Achievement goals in a presentation task: Performance expectancy,achievement goals,state anxiety,and task performance

The aims of the study were to test the linkages between achievement goals to task performance, as mediated by state anxiety arousal. Performance expectancy was also examined as antecedents of achievement goals. A presentation task in a computer practice class was used as achievement task. Fifty-three undergraduates (37 females and 16 males) were administered self-report questionnaire measures before and immediately following the task performance. As expected, results of regression analyses showed that performance-avoidance goals were positively related to state anxiety. State anxiety was related to poor task performance. The positive relationship between mastery goals and the task score was shown to be independent of anxiety processes. Performance expectancy was related to state anxiety through achievement goals.     

Performance of children with developmental dyslexia on high and low topological entropy artificial grammar learning task

Graph complexity as measured by topological entropy has been previously shown to affect performance on artificial grammar learning tasks among typically developing children. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of graph complexity on implicit sequential learning among children with developmental dyslexia. Our goal was to determine whether children’s performance depends on the complexity level of the grammar system learned. We conducted two artificial grammar learning experiments that compared performance of children with developmental dyslexia with that of age- and reading level-matched controls. Experiment 1 was a high topological entropy artificial grammar learning task that aimed to establish implicit learning phenomena in children with developmental dyslexia using previously published experimental conditions. Experiment 2 is a lower topological entropy variant of that task. Results indicated that given a high topological entropy grammar system, children with developmental dyslexia who were similar to the reading age-matched control group had substantial difficulty in performing the task as compared to typically developing children, who exhibited intact implicit learning of the grammar. On the other hand, when tested on a lower topological entropy grammar system, all groups performed above chance level, indicating that children with developmental dyslexia were able to identify rules from a given grammar system. The results reinforced the significance of graph complexity when experimenting with artificial grammar learning tasks, particularly with dyslexic participants.     

Gender, task contexts, and children's performance on a computer-based task

Gender differences in response to computers have been widely reported. This study addresses the question of how far the context in which a computer task is presented can affect girls' and boys' on-task performance. In an experimental study involving 60 ten and eleven year-olds, we examine the effects of differential contextualisation on girls' and boys' performance on a computer-based perceptual-motor skills task. Our findings illustrate that even with a single, standard piece of software, children's performance can be substantially affected by the context in which that software is presented. The results suggest that gender differences in children's responses to computer tasks are relatively labile, and highly context sensitive. The implications and possible explanations for these findings are considered.     

Field independence,task ambiguity,and performance on a proportional reasoning task

This study investigated the proportional reasoning abilities of 35 college science students. Using a projection of shadows problem, proportional reasoning was assessed under one of two experimental conditions corresponding to the type of information presented: (a) relevant only, or (b) relevant and irrelevant. Subjects were also measured on the cognitive style of field independence. Results showed that subjects in the relevant only condition performed significantly better than those in the relevant-irrelevant condition. Degree of field independence was related to performance only in the relevant-irrelevant condition. These results indicated an interaction between type of information presented in a task and cognitive style.     

Recall performance on a central-incidental memory task by profoundly deaf children.

Bebko (1984) reported that deaf children tend not to use spontaneously active memory strategies such as rehearsal in tasks requiring recall of ordered, temporal information. The present study investigated whether this tendency is task specific or generalized to other experimental paradigms. A central-incidental paradigm was used with profoundly deaf children and hearing children 6 to 13 years of age. The results for the hearing students replicated previous studies: central recall increased with age, but incidental recall changed little. For the deaf children, the results initially appeared very similar to those of the hearing children. However, on closer examination, the rehearsal strategies of the deaf students seemed less effective in mediating their recall. They apparently compensated for these difficulties by capitalizing on unique spatial features of the task, leading to recall levels comparable to those of the hearing students. Therefore, similar performance may not have been the result of equal strategy use but, rather, of the use of additional strategies by the deaf students. This study reinforced the need to provide additional training for deaf students in the use of memory strategies such as rehearsal when information is to be remembered in a sequential manner.     

拓扑群上的一致与等度连续的非标准特征及其应用

给出并证明了拓扑群上的一致与等度连续的非标准特征，并利用其结构给出关于拓扑群的一个重要定理的离散化证明。     

Feature-positive discriminations during a spatial-search task with humans

During feature-positive operant discriminations, a conditional cue, X, signals whether responses made during a second stimulus, A, are reinforced. Few studies have examined how landmarks, which can be trained to control the spatial distribution of responses during search tasks, might operate under conditional control. We trained college students to search for a target hidden on a computer monitor. Participants learned that responses to a hidden target location signaled by a landmark (e.g., A) would be reinforced only if the landmark was preceded by a colored background display (e.g., X). In Experiment 1, participants received feature-positive training (+←YB/ XA→+/A?/B?) with the hidden target to the right of A and to left of B. Responding during nonreinforced transfer test trials (XB?/YA?) indicated conditional control by the colored background, and spatial accuracy indicated a greater weighting of spatial information provided by the landmark than by the conditional cue. In Experiments 2a and 2b, the location of the target relative to landmark A was conditional on the colored background (+←YA/ XA→+/ ZB→+/ +←C /A?/B?). At test, conditional control and a greater weighting for the landmark’s spatial information were again found, but we also report evidence for spatial interference by the conditional stimulus. Overall, we found that hierarchical accounts best explain the observed differences in response magnitude, whereas spatial accuracy was best explained via spatial learning models that emphasize the reliability, stability, and proximity of landmarks to a target.     

