Changing the Learning Environment to Enhance Students' Metacognition in Hong Kong Primary School Classrooms

This study reports on the impact of a 2-month classroom intervention that sought to alter the learning environment of two Hong Kong Primary Year 3 general studies classrooms. Mixed methodology, employing quantitative and qualitative data-gathering strategies, was used to investigate changes to the learning environments, including changes to the teachers' language and ultimately the students' metacognition. The quantitative facet of the research involved the development of a 15-item learning environments instrument, the General Studies Metacognitive Orientation Scale (GSMOS), that evaluated elements of the metacognitive orientation of the classrooms' learning environments. While the data from the administration of the GSMOS suggested no statistical differences between the pre- and post-intervention environments of the classrooms, student interviews and classroom observations provided supportive data for some changes, which resulted in students developing metacognitive knowledge of teacher-selected thinking and learning strategies, as well as some awareness and limited control of their use of such strategies in their classrooms.     

A Cross-cultural Study of Classroom Learning Environments in Australia and Taiwan

This research is distinctive in that it not only provides an example of one of the few cross-cultural studies in science education, but also it used multiple research methods from different paradigms in exploring classroom learning environments in Taiwan and Australia. This article describes the validation and use of an English and Mandarin version of the What is Happening in this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire in junior high school science classes in Australia and Taiwan. When the WIHIC was administered to 1,081 students in 50 classes in Australia and to 1,879 students in 50 classes in Taiwan, data analysis supported the reliability and factorial validity of the questionnaire, and revealed differences between Taiwanese and Australian classrooms. Although the study commenced from a more positivistic framework, favouring a more objectivist view, as the study progressed, it employed an interpretative framework and drew on elements of constructivist and critical theory paradigms. This article outlines the researchers' use of multiple research methods including classroom observations, in-depth interviews and narratives. The themes which emerged from the data gathered using these methods helped to make sense of classroom environments that were created in each country.

     

基于计算机学习环境下的自我调节学习

自我调节学习是学习者获得成功学习的重要因素,因此如何促进和利用学习者的自我调节学习能力就成为基于计算机的学习环境设计的关键问题。欧洲电子学习网络推出的iClass项目以自我调节学习的理论与模型为指导,充分促进了自我调节学习的实现。未来基于计算机学习环境的设计可以从多个方面促进学习者的自我调节学习。     

An Exploratory Study of Situated Conceptions of Learning and Learning Environments

This paper describes a study designed to test whether situated conceptions of learning can be measured using questionnaires, and the relations between these aspects of students’ awareness, their awareness of other environmental variables, and their learning outcomes. A situated conception of learning is one that is evoked and adopted by students in response to their perceptions of their learning tasks in a particular context. It may reflect the aims they have for their studies, once they have started that study and experienced that study environment. The results from this small-scale, limited-context study showed that when students perceived the learning environment as being more supportive of learning, they were more likely to describe a situated conception of learning that was more closely aligned with those promoted by the University. They also had higher scores on the deep approach to learning scale, lower scores on the surface approach scale, and expected to leave university with a higher degree classification. These associations, which suggest that situated conceptions, like prior experience of learning, may be a crucial indicator of learning approach and outcomes of learning, are sufficiently large to warrant more rigorous investigations.     

谈ESP课堂中的自主学习和元认知策略

教学和课程改革不仅包括教学内容,还包括教师的方法论、学生的学习策略还有学习时师生的变换关系方面。研究的问题：旨在说明专途英语（ESP）所需是英语研究的一个新方向。过程与方法：概述了与普遍使用的方法背道而驰的英语学习方法,详述语言需要对于特效英语课程是不可或缺的,且其对于资料的筛选和划分也是功不可没,同时教授ESP学习策略也是必不可少的。结果：自主学习和元认知策略对于教授和学习ESP至关重要。     

