Unique metadata schemas: A model for user-centric design of a performance support system

Learning object technology is viewed as a method for fast retrieval. This effort is on developing unique schemas for a targeted group to aid efficient retrieval. In this article, I study a user-centric model for developing tags for K-12 educators that is based on user needs, expectations, and problems. I use a combination of techniques from human performance technology and Sensemaking^® to gather and analyze data from potential users. The resultant tag set is simple enough that researchers may envision a performance support system where users may quickly and easily tag and add objects to the system. This opens the door to the creation of systems designed for groups with homogenous information needs, with unique metatags, populated largely with objects and information brought into the system by the users.     

Incorporating technologies into a flexible teaching space

Higher education institutions are increasingly exploring how they can use emerging technologies to develop and enhance the learning experiences offered to students. These activities have mainly focused on developing student‐centred facilities. The University of Warwick has taken the next step by developing a space (the Teaching Grid) specifically designed to meet the needs of teaching staff across the institution. This paper describes how the Teaching Grid supports teachers by providing a flexible experimental space together with a rich collection of established and new technologies, and with comprehensive staff support. We analysed the use of the facility during the first 30 months of operation, using data collected from 119 case studies, in order to present a perspective on how they have used the technologies and how this has impacted on their teaching practice. We present a taxonomy that provides a concrete framework to support future analysis of and comparisons between such spaces.     

Using applied behaviour analysis as standard practice in a UK special needs school

This article describes how applied behaviour analysis can be implemented effectively and affordably in a maintained special needs school in the UK. Behaviour analysts collaborate with classroom teachers to provide early intensive behaviour education for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and function based behavioural interventions for children between the ages of three and 18 years. Data are presented that show how the model is effective. Children with ASD under the age of seven made significant gains on intelligence quotient and on a range of skills including language, social and play, and academic skills following three academic terms of intervention. Case study data for two children reveal a marked decrease in challenging behaviour following a function based behavioural intervention. These interventions have led to greater independence, integration and access to curricular activities. These data show that children are making significant gains within this cost‐effective model.     

Impact of severity of autism and intervention time‐input on child outcomes: comparison across several early interventions

In this article, written by Phil Reed and Lisa Osborne, both from Swansea University, the impact of severity of autism, and the time‐input of the treatment programme, on the outcome effectiveness for four early interventions for individuals on the autism spectrum was explored. The four interventions studied were applied behaviour analysis (ABA), special nursery, an adapted portage intervention, and a local authority approach. Sixty‐six children (aged from two years six months to four years) were studied over nine months, in terms of their intellectual, educational and adaptive behavioural functioning. Children undergoing the ABA approach demonstrated greater gains in functioning (especially in educational functioning). There were differences in the way that autism severity and intervention time‐input impacted on the different early intervention programmes. For special nursery, portage and local authority approaches, the gains made by the children were inversely related to the severity of their autism and directly related to time‐input. In contrast, the converse was true for the ABA approach. These data are discussed with respect to their implications for choosing an intervention strategy for a child on the autism spectrum.     

MANUALIZATION,FEASIBILITY, AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SCHOOL‐BASED SOCIAL COMPETENCE INTERVENTION FOR ADOLESCENTS (SCI‐A)

Despite the movement toward identification of evidence‐based practices (EBPs), there is a discrepancy in the availability of school‐based EBPs targeting the unique needs of students with high functioning forms of autism and related social needs. Based on calls for systematic intervention development and evaluation processes, the current study describes the manualization, feasibility, and effectiveness testing of the school‐based Social Competence Intervention for Adolescents (SCI‐A) curriculum. School personnel were trained to implement SCI‐A to a targeted student population. Fidelity and social validity data indicated curriculum feasibility and acceptability within secondary school settings. Student social functioning, executive functioning, and theory of mind demonstrated postintervention gains with moderate effect sizes. Results are promising for SCI‐A's continued positive trajectory within the phases of EBP evaluation research. Challenges for intervention effectiveness testing within schools and future considerations for evaluating EBPs are discussed.     

