Learning and organizations: towards cross-metaphor conversations

Discussions on learning in organizations are characterized by the diversity of perspectives involved and the variety of their disciplinary roots. This is an effort to identify the roots of some metaphors employed in this literature. It is argued that cross-metaphor conversations can contribute to the richness of discussions in the field. Some specific instances where more than one metaphor is employed are identified. The promises of certain “disruptive devices” to facilitate such desirable cross-metaphor interactions are briefly explored.     

学习型组织的理论与实践

学习型组织已成为当今社会最热门的话题之一，各种团体组织纷纷响应学习。成为学习型组织必须具备两个条件：一是形成全民学习的大环境，二是学会个体自我学习和团队学习。河海大学在学习学习型组织理论的同时，探索了学习型高校的建设。     

Applying organizational orientations theory to employees of profit and non-profit organizations

Organizational orientations theory posits three traits (upward mobile, ambivalent, and indifferent) of employees in organizations that are associated with communication traits, temperament, and perceptions of supervisor source credibility. All of these are hypothesized to be associated with organizational communication behavior and organizational outcomes such as employee job satisfaction and motivation. Previous research employing undergraduate student participants has provided support for this theory. Results of the present research indicate that this theory can be applied to typical full-time employees in profit and nonprofit organizations. All studied relationships were found to generate statistically significant results, accounting for substantial variance in each relationship. These results indicate this theory can be applied to employees in a wide variety of organizations. Suggestions for broadening this theory and its application are provided.     

Organizational learning and program renewal in teacher education: A socio-cultural theory of learning, innovation and change

Pressures for change in the field of teacher education are escalating significantly as part of systemic education reform initiatives in a broad spectrum of economically developed and developing nations. Considering these pressures, it is surprising that relatively little theoretical or empirical analysis of learning and change processes within teacher education programs has been undertaken. In this paper, we illustrate some ways in which contemporary socio-cultural learning theory may be used as a lens for addressing these issues. Using a theoretical framework developed by Harré [Harré, R. (1984). Personal being: A theory for individual psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press], we show how processes of individual and collective learning led to changes in a teacher education program observed over an eighteen month period of time. Important innovations in program practice were generally found to have their sources in the creative work of individual faculty. However program level changes required negotiation of new ideas and practices within small groups of faculty, and with the larger collective of the program. We conclude that the Harré model, and the socio-cultural learning theories from which it is derived, may offer a useful theoretical framework for interpreting complex social processes underlying organizational renewal, innovation, and change.     

Trust in top management and immediate supervisor: The relationship to satisfaction,perceived organizational effectiveness,and information receiving

Utilizing 2068 individuals in 60 organizations in the U.S. and Italy, this study (a) examines the overall relationship between trust in top management and immediate supervisor and overall estimates of satisfaction and perceived organizational effectiveness, (b) compares the amount of variance in satisfaction and effectiveness that can be explained by trust in top management to the amount of variance explained by trust in immediate supervisor, and (c) clarifies the role of information receiving as a predictor of trust in top management and immediate supervisor. Results of a canonical correlation analysis indicated that the canonical equation explained 49% of the variance in the linear composites (Canonical R = .69, p < .001). Trust in top management was more strongly associated with satisfaction and effectiveness than was trust in immediate supervisor. Tzvo separate multiple regression analyses indicated that after controlling for geographic location of company and type of industry, information received about job and organizational issues uniquely explained 26% of the variance in trust in top management and 13% of the variance in trust in immediate supervisor.     

Assessment as learning: blurring the boundaries of assessment and learning for theory,policy and practice

This paper explores assessment and learning in a way that blurs their boundaries. The notion of assessment as learning (AaL) is offered as an aspect of formative assessment (assessment for learning). It considers how pupils self-regulate their own learning, and in so doing make complex decisions about how they use feedback and engage with the learning priorities of the classroom. Discussion is framed from a sociocultural stance, yet challenges some of the perspectives that have widely become accepted. It offers three new views to help explore the concept of AaL: understanding feedback; understanding the learning gap; and exploring vocabularies of assessment. Pragmatically, the ideas examined suggest that teachers may need to consider less about focused and directive feedback, but more about how learners interpret and understand feedback from their self-regulatory and self-productive identities and how vocabularies for assessment can be more collaboratively shared in learning contexts.     

