Effect of Short Study Abroad Course on Student Openness to Diversity

ABSTRACT: An important contributing factor to students' willingness to work with diverse people is their "openness" to diversity. The objective of this study was to test the effect of a short (3-wk) study abroad course to China on the openness to diversity/ challenge of the 23 students participating in the China study abroad course. Students were given the "openness to diversity" survey at the beginning of the course and at the end of the course. Statistical analysis concerning the change in openness to diversity between pre-test and post-test was conducted using the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test ( P ≤ 0.05). A significant increase ( P = 0.007) in openness to diversity was observed as a result of the short study abroad course. The overall average change in openness to diversity found for this study (0.07) was consistent with that reported for semester-long study abroad groups (0.074). Together these findings imply that short study abroad courses may have a significant effect on students' openness to diversity and may be as effective as longer study abroad programs. Overall, any study abroad course presents an opportunity to increase students' openness to diversity.     

用电影文本提高大学生挫折应对效能的研究

目的:为了促进和提高大学生耐挫能力,增强大学生的挫折应对效能。方法:以电影文本为媒介,整合心理治疗理论"再决定说"、"归因理论"、"情绪ABC"理论引导学生对脚本进行分析和分享,并在课前与课后施测《应对效能问卷》并对施测结果做统计显著性检验。结果:借助电影文本的形式开展大学生挫折应对效能的干预是有效的,主要通过对提高大学生应对挫折时的胜任力和认知水平起作用的。电影可以作为提高大学生挫折应对效能的工具。     

“对分课堂”在大学英语教学中的应用研究

为有效开展讨论式、参与式教学,将"对分课堂"教学模式应用在大学英语教学中,在两个实验班和两个对照班开展实证研究,比较学生的前、后测成绩,通过问卷调查学生对"对分课堂"教学模式的认知。研究结果表明,该教学模式能显著减少学生之间的成绩差异,促进学生课堂参与,提高英语学习成绩。大学生对这一教学模式持欢迎态度。     

Diversity Course Effectiveness Among Criminal Justice Students

Most universities today require their students to learn about diversity as a part of their degree. Research has examined the effectiveness of diversity courses at changing attitudes toward groups, focusing on sexism or racism, within psychology and women’s studies disciplines. Given the increasing concern over bias in policing, however, this diversity training may be of importance to the study of criminal justice. The current study aims to examine the effectiveness of a diversity course within a criminal justice program at changing perceptions of groups using a survey based on validated measures of attitudes toward women, homosexuality, and symbolic racism. Change in attitudes between the pre-test and post-test are examined. Results suggest that the course is effective at changing attitudes toward homosexuality, but not race or sex. The results also suggest that these perceptions are dependent on group characteristics.     

Holistic Media Education: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of a College Course in Media Literacy

The general purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a college course in media literacy. Specifically, the course took a holistic approach to media literacy and was designed to heighten college students' awareness of media structures, content, and impact, as well as to encourage students to become more critical/informed participants in the media environment. A pre-test, post-test, control group post-test only, quasi-experimental design was employed to assess the effectiveness of this approach to media literacy education. Overall, students' responses produced significant differences between the control group and the experimental groups' post-test scores on most (but not all) dependent measures. The implications of these results and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Attitudes of a southern university human sexuality class toward sexual variance,abortion and homosexuality

The attitudes toward homosexuality, abortion, and sexual variance were measured in 45 Louisiana undergraduate students before and after a course on human sexuality. The 1-semester course involved lectures and group discussion. The students overwhelmingly identified themselves as heterosexual in orientation. Post-test scores indicated that the course had not significantly changed attitudes toward heterosexuality, homophobia, sexual variance, and legal abortion. On the other hand, there was a significant change of attitudes toward homosexuality, with post-test scores suggesting more permissive, positive attitudes. The reason is unclear why attitudes toward homophobia did not change in tandem with attitudes toward homosexuality. Although attitudes toward abortion did not change significantly as a result of the course, the scores in this category (30 pre-test, 34 post-test) revealed an unexpected liberalism and were twice as high as those recorded for Right-to-Life members in other surveys.     

Telling stories digitally: an experiment with preschool children

With the emergence of the new technologies, twenty-first-century learning involves the application of new media in educational environments. Digital storytelling (DST) is a method that blends traditional storytelling with new technologies. This study was designed to compare the conceptual understanding of preschool students in DST classrooms with children in traditional storytelling classrooms. A pre-test, post-test control group design was used. Data were collected from 149 preschool children using pre- and post-test surveys and students’ drawings. The findings indicate that DST improved the preschoolers’ conceptual understanding of the course content more than traditional storytelling.     

