Computer‐supported Co‐operative Learning

This article discusses the impact of computer‐supported co‐operative work tools in the building of educational environments and the facilities such tools bring to educational methodologies. It also demonstrates the relationship between this new technique and the learner‐centred approach in education, a participative style of education in which the learner is actively involved in the learning process. At the same time, the article stresses the importance of collaborative learning. The influence of the new information technologies of intelligent multi‐agent systems is discussed in the context of computer‐supported co‐operative and active learning.     

Introducing Computer‐based Learning

Education and Training are adapting cautiously and clumsily to incorporate computer‐based learning. Potential benefits of CBL are enormous. It is possible, now, to produce a framework for successful development, requiring collaboration between computer manufacturers, professional trainers and teachers, institutions and national agencies. Diana Laurillard of the Open University Institute of Educational Technology (and currently Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne) offers such a framework.     

Teachers as Facilitators in a Computer‐supported Learning Environment

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that teachers in this technology‐rich era have a new role to play in their classrooms. As a knowledge facilitator, rather than a knowledge presenter, the job of the teacher is to create a computer‐ supported learning environment where learners are encouraged to think critically and creatively and to develop personal ownership and appreciation of the knowledge constructed. Classroom examples are given in this paper to provide evidence that the teacher's role is crucial in a successful computer‐ based learning environment. The implications of computer‐supported learning environments to teacher development and education are also discussed.     

Moving Towards Problem‐based Learning

Abstract

This paper is based upon the reflections of teachers and students as they experience problem‐based learning (PBL) for the first time. A PBL exercise was integrated into a curriculum‐based Biology field course to meet specific learning requirements of students. The exercise created a new learning environment for both students and teachers, and PBL was evaluated as an educative strategy. The exercise could have been improved through more effective student support. Our experiences of PBL have encouraged us to look for other areas of the curriculum where problem‐based approaches could be incorporated to enrich student learning.     

Cognitive Strategies and Computer‐supported Learning Environments

ABSTRACT The purpose was to investigate cognitive strategies as differential determinants of co‐operative learning in peer‐based interaction environments. Computer‐supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE) was used. Participants were 51 students who studied in 3rd Grade classrooms. There were three individual working conditions: optimistic, pessimistic and defensive pessimistic. A total of 52 homogeneously or heterogeneously paired dyads on a measure of cognitive strategies were observed. Results show that individual working conditions are more productive than dyadic conditions. Specifically, optimistic strategy is related to better processing of ideas in databases than the other strategies. Moreover, heterogeneous dyads are not so beneficial configurations. Pessimistic strategy is not so debilitating a strategy as is usually assumed. This study shows that different cognitive strategies, and configurations of them, produce different kinds of results in the processing of ideas with computer‐supported learning environments.     

Design,Assessment, and Evaluation of a Problem‐based Learning Environment in Undergraduate Engineering

This article describes the design, evaluation, and results of an innovative undergraduate engineering course at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA). The course, ENGR 110 — Introduction to Engineering, is a problem‐based learning environment in which freshmen students work in teams to solve problems integral to a “mission to Mars”, that is, getting to Mars, constructing a research site on Mars, and developing a renewable power source there. In addition to traditional knowledge and skill objectives, the course focuses on “higher order” outcomes such as: framing and resolving ill‐defined problems; communicating via multiple media; exhibiting intellectual curiosity; and developing a rich conceptualisation of engineering. The course is described in terms of a set of pedagogical dimensions for problem‐based learning environments. Several cognitive assessment methods were used to assess student achievement and evaluate the effectiveness of the course. Results included statistically and educationally significant differences in “problem‐solving” between two classes of ENGR 110 students and two control classes of sophomore engineering students.     

Problem‐based learning and action research in postgraduate teaching: the interdisciplinary core

Rapid changes in the world due to the emergence of an information society, scientific and technological developments, and a growing capitalist global economy have made intercultural and inter-ethnic contacts a fairly ordinary phenomenon. However, paradoxically, cultural diversity has had to cope with powerful homogenising instruments of a globalised planet; consequently, cultural issues cannot be considered apart from power relations. In education, a recent phenomenon – the teacher research movement – has tried to fight against conservative and dominant forms of teaching and teacher education. In this article, it is argued that teacher research, as an international movement, has the potential to become a counter-hegemonic strategy to construct critical teacher education approaches in a globalised world.     

Diffusion of Computer‐based Technologies: getting the best start

ABSTRACT

The issues surrounding the diffusion of technology within our public schools are wide‐ranging and as diverse as the student populations which we seek to influence. Designing efficient and effective teacher training for classroom technology applications is, consequently, an important consideration for ‘school reformers.’ This paper addresses, in significant detail, the instructional design process which was utilized for the development and delivery of one successful teacher technology training effort for a medium‐sized school district. Special emphasis was placed on the results of extensive learner analyses throughout the design effort.     

