleges have developed many new courses concerned with race relations. Objectives of these courses have been far-reaching and it has been particularly difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. Out-comes are often not clearly described. This study examined student experiences with minority groups before, during, and after taking an experimental course in race relations. We observed differences in the experiences with minority groups of open-minded, moderate, and closed-minded students who took the course, and differences in the experiences with minority groups of students who were more or less satisfied with the course. The sample was made up of 69 percent (N = 66) of the students who completed the course. Students said they had first heard of more of the well known minority individuals and had had more interpersonal relations with members of minority groups before taking the course. Most had visited or heard of more of the community agencies and councils while taking the course. At the conclusion of the course, a large number still had not read most of the books, magazines, and newspapers. Open-minded students had had more experiences with minority groups than had moderates before taking the course. The degree to which students were open or closed minded was also related to their number of non-experiences with both minority group people and minority literature at the conclusion of the course. Surprisingly, closed minded students were more satisfied with the course. More satisfied students read less about minority groups after the course was completed. Finally, the results indicated no significant differences in the experiences before, during, and after the course of students who were more and less satisfied with the course.     

The Effects of the “Flight Technique” of Teaching on Creativity Scores

The effects of human relations seminars on dogmatism scores of educational administration students were investigated. Two groups of graduate students coming largely from the Middle and Far East were used in this study. The experimental group was given a series of human relations workshops over a period of four weeks. The results provided evidence that human relations training can reduce dogmatism as measured by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. Also, the seminars provided an opportunity not usually found in the traditional academic program for graduate students to interact with their peers and the faculty.     

Iranian university students’ experiences of and attitudes towards alternatives in assessment

This study investigated the effect of assessment type (self vs. peer vs. teacher) on university students’ academic achievement and students’ attitudes toward them. In the main study, 82 undergraduate English-as-a-Foreign-Language students in four classes at three universities in Iran were randomly assigned into one of self-, peer- and teacher-assessment or control groups. A pre-test was designed to measure students’ initial knowledge in the subject Teaching Methods. Then experimental groups were subjected to one of the assessment types; however, the control group received no intervention. Thirty-eight students from experimental groups completed an attitude questionnaire. A similarly designed follow-up study was conducted with two classes of BA Chemistry students taking a General English course at Urmia University. The application of one-way analysis of covariance on the main study post-test data indicated differences in performances of all groups, with peer-assessment group performing the best. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that both self- and peer-assessment, as well as the teacher-assessment group, had positive attitudes toward their assessment experiences. The application of one-way analysis of variance on replication study data showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the post-test and that students in the former group had positive attitudes toward self-assessment.     

“结晶学及矿物学”课程教学改革实践初步探索

本文以成都理工大学本科“结晶学及矿物学”课程教学实践为对象,从课程内容、教学方法、教学手段和实验教学等方面阐述了“结晶学及矿物学”课程教学改革实践的思路及经验。这些措施有力地提高学生的综合素质,并获得了较好的教学效果。     

The use of video-taped lectures and web-based communications in teaching: A distance-teaching and cross-Atlantic collaboration experiment

We have conducted an experiment to discover how we can co-teach the course 'Engineering Design Problem Formulation' simultaneously at the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU, Pittsburgh, USA). We have formed teams that involved students from both countries, and we have experimented with long distance collaboration. In doing so, students would learn to co-operate with people at another (time zone) location with a different cultural background and, in addition, they would help the teachers of the course to develop insights into long distance collaboration. CMU lectures have been recorded with a digital video camera, and a set of PowerPoint slides accompanied each of these lectures. The movies were used by the Delft teachers by running them in class along with the PowerPoint slides and stopping often to discuss the material as the movie progressed. We also made fourperson international student groups. The entire international group met once at the start of the course using video-conferencing. During the course, the groups communicated through phone calls, e-mails and chatting. In addition, everyone in the course used the web-accessible document management system LIRE' (developed at the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, CMU) to capture, organize and share all documents anyone produced throughout the course. The tools used in the course and the collaboration experiences were evaluated through a questionnaire distributed among the students. The results are presented in this paper.     

