Theoretical Eclecticism in the College Classroom

In this article we argue that student learning is enhanced by theoretical eclecticism, which we define as intentionally drawing on different theories of learning when making instructional decisions to provide students with the instructional support they need to be successful. We briefly review the literature on four views of learning and on learner-centered approaches to instruction and then integrate this literature with Barr and Taggs (1995) distinction between the instruction paradigm and the learning paradigm. Finally, we present examples from a teacher education course to illustrate how theoretical eclecticism can be used to support student learning.Anastasia S. Morrone is the Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology in the School of Education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She received her B.S. degree in Technical Communication from the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests center around instructional practices that promote college student motivation and learning. Terri A. Tarr is the Director of the Instructional Design and Development unit of the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Director of Associate Faculty Development at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. She earned the Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Purdue University as well as an M.A. in School Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology from Ball State University. Her special interests are individual differences in learning and effective practices in faculty development     

Evaluating women's homemaking and volunteer work experiences for college credit

This project developed methods and materials to assist colleges in evaluating the competencies which women acquire from their nonmarket (volunteer work and homemaking) experiences. Competencies were identified through interviews and questionnaires of women's activities. Next an informal task analysis of each activity was conducted to develop a list of the competencies involved, the I Can lists. A twelve step counseling process, based on the use of the I Can lists, is described. The paper also discusses methods of dealing with faculty and administrative concerns about this type of experiential learning evaluation.The author wishes to thank Marlaine Lockheed and Abigal Harris for their assistance in this research.Paper presented at the conference on Continuing Education Programs for Women—Issues and Trends, Columbus, Ohio, May 12, 1978.     

Emigration,internationalization, and “brain drain”: Propensities among British Academics

This research links two important higher education phenomena: potential brain drain among academics abroad and the U.S. academic labor market. The inquiry draws on the brain drain literature and is grounded primarily on a secondary analysis of a major survey (1989) of British university and polytechnic faculty members. The anlaysis shows that fully 40.0 percent of university faculty are seriously considering a move abroad with the substantial majority favoring the United States as a destination. Faculty characteristics—including academic field, research versus teaching orientation, rank, age, gender, and political identification—are correlated with faculty members' professed interest in emigration. The analysis also compares (former) polytechnic to university faculty as well as to a subset of Oxford and Cambridge faculty.     

Whitehead and a new look at teaching elementary science

If Whitehead is right, science teachers who try to increase student interest by making the science they teach more pure and by covering more material are going about their work in just the wrong way. Science, for purposes of precision in measurement, translates the dynamic world of feeling and force, of causal efficacy (for example, the San Francisco earthquake), into a static representation spatialized and given presentational immediacy (for example, the Richter scale). But notice that the Richter scale isn't very interesting (even as abstract art) apart from its connection, via symbolic reference, to the earthquake. Such reference is essential to give both a sense of reality and a feeling of interes to the subject, but it makes the science less pure, and it takes more time to cover the material. An example of teaching pure and impure formal logic is given as a case study.     

The Frontier of Web-based Instruction

In spite of advances in course design software and experience with online offerings, the question of how web-based education affects teaching and learning remains largely unanswered, and the terrain of online learning remains largely unmapped. In this paper, through the stories of 10 faculties of education and one computer science instructor in Ontario, we map out a small piece of the frontier of web-based course delivery and plot a course for future exploration. We argue that most existing offerings take the form of a Lone Ranger or Greenhorn approach but that there is a need to move toward a strategic institutional Wagon Train approach that consolidates and integrates support for online teaching and learning. We argue, as well, that failures in online instruction cannot simply be attributed to improper instruction or inappropriate course design. Rather, at least part of the problem locates in the ways in which conversation is structured in the online environment.     

Computers and school reform

Part of the vision of school reform is to reconstruct schools as learning communities in which students and teachers pursue topics of interest. Computers can provide powerful tools for students in learning communities where inquiry, data gathering, interpretation, thinking, and judgment take place. Changing beliefs in educational goals and great support for teachers will be necessary if we are to realize the potential of computers in restructured classrooms. The greatest possibilities exist in new Professional Development Schools, where university faculty join school teachers in joint efforts to restructure learning environments. New evaluation procedures are also needed if competencies associated with information retrieval and use are to be assessed.     