融合现代教育技术的工科数理类基础课程教学模式改革

数理类基础课是工科院校各专业的重要公共基础课,其特点是学时数多、授课面广,是后续课程学习的基础。由于学生对这些课程的认识不够,导致其对课程学习的动力不足、兴趣不高,学习效果不佳。鉴于此,以“数理基础课概论”为切入点,深度融合基础课和专业课教学内容;以“混合式教学模式”为抓手,深度融合基础课和现代教育技术;以“成绩统计分析”为反馈,构建基础教学与学生管理相结合的沟通平台。通过上述基础课的教学内容、方法手段的改革,以达到满足学生个性化、多元化学习的需求,引导学生对基础课学习重要性的认识,进而提高数理基础课的教学质量。     

College Students’ Conceptions of Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, and Cloning

In this study, we examined 96 undergraduate non-science majors’ conceptions of stem cells, stem cell research, and cloning. This study was performed at a large, Midwest, research extensive university. Participants in the study were asked to answer 23 questions relating to stem cells, stem cell research, and cloning in an on-line assessment before and after instruction. Two goals of the instruction were to: (1) help students construct accurate scientific ideas, and (2) enhance their reasoning about socioscientific issues. The course structure included interactive lectures, case discussions, hands-on activities, and independent projects. Overall, students’ understandings of stem cells, stem cell research, and cloning increased from pre-test to post-test. For example, on the post-test, students gained knowledge concerning the age of an organism related to the type of stem cell it possesses. However, we found that some incorrect ideas that were evident on the pre-test persisted after instruction. For example, before and after instruction several students maintained the idea that stem cells can currently be used to produce organs.     

Can culturally,disciplinarily and educationally diverse (D3) teams function and be creative? A case study in a Korean university

Drawing from research in team creativity enhancement, this study focuses on a “Creativity, Innovation and Design Thinking” course for the International Summer Semester at Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea. Data were collected among 15 teams of 89 students that participated in the course. Performance of the teams was measured by the grade they received from peers and instructor for all the creative projects. Participants answered a precourse and postcourse questionnaire to compare gains. There was a statistically significant shift in the students’ perceptions from pre-test to post-test in agreeing that diversities help teams to be more productive and more creative.     

Classroom action research on formative assessment in a context-based chemistry course

Context-based science courses stimulate students to reconstruct the information presented by connecting to their prior knowledge and experiences. However, students need support. Formative assessments inform both teacher and students about students’ knowledge deficiencies and misconceptions and how students can be supported. Research on formative assessments suggests a positive impact on students’ science achievement, although its success depends on how the formative assessment is implemented in class. The aim of this study was to provide insights into the effects of formative assessments on achievement during a context-based chemistry course on lactic acid. In a classroom action research setting, a pre-test/post-test control group design with switching replications was applied. Student achievement was measured in two pre-tests, two post-tests and a retention test. Participants were Grade 9 students from one secondary school in the Netherlands. Repeated-measures analysis showed a significant effect of formative assessments on students’ achievement. During the implementation of the formative assessments, intriguing discussions emerged between students, between students and teacher, and between teachers. Adding formative assessments to context-based approaches reinforces their strength to meet with the current challenges of chemistry education. Formative assessments affect students’ achievement positively and stimulate feedback between students and teacher(s).     

Dynamic assessment of literacy: English as a third language

The aim of this paper is to valuate the applicability of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and the concept of dynamic assessment to the problem of assessing reading comprehension in English as a third language (L3). The study was conducted with immigrant students from Ethiopia studying at pre-academic centers in Israel. The assessment procedure included a pre-test, mediation, and post-test. The pre-test was based on a standard reading comprehension placement exam. Based upon the pre-test material, a very detailed analysis of the required pre-existing knowledge and necessary strategies was then mediated to the students. The post-test was identical to the pre-test regarding structure, requirements in terms of pre-existing knowledge and strategies, length, etc., but with different content. The results demonstrated: (1) A dynamic assessment procedure significantly improved the text comprehension performance of L3 students; (2) The dynamic assessment procedure added information regarding students’ learning potential over and beyond their initial performance level; (3) The learning potential profile of immigrants from Ethiopia is somewhat different from that of non-immigrant students.     

移动辅助语言学习在英语口语教学中的作用

随着"互联网+"时代的深入,移动辅助语言学习已广泛应用于中国大学生的英语学习,是否能有效提高学生的口语能力仍需实证研究验证.研究以英语口语学习APP"FiF口语训练系统"为例,根据雅思口语评分标准,分析118名学生的口语前后测得分差值与任务参与度的相关性.研究发现,受试者在总分、发音、流畅程度、连贯性以及词汇量方面的评...     