Can a collaborative network environment enhance essay-writing processes?

The aim of this study is to examine whether a computer-supported learning environment enhances essay writing by providing an opportunity to share drafts with fellow students and receive feedback from a draft version. Data for this study were provided by 25 law students who were enrolled in a course in legal history at the University of Helsinki in February 2001. Both the students and the teacher were interviewed. The interviews showed that the students' experiences of the essay-writing process were very positive. The teacher's experiences were in line with the students'. The results showed that the students seemed to divide into two groups concerning their experiences towards sharing written drafts with peers: those who were very enthusiastic and enjoyed the possibility to share drafts and those who, on the other hand, felt that the idea of sharing unfinished essays was too threatening for them and required too much openness. The results further showed that the active use of a computer-supported learning environment was related to good essay grades.     

Students as Scholars: Integrating Independent Research into Undergraduate Education

Undergraduate programs across the country are working to develop students as scholars, integrating independent scholarly experiences into traditional undergraduate classroom environments (see, e.g. George Mason University's Students as Scholars Quality Enhancement Plan; Boston University’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program; University of Houston’s Learning through Discovery; University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program; etc.). Scholars and universities have touted the benefits of engaging students in research experiences for students as well as faculty. However, there is little empirical work exploring how undergraduate students adapt to their new role as scholars. In this paper, we explore the process of students integrating research into their undergraduate classroom experience. Based on participant observation and pre and postsemester survey data, we discuss the process of students learning as scholars in a capstone Criminology, Law & Society course. We focus on how students gathered and analyzed data and integrated their research experience into their overall learning for the course. We find the process of research reinforces the learning objectives of the course.     

Writing as a tool for constructive learning: Students' learning experiences during an experiment

Education students' learning experiences were investigated in an experiment where writing was used as a central tool for learning. Experimental group students (n = 15) studied three textbooks, carried out writing assignments requiring knowledge transforming, discussed their assignments in groups and wrote a long essay. Control group students (n = 13) read the same books on their own without engaging in activating learning tasks, attended lectures and took an exam. After the course the students were interviewed and asked what they felt they had learned during the course. They were also asked to fill in a learning assessment form. The interviews and the questionnaire assessments produced similar results. The experimental group students described their learning in a greater variety of ways than did the students in the control group. They emphasised the development of their thinking, changes in their conceptions of the topics studied and their acquisition of communication and study skills more than the control group students. The findings of the present study support earlier studies of writing-to-learn, suggesting that activating textbook reading by means of writing tasks and group discussions may enhance learning of the kind that higher education is aiming at: understanding, conceptional change and the development of critical thinking.     

Using educational games and simulation software in a computer science course: learning achievements and student flow experiences

This study investigates how educational games impact on students' academic performance and multimedia flow experiences in a computer science course. A curriculum consists of five basic learning units, that is, the stack, queue, sort, tree traversal, and binary search tree, was conducted for 110 university students during one semester. Two groups of students participated in learning activities: the experimental group was instructed using the gaming method; and the control group was instructed using the non-gaming method. During the study, tests, a survey, and interviews were conducted with students. The evaluation results for academic performance and multimedia flow experiences show that compared to the non-gaming method, incorporating the gaming method into the learning process can enhance students' academic performance and multimedia flow experiences. The results also indicated that there is a non-significant and positive relationship between students' academic performance and multimedia flow experiences.     

Students’ Learning and Locus of Control in Web-Supplemental Instruction

This multicase study investigated the learning experiences of four college students identified respectively as internal and external locus of control. They were taking a basic educational technology course that supplemented classroom teaching with two course web sites. Four categories that characterized their learning experiences suggested some relationship between locus of control and learning experience.Danhua Wang is Assistant Professor of Reading at St. Louis Community College. She received the Ph.D. from Oakland University. Her particular interests are the learning and reading comprehension processes     

