Influence of Redesigning a Learning Environment on Student Perceptions and Learning Strategies

In society, there is a growing need for graduates who possess competencies consistent with deep learning. This means that, amongst other competencies, graduates should be capable of dealing with the complexity of the tasks in which they will engage in professional situations. We tried to increase the depth of students learning by changing the format of a so-called assignment-based learning to a problem-based learning course. The goals of this research were to determine if students, firstly, perceived the redesigned course as being more challenging and, secondly, adjusted their learning strategies towards deeper learning. Participants were two groups of second-year International Business Studies students attending the International Business Strategy course in consecutive years. Students perceptions of the learning environment and their learning strategies were measured in both the original (n = 406 students) and the redesigned course (n = 312 students) using the Ramsden Course Experiences Questionnaire and the Biggs Study Processes Questionnaire. In contrast to our expectations, the results indicated that the students from the redesigned course showed a higher degree of surface learning and a lower level of deep learning than the students from the assignment-based learning course. Additionally, the students perceived the new learning environment to be less positive in terms of the clarity of its goals, the usefulness of the textbook and the workload. Improvement in terms of students perceptions of the learning environment and their learning strategies could be expected to be fostered by the implementation of a more advanced staff development program, focusing the curricular assessment system on problem-solving skills, supporting the students in the development of the skills necessary to cope with the demands of the redesigned course, and giving them more opportunities to experience this instructional approach.     

The Discursive Practice of Participation in an Elementary Classroom Community

This study examines the discursive practice of participation in an elementary classroom community aiming towards collective meaning making and joint creation of knowledge. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is shaped by the sociocultural and sociolinguistic approaches. Through examining the communicative practices and discursive roles of the students and the teacher, the study highlights the participation rights and responsibilities of classroom members and demonstrates how these shape the location and nature of knowledge constructed during a lesson. The empirical data for this study emerge from a Finnish third grade class consisting of seventeen students. Detailed, multi-level analyses were carried out on transcribed video-recordings of classroom interactions located within the contexts of Collective problem-solving in mathematics, Group investigation in science and Open-ended dialogue in philosophy. The results show that the cultural rules for communicative participation in this classroom provided the students with a space to take authority in cognitive work, whereas the teachers responsibility was more directed to the management of interactional practices. The nature of knowledge negotiated during the lessons was by and large based upon view sharing and defining, as well as asking for and providing evidence, instead of mere information exchange. The study also shows that the communicative roles and responsibilities of the classroom members differed across the learning situations. Intentions of collective meaning-making did not always result in multilateral interactions that would invite all classroom members into active participation. Moreover, challenges were identified in the integration and application of the participants personal histories and experiences as resources for joint meaning-making. In all, the study shows how the discursive norms of the classroom can be aligned with supporting active participation and collective creation of knowledge, but can also be counterproductive in these domains.     

Optimierung einer videobasierten Lerngelegenheit im Problem Based Learning Format durch Cognitive Tools. Eine Interventionsstudie mit Lehramtsstudierenden

The following study aims to explore whether a video- and problem-based learning (PBL) environment can be improved using cognitive tools. Our hypothesis is that direct instructions in a PBL setting enhance pre-service teachers’ learning outcomes in classroom management. To answer this research question, we implemented a pre-post-design within which we assigned 237 master students to two learning environments: Classic problem-based learning (PBL), where students acquired central theoretical concepts and empirical findings on dealing with disruptions in groups (n = 113) or instructed problem-based learning (I-PBL), where students received extensive theoretical instructions (n = 124) during the first two seminar sessions. In the framework of a longitudinal self-report assessment we found that (1) teacher self-efficacy in the subscales “student engagement”, “instruction” and “classroom management competencies” increased in students of both groups. The highest increase was found in classroom management competencies. (2) In the evaluation with an objective measure students participating in the I?PBL group showed greater knowledge than students in the PBL group (multiple-choice test), and (3) regarding motivational processes students in the PBL group reported a higher degree of identification than students in the I?PBL group.     

