Load reduction instruction: Exploring a framework that assesses explicit instruction through to independent learning

Load reduction instruction (LRI) is an instructional approach aimed at managing the cognitive burden on students in the initial stages of learning; then, as fluency and automaticity develop, students are encouraged to engage in guided independent learning. LRI comprises five factors: difficulty reduction, support and scaffolding, practice, feedback, and guided independence. This study examined an instrument (the Load Reduction Instruction Scale, LRIS) aimed at assessing these five factors. Among a sample of high school students from 40 classrooms, findings supported the validity of the LRIS, the conceptualising underpinning it, and its potential to guide instructional practice.     

Action learning: how learning transfers from entrepreneurs to small firms

This paper presents research with small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners who have participated in a leadership development programme. The primary focus of this paper is on learning transfer and factors affecting it, arguing that entrepreneurs must engage in ‘action’ in order to ‘learn’ and that under certain conditions they may transfer learning to their firm. This paper draws on data from 19 focus groups undertaken from 2010 to 2012, involving 51 participants in the LEAD Wales programme. It considers the literatures exploring learning transfer and develops a conceptual framework, outlining four areas of focus for entrepreneurial learning. Utilising thematic analysis, it describes and evaluates what (actual facts and information) and how (techniques, styles of learning) participants transfer and what actions they take to improve the business and develop their people. This paper illustrates the complex mechanisms involved in this process and concludes that action learning is a method of facilitating entrepreneurial learning which is able to help address some of the problems of engagement, relevance and value that have been highlighted previously. This paper concludes that the efficacy of an entrepreneurial learning intervention in SMEs may depend on the effectiveness of learning transfer.     

From learning to development: a sociocultural approach to instruction

Theories of human development and learning provide an essential framework in which to understand the mechanisms involved in the process of formal instruction as a specific form of teaching and learning in the school setting. The sociocultural theory of development, founded on the works of Lev Vygotsky, espouses the view that social interaction among two or more people is the greatest motivating force in human development. Communication, via the use of language, provides one of the most effective means of social interaction. By collaborating toward a common cultural goal, people co‐construct new knowledge by building on each participant's contribution. Based on the main tenets of sociocultural theory, the following eight interrelated principles for instruction are presented, namely, that it should be: mediated; discursive; collaborative; responsive; contextualized; activity‐oriented; developmental; and integrated.     

The reflective institution: Assuring and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning

Three definitions of ``quality' have entered the qualityassurance (QA) debate: quality as value for money, quality as fitfor the purpose of the institution, quality as transforming. The firstis pivotal for retrospective QA, which sees QA in terms ofaccountability, and conforming to externally imposed standards. The lasttwo are pivotal for prospective QA, which sees QA asmaintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in theinstitution. In this paper, the reflective practitioner is taken as themodel for prospective QA. Three stages are involved in institutionalreflective practice: articulating an espoused theory of teaching, thequality model (QM); continually improving on current practicethrough quality enhancement (QE), in which staff development should playan important role; and making quality feasible (QF), by removingimpediments to good teaching, which often arise through distortedpriorities in institutional policy and procedures. These three stages,QM, QE, and QF, are essential ingredients in prospective QA.     

试论求职技巧的训练与指导

求职过程是求职者全面展现自身综合素质的过程,求职技巧作为综合素质的表现始终贯穿于求职过程的全部。目前,中国的就业形势比较严峻,求职者面对的竞争越来越大,企业对求职者的要求也越来越高,面试方式更趋多样化,为此,对求职者进行求职技巧的训练和指导对求职成功与否起着至关重要的作用。本文采用实例法进行研究,从阐述求职技巧的内涵及求职技巧训练与指导的重要作用出发,针对求职者求职技巧的现状进行分析,提出求职技巧训练与指导的具体措施。     

