Class‐size and Learning: the Tennessee experiment — what follows?

Abstract

The exceptionally large ‘Tennessee experiment’ — involving 7000 pupils — to elucidate the effects of class‐size on primary school pupils’ rate of learning has been widely interpreted as showing convincingly that classes of 15 pupils learn more rapidly, in an important sense, than classes of 24 pupils. The present re‐analysis in terms of value‐added in learning — the annual increase in SAT scores (rather than the absolute levels of those scores) — indicates that the benefits to average children resulting simply from a lowering of class‐size, while positive, are negligible in magnitude and not justifiable in relation to the additional economic resources required. The paper suggests that benefits are more likely to result from targeting additional resources to improved teaching styles, improved teaching materials and providing small classes for pupils with recognised learning difficulties; further research on class‐size needs to concentrate on the correct proportion of low‐attaining pupils that would benefit from attending small classes, the optimal size of such classes, and the fractions of the day which pupils with varying difficulties should attend small and normal‐sized classes.     

Cognitive Style,Gender, Attitude toward Computer‐assisted Learning and Academic Achievement

This paper reports an investigation of cognitive style, gender, attitude toward using computer‐assisted learning (CAL) and academic achievement among university students. A Group Embedded Figures Test was used to assess students’ cognitive style and a questionnaire was used for the evaluation of students’ attitude toward CAL. The results revealed that students have positive attitudes toward CAL but they were not prepared to rely entirely on CAL. A 2 x 2 ANOVA was used to investigate the effect of cognitive style and gender on the attitude toward CAL. The results revealed that male students preferred using CAL significantly more than females and field dependent students were more prepared to rely entirely on CAL than field independent students. On the other hand, there was a significant difference between males and females in their achievement scores in favour of the male group. But there was no difference between field dependence and field independence groups in their achievement. The results also revealed no significant relationship between students’ attitudes toward CAL and their achievement in these courses.     

613名小学生自我效能感状况及其与自主学习策略的关系研究

本研究通过问卷调查,考察613名小学生自我效能感状况及其与自主学习策略的关系。结果如下:(1)613名小学生的总体自我效能感较高;(2)两所学校之间小学生能力自我效能感差异显著;(3)在能力自我效能感方面,6年级与4、5年级存在显著差异;(4)小学生在总体自我效能感、能力自我效能感和行为自我效能感上都存在极其显著的性别差异;(5)小学生自我效能感与自主学习策略相关显著,小学生的自我效能感能够预测自主学习策略的运用。     

儿麻患者学习适应性调查研究

学习适应性是反映学生学习效率的重要指标之一,它可揭示影响学习的主要原因。儿麻患者在从康复训练为主向以文化知识学习为主的转变过程中,能否迅速掌握学习规律,有效地开展学习,是促进自身发展的关键。本研究通过对儿麻患者学习适应性的调查分析,探索其高效学习的途径     

小学生学习心理与师生关系的现状调查研究

经过对山西省太原市杏花岭区的2 267名3-6年级小学生进行学习效能感、学习动机、学习焦虑、学习归因和师生关系现状的调查,结果发现:高年级学生与中年级学生在自我效能感、学习动机、学习焦虑和师生关系上存在显著差异;在学习动机和师生关系方面,男女学生的性别差异显著;学习效能感、焦虑程度、师生情感关系和地位关系能够预测小学生的学业成就。     

British‐Chinese pupils’ constructions of gender and learning

British‐Chinese pupils are the highest achieving ethnic group in the British education system, and British‐Chinese boys’ performance equals that of girls. This paper investigates aspects of British‐Chinese pupils’ constructions of learning, focusing particularly on subject preferences and their constructions of themselves as pupils. The results are analysed according to gender as well as social class, and demonstrate that British‐Chinese pupils’ constructions of gender, subject preference and self‐image as pupils differ in some respects from those of pupils from other ethnic groups. Reasons for such differences are considered, and the paper also reflects on the implications of these findings in relation to broader findings concerning the stereotyping and ‘othering’ of the British‐Chinese within the British education system.     

