Action learning: the possibility of differing hierarchies in learning sets

This paper presents the proposition that a variety of differing hierarchies exist in an action learning set at any one time, and each hierarchy has the potential to affect an individual's behaviour within the set. An interpretivist philosophy underpins the research framework adopted in this paper. Data were captured by means of 11 in-depth interviews that formed part of wider research into set members' perceptions of what makes an effective action learning set. The interviewees were all former students of the researcher and her colleagues. The research draws upon grounded theory as a dominant research paradigm and uses thematic analysis to interpret the research findings. The findings of the research serve to simply illustrate that there is the potential for a variety of differing hierarchies to exist in an action learning set at any one time. Some of the hierarchies may exist for the full duration of the set; others are somewhat ephemeral. The findings from this research also present themselves as points of consideration for academics and practioners who have used or are about to use action learning as a learning vehicle.     

The misdirection of public policy: comparing and combining standardised effect sizes

Increased attention on ‘what works’ in education has led to an emphasis on developing policy from evidence based on comparing and combining a particular statistical summary of intervention studies: the standardised effect size. It is assumed that this statistical summary provides an estimate of the educational impact of interventions and combining these through meta-analyses and meta-meta-analyses results in more precise estimates of this impact which can then be ranked. From these, it is claimed, educational policy decisions can be driven. This paper will demonstrate that these assumptions are false: standardised effect size is open to researcher manipulations which violate the assumptions required for legitimately comparing and combining studies in all but the most restricted circumstances. League tables of types of intervention, which governments point to as an evidence base for effective practice may, instead, be hierarchies of openness to research design manipulations. The paper concludes that public policy and resources are in danger of being misdirected.     

Narratives of learning communities in environmental education

Abstract

This article introduces the core concepts that emerged from five environmental education action research studies conducted by a group called Learning Communities in Environmental Education, Science and Mathematics (CEAMECIM) from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) in the south of Brazil. The studies focus on teacher education processes in learning communities involving teachers, researchers and environmental educators, and the critical writing and reading texts of classroom recordings to problematise participants’ teaching practices. CEAMECIM used action research cycles to examine narratives of educational action, narratives from teachers concerning their development as environmental educators, and narratives of their development of a sense of belonging, with a particular focus on critiquing social models that are based on hierarchies and individuality. From this analysis, we propose a new perspective on being and learning how to become a learning community, crystallised by the belief that ‘we are more when we are together’.     

二语习得研究的类型学视霹

当代类型学中的“蕴含共性”、“标记理论”和“语法层级”等理论在二语习得研究领域产生了巨大影响。大量实证研究运用这些理论对中介语语音和句法的习得特征进行预测和阐释,结果发现：类型学共性对二语语音、句法习得的顺序和困难有较高的预测效度。基于类型学理论的中介语研究,有助于中介语语言学的构建、二语习得研究的拓展和外语课堂教学的探究。     

分层教学法在高校篮球俱乐部

篮球俱乐部教学模式是我国篮球教学今后发展的趋势。文中以商丘师范学院05级5个院系的部分男生为研究对象,把分层教学法应用于篮球俱乐部教学中,从实际出发,针对不同学生各自的特点和差异,把学生分成不同的层次,分类教学。对不同能力、水平的学生提出不同层次的要求。通过教学实验,说明了分层教学法在篮球俱乐部教学中不仅可行,而且是切实有效的。     

Learning Hierarchies: a critique

Learning hierarchies have received much attention from developmental and instructional psychologists. This article notes that conceptual confusions and methodological deficiencies occur in much of the research so far published. The conceptual confusions concern the terminology used; the ‘likelihood’ or ‘causal’ relationships between elements in the hierarchy; the distinction between ‘prerequisition’ and ‘positive transfer'; the distinction between single pieces of learning and classes of learning; the inclusivity of hierarchical relationships. The methodological deficiencies arise from an inability to measure ‘causal’ relationships; the omission of measurements of ‘positive transfer'; the difficulty of measuring the range of possible relationships within a hierarchy; the need to remove instructional effects from hierarchy validation studies. It is concluded that these confusions and deficiencies preclude data from learning hierarchy studies from being used to diagnose learning failure and in test construction. Suggestions for alternatives to, and improvements on, current methods are made.     