Media will never influence learning

The purpose of this discussion is to explain and sharpen different points of view about the impact of media and attributes of media on learning, motivation and efficiency gains from instruction. This paper is an attempt to summarize my arguments about the research and theory in this area and to respond to Robert Kozma's criticism of my earlier discussion of these issues. I will first briefly summarize my arguments about media effects; next I will attempt to characterize the many reactions to the controversial claim that media do not influence learning or motivation. Finally, I will respond to the specific criticisms advanced by Robert Kozma this issue.This article is based in part on a debate between the author and Robert Kozma at the 1993 international convention of The European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction at Aix en Provence, France, September 4, 1993, and on a February 1991 Article by the author inEducational Technology titled When Researchers Swim Upstream:Reflections on an Unpopular Argument About Learning From Media (pp. 34–40).     

The effects on teaching of changes in relative rewards for research and teaching

To the degree that faculty members take into account the relative financial rewards for teaching and research in deciding on the allocation of available time between these two areas, a modification of the reward structure may be expected to produce changes in the amount of time devoted to each. The purpose of this article is to examine with the help of some basic graphic tools of economics the possible results on the quantity of teaching and the quantity of research that may follow from a modification of the reward structure. The possible results are analyzed in terms of displacement, salary, and work effects of the modification.     

The Effects of Storytelling and Story Reading on the Oral Language Complexity and Story Comprehension of Young Children

What began as a case study of intergenerational initiatives in university-based early childhood programs evolved into a comparative study of two different program implementation processes. Despite operating with the same goals, university partners, and resources, two early childhood centers pursued fundamentally different strategies for launching their intergenerational programs. One site followed what we call an explicit intervention with a set timeline and series of planned steps for finding, placing, and involving seniors in classroom activities. The other pursued what we call an emergent (or organic) strategy with no predetermined plan for finding senior volunteers and integrating them into classroom activities. Drawing on data collected from interviews with program staff and parents, and observations of intergenerational activities, this study serves to describe, compare, and contrast these alternative program initiation strategies. Both models are effective, but represent different approaches to valuing the contributions of older adults in the lives of young children.     

Wherever I look,I find

The best source of infant learning toys is the trash can. A noted authority on infancy made this statement...me. Many commercially made toys and learning materials are available. Some of them were developed out of a firm knowledge of developmental tasks of infancy and with aesthetic sensitivity. Unfortunately they cost, and many of us who have our own infants or work in day care do not have resources for a lot of commercial materials.Mr. Altham taught infants and toddlers while studying at Bank Street College. After teaching in a Head Start program for four years, he moved to his current job as teacher/director of a college campus child care center.     

Training,stability and control

This paper presents a system-theoretic approach to the analysis of the problem of training formally relating it to the control of an abstract dynamic system, the adaption automaton of the trainee. The utility of this formulation and the possibility of basing real training strategies upon it are discussed, and it is argued that further constraints upon the automaton are both necessary, and available, in so far as the theory corresponds to practical reality. The minimal constraints generate an extended theory in which training is related to the stability of the adaption automaton. More practical constraints lead to theoretical foundations for strategies of feedback or adaptive training. Corresponding to each set of constraints a training theorem is proved which demonstrates that the constraint is adequate to lead to a simple universal training strategy.Although this paper is highly theoretical it is argued that the formal concepts introduced correspond to intuitive models of the phenomena of learning and training which are implicit in the design of many training systems. It is hoped that the formal analysis will throw new light on these implicit assumptions and help to clarify discussion of practical approaches to training, including the possibility of computer-aided instruction given on our present level of knowledge of human cognitive skills or individual students.     

