Enhancing Science Learning Through the Introduction of Effective Group Work in Hong Kong Secondary Classrooms

This study compares the learning results of three groups of secondary two (grade eight) students of a similar academic standard who participated in a teaching intervention involving different pedagogies. One hundred and forty-nine Hong Kong secondary students were chosen and divided into three groups, “whole-class teaching approach”, “group work with no specific strategies” and “group work with effective strategies”, to study the “space travel” unit in their science curriculum. The first group was exposed to traditional whole-class instruction, and the latter two practised collaborative group work, with the third adopting four effective strategies derived from a UK-based quasi-experimental project. Analyses of the pre- and post-diagnostic assessments and audiotaped discussions revealed that group work comprising effective strategies not only raised students’ test scores, but also enhanced their joint construction of conceptual knowledge in science. The findings suggest that the effective strategies adopted in this study are contributory factors to superior student accomplishments and a stronger desire to seek clarification accruing from shared cognitive activities.     

Learning Gene Expression Through Modelling and Argumentation

There is emerging interest on the interactions between modelling and argumentation in specific contexts, such as genetics learning. It has been suggested that modelling might help students understand and argue on genetics. We propose modelling gene expression as a way to learn molecular genetics and diseases with a genetic component. The study is framed in Tiberghien’s (2000) two worlds of knowledge, the world of “theories & models” and the world of “objects & events”, adding a third component, the world of representations. We seek to examine how modelling and argumentation interact and connect the three worlds of knowledge while modelling gene expression. It is a case study of 10th graders learning about diseases with a genetic component. The research questions are as follows: (1) What argumentative and modelling operations do students enact in the process of modelling gene expression? Specifically, which operations allow connecting the three worlds of knowledge? (2) What are the interactions between modelling and argumentation in modelling gene expression? To what extent do these interactions help students connect the three worlds of knowledge and modelling gene expression? The argumentative operation of using evidence helps students to relate the three worlds of knowledge, enacted in all the connections. It seems to be a relationship among the number of interactions between modelling and argumentation, the connections between world of knowledge and students’ capacity to develop a more sophisticated representation. Despite this is a case study, this approach of analysis reveals potentialities for a deeper understanding of learning genetics though scientific practices.     

Learning style preferences: Vocational students and teachers

This study investigates, using the Learning Style Questionnaire, the learning style preferences of a group of vocational tertiary students and their teachers. It seeks to identify learning style differences, if any, between students in various stages of their course, between sexes and between “high” and “low” achieving students and their teachers. Furthermore, it examines the similarities and differences between the preferred learning style of the chosen sample of students and other tertiary vocational students. The major findings for the students, relevant to the above variables, and the teachers are discussed. As well, with respect to teachers and students, the implications of attempting to match teaching and learning styles are examined.     

Tangible User Interfaces and Contrasting Cases as a Preparation for Future Learning

In this paper, we describe an experiment that compared the use of a Tangible User Interface (physical objects augmented with digital information) and a set of Contrasting Cases as a preparation for future learning. We carried out an experiment (N?=?40) with a 2?×?2 design: the first factor compared traditional instruction (“Tell & Practice”) with a constructivist activity designed using the Preparation for Future Learning framework (PFL). The second factor contrasted state-of-the-art PFL learning activity (i.e., students studying Contrasting Cases) with an interactive tabletop featuring digitally enhanced manipulatives. In agreement with prior work, we found that dyads of students who followed the PFL activity achieved significantly higher learning gains compared to their peers who followed a traditional “Tell & Practice” instruction (large effect size). A similar effect was found in favor of the interactive tabletop compared to the Contrasting Cases (small-to-moderate effect size). We discuss implications for designing socio-constructivist activities using new computer interfaces.     

Inquiry-Based Learning and the Art of Mathematical Discourse

Abstract

Our particular flavor of inquiry-based learning (IBL) uses mathematical discourse, conversations, and discussions to empower students to deepen their mathematical thinking, building on strengths of students in the humanities. We present an organized catalog of powerful questions, discussion prompts, and talk moves that can help faculty facilitate a classroom focused on mathematical discourse. The paper brings this discourse alive through classroom vignettes and explores various teacher moves and their impacts. The mathematical theme of the classroom investigations, Maypole dance patterns, stems from the learning guide “Discovering the Art of Mathematics: Dance.” Both authors are part of the NSF-funded project “Discovering the Art of Mathematics,” which provides IBL materials for mathematics for liberal arts courses, see www.artofmathematics.org.     

