Do sophisticated epistemic beliefs predict meaningful learning? Findings from a structural equation model of undergraduate biology learning

This study investigated the relationships among college students’ epistemic beliefs in biology (EBB), conceptions of learning biology (COLB), and strategies of learning biology (SLB). EBB includes four dimensions, namely ‘multiple-source,’ ‘uncertainty,’ ‘development,’ and ‘justification.’ COLB is further divided into ‘constructivist’ and ‘reproductive’ conceptions, while SLB represents deep strategies and surface learning strategies. Questionnaire responses were gathered from 303 college students. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling showed acceptable model fits. Mediation testing further revealed two paths with complete mediation. In sum, students’ epistemic beliefs of ‘uncertainty’ and ‘justification’ in biology were statistically significant in explaining the constructivist and reproductive COLB, respectively; and ‘uncertainty’ was statistically significant in explaining the deep SLB as well. The results of mediation testing further revealed that ‘uncertainty’ predicted surface strategies through the mediation of ‘reproductive’ conceptions; and the relationship between ‘justification’ and deep strategies was mediated by ‘constructivist’ COLB. This study provides evidence for the essential roles some epistemic beliefs play in predicting students’ learning.     

Constructing knowledge in the context of BioWorld

BioWorld is a computer learning environmentdesigned for high school biology students. BioWorldcomplements the biology curriculum by providing ahospital simulation where students can apply what theyhave learned about body systems to problems where theycan reason about diseases. Students workcollaboratively at collecting evidence to confirm orrefute their hypotheses as they attempt to solveBioWorld cases. The present study examined students'use of BioWorld to solve problems related to thedigestive system. Analyses of student actions andverbal dialogue were conducted to pinpoint the typesof features within BioWorld that were most conduciveto learning and scientific reasoning. An exploratoryanalysis of the types of assistance provided tostudents by a teacher, researcher, and BioWorld alonewas conducted to examine how scaffolding influencedstudent actions.     

Adult distance study through computer conferencing

The use of computer conferencing by higher education institutions offering distance education courses has expanded rapidly since 1987. Despite a parallel growth in the academic scholarship, few studies examined students' experience of learning in an on‐line course. Using unstructured interviews and observations at adultstudents' homes or worksites, thestudy investigated adult student perspectives of distance study by computer conferencing. It found theseadults actively engaged in social relationships outside their distance studies which sustain their educational pursuits. The students provided insights into aspects of the on‐line environment: asynchronicity, interactivity, textual communications, and collaboration. Their learning orientation suggested the value they placed on conference activities. They incidentally transferred or invented learning strategies to deal with the different dynamics of this instructional environment. The computer conference brought together widely dissimilar students and encouraged them to ‘talk’ with one another, while unaware of each others' physical attributes. On‐line relationships served meaningful purposes, but rarely continued beyond the course. Based on these findings, the study presents an Adult Distance Study Through Computer Conferencing Model to guide understanding of the student experience with this medium.     

Educating and Measuring Choice: A Test of the Transfer of Design Thinking in Problem Solving and Learning

Educators aim to equip students with learning strategies they can apply when approaching new problems on their own. Teaching design-thinking strategies may support this goal. A first test would show that the strategies are good for learning and that students spontaneously transfer them beyond classroom instruction. To examine this, we introduce choice-based assessments (CBAs). CBAs measure how people learn when there is minimal guidance and they must make decisions as independent learners. Here, sixth-grade students completed multiple design activities that emphasized either seeking constructive criticism or exploring a space of alternatives. Afterward, they completed the CBAs, which measured strategy transfer. Results showed that lower-achieving students benefitted most from instruction, exhibiting a relative increase in their use of design-thinking strategies. In addition, strategy choices correlated with prior achievement measures and appeared to mediate performance in and learning from the CBAs. The choices to use the two strategies themselves were not correlated, which indicates that they are not subsets of a larger construct, such as growth mindset. In sum, CBAs enabled a double demonstration: design-thinking strategies may improve learning and problem solving, and design-thinking instruction may improve the likelihood of lower-achieving students choosing to use effective strategies in novel settings that require new learning.     

Attaining meaningful learning of concepts in genetics and ecology: An examination of the potency of the concept-mapping technique

Studies have shown that in their study of biology, students perceive genetics and ecology to be difficult areas to learn. This has translated into rote learning of genetics and ecological concepts and reflected in poor performance in tests involving these concepts. Considering the importance of genetics and ecology to man's understanding of himself and his environment, there is a need to inquire into ways of ensuring that students attain meaningful learning of genetics and ecology rather than learning by rote. The efficacy of the concept-mapping strategy was tried out in this study with 138 predegree biology students. The results showed that the 63 students in the experimental group who employed the concept-mapping technique performed significantly better on the test of meaningful learning in genetics, t(136) = 16.01. p < 0.001, and ecology, t(136) = 12.27, p < 0.001, than their control group counterparts (N = 75). The implications of these results for teacher education in biology are addressed in the article.     