高职英语专业学生词汇学习策略的调查

词汇学习一向是高职英语专业的学生英语学习中的一个难点。随着二语习得理论研究的深入,越来越多的语言学家对语言学习策略进行了研究并做了具体的分类。本文在语言学家Norbert Schmitt的词汇学习策略的基础上根据高职学生的特点,设计了高职英语专业的学生词汇学习策略的调查。依据调查的结果的分析,指出了高职英语专业学生在英语词汇学习中存在的问题。     

浅谈如何提高高职高专学生英语学习的元认知能力

高职高专院校的许多学生在英语学习的主动性方面存在一定的不足,影响了学生英语水平的提高。在教学实践中将元认知理论引入到英语教学中,使学生对英语学习进行计划、监控、评价和调节,从而提高学生的自主学习能力。     

Self-Regulation of Learning within Computer-based Learning Environments: A Critical Analysis

Computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) present important opportunities for fostering learning; however, studies have shown that students have difficulty when learning with these environments. Research has identified that students’ self-regulatory learning (SRL) processes may mediate the hypothesized positive relations between CBLEs and academic performance. In this review, we identified 33 empirical studies of SRL and CBLEs. We address three research questions: (1) How do learner and task characteristics relate to students’ SRL with CBLEs? (2) Can various learning supports or conditions enhance the quality of students’ SRL as they learn with CBLEs? (3) What conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues exist for this growing area of research? We found evidence that specific SRL processes are more often associated with academic success than others and that SRL skills can be supported. We also identified a number of issues that researchers should aim to address in future investigations, including a more comprehensive measurement of facets of SRL and the quality of SRL processes, the seeming disconnect between SRL processes and learning outcomes, and the distinction between self- and other-regulation. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Learning Environments and Learning Styles: Non-traditional Student Enrollment and Success in an Internet-based Versus a Lecture-based Computer Science Course

Colleges and universities are increasingly using information technologies to enhance the learning environment. Many educational institutions offer Internet-based on-line courses in an effort to meet the educational needs of students. The primary goal of this research was to determine if there is a relationship between students' preferred learning environment (i.e. face-to-face or on-line) and their learning style. The secondary goal was to determine if there were any differences in the academic success of students in the face-to-face versus on-line sections. Participants were adult (ages 22+ years), non-traditional computer science students given the option to take a face-to-face lecture-based or an on-line Internet-based computer science course. Results revealed that computer science students in the face-to-face learning environment were more likely to have the Assimilator learning-style, whereas computer science students in the on-line Internet-based learning environment were more likely to have the Converger learning-style. Student academic success did not reliably differ as a function of learning environment selection. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of learning style characteristics of computer science students, learning styles and gender differences and implications of student academic success in on-line vs face-to-face environments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Learning Science through Investigations: An Experience with Hong Kong Primary School Children

This paper reports on a study of children learning science through investigations. Because many skill-type performances depend upon knowing and understanding the relevant content, this paper addresses both the children's understanding of scientific ideas and their performance of the science process skills. Twenty-four written records of investigations conducted by Hong Kong primary school children were studied to explore children's cognitive processes in scientific investigations. The paper concludes with a model that provides useful information about aspects of children's cognitive understanding and the practical processes that are necessary for scientific investigation.     

外语不善学者的元认知能力培养

教会学生学习、提高学习者的学习自主性和学习成效是当今外语教学的主要目标,培养学习者的元认知能力是学习者自主、高效学习的关键。     

The Status of Science Classroom Learning Environments in Indonesian Lower Secondary Schools

Learning Environments Research - This study reports cross-validation results for an Indonesian-language version of a modified form of the What Is Happening In this Class?(WIHIC) questionnaire and...     