加强实验教学改革 搭建创新实验平台

专业实验教学是知识与能力相交融、理论与实际相结合、动手与动脑相协调的实践性教学过程。在科技飞速发展的今天,激烈的国际国内市场竞争,要求高校培养的大学生应是基础扎实、知识面宽、富有创新精神和竞争意识的人才。结合我国高校实验教学工作,以山东农大电工电子实验教学中心的建设、发展和改革为例,从办学条件、人才培养模式、实验课程及内容的设置等多方面的经验总结,与大家共同探讨。     

Assessment as an equity issue in higher education: comparing the perceptions of first year students, course coordinators, and academic leaders

Assessment practices that aim to promote both quality and equity may be compromised in a higher education market where students are consumers and grades the currency exchanged for measures of success. In such a climate, academics report feeling pressured to make course content and assessment less challenging in order to obtain positive student evaluations, and they may lose faith in university quality assurance processes that seem focused on ensuring student satisfaction with education as a product. To explore these issues from the perspectives of the main stakeholders in assessment, this paper investigates assessment perceptions of students, course coordinators, and faculty Associate Deans responsible for teaching and learning at The University of Queensland. The findings highlight differences in what these groups consider to be important assessment issues and differences in how they should be addressed. First year students are identified as a disadvantaged group due to perceptions of the role of feedback and formative assessment that may be influenced by their secondary school assessment experiences.     

Teaching an Innocence Case Review Course to Undergraduate Students

After two years of experience in overseeing groups of undergraduate and graduate criminal justice students in an Innocence Case Review course at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), the authors reviewed the structure of the course and the attitudes of the participating students. An examination of Innocence Case Review current procedures in undergraduate institutions and law schools provides background for course design. This article summarizes the findings of the students’ experiences, reactions, and attitudes of their yearlong case screening efforts, and to the criminal justice system in general. The first part of this article examines the literature on innocence case review classes at both undergraduate institutions and law schools exploring different learning styles and strategies inherent in this type of class. It also explores the skills necessary for case review, and the skills students can take to other classes and professions. The second part reviews the structure of our courses as initially created and implemented for the last two academic years at UCM and the modifications the instructors felt necessary for the future. The third part examines the survey conducted by the UCM’s Innocence Case Review class, including student suggestions for class improvements and advice to students selected for the new academic year. The benefits and abilities gained by the students through this course become apparent. The fourth part discusses and evaluates the current class structure and reforms suggested by the UCM students, the professors’ experience, and as indicated by other universities. The conclusion reviews findings gathered from the current course as well as examining other universities’ courses, and the value students experience from participating in this experiential or engaged learning.     

Visualizing knowledge in new educational environments: a course on learning objects

This article describes the learning objectives, the course activities, experiences and outcomes of a graduate level course on learning object design. The course was developed and taught at The Ohio State University by the author during the Spring Quarter of 2003. Students from the visual design and education disciplines partnered to work on a client‐initiated, authentic, grant‐funded project. The students, working in teams and serving as expert consultants to each other, were tasked with designing prototypes for learning objects to be used by freshman high school students, particularly those with disabilities. The course provided an opportunity to observe how developers actually built learning objects and to apply that knowledge to better understanding the issues facing faculty when challenged with the same tasks.     

Exploring preservice teachers' attitudes towards inclusion

This study responds to a call for research into existing teacher-education programmes and their impact on teacher candidates' attitudes. An inclusive education course that examined the difference between ‘soft inclusion’ (inclusion which addresses the issue of place rather than substance of learning) and genuine inclusion was used to explore pre-existing teacher candidate beliefs and assumptions. Using the Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming-Adapted, four classes of students from two different teacher-preparation programmes within the Faculty of Education at York University in Toronto, Canada, were surveyed pre- and post-course. A statistically significant change in the scores was found for all of the classes. A significant difference was also found between the changes in scores of the two programme groups. Results indicate that the course was successful at shifting preservice students towards inclusion and gave the students a foundation that will hopefully translate into practice.     

RECENTLY PUBLISHED DISSERTATIONS ON COMMUNITY AND JUNIOR COLLEGES

The imminent teacher shortage in the United States has caused educators, policy makers, parents and concerned citizens to focus on teacher preparation not only at the university level, but also at the community college level. As a result, many community colleges are developing teacher education programs and focusing on real life classroom situations for early field experiences. Mentoring, one of the most popular ways of benefiting from the positive influence of a more experienced person, is an approach to preparing teachers for educational occupations.

