Rethinking Creative Teaching and Teaching as Research: Mapping the Critical Phases That Mark Times of Change and Choosing as Learners and Teachers of Music

This article describes the use of a visual-based construct elicitation tool developed from the use of critical incident charting for the purpose of reflecting on our creative learning journeys either at significant points as music learners in childhood, in adult life, or as preservice or experienced teachers. In this article, I introduce diverse applications of this reflective tool called “Rivers of Musical Experience” that can help us to represent, construct, and reconstruct significant milestones or significant events in our creative learning journeys. It also considers what we can learn from each other's reflections on and about our learning journeys that enable us to reflect on the assumptions underpinning our own practice. In this article, by creative teaching or teaching for creativity, I mean creating a positive learning environment in which both teachers and students can take risks, engage in imaginative activity, and do things differently.     

Returning to the mirror: reflections on promoting constructivism in three educational contexts

Since the early 1980s educators have argued that reflection is an essential dimension of good pedagogical practice. This discussion of my attempt to support a constructivist approach to learning for three different groups of learners illustrates one effort to engage in such reflection. I analyze several assignments I have designed for differently positioned learners, all within the context of a liberal arts college in northeastern USA. Referring to the assignments I have developed in each context, I analyze the particular kinds of structures, challenges and supports I try to provide to learners, with the goal of surfacing the convictions I hold about learners' identities and capabilities. My intention is to identify underlying pedagogical principles that inform my practice across contexts, not only to make it clearer for myself and others what guides that practice but also, in an effort to acknowledge the evolving and interdependent nature of this work, to articulate the new challenges this analysis poses for me.     

Supporting coherence formation in learning from multiple representations

Multimedia learning environments combine multiple forms of representations like texts, static and animated pictures or graphs. Knowledge acquisition from multiple representations requires that the learner create referential connections between corresponding elements and corresponding structures in different representations. As this process is usually difficult, learners frequently fail to construct coherent mental representations and, thus, do not sufficiently understand the subject matter. This paper analyzes the effects of different kinds of instructional help on the process of coherence formation from multiple representations by learners with different prior knowledge. Three groups of university students with different domain-specific knowledge had to learn a complex subject matter from chemistry using six different forms of representation. In addition, a first group received directive help for coherence formation. A second group received non-directive help, and a third group received no instructional help. Results indicate that directive help is effective for recall performance because of its summarizing and repeating function. Furthermore, learners with different levels of prior knowledge show different reactions when help is given. For learners with insufficient prior knowledge help is not helpful or, in case of recall performance, even harmful. Learners with a medium level of prior knowledge can increase especially their comprehension performance when help is offered, whereas learners with too much prior knowledge seem not to be affected by help.     

Knowledge, Sentience and Receptivity: a paradigm of lifelong learning

This article aims to develop a paradigm of lifelong learning situations. The starting point is the EU-Commission policy document where three kinds of learning situations are identified: formal, non-formal and informal. The article tries to deepen this categorisation by searching for the underlying ontological and epistemological dimensions.
The ontological dimension consists of three corresponding realities — formal, non-formal and informal reality. The formal reality is a world of generalities. The non-formal reality is a world of individualities – and not just of individual human beings.
In the same way, the epistemological dimension consists of three corresponding kinds of knowledge: formal, non-formal and informal. Formal knowledge is a knowing you can formulate, basically as concepts in thoughts possible to formulate in words. Non-formal knowledge consists of the learner's ability to see and sense what an actual event shows and (literally) make sense-ible. It is a circumstantial knowledge .
As for informal knowledge , you cannot have that ability. But, in the moment of happening, the event will give you this ability to see and sense what to do and how to do — as a whim or fancy from nowhere. Informal knowledge is epiphanic .
These two dimensions form a nine field paradigm of different kinds of learning settings. In relation to the formal, non-formal and informal reality the conceptual knowledge will be produced in the academic setting; the learning setting of conceptualising reflection; the learning setting of ignorance. The circumstantial knowledge will be developed in the master-apprentice learning setting; the learning setting of trial and error; the setting of accidental learning. The epiphanic knowledge will be revealed in the learning setting of self-evident clearness; the learning setting of individual unique simplicity; the learning setting of vivifying activities.     