Much ado about nothing: Science and hermeneutics

Insofar as the basic concepts (in particular, meaning, interpretation, text) and theses of Martin Eger's hermeneutics of the sciences are intelligible they are not distinctive, and insofar as they are distinctive they are unintelligible and/or lack backup arguments. Ambiguity characterises much of the argument. James Cushing's elaboration of hermeneutics, using the history of quantum mechanics as an illustration of its supposed strengths, does nothing to rescue the position against the criticisms here levelled at Martin Eger's formulations of it.     

Educational language planning and linguistic identity

There are cases in which a high form of a language is taught and used in formal situations, but linguistic variation is also caused by geography, ethnicity and socioeconomic class. Certain variants are regarded as inferior and restricted in expressive capacity, and are disadvantageous. The paper suggests that it is possible to map each person's linguistic identity in two dimensions: the number of languages spoken, and the situation-specific variants of each language. Further, it is argued that the distance between a low variant and a high standard form of a language may present to the low learner of a standardized mother tongue a barrier just as great as that posed by the learning of a related foreign language to a speaker of the high variant. It is proposed that greater tolerance be exercised in acceptance of variation and in recognition of linguistic identity, so that this can be built on in the necessary and desirable expansion of linguistic competence, rather than being devalued. The relevance of the communicative approach to language teaching is touched on.

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Zusammenfassung Es gibt Fälle, in denen eine hohe Form einer Sprache gelehrt und in formellen Situationen gebraucht wird, aber linguistische Veränderungen werden auch durch Geographie, ethnische Identität und sozialkonomische Klassen hervorgerufen. Gewsse Varianten gelten hinsichtlich ihres Ausdrucksvermögens als unterlegen und restriktiv und sind unvorteilhaft. In dem Artikel wird vorgeschlagen, die linguistische Identität jedes Einzelnen in zwei Dimensionen darzustellen: die Anzahl der gesprochenen Sprachen und die situationsspezifische Variante jeder Sprache. Weiterhin wird argumentiert, daß die Distanz zwischen einer niedrigen Variante und einer hohen Standardform einer Sprache für den niedrigen Lernenden einer standardisierten Muttersprache ebenso schwierig ist wie das Erlernen einer verwandten ausländischen Sprache für denjenigen, der die hohe Form spricht. Es wird vorgeschlagen, größere Toleranz durch Akzeptieren der Variation und Anerkennung der linguistischen Identität zu üben, so daß man darauf die notwendige und wünschenswerte Erweiterung der linguistischen Fähigkeit aufbauen kann anstatt sie zu entwerten. Die Relevanz des kommunikativen Ansatzes zum Unterrichten einer Sprache wird kurz behandelt.

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Résumé Il existe des cas où une haute forme d'une langue est enseignée et utilisée dans des situations formelles, mais la différentiation est causée également par la géographie, l'ethnicité et la classe socioéconomique. Certaines variantes sont considérées inférieures, d'une capacité expressive limitée, et sont désavantageuses. L'article suggère qu'il est possible de tracer l'identité linguistique de chacun dans deux dimensions: le nombre de langues parlées, et les variantes de chaque langue reliées à des situations spécifiques. En plus, on raisonne que la distance entre une variante basse d'une langue et la haute forme standard peut présenter à l'apprenant, ayant la forme basse d'une langue maternelle standardisée, une barrière aussi grande que celle qui se dresse devant celui qui parle la variante haute et qui apprend une langue étrangère apparentée. On propose donc qu'une tolérance plus large soit exercée en acceptant la variation et en reconnaissant l'identité linguistique, afin que cette dernière serve de fondation pour l'élargissement nécessaire et souhaitable des compétences linguistiques, plutôt que d'être dévalorisée. La relevance de l'approche communicative à l'enseignement des langues est mentionnée.