The Development,Implementation, and Evaluation of a Problem Solving Heuristic

Problem-solving is one of the main goals in science teaching and is something many students find difficult. This research reports on the development, implementation and evaluation of a problem-solving heuristic. This heuristic intends to help students to understand the steps involved in problem solving (metacognitive tool), and to provide them with an organized approach to tackling problems in a systematic way. This approach guides students by means of logical reasoning to make a qualitative representation of the solution of a problem before undertaking calculations, using a backwards strategy, which thus comprises a cognitive tool. The findings of the study suggest that students found the heuristic useful in setting up and solving quantitative chemical problems, and helped them to understand the phases of the problem solving process. Possible applications of the heuristic in the classroom include its use in formative assessment, to identify and to overcome student alternative conceptions, problem-solving in a cooperative environment, and to reduce the gender gap in science.     

Encouraging the transfer of ‘school’ mathematics to the ‘real world’ through the integration of process and content,context and culture

This paper reports upon a research project which considered the transfer of students' mathematical understanding across different task contexts. The research involved two groups of students from contrasting learning environments. The first environment was characterised by the complete integration of mathematical process and content using open ended activities. The second environment represented a typical English classroom with a content based scheme being predominantly used. The research demonstrated that the procedure and performance of students in response to addition and fraction tasks varied considerably when the context of the tasks changed. This variation suggested that students' perceptions of the contexts were individually constructed and contexts did not have a uniform effect upon the difficulty of tasks. The research also suggested that students who had learned in an environment characterised by the integration of process and content were more able to transfer their learning across contexts. Students who had learned mathematical process independently of content were more likely to vary their procedure and performance in response to the contexts of the tasks. This was considered in relation to the problems of school — real world transfer and the effectiveness of different learning environments.     

Participation, Knowledge and Beliefs: A Community Perspective on Mathematics Learning

In this paper I illustrate the use of a particular situated method of interpretation in my analysis of the data from 3-year case studies of two schools. The constraints and affordances provided by different environments are shown to be key analytical tools in understanding the ways in which students develop and make use of knowledge. Various classroom incidents are analysed, demonstrating that the particular constraints and affordances of formalised mathematics classrooms, to which students become attuned, contribute to the development of learning identities that are peculiar to the school mathematics classroom and of limited use to students in the real world. An understanding of the mathematics classroom as a particular community of practice is central to this analysis.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Redesigning problem-based learning in the knowledge creation paradigm for school science learning

The introduction of problem-based learning into K-12 science classrooms faces the challenge of achieving the dual goal of learning science content and developing problem-solving skills. To overcome this content-process tension in science classrooms, we employed the knowledge-creation approach as a boundary object between the two seemingly contradicting activities: learning of science content and developing problem-solving skills. As part of a design research, we studied a group of Grade 9 students who were solving a problem related to the Law of Conservation of Energy. Through the lens of the activity theory, we found that students’ understanding of the intended science knowledge deepened as they made sense of the disciplinary-content knowledge in the context of the problem and concurrently, the students successfully developed solutions for the problem. This study shows that developing problem-solving competencies and content learning need not be disparate activities. On the contrary, we can harness the interdependency of these two activities to achieve dual goals in learning.     

Enhancement of Quality in Chemical Inquiry by Pre-University Students

Our pre-university chemistry students face problems achieving sufficient quality in chemical inquiry. To try to enhance the quality of student performance in chemical inquiry, Dutch pre-university chemistry students (age 17) carried out an authentic research project on Diffusion of ions in distilled water. The learning materials for this student inquiry project, the teaching scenario and the website were designed in cooperation with five chemistry teachers. Three teachers from this network and two other teachers also implemented the project with 80 students to find out whether the emphasis on relevant concepts of evidence (CoE) improves the quality of student inquiry outcomes. This part – with its emphasis on the CoE – in the student inquiry task is based on four key features: the students feel motivated to explore, focus their attention on, give meaning to and reflect upon CoE. In teams students conducted a guide experiment, analysed a scientific article, did an inquiry and wrote a report, discussed CoE with peers on the Internet and rewrote their reports. All lessons were observed, field notes were made and analysed on whether the intended student activities had been realised. The Internet discussion was recorded in a database and analysed. The first and final reports of all teams were coded and analysed. Also the students appreciation of the activities was assessed. The teaching and learning activities were realized to a very large extent as planned in the design. The emphasis on CoE resulted in 65% of the students achieving a sufficient level of quality in their final reports.     

