Science Education in Primary Schools: Is an Animation Worth a Thousand Pictures?

Science teaching deals with abstract concepts and processes that very often cannot be seen or touched. The development of Java, Flash, and other web-based applications allow teachers and educators to present complex animations that attractively illustrate scientific phenomena. Our study evaluated the integration of web-based animated movies into primary schools science curriculum. Our goal was to examine teachers’ methods for integrating animated movies and their views about the role of animations in enhancing young students’ thinking skills. We also aimed at investigating the effect of animated movies on students’ learning outcomes. Applying qualitative and quantitative tools, we conducted informal discussions with science teachers (N = 15) and administered pre- and post-questionnaires to 4th (N = 641) and 5th (N = 694) grade students who were divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group students studied science while using animated movies and supplementary activities at least once a week. The control group students used only textbooks and still-pictures for learning science. Findings indicated that animated movies support the use of diverse teaching strategies and learning methods, and can promote various thinking skills among students. Findings also indicated that animations can enhance scientific curiosity, the acquisition of scientific language, and fostering scientific thinking. These encouraging results can be explained by the fact that the students made use of both visual-pictorial and auditory-verbal capabilities while exploring animated movies in diverse learning styles and teaching strategies.     

Evaluating the reliability and validity of a learning styles inventory: a classroom-based study

Background Psychology and educational theory has a long tradition of research into learning styles. However, the current educational policy and practice interest in learning styles in the UK has resulted in concepts and practices being adopted with little rigorous empirical evaluation.

Purpose This small-scale, experimental study aimed to test the reliability and validity of an available inventory designed to identify learning styles (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic).

Sample, design and methods Nineteen children, aged 7–10 years, with different styles as identified by the inventory, participated in a class experimental evaluation of their differential response to the teaching of word spelling using different teaching methods.

Results The study found that the visual and auditory scales, but not the kinaesthetic scale, were reliable (internally and re-test). The three groups of pupils with different learning styles—visual only, auditory only and mixed visual and auditory—showed different gains to teaching that matched these styles (visual and auditory teaching approaches). Retention of word spelling was higher one week after the teaching when the teaching matched the learning style.

Conclusions The findings in this exploratory study suggest the significance of learning style for classroom-based teaching.     

Making Space for Place: Mapping Tools and Practices to Teach for Spatial Justice

This article presents a set of spatial tools for classroom learning about spatial justice. As part of a larger team, we designed a curriculum that engaged 10 learners with 3 spatial tools: (a) an oversized floor map, (b) interactive geographic information systems (GIS) maps, and (c) participatory mapping. We analyze how these tools supported learning using notions of politicization. The floor map fed conceptual understandings of the map as a representational text and served as the terrain for an embodied activity to support proportional reasoning about inequitable distributions of resources. The data-rich GIS maps and their zoomability allowed for coordinating across multiple variables to connect patterns in inequities to other social processes. The participatory mapping enabled learners to make discoveries about, connect, and share beyond the individual classroom counterstories from people in the lived streets of their neighborhood. In aggregate, this set of spatial tools produced a complex, hybrid view of the city’s space, which contributed to learners’ political formation.     

Patterns of Instructional-design Factors Prompting Reflective Thinking in Middle-school and College Level Problem-based Learning Environments

Reflective-thinking skills are important in problem-based learning environments as they help learners become deeply engaged in learning. The literature suggests several instructional-design factors (e.g., environment, teaching methods, scaffolding tools) that may prompt reflection in learners. However, it is unclear whether these factors differ based on age or developmental stage. The results of this study indicate that middle-school students perceive the learning environment factor as more important to prompting their thinking, while college students perceive the scaffolding methods factor as more important. While the elements clustered into two factors, most college students disagreed with their helpfulness in prompting reflective thinking, a finding opposite to that obtained for middle-school students. Different patterns were also found between learners’ perceptions of the most helpful elements within each factor. Based on these results, suggestions are given for designing developmentally and age-appropriate PBL learning environments that support reflective thinking.     

