Expertise reversal for iconic representations in science visualizations

The influence of prior knowledge and cognitive development on the effectiveness of iconic representations in science visualizations was examined. Middle and high school students (N = 186) were given narrated visualizations of two chemistry topics: Kinetic Molecular Theory (Day 1) and Ideal Gas Laws (Day 2). For half of the visualizations, iconic representations of key information were added. Results indicated a main effect of prior knowledge on learning in Day 1. In Day 2, a three-way interaction was found between prior knowledge, age group and icons: icons were effective for all middle school students and for high school students with low prior knowledge, but were not effective for high school students with high prior knowledge. These findings indicate that the expertise reversal effect can be mediated by cognitive development and other factors, not just domain specific prior knowledge.     

Expertise reversal effect in reading Chinese texts with added causal words

The study investigated the effectiveness of causal words embedded in Chinese texts to explicitly indicate causal links between the described events. Primary school students with different levels of reading expertise participated in the experiment that compared an embedded casual-words format with the original no-causal-words format. An interaction (expertise reversal) effect was obtained with the causal-words format benefiting novices but not more experienced readers. In contrast to previous studies of the expertise reversal effect that have related the effect to the variations in extraneous cognitive load caused by experts processing redundant for them information, this instance of the effect is likely to be due to differential levels of intrinsic cognitive load. The results of the reported experiment imply the use of different text formats for individuals with different levels of reading expertise.     

Expertise reversal for different forms of instructional designs in dynamic visual representations

The recent advances in software and computer technology have enabled the incorporation of dynamic representations into a multitude of educational and training environments. Cognitive load theory has been extensively used to enhance learning from complex dynamic representations by providing appropriate instructional designs to manage learner cognitive load. The available evidence, however, indicates that the suggested instructional designs that are effective for novice learners can reverse and become ineffective for learners with higher levels of prior knowledge. This phenomenon is called the expertise reversal effect. This paper reviews a series of recent experimental studies that have found interactions between levels of learners' organized knowledge structures (endogenous support) and effectiveness of different instructional designs (exogenous support), leading to the expertise reversal effect. It is argued that adapting instructional designs to learners with different amount of prior knowledge is a crucial part of effective learning.     

Expertise reversal effect in using explanatory notes for readers of Shakespearean text

The reported study compared the instructional effectiveness of Modern English explanatory interpretations of Shakespearean play extracts integrated line by line into original Elizabethan English text, with a conventional unguided original text condition. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the explanatory notes group reported a lower cognitive load and performed better in a comprehension test than the control group when students had no prior knowledge of the text. In Experiment 2, a reverse effect occurred when the same material was presented to a group of Shakespearean experts. Experiment 3 replicated the results of Experiment 1 using a different Shakespearean play. The study demonstrated that the relative effectiveness of instructional conditions depended on learner levels of expertise. In accordance with the expertise reversal effect, the benefits of guided instruction reversed and became detrimental for learners with high prior knowledge levels. Retrospective verbal protocols indicated that the explanations were redundant for expert readers.     

Expertise reversal effect and sequencing of learning tasks in online English as a second language learning environment

The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of sequencing instructional materials and learners' prior knowledge on learning ESL (English as a second language) through an online learning course. 121 fifth-grade students from an elementary school in Korea participated in the study. Each participant was allocated to one cell of a 2?×?2 between-subjects factorial design, with an instructional format (i.e. sequential or concurrent) as a first factor, and prior knowledge (i.e. high or low) as a second factor. Instructions of the words and grammar rules were allocated to each page for the sequential group, whereas integrated on a single page for the concurrent group. The result indicates that the sequential instruction of words followed by grammar explanations was more effective for the students with higher levels of prior knowledge than the concurrent presentation. The reverse was also found for the students with lower levels of prior knowledge in English. There are four possible explanations for the results. First, split-attention effect, temporal-contiguity effect, or transient information effect might occur. Second, worked-example effect might occur and over-ride the effect of sequencing. Third, intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load might intertwine each other. Last, the levels of element interactivity in two instructional formats might be different from each other. The implications for instructional designers and future research are discussed.     

Informal writing-to-learn as a dimension of a student profile

In this paper an aspect (student questioning) of a pedagogical model of writing-to-learn will be explored. It will be shown that the task of keeping a journal (as defined within the model) has two salient assessment features: The journals differentiate between students at a particular grade level; and, they show a growth in sophistication over successive years. These two features of writing-to-learn recommend its use as a dimension for profiling students' progress in learning mathematics. It will be argued that profiles developed from journal writing enrich the picture of the student as learner.     

An aptitude–treatment interaction approach to writing-to-learn

In this article, we propose to link the study of writing-to-learn to the theory of aptitude–treatment interaction (ATI). In an experimental study we examined the effects of a course on “Writing-to-learn about literary stories” consisting of writing tasks adapted to either a planning or a revising writing strategy. We hypothesized that the effects of writing-to-learn tasks depend on the interaction between students' preferred writing strategy and the type of writing instruction, matching or mismatching students' writing strategy. Our match hypothesis was in the main confirmed: results indicated that adapting writing tasks to students' writing strategies increases their learning in the field of literature.     