适应个性化学习需要 建设数字化学习包

数字化学习包能承载更多类型资源,能为不同类型的学习者提供个性化学习手段。建设数字化学习包应注意满足学生个性化学习资源的多样性、人才培养目标的应用性、学习过程的整体性。应发挥系统优势,建设示范性学习包,推动教学资源的建设和应用。     

The cognitive approach to training development: A practitioner's assessment

This article begins this special issue of ETR&D-Development by discussing what the cognitive approach to instructional design (ID) is and how ID practitioners can design training differently using the approach. Following some introductory comments about purpose, scope and perspective, the article is in two parts. The first part describes why the cognitive approach to ID is important and how the current approach to instructional design and training development is different from the cognitive approach. It then explains how learning occurs according to the cognitive point of view, and the different categories of learning according to one type of cognitive psychology. The second part describes a model that synthesizes and summarizes the components of a well-designed lesson, and describes what is different about this model from the current approach to ID. This model relates what learners have to do to learn to what instructional designers have to do to help them do so. It presents and briefly explains and exemplifies a general framework for instructional design based on cognitive psychology. Finally, it presents a table that can be used as a job aid to design training.     

Quality Learning of Physics: Conceptions Held by High School and University Teachers

This paper reports an exploration of the conceptions of quality learning held by two samples of physics teachers – final year, high school physics teachers and academics teaching first year university physics. We begin by outlining our view of quality learning, that is a view of learning in which learners take control of their own learning and engage with active construction and reconstruction of their own meanings for concepts and phenomena. This view of quality learning recognises the crucial role of the affective dimension of learning on the extent to which students engage with and maintain such constructivist and metacognitive approaches to learning. The study explored the qualitatively different ways in which individuals conceptualise quality learning in physics, using semi structured interviews that explored aspects of learning that the respondents regarded as worth fostering in their classrooms. The interview approach was a modification of the Interview-About-Instances approach that allowed the possibility of interviewees suggesting instances of particular relevance to their view of quality learning. This process resulted in a considerable quantity of rich and complex data related to a large range of aspects of physics learning. These data are summarised here, and the qualitatively different conceptions of the respondents with respect to four significant aspects of physics learning are discussed. These aspects are: doing experimental work; linking physics to the real world; students taking responsibility for their own learning and being confident/feeling proud of what you can do.     

Extending the Scaffolding Metaphor

A brief overview overview is provided of how the scaffolding metaphor has been defined in educational contexts. This includes a discussion of what theories guide decision-making regarding what to scaffold as well as considerations as to whom or what does the scaffolding (human teachers, peers and tutors or computer tutors or support tools designed for learning environments). The scaffolding construct intersects instruction and assessment in that instructors assess learners to determine what type or level of scaffold is sufficient to help learners reach their potential. Such assessments are dynamic and ongoing and can occur through dialogue and social interactions with or without the use of technology. Hence scaffolds are provided when and where necessary but they are also removed when evidence of learning exists. This article describes how the contributors to this issue have extended the scaffolding metaphor to open-ended technology based environments. Empirical studies are reviewed with regard to how they extend the scaffolding metaphor in terms of the theories that guide the design of scaffolds, the metrics designed to assess how scaffolding affects learning and in terms of teaching scaffolding techniques to others.     

Learners’ perceptions of instructional design practice in a situated learning activity

This case study investigated learners’ perceptions of value from participating in a learning activity designed to model professional instructional design practice. Learners developed instructional design products for a corporate client in the context of a classroom-based course. The findings indicate that learners perceived different kinds of value which varied according to the degree of integration of learners’ goals with client’s goals, ranging from (a) co-constituted value (in which learners perceived the value of their participation as being inextricably bound to creation of value to the client) to (b) satisficing value (in which learners engaged with the activity so as to generate value for themselves while providing sufficient or good enough value to the client) to (c) salvage value (in which learners did not participate in the activity in the manner intended, but attempted to salvage some personal value from their participation). A framework relates these learners’ perceptions of value to three main features of such learning activities: what you do, how you do it, and who you are accountable to. The relative worth of these different kinds of value is discussed, and proposals for influencing learner perceptions of value are presented.     

