Decision Theory Models for Validating Course Placement Tests

Most American postsecondary institutions have course placement systems for their first-year students. Placement systems typically consist of an assessment component (to estimate students' probability of success in standard first-year courses) and an instructional component (in which academically underprepared students are taught the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the standard courses). Validity issues related to these functions are discussed in the context of decision theory, and methods are proposed for determining appropriate cutoff scores on placement tests.     

A typology of approaches to peer tutoring. Unraveling peer tutors’ behavioural strategies

Peer tutors’ behaviour has been stated to have the power to create and increase learning opportunities within peer tutoring programs. However, previous studies have shown that peer tutors struggle to adopt facilitative and constructivist-oriented strategies, as they lean more towards directive and knowledge-telling strategies. This study aims to explore a typology of approaches to peer tutoring by unraveling peer tutors’ behavioural strategies and related approaches. Furthermore, it aims to grasp peer tutors’ behavioural repertoire in-depth by shedding light on the concerns and challenges they experience while tutoring. Results showed that peer tutors used a variety of strategies but were mainly inclined to adopt answering and directive actions. Their questioning behaviour remained relatively low level in terms of quality. Moreover, three types of peer tutors could be discerned, i.e. questioners, informers and motivational organisers. Finally, although all peer tutors reported diverse organisational, social and didactical concerns and challenges, results showed that different types of tutors struggled with different approach-specific issues and experienced tutoring in a slightly different manner. Taking these issues into account seems crucial for peer tutoring to reach its potential. Implications for peer tutoring programs and training of peer tutors are discussed.     

A case study of a college-wide first-year undergraduate engineering course

Introductory engineering courses are either programme specific or expose students to engineering as a broad discipline by including materials from various engineering programmes. A common introductory engineering course that spans different engineering programmes raises challenges, including the high cost of resources as well as the lack of background courses of first-year students. This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a first-year common engineering course that uses low-cost materials to expose students to a structured engineering design process. The course is explicitly designed to satisfy the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology criteria for engineering programmes. Our experience with the course shows that not only students are able to follow a structured design process successfully but we also believe that most of the ABET criteria are being delivered through the course.     

The pathways to higher education: lexical availability in adult candidate students and in young first-year students

In the past few years there has been an increase in the number of adult students in higher education courses, many of whom have returned to school after a break. Most of these students do not intend to continue their studies from the point where they stopped; rather, they want to prepare for specific tests in order to have direct access to higher education courses, which in Portugal is a legal option for students over the age of 23. In response to this new cohort, higher education institutions need to find out what kind of students these are, determining their characteristics, capabilities and major problems, if they are to provide them with successful learning opportunities alongside younger students. This article presents a comparative study of lexical competence, focusing on lexical availability, contrasting those adult applicants to higher education who are attending a course preparatory to higher education with first-year students who have just entered higher education. The results show significant differences between the two groups, the adult group in general showing poorer results. Their withdrawal from schooling is clearly reflected in their vocabulary activation with regard to transversal themes. The most salient contrasts are related to the number of words mentioned and the frequency of words in the group, as well as the greater or lesser proximity to the topic of the terms mentioned.     

Scaling up from the Pioneers: The TeleTOP Method at the University of Twente

At the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology, University of Twente, in The Netherlands, pioneer faculty members have been making innovative use of WWW-based course support sites since 1994. By 1996, seven instructors were active; by the first part of 1999 more than half the faculty were involved, and the rest will be joining soon (in a systematic plan, all the first-year courses in 1998, the second-year courses and many of the senior electives in 1999, etc). In addition we are working with other faculties, to support the same progression. How are we doing this? In this article, the TeleTOP method (http://teletop.edte.utwente.nl) will be described, showing clearly how it has developed based on an implementation model and the experience we had already acquired with innovative use of the WWW for our courses. The eight aspects of the TeleTOP method, including the pedagogical principles, the change strategies, the instructor-engagement strategies, and the technology, wi ll be described, and illustrated with examples from the courses that have now been redesigned. In particular, results after the first year in terms of usage, of instructional choices made by the instructors, of the diversity of instructional approaches that are supported, of the on-going formative evaluation, and of the adaptation of the TeleTOP method for another faculty with a different pedagogical culture will be given. The applicability of the TeleTOP method to other faculties and settings is discussed.     

Preservice and Inservice Teachers’ Challenges in the Planning of Practical Work in Physics

Practical work in school science plays many essential roles that have been discussed in the literature. However, less attention has been paid to how teachers learn the different roles of practical work and to the kind of challenges they face in their learning during laboratory courses designed for teachers. In the present study we applied the principles of grounded theory to frame a set of factors that seem to set major challenges concerning both successful work in the school physics laboratory and also in the preparation of lessons that exploit practical work. The subject groups of the study were preservice and inservice physics teachers who participated in a school laboratory course. Our results derived from a detailed analysis of tutoring discussions between the instructor and the participants in the course, which revealed that the challenges in practical or laboratory work consisted of the limitations of the laboratory facilities, an insufficient knowledge of physics, problems in understanding instructional approaches, and the general organization of practical work. Based on these findings, we present our recommendations on the preparation of preservice and inservice teachers for the more effective use of practical work in school science and in school physics.     