     

The applicability of democratic principles and the mission of the university

The university's mission of serving as a fortress for freedom of speech, inquiry, and criticism of established truths is inextricably connected with democracy. Such a mission can be pursued only in a climate of genuine political and academic freedom. Three other aspects of democracy in the university are discussed: equality of access, university governance, and the public utility of the university. It is argued that equal representation or one man one vote cannot be applied in university governance because it comes into conflict with the notion of competence—a conflict that cannot be resolved by taking votes. Interest groups inside and outside of the university cannot be allowed to interfere with the free pursuit of knowledge. The internal audit, that is, peer review (by, ultimately, the international community of scholars) has to take precedence over vertical review by government bureaucracy.     

Different aspects in designing mathematics education: Three examples from the Freudenthal Institute

Three teaching designs are offered. They were developed for 12 to 16 year old pupils taking into account their personal differences in terms of gender (in Making Up the Cube), culture (in Mecca), knowledge, and use of calculators in The integrating calculator. The designs concern the representation of three-dimensional objects in the plane, directions and great circles on the sphere, and exploration of the integrating calculator.     

The enculturation of new faculty in higher education: A comparative investigation of three academic departments

While studies on organizational entry have, for several decades, examined how individuals choose organizations and how organizations choose individuals (Lawler, 1973; Vroom, 1964; Wanous 1977), most have focused on the employee recruitment and selection processes primarily from the organization's standpoint. Although the academic profession may provide general identity for faculty, an individual's general value structure and the reciprocal nature of the socialization process have been largely ignored (Van Maanen, 1976). Because there is little disagreement that the academic profession provides general identity for all faculty, the concept of one academic profession has obscured the cultural differences of higher education institutions, the subcultural variations within and among disciplines, and the internalized normative pressures to meet organizational interests that arise as faculty enter new settings. Only recently has socialization been conceived as cultural learning in which the values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and expectations of a particular culture are acquired by initiates (Corcoran and Clark, 1984). At the same time, culture is seen to evolve as it is shaped by the interaction of newcomers and culture bearers (Kuh and Whitt, 1988). While newcomers will integrate, to some extent, their own needs and values with what they perceive to be the institution's norms and values (Bess, 1978), the reciprocal nature of this cultural learning process is only now being recognized (Boice and Thomas, 1989; Tierney, 1988).     

Three-dimensional symmetry

The errors made when high-school students locate reflections in horizontal, vertical or slanting mirrors were examined. A questionnaire consisting of thirty-six perspective drawings, each portraying an upright transparent cube containing a two-sided mirror, was given to 394 Australian students from grades 7, 9 and 11. On a corner, an edge, or a face of each cube was drawn either a point or a straight-line segment. The task was to draw its image (reflection). Analysis of errors revealed a strong tendency towards horizontal or vertical sliding, suggesting that the edges of the cube act in much the same way as a horizontal-vertical background grid does in the two-dimensional case.     

Infusing humanistic activities into cognitively oriented curriculum

In our current quest for excellence, we often miss the essential nature of it. It is trendy to use such terms as back-to-basics, gifted education, and excellence to describe a new teaching strategy or innovative educational program. It is also true that many of these programs designed for children are really intended to benefit others.Harry Morgan is Chairman of Early Childhood Education at West Georgia College in Carrollton. He is author ofThe Learning Community (Charles Merrill).     

Real-time simulation in computer-assisted instruction

Large scale computer-assisted instruction systems generally impose severe constraints upon the demands that individual users may make. Nevertheless, it is possible to overcome these problems and a program is described which teaches students how to fly a specific maneuver through real-time simulation of the flight of a student-controlled airplane. This is achieved in spite of the fact that the student is flying his plane through the use of a manually controlled analog input device. Both computational and educational implications are discussed.Contractual support for this work was provided in part by the Life Sciences Program Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Contract number F44620-70-C-0105. Dr. Charles Hutchinson was the scientific monitor of the contract.     

Computers and the emancipation of students: giving control to the learner

The paper considers two basic models of the teaching-learning process, described as the didactic and the communication model. These are applied to Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) in order to demonstrate that CAL has generally embodied a didactic model of teaching and learning. This imposes an unnecessary restriction on the student's freedom to choose their (Note 1) learning style, and the paper discusses how it is possible for CAL to support a less didactic model and to give more control to the student.