Learning to Troubleshoot: A New Theory-Based Design Architecture

Troubleshooting is a common form of problem solving. Technicians (e.g., automotive mechanics, electricians) and professionals (physician, therapists, ombudspersons) diagnose faulty systems and take direct, corrective action to eliminate any faults in order to return the systems to their normal states. Traditional approaches to troubleshooting instruction have emphasized either theoretical or domain knowledge about the system or specific troubleshooting procedures. These methods have failed to develop transferable troubleshooting skills in learners. In this article, we propose an architecture for designing learning environments for troubleshooting. The architecture integrates experiential, domain, and device knowledge in a learning system that enables learners to generate and test hypotheses for every action they take, relate every action to a conceptual model of the system, and query experienced troubleshooters about what they would do. The architecture includes three essential components: A multi-layered conceptual model of the system that includes topographic, function, strategic, and procedural representations; a simulator that requires the learner to generate hypotheses, reconcile the hypotheses to the system mode, test the hypotheses, and interpret the results from the test; and a case library that uses a case-based reasoning engine to access relevant stories of troubleshooting experiences as advice for the learner. This novel architecture can be used to develop learning environments for different kinds of troubleshooting.     

学习迁移的分析

学习迁移是学习中的一种普遍现象,因此,学习迁移是学习心理学的一个主要问题。本文简要概括了迁移的种类和迁移理论的发展,分析了影响学习迁移的多种因素,最后提出促进学习迁移的策略。     

案例分析:远程开放教育学习者学习费用支出的影响因素

本文以南京电大在读远程开放教育的学生个人学习费用支出为案例,实证研究了南京地区远程开放教育学习者的社会经济特征、学习费用支出情况。通过回归分析认为,年级、工作单位性质,以及年个人总开支是影响学习费用支出达到显著水平的重要因素。在此基础上提出,远程教育机构提供学习支持服务,对不同年级的学习者的服务内容和重点应有所不同,对支付能力强和支付能力弱的不同群体应有不同的支持策略,也意味着教育机构办学定位选择等建议。     

混合学习环境下学习者的在线自我调节学习潜在剖面分析及行为过程挖掘

混合学习强调线下课堂教学和线上自主学习的混合以实现优势互补,其中学习者的在线自我调节学习能力显得异常重要。文章旨在揭示学习者的在线自我调节学习能力存在哪些潜在类别,不同类别学习者是否具有不同的在线自我调节学习行为过程模型,以及这对于在线自我调节学习环境的设计有何启示。研究首先对239名学习者的在线自我调节学习能力进行测评,然后使用潜在剖面分析方法对测评数据进行分析,发现样本学习者可以分为高、中、低三种不同水平的自我调节学习剖面类别。然后分别对三种类别学习者的在线自我调节学习行为数据进行过程挖掘,研究发现:(1)学习者的自我调节学习能力更多体现在执行阶段的行为上;(2)中高水平自我调节学习者的在线学习行为表现出更强的认知和元认知策略;(3)高水平自我调节学习者体现出更有效的时间管理策略与更强的整体规划能力。因此,在线自我调节学习环境需要引入自适应支持机制,为学习者提供适应性的过程和策略支持。     

Testing the ATI hypothesis: Should multimedia instruction accommodate verbalizer-visualizer cognitive style?

College students (Experiment 1) and non-college adults (Experiment 2) studied a computer-based 31-frame lesson on electronics that offered help-screens containing text (text group) or illustrations (pictorial group), and then took a learning test. Participants also took a battery of 14 cognitive measures related to the verbalizer-visualizer dimension including tests of cognitive style, learning preference, spatial ability, and general achievement. In Experiment 3, college students received either both kinds of help-screens or none. Verbalizers and visualizers did not differ on the learning test, and almost all of the verbalizer-visualizer measures failed to produce significant attribute x treatment interactions (ATIs). There was not strong support for the hypothesis that verbal learners and visual learners should be given different kinds of multimedia instruction.     