Perceptions of Science and Technology: A Comparison of Criminal Justice and Traditional Science and Technology Majors

Due to the increased demands for science and technology (S&T) in criminal justice (CJ) occupational preparation and in response to the growing interest of students in forensics, this study explores the attitudes of CJ majors towards S&T. Despite the acknowledgment that S&T skills are helpful in gaining employment, CJ majors reported less favorable attitudes than S&T majors, reporting: less interest in gaining S&T knowledge, fewer social benefits of S&T, and greater concerns that S&T are dangerous to society than traditional forensic science majors. While these findings raise some fundamental questions about the suitability of increased representation of S&T courses within CJ curriculum, authors argue that CJ curricular goals must continue to evolve to foster innovative students who are academically prepared to meet the twenty-first century challenges of their future careers.     

Learning to Write: Plowing and Hoeing,Labor and Essaying

In this paper Amanda Fulford addresses the issue of student writing in the university, and explores how the increasing dominance of outcome‐driven modes of learning and assessment is changing the understanding of what it is to write, what is expected of students in their writing, and how academic writing should best be supported. The starting point is the increasing use of what are termed “technologies” of writing — “handbooks” for students that address issues of academic writing — that systematize, and smooth the work of writing in, Fulford argues, an unhelpful way. This leads to a reconsideration of what it means to write in the university, and what it is to be a student who writes. Fulford explores etymologically the concept of “writing” and suggests that it might be seen metaphorically as physical labor. Writing as physical labor is explored further through the agricultural metaphors in Henry David Thoreau's Walden and through Stanley Cavell's reading of that text. In making a distinction between writing‐as‐plowing and writing‐as‐hoeing, Fulford argues that some technologies of writing deny voice rather than facilitate it, and she concludes by offering a number of suggestions for the teaching and learning of writing in the university that emphasize the value of being lost (in one's subject and one's work) and finding one's own way out. These “lessons” are illustrated with reference to Thoreau's text Walden and to American literature and film.     

Learning by Giving: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Student Philanthropy in Criminal Justice Education

Student philanthropy is a teaching strategy that “provides students with the opportunity to study social problems and nonprofit organizations, and then make decisions about investing funds in them.” This represents the first study of student philanthropy in the criminal justice education literature and the first quasi-experimental study of student philanthropy in the higher-education literature. Specifically, it examines the impact of student philanthropy on students' beliefs, interest, learning, and intended behavior by analyzing pretest and posttest data for students who participated in a philanthropy experience (experimental group), relative to students who did not participate (comparison group). Key findings include: those who participated in the student philanthropy project were significantly more likely to be aware of organizations in their community, and change scores support the differences between the experimental and comparison groups regarding social problem awareness.     

Framing Quality: Annotated Video-Based Portfolios of Classroom Practice by Pre-service Teachers

In this paper we describe the use of peer learning teams creating annotated video-based portfolios to improve the quality of teacher–child interactions of undergraduate majors in early childhood and family studies. We used the intentional teaching framework (Hamre et al. in Handbook of early education. Guilford Publications, New York, 2012a) to create a course that moved students through the process of “knowing,” “seeing,” “doing,” and “reflecting & improving.” Forty-four undergraduate early childhood students formed eleven peer learning teams of four. We started the course by teaching the teacher–child interaction skills that are considered to be high-quality and linked to positive child outcomes (knowing). After learning to reliably identify (seeing) high quality instruction using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, the students created video portfolios featuring their own adult-child interactions (doing). These portfolios, featuring short salient examples of six different dimensions of quality instruction, were posted to a website and shared with their peer learning team. Each team member then commented on the extent to which she or he believed the students’ example was high quality. The portfolios and the peer coaching learning team (PCLT) process have improved our ability to document change in interactions as well as the students’ abilities to see their own growth (reflecting & improving). Further, it allows us to tighten the connection between course content and practical application as well as providing us with an alternative to on-site supervision of practicum students, which can be challenging due to budget constraints. Finally, we hope that sharing this activity will encourage others to integrate video-based technology into their coursework as a means to demonstrate positive change in students’ learning.     

ePortfolios,Badges, and the Whole Digital Self: How Evidence-Based Learning Pedagogies and Technologies Can Support Integrative Learning and Identity Development

Extensive research on student development and learning theory shows that the value of a college experience can be challenging to measure because its impact is not strictly academic, but holistic (e.g., Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito, 1998). ePortfolio programs have been successfully implemented at many campuses as 1 way for students to collect, reflect, select, and project evidence of their learning across academic and cocurricular dimensions. This article explores several other promising models for implementing emerging evidence-based, digital technologies and pedagogies that can be used with ePortfolios to strategically inspire a holistic, digital sense of self in students.     