Use of technology-assisted techniques of mind mapping and concept mapping in science education: a constructivist study

The study aims to investigate the effects of using mind maps and concept maps on students' learning of concepts in science courses. A total of 51 students participated in this study which used a quasi-experimental research design with pre-test/post-test control groups. The constructivist-inspired study was carried out in the sixth-grade science course unit of ‘Light and Sound’ in a primary school with two experimental groups and one control group. The intervention was held in the experimental group 1 by using technology-assisted technique of mind mapping, in the experimental group 2 by using technology-assisted technique of concept mapping, and in the control group by means of traditional classroom instruction. After the intervention in the experimental groups, concept tests and open-ended questions related to the unit were used as post-tests. According to the data obtained from concept tests, it was found out that all groups' understanding of concepts was equivalent. Significantly, students in the experimental group 2 reported positive opinions, stating that learning through concept maps was useful and engaging.     

A comparison of student satisfaction and value of academic community between blended and online sections of a university-level educational foundations course

This pre-test/post-test study explores students' (n = 262) sense of academic community, including their perspectives of the value of academic community, plus course satisfaction and perceived learning in nearly identical blended and online sections of an educational foundations course. Students in both delivery modes were generally satisfied with the course, had equally high perceived learning scores, but had neutral sense of community and value of connectedness scores. The findings in this study raise questions about whether the students would benefit from the infusion of time-intensive community-building strategies.     

Do course evaluations truly reflect student learning? Evidence from an objectively graded post-test

It is difficult to assess the extent to which course evaluations reflect how much students truly learn from a course because valid measures of learning are rarely available. This paper makes use of a unique setting in which students take a common, high-stakes post-test which is centrally graded and serves as the basis for capturing actual student learning. We match these student-specific measures of learning to student-specific course evaluation scores from electronic records and a rich set of student-level covariates, including a pre-test score and other measures of skills prior to entering the course. While small in magnitude, we find a robust positive, and statistically significant, association between our measure of student learning and course evaluations.     

数学学科核心素养导向下的有理数教学实证研究

以有理数为例,基于文献研究提出发展数学核心素养的教学策略:以数学核心素养的双向细目表为导向,在数学思想引领下整体设计与数学核心素养相匹配的教学活动。用教学对比实验的方法研究这种教学策略对学生学业水平及数学核心素养发展的影响。通过数据分析发现:在前测和后测显著相关的前提下,实验班和控制班前测数据没有显著性差异,而两次后测中,实验班成绩显著高于控制班。研究结果表明:这种教学策略,对学生学业水平和核心素养的发展,都具有显著促进作用。     

高职院校大学英语分层次教学探究——以太原旅游职业学院为例

高职院校分层教学是按照学生的实际学习水平对学生进行分层分班教学,分别设置不同的教学目标,实施不同的教学内容和方法并采用不同评价体系。基于最近发展区理论和语言输入假说理论,对太原旅游职业学院大学英语课程分层教学进行了实验研究,通过对前测和后测的教学实验结果进行分析来研究大学英语分层教学对英语学习的积极影响。     

SPOC在线课程在大学计算机基础课程教学中的应用实践

随着网络和信息技术的发展,现如今越来越多的课程通过网络和各种网络工具进行混合式教学。大学计算机基础课程是大学生的第一门计算机公共基础课程,同时也是大学生学习后续其他课程的重要基础课。为了提高该课程的教学效果,实现人才培养目标,教学团队针对该课程教学中存在的主要问题,通过结合SPOC在线课程的混合教学模式及运用多种教学方法,将线下和线上教学相结合。实践教学表明,混合式的教学模式不仅提高了学生的学习积极性和兴趣,而且达到了较好的教学效果。     

Learning to learn at university. The effects of an instrumental subject on learning strategies and academic achievement / Aprender a aprender en la universidad. Efectos de una materia instrumental sobre las estrategias de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico

Self-regulated learning is very important at university, since students must manage the strategies and abilities necessary to be autonomous and effective in their learning. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of a course designed for this purpose on learning strategies and students’ achievement of first-year university students. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used, with an experimental group and a control group, applying measurement instruments before starting and after finishing the course. The learning process was analysed on this course, with students being trained in the use of relevant learning strategies — metacognitive strategies, strategies for processing and using information and affective and motivational strategies. The sample consisted of 47 students, 23 of them belonging to the experimental group and 24 of them to the control group, from various degrees at the University of Valencia. The results confirmed significant improvements in the learning strategy scores of the experimental group compared to the control group. There was also an improvement in academic achievement, but in this case the differences were not statistically significant.