Lifelong learning and the low‐skilled

This article is a combined result of a three years research project on low‐skilled learners’ experiences as participants of various kinds of adult training and education in Denmark, and the findings of a three years research consortium on workplace learning, summing up and generalizing our various findings as to how low‐skilled adults function in relation to participation in training and education activities, how they feel about it, what is important to them, and consequently what works in practice in relation to this very important but often neglected group of adult learners.     

浅议话语分析与外语教学

话语分析是被同一个语言交际圈中的成员所使用的语言检查手段。对外语老师来说，话语分析不仅仅是调查他们自己教学实践的研究方法，而且也是研究语言学习者之间交互作用的一种工具。本文讨论了话语分析和第二语言教学之间的相互关系，并指出语言学习者如何使用话语分析探究语言是什么的问题，以及如何应用话语分析在不同的语境中达成交际目的。本文还讨论了如何利用话语分析创建更准确的第二语言学习环境，从而鼓励学习者更有效地利用第二语言达到交际目的。     

运程学习材料中的活动设计

本文对远程学习材料中活动设计的重要性、类型和形式、结构、数量安排、与学习者之间的关系等内容进行了全面的介绍,指出良好的活动设计是远程学习材料开发的关键要素,只有符合远程学习特征的学习材料才能真正适合远程学习者的需要,才能保证远程教育的质量。     

Nature/nurture and intelligence in current introductory educational psychology textbooks

Self-regulated learners understand, value, and engage academic learning in ways that are fundamentally different than their peers who have difficulty in school. We discuss how students become aware of themselves as learners and the kinds of theories that students construct about schooling. Children's ideas about success and failure, their awareness and attribution, and their metacognition and motivation, develop concurrently as they progress through formal education. We focus on developmental changes in students' theories about learning and how they are influenced by variables in school such as task difficulty, helping behavior, and standards of success. Instructional conditions that promote children's self-regulated learning are also discussed. We believe that self-regulated learning is a desirable educational outcome that can be fostered by teachers who minimize academic competition, explain appropriate strategies, provide assistance during problem solving, and promote an atmosphere of collaboration in classrooms.     

Tool use in open learning environments: In search of learner-related determinants

Open learning environments (OLEs) assume that learners are good self-regulators. In such environments, learners have a large amount of control and decide on the use of different support devices (i.e. tools). However, research clearly suggests that, because students often do not possess the necessary regulation skills, they cannot decide what tool might be beneficial for their learning. This contribution deals with the impact of three metacognitive variables on tool use in OLEs: students’ regulation activities; help-seeking behaviour; and instructional conceptions. Results reveal that these student characteristics affect tool use and that their impact is moderated by environmental factors, especially advice.     

Team regulation, regulation of social activities or co-regulation: Different labels for effective regulation of learning in CSCL

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is an approach to learning in which learners can actively and collaboratively construct knowledge by means of interaction and joint problem solving. Regulation of learning is especially important in the domain of CSCL. Next to the regulation of task performance, the interaction between learners who work in a CSCL environment needs to be regulated as well. Despite its importance, the regulation of learning in CSCL has received relatively little attention in research. In the contributions of this special issue different labels are used for various forms of regulation of learning during CSCL. During collaborative learning, the regulation of activities can take place at different levels of social interaction: the individual level, the dyadic level, and the group level. Regulative activities of all three levels are presented in the three studies. All studies have investigated whether the use of regulative activities affected performance, and have found that regulation at the dyadic and/or group level was positively related to group performance. In sum, these three contributions provide a constructive overview of the role of regulation of the (collaborative) learning process in CSCL, both in terms of the impact of regulation on learning processes and learning results as well as the influence of different kinds of support on the regulation of collaborative learning.