Computer simulations in the high school: Students' cognitive stages,science process skills and academic achievement in microbiology

Computer-assisted learning, including simulated experiments, has great potential to address the problem solving process which is a complex activity. It requires a highly structured approach in order to understand the use of simulations as an instructional device. This study is based on a computer simulation program, 'The Growth Curve of Microorganisms', which required tenth grade biology students to use problem solving skills whilst simultaneously manipulating three independent variables in one simulated experiment. The aims were to investigate the computer simulation's impact on students' academic achievement and on their mastery of science process skills in relation to their cognitive stages. The results indicate that the concrete and transition operational students in the experimental group achieved significantly higher academic achievement than their counterparts in the control group. The higher the cognitive operational stage, the higher students' achievement was, except in the control group where students in the concrete and transition operational stages did not differ. Girls achieved equally with the boys in the experimental group. Students' academic achievement may indicate the potential impact a computer simulation program can have, enabling students with low reasoning abilities to cope successfully with learning concepts and principles in science which require high cognitive skills.     

Designs for learning about climate change as a complex system

This paper reports on a study in which students used agent-based computer models to learn about complex systems ideas of relevance to understanding climate change. The experimental condition used a Productive Failure (PF) learning design in which ninth grade students initially worked with agent-based computer models to solve challenge problems followed by teacher instruction about targeted climate and complexity ideas. In contrast, the comparison condition employed a Direct Instruction (DI) learning design in which the teacher instruction was provided initially, followed by the students working on the same computer models and challenge problems as the experimental group. The students in the PF group scored significantly higher on the post-test on measures of climate and complex systems explanatory knowledge and near and far knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered.     

Computer technology and complex problem solving: Issues in the study of complex cognitive activity

Goals and plans organize much of complex problem solving behavior and are often inferable from action sequences. This paper addresses the strengths and limitations of inferring goals and plans from information that can be derived from computer traces of software used to solve mathematics problems. We examined mathematics problem solving activity about distance, rate, time relationships in a computer software environment designed to support understanding of functional relationships among these variables (e.g., distance =rate × time; time=distance/rate) using graphical representations of the results of simulations. Ten adolescent-aged students used the software to solve two distance, rate, time problems, and provided think-aloud protocols. To determine the inferability of understanding from the action traces, coders analyzed students' understanding from the computer traces alone (Trace-only raters) and compared these to analyses based on the traces plus the verbal protocols (Traceplus raters). Inferability of understanding from the action traces was related to level of student understanding how they used the graphing tool. When students had a good understanding of distance, rate, time relationships, it could be accurately inferred from the computer traces if they used the simulation tool in conjunction with the graphing tool. When students had a weak understanding, the verbal protocols were necessary to make accurate inferences about what was and was not understood. The computer trace also failed to capture dynamic exploration of the visual environment so students who relied on the graphing tool were inaccurately characterized by the Trace-only coders. Discussion concerns types of scaffolds that would be helpful learning environment for complex problems, the kind of information that is needed to adequately track student understanding in this content domain, and instructional models for integrating learning environments like these into classrooms.Members of the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt who have contributed to this project are (in alphabetical order) Helen Bateman, John Bransford, Thaddeus Crews, Allison Moore, Mitchell Nathan, and Stephen Owens. The research was supported, in part, by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF-MDR-9252990) but no official endorsement of the ideas expressed herein should be inferred.     

Apprenticing for creativity in the improvisation lesson: a qualitative enquiry

Effective teacher-student learning relationships can propel students to advanced ways of knowing and acting. In much arts based higher education learning, dynamic and fluid interplay of cognitive, meta-cognitive and aspirational aims and goals are prevalent and passed to students in a learning relationship that can be described as a cognitive apprenticeship. Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to explore four conservatoire teachers and their musical improvisation students. Investigating in the lesson experiences reveal pedagogical applications of modeling, scaffolding, coaching, reflection and developing mastery and expertise in students. A cognitive apprenticeship model can provide a framework for teachers to understand how to develop increased student control, ownership of learning, and contextually situated instructional strategies that brings cognitive and creative thinking, action and reflection to the forefront of learning and teaching. The study reveals how educators can develop trajectories of learning and problem-solving concepts that draw students into a culture of expert practice.     