ASP.NET项目实践课程学习支架构建

针对高校ASP.NET项目实践课程中存在的问题,以学习支架理论为基础,对ASP.NET项目实践教学内容进行分析整理,并根据项目开发的不同阶段,设计相应的学习支架,引导学生积极进入学习情境,在探索认知与协作学习的过程中,穿越自身的“最近发展区”,完成自身知识的意义建构。教学实践结果表明,在ASP.NET项目实践课程中引入学习支架,能加强学生对项目开发过程的理解,有利于提高学生项目开发的实践能力及独立解决问题的能力。     

Introverts,Extroverts, and Achievement in a Distance Learning Environment

Although difficulties that characterize distance learning (DL) clearly have differential effects on different learners, links between barrier research and individual differences remain relatively unexplored. This study examined the relationship between cognitive style, based on Jung's (1971) theory, and achievement levels among 77 university students in a videoconference-based learning environment. Clarifying this relationship enables educators to identify in advance students who may require additional instructional support in a DL context. Understanding student-related variables that affect learning also enables faculty to adapt instructions to meet the diverse needs of different students instead of adopting a “one-size-fits-all” approach to designing DL environments.     

Learning subjects: Impersonal or user-friendly?

In this article, written in “interchange” with Anita Rampal's “A Possible ‘Orality’ for Science?” (Interchange, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 227–244), a distinction is made between (A) aims of science, which is a philosophical issue; (B) the existence of forms of thought in their own right; and (C) the question of whether we teach the most important forms. The general conclusion is that we have to subject students to transcendental forms of thought irrespective of their social or cultural background, by whatever methods are most appropriate.     

Testing a Community College Institutional Effectiveness Model for “Academic-Transformation” Student Success

This report tested a community college performance excellence model (Eggleston, Gibbons, & Vera, 2007) for student success for first-time-in-college (FTIC) students enrolled in a mandatory Academic-Transformation course. Using data from an earlier study (Goomas & Clayton, 2013), students enrolled in distance-learning sections compiled higher percentages of “at-risk” grades than “success” grades. In testing the performance model used by Eggleston (2013) and Eggleston et al. (2007), a large enrollment masked this at-risk condition. It is important to understand that enrolling students in distance-learning Academic-Transformation coursework may be placing FTIC students, many of whom are first-generation students, at-risk, just as they are starting community college.     

Explaining Helping Behavior in a Cooperative Learning Classroom Setting Using Attribution Theory

This recently completed study examined whether attribution theory can explain helping behavior in an interdependent classroom environment that utilized a cooperative-learning model. The study focused on student participants enrolled in 6 community college communication classes taught by the same instructor. Three levels of cooperative-learning were employed. Survey data were collected from student participants presented with situations describing a group member who was not participating in the cooperative-learning process. Simulated scenarios, as well as “actual” experiences, were included for the purpose of analysis. Participant's emotional and behavioral responses were analyzed using independent–samples t tests, paired-samples t tests, and analysis of variance. Findings indicate that a student's willingness to help was influenced more positively when “uncontrollable” rather than “controllable” causes for nonparticipation were determined. Student in-class response to “actual” experiences differed from those reported in the simulated scenarios. The emotional and behavioral responses of students did not vary by age, gender, ethnicity, or level of cooperative learning employed in the class. Overall findings support attribution theory as a useful conceptual framework for explaining student responses regarding helping behavior in simulated situations. However, research results pose additional questions regarding the application of theory to practice and the implication for educators employing effective cooperative-learning activities in a classroom setting.     