Exploration and Authority in Science Learning Environments: an International Study

Summaries

English

Scales derived from student responses were used to describe the science learning environments of 14‐year‐old students in 14 different countries. It was found that the best science achievement occured in countries which combined exploratory and authoritarian teaching styles. Within countries, exploratory teaching styles were again associated with high science‐achievement, although the relationship was less strong. These results suggest that some science teachers might improve their pupils’ performance if they adopted more exploratory teaching styles. But no firm conclusions can be reached until the results have been replicated in an experimental study.     

Attitudes to computer-assisted learning amongst business and management students

Computer‐assisted learning (CAL) is becoming ever more important as a method of teaching and facilitating learning in an increasingly overburdened higher education sector in the UK. A number of authors have made pleas for more evaluation and research in the area of CAL. This study set out to evaluate the attitudes to CAL amongst over 300 business and management undergraduates using a questionnaire survey. The survey revealed a positive disposition towards CAL irrespective of age, gender or educational background. In addition respondents were asked to compare the features of CAL with those of other more traditional methods of teaching and learning. Two factors were identified, labelled CAL ‘instructional’ features and CAL ‘tutorial’ features. The instructional features of CAL were rated more highly than its tutorial features. Respondents rated CAL as better than traditional methods in terms of its instructional features and about the same as traditional methods in terms of its tutorial features. Younger respondents rated the instructional features of CAL more highly than did the older respondents. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the use of CAL in an expanding system of mass higher education.     

大学生外语学习观念性别差异研究

本研究采用定量研究。通过对广东某高校81名大学生外语学习观念的调查,结果显示：外语学习观念的五个因素都在不同程度上影响着学生的学习;此外,男生和女生在总体的外语学习观念上不存在显著的差异,但在语言学习难度、动机和期望学习观念方面,男生和女生存在显著的差异。基于本研究结果,本文提出了相关建议以期提高英语教学成效。     

网络学习环境下低年级小学生写作中的思维品质特点

对小学二年级网络和普通学习环境下学生写作作品中表现出来的思维品质特点进行对比分析,结果表明:(1)网络班学生的思维灵活性低于普通班;(2)网络班学生的思维独创性优于普通班;(3)网络班学生的思维逻辑性明显优于普通班;(4)二年级学生的思维品质发展基本不存在性别差异。     

Designing Teaching Materials for Learning Problem Solving in Technology Education

In the process of designing teaching materials for learning problem solving in technology education, domain-specific design specifications are considered important elements to raise learning outcomes with these materials. Two domain-specific design specifications were drawn up using a four-step procedure and were applied to improve existing teaching-learning packages. The study focused on a construction problem (open-ended) and an explanation problem (constrained). Construction material (fischertechnik) was used to solve the problems. In two experiments, these newly designed teaching materials were compared with the existing teaching materials. In all, 600 pupils participated in these experiments. In the experiment with the construction problem, no learning gains were made at all: the small gain in quality of the product made by the pupils cost too much time. In the experiment with the explanation problem, the quality of the pupils' product was significantly better in less time. It is argued that strongly structured teaching materials for constrained problems are more suitable for learners with little experience with construction material.     

中国、加拿大、美国小学三年级学生学习特点比较研究

中、美、加三国儿童的学习特点存在一定程度的国别差异和性别差异,中国儿童与外国(特指加拿大和美国)儿童学习特点上的中西差异十分明显.在喜欢学校、计算机运用能力、家庭作业能力等方面,中国被调查儿童强于加拿大和美国儿童;但在学习自信心、图书借阅能力、学习效果和学习环境等方面,加拿大和美国被调查儿童的表现明显强于中国被调查儿童.小学生的课业负担沉重,学习自信心不足,是我国面临的突出问题.     

Educational dialogues and the fostering of pupils' independence: the practices of two teachers

If the purpose of an educational system is to guide pupils towards achieving independence, then certain conditions about the design and conduct of that system must be met. In this paper, those conditions are formulated from a socio‐cultural perspective on learning and development. This paper examines the extent to which those conditions were fulfilled by teachers judged ‘good’ by their pupils and by school management in a case‐study in two Montessori secondary schools. Because discourse is assumed to play a central role when pupils work on assignments with the teacher assisting them, dialogues occurring in various teaching‐learning situations were analysed. The types of language genre used by the teachers and pupils were found to be important characteristics of the ongoing dialogues. The main results were that ‘good’ teachers excel in the adoption of a personal approach to pupils, but they work much more intuitively than systematically or deliberately to stimulate pupils' development of higher mental functions.     