A problem posing-based practicing strategy for facilitating students’ computer programming skills in the team-based learning mode

Computer programming is a subject that requires problem-solving strategies and involves a great number of programming logic activities which pose challenges for learners. Therefore, providing learning support and guidance is important. Collaborative learning is widely believed to be an effective teaching approach; it can enhance learners’ social interaction and offer a learning environment which provides rich learning experiences. However, the social interaction in collaborative learning does not occur automatically. Without proper guidance strategies or supporting tools for collaborative learning, the learning effects can be disappointing. To solve such a problem, a problem posing-based practicing strategy was proposed to support the development of a collaborative learning activity in a computer programming practice course. The students were guided to raise computer programming problems to boost the discussion among team members. The problems raised in each team were then exchanged and solved by another team to examine the coding and to provide feedback. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was conducted in a C# programming course. Two classes of students from a university participated in the experiment. One class with 25 students was randomly assigned as the experimental group, and learned with a collaborative learning activity using the problem posing-based practicing strategy; the other class with 28 students was the control group, which learned with a conventional collaborative learning activity. The results show that the proposed strategy benefited the students in terms of improving their learning achievement, in particular, their programming skills. Moreover, it was found that the students who learned with the proposed approach had higher self-efficacy and lower cognitive load than those who learned with the conventional collaborative learning approach.     

The Relationships Between Epistemic Beliefs in Biology and Approaches to Learning Biology Among Biology-Major University Students in Taiwan

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between students?? epistemic beliefs in biology and their approaches to learning biology. To this end, two instruments, the epistemic beliefs in biology and the approaches to learning biology surveys, were developed and administered to 520 university biology students, respectively. By and large, it was found that the students reflected ??mixed?? motives in biology learning, while those who had more sophisticated epistemic beliefs tended to employ deep strategies. In addition, the results of paired t tests revealed that the female students were more likely to possess beliefs about biological knowledge residing in external authorities, to believe in a right answer, and to utilize rote learning as a learning strategy. Moreover, compared to juniors and seniors, freshmen and sophomores tended to hold less mature views on all factors of epistemic beliefs regarding biology. Another comparison indicated that theoretical biology students (e.g. students majoring in the Department of Biology) tended to have more mature beliefs in learning biology and more advanced strategies for biology learning than those students studying applied biology (e.g. in the Department of Biotechnology). Stepwise regression analysis, in general, indicated that students who valued the role of experiments and justify epistemic assumptions and knowledge claims based on evidence were more oriented towards having mixed motives and utilizing deep strategies to learn biology. In contrast, students who believed in the certainty of biological knowledge were more likely to adopt rote learning strategies and to aim to qualify in biology.     

Peer interaction and the learning of critical thinking skills in further education students

A teaching programme is reported in which criticalthinking skills (in the sense of reasonedjustification of arguments; see Kuhn, 1991, 1993) weretaught. The principal aims of the study were todevelop, implement and evaluate a programme forteaching evidence-based justification to vocationaleducation students in Further Education colleges. Teaching was via modelling and peer-based critiquingexercises in the context of the students' projectwork. Eighty-four Further Education college studentsunderwent a 10-session teaching intervention whichdovetailed with their Additional Assessmentintegrative project work. Students took part inpeer-based exercises in which they learned to critiqueimaginary examples of project outlines and plans,followed by similar peer-based critiquing of eachothers' proposed projects. Analysis of the students'dialogues with each other indicated that they hadlearned the importance of justifying arguments, andcontent analysis of their written work indicated thatthey engaged in justification of their arguments to asignificantly greater degree than control groups. Several key variables in the dialogues correlatedpositively with justification in the written work,suggesting that the dialogue had impacted on thewritten work. However, justification tended to be ofa weak kind (using anecdotes or experience-basedgeneralisations), and strong (i.e. formalresearch-based) evidence remained relativelyinfrequent and sometimes inappropriately used. Apsychometric test of general critical thinking skillsshowed no evidence of transfer of learning.     

Uncovering vocational students’ multiple goal profiles in the learning of professional mathematics: differences in learning strategies,motivational beliefs and cognitive abilities

Motivation to learn in vocational education is underexplored by researchers in educational psychology. Yet, teachers would profit from an understanding of the goals apprentices adopt for their learning and how these goals relate to students’ learning strategies and abilities. Using latent profile analysis, four groups were identified based on the achievement goals of 263 vocational students in their professional mathematics courses. Groups were described regarding their cognitive abilities, learning strategies and motivational beliefs. Results indicated that the inclusion of challenge-mastery and work-avoidance goals adds value to previous conceptualizations of multiple goal profiles. Significant and large differences between the profiles were found with regard to such motivational beliefs as individual interest and significant, albeit smaller, differences were found for learning strategies and cognitive abilities. The results suggest that vocational students may adopt four specific combinations of goals and that these are associated with several variables important for successful learning. Implications of the findings for vocational education are discussed.     

