Individual Differences in Patterns of Spontaneous Online Tool Use

More than 400 individuals participated in an experiment involving two versions of a computer-based tutor teaching principles of electricity. We examined the relations among elective tool use, learning environment, outcome, and efficiency. We also tested the influence of both individual differences and learning environment on tool-usage behavior. The data showed no differences between the two learning environments (rule application vs. rule induction) with regard to outcome performance or learning efficiency. In addition, neither environment significantly influenced overall tool use. There was a main effect of tool use on learning outcome, but not on learning time. We categorized learners into four groups, based on tool-usage patterns and found that (a) people tended to show stable patterns across time and (b) that patterns differed significantly in terms of learning outcome—it was most effective to use the online tools earlier in the learning process rather than later. In terms of individual differences, we identified the characteristics of learners who evidenced different tool-usage patterns. They varied according to cognitive ability, domain-related interest, and gender. We propose a causal model that takes into account all of these data sources in predicting posttest performance. The article concludes with implications of these findings for those interested in maximizing instructional effectiveness, as well as suggestions for future research directions.     

Use of Computers as a Tool in Fine Art

A treatment group of three sections of a college art design class was given instruction that included the use of computers to complete design projects. The art design course covers the basic concepts of design and two-dimensional materials and the use of line, colour, illusion of space or mass, texture, value, shape, and size in composition. A control group of three sections completed the same assignments as the treatment group without computers. Both groups of students were then surveyed about their attitudes toward using computers in the course. Both the treatment group and the control group perceived the use of computers in a basic art design class as worthwhile. Both groups perceived the use of computers in a basic art design class as enhancing instruction. The treatment group had a more positive response to the computer as a design tool than did the control group. Survey responses by the treatment group documented that design projects used in the study needed improvement. Further studies should focus on best practices in the use of computers in art education.     

Evaluating Portfolio Use as a Learning Tool for Professionals

We have earlier reported overall teacher emphases on six general educational goals. In the present study we present school level analyses of the same goal variables. The new focus of the present study was on possible school differences in teacher goal emphases. It is assumed that school differences may indicate a process of teacher socialisation in schools, particularly if these characteristics are relatively stable over time. About 40 schools were analysed at two points in time and they were represented by two different samples of teachers (144 and 157 teachers). We analysed both individual goal variables and goal profiles defined by how the teachers ranked the six goals. Only the 'profile approach' indicated school-specific goal priorities. The results also showed that the degree of goal consensus in schools should not be regarded as an aspect of the school climate. In addition, the measure of school goal consensus was weakly related to other examined aspects of the school climate.     

政府工具及其选择

政府工具是政府在一定的环境条件下,为提高政府能力,改善政府绩效和管理水平,管理国家事务、社会事务,达成既定目标,采用的具体手段、技术和方式.在阐述政府工具基本概念的基础上,对政府工具进行多维度的分析,以期为政府工具的正确选择提供借鉴.     

数控机床伺服系统中伺服电机的应用

文章讨论了数控机床伺服进给系统中各种伺服电机的特点及应用,并结合实例介绍了交流伺服电机选择时应考虑的五项技术指标,为伺服电机的选用技术提供了参考.     

The Use of Textbooks as a Tool During Collaborative Physics Learning

The study examined how features of student interaction, and the way an individual student contributes to that interaction (his or her participation), relates to the improvement of conceptual understanding within the domain of physics. The study also investigated how textbooks are used during collaborative work and how that use affects the quality of student interaction and outcomes. The participants were 56 students aged 15 or 16. The students worked in dyads on a concept-mapping task that functioned as an introduction for a new course about electricity. A condition in which the students were provided with 2 textbooks was compared with a condition without the availability of textbooks. The use of textbooks had a negative influence on the amount of elaboration and coconstruction in the student interaction. Individual learning outcomes were positively related to the amount of collaborative elaboration in the student interaction.     

Use of a World Wide Web Site Evaluation Tool in Chemistry

Material on the World Wide Web may be freely accessed by instructors and students, regardless of its source. Evaluation of such material can be facilitated by use of one of a number of web site evaluation tools. These assess a web site in terms of content and design by adapting established principles in each of these areas. The feasibility of using one such tool, originally developed for the evaluation of medical information sites, in chemistry has been explored. The tool was applied to 37 sites that cover the periodic table. Most of the criteria seemed to be as applicable to chemical sites as to those for which it was designed, and gave useful information on the quality aspects of each site. On the other hand, some of the criteria included for medical sites were inappropriate or too vague in the context of chemical sites, and additional criteria not present in the original tool would have been useful for this application. These observations have been used to construct a modified tool which should be more applicable for World Wide Web sites with chemical content.     