College Students' Study Strategies as a Function of Testing: An Investigation into Metacognitive Self-Regulation

We conducted the present study to investigate whether college students adjust their study strategies to meet the cognitive demands of testing, a metacognitive self-regulatory skill. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two testing conditions. In one condition we told participants to study for a test that required deep-level cognitive processing and in the other to study for a test that required surface-level cognitive processing. Results suggested that college students adjust their study strategies so that they are in line with the cognitive processing demands of tests and that performance is mediated by the study strategies that are used.Margaret E. Ross is an Associate Professor of Educational Measurement and Statistics at Auburn University. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Kansas. Her research interests include the role assessment plays in influencing student learning strategies, assessment issues and policy, and educational program evaluation. Samuel B. Green is a Professor in the Educational Psychology Department at Arizona State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Measurement and Individual Differences Psychology from the University of Georgia. His research focuses on statistical procedures. Jill Salisbury-Glennon is an Associate Professor teaching Educational Psychology courses at Auburn University. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Pennsylvania. Research interests include college student self-regulation, metacognition, and motivation. Nona Tollefson recently passed away. She was a Professor of Psychology and Research in Education at the University of Kansas and held a Ph.D. from Purdue University. Her research focused on student assessment     

虚拟环境下英语学习模式的研究

近年来，随着因特网在我国的迅速发展，越来越多的人意识到了网络学习的重要性。教师被期望成为指导者和设计者，课堂则设计为以学生为中心。教师应具备在虚拟环境下英语自主、合作、探究式学习的足够知识。     

A Classroom Investigation of the Growth of Metacognitive Awareness in Kindergarten Children Through the Writing Process

This study investigated the presence and growth of kindergarten children's metacognition as they engaged in the writing process. The study was conducted in an environment that surrounded children with books, language, and print. Twice a month the teacher/researcher interviewed the children as they finished writing, asking questions designed to help them reflect on their thinking and strategies they used in their writing. Anecdotal records, observations, and individual writing folders were used to complete a checklist of writing strategies for each child. Interviews with the children confirmed that they were exhibiting and showing growth in their metacognition. They were able to provide appropriate answers to questions that required them to talk about their thinking and identify strategies that helped them in their writing. The study provides a model that could be used in classrooms to help children in the development of their growing metacognition and writing in an authentic learning environment.     

A Metacognitive Support during the Process of Problem Solving in a Computerized Environment

A new computerized environment enabling a variety of metacognitive supports in different phases of the problem-solving process was designed to influence students' metacognition during word problem-solving and its effect has been examined in the present research. 441 students (aged 13–14) from eighth-grade integrative classes participated in this study. The pupils were randomly assigned to one of four computerized learning environments, each having a different kind of metacognitive support according to the phase of the problem-solving process: 1) during the solution process and after the completion of the problem-solving process, 2) during the problem-solving process, 3) at the end of the solution process and 4) no metacognitive support. Results indicated that learning environments which provide metacognitive support during the solution process in each of its phases was significantly more effective than learning environments which provide metacognitive support only at the end of the process. Moreover, students with low previous knowledge were more significantly influenced by metacognitive supports than students with high previous knowledge. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Learning Environments Research in Asia: Editor's Introduction

A recent book entitled Studies in Educational Learning Environments: An International Perspective not only traces the remarkable expansion of the field of learning environments internationally, but it also provides a unique focus on the distinctive contributions made by Asian researchers. Asian researchers have translated and cross-validated questionnaires that originated in the West, and have used them in various lines of research. Gaps in Asian research on learning environments and desirable directions for future research are considered.     

视频会议学习环境下的互动模式研究

基于H.323视频会议系统,根据Oliver和Mcloughlin提出的互动模型,分析了视频会议学习环境下的5种互动模式.通过通信原理课程的培训实验,表明视频会议学习环境下,教师和学生间的互动比较多,学生间的互动比较少,学习更关注学习内容,学习过程仍是以教师为中心.     

网络课堂自主学习活动调查研究

本研究基于某高校将网络教学引入大学英语常规课堂的做法,对由教师直接指导的网络自主学习情况作了调查。调查结果显示,学生网络课堂中的产出性学习活动相对较少,学生总体上对网络课堂学习的效能感不高,他们大多希望得到网络学习策略方面的指导。基于该结果,文章认为教师在网络课堂中的角色远不止于课程资源的提供者,网络课堂中的教师教学能力需要拓展。