Building middle school students' understanding of proportional reasoning through mathematical investigation

This article describes and shares an innovative pedagogical practice that holds promise in contributing to the teaching and learning of proportions in middle school. The teaching and learning of mathematics with understanding framework was used as a vehicle to help 21 seventh grade students reason proportionally. The findings of this unit suggest that the classroom culture, which encouraged the students to make connections between their existing and new ideas and reflecting and communicating their thinking, contributed to their emerging understanding of proportions. The use of an authentic and non-routine task involving liquid measurements also heightened their interest, curiosity and enthusiasm, thereby contributing to their excitement about the mathematics they were learning.     

影响大学生高等数学学习的因素及其教学对策

大学生对高等数学产生“恐慌”或“畏惧”,学习效果差,其原因在于学生对高等数学的认知不足和学生本身对高等数学问题的认知策略贫乏。教师应该不断改进和优化教学方法,以消除学生对高等数学的“畏惧”。加强师生之间、学生之间的思想与学习上的交流,促进学生高等数学学习成绩的提高。     

Generating connections and learning with SemNet,a tool for constructing knowledge networks

In this paper we examine the impact of using a Macintosh-based knowledge organization toll SemNet, with prospective elementary and middle school teachers enrolled in an upper division biology course. The course models for students the ways in which they will be able to teach hands-on, minds-on science in K-8 classrooms and provides them with an in-depth understanding of a relatively small number of biology topics. This study examines changes in learning habits, metacognitive processes, retention, retrieval, and learring among students enrolled in this course. Students using SemNet tend to exhibit a significant increase in deep processing as measured by self-report. Also on the basis of self-report, SemNet students appear to acquire some cognitive skills that transfer to other courses, such as identifying main ideas and tying ideas together. SemNet students retained and retrieved nearly twice as much information about a topic, the digestive system, as a reference group. Although neither the SemNet nor the reference group exhibited transfer skills as we meansured them, there is evidence that SemNet student changed their thinking strategies.     

Cultural communication learning environment in science classes

Classroom communication often involves interactions between students and teachers from dissimilar cultures, which influence classroom learning because of their dissimilar communication styles influenced by their cultures. It is therefore important to study the influence of culture on classroom communication that influences the classroom verbal and nonverbal interactions. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new instrument to assess eight scales of students?? classroom communication learning environment: Body Language, Communication Rate, Communication Loudness, Eye Contact, English Usage, Verbal Support, Intra-gender Communication and Inter-gender Communication. The instrument was administered to 1,723 upper-secondary biology students in Brunei government schools. The alpha reliability (0.58?C0.91) and discrimination validity (0.08?C0.13) coefficients for these scales were within acceptable ranges. Statistically significant ??² coefficients suggested that the instrument was able to differentiate between participating biology classes. Students perceived a low level verbal support and sometimes higher teacher communication rate in their classes. Dialects other than English, which is the medium of instruction, have been used in biology classes to some extent. There is a strong tendency for intra-gender than inter-gender communications in classes, which could limit the effectiveness of teaching and learning in constructivist classes     

Students' Studying and Approaches to Learning in Introductory Biology

This exploratory study was conducted in an introductory biology course to determine 1) how students used the large lecture environment to create their own learning tasks during studying and 2) whether meaningful learning resulted from the students' efforts. Academic task research from the K–12 education literature and student approaches to learning research from the postsecondary education literature provided the theoretical framework for the mixed methods study. The subject topic was cell division. Findings showed that students 1) valued lectures to develop what they believed to be their own understanding of the topic; 2) deliberately created and engaged in learning tasks for themselves only in preparation for the unit exam; 3) used course resources, cognitive operations, and study strategies that were compatible with surface and strategic, rather than deep, approaches to learning; 4) successfully demonstrated competence in answering familiar test questions aligned with their surface and strategic approaches to studying and learning; and 5) demonstrated limited meaningful understanding of the significance of cell division processes. Implications for introductory biology education are discussed.     

Epistemic profiles and self-regulated learning: Examining relations in the context of mathematics problem solving

Relations were examined between epistemic profiles, regulation of cognition, and mathematics problem solving. Two hundred sixty-eight students were sampled from undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses. Students completed inventories reflecting their epistemic profiles and learning strategies, and were profiled as rational, empirical, or both. Based on their profiles, 24 students participated in two problem-solving sessions. Episodes were coded for planning, monitoring, control, use of empirical and rational argumentation, and justification for solutions. For both self-reported metacognitive self-regulation and regulation of cognition during problem solving, students profiled as rational had the highest self-reported mean and actual frequency of regulation of cognition compared to students profiled as predominantly empirical. Moreover, students profiled as predominantly rational correctly solved more problems than the other two groups. Finally, students’ approaches to problem solving were consistent with their epistemic profiles. Relations are discussed in the context of various theoretical frameworks.