Learning from Comparing Multiple Examples: On the Dilemma of “Similar” or “Different”

Although researchers have demonstrated that studying multiple examples is more effective than studying one example to facilitate learning, the principles found in the literature for designing multiple examples remain ambiguous. This paper reviews variation theory research on example design which sheds light on unclear issues regarding the effects of example variability. First, the distinction of surface/structural should be replaced by critical/uncritical in example study. Aspects and features that are critical to students’ understanding should be identified and compared in example design. Second, variation as well as similarity among examples should be taken into consideration in example design. Certain patterns of variation and invariance should be adopted to systematically determine the variability of examples. Third, students with different levels of prior knowledge perceive different aspects of examples that are critical for their learning. Examples should be designed according to aspects that are critical to specific students.     

Digital libraries： A testbed for multimedia technology

INTRODUCTION One of the greatest attractions of a digital library is its multimedia resources humans can use for informa- tion retrieval to knowledge discovery and information integration. A problem of multimedia researchers is to find a so-called killer-Apps which can demonstrate well the potentials of research topics such as video sum- marization, semantic annotation, multimedia cross indexing and retrieval, etc. Deeper research and wider ap- plications of digital libraries revealed the…     

The Content of Physics Self-Explanations

Several earlier studies have found the amount learned while studying worked-out examples is proportional to the number of self-explanations generated while studying examples. A self-explanation is a comment about an example statement that contains domain-relevant information over and above what was stated in the example line itself. This article analyzes the specific content of self-explanations generated by students while studying physics examples. In particular, the content is analyzed into pieces of constituent knowledge that were used in the comments. These were further analyzed in order to trace the source of knowledge from which self-explanations could be generated. The results suggest that there are two general sources for self-explanations. The first is deduction from knowledge acquired earlier while reading the text part of the chapter, usually by simply instantiating a general principle, concept, or procedure with information in the current example statement. The second explanation is generalization and extension of the example statements. Such construction of the content of the example statements yield new general knowledge that helps complete the students' otherwise incomplete understanding of the domain principles and concepts. The relevance of this research for instruction and models of explanation-based learning is discussed.     

Evaluation research in distance education

Although research supports the use of telecommunications in distance education, the more important question 'how best to use telecommunications in a given situation' has largely eluded researchers. This is due to the failure to link questions generated by the problems of practice with the theoretical constructs contributing to the understanding of the phenomena of distance education. The debate has occurred on two levels, the first relating to research design issues and the second to the conceptualisation of researchable questions. The authors address both levels from the vantage point of third generation telecommunications technologies. They offer a model for linking research and evaluation in distance education.     

面向电信行业的商业智能系统设计和实现

就电信行业的商业智能实现,从技术方案,体系架构设计等方面进行了详细的论述。本文创新性地提出了四个适用于电信行业数据挖掘的基础模型：模型研究、方法论研究、业务规则研究和业务模式研究。同时就系统的体系架构和各个功能域的接口层次和功能进行了详细的论述。     

A Qualitative Research on Example Generation Capabilities of University Students

Examples which are used in exploring a procedure or comprehending/concretizing a mathematical concept are powerful teaching tools. Generating examples other than conventional ones is both a means for research and a pedagogical method. The aim of this study is to determine the transition process between example generation strategies, and the factors affecting success of the students in generating examples in a Real Analysis course. The participants of the study consisted of 27 undergraduate mathematics students. At the end of the study, it was observed that some of the participants used especially the trial and error strategy as an effective step in the transition to the transformation strategy. Definitions were used by participants as a trigger for example generation and to reflect on concepts during this process in order to reduce cognitive demand.     

基于AHP的福建省电信行业竞争力分析

文章通过建立电信行业竞争力评价指标体系,采用层次分析法(AHP)与专家咨询法相结合的方法确定评价指标权重,对福建省九个地市的电信行业竞争力进行全面综合评价.研究表明福建省电信行业发展水平较低,地区发展水平不均衡;通过完善电信行业发展战略,加强品牌建设,重视企业信息化建设等措施,加快发展电信行业竞争力,提升福建省电信行业竞争力,为海峡西岸经济区建设提供电信支持.     

信息技术环境下四六级网考的实践与思考

作为教育部试点院校，北京邮电大学自2008年以来参与大学英语四六级网考试点20次，网考规模趋于稳定，管理和组织制度相对成熟，实践经验丰富。以北京邮电大学为例，系统阐述了大学英语四六级网考的部署和实施情况，归纳总结试点过程中出现的故障现象以及解决方案。     

Which Technique is most Effective for Learning Declarative Concepts—Provided Examples,Generated Examples,or Both?