Using valsiner’s zone theory to interpret Teaching practices in mathematics and science Classrooms

This study explores the use of Valsiners zone theory as a way to interpret the zones of proximal development of three secondary teachers in mathematics and science. Specifically, we used classroom discourse to identify what the participating teachers promoted (zone of promoted action) or allowed (zone of free movement) in the classroom as a way to understand better their potential for development. We found that teachers who promoted actions or events that they ultimately did not allow students to experience seemed to be at a point in their development analogous to Vygotskys pseudo-conceptual stage, prior to full concept formation. Moreover, we found that, at this illusionary zone, the teachers capacity to listen actively to students thinking seemed to affect the teachers transition toward more inquiry-based forms of practice. We concluded that understanding the zone of promoted action and the zone of free movement the teacher organizes in the classroom can indicate the existence or absence of an illusionary zone and thereby provide insight into a teachers potential for development.     

Classroom learning and achievement: how the complexity of classroom interaction impacts students’ learning

Background: Complexity models have provided a suitable framework in various domains to assess students’ educational achievement. Complexity is often used as the analytical focus when regarding learning outcomes, i.e. when analyzing written tests or problem-centered interviews. Numerous studies reveal negative correlations between the complexity of a task and the probability of a student solving it.

Purpose: Thus far, few detailed investigations explore the importance of complexity in actual classroom lessons. Moreover, the few efforts made so far revealed inconsistencies. Hence, the present study sheds light on the influence the complexity of students’ and teachers’ class contributions have on students’ learning outcomes.

Sample: Videos of 10 German 8th grade physics courses covering three consecutive lessons on two topics each (electricity, mechanics) have been analyzed. The sample includes 10 teachers and 290 students.

Design and methods: Students’ and teachers’ verbal contributions were coded manual-based according to the level of complexity. Additionally, pre-post testing of knowledge in electricity and mechanics was applied to assess the students’ learning gain. ANOVA analysis was used to characterize the influence of the complexity on the learning gain.

Results: Results indicate that the mean level of complexity in classroom contributions explains a large portion of variance in post-test results on class level. Despite this overarching trend, taking classroom activities into account as well reveals even more fine-grained patterns, leading to more specific relations between the complexity in the classroom and students’ achievement.

Conclusions: In conclusion, we argue for more reflected teaching approaches intended to gradually increase class complexity to foster students’ level of competency.     

Confidence is Everything” – Perspectives of Teachers and Students on Learning Mathematics

This paper problematises confidence as a frequently used explanation for performance in the mathematics classroom. I report on an interview-based study of how some English Advanced level (16+) students who have chosen to study mathematics, and their teachers, speak about confidence with respect to the learning of mathematics. I outline what constitutes confident learners for these teachers and, differently, for their students and what the students feel teachers could do to improve the students confident state. I discuss the implications of this for the education of prospective teachers of mathematics.     

Project Models for Language Teachers

The following is a report on our findings when working with classroom logs and diaries in seminars on socio‐cultural knowledge, in which students are expected to collect and process information according to the principle of guided‐learning autonomy in open project work. The classroom log provides the guidance required by the various target groups, and the diaries record the students’ emotional and personal observations on their own learning processes. Both logs and diaries have proved to be valuable in teacher training, where the objective was to intensify classroom learning so that the lecturer can the more easily assume the role of a meta‐cognitive guide and an external monitor in the learning process. Transferred to other areas of study this method may also be of use to work with similar projects in the schools.

