How can action learning contribute to social capital?

This paper explores the contribution that action learning can make to the formation of social capital via experiences of action learning projects in NHS Pathology Services in the UK. The paper describes the development of action learning practice in recent years, reviews the notion of social capital and considers how action learning might contribute to its formation. A case study of action learning in the development of a locally unified pathology service is used to illustrate the processes by which actions and learnings may be transferred and extended from sets to contribute to organisational learning in wider systems and networks.     

What can moment-by-moment learning curves tell about students’ self-regulated learning?

Many students in primary education learn arithmetic using adaptive learning technologies (ALTs) on tablets every day. Driven by developments in the emerging field of learning analytics, these technologies adjust problems based on learners' performance. Yet, until now it is largely unclear how students regulate their learning with ALTs. Hence, we explored how learners regulate their effort, accuracy and learning with an ALT using moment-by-moment learning curves. The results indicated that moment-by-moment learning curves did reflect students’ accuracy and learning, but no associations with effort were found. Immediate drops were associated with high prior knowledge and suboptimal learning. Immediate peaks were associated with robust learning and pointed to effective student regulation. Close multiple spikes showed moderate learning and lower initial levels of accuracy but, with system support, these students seemed able to regulate their learning. Separated multiple spikes indicated reduced learning and accuracy and potentially signal the inability of students to regulate their learning. In this light, moment-by-moment learning curves seem to be valuable indicators of accuracy regulation during learning with ALTs and could potentially be used in interventions to support SRL with personalized visualizations.     

Lecturing graphing: What features of lectures contribute to student difficulties in learning to interpret graph?

Some studies suggest that individuals having completed undergraduate science programs are often poorly prepared to use graphs in ways typical of their disciplines. Science and technology studies have identified competency in graphing as being of central importance to the practice of a scientific discipline. Given the centrality of graphing to the practice of science, an important aspect of becoming enculturated into the practices of a scientific discipline is being able to use and interpret graphs in ways that are typical to that discipline. For example, competency in this usage is important to reading, interpreting and understanding journal articles in a discipline. Undergraduate science students spend a considerable amount of time in lectures where graphical representations play a major role in the presentation of subject matter. To gain an understanding of the use of graphs in lectures and how this use contributes to student understanding, this paper provides a microanalysis of graph use in lectures drawn from artifacts compiled from videotaping all lectures and seminars in a thirteen week ecology course. This analysis focused on both the text and the geestural references made in the reading of a graph in an ecology lecture. We conclude that the common ground existing amongst scientists that help them reach an agreed upon interpretation of a graph is missing from the present lectures and then discuss the constraints this places on students, learning about graphs in lectures.     

Crisis? What crisis? The academic professions in the 'knowledge' society

At present, the higher education systems in most highly developed countries find themselves amidst a difficult process of change that will obviously have an impact on the positioning of their principal workers. We live in times of great uncertainties about the future of the academic profession. This article reflects on the analytical problems research on the academic profession has to face and summarizes recent trends and debates on the entrenched profession. Possible future developments of the academic profession are highlighted in the context of four scenarios -- 'key profession', 'academic worker', 'mediator' and 'antiquity'. Selected findings and results of the International Study on the Academic Profession are resumed to discuss the contribution of survey studies to the ongoing debate on the academic profession and to draw some preliminary conclusions on the challenges for further research in this area.     

What is open learning?

The recent change in this journal's title, from Teaching at a Distance to Open Learning, poses obvious questions of definition. What is open learning? And how does it relate to distance education and adult education? In this article, Roger Lewis, Head of Educational Development Unit at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, makes use of his considerable and varied experience of working with the Open University, the Council for Educational Technology, the Open Tech, the National Extension College and other practitioners of open learning in providing some answers. Readers should find the analytical tools and examples included in the article of considerable use in examining their own experiences in the open learning field.     

What can I do for the Olympic Games?

The 29th Olympic Game will be celebrated in Beijing, China. I!m proud ofthis. Olympic Games are always celebrated in big countries,which means ourcountry is stronger than before.The Chinese government is getting ready for the 2008 Olympic Games.Workers ar…     

What can you do?

