Visual displays and contextual presentations in computer-based instruction

The effects of two instructional strategies, visual display and contextual presentation, were investigated in the acquisition of electronic troubleshooting skills using computer-based instruction. Three types of visual displays (animation, static graphics with motion cues, and static graphics without motion cues) were used to represent structures and functions of electronic circuits and trouble-shooting procedures. The first hypothesis was that animation would be more effective than static graphics, but that static graphics with adequate motional cues representing the dynamic aspects of the task would accomplish results similar to animation. Results supported this hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that context-dependent instruction would be more efficient than context-independent instruction for solving problems in similar contexts, but that context independent instruction would be more effective in solving problems encountered in different contexts. The results supported this hypothesis. A general conclusion of this study is that the use of visual displays and contextual presentation should be based on the learning requirements of the task and the expected roles of the strategy in the learning.When this study was conducted, he was with the U.S. Army Research Institute. The opinions expressed herein are the author's and do not express or imply the views of the U.S. Department of Education or the U.S. Army Research Institute.     

高职院校机械制图课程教学改革与探索

本文分析了当前CAD技术应用现状及其对高职院校机械制图课程教学的影响,提出了机械制图课程教学改革的新思路,并阐明了具体改革方法,即在二维教学的基础上,突出三维设计思想,强调二维视图与三维模型的有机结合.     

Extending the Reach of Technical Education with Distance Learning

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, community colleges serve students who live within the school’s local region. Some community colleges are looking for strategies to increase geographic access to their technical education programs. Exploratory research on online technical education programs found some programs are using online and distance-learning strategies to make their programs more accessible. This paper examines two such technical education programs and the different ways they are making their programs available to students across the country. Looking at these two programs revealed that the types of online and distance-learning strategies and tools these programs chose to deliver instruction are, at least in part, dependent on characteristics of the technical equipment students are being taught to master. These characteristics include the equipment’s availability and accessibility, as well as how expensive and/or dangerous this equipment can be.     

Direct Behavioral Consultation in Head Start to Increase Teacher Use of Praise and Effective Instruction Delivery

Chronic disruptive behaviors during early childhood are associated with many poor developmental outcomes including, but not limited to, school dropout and conduct disorder during adolescence. Much is known regarding effective intervention procedures for disruptive classroom behaviors by preschool children. Unfortunately, evidence-based intervention procedures may not be implemented with integrity in applied settings. Direct behavioral consultation may increase teacher intervention integrity because of direct training procedures used with teachers and students during routine classroom activities. This study evaluated a nondisruptive direct training method for increasing Head Start teachers' use of praise and effective instruction delivery. Results indicated that the direct training procedure implemented during routine instructional activities resulted in increased use of praise and effective instruction delivery that maintained following training. Additionally, increased use of praise and effective instruction delivery resulted in reductions in children's disruptive classroom behavior.     

The effect of using a systematic cooperative learning approach to help preservice teachers learn informal reading inventory procedures

This study examined the effect of using a systematic cooperative learning approach to help preservice teachers learn Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) concepts and procedures. Participants (N = 77) were enrolled in two different sections of a required reading methods course. Group 1 (n = 47) received instruction using a systematic cooperative learning approach and Group 2 (n = 30) received instruction using a direct instruction approach. Two instruments were designed for this study and administered as posttests. One instrument measured learning outcomes related to IRI concepts and procedures. The second instrument examined Group 1's perceptions toward the systematic cooperative learning approach. Treatment occurred during a three week unit and consisted of lecture, examples, guided practice, independent practice accomplished in cooperative groups, and specific feedback. Analysis included computing a one-way ANOVA, frequencies, and percentages. Results indicated that significant differences existed between Group 1 and Group 2 learning outcome scores. In addition, Group 1 perceived lectures, working in groups, and feedback as helping them learn IRI concepts and procedures.Judy Wedman obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in reading education. Currently, she is an associate professor in elementary education at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research interests are in preservice teacher training in reading methodology.Julie Hughes obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in Higher Education and Administration. She currently is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Higher and Adult Education and Foundations area. Her research focus is on cooperative learning at the post-secondary level.Richard Robinson is currently professor of education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Missouri-Columbia. A graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in reading education, his current research focus is reading comprehension with particular interest in the readability of medical information for patients.     