Coping with mismatched courses: students’ behaviour and performance in courses mismatched to their learning styles

Although learning styles are considered as an important factor in education, students often have to learn in courses that do not support their learning styles. A challenge for technology facilitated learning is therefore to assist and help students to cope with courses that do not match their learning styles by training and developing their less preferred skills. In this paper, the interactions between students’ learning styles, their behaviour, and their performance in an online course that is mismatched regarding their learning styles were analysed. The results show which learners need more help in mastering mismatched courses, help in getting a better understanding about how students with good performance record and poor performance record learn with respect to their learning styles, and provide information about how to identify learners who might have difficulties in learning based on their behaviour.     

高职学生学习风格与英语成绩关系研究

在回顾前人对学习风格研究的基础上,对五所高级职业技术学院195名学生的学习风格与综合英语成绩及单项英语成绩的关系进行了研究。独立样本检验显示,高分组的学习者倾向于群体型的学习风格,而低分组的学习者倾向于个体型和场独立型的学习风格;男生和女生只在听觉型和场依赖型两种学习风格上表现出不同;回归分析结果表明,群体型、个体型和场独立型三种学习风格与综合英语测试成绩相关,个体型和冲动型两种学习风格对英语成绩具有负向预测作用;群体型、个体型、场独立和冲动型四种学习风格与单项成绩之间具有显著相关关系。     

The implementation of a geospatial information technology (GIT)‐supported land use change curriculum with urban middle school learners to promote spatial thinking

This study investigated whether a geospatial information technology (GIT)‐supported science curriculum helped students in an urban middle school understand land use change (LUC) concepts and enhanced their spatial thinking. Five 8th grade earth and space science classes in an urban middle school consisting of three different ability level tracks participated in the study. Data gathering methods included pre/posttest assessments, daily classroom observations, daily teacher meetings, and examination of student produced artifacts. Findings indicated that content knowledge about environmental issues associated with LUC and spatial thinking skills involved with aerial and remotely sensed (RS) imagery interpretation increased for all learners. In most content and skill area clusters, effect sizes were larger for lower and middle track learners than for upper track learners. Achievement for spatial thinking items increased for all ability level tracks. The curriculum implementation appeared effective for enhancing spatial thinking skills involved with RS image interpretation to identify objects and investigate ground cover features. Learners at all ability levels had difficulty interpreting time‐sequenced images. Influencing learning contexts including curriculum design principles and instructional strategies are discussed. The findings from this study provide support that spatial thinking can be learned, can be taught formally to all students in an urban middle school, and can be supported by appropriately designed tools, technologies, and curriculum. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 281–300, 2011     

Design thinking in pedagogy: Frameworks and uses

New learning approaches are now required to meet changing needs and develop appropriate skills and capabilities, often addressed as 21st century skills. In the last decade, design thinking has gained in popularity in higher education. This article describes the design thinking approach, its principles and models, various design thinking tools and their application in pedagogy. It presents the findings of an international study evaluating the creation and implementation of a culture‐based blended‐learning course for adult learners who are developing their 21st century skills by applying innovative teaching/learning methodologies, such as case studies, webquests and design thinking tools. Two hundred and twenty‐seven learners participated in the course and responded to a questionnaire to evaluate the learning platform, the English course developed, the teaching/learning methodologies applied and the development of their 21st century skills applying innovative learning tools. The findings highlight the benefits of the design thinking approach to skills development and point to the impact of the course content and layout and certain design thinking tools applied in developing 21st century skills.     