Gender and Gender Identity Differences in Learning Styles

In the past decade, extensive research on gender and learning styles has produced a multitude of findings: gender differences in learning styles are small on average, but across studies quite different results are observed. In the present study, this heterogeneity is the central focus of our attention. Two possible interpretations concerning the educational context and the concept of gender identity are investigated: the teacher and the subject he or she teaches. Besides the variable gender as a dichotomous variable, the variable gender identity is included to reflect the theoretical standpoint of the social construction of gender differences. Using multivariate techniques on a data set of 432 adult secondary students, the observed relations between gender, gender identity and learning styles are described. Gender identity turns out to explain more variance in the use of learning styles compared to gender. Furthermore, it is shown that gender (identity) differences in learning styles do not vary across teachers and, with one exception, they do not vary across subjects.     

Computer-Assisted Learning and In-Service Teacher Training

Beginning in the spring of 1983, a series of in-service courses in computer-assisted learning (CAL) for post-primary schoolteachers was organized under the auspices of the Microelectronics Education Programme (Northern Ireland Region). The courses were presented on a workshop basis and provided the teachers with the opportunity to consider the use of CAL in their teaching. The teachers attending the courses were invited to complete questionnaires which were designed to assess (a) the current level of CAL practice in schools and (b) the effectiveness of the various types of support, including in-service training, available for teachers interested in developing CAL practice in their teaching. This paper reports on the findings arising from the questionnaires.     

Effectiveness of a Computer-Mediated Simulations Program in School Biology on Pupils' Learning Outcomes in Cell Theory

Biology knowledge and understanding is important not only for the conversion of the loftiest dreams into reality for a better life of individuals but also for preparing secondary pupils for such fields as agriculture, medicine, biotechnology, and genetic engineering. But a recent study has revealed that many aspects of school science (biology included) pose problems of understanding for pupils, simply because of the teaching methods used and the lack of adequate instructional resources. Nevertheless, a program was designed to incorporate the use of computer technology innovation called the computer-mediated simulations (CMS) program to enhance pupils' learning outcomes in school biology. The study was carried out in a real biology classroom setting. It involved comparisons between the treatment and control groups. A Solomon-Three Group quasi-experimental design was employed to involve three secondary schools situated along Njoro-Mau Narok and Elburgon-Molo roads in Nakuru district that were purposively sampled on the basis of easy accessibility and the availability of IBM compatible computers. A total of 102 pupils enrolled in three intact classes were exposed to the same content on cell division for a period of 3 weeks. Three dependent measures—the Biology Achievement Test (BAT), the Biology Classroom Environment Questionnaire (BCEQ), and the Pupil Attitude Questionnaire (PAQ)—were used to assess the effectiveness of the program on the pupils' academic achievement in cell theory, their perception of the classroom environment, and attitudes towards the biology course on cell theory. The findings of the study affirmed the impact of the CMS program on the pupils' learning outcomes in that the mean gains of the participants in the treatment groups were significantly higher than that of their counterparts in the regular program. Also, the results indicated that the mean differences between the experimental group and the true control group were statistically significant in favor of the treatment group. The findings also showed no relationship between the participants' gender and their learning outcomes. The study concludes that the use of the CMS program to augment conventional biology teaching has major implications for secondary biology instruction in this area.     