The main objective of this study was to see if a preservice mentoring program can affect changes in the emotions, attitudes, and anxieties of students about the teaching profession. The participants were 60 education majors (30 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group) from a community college. The experimental group had first-hand experiences with 30 master teachers from a local school district. The 30 students in the control group were education majors from the community college who completed a pre- and posttest instrument. Data was collected from results of a pre- and posttest of a teaching attitudinal survey for preservice teachers. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to test for significant differences between the means of the posttests for the control and experimental groups while controlling for the pretests. Results revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between the means of the two groups with respect to changes in emotions and anxiety. However, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in attitudinal changes.     

Social media networks and pedagogy at the University of Jordan

This study examined impact of a social media networks course on student use of SNSs performance. Moreover, it examined the associations among course design, course materials, learning experiences and a social media networks course. Survey instrument is used to examine the relationships in the proposed model. A total of 380 questionnaires have been collected from students at the University of Jordan who studied the social media networks course. A structural equation modelling approach based on AMOS 20.0 statistical software is used to study the causal relationships and test the hypotheses between the observed and latent constructs in the proposed research model. The analysis results revealed that course materials and learning experiences directly, positively and significantly impacted the social media networks course, which in turn had a significant impact on students’ use social networks sites performance. Course design, however, did not impact the social media networks course. Our findings have important implications as we demonstrated the validity of the joint two different models and provide information about impact of studying social media networks course on students’ academic performance.     

What Makes a Student Group Successful? Student-Student and Student-Teacher Interaction in a Problem-Based Learning Environment

This study investigated student-student and teacher-student interaction in a problem-based course and looked at study success in relation to group dynamics and approaches to studying. Data for this study were provided by 31 law students who were enrolled in a course in legal history at the University of Helsinki in February 2001. The students were divided into three small groups that were tutored by one teacher. Both the students and the teacher were interviewed. The interaction between the students and their teacher, and the group dynamics of each subgroup, were observed during the tutor sessions. The results showed that the student groups were very different from each other in terms of study success, group dynamics and communication between the group members. One group achieved significantly higher grades than the other two groups. There was only one clear difference between the three groups. The interviews and observations showed that the students in the best group participated more evenly and actively in the discussions than students in the other two groups.     

The effect of a new prelaboratory procedure on students' achievement in chemistry

The primary purpose of this study was to develop an alternative model, the Prelaboratory Preparation Period (PLPP), to be used to introduce freshman level students to weekly laboratories and to evaluate student academic achievement as the result of attending the Prelaboratory Preparation Period. The sample was composed of 233 students taking introductory chemistry at Auburn University. The data were collected over a four quarter period of time. A posttest-only control group design with five experimental and three control groups was used to investigate the effect of the Prelaboratory Preparation Period. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to determine if significant differences existed between academic achievement of the experimental and control groups. Results of the analysis indicated that a significant difference (α = 0.05) in academic performance existed between the two groups. It was concluded that the Prelaboratory Preparation Period increased the academic achievement of students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course.     

Learning to learn at university. The effects of an instrumental subject on learning strategies and academic achievement / Aprender a aprender en la universidad. Efectos de una materia instrumental sobre las estrategias de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico

Self-regulated learning is very important at university, since students must manage the strategies and abilities necessary to be autonomous and effective in their learning. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of a course designed for this purpose on learning strategies and students’ achievement of first-year university students. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used, with an experimental group and a control group, applying measurement instruments before starting and after finishing the course. The learning process was analysed on this course, with students being trained in the use of relevant learning strategies — metacognitive strategies, strategies for processing and using information and affective and motivational strategies. The sample consisted of 47 students, 23 of them belonging to the experimental group and 24 of them to the control group, from various degrees at the University of Valencia. The results confirmed significant improvements in the learning strategy scores of the experimental group compared to the control group. There was also an improvement in academic achievement, but in this case the differences were not statistically significant.