高职英语悦读教学模式建构及课堂实践

根据高职大学生学习英语动力不足、语言能力差的学情特点,建构"悦读→乐思→趣动"教学模式,采用激趣、用情和诱思三种教学原则。研究发现,在高职英语课程教学中,悦读教学模式具有情感调节、认知调节和行为调节的功能,它不仅能够激发学生的阅读兴趣,提高语言思维能力,还能够转变学生的学习方式,不断增强爱学、乐学、会学的能力。     

Making Sense of Space: Distributed Spatial Sensemaking in a Middle School Summer Engineering Camp

Spatial thinking is important for success in engineering. However, little is known about how students learn and apply spatial skills, particularly in kindergarten to Grade 12 engineering learning. The present study investigated the role of spatial thinking in engineering learning at a middle school summer camp. Participants were 26 students (13 female, 13 male), predominantly from underrepresented groups. We took a cognitive ethnographic approach, using observations of hands-on engineering learning activities to identify moments when spatial problems arose and how learners made sense of these problems. We describe these processes as distributed spatial sensemaking because they involved both internal (cognitive) processes and also interactions with other learners, materials, and representations. We identified 90 distributed spatial sensemaking episodes in our data set. These episodes facilitated important engineering practices such as hypothesis testing and design iteration. We also found that different activities elicited different types of distributed spatial sensemaking episodes. Our results demonstrate how spatial thinking matters in everyday engineering learning and speaks to the types of engineering learning activities that scaffold particular spatial processes and practices. Our research also shows how cognitive, situated, and distributed theories can be used in tandem to make sense of a complex phenomenon like engineering learning.     

Learning Styles of ESL Students in Community Colleges

This study investigated the learning styles of adult English as a second language (ESL) students in Northwest Arkansas. Learning style differences by age, gender, and country of origin were explored. A total of 69 northwest Arkansas adult ESL students attending 7 adult-education centers were administered the VARK Learning Styles Questionnaire. Most participants came from Mexico and El Salvador, their ages ranged from 23 to 45, and females were an average of 10 years older than males. Note taking was chosen by 1/3 of participants as their favorite learning style, 20% favored aural modes, 15% favored kinesthetic, 4% favored visual, and 15% chose combinations of learning styles. Females chose auditory and multimodal learning styles, while males favored note taking. Students differed by level of English proficiency, beginning-intermediate favoring aural learning styles more than advanced students. ANOVA results indicated that participants were significantly less visual and more read-write than either aural or kinesthetic, but males and females differed significantly in their choice of aural learning. Hispanic males chose note taking and kinesthetic learning styles significantly more than visual or auditory modes of learning. Hispanic females chose note taking, aural, and kinesthetic learning styles significantly more than visual. Asian males favored note taking and aural learning. Correlation was found between age and learning styles with subgroups exhibiting a negative correlation between age and kinesthetic learning, with Mexican males and females exhibiting the strongest negative correlation. Males showed a low positive correlation between age and note taking.     

A cross-cultural study of learning behaviours in the classroom: from a thinking style perspective

Chinese students were often portrayed as passive learners in the classroom, whereas their American peers have been viewed as active learners. This study was designed to examine and explain the distinct learning behaviours in the classroom between these two student groups in relation to thinking style. Surveys of learning behaviours and thinking styles were administered to three samples, American students (n?=?129), Chinese students in China (n?=?134) and Chinese students in the USA (n?=?121). The results of the study revealed that American students reported higher activity level in the classroom and tended to be analytic in thinking style, while Chinese students, both in China and in the USA, reported lower activity level in the classroom, and were inclined to be holistic in thinking style. Furthermore, the thinking style variable was found to mediate the relationship between cultural group and learning behaviour, suggesting that thinking style might partially explain the distinct learning behaviours presented by American and Chinese students.     

网络环境下英语学习者学习风格和其自主学习能力的相关性研究

在利用Felder和Soloman开发的学习风格调查问卷(Index of Learning Styles,简称ILS)进行调研基础上,探讨网络环境下英语学习者的学习风格总体分布情况,并着重对学习者学习风格和其自主学习能力进行了相关性研究。根据研究结果,就如何利用学习风格调查结果,借助网络平台逐步提高学习者的自主学习能力提出若干教学建议。     