Design and Delivery of Training for International Trainees: A Case Study

One problem faced by instructional designers in multinational corporations is designing training for use with other cultures, while using resources effectively. A naturalistic case study approach was used to determine which conditions international students bring to technical training are the most critical and which aspects of the delivery of instruction are affected most critically by those traits. Respondents included students from several countries, as well as instructors. The most critical traits were value differences and language difficulty. These affected all aspects of training, but most critically the needs assessment and the instructional strategies. Critical instuctional strategies include reiterating concepts in several ways and using visuals, clear and active language, and relevant and specific examples. Effective strategies also include allowing more time for instruction, building in frequent breaks, and using media that use multiple senses and allow students to go at their own pace.     

新建高职院校实践教学现状及对策

实践教学是高职教育的重要组成部分,加强实践教学是提高人才培养质量的重要途径。新建高职院校的实践教学是一个薄弱环节。要实现高职教育的人才培养目标,必须充分认识实践教学在高职教育中的重要性;构建相对独立的实践教学体系;加强和完善实践教学基地建设;加强实践教学管理,建立科学规范的考核评价体系。     

The Organization of a Laboratory Electronics Course

This paper describes the organization of a Laboratory Electronics Course in the Department of Aircraft Electrical Engineering at the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield, England. The course caters to two standards of specialization and to students with a wide range of previous training. The minor specialization course concentrates solely on fundamentals and the basic concepts, while the major course is carried to the threshold of design procedures. The contents of both courses are limited by the student's previous training and the time available for practical work. The over-all standard of the major course is that of the M.Sc. degree of a British University. Four different ways of construction and presentation of experiments are described and the limitations of each are discussed. Finally, the laboratory layout, equipment, and scheme of work for both courses is described.     

Instruction in early childhood special education: "seeing through a glass darkly ... knowing in part".

This article discusses what is not known about instruction of preschoolers with disabilities. Knowledge gaps exist in four areas: the content of the curriculum, the procedures used to individualize instruction, the instructional procedures designed to ensure acquisition, and the strategies used to ensure skill use or generalization. Barriers to generating such knowledge include the fragmentation that results from specialization, the inadequacy of the data base, and the lack of training in instruction and research design and analysis. Solutions include training programs for early childhood special educators in the analysis, application, and design of research in instruction and curriculum, as well as the publication of multiple replications and refinements of instructional strategies.     

Assessing Technology Based Instruction in Biology and Geography

Abstract

The article is a report on a development project arising from collaboration between the Department of Education in the University of Oulu, the university training school in Oulu, and some secondary schools in Northern Finland. The key aims of the project have been to promote the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in teacher education and in schools, to develop methods for distant education, and to train student teachers in telematics instruction in biology and geography. The concept of pedagogical action, socio-cultural communicative perspective, constructivist views of pedagogy, ideas of reflective teachers and learners, and new forms of assessment provided the theoretical basis for the project. The main findings were that student teachers are able to plan, conduct, and evaluate telematics instruction. The greatest problems are technical problems and lack of time. Sustained and effective communication between students, local teachers, student teachers, and supervisors is seen to be the key to the successful cooperative work in developing curricula and instructional methods in telematics learning environment.     

PLC实训室建设与项目开发

PLC实训室的建设及实训项目的开发,应以工作过程为向导,实训设备的配置应是生产实际的仿真,实训项目的内容应反映工作过程。本文介绍了PLC综合训练实验板的开放性设计思想,实训设备的多种形式,以及实训项目的内容设计是如何体现工学结合教育理念的。     

对工程制图教学的几点思考

在高职高专工程制图课程的讲授中,强调传统工程制图与计算机绘图的同等重要性是非常有必要的,采用以多媒体教学为主,传统教学为辅的教学方法,注重并强化练习,可以提高学生的制图技能、空间想象能力和空间思维能力。     

A longitudinal evaluative study of student difficulties with engineering graphics

We have previously reported in this journal that spatial ability influences academic performance in engineering. We have also reported that spatial ability is trainable, and can be increased through instruction focused on using perception and mental imagery in three-dimensional representation. In this article, we present the results of a longitudinal evaluative study of student difficulties with engineering graphics at our university, involving research over a 24-year period. Prior to our intervention, the first-year engineering graphics course at our university had a failure rate of 36% for all engineering students, and failure rates of 80% for African students studying at our university. In terms of outcomes, our study indicates that changed teaching practices have been associated with increased pass rates, which currently average 88% for all students. There is clear evidence that African students no longer experience major difficulties in passing the course. This can be attributed both to changes in teaching methodology, as well as broader contextual changes occurring in South Africa over the period reviewed.