     

Enhancing thinking skills: Domain specific/ domain general strategies

The main objective of this article is to provide a framework, based on a critical appraisal of the philosophy of science, that could help science educators to choose between domain-specific and domain-general strategies for enhancing the thinking skills of their students. Recent literature has emphasized that one of the most pervasive features of scientific practice is that of gathering evidence by making observations and conducting experiments. Research suggests that children do manifest, in a rudimentary form, the scientific thinking skills of raising causal questions, generating hypotheses and conducting experiments in order to test hypotheses, and that these skills increase progressively with age. It is concluded that we should not in the science classroom, emphasize only domain-specific knowledge. Absence of a single scientific method provides the occasion to shift from one method to another, thus facilitating competing frameworks of understanding. Evidence is provided to show that emphasizing domain specific (content) over domain general knowledge is consistent with a Kuhnian perspective of normal science. On the other hand, adopting the Lakatosian perspective would enable the students to understand that scientific progress goes through a process of conflicting frameworks, based on processes that require elaboration of rival hypotheses and their evaluation. It is concluded that the content-process dichotomy is misleading as the two approaches to teaching science would rather complement each other.     

The Effect of Guidance in Problem-Based Learning of Statistics

Contrary to classical problem-based learning, in guided problem-based learning, the learning goals are predetermined by the instructor—on the basis of a detailed decomposition of the subject matter to be studied—to activate prior knowledge and to structure self-study and subsequent group discussion. This study investigated the effects of classical problem-based learning and guided problem-based learning, for different prior knowledge levels, on perceived value and usefulness of the learning activity and on conceptual understanding of statistics. Participants randomly assigned 110 students to 10 problem-based learning groups, and subsequently, the 10 groups were allocated randomly to classical problem-based learning or guided problem-based learning. The results indicate that guided problem-based learning tends to enhance conceptual understanding of statistics more thanbreak; classical problem-based learning once students have some prior knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, guided problem-based learning tends to increase students’ awareness of the value and usefulness of the learning activity.     

Cognitive validity of students’ self-reports of classroom mastery goal structure: What students are thinking and why it matters

Cognitive interviews were employed to systematically examine the cognitive validity of self-report survey items extensively used to assess classroom mastery goal structure. In a sample of elementary and middle school students, items were identified that functioned according to their intended meaning and those eliciting less accurate interpretations as conceptually defined by mastery goal structure cognitive validity criteria. Evidence suggested that items framed to focus on students’ teachers (i.e., teacher goals) were more cognitively valid than were items that focused students on their classroom context. Items with abstract terms yielded less accurate interpretations. We discuss implications of determining the cognitive validity of scales used to assess achievement goal structure and related self-report instruments.     

Evaluation of a K–5 Mathematics Program Which Integrates Children’s Literature: Classroom Environment and Attitudes

This article describes a one-year study of 120 fifth grade students whose teachers participated in a program entitled Project SMILE (Science and Mathematics Integrated with Literary Experiences). The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the classroom implementation of Project SMILE positively influenced the classroom environment and student attitudes toward reading, writing and mathematics. This was accomplished by, first, facilitating a series of professional development workshops with the teachers and, subsequently, asking these teachers to use the strategies with their students in their elementary school classrooms. The research represents one of the relatively few studies that have employed learning environment dimensions as criteria of effectiveness in the evaluation of educational innovations. Methodologically, our study supported previous research that successfully combined qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The learning environment and attitude scales exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity and, additionally, the actual form of most learning environment scales was capable of differentiating between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. The implementation of SMILE was found to have a positive impact on the students of the teachers who participated in the inservice program in that students attitudes to mathematics and reading improved and there was congruence between students actual and preferred classroom environment on the scales of satisfaction and difficulty. As well, prior research was replicated in that students satisfaction was greater in classrooms with a more positive learning environment, especially in terms of student cohesiveness. Finally, qualitative data-gathering methods were used to construct a case study of the mathematics classes of a teacher who attended the SMILE professional development. This case study supported and illuminated the results from the questionnaire survey concerning the effectiveness of Project SMILE in terms of student attitudes and classroom environment.     