Task characteristics and a stage 6 sensorimotor problem.

A previously demonstrated high rate of failure on a Stage 6 sensorimotor means-end problem, of children otherwise inferred to be in Stage 6 development, prompted a study of task characteristics of the problem. A component part of the task was modified by introducing an additional visual cue; the purpose of the problem was unchanged. Results indicated that problem solving was facilitated in the transformed condition, with older subjects performing somewhat better than younger subjects. The authors suggest that cognitive requirements of the problem, as representative of Stage 6 sensorimotor development, remained the same in the original or transformed condition. The modification appeared to permit children to focus their attention on the requirements of the problem, so that a greater number of children demonstrated mental representation. Task characteristics of sensorimotor problems need to be investigated further.     

Sex-related differences on a task of volume and density

A sex-related difference, favoring boys, was found on initial performance of two samples (one British, one American) of 10- and 11-year-old children on a task of volume and density. After a period of classroom instruction that included opportunities for children to interact with appropriate materials and each other, both boys and girls performed at a higher level on the task, but the difference between them remained the same. There was no indication of a sex-related difference other than a time lag, in pattern of development of the concept. The question of why there is a sex-related difference, which persists in spite of experience and instruction, is discussed.     

基于项目化任务驱动的java课程教学研究

java课程是一门与应用技术紧密结合的实践性课程。在java课程的教学中采用项目化任务驱动,将教学中设计的每个任务和项目案例相结合,不但能充分调动学生的学习积极性,更能提高学生应用知识的能力,提升学生就业的核心竞争能力,从而达到教学效果的最优化。     

Interweaving mathematics and pedagogy in task design: a tale of one task

In this article we introduce a usage-goal framework within which task design can be guided and analyzed. We tell a tale of one task, the Pentomino Problem, and its evolution through predictive analysis, trial, reflective analysis, and adjustment. In describing several iterations of the task implementation, we focus on mathematical affordances embedded in the design and also briefly touch upon pedagogical affordances.     

Towards a personalized task selection model with shared instructional control

Modern education emphasizes the need to flexibly personalize learning tasks to individual learners. This article discusses a personalized task-selection model with shared instructional control based on two current tendencies for the dynamic sequencing of learning tasks: (1) personalization by an instructional agent which makes sequencing decisions on the basis of learner’s expertise, and (2) personalization by the learner who is given control over – final – task selection. The model combines both trends in a model with shared instructional control. From all available learning tasks, an instructional agent selects a subset of tasks based on the learner’s performance scores and invested mental effort (i.e., system-control). Subsequently, this subset is presented to the learner who makes the final decision (i.e., learner control). A computer-assisted instructional program has been developed to put the model into practice and preliminary results are discussed. The model can be used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction and to make it more appealing by providing the learner an optimal level of control over task selection. This research project is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, The Hague, project No. 411-02-107-V).     

Teaching children with autism through task variation in physical education.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether the technique of task variation (with maintenance tasks interspersed) (TV) is more effective in the acquisition of gross motor skills for students with autism than a constant task (CT) condition in a physical education setting. Subjects were 12 male students with autism, ages 11 to 15 years. The study included pretest-posttest administration of the I CAN assessment of Gross Motor Skills to assess skills such as overhand throw, kick, and vertical jump. After a 6-week treatment period, the TV condition was significantly more effective than the CT condition, at the .05 level.     

基于任务驱动的实践课程教学改革与探索

实践教学是整个教学系统中一个不可忽视的重要内容,对培养大学生的创新能力、综合素质意义重大.根据计算机实践课程的特点,结合学生的实际情况,通过分析任务驱动教学的含义、作用及应该注意的问题,形成了行之有效的"以任务为主线,教师为主导,学生为主体"的学生自主性学习和基于问题解决策略的任务驱动的教学方法.     

Generalization gradients following training on a symbolic matching-to-sample task

The major finding in the present experiment was that line orientation controlled pigeons’ responding after training on a one-key symbolic matching-to-sample task. When the vertical line appeared as the sample, testing along the line dimension produced incremental and decremental generalization gradients, depending on the color of the comparison. Conversely, when the vertical line served as the comparison, incremental and decremental gradients also emerged, but here the type of gradient depended on the color of the sample. Thus, both the color of the sample (comparison) and line orientation exerted control of behavior.