Despite evidence of increased pass rates, our data suggest that there is a continuing relationship between three-dimensional spatial perception and academic performance in engineering graphics, as well as with aggregated first-year engineering marks. For this reason, many students still require academic support. There is also evidence that female students experience difficulties with engineering graphics due to lack of previous technical experience, and use a variety of strategies to overcome their study problems. The most effective appear to be use of peers and friends, and in particular students who had previously taken the course, as mediators of the course content and materials. Those female students who have not taken technical drawing at school level, and female students who do not network with other engineering students, are those at greatest disadvantage.     

The Functional Context Method of Instruction

This is a discussion of a method of instruction designed to replace conventional methods for training radio repairmen. In traditional radio repair instruction, basic electronics has been taught as a block of instruction preceding instruction on intact equipment and maintenance operations. This approach is criticized for its failure to provide the student with meaningful and relevant contexts for the learning of basic electronics and for the obstacles it presents to the assimilation of basic electronics knowledge into maintenance skills. A new approach, entitled the functional context method, is offered as a means for avoiding these shortcomings. This is accomplished through a topic sequence wherein basic electronics is taught in the broader contexts of over-all equipment functions and maintenance operations.     

改进课件设计 提高函数图像教学效果

计算机具有能快速和准确地生成函数图像的功能，对于提高数学函数图像的教学效果具有重要的作用和意义。但要在实际的CAI中充分发掘它的潜力，达到预期的目标，必须摆脱机械地应用计算机的模式，合理地设计数学课件，改革传统的教学方式，科学地进行教学。     

应用三维模型库辅助机械制图教学

本文指出机械制图传统教学手段及现有教学手段的不足,讨论了三维模型库对机械制图教学所起的重大作用,并简要介绍了用SolidWorks软件建立三维模型库的方法。     

A review of social interventions for students with learning disabilities

Twenty-two studies are reviewed that report the effects of social skills training and intervention with 572 children identified as learning disabled between 5 and 19 years of age. These studies are reviewed to examine characteristics and components of intervention effectiveness. Age and sex of subjects, grade grouping, group size, intervention duration, intervention procedures, subject selection, and type of interventional model are examined to find patterns that reflect intervention success. Several intervention characteristics and components are associated with social intervention effectiveness: selecting subjects who had social skills difficulties or low peer acceptance, using cognitive-behavioral intervention procedures, providing individual or small group instruction, and applying long-term intervention and training. Discussion focuses on difficulties in comparing studies to determine intervention effectiveness through the examination of outcome measures, a call for revisions in future reporting of social interventions in the literature, and those intervention factors that relate to increases in peer acceptance.     

表象训练在高校散打教学申的实验研究

通过文献资料法、教学实验法、问卷调查法和统计分析法,在3所高校的散打课教学中运用表象训练辅助教学与常规教学进行对比实验,实验结果显示实验组的学生格斗自信心和教师对学生主动积极性评价与对照组存在显著性差异,其技术考核成绩和实战成绩也与对照组存在差异。建议高校体育课程改革应从方法学上改进,将心理训练的方法与方式积极引入高校各项体育教学训练中。     

课堂教学中完善推铅球滑步技术练习方法与手段之我见

铅球滑步技术的教学,国内外专家学者在初期教学手段上研究甚少。本文经过本人多年专业课教学及运动队训练实践,认为采用多样练习方法与手段,加大滑步练习的在课堂教学及训练中技术练习部分的比重,对建立正确的铅球技术概念和掌握合理的滑步技术以及与最后用力的衔接技术,效果比较明显。