Students in many courses are commonly expected to learn declarative concepts, which are abstract concepts denoted by key terms with short definitions that can be applied to a variety of scenarios as reported by Rawson et al. (Educational Psychology Review 27:483–504, 2015). Given that declarative concepts are common and foundational in many courses, an important question arises: What are the most effective techniques for learning declarative concepts? The current research competitively evaluated the effectiveness of various example-based learning techniques for learning declarative concepts, with respect to both long-term learning and efficiency during study. In experiment 1, students at a large, Midwestern university were asked to learn 10 declarative concepts in social psychology by studying provided examples (instances of concepts that are provided to students illustrate how the concept can be applied), generating examples (instances of concepts that the student generates on his or her own to practice applying the concept), or by receiving a combination of alternating provided examples and generated examples. Two days later, students completed final tests (an example classification test and a definition cued recall test). Experiment 2 replicated and extended findings from experiment 1. The extension group was a variation of the combination group, in which participants were simultaneously presented with a provided example while generating an example. In both experiments, long-term learning and study efficiency were greater following the study of provided examples relative to the other example-based learning techniques.     

The role of research and development to improve STS education: experiences from the PLON project

This paper outlines four stages of a research‐development cycle based on experiences with a Dutch physics curriculum development project (PLON), in which STS aspects are integrated. Through examples it is illustrated that research on first and second version materials is essential, but its value should not be overestimated. The authors are convinced that STS education also needs in‐depth research studies in order to survive. Two important topics are mentioned. One is the legitimation of specific contents (scientific concepts and personal and social contexts) of STS curricula. The second topic regards lay‐ideas on those scientific concepts that are seen as important for pupils’ use in personal and social contexts. As an example a current research‐development programme is described that deals with learning to assess the risks of ionizing radiation.     

Managing University Telecommunications

The telecommunications industry in Australia is undergoing changes at least as fundamental as those confronting tertiary institutions. The most important feature of the telecommunications change (generally known as de‐regulation) is that customers now have the freedom to choose service providers on the open market. This new freedom provides opportunities for financial savings with improved telecommunications; it also provides opportunites for institutions to pay inflated prices for inferior service.

Achieving the potential benefits of de‐regulation requires an astute manager who understands telephone system operations and maintenance. This manager must also comprehend the problems of allocating resources individually and collectively. Comprehensive records of the technical performance of a telecommunications system are an essential pre‐requisite to competent management of that system and an institutional telecommunications policy is just as important.     

Effects of example variability and prior knowledge in how students learn to solve equations

Researchers have consistently demonstrated that multiple examples are better than one example in facilitating learning because the comparison evoked by multiple examples supports learning and transfer. However, research outcomes are unclear regarding the effects of example variability and prior knowledge on learning from comparing multiple examples. In this experimental study, the two critical aspects of problem type and solution method were used to design comparison conditions to teach equation solving. Randomly selected groups of 263 seventh-grade students learned to solve equations by comparing different example pairs. Results showed that students who did not use a shortcut method at pretest benefited least from comparing the two critical aspects first separately and then simultaneously. Students who used a shortcut method at pretest learned equally within conditions. Students may need to separately discern each critical aspect before they benefit from comparing simultaneous variation of these aspects. Examples should be designed according to aspects that are critical for specific students.     

An Applied Approach to Teaching the Fundamentals of Operating Systems

Operating systems is an example of a subject that, with the right tools, can be taught in an applied manner, giving students the opportunity to understand, and hence appreciate, the fundamentals of commercial operating systems such as Unix and Windows. Not surprisingly, the tools needed in an operating systems course are, at a minimum, a hardware testbed and a programming language into which algorithms can be translated. This paper describes how many of the salient points concerning operating systems, such as concurrency and critical regions, can be covered in an applied manner using the PC, the C programming language, and extensions to C.     

通信机房改造中的结构问题

通信运营商(尤其是移动通信运营商)租用民用房屋用做通信基站机房的情况越来越多,但是民用房屋的活荷载一般远不能满足机房的承重要求,因此在租用过程中,如何合理、安全的选用民用房屋和改造民用房屋作为通信机房就成了关键问题.结合民用房屋和通信设备的实际情况和国家结构设计规范,对用做通信机房的民用房屋的选择、改造和安全使用进行了分析并结合算例提出了合理化建议.     

