Collaborative schemes and the ethos of distance education: A study of Australian and New Zealand universities

Although the economic benefits of collaborative schemes and transfer of courses in distance education are clear, examples of collaboration between distance education institutions are rare. A reason is sought in theorganisational climate or ethos of each institution engaged in distance education, which inhibits joint design and use of courses or the transfer of a course from one institution to another. This theme is examined in relation to distance education in the integrated mode system of Australian and New Zealand universities, six in all. The universities are compared in terms of six features of organisational climate of particular relevance to distance education: physical characteristics, academic organisation, involvement in distance teaching, organisation of distance teaching, components of distance teaching and staff attitudes to distance education. It is concluded that the considerable variation between institutions, with respect to these features, creates difficulties for collaboration. The best prospect for collaborative schemes in distance education therefore may have to lie in the use of national or international agencies to validate courses as part of a national or international higher education programme along the lines of Britain's CNAA.     

Strategies for enhancing learning in the “blow-off” course

Lower division courses are typically perceived by students as blow-off courses. We can overcome this image. This paper contrasts active and passivelearning environments, and describes efforts to create an active, critical learning environment in both Introduction to Sociology and The Family System-typical lower division courses in Sociology. A review of grade distributions, quantitative course evaluations, qualitative course evaluations, and a survey asking students to subjectively compare the active learning course structure to the typical multiple choice format provide evaluation data. Finally, the paper discusses problems in using these innovations.Randy Stoecker recently received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Minnesota, and has been exploring alternative pedagogies since 1982. He has published in the areas of social theory and social movements. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meetings, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1988. Many thanks for insightful comments by Tuck Green, Ron Berger, and an anonymousInnovative Higher Education referee.     

A Textbook Case of the Nature of Science: Laws and Theories in the Science of Biology

The two concepts law and theory are among the most important elements of the nature of science. They represent both the tools and products of science itself. Unfortunately, the variable meanings and use of these terms in general discourse and in other school disciplines results in much confusion with respect to their proper application in a science context. The project included the design of a six-part model definition for law and theory based on a review of the literature of the philosophy of science with special reference to biology. These model definitions were then compared with those provided in a range of U.S. secondary school biology textbooks. The majority of all current major U.S. secondary school biology texts were reviewed and analyzed with respect to how the concepts of law and theory were defined and applied, in an attempt to determine whether students and teachers using such texts would gain an accurate impression of these terms and the distinction between them. This study focuses on biology instruction since a life science course is completed as a graduation requirement by virtually all U.S. high school students and as such serves as a widely shared educational experience across the nation. The term law is rarely defined in any text but various laws such as those found in genetics are frequently included as examples. The term theory is frequently defined but with a wide range of completeness of the definitions. Only rarely are theories in biology included as examples.     

Review and redesign: Beyond course evaluation

This article discusses small-scale course evaluation as part of a larger, integrated process of course review and redesign. The process is carried out by a team that includes both an external evaluator and the teaching staff of the course. This article sets out the aim of the process, describes and analyses a number of characteristics of the activities, the methodology used and reflects on some particular issues.     

Using problem solving teaching styles to prepare candidates for the CXC basic proficiency examinations

Two Grade 10 classes in an urban Jamaican High School were taught over a period of one academic year in two problem solving styles: an Explicit Style derived from Charles, and an Implicit Style derived from Isaacs. At the end of the academic year there was no significant difference in their performance on a problem solving test, or on the Problem Solving Profile of the Caribbean Examinations Council's Basic Proficiency papers. The two classes performed much better than the population who sat the Basic papers on the tasks measuring Recall and Algorithmic Thinking but only moderately better than the population on tasks measuring Problem Solving.The teaching project described in this paper was supported in part by grants from the Research and Publications Fund Committee of the University of the West Indies (Mona), and the Wolmers Trust, Kingston. The author wishes to thank the Registrar and the Pro-Registrar of the Caribbean Examinations Council for permission to use the CXC papers and data in this study. A modified version of this paper was presented at the 63rd Annual Conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics held in San Antonio, Texas in 1985.     

Whitehead and a new look at teaching elementary science

If Whitehead is right, science teachers who try to increase student interest by making the science they teach more pure and by covering more material are going about their work in just the wrong way. Science, for purposes of precision in measurement, translates the dynamic world of feeling and force, of causal efficacy (for example, the San Francisco earthquake), into a static representation spatialized and given presentational immediacy (for example, the Richter scale). But notice that the Richter scale isn't very interesting (even as abstract art) apart from its connection, via symbolic reference, to the earthquake. Such reference is essential to give both a sense of reality and a feeling of interes to the subject, but it makes the science less pure, and it takes more time to cover the material. An example of teaching pure and impure formal logic is given as a case study.     