Hierarchies in children's learning: A symposium

There has been a continuing increase in the application of hierarchy theory to the problems of instruction and evaluation, since Gagné first used the term hierarchy in his theory of how human beings acquire complex skills and knowledge. This article, based on a 1970 symposium of the American Educational Research Association, presents an overview and analysis of the use of learning hierarchies in instruction and research, examines some current research on learning hierarchies, and considers the implications of this research for instructional psychology and for theories of cognitive development.Lauren B. Resnick is with the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania     

An investigation of the knowledge structures of experts,intermediates and novices in physics

The literature on the role of models and theories in physics suggests that multiple models, abstract or concrete exist for a particular phenomenon. These models could be organized into hierarchies describing the entire physics domain (Giere 1994). Hierarchies of concepts have been used in other domains with success; however, criteria for a hierarchy of models in physics and theory's role are unclear. Therefore, research was conducted to describe the knowledge structures of experts, intermediates, and novices. A reiterative categorization task required subjects to sort and re-sort physics problems. The proportions of theory- and model-based categories created by the subjects were compared. Novices created hierarchies of model-based categories. Both intermediates and experts created theory-based categories at the highest, most abstract, level but combined model- and theory-based categories at middle and lower levels. These results support a representation of physics knowledge in which a hierarchy of models is organized by theory-based categories.     

The formation and development of co-operations among South African universities

Organizational collaboration is “en vogue”, especially in higher education. So far, little is known about the mechanisms that explain co-operation formation and their impact on the social structure of the research systems. By examining co-authored research papers written at South African universities between 1966 and 2006, co-operation structures are visualized and analyzed from a social network perspective. Regression analysis indicates that status homophily and geographical proximity help to explain attachment processes among universities. Policy makers looking to overcome the steep status hierarchies among South African institutions of higher education need to provide incentives for establishing a stronger research culture in previously disadvantaged institutions. This will enhance their attractiveness for co-operation with reputable organizations and contribute to more equality among institutions.     

Female Academics in a Knowledge Production Society

In the latter half of the twentieth century, the 'Professional Society' was, and continues to be, replaced by a 'Knowledge Society'. One of the characteristics of the 'Professional Society' was its masculine culture and hierarchies. This paper examines the effect that the shift from a 'Professional Society' to a 'Knowledge Society' has had on the careers of female academics. It considers the career paths of vice–chancellors and goes on to examine the effects of geographical mobility on promotions. In addition, the significance of high proportions of professors in highly–rated research departments, and the gender implications of that, is examined. In the concluding section it is argued that, while universities continue to support the hierarchies of the 'Professional Society', it is to the detriment both of women and of knowledge production.     

Toppling hierarchies? Media and information literacies,ethnicity, and performative media practices

This article suggests how we should study media and information literacies (MIL) and do so at a time, when young people nurture these literacies through multiple media practices and across spaces of learning. Our basic argument is this: in order to gain a robust knowledge base for the development of MIL we need to study literacy practices beyond print literacy and numeracy, and we need to study these practices beyond formal spaces of learning. The argument is unfolded with particular focus on ethnic minority youth since this group routinely figures as under-achieving in studies of school literacy, such as Programme for International Student Assessment. Based on a brief overview of literacy studies in view of digitization and a critical examination of recent studies of youthful media practices and ethnicity, the argument is illustrated through an empirical analysis that draws on results from a nationally representative survey of media uses among Danes aged 13–23 years. The analysis demonstrates that ethnic minority youth offer the most serious challenge to existing literacy hierarchies found in formal education. We discuss the implications of these results for educational policy-making and for future research on MIL, advocating inclusive approaches in terms of media for learning and spaces of learning.     

Mapping the literature structure of ‘quality in higher education’ using co-word analysis

Quality in higher education is an attractive and important field not only for higher education institutions but also for their stakeholders. However, the research field is very complex due to the overlapping and interlinking of its topics. Over the years, an enormous amount of studies has been devoted to exploring different topics. Nevertheless, few studies focus on exploring the main topics and assessing whether these topics are interlinked. Therefore, there is merit in reducing the complexity of this field by mapping, clustering and visualising the structure of publications’ topics. The research methodology is based on implementing the co-word analysis of keywords extracted from more than two thousand academic publications seeking to reveal the prominent topics and the connections among them from a static and dynamic point of view. Mapping the literature structure of the research field reveals four key areas in the research field where each contains topics that are very likely to be interrelated to each other rather than to topics from other different areas.     

Schooling Quasi-Markets: Reconciling Economic and Sociological Analyses

We provide an economic assessment of the operation of schooling quasi-markets, re-interpreting the findings of the mainly sociologically-based empirical research. We find that economic analysis is complementary to that of sociology, providing further explanations for the failure of greater competition to increase the diversity of provision and challenge traditional school hierarchies.     

Simulation-Based Evaluation of Learning Sequences for Instructional Technologies

Instructional technologies critically depend on systematic design and learning hierarchies are a commonly advocated tool for designing instructional sequences. But hierarchies routinely allow numerous sequences and choosing an optimal sequence remains an unsolved problem. This study explores a simulation-based approach to modeling learning hierarchies and the sequencing problem with a special focus on mastery learning over time. Computer simulations of eight hierarchies from the literature address two general questions about hierarchies and sequences: Do different valid instructional sequences for a given hierarchy lead to significant differences in simulated learning outcomes?, and How do hierarchy structures and student ability influence learning? Two findings emerge from the simulations: equally valid instructional sequences can produce widely divergent learning outcomes, and student ability can interact with sequence and hierarchy structure to disadvantage lower-ability learners. The paper concludes with observations on the role of simulations in the analysis and validation of instructional design and large-scale instructional systems.     