ESCOT: Coordinating the Influence of R&D and Classroom Practice to Produce Educational Software From Reusable Components

In a 3-year project, a consortium of university, nonprofit and commercial educational software developers formed a testbed for the rapid assembly of educational software from reusable component tools. This testbed incorporated interactive learning tools from a variety of university, nonprofit, and commercial developers, and hosted decentralized authoring teams consisting of teachers, developers and educational technologists. Within its testbed, the Educational Software Components of Tomorrow (ESCOT) project achieved notable success in (a) producing a large collection of technology-rich learning activities with reuse rates estimated at 90% and (b) scaffolding authoring teams in successful and rewarding collaborative development experiences. Fortunately, since ESCOT was funded as a National Science Foundation research project, we have had time to reflect on the conditions that led to our achievements. In this article, we reflect on the three activities of the project that we believe were most responsible for its success: (1) the selection of a unit of software production (2) the development of a strategy to allow reuse of interoperable software components and (3) the structuring of a distributed, team-based authoring process. We observe that a common characteristic across these activities was reciprocal influence from both the fields of research-based software development and teaching practice.     

Accounting for Beneficial Effects of Worked Examples in Tutored Problem Solving

Recent studies have tested the addition of worked examples to tutored problem solving, a more effective instructional approach than the untutored problem solving used in prior worked example research. These studies involved Cognitive Tutors, software designed to support problem solving while minimizing extraneous cognitive load by providing prompts for problem sub-goals, step-based immediate feedback, and context-sensitive hints. Results across eight studies in three different domains indicate that adding examples to Cognitive Tutors is beneficial, particularly for decreasing the instructional time needed and perhaps also for achieving more robust learning outcomes. These studies bolster the practical importance of examples in learning, but are also of theoretical interest. By using a stronger control condition than previous studies, these studies provide a basis for refining Cognitive Load Theory explanations of the benefits of examples. Perhaps, in addition to other reasons, examples may help simply because they more quickly provide novices with information needed to induce generalized knowledge.     

样例学习认知负荷理论的研究及其展望

文章回顾了样例学习研究的起源与发展,主要介绍了其理论依据——认知负荷理论,并分别围绕外在认知负荷、内在认知负荷以及相关认知负荷介绍了最新国内外样例学习的设计方法:材料的整合、子目标、不完整样例、错误样例、诱发自我解释问题、多种解题方法比较等,最后在现有研究成果上指出样例学习研究的发展趋势和有待进一步解决的问题。     

How accurately can students evaluate the quality of self-generated examples of declarative concepts? Not well,and feedback does not help

Students are commonly asked to learn declarative concepts in many courses. One strategy students report using involves generating concrete examples of abstract concepts. If students have difficulties evaluating the quality of their generated examples, then instructors will need to provide students with appropriate scaffolds or feedback to improve judgmentaccuracy. No prior research has investigated if students can accurately evaluate the quality of the examples they generate, which was the first aim of the current research. The second aim of this research was to investigate the extent to which providing feedback while students evaluate their generated examples can improve the accuracy of their example-quality judgments. In two experiments, students generated examples for declarative concepts from social psychology and then judged the quality of their examples. When making judgments, students received no feedback (in which they were only given the key term), full definition feedback (in which they were shown the definition of the declarative concept) or idea unit feedback (in which they first evaluated if they represented each idea unit of the definition within their example). Outcomes showed that students were overconfident when judging the quality of their examples, specifically for commission errors (i.e., examples that were entirely incorrect). Surprisingly, full definition and idea unit feedback did not help students improve the accuracy of their example-quality judgments. Thus, until scaffolds are discovered to reduce student overconfidence, instructors will need to assist in evaluating generated examples as students use this strategy to learn declarative concepts.     

Using examples and analogies to remediate misconceptions in physics: Factors influencing conceptual change

Examples are often recognized as important in teaching conceptual material, yet little research has been done concerning the best use of examples in attempts to remediate misconceptions. This study questions the effectiveness of a traditional teaching-by-example technique. Results indicate that when students hold a misconception, presenting a principle with supporting examples to show the range of application of the principle may be ineffective. Rather, it appears that examples are more effective when they help students draw on and analogically extend existing valid physical intuitions in constructing a new conceptual model of a target situation. To help students in this constructive effort, first, the examples used must be understandable and believable to the students, not simply to the teacher or textbook author. Second, even when an example is compelling to the student, it may not be seen as analogous to target problems drawing out a misconception. In that case, analogy relations may need to be explicitly developed. Third, qualitative, visualizable models may need to be developed which give mechanistic explanations for phenomena.     

Estimating network effects in China''s mobile telecommunications

A model is proposed along with empirical investigation to prove the existence of network effects in China's mobile telecommunications market. Futhernore, network effects on China's mobile telecommunications are estimated with a dynamic model. The structural parameters are identified from regression coefficients and the results are analyzed and compared with another literature. Data and estimation issues are also discussed. Conclusions are drawn that network effects are significant in China's mobile telecommunications market, and that ignoring network effects leads to bad policy making.