个体学习、组织学习与学习型组织之辨析

本文从行政组织理论和学理比较角度,对学习型组织的核心概念:个体学习、组织学习和学习型组织三者之间的区别和联系以及个体学习和组织学习的转化机制、知识传递机制进行了研究和辨析,结果显示:个体学习是构建学习型组织的基础,组织学习是个体学习的系统性整合,学习型组织是组织学习的学习指导理念与奋斗目标.     

远程教育中实现信息交互的研究和实践

信息交互体现了教学设计和教学实施水平,是教学设计关注的重点活动,信息交互的水平与学生和学习支持人员的具体表现有关。为提高远程教育的质量,远程教育机构需要不断评价和改进教学设计水平和教学实施水平。本文从远程教育实际效果出发,提出以课堂授课实时信息交互为核心的远程信息交互模式,并论证了实现的可能性,找到改进教学设计和教学实施水平的有效途径,对推动电大系统教育事业的发展有着积极的意义。     

Emotional design in multimedia learning: Effects of shape and color on affect and learning

We examine design factors that may evoke positive emotions in learners and investigate the effects of these positive emotions on learning. Recent research showed that the emotional design of multimedia learning material can induce positive emotions in learners that in turn facilitate comprehension and transfer. We sought to replicate these results with a different population and different mood induction procedure and examine individual emotions, and to decompose the effects of the design elements of color and shape. Study 1 showed that well-designed materials induced positive emotions and facilitated comprehension, though transfer performance was not affected by emotional design. Study 2 found that round face-like shapes both alone and in conjunction with warm color induced positive emotions. Warm colors alone, however, did not affect learners' emotions. Comprehension was facilitated by warm colors and round face-like shapes, independently as well as together. Transfer was facilitated by round face-like shapes when used with neutral colors.     

Testing a theory of organizational culture,climate and youth outcomes in child welfare systems: A United States national study

Theories of organizational culture and climate (OCC) applied to child welfare systems hypothesize that strategic dimensions of organizational culture influence organizational climate and that OCC explains system variance in youth outcomes. This study provides the first structural test of the direct and indirect effects of culture and climate on youth outcomes in a national sample of child welfare systems and isolates specific culture and climate dimensions most associated with youth outcomes. The study applies multilevel path analysis (ML-PA) to a U.S. nationwide sample of 2,380 youth in 73 child welfare systems participating in the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. Youths were selected in a national, two-stage, stratified random sample design. Youths’ psychosocial functioning was assessed by caregivers’ responses to the Child Behavior Checklist at intake and at 18-month follow-up. OCC was assessed by front-line caseworkers’ (N = 1,740) aggregated responses to the Organizational Social Context measure. Comparison of the a priori and subsequent trimmed models confirmed a reduced model that excluded rigid organizational culture and explained 70% of the system variance in youth outcomes. Controlling for youth- and system-level covariates, systems with more proficient and less resistant organizational cultures exhibited more functional, more engaged, and less stressful climates. Systems with more proficient cultures and more engaged, more functional, and more stressful climates exhibited superior youth outcomes. Findings suggest child welfare administrators can support service effectiveness with interventions that improve specific dimensions of culture and climate.     

Learning design and learning analytics in mobile and ubiquitous learning: A systematic review

Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (m/u-learning) are finding an increasing adoption in education. They are often distinguished by hybrid learning environments that encompass elements of formal and informal learning, in activities that happen in distributed settings (indoors and outdoors), across physical and virtual spaces. Despite their purported benefits, these environments imply additional complexity in the design, monitoring and evaluation of learning activities. The research literature on learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) has started to deal with these issues. This paper presents a systematic literature review of LD and LA, in m/u-learning. Apart from providing an overview of the current research in the field, this review elicits elements of common ground between both communities, as shown by the similar learning contexts and complementary research contributions, and based on the research gaps, proposes to: address m/u-learning beyond higher education settings, reinforce the connection between physical and virtual learning spaces, and more systematically align LD and LA processes.     