“思维导图”在艺术类高职英语课堂中的应用

在艺术类高职院校中,学生们普遍厌学英语,部分原因是我们在教学中没有充分考虑视动觉学生的学习风格。本文尝试在英语教学中,借鉴思维导图的方法,帮助学生以图来解读课文,更深层次地理解课文,以期提高英语教学的质量和强化语言习得。     

Improving spatial thinking skills among undergraduate geology students through short online training exercises

ABSTRACT

Spatial reasoning is a critical skill in the Geosciences. Using a randomized control study with 592 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory and advanced Geology courses, our data indicates that regular, short interventions throughout an academic semester improve students’ spatial thinking skills significantly with a moderate to large effect size when compared to an instruction-as-usual control group. We found evidence for additional gains in students who participated also in hands-on training interventions. We found even larger training effects on students who achieved correct scores of >50% on the practice modules, with gains of almost three-quarter of a standard deviation relative to their baseline scores. Male and female students display significant differences in spatial skills, with males outperforming females. Training resulted in similar magnitudes of improvement in both genders, so we see no evidence that the interventions closed the gender gap. Using the initial performance as a baseline, poor performers’ spatial skills appear to improve through practice at the same rate as their peers. We argue that 15.4% of students improve their spatial skills through participation in the training towards a threshold that appears to be critical for participation in STEM careers. On a reflection survey, half of the students reported that they felt their spatial thinking skills improved through their participation, and over a third found the training beneficial for their overall learning in Geology or other classes. We hypothesise that formal training opportunities for spatial reasoning could increase the potential pool of students who successfully enter and succeed in Geoscience careers.     

基于学习风格的英语学习多媒体课件包

为了使不同学习风格的学生能够以最高效率学习英语,结合英语教学实践,我们研究开发了学习风格诊断系统及基于学习风格的英语学习多媒体课件软件包。基于学习风格的英语学习多媒体课件可以提高学习者的学习兴趣,使学习者可以根据视觉模式、听觉模式、触觉模式、运动模式等不同的学习风格取得理想的学习成绩。     

Course Format and Student Learning Styles: A Comparison of Political Science Courses

ABSTRACT

This study investigates whether differences in learning styles exist between students in online and face-to-face (FTF) sections of political science courses taught by three instructors. Some studies suggest that student preferences regarding online or FTF formats are influenced by their preferred modes of learning. Independent learners, for example, may prefer online courses since they provide individualistic opportunities to study outside of the traditional classroom. This study uses original survey data to assign students one of six learning styles in order to assess whether independent learners are more common in online courses. Our analysis finds no significant differences in independent learners when comparing the two formats. This finding runs counter to studies that argue that independent learners tend to prefer online courses. In fact, the only learning style where we observe a meaningful difference among online and FTF formats is among dependent learners. Contrary to expectation, students enrolled in online versions demonstrated a greater tendency toward dependent modes of learning. Further survey responses suggest that student lifestyle drove course format selection rather than learning style. These findings have important implications for universities that increasingly turn to online courses to address decreasing enrollments and attempt to remedy the high attrition rates associated with those courses.     

场认知风格与大学英语网络自主学习绩效研究

场认知风格不同的学习者在视角、思维方式、处理社会关系、以及语言结构方面都有不同。从场认知风格着手,通过对98名受试者为期一年的跟踪研究,对其大学英语网络自主学习的绩效进行深入研究。从受试者的学习成绩,学习频度,总时长和单次时长四个方面进行了对比研究,发现场认知风格与大学英语网络自主学习绩效有较强的相关性。     

Children with autism and picture books: extending the reading experiences of autistic learners of primary age

Autistic learners master visual and spatial abilities; they use visual language to organise, understand and give meaning to the world. Although they might struggle with verbal skills, they have an associative way of thinking. Taking into consideration the characteristics of seven autistic pupils, the aim of this paper was to identify the potential of picture books in relation to autistic readers in order to explain why picture books can be supportive tools for improving verbal and social communication skills. The findings, based on a qualitative case study and a reader response framework, show that picture books help children with autism develop social and communication skills as well as foster imagination. Their written outcomes clearly showed children's need to tell stories.