Towards a Methodology for Teacher‐Based Classroom Research

Educational research and evaluation for the purpose of improving practice is becoming increasingly common. The teacher‐researcher movement, LEA sponsored self‐evaluation schemes, for example, both involve teachers in reviewing their own practice or the practices of the school as an organization, with the express purpose of utilizing the review data for professional or school improvement. Unfortunately, the methodology for research and evaluation in schools is problematic; one reason for this is the difficulty in deriving valid inferences from data that are often qualitative in kind and subjective in manner. Although there is a body of literature that describes ways of collecting data on the functioning of schools and classrooms, there is little guidance as to how to analyse it. This presents particular difficulties for the teacher or school staff who, for example, are trying to make sense out of a mass of data accumulated from a self‐evaluation exercise. The following paper is an attempt to provide support for teachers and schools in such a predicament: it suggests a method for analysing qualitative data emerging from school‐based research efforts that draws on the traditions of sociological and anthropological field work.     

The Interplay of the Classroom Learning Environment and Inquiry‐based Activities

This quasi‐experimental study investigates how the classroom learning environment changed after inquiry‐based activities were introduced and student questioning was encouraged. Three science teachers and three classes of fifth graders (n=92) participated in this study. The analysis of covariance reveals that although the experimental group students perceived that their teacher’s support was significantly lower than that for the comparison group did (p< 0.05), they were significantly more involved in learning (p< 0.05) than their counterparts. Classroom observations of student questioning and inquiry activities revealed that those students with high quality levels in asking or responding to questions outperformed their counterparts in the inquiry ability of designing experimental procedures.     

Mathematics Teachers’ Approaches to Computer‐based Instruction

Schon (1987) has criticized the normative curriculum of professional schools including technical colleges: at first basic science (mathematics, physics, etc.), then applied science, and finally technical skills of day‐to‐day practice. In Schön's opinion, the tradition of professional education is an obstacle to changing teaching methods from drill and practice to open‐learning environments. Solomon (1986) presents the different approaches which teachers take in computer‐based instruction in stages from drill and practice to open‐learning environments. This paper reports a six‐year case study, inspired by the work of Schön and Solomon, on the impact of, and the teachers’ role in, the use of computers and Mathcad in the mathematics instruction of technical colleges. The teaching experiment was started with 51 first‐year students during the academic year 1988‐1989 at the Technical Institute of Jyvaskyld. The class of mechanical engineering had 162 and the class of electrical engineering 206 lessons of mathematics during the first experimental year. Two senior lecturers of mathematics taught the classes. Before the experiment, computers had never been used in mathematics instruction at the institute. The various ways of using Mathcad were classified on the basis of the forms filled and files saved by the teachers, as well as on the notes made by the researcher. The teachers’ ways of using computers in our experiment during the years 1988‐1995 clearly showed the existence of stages. Some of the stages were the same for both teachers, but there were also some differences. Both teachers started by fitting an open computer‐based environment into the traditional instruction.     

Evaluation of a Computer‐based Program to Teach Reading and Spelling to Students with Learning Difficulties

Abstract

There are a number of computer‐based programs to enhance spelling skills. This paper reviews literature on the relationship between spelling, typing, and computer‐based instruction, and demonstrates the plausibility of such programs improving skills in students for whom conventional instruction has failed. The paper reports a small study on the effects of an integrated touch‐typing, spelling and reading program on the reading and spelling skills of a group of students aged between 8 and 16. The results showed improvements in spelling and some aspects of reading, and in touch typing ability. Variation in Individual results seemed likely to be owing to program administration rather than to the program itself. The results support the efficacy of integrating visual, auditory and kinaesthetic inputs in a computer‐based spelling program, and also emphasises the importance of continual positive reinforcement in a program for previously unsuccessful students.     