Interactive and non-interactive pictures in multimedia learning environments: Effects on learning outcomes and learning efficiency

New technologies enable flexible combinations of text and interactive or non-interactive pictures. The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) whether adding pictures to texts is generally beneficial for learning or whether it can also have detrimental effects, (b) how interactivity of pictures affects learning, (c) whether the visualization format of pictures affects the structure of the learner's mental model, and (d) whether the visualization format modifies the effects of interactivity. One hundred university students were randomly assigned to five groups. In four groups, a text about the different daytimes and days on the earth was combined with interactive or non-interactive pictures of different visualization formats. In the fifth group, the text was presented without pictures. According to the results, adding pictures to text was neither beneficial nor harmful for learning. In terms of learning efficiency, however, learning from text only was more successful than learning from text and pictures. Interactivity was beneficial for one learning task, but not for the other task. The visualization format affected participants’ interaction with pictures, but not the learning outcomes; however this effect was not influenced by interactivity. Implications for multimedia design and for further research are pointed out.     

Self-directed learning and retrieval practice: building a bridge through functional contextualism

ABSTRACT

While retrieval practice has been studied for over a century, it has gained a significant body of research within the past fifteen years in cognitive psychology and the learning sciences. However, there is little discussion in its study and application within topics of adult learning. In this article, we examine the historical and philosophical foundations of self-directed learning and retrieval practice and advocate for functional contextualism as a philosophy of science for self-directed learning research. Functional contextualism provides a synthesis between the norms of humanism and the scientific focus of cognitivism. Particularly, we look at retrieval practice as a potential area of research within self-directed learning, viewing it as an ‘act-in-context’. We hope this article reinvigorates research into self-directed learning, particularly the investigation of empirically-based self-guided learning strategies, the facilitation of metacognition for self-directed adult learners, and the adoption of a functional contextual approach to self-directed learning and other adult learning topics.     

The role of learning theory in multimodal learning analytics

This study presents the outcomes of a semi-systematic literature review on the role of learning theory in multimodal learning analytics (MMLA) research. Based on previous systematic literature reviews in MMLA and an additional new search, 35 MMLA works were identified that use theory. The results show that MMLA studies do not always discuss their findings within an established theoretical framework. Most of the theory-driven MMLA studies are positioned in the cognitive and affective domains, and the three most frequently used theories are embodied cognition, cognitive load theory and control–value theory of achievement emotions. Often, the theories are only used to inform the study design, but there is a relationship between the most frequently used theories and the data modalities used to operationalize those theories. Although studies such as these are rare, the findings indicate that MMLA affordances can, indeed, lead to theoretical contributions to learning sciences. In this work, we discuss methods of accelerating theory-driven MMLA research and how this acceleration can extend or even create new theoretical knowledge.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Multimodal learning analytics (MMLA) is an emerging field of research with inherent connections to advanced computational analyses of social phenomena.
• MMLA can help us monitor learning activity at the micro-level and model cognitive, affective and social factors associated with learning using data from both physical and digital spaces.
• MMLA provide new opportunities to support students' learning.

What this paper adds

• Some MMLA works use theory, but, overall, the role of theory is currently limited.
• The three theories dominating MMLA research are embodied cognition, control–value theory of achievement emotions and cognitive load theory.
• Most of the theory-driven MMLA papers use theory ‘as is’ and do not consider the analytical and synthetic role of theory or aim to contribute to it.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• If the ultimate goal of MMLA, and AI in Education in general, research is to understand and support human learning, these studies should be expected to align their findings (or not) with established relevant theories.
• MMLA research is mature enough to contribute to learning theory, and more research should aim to do so.
• MMLA researchers and practitioners, including technology designers, developers, educators and policy-makers, can use this review as an overview of the current state of theory-driven MMLA.