Learning from a new learning landscape: Visualisation of location sensing data in the Augustine House Experiment

Funded by the UK JISC Institutional Innovation Programme, the Augustine House Experiment sets out to investigate how the location sensing data collected over students’ uses of the iBorrow notebooks can be visualised to reveal aspects of the new learning landscape during a 1‐week sensing period. Indoor real‐time location sensing technologies are considered new tools for collecting quantitative evidence in search of emerging patterns of occupation and uses of the learning spaces. The experiment centred on testing a novel data visualisation method designed to render the location sensing and associated user data sets with reference to three‐dimensional (3D) virtual architectural models of the Augustine House. The hypothesis is that an overlay of the iBorrow notebooks tracking data collated with student user data on the 3D virtual architectural models could facilitate a better intuitive grasp of the learning landscape. Questions and lessons are drawn from this experiment regarding how indoor location sensing, learning space user data collection and interactive architectural modelling can be synthesized into a credible research apparatus applicable to longer‐term post‐occupancy evaluation of new learning spaces.     

Computer Manpower: Through 1984‐1985

The numbers of four‐year graduates of computer‐related programs are expected to have peaked in 1986‐1987. Heretofore, unpublished data on production of computer‐related programs at all levels, on a state by state basis, are given for 1983‐1984 and 1984‐1985. A need is stated for the collection of cohort data so that we may have an early warning system on production trends and a call is made for a new model for estimating computer manpower needs.     

A shared document-based annotation tool to support learner-centred collaborative learning

A shared document‐based annotation tool was presented, and its usefulness in two different real‐life web‐based university‐level courses (adult learners, n= 27 and adolescent learners, n= 23) was empirically investigated. The study design embodied three data collection phases: (1) a pretest measuring self‐rated motivation, learning strategies, and social ability; (2) log file data analysis showing actual use of the system features; and (3) a posttest in a form of an email survey. For both groups, the results showed that the level of motivation has a positive effect on activity in the system and the final grade. The learners, who reported to have good time‐management strategies, were the most active users of the system. The level of social ability predicted both the number of consecutive comments in the documents and the threads in document‐related newsgroup discussions. Log file data analysis showed that user activity in the system was positively related to the final grade in both samples. Results of the posttest showed that all the respondents agreed when asked: (1) if the system brought added value to the learning process; (2) if the use of the system changed their studying habits favourably; and (3) if they would like to use the system in other courses.     

Formative use of test results: A user’s perspective

Despite the potential of using test data to support student learning, several studies have concluded that the actual use of test data remains limited. The present study addresses this problem by examining (1) the types of actions for which teachers, internal coaches, principals and parents within primary education want to use test results and (2) the information needed to perform these actions. The results obtained from the questionnaires show that the various users want to use test results for actions that support learning, which amounts to a discrepancy relating to actual use. Furthermore, the various users perform actions on different levels, thus indicating the need for tailored reports that fit the information needs of individual users. The results of the focus group method reveal the information needs of teachers, suggesting implications for the development of new score reports.     

“学习强国”高教平台混合教学干预机制研究

高教应探索多种信息技术平台的混合式教学策略。"学习强国"自学平台具有强大的教学干预功能,普遍作为高教规定自学内容,限定在线学习时长,因此,采取混合教学并将"学习强国"自学机制纳入教学干预体系,通过在线学习数据的采集和分析,将学习强国学习纳入学生学业测评、学习动机自评研究中,教师个性化教学设计评价,形成"学习强国"的特有教学干预机制,充分发挥特殊的教学环境下混合式教学的课程效果,在激发学生的学习动机、提高特定学习环境下的自我调节能力上,形成教学干预的"变速箱"机制与"加速器"功能。     

Three Cases of Hashtags Used as Learning and Professional Development Environments

Hashtags offer exciting opportunities for professional development, teaching, and learning. However, their use reflects users’ needs and desires. To illustrate and problematize the ways hashtags are used in professional development settings, this study reports on users’ participation patterns, users’ roles, and content contributed to three unique hashtags. This mixed methods research employs data mining techniques to retrieve data. Using a collective case study methodology, the study compares and contrasts the use of three hashtags and offers insights into the use of hashtags as emerging learning and professional development environments. Results show that hashtags exhibit similarities, such as unequal user participation. Findings also reveal differences between hashtags. For instance some hashtags are used on an ongoing basis while others have well-defined start and end dates. Ultimately, these results question deterministic thinking with respect to emerging technologies and novel professional development environments.     

Assisting transition to university: using assessment as a formative learning tool

This study explores the effectiveness of an intervention involving formative assessment in a first‐year core business subject. Students were invited to receive feedback on a draft of their first written assessment during the early weeks of the semester. Consideration is given to the economic and ethical issues raised by the intervention. A multi‐method approach of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis is used. The research finds that the intervention facilitates significantly higher marks in assessments and grades, while assisting student learning overall. Findings are reinforced by comparison with a subject where the intervention was not offered.     