Stimulating Participation and Learning in Microbiology: Presence and Identification of Bacteria from Student's Hands

We proposed in the Basic Microbiology Subject for food science and nutrition students, a “hands‐on” activity consisting on sampling student's hands for bacterial presence and identification. This is a project to be implemented in multiple laboratory classes throughout the semester, allowing students to learn, and apply general microbiology techniques in mixed or isolated cultures obtained from their own samples in parallel with those from the laboratory collection proposed in the microbiology syllabus (as aseptic technique, hands sampling, streaking for single‐colony isolation, culture medium analysis, bacterial morphology, and biochemical study, employ of dichotomous keys) This activity will allow them to understand the association between humans and microorganisms, to recognize the importance of personal hygiene (for example, hand‐washing), and to know how hands can be an important vehicle for bacterial spreading in surrounding environments (for example, kitchen, health‐care setting). The fact that the isolates for practical work were not only from laboratory collections, but also from the personal student's hands, keeps them interested in discover and study their own bacteria to know their main characteristics and the potential importance to human health, through spread of hazardous isolates. This project also potentially contributed for student's development of other skills such as autonomy and teamwork, planning and write, communication, and debate.     

开发运用项目任务单的实践与探索——以程控交换设备运行与维护课程为例

在反思项目教学存在问题的基础上,对程控交换设备运行与维护课程中项目任务单的开发运用进行了实践与探索;归纳出项目任务单的5个作用即促进学生思考,促进学生归纳,促进学生反思,促进学生对比,促进评价考核;开发出两种不同的项目任务单——工作过程记录单和学习过程记录单;提出在三方面的运用。认为对于以完成实际工作项目引领教学的课程,项目任务单可以较好地解决项目教学中存在的问题,在有效促进高职教育"职教性"的同时,也促进了"高教性"的发展。     

Students’ Perception of Interdisciplinary,Problem‐Based Learning in a Food Biotechnology Course

Abstract: Students’ perception of 8 criteria (rationale of the problem; interdisciplinary learning; facilitator asked essential questions; learner's skills; assessments; facilitation procedures; team's use of resources [team collaboration], and facilitator within a problem‐based learning context) were assessed for a food biotechnology course that was part of a 3rd year biotechnology program. The mean score for “perceived learner's skills” was the lowest whereas those for “facilitation” and “facilitator” were the highest. Selected qualitative comments from students were also analyzed. This study demonstrated interdisciplinary learning as the students could make meaningful connections across different science disciplines. Further investigation is needed to develop possible strategies to accommodate the challenges in making meaningful connections across science disciplines as well as to develop a defined hybrid method for analysis of students’ responses.     

The College as a Social System: Student Perceptions of Students,Faculty, and Administration

Abstract

This is a report on a new instrument for institutional research, (Transactional Analysis of Personality and Environment-(TAPE), based on the semantic differential and unique in its potential for analysis of the integration among students, faculty, and administration in a college, A total of 3,016 students from twenty-one colleges rated the following concepts on the 52 scales in Form A or the 52 scales in Form B: “My College,” “My Self,” “Students,” “Faculty,” “Administration,” and “Ideal College.” Ratings of satisfaction with aspects of college life also were made. The data presented indicate that individuals who perceive great discrepancies between themselves and their college tend to be dissatisfied and consider dropping out. Furthermore, those colleges which have large mean Self- College discrepancies also tend to have high mean dissatisfaction scores. Data are also presented to exemplify the intra- and inter-institutional research comparisons possible with TAPE.     

Returns to Chinese College Student Investment of Time in Internships and In-School Learning: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Investment of time in internship and in-school learning or study are two ways to accumulate human capital for college students. The authors take I&S input as two impacting faAQctors for graduates’ starting salaries to construct an I&S input allocation model minimizing “psychological cost.” The model inference indicates that the optimal allocation of I&S input relies on three aspects: returns to I&S of the future labor market, graduates’ cognitive attitudes toward the role of I&S, and the comparative advantages of I&S. The authors use the 2015 China College Graduates’ Employment Survey data conducted by the Institute of Education at Peking University to empirically verify the theoretical model. They found that under the current labor market conditions, the time input on I&S does not necessarily bring better returns, and there is a significant difference among student groups between the actual I&S time input and the “theoretically optimal values” predicted by the model. The authors conclude that the failure of allocating the I&S time input will hinder graduates’ successful transition from universities to the labor market. To avoid this time input imbalance, institutions should strengthen the guidance of I&S time input, improve the related management system, and pay more attention to I&S input quality and optimal allocation.