Using the DYSA Programme to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in First-year University Students

With recent increases in the number of students attending universities without a proportional increase in resources, it is likely that there has been a decrease in the quality of life students experience and an increase in the stress they feel. This is of course added to by tuition fees and the need to take out student loans. The writers review research into student stress and highlight the fact that many researchers have noted the need for stress-reduction courses, though this has been a recommendation that has not generally been taken up. A specific stress-reduction programme for school pupils and university students is described. This programme was tested with first-year undergraduates. The students involved all felt that the programme had been valuable. Apart from its clear relevance to the support of university students, this paper raises issues which are of importance to those working with sixth-form students.     

Allowing course compensation in higher education: a latent class regression analysis to evaluate performance on a follow-up course

Abstract

In this study, the consequences of allowing course compensation in a higher education academic dismissal policy are evaluated by examining performance on a second-year follow-up (i.e. sequel) course that builds on material from a first-year precursor course. Up to now, differences in the consequences of compensation on student performance across groups of students who portray different unobserved study processes were not considered. In this study we used a latent class regression model to distinguish latent groups of students. Data from two undergraduate curricula were used and latent classes were formed based on similar patterns in averages, variability in grades, the number of compensated courses, and the number of retakes in the first year. Results show that students can be distinguished by three latent classes. Although the first-year precursor course is compensated in each of these latent classes, low performance on the precursor course results in low performance on the second-year sequel course for psychology students who belong to a class in which the average across first-year courses is low and the average number of compensated courses and retakes are high. For these students, compensation on a precursor course seems more likely to relate to insufficient performance on a sequel course.     

导学群服务下理论型课程教学模式探讨

理论型课程由于本身所具有的特点,使其与知识型、实践型课程相对比具有其独特的方面。导学群服务体系下的理论型课程的导学必须考虑到该类课程的特点进行教学设计,并要切实加强对该类课程学习过程的监控     

Prior learning in biology at high school does not predict performance in the first year at university

Students in their first year of university face a number of transition issues that can make realising their academic potential difficult. In the sciences, first-year courses cover a large amount of material across broad subject areas, which can make them troublesome for students without background knowledge, and students need to adapt to typically large class sizes and develop active, independent learning skills. We expected a student's prior learning to be important to their academic performance in a large, first-year introductory biology subject and analysed the relationships between students' results in this course with their senior high school results in related subjects over three years from 2007 to 2009. We predicted that students with prior learning in biology would have higher results than those without it, but that chemistry might also be important, given the biochemical nature of much of the course content. Students who completed biology at the senior high school-level did perform better than those who had not, but only if they also completed chemistry. Prior learning in biology was of no benefit to students in first-year biology, except when combined with chemistry, suggesting that potential differences in biology curricula between high school and the first year at university may need to be addressed.     

Perceptions of tutoring roles and psychological distance among instructors,tutors and students at a Korean university

This study explores issues related to the tutor’s role when initiating tutoring as an institutional strategy at a conventional university. Based on a pilot tutoring program implemented in four college courses, we investigated the perceptions of instructors, tutors and students regarding the role of tutoring and whether it affected the psychological distance between the different types of participants. The results indicated that instructors’ perceptions of the tutor’s primary role and the psychological distance from the students and the tutors differed from the perceptions of the tutors and the students, perhaps because the instructors perceived tutors as a source of instructor support rather than student support. Implications and suggestions are discussed.     

Factors influencing student perceptions of high-school science laboratory environments

Science laboratory learning has been lauded for decades for its role in fostering positive student attitudes about science and developing students’ interest in science and ability to use equipment. An expanding body of research has demonstrated the significant influence of laboratory environment on student learning. Further research has demonstrated differences in student perceptions based on giftedness. To explore the relationship between giftedness and students’ perceptions of their learning environment, we examined students’ perceptions of their laboratory learning environment in biology courses, including courses designated for high-achieving versus regular-achieving students. In addition, to explore the relationship between students’ perceptions and the extent of their experience with laboratory learning in a particular discipline, we examined students’ perceptions of their laboratory learning environment in first-year biology courses versus elective biology courses that require first-year biology as a prerequisite. We found that students in high-achieving courses had a more favourable perception of all aspects of their learning environment when compared with students in regular courses. In addition, student perceptions of their laboratory appeared to be influenced by the extent of their experience in learning science. Perceptions were consistent amongst regular- and high-achieving students regardless of grade level. In addition, perceptions of students in first year and beyond were consistent regardless of grade level. These findings have critical applications in curriculum development as well as in the classroom. Teachers can use student perceptions of their learning environment to emphasize critical pedagogical approaches and modify other areas that enable enhancement of the science laboratory learning environment.     