浅谈新时期高校图书馆借阅一体化服务

图书馆借阅一体化服务是图书馆一体化管理模式在藏、借、阅部门的具体体现,是建立在现代技术条件基础上的一种新型开放式服务模式。借阅一体化服务不仅能够充分提高图书馆图书的利用率,而且能更好地提高图书馆的服务质量,开展多层次有针对性的人性化服务,更大限度地满足读者需求。     

Toward a general model of instructional communication

A general model of instructional communication is advanced and the linkages of four components in the model are tested. Data were drawn from college teachers and college students through a split‐class design which permitted collection of unique data from teachers and two sets of their students. Using by‐class analyses of data it was determined that teacher self‐reported temperament is significantly correlated with students' perceptions of the teachers' communication behaviors and the students' evaluation of teachers' source credibility and task attractiveness. All of these measures were also found to predict learning outcomes and teacher evaluations of another group of students. The results support the general model and provide a foundation for future research in instructional communication.     

Mother‐Child Interactions and Early Intervention Programmes for Handicapped Infants and Young Children

Increased emphasis in the provision of early intervention programmes with families of biologically impaired or at‐risk infants, in recent years, has produced a wide variety of such services based upon various conceptual and empirical analyses of early development. The impact of these early interventions has been investigated quite extensively since the mid‐sixties, particularly regarding positive effects upon intellectual development. A synthesis of recent research regarding mother‐child interaction patterns and the influence of these social interactions upon cognitive, linguistic, and social development has resulted in a shifting emphasis in early interventions from the parent‐as‐teacher model to a parent‐infant interaction model. In concert with this shifting emphasis, interactional models of intervention are considered and described which provide the basis for identifying specific intervention strategies related to parent‐child interaction dynamics. These strategies provide the basis for programmes which would be sensitive to the idiosyncracies of individual families. That is, the unique characteristics of each family/infant may be more effectively accommodated through a transactional analysis of individual dyadic interaction patterns, and through the identification of strategies specifically suited to the unique needs of the parent‐child dyad.

     

一种基于用户浏览行为的数据采集方法

提出了一种基于用户浏览行为的客户端数据采集方法,普通浏览者访问图书馆网络监测系统服务器端网页时,浏览器自动运行嵌入在网页中的JavaScript代码.通过JavaScript代码的运行,普通浏览者与采集中心进行连接和数据传送,实时地采集用户行为数据,实时地统计汇总网站的最新状态数据.该数据采集方法对被监测网站服务器运行效率没有影响,其优点在绍兴图书馆网络监测系统得到了验证.     

Government Workers Adding Societal Value: The Ohio Workforce Development Program

ABSTRACT This case study illustrates the application of Mega—adding measurable value for all stakeholders including society—as the central and ultimate focus for needs assessment. In this case, two needs assessment studies were conducted within a five‐year period (1999–2003) with the State of Ohio's Workforce Development (WD) program. An initial needs assessment based on Mega outcomes—high quality of life for Ohio taxpayers and public employees though the services they provide—was conducted in 1999, identifying shared strategic goals to focus management‐labor partnership initiatives. A Mega‐centered data collection matrix was used as the basis for discussions with stakeholders in order to determine the key areas of Ohio's Workforce Development to be included in the study. In 2003, a follow‐up needs assessment based on the same data collection matrix was designed to determine the improvements made since that time, the areas with the most critical performance gaps, demographic changes, and future trends affecting Workforce Development beneficiaries and stakeholders.     

A practical approach to functional behavioral assessment in a public (state supported) school

Abstract

A functional behavioral assessment was conducted to identify the maintaining function(s) of aberrant behaviors displayed by a 6-year-old diagnosed with multiple disabilities. The assessment included indirect measures such as interviews, rating scales, and direct observations such as antecedent, behavior, consequence (A‐B‐C) charting. These assessments allowed the teacher to develop a hypothesis about the maintaining function of the aberrant behaviors. A functional assessment was not conducted. Instead, treatment was initiated quickly based on an abbreviated analysis. The results showed decreased rates of aberrant behavior following the implementation of the functional assessment based intervention; however, occurrences of aberrant behavior were not eliminated. Additional analyses suggested that changes in routine may be analogous to high demand situations that act as setting events for aberrant behavior. The results are discussed in terms of developing strategies for identifying events at home and in the community that may influence the occurrence of aberrant behavior.