Student–authored Hypermedia in Veterinary Anatomy: Teaching and Learning Outcomes of Group Project Work

The Directed–Self Education programme (DSE) in the first year undergraduate course in veterinary anatomy seeks to support students in developing personal study and information technology skills. It also aims to move computer–assisted learning (CAL) towards offering tools for students to create a variety of computer–based materials of their own which subsequently can be repurposed by staff as teaching resources. This aspect addresses the issue that many British academics have little incentive to devote time to improving teaching through CAL methods, as innovation and excellence in teaching is not rewarded in career terms on par with excellence in research. The programme seeks to integrate a modest type of "problem–based learning" (PBL) methodology without demanding the total integration of pre–clinical with clinical teaching advocated by full–scale PBL. Since 1993 the outcomes of the programme have been that lectures in the first year veterinary anatomy course have been reduced by a third, with a slight change in the mean value of the final grades in the first year final examination in veterinary anatomy during 1994–5, as compared to the years 1991–3. Other benefits have included the rapid creation of a library of student–produced CAL which is recycled by staff into other forms of computer–based teaching. It has also led to involvement in the use of CAL by lecturers hitherto resistant to applying technology to teaching, and the vacation employment of current BVSc undergraduates from the programme in university and national projects producing CAL for medical teaching.     

Are class size differences related to pupils' educational progress and classroom processes? findings from the institute of education class size study of children aged 5–7 years

Abstract Despite evidence from the USA that children in small classes of less than 20 do better academically there is still a vociferous debate about the effects of class size differences in schools, and considerable gaps in our understanding of the effects of class size differences. This article summarises results from the most complete UK analysis to date of the educational consequences of class size differences. The study had two aims: first, to establish whether class size differences affect pupils’ academic achievement; and second, to study connections between class size and classroom processes, which might explain any differences found. The study had a number of features that were designed to be an improvement on previous research. It used an ‘observational’ approach, rather than an interventionist one, in order to capture the nature of the relationship between class size and achievement across the full range of observed classes, and it employed a longitudinal design with baseline assessment to adjust for possible non‐random selection of children into classes. The study followed a large sample of over 10,000 children from school entry through the infant stage, i.e. children aged 4–7 years. It used multilevel statistical procedures to model effects of class size differences while controlling for sources of variation that might affect the relationship with academic achievement, and a multimethod research approach, integrating teachers’ judgements and experiences with case studies, and also carefully designed time allocation estimates and systematic observation data. Results showed that there was a clear effect of class size differences on children's academic attainment over the (first) Reception year. In the case of literacy, the lowest attainers on entry to school benefited most from small classes, particularly below 25. Connections between class size and classroom processes were examined and a summary model of relationships presented. Effects were multiple, not singular; in large classes there are more large groups and this presented teachers with more difficulties, in smaller classes there was more individual teacher contact with pupils and more support for learning, and in larger classes there was more pupil inattentiveness and off‐task behaviour. Results support a contextual approach to classroom learning, within which class size differences have effects on both teachers and pupils. It is concluded that much will depend on how teachers adapt their teaching to different class sizes and that more could be done in teacher training and professional development to address contextual features like size of class.     

Learning Microbiology with Computer Simulations: students’ academic achievement by method and gender

Tenth grade students studied the topic of ‘The growth curve of microorganisms’, which included a computer‐assisted learning (CAL) simulation episode. The CAL episode enabled students to simulate experiments which investigated the simultaneous impact of three independent variables upon the growth curve of microorganisms (temperature, nutrient concentration and the initial number of individuals from which to start a population growth). Two classes (n = 82 students) formed the experimental group and were instructed in a combination of classroom‐laboratory work with CAL. The control group included three classes (n = 99 students) who were taught the topic in the classroom‐laboratory work setting only. Five teachers taught the five classes, three periods weekly and the study lasted 4 weeks. The students’ previous knowledge in the topic to be learned and their academic achievement were assessed with pre‐ and post‐tests, respectively. The data for each lest were treated with a two‐way analysis of variance. The results showed that the two study groups did not differ in their previous knowledge and no significant differences were found by gender within and between the groups. The post‐test results on academic achievement indicated that students in the experimental group achieved significantly higher means scores than the control group. No significant gender differences on academic achievement were found within each group. The results affirm that: (a) computer simulations, in which three variables are manipulated simultaneously in one experiment, can be integrated as short episodes in the existing biology curricula; (b) high school students can perform computer simulations which require the skills of simultaneous manipulations of three variables in one experiment, problem solving and decision making; (c) girls and boys in the experimental group exhibited these skills at a similar academic level of achievement.