我国跨文化视域下价值观比较研究之动向——基于中国知网近20年相关文献的数量分析

通过检索我国1991-2010二十年间发表的关于价值观方面跨文化比较研究的期刊论文和学位论文,收集了论文205篇,将其按照研究方向、趋势、内容、方法、对象以及研究对比之文化进行了文献归类和分析,结果显示:研究方向多元,但发展不均衡;研究总体呈加速上升趋势,但理论建设较少;研究内容重点突出,但不够深入;思辨性探讨多,实证研究缺乏;研究对象多样,但过于集中;研究多两两文化对比,少综合性大型对比。我国价值观跨文化比较研究正处于发展的起步和加速阶段,随着国际化越来越快的步伐,我国价值观的跨文化比较研究必然会越来越受到研究者的重视,研究将逐渐深化和加强。     

How Effective Are the New Auto-Instructional Materials and Devices?

This paper rapidly reviews 30 research articles and attempts to use the data derived from these studies to evaluate the effectiveness of auto-instructional materials. The instructional areas covered are: elementary school, high school, special education, armed forces, and industrial use. There is no attempt to evaluate the research designs used in the studies, as this vital point was not within the aims of the paper. The primary goal is to point out that effectiveness of auto-instructional materials means more than that they "teach better." Fifteen possible criteria of effectiveness are presented and the studies reporting data to each of these criteria are listed. The reader interested in doing research in this area is directed to a more detailed study of the particular research areas of interest. A 32 item bibliography is included.     

Reinforcer Preferences of Secondary Students with Disabilities

WHILE TEACHERS are often the ones who select the objects, events and activities that serve as potential reinforcers in their contingency management systems, research indicates that teachers are not always accurate in their selection of reinforcers that are motivating to their students. This study examined the reinforcement preferences of 110 secondary students with disabilities. Respondents rated 90 potential reinforcers using a three‐point Likert scale. Results indicated that while student preferences represent a range of reinforcers within existing reinforcement hierarchies, the sample group tended to prefer less intrusive higher level reinforcers. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Systematic Review of Two Decades (1995 to 2014) of Research on Synchronous Online Learning

Systematic reviews of literature are studies that strategically search for published research on a specific topic in order to synthesize what is known about the topic. This systematic review describes 157 articles on synchronous online learning (SOL) from thirty-four different countries on instructional setting, content areas, participant demographics, research designs, independent and dependent variables, SOL technologies, and data-collection tools.     

Implications of Biglan model research for the process of faculty advancement

The Biglan model is a three dimensional classification scheme wherein 35 academic subject areas are categorized into one of eight categories: soft-nonlife-pure; soft-life-pure; soft-nonlife-applied; soft-life-applied; hard-life-applied; hard-life-pure; hard-nonlife-pure; or hard-nonlife-applied. A basic assumption of the Biglan model research is that the types of faculty productivity differ in accord with academic subject areas. Though research studies report the importance of recognizing performance differences among faculty in different disciplines and subject areas during the faculty evaluation process, they do not present means by which this knowledge can be applied. This study discusses the practical implications of Biglan model research and the importance of university-level administrators recognizing differences in faculty productivity whenever faculty credentials are reviewed for advancement. This study also examines Biglan's original research and his model, as well as the major studies conducted to test the model. Also, the model is presented and explained as a conceptual framework for assisting administrators in the faculty evaluation process. Lastly, the reasons for employing subject area standards, as opposed to university-wide or single discipline standards, are argued.     

问题解决学习活动中批判性思维发展的特征

问题解决在线学习活动强调将学习活动置于有意义的问题情境中,通过个人或小组协作的方式来解决问题。问题解决的过程与批判性思维的发展密不可分,批判性思维是问题解决学习活动中重要的认知加工过程。Newman等学者提出的批判性思维模型详细界定了批判性思维的发展层级及其表现,可用于量化分析在线学习活动中的交互文本内容,而话语分析技术可以从质性角度确保交互文本分析的完整意义。通过设计案例并运用这两种分析工具可以揭示出问题解决学习活动中批判性思维发展的特征：一是批判性思维各层级出现的频率是不一样的,各种表现的量化比例可以表明批判性思维发展的层级;二是批判性思维质量与构建问题空间及形成问题解决策略的效果密切相关;三是在问题解决的不同阶段批判性思维发展的过程和互动结构不同。