利用多媒体技术优化动作技能的学习反馈

本文研究应用多媒体技术来实现动作技能的学习反馈,并对反馈信息优化,使反馈信息能够被更充分的利用,从而促进学习。     

单音节持具类手部动词初步研究

单音节手部动词指需要用手参与才能完成的具体动作的动词。持具类手部动词是手部动词的一个小类,其特点是在完成动作时必须使用身体器官以外的工具。持具类手部动词的两个典型句式:含使用工具的句式为"NP1+用+GN+V+C+NP2",不含使用工具的句式为"NP1+V+C+NP2"。     

Compatibility Effects in Young Children's Tool Use: Learning and Transfer

An inherent component of tool-use actions is the transformation of the user's operating movement into the desired effect. In this study, the relevance of this transformation for young children's learning of tool-use actions was investigated. Sixty-four children at the age of 27–30 months learned to use levers which either simply extended (compatible transformation) or reversed (incompatible transformation) their operating movements. Data revealed a compatibility effect as well as transfer effects originating from the two different types of transformations. Furthermore, results suggest that young children's tool-use learning is not a uniform process, but has to be regarded individually depending on the type of transformation.     

运用有效影视手段改革英语听力教学模式

传统的英语听力课教学存在着诸多弊端,而在听力课中引入影视片段能带来意想不到的教学与学习效果。文中首先简要概述了影视教学的理论基础及方法,然后笔者以影片《灰姑娘的故事》、《穿普拉达的女王》与《泰坦尼克号》为例,介绍自己的教学手段,提出如能合理利用影视资源并辅以有效方法,影视手段必能激发学生学习兴趣,提高学生听说能力和跨文化交际能力,以及发展他们的多元智能。     

车用乙醇汽油使用运程中特征污染物排放污染变化分析

通过对多种车型的汽油车采取集中封闭运行、多台仪器同时监测的方法，测量出机动车分别在高怠速和低怠速下更换车用乙醇汽油前后尾气中一氧化碳、碳氢化合物、苯系物、醛类和酮类等浓度的变化及净化效率。总结得出车用乙醇汽油使用运行中特征污染物变化规律是一氧化碳、碳氢化合物、苯系物和酮类等排放浓度有所降低，但是醛类污染物排放浓度大幅度升高，有可能成为更换乙醇汽油后汽车尾气中的主要污染物之一。     

对高职汽车运用与维修专业实践教学模式的探讨

针对当前形势,提出强化以职业能力为目标的实践教学的必要性,并针对汽车运用与维修专业一体化教学及实训教学管理体系的构建问题进行探讨.     

Collaboratively Exploring the Use of a Video Case-Based Book as a Professional Development Tool

Although the literature contains many examples of extensive professional development (PD) programs, most science teachers experience only a few hours of PD each year. To address this reality, alternative PD delivery tools need to be examined. Since the mid-1990s, video cases have emerged as a flexible form of PD where in-service teachers can repeatedly and vicariously view reform teaching practices enacted within the classroom context. Recently, PD developers have taken video cases to another level by embedding them into print and electronic books. In these video case-based books (VCBBs), the reader is iteratively prompted to watch a video case and read commentaries by the teacher featured in the video. In this study, we used collaborative action research (CAR) to explore what happened when a fourth-year biology teacher attempted to use a VCBB as a PD tool to enact the whole-class inquiry model (presented within the VCBB) into her curriculum. Specifically, we critically examined the extent to which the teacher was able to enact the model, the challenges she experienced, and the manner in which she utilized the VCBB. Our findings indicate that the teacher was able to use the VCBB, in conjunction with CAR, to make significant changes to her teaching practice. The results also point to the possibility of a new PD model where the VCBB provides a “vision” of reform teaching and the collaborative exploration of the VCBB as a PD tool affords the “space” needed to reach that vision.     

The Origins of Subjectivism

Abstract:

A pervasive and persistent subjectivist slogan concerning the nature of right action, uttered most commonly by new students of moral philosophy, is stated and its absurdity exposed. The sources of its pervasiveness and persistence are probed, and are found to lie in the confusion of an uncontroversial conceptual feature of morality with a superficially similar over‐estimation of the moral status of the individual conscience. The non‐primacy of the conscience is briefly demonstrated; and it is suggested that exposure of the sources of the slogan frees one from the tendency to be taken in by it.     

An Exploration of the Use of Multimedia Cases as a Reflective Tool in Teacher Education

Multimedia cases are perceived to be a means of bridging the gap between theory and practice in teacher education. However, little is known about how prospective teachers actually learn with these cases. In this paper, we examine how multimedia cases can stimulate reflective thought among preservice teachers. Gestalt psychology is employed as a theoretical lens to examine how seven preservice teachers work with a multimedia case. Data were collected by means of audiotaped work-aloud protocols, interviews and questionnaires. Results indicate that preservice teachers remain at low levels of abstraction of their ideas about teaching as a result of case examination. Directed assignments and collaboration among prospective teachers were a useful, but not always necessary, means of stimulating discussion on the multimedia case. The study leads to the conclusion there is still much to be learned about how prospective teachers interact with multimedia case, particularly about how such cases might stimulate reflective practice.