Empirical studies and intelligent language tutoring

The research described in this paper addresses how a language tutoring system tackles a practical problem in learning a language — negative transfer (mother tongue influence). The empirical studies we have undertaken indicate that negative transfer is the most obvious explanation for most of the errors committed by first-year students in their study of Chinese grammar at the University of Durham. The results of our empirical studies accord with the views of experts on both negative transfer and the Chinese language. A language tutoring prototype (the Chinese Tutor) has been designed on the basis of the results of the empirical studies. The Chinese Tutor contains five models: the expert model, the student model, the diagnoser, the tutor model and the interface module. The five models work effectively together in order to ensure a successful tutorial session. A number of potential users from the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Durham have used the Chinese Tutor with positive results. In this paper, we will first address issues in relation to empirical studies: the significance of empirical studies and the results of the empirical studies. We will then move on to some of the important design issues, i.e., how the problem of negative transfer is tackled by the Chinese Tutor, which includes discussions on how the rules in the mixed grammar are used for detecting arbitrary transfer errors; how the types of error made by the student are inferred; and how an appropriate tutorial strategy is selected. Finally, a tutorial session run by one of the students who has used the Chinese Tutor is presented and what the Chinese Tutor can offer to the students will also be addressed.     

Applying dynamic fuzzy petri net to web learning system

This investigation presents a DFPN (Dynamic Fuzzy Petri Net) model to increase the flexibility of the tutoring agent's behaviour and thus provide a learning content structure for a lecture course. The tutoring agent is a software assistant for a single user, who may be an expert in an e-Learning course. Based on each learner's behaviour, the tutoring agent derives a different learning content structure, and then maps it onto a SCORM activity tree structure. SCORM is the most widely accepted standard e-Learning application. However, it is too complex to enable the lecturers to apply SCORM Sequencing and Navigation in developing a course. Accordingly, this investigation applies DFPN to provide a graphical editing interface, to enable the tutoring agent to help each learner reach his (or her) learning target.     

An investigation on industry-sponsored design projects' effectiveness at the first-year level: potential issues and preliminary results

This paper presents the preliminary work for developing guidelines to ensure that industry-sponsored projects in first-year courses aid, not hamper, retention of students. Specifically, the overall research plan includes the following steps: (1) investigating the appropriateness of industry projects in a required introduction to engineering design course (approximately 1000 students per year), (2) assessing the impact of industry-sponsored projects on first-year students' learning and retention, and (3) promoting an awareness of issues involved in successfully introducing industry projects in the first year. It is expected that the outcomes of this work will result in guidelines widely applicable by other institutions looking into or currently using industry projects in the first year, thereby addressing the recognized national need of increasing retention rates, especially amongst women and minorities.

This paper covers a review of potential factors affecting industry-sponsored projects' appropriateness at the first year, and related preliminary data.     

Helping Struggling Students in Introductory Biology: A Peer-Tutoring Approach That Improves Performance,Perception, and Retention

The high attrition rate among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors has long been an area of concern for institutions and educational researchers. The transition from introductory to advanced courses has been identified as a particularly “leaky” point along the STEM pipeline, and students who struggle early in an introductory STEM course are predominantly at risk. Peer-tutoring programs offered to all students in a course have been widely found to help STEM students during this critical transition, but hiring a sufficient number of tutors may not be an option for some institutions. As an alternative, this study examines the viability of an optional peer-tutoring program offered to students who are struggling in a large-enrollment, introductory biology course. Struggling students who regularly attended peer tutoring increased exam performance, expert-like perceptions of biology, and course persistence relative to their struggling peers who were not attending the peer-tutoring sessions. The results of this study provide information to instructors who want to design targeted academic assistance for students who are struggling in introductory courses.     

On Teaching Science Teachers to Teach

Abstract

Universities and colleges have a responsibility to help solve complex social problems. The article describes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the diverse strengths of a research and teaching institution to address issues in one such complex problem: race, science, and health. The authors' model involved a “feedback loop” among three different and simultaneous activities: two undergraduate courses, one in biology and one open to all first-year student, and a weekly seminar that included the professors teaching these two courses, other faculty from across the university, and undergraduate and graduate student representatives. The topic and logistical strategies are discussed in detail and the value and challenges of such an integrated multilevel approach are explored.     

Teaching Chemistry at Canada's Open University

University‐level courses in science that contain a substantial practicum or laboratory component have always been a problem to deliver through distance education. Because of the potential hazards inherent in the equipment and chemicals commonly used, chemistry is among the more challenging disciplines to teach at a distance. Athabasca University (AU) ‐ Canada's Open University ‐ has been successfully running chemistry courses for over two decades. The development and delivery of AU chemistry courses are described and the approaches that have been developed to meet the challenges of a North American distance‐education university, including the use of new technologies, are discussed. The problems associated with providing distance students with appropriate laboratory experience are also examined. The first‐year general chemistry courses are compared to an equivalent course at a neighbouring traditional university and an analysis of student performance in AU chemistry courses is presented.