Using video-based anchored instruction to enhance learning: Taiwan's experience

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of computer-assisted videodisc-based anchored instruction on attitudes toward mathematics and instruction as well as problem-solving skills among Taiwanese elementary students. Results from a t-test indicate a significant main effect on student attitudes toward mathematics. Results from a two-way Repeated Measures ANOVA show that students' problem-solving skills improve significantly with anchored instruction. Results also indicate that all the students benefit from the effects of anchored instruction on their problem-solving performance regardless of their mathematics and science abilities. The findings suggest that video-based anchored instruction provide a more motivating environment that enhanced students' problem-solving skills. This study is significant because it establishes an example of video-based anchored instruction for Taiwanese students and also provides empirical evidence of its effects on affective and cognitive responses among fifth graders in learning mathematics. This study is helpful to educators who want to help students learn to think and learn throughout technology.     

Designing instruction for complex learning: 4C/ID in higher education

Objectives‐based instructional design approaches break down tasks into specific learning objectives and prescribe that instructors should choose the optimal instructional method for teaching each respective objective until all objectives have been taught. This approach is appropriate for many tasks where there is little relation between the objectives, but less effective for teaching complex professional tasks that require the integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and the coordination of different skills. For the latter, a task‐centred approach that starts designing instruction from whole, real‐life tasks, is more appropriate. This article describes one task‐centred instructional design model, namely the Four‐Component Instructional Design (4C/ID) model and illustrates its application by reflecting on three educational programs in higher education designed with 4C/ID. The first case presents a design for a course that focuses on the development of mobile apps at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The second case illustrates the integration of information problem‐solving skills at Iselinge University of Professional Teacher Education, a teacher training institute in the Netherlands. The third case is an example from general practice education at the KU Leuven, Belgium. Future developments and issues concerning the implementation of task‐centred educational programmes are discussed.     

Generalization of the CS- preexposure effect transfers to taste- aversion learning

Rats repeatedly exposed to a maple, vanilla, banana, or water solution were subsequently poisoned with lithium chloride after drinking the maple solution. Subjects preexposed to water showed the strongest aversions to maple, followed, in descending order, by rats preexposed to banana, vanilla, and maple. These results suggest that the effects of prepoisoning experience with a novel flavor generalized to the maple CS and interfered with the development of the maple aversion. The technique reported here is potentially applicable to study of gustatory discrimination processes.     

Analogical instruction within the information processing paradigm: effective means to facilitate learning

Research on the structure of memory has led to evidence that relating unfamiliar information to that which is familiar facilitates the new material's acquisition and retention; moreover, such associations can be efficiently achieved through the use of analogies. The present paper discusses the current information processing conceptualization of memory, the processes of learning by analogy, and the overall desired outcomes of their use to acquire and retain new information. Additionally, instructional implications of how, when, and why to use analogies are discussed.     

Visualization in learning and instruction: a cognitive approach

This article is based on the premise that instruction involves the control of cognitive processes by means of carefully selected instructional strategies. Visual cognitive processes having to do with perception, the assimilation of new information, and learning by means of analogy are examined, and particular instructional strategies by which each process can be controlled are identified. Ways of improving mental skills (i.e., those visual processes at which the learner is relatively adept) are discussed. Conclusions are drawn regarding relationships between visual learning and instruction, and implications for research and design are examined. Research for this article was conducted while the author was a visiting scholar in the Department of Instructional Technology, University of Southern California. The research was supported by a grant from the University of Calgary. The author wishes to thank Richard Clark for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of the article.     

Teaching and learning cycles in a constructivist approach to instruction

This study attempts to analyze and synthesize the knowledge collected in the area of conceptual models used in teaching and learning during inquiry-based projects, and to propose a new frame for organizing the classroom interactions within a constructivist approach. The IMSTRA model consists in three general phases: Immersion, Structuring, Applying, each with two sub-phases that highlight specific roles for the teacher and the students. Two case studies, one for mathematics in grade 9 and another for science in grade 3, show how the model can be implemented in school, making inquiry realistic in regular classes. Beyond its initial purpose, the IMSTRA model proved to be a powerful tool in curriculum development, being used in producing mathematics textbooks, as well as in developing teaching courses for a long-distance teacher-training program.