The Nature of Analogical Explanations: High School Physics Teachers Use in Kenya

This paper is about a study into the nature of analogies recorded from three Form 2 (Grade 10) classes in Kenya, instructed by three physics teachers. Through a case study method involving classroom observation, several analogies were recorded and analysed. These analogies were predominantly environmental (drawn from students socio-cultural environment) and anthropomorphic (life and human characteristics ascribed to analogues involving familiar concepts). A small number were scientific (those in which analogues are drawn from the science knowledge domain) – ones the author, for pedagogical reasons, wishes to see exploited. In addition, targets (concepts to be explained) were not freed from analogues (concepts used to explain), which is problematic. Also recorded were instances of students making statements that contained counter-physics messages. These included statements conveying literal understanding of technical terminology, sense experience understanding, which proved very robust, and obvious transfer of error from a particular knowledge domain to another. Caution is therefore advised to ensure that before developing and deploying analogies, students understanding of the analogues must be sought. This most likely will reveal problems in their understanding and should be rectified before applying its meaning to the target.     

Classroom Use of Multimedia-Supported Predict–Observe–Explain Tasks in a Social Constructivist Learning Environment

This paper focuses on the use of multimedia-based predict–observe–explain (POE) tasks to facilitate small group learning conversations. Although the tasks were given to pairs of students as a diagnostic tool to elicit their pre-instructional physics conceptions, they also provided a peer learning opportunity for students. The study adopted a social constructivist perspective to analyse and interpret the students conversations, focussing on students articulation and justification of their own science conceptions, clarification of and critical reflection on their partners views, and negotiation of new, shared meanings. Two senior science classes participated in this interpretive study. Data sources were mainly qualitative and included audio and video recordings of students small group discussions at the computer, interviews with selected students and their teachers, classroom observations, and student surveys. Findings indicate that the computer-based POE tasks supported students peer learning conversations, particularly during the prediction, reasoning and observation stages of the POE strategy. The increased level of student control of the POE tasks, combined with the multimedia nature of the program, initiated quality peer discussions. The findings have implications for authentic, technology-mediated learning in science.     

Peer collaboration and discourse patterns in learning from incompatible information

This study investigated the effects of peer collaboration anddiscourse patterns on conceptual change in the context of high-schoolstudents learning from incompatible scientific information. The domainof investigation was biological evolution. Participants included 108students from Grades 9 and 12 randomly assigned to four conditions: (1)peer-conflict; (2) individual-conflict; (3) peer-assimilationand (4) individual-assimilation. Students were asked to think aloud ordiscuss with their peers eight statements consisting of scientificinformation ordered in ways that either maximized or minimized conflict.Several measures of prior knowledge and conceptual change were obtained.Peer collaboration resulted in some mixed findings suggesting that peereffects may vary depending on collaborative interactions. In-depthanalyses of collaborative interactions indicated two discourse patterns:surface moves included rating, ignoring, rejecting, and patching toeliminate differences; problem-centred moves involved problemrecognition, formulation of questions, and construction of explanations.Comparisons between successful and unsuccessful learners showedsignificant differences in their proportional use of surface andproblem-centred moves. External conflict did not lead to deeperdiscourse and more conceptual change; students may need toexperience meaningful conflict. These findings suggest why peercollaboration only works sometimes and indicate the importance ofhelping students to engage in productive discourse.     

The role of educational context in beliefs about knowledge,information, and truth: an exploratory study

Beliefs about knowledge have been found to relate to a variety of student outcomes and to vary across educational domains and instructional contexts. However, there are limited data on students’ beliefs about information and truth, vis-à-vis knowledge (i.e., epistemic beliefs) and how these beliefs differ across instructional settings. Undergraduates from two educational contexts, in the USA (n?=?240) and the Netherlands (n?=?72), participated in this study. While students in the USA were enrolled primarily in lecture and discussion classes, students in the Netherlands followed a problem-based learning curriculum. Beliefs about knowledge, information, and truth and their interrelations were examined across these two contexts through graphical and written justification tasks. Results from this exploratory study indicate that Dutch students were more likely than American students to depict knowledge, information, and truth as subjective and to define knowledge and information as synonymous. Commonalities and differences associated with educational backgrounds are considered in relation to instructional implications.