ComPlete the boxes!What can they do?Rob1 .Can Pigs月y? N。,th即can,t!2 .Can bi川s月y?3.Can kangaroos(袋鼠)jump?4.Canerocodiles(鳄鱼)e!imbtre5.Can Penguins(企鹅)danee?6 .Can elePhante run?7 .Can dogs Swim?…蓄然:Vx;KeV…矿’芍巍__然______蒸___~_{Sally…浑动村e canP扭yfootb日Ilb口t heC日力货S留勿i,衬eCan…)lS力eC口n,,.娶金f;峪四汉沼黔~~~恤~闪针X︸ 一V︸ ︸婚8 .Can hiPPos swim under water?9.Can tortoises(乌龟)run fast?10.Can seals(海豹)walk?夔恕,吵叶----一--一一------------一一_-一_一…     

What moderates the accuracy of ease of learning judgments?

When people begin to study new material, they may first judge how difficult it will be to learn. Surprisingly, these ease of learning (EOL) judgments have received little attention by metacognitive researchers so far. The aim of this study was to systematically investigate how well EOL judgments can predict actual learning, and what factors may moderate their relative accuracy. In three experiments, undergraduate psychology students made EOL judgments on, then studied, and were tested on, lists of word-pairs (e.g., sun – warm). In Experiment 1, the Goodman-Kruskal gamma (G) correlations showed that EOL judgments were accurate (G = .74) when items varied enough in difficulty to allow for proper discrimination between them, but were less accurate (G = .21) when variation was smaller. Furthermore, in Experiment 1 and 3, we showed that the relative accuracy was reliably higher when the EOL judgments were correlated with a binary criterion (i.e., if an item was recalled or not on a test), compared with a trials-to-learn criterion (i.e., how many study and test trials were needed to recall an item). In addition, Experiments 2 and 3 indicate other factors to be non-influential for EOL accuracy, such as the task used to measure the EOL judgments, and whether items were judged sequentially (i.e., one item at a time in isolation from the other items) or simultaneously (i.e., each item was judged while having access to all other items). To conclude, EOL judgments can be highly accurate (G = .74) and may thus be of strategic importance for learning. Further avenues for research are discussed.     

What is assessment for learning?

The idea that assessment is intrinsic to effective instruction is traced from early experiments in the individualization of learning through the work of Benjamin Bloom to reviews of the impact of feedback on learners in classrooms. While many of these reviews detailed the adverse impact of assessment on learning, they also indicated that under certain conditions assessment had considerable potential to enhance learning. It is shown that understanding the impact that assessment has on learning requires a broader focus than the feedback intervention itself, particularly the learner's responses to the feedback, and the learning milieu in which the feedback operates. Different definitions of the terms “formative assessment” and “assessment for learning” are discussed, and subsumed within a broad definition that focuses on the extent to which instructional decisions are supported by evidence. The paper concludes by exploring some of the consequences of this definition for classroom practice.     

Podcasting in higher education: What are the implications for teaching and learning?

A podcast is any digital media file, or series of files, distributed over the Internet for playback on portable media players and personal computers. This study explored the attitudes, perceptions, and use of podcasting as reported by instructors and students at a large American Midwestern university. The results of two online surveys were examined, focusing specifically on items related to teaching and learning. Findings suggest that students use podcast materials largely for reviewing concepts and issues raised in lectures that they have previously attended. While instructors and students agree that podcasts help students learn, students are less sure about whether podcasts improve instructors' teaching. The authors argue that podcasts can help instructors change face-to-face instruction from traditional didactic lectures to more constructivist learning practices.     

What can academic development learn from the health humanities?

The health humanities is a movement seeking to promote engagement with arts and humanities disciplines as a way of helping professionals, patients, informal carers, and members of the public to understand healthcare. Here, I draw parallels between health and learning and suggest a similar approach for academic developers. I indicate the potential scope for the learning arts and humanities, providing examples of existing practice in which the methods and sensibilities of literary studies are shedding light on learning and teaching in higher education.