Computer based readers for intermediate foreign‐language students

The question that we are trying to answer in this article is how can computer technology and the WWW help us in enabling and motivating students to read in a foreign language? The article starts with some general considerations about the nature of foreign language teaching and the role of technology, as well as the research in the field of reading in general vs. computer assisted reading in particular, and is followed by the discussion of two computer based pedagogical readers. The article concludes with some suggestions for the development and design of new computer and on‐line readers for foreign language teaching. In this article, pedagogical readers are defined as authentic texts in a foreign language that are enhanced with interspersed questions, activities and glosses in multimedia format to assist low level students in learning how to read authentic texts and to understand them. This application is different from another very popular use of the WWW, namely as a source of authentic readings for students at more advanced language proficiency levels.Recueils des textes basés sur ordinateurs par les étudiants en langues vivantes. La question à laquelle nous essayons de répondre dans cet article est de savoir comment la technologie de l'ordinateur et le WWW nous aident à motiver les étudiants à la lecture des textes en langue étrangère. L'article débute par des considérations générales sur la nature de l'enseignement des langues étrangéres et le rôle de la technologie, aussi bien sur la recherche dans le champ de la lecture en général par rapport à la lecture assisté par l'ordinateur en particulier. L'article comporte ensuite une discussion sur deux recueils de textes pédagogiques fondés sur ordinateur. En conclusion on trouve des suggestions pour le développement et la conception de nouveaux recueils de textes online pour ordinateur pour l'enseignement des langues étrangères. Les recueils de textes pédagogiques sont définis comme des textes authentiques en langue étrangère renforcés par intervalles par des questions, des activités et des glosses et commentaires pour aider les étudiants de bas niveau à apprendre comment lire des textes authentiques et à les comprendre. Cette application est différente d'autre usage trés populaire du WWW, source de textes authentiques pour les étudiants à un niveau plus avancé.Computer basierte Leseprogramme für beginnende Fremdsprachenstudenten. Dieser Artikel geht der Frage nach, wie uns Computer und moderne Technologie helfen können, Schüler besser zum Lesen, in unserem Falle dem Lesen in einer Fremdsprache, zu befähigen und zu motivieren? Beginnend mit einigen allgemeinen Bemerkungen zum Fremdsprachenerwerb und zur Rolle von Technologie, zur Forschung auf dem Gebiet des Lesens mit und ohne Computerunterstützung, sowie gestützt auf die Diskussion zweier computergestützter pädagogischer Leseprogramme, soll der Artikel einige Anregungen für die Entwicklung und Gestaltung zukünftiger computergestützter Leseprogramme für den Fremdsprachenunterricht geben. Als pädagogische Leseprogramme bezeichnen wir in diesem Artikel fremdsprachige Orginaltexte, die durch eingeschobene Inhaltsfragen, Aktivitäten, Anmerkungen, Bilder und andere multimediale Hilfsmittel adaptiert wurden, um dem in der Fremdsprache noch relativ unerfahrenen Leser zu zeigen, wie man liesst, und um ihm zu helfen, das Gelesene zu verstehen. Diese Anwendung ist zu unterscheiden von einem anderen, sehr verbreitetem Gebrauch des Internets, nämlich als einer blossen Quelle für Originaltexte für fortgeschrittene Fremdsprachenlerner.     

Eight‐year‐old‐pupils’ Problem‐solving Processes within a LOGO Learning Environment

A LOGO teaching period was arranged for 38 eight‐year‐old Finnish pupils. After the teaching period the pupils’ problem‐solving processes were videotaped in an open LOGO problem‐solving situation. The data analysis focused on the occurrence of the pupils’ social problem solving, effectance motivation and information processing. Cluster analysis was used to identify three clusters which are based on the variables present in the problem‐solving processes. The different clusters’ associations with school readiness and school achievement were analysed. The results indicated that during the problem solving the passive pupils (n = 16) needed a lot of teacher support, the independent pupils (n= 10) displayed considerable self‐directivity and rule making, and impulsive pupils (n = 12) had an off‐task behaviour. The school‐readiness and school‐achievement scores were highest among the independent group, moderate among the impulsive group and lowest among the passive group. The results suggest that LOGO promotes the development of problem‐solving skills, if each pupil receives sufficient support from the teacher.     

An evaluation of Learning Contracts within the context of partnership in school‐based training: implications for school based mentoring

This paper explores parents' expectations and perceptions of effective induction and formative partnership with their child's school during the transition to full‐time statutory education.

Based on fifty case study children from two schools of similar size and catchment area but with different induction practices, it looks at a range of issues including parents' perceptions of home visiting, pre‐entry visits to school and pre‐entry profiles, as well as parents' knowledge about school and their notions of partner ship.

The paper outlines the implications for schools' partnerships with parents, exploring: ways in which schools and parents can begin to understand one another; how schools can help parents to support their children's learning; and ways in which effective schools can create opportunities for parental involvement.     

Towards evidence‐based recruitment processes in the UK

There is a growing demand for admissions tutors in UK universities to use more rigorous and systematic decision‐making methods in recruitment processes. A key barrier to achieving this goal is the lack of a coherent and definitive body of knowledge upon which such methods can be built. The yardstick used for the majority of applicants is A2‐level performance measured through the grades that are attained, often translated into a points score. However, A2‐level performance is widely thought to be a crude and inaccurate way of predicting future academic performance. The aim of the research reported in this paper was to inform the practice of admissions tutors by improving the basis upon which decisions are made. Specifically, the goal was to provide admissions tutors with evidence to support their decision‐making processes by providing concrete data upon which recruitment decisions can be made. The research studied the first year (Level 1) performance of one cohort of students studying mechanical engineering programmes at the University of Leeds. The focus of the research was on the relationship between A2‐level performance and other information that is available to admissions tutors when they are selecting students, and Level 1 university performance. The results of the research indicate that, for applicants with A2‐levels, (1) only 28% of the variance in their university performance could be attributed to their A2‐level performance and (2) admissions processes should focus on the A2‐level grades that are attained rather than the A2‐level points scores that are frequently used.     

Learning of Chemical Equilibrium through Modelling‐based Teaching

This paper presents and discusses students’ learning process of chemical equilibrium from a modelling‐based approach developed from the use of the ‘Model of Modelling’ diagram. The investigation was conducted in a regular classroom (students 14–15 years old) and aimed at discussing how modelling‐based teaching can contribute to students learning about the main qualitative aspects concerning chemical equilibrium. The data (collected from the written material produced by the students and the video‐recording of the classes) were organised in case studies for each group of students. The discussion supports the conclusion that elements from the ‘Model of Modelling’ diagram, as well as methodological aspects related to the teacher’s action, influenced the students’ learning process.