Examining faculty questions to facilitate instructional improvement in higher education

Many of the innovations that show promise for improving outcomes for underprepared community college students require instructors to make changes to their teaching practice. Little research explores the experiences of faculty teaching in reformed courses as related to their professional learning needs. Drawing on a multi-year qualitative study, this paper uses data from 100 faculty interviews to explore the questions they ask when teaching a new course. A key outcome of the analysis is a typology of questions that mirrors the stage of implementation. Through analysis of 20 observations of implementation activities, this paper also documents the learning opportunities made available to instructors and examines the extent to which these activities addressed their questions.     

Obstacles to instructional innovation according to college science and mathematics faculty

Numerous studies have documented the infrequent use of learner‐centered instruction in college science and mathematics classrooms and its negative effects on undergraduate learning and motivation. The present research deepened understanding of why. Specifically, an Internet survey was constructed that explored obstacles, supports, and incentives for instructional innovation in the classroom and was sent out to college science and mathematics faculty of Louisiana. Results revealed that colleges generally were perceived to assign little or an indeterminate weight to instruction in personnel decision making. Faculty members generally have little training in pedagogy; but when they do, they are more likely to consult sources of instructional innovation and consider teaching an important part of their professional identities. Data concerning the most common sources of instructional innovation information are presented. Several suggestions are made for institutional reform that if enacted might contribute to systemic improvement in the quality of instruction undergraduates receive. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach     

A deterministic approach to research in instructional science 1

A deterministic alternative to probabalistic theory and research is proposed and justified on both rational and empirical grounds. Direct tests of deterministic behavior theories are demanding but they are not only possible but are shown to be quite feasible. The main requisite is that of realizing suitable idealized test conditions. Some deterministic theories have been tested under idealized behavior conditions with a level of empirical support which goes far beyond what is normally found in behavioral research. Moreover, deterministic support in the laboratory is shown to necessarily imply probabalistic applicability in the real world—without field testing.     

A regression approach to evaluating instructional programs in science

This paper discussed a multiple linear regression approach to the evaluation of instructional strategies in science. A treatment by levels experimental design and the methods required for forming and solving research problems associated with it were described. Two methods of college biology instruction, the Audio-Tutorial and conventional techniques, were compared in terms of promoting achievement. Methods for making comparisons between the two treatments in the form of linear models were discussed. Interpreting regression solutions to linear models was also presented. The principles expressed in this paper can be applied to other research problems as an effective alternative to the two-way analysis of variance.     

试验逻辑及其对传统逻辑的批评和否定

在整个20世纪,传统逻辑学命运乖舛.试验逻辑学派在其间扮演了一个极其重要的角色.试验逻辑学是由杜威创立,通过其本人和其学生胡适的不懈努力传入中国,在二三十年代的中国产生了不小的影响.试验逻辑对传统逻辑进行了批评和否定,但它本身并不是纯粹的逻辑学.国人在二三十年代对试验逻辑的推崇以及时传统逻辑的排斥是有一定原因的.     

The impacts of a web-aided instructional simulation on science learning

This research investigated the effects of selected characteristics of a web-aided instructional simulation on students' conceptual change, problem solving and transfer. A two-pronged research study was conducted using 117 students enrolled in a beginning meteorology course at Iowa State University. For the experimental design, the performances of three groups (the with-log group, the without-log group and the control group) were compared on post-test scores and a weather forecasting activity. No statistically significant differences ( p < 0.05) were found among the groups on these measures. However, follow-up interview data obtained from five diverse students in the treatment group showed that the simulation with authentic situations, multiple representations and the capability of reviewing previous actions supported science learning. For the student who was able to readily take advantage of the information contained in the log and graphs, the simulation exercises were quickly completed and a sufficient understanding of the concept was developed to transfer the newly-gained knowledge to new situations, weather forecast exercises. For others, the simulation was less effective. Only one interviewee showed all three stages of Goos and Galbraith's model of problem solving. This student also demonstrated a better understanding of how to transfer newly-gained knowledge to weather forecast exercises. The other four interviewees, who did not show the features of all the stages, needed the teachers' facilitation to develop their problem-solving skills in order to achieve optimal learning when using the instructional simulation.     

Enhancing learning using questions adjunct to science charts

This study supported two hypotheses. First, adjunct questions interacted with a science chart so powerfully that content established as difficult to learn in the pilot and in this study's control groups became easier to learn when charted. Second, students familiar with the chart test before instruction (test exposure) were better prepared to take this test after instruction. This adjunct-question study examined the generalizability of selective-attention and academic-studying hypotheses to a modified science chart medium. About 300 high school students were randomly assigned to four conditions each including a vitamin chart (chart only, test exposure, importance of questions emphasized to students by teachers, and combinational conditions–-test exposure and question importance) across 16 biology classrooms. Then these same students were again randomly assigned within each classroom to a control and to four question treatments (no questions, questions focusing on easy-to-learn charted content, questions focusing on difficult-to-learn charted content, and a combinational treatment).     

Enhancing learning using questions,adjunct to science charts

This study supported two hypotheses. First, adjunct questions interacted with a science chart so powerfully that content established as difficult to learn in the pilot and in this study's control groups became easier to learn when charted. Second, students familiar with the chart test before instruction (test exposure) were better prepared to take this test after instruction. This adjunct-question study examined the generalizability of selective-attention and academic-studying hypotheses to a modified science chart medium. About 300 high school students were randomly assigned to four conditions each including a vitamin chart (chart only, test exposure, importance of questions emphasized to students by teachers, and combinational conditions—test exposure and question importance) across 16 biology classrooms. Then these same students were again randomly assigned within each classroom to a control and to four question treatments no questions, questions focusing on easy-to-learn charted content, questions focusing on difficult-to-learn charted content, and a combinational treatment.     

科学教育与人文教育内在关联性探究

科学与人文发生严重分离,科学知识的灌输一直是我国教育的主导。科学教育与人文教育的分割与分离的弊端过强,严重影响了人才培养质量,客观上要求科学教育与人文教育必须达到新的融合。本文深入地考察了科学教育与人文教育融合的内在关联意义,提出既要培养具有人文关怀的科学精神,又要培养具有科学意识的人文精神的人才观念。     

The preservice microteaching course and science teachers' instructional decisions: A qualitative analysis

The purpose of this investigation was to qualitatively investigate the effects of a microteaching course on preservice science teachers' perceptions of teaching, instructional decisions, and changes in beliefs which occur throughout the course. A total of 17 preservice teachers constituted the sample for this investigation. In addition to viewing and self-critiquing the videotapes of their lessons, students received both oral and written feedback from peers and instructors. Subjects were also required to complete a reaction questionnaire concerning their beliefs/perceptions prior to the first presentation as well as following each of the four required presentations. Systematic comparisons among students' self-critiques and reaction questionnaires yielded a total of 12 categories of concerns/beliefs about teaching. These categories pertained to either “Concerns for Self” or “Concerns for Students.” Although the subjects appeared to proceed through a developmental process beginning with concerns for self and moving toward concerns for students, analyses of subjects' comments about students revealed that such remarks were actually egocentric. Additionally, the data indicated that preservice teachers view planning as a complex, two-component process (i.e., the physical act of writing a plan and the subsequent mental rehearsal of that plan.).