The value of writing-to-learn when using question prompts to support web-based learning in ill-structured domains

This study investigates the effectiveness of two variants of a prompting strategy that guides students to focus on important issues when learning in an ill-structured domain. Students in three groups studied individually Software Project Management (SPM) cases for a week, using a web-based learning environment designed especially for this purpose. The first group (control) studied the cases without any prompting. The second group (“writing mode”) studied the same cases, while prompted to provide written answers to a set of knowledge integration prompts meant to engage students in deeper processing of the material. The third group (“thinking mode”) studied the cases, while prompted only to think of possible answers to the same question prompts. Results indicated that students in the writing condition group outperformed the others in both domain knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer post-test items. Several students in the thinking condition group skipped the question prompts, while those that reported having reflected on the material were unable to achieve high performance comparable to the writing condition group. Overall, the study provides evidence that the implementation of prompting techniques in technology-enhanced learning environments may lead to improved outcomes, when combined with the requirement that students provide their answers in writing.     

Effects of a writing-to-learn tutorial programme in a higher education setting: An interactive qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Many higher education students embark on a study of accounting under the misconception that accounting requires a high level of proficiency in manipulating data and being good with numbers, while believing that linguistic competence, especially as it relates to writing, is of less importance. This article reports on a study that examined 15 managerial accounting and financial management (MAFM) students’ experiences of an 18-week writing intensive tutorial programme, based on writing-to-learn principles. Interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) informed the research design and data analysis. Following IQA protocols, nine affinities (themes) were generated. An account of how students’ experiences of a specific affinity, namely, written tasks, influenced their understanding of MAFM concepts is presented. The findings suggest that introducing writing-to-learn assignments contributed positively to students’ learning and understanding of MAFM concepts. This finding has implications for higher education pedagogy especially as it relates to the teaching of the accounting discipline.     

论司法鉴定与医疗鉴定之差异

鉴定结论的客观准确性直接影响着法院对证据的可采信度及其医疗纠纷处理的结果.通过研究司法鉴定与医疗鉴定各自的启动程序、鉴定人员的组成情况以及对鉴定组织、鉴定的监督机制、鉴定的内容等诸多问题的分析,可以找出两种鉴定在司法公正方面的差异.     

专长水平对样例学习专长逆转效应的影响

以往研究表明,随着学生专长水平的提高,原本对初学者非常有效的样例学习方式的有效性会降低,产生专长逆转效应,但是结论并不一致。鉴于此,通过准确测量并区分学生的初学和两种专长水平,从更大范围探讨专长水平的变化对样例学习有效性的影响。研究结果表明,在近、远迁移上,样例学习的有效性都出现下降并最终逆转,专长水平的变化的确会影响样例学习的有效性。     

语境论的专长观

波兰尼曾把知识划分为两种类型,一种是明确知识;另一种意会知识。专长既包含有明确知识,也包含有意会知识。专长的获得是在实践中完成的,是建立在实践经验基础上的一种能力,并且能够不断地内化到人的身体当中。德弗雷斯从现象学的角度把专长理解为是最高层次的技能;柯林斯进一步讨论了普遍存在的专长、素质和专家的专长,并提出了互动型专长的概念。他们都认为,专长的获得是依赖于语境的。     

副校长要练好“三套功夫”

副校长是校长的左膀右臂,是学校举足轻重的人物。副校长要以自己高尚的人格魅力、极强的管理能力、出色的工作业绩来赢得上级和同事的认可,就要练好“三套功夫”。     

Intelligence as Developing Expertise

This essay describes how intelligence can be viewed as developing expertise. The general conception of intelligence as developing expertise is described. Then research examples are given that, in conjunction, seem odd under traditional interpretations of abilities but that make sense as a whole in the context of the developing-expertise model. It is concluded that this new model offers potential for better understanding intelligence-related phenomena.     

Fading procedure effects on a visual pattern discrimination reversal in the albino rat

Two groups of albino rats were trained on a simultaneous pattern discrimination task, one with a classical procedure in which the discriminanda remained invariant throughout training, and the other with a fading procedure in which the final task was approached through a series of graduated steps. In a subsequent reversal stage, during which the initial positive stimulus became negative and vice versa, each group was subdivided so that half of the subjects in each original group received reversal training with the same procedure as during acquisition and the other half with the other method. Fading procedures yielded a more proficient performance on every occasion, independently of experimental stage or previous learning history. Results are analyzed in terms of favorable conditions offered by the procedure itself and of beneficial influences exerted over subsequent learning.     

Design Expertise Amongst Student Designers

This report of a series of protocol studies of designers at varying levels of competence examines the pedagogical system of integrating developing skills with increasing project complexity as a definition of design expeitise. It comments on different kinds of problem-solving strategies which are used to ensure the appropriateness of the aims of design education, and assesses the relative importance that novelty and creativity, uncertainty and information, imagination and constructive thought, and drawing and modelling play in the maturation of designers. The results show a lack of predictability, but that the abilities needed for design expertise can be articulated and developed as educational programmes.     

Cognitive Transformations and Extended Expertise

Abstract

Expertise is extended by becoming immersed in cultural practices. We look at an example of mathematical expertise in which immersion in cognitive practices results in the transformation of expert performance.