     

Supporting the less-adaptive student: the role of learning analytics,formative assessment and blended learning

Abstract

How can we best facilitate students most in need of learning support, entering a challenging quantitative methods module at the start of their bachelor programme? In this empirical study into blended learning and the role of assessment for and as learning, we investigate learning processes of students with different learning profiles. Specifically, we contrast learning episodes of two cluster analysis-based profiles, one profile more directed to deep learning and self-regulation, the other profile more directed toward stepwise learning and external regulation. In a programme based on problem-based learning, where students are supposedly being primarily self-directed, this first profile is regarded as being of an adaptive type, with the second profile less adaptive. Making use of a broad spectrum of learning and learner data, collected in the framework of a dispositional learning analytics application, we compare these profiles on learning dispositions, such as learning emotions, motivation and engagement, learning performance and trace variables collected from the digital learning environments. Outcomes suggest that the blended design of the module with the digital environments offering many opportunities for assessment of learning, for learning and as learning together with actionable learning feedback, is used more intensively by students of the less adaptive profile.     

Action learning and constructivist grounded theory: powerfully overlapping fields of practice

This paper considers the shared characteristics between action learning (AL) and the research methodology constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Mirroring Edmonstone's [2011. “Action Learning and Organisation Development: Overlapping Fields of Practice.” Action Learning: Research and Practice 8 (2): 93–102] article, which explored the relationship(s) between AL and organisation development, a case is made that AL and CGT are powerfully overlapping fields of practice. An account of practice is included to provide a contextual explanation of the ‘overlap’, and a new methodological praxeology is proposed to the field of practice/practitioner-focused research.     

Conceptions of learning and approaches to learning in Portuguese students

The article describes a study that attempted to characterise Portuguese students’ conceptions of learning and approaches to learning. A sample of university students answered open questions on the meaning, process and context of learning. Results, derived from content analysis, replicate most conceptions of learning described by phenomenographical research (i.e. distinction between learning as memorisation and learning as comprehension). Moreover, new variants of known conceptions of learning emerged (e.g. learning occurs through: exploratory practice; learning to learn; motivation) and an apparently new conception (i.e. learning as understanding and application). The same sample answered a questionnaire which attempted to measure motivation and learning strategies. Through factorial analysis of results it was possible to confirm the presence of three well-known approaches to learning: surface, deep and achieving.     

A theoretically driven teaching and research framework: learning technologies and educational practice

The emphasis of this paper is on the derivation of design principles from qualitative analysis of student reflections based on their participation in authentic, collaborative and technology-mediated activities. This paper reports on the initial phases of a design-based research project at a comprehensive university in South Africa where the authentic nature of the activities contributed to the depth of student reflections and ultimately led to meaningful design principles based entirely on the experiences of students. Students’ reflective reports were analysed for their content using simple inductive coding techniques leading to the identification of themes and the derivation of design principles from further refinement of these themes. These design principles, therefore, have their origins in the specific theories underpinning the learning activities that were used in the teaching and learning process, and contribute once again in an innovative way to this same body of knowledge. This theory-driven praxis thus makes a contribution to both educational theory and teaching practice which is applicable across a variety of contexts and sectors worldwide. More importantly, this can be seen as meaningful research that is socially responsible, with a high theoretical and practical value, and of relevance to a wider international audience.     

Regarding learning: Children’s drawings of learning in the classroom

This article explores drawings of learning in the classroom made by a class of 6 to 7-year-olds in a UK primary school. The drawings were analysed by considering the choices that children made in their drawings in terms of four themes: self and social relations in learning, the physical environment, learning activities, and learning and behaviour. These are discussed using five drawings as examples. A wide range of images was used by the children, although some drew common views of learning. The article warns against assuming that we know how a young person views their learning, or that a class of children share a common view of it. It is also suggested that talk about such drawings can make a contribution to a joint exploration of understandings of learning by teachers and children.