The decline of the nation-state and the education of national minorities

Many forces are shifting the role of the nation-state and altering our fundamental understanding of how it should function. The author argues that the transplanted European model of the nation-state has become dysfunctional, creating national minorities, serving as an ideological cloak for various forms of oppression and opposing forms of education that would promote diversity of languages and cultures. The decline of territorial sovereignty under the forces of globalization, the move to supranational forms of organization and the emergence of sub-national areas of economic and social development (often city-regions) provide a new range of opportunities for development of minority schooling.

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Zusammenfassung Viele Kräfte verändern die Rolle des Nationenstaates und ändern damit auch unser grundsätzliches Verständnis zu dessen Funktion. Der Autor argumentiert, daß das übertragene europäische Modell des Nationenstaates außer Funktion gesetzt und damit nationale Minderheiten geschaffen wurden. Somit besteht ein ideologischer Deckmantel für verschiedene Arten von Unterdrückung und Widerstand gegen Erziehungsarten, die eine Vielfalt der Sprachen und Kulturen fördern würden. Der Verfall territorialer Unabhängigkeit unter den Kräften der Globalisierung, die Bewegung hin zu einer supranationalen Form der Organisation und die Schaffung regionaler Gebiete wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Entwicklung (oft Stadtbezirke) bieten neue Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten hinsichtlich der Schulbildung für Minderheiten.

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Resumen Son muchas las fuerzas que están cambiando el papel que desempeña el estado-nación y que alteran nuestro concepto básico de cómo este debería funcionar. El autor argumenta que el modelo europeo trasplantado del estado-nación se ha vuelto disfunctional, creando minorías nacionales y sirviendo de manto ideológico para encubrir diferentes formas de opresión y de oposición a una educación que intenta promover la diversidad de lenguas y culturas. El ocaso de la soberanía territorial bajo las fuerzas de globalización, el cambio hacia formas de organización supranacionales y el surgimiento de sectores subnacionales de desarrollo económico y social (frecuentemente en regiones urbanas) proveen un nuevo tipo de oportunidades para el desarrollo de una educación escolar de minorías.

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Résumé De nombreuses pressions modifient le rôle de l'Etat-nation et transforment notre conception fondamentale de son fonctionnement. L'auteur expose que le modèle européen d'Etat-nation qui a éé transposé dans d'autres régions est maintenant atteint de dysfonctionnement, car il crée des minorités nationales, sert de prétexte idéologique à différentes formes d'oppression et fait obstacle à des modèles d'éducation qui encourageraient la diversité des langues et des cultures. Le déclin de la souveraineté territoriale sous la pression de la mondialisation, l'évolution vers des formes d'organisation supranationales et l'apparition de concentrations régionales du développement éconnomique et social (souvent en tant que régions urbanisées) constituent de nouveaux stimulants pour l'élaboration d'une scolarité adaptée aux minorités.

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Towards a process theory of learning: Feeling the beauty of the world

Alfred North Whitehead's theory of learning is best understood in the overall context of his process philosophy. The rhythmic cycles of growth forming the basis of human learning (romance, precision, and generalisation) are organically connected to the characteristics of life typifying all entities in the universe (self-enjoyment, creative activity, and aim).The kind of balanced education which best enhances growth and connectedness is one in which art and aesthetic appreciation in the broadest sense are dominant. By experiencing the beauty of the sunset, for example, children and adults have access to feelings that flow through them from the world and connect them to distant events taking place in space and time. These bodily feelings at the base of all experience provide concrete ways in which human beings can appreciate the intrinsic value of the world around them.By way of contrast, the methods of 17th century science replace our concrete experience of the sunset with abstract categories that are used to measure the phenomena in question and deny the importance of that experience in understanding the world. Schools' and universities' emphasis upon this methodology produces an imbalanced education with minds in a groove.A renewal of balance in education helps us to understand the false dichotomy between child-centered and and curriculum-centered education. Education for Whitehead must pay attention to both. Moreover, he understands that the academic freedom enjoyed by bands of imaginative scholars in universities is not an article of commerce to be sold to the highest corporate bidder but something to be valued for its intrinsic worth.     

Influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based course

The results of an experimental study investigating the influence of problem familiarity on learning in a problem-based psychology course are presented. Participants worked with either a familiar or an unfamiliar version of the same problem. The following measurements were taken (1) a measure of problem quality as perceived by students, (2) number of explanations of the problem put forward by the students while discussing it, (3) quality of learning issues derived from the discussion, (4) amount of time spent on self-study, and (5) the amount of knowledge acquired as indicated by a test. The results demonstrate that participants in the familiar problem condition perceived the problem to be of higher quality than the participants in the unfamiliar problem condition. No significant differences in learning were found. The findings do suggest, however, that problems may be improved by making them more relevant to the everyday experience of students.     

The state and the liberal universities in South Africa: 1948–1990

Only the liberal (or open) universities in South Africa publicly opposed the National Government and itsapartheid policies, but for the most part only over issues of university and, later, academic freedom. The history of the period is not simply one of conflict between state and universities, however. It is also one of co-operation in, for example, a programme of state-financed university expansion (from which all races benefited). This article explores the bases for both conflict and co-operation. These include a degree of government respect for higher education and, on the other hand, the availability to the universities of certain political resources. The universities came under considerable pressure from a repressive government, but the story is not a simple one of good against evil or freedom against totalitarianism. It is both more complex and (in my view) more interesting.     

Three-dimensional art and sculpture

I am making it BIG (Evan). A secret slide with gold in there (Sydni). Look even a little car could fit in it (Joshua). This is a circle! Round, a tiger jumps through this hoop (Emily). Excitement runs high when children experiment with three-dimensional art projects using paper, boxes and styrofoam.Liz Seelhoff Byrum teaches four- and five-year-olds at a private school in New York City.     

Choosing competency-based,humanistic and self-directed programs: The contribution of personality and reasoning

Fifty-five college women enrolled in competency-based, humanistic or self-directed education programs completed their California Personality Inventory and listed five reasons for selecting their program. CPI results indicated that self-directed students scored lower than other students on the Femininity Scale (p.001). Using Chickering's seven vectors of change as a framework, the study found competency-based students identifying purpose and competence, humanistic students identifying inter-personal relationships and integrity, and self-directed student identifying autonomy and purpose as reasons for enrolling in their nontraditional programs. The study used these results to question the mythology that adherents to different programs are of different personality types and to argue that differences in perceptions of purpose in education distinguish students in the three programs.     

Infusing humanistic activities into cognitively oriented curriculum

In our current quest for excellence, we often miss the essential nature of it. It is trendy to use such terms as back-to-basics, gifted education, and excellence to describe a new teaching strategy or innovative educational program. It is also true that many of these programs designed for children are really intended to benefit others.Harry Morgan is Chairman of Early Childhood Education at West Georgia College in Carrollton. He is author ofThe Learning Community (Charles Merrill).     

Print and reading: What do preschoolers know?

John Downing, an eminent reading researcher at Canada's University of Victoria, says that many children come to school in a state of cognitive confusion about the functions of reading and the terms we use when we start to teach them to read formally. Adults take for granted that young children know what they mean when they talk about a word, a letter, a sound, and other print-related terms. In his studies done in England and in Canada, Downing (1970; 1973–74) has found that many children, especially those who have not been read to regularly, simply don't understand the conventions of print and really don't understand what reading is all about.Joan T. Feeley is Professor of Reading and Language Arts at William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey.     

The Frontier of Web-based Instruction

In spite of advances in course design software and experience with online offerings, the question of how web-based education affects teaching and learning remains largely unanswered, and the terrain of online learning remains largely unmapped. In this paper, through the stories of 10 faculties of education and one computer science instructor in Ontario, we map out a small piece of the frontier of web-based course delivery and plot a course for future exploration. We argue that most existing offerings take the form of a Lone Ranger or Greenhorn approach but that there is a need to move toward a strategic institutional Wagon Train approach that consolidates and integrates support for online teaching and learning. We argue, as well, that failures in online instruction cannot simply be attributed to improper instruction or inappropriate course design. Rather, at least part of the problem locates in the ways in which conversation is structured in the online environment.     

Language in education: Minorities and multilingualism in India

The question of education in India cannot be properly discussed without referring to its socio-linguistic context. This paper provides background information on the linguistic profile of India. The term minorities in the Indian context is defined, and the protection offered to linguistic minorities in the Indian Constitution is examined. A discussion of language policy in Indian education follows in which the recommendations of the different education commissions are analysed. The important issues covered include: the number of languages that are taught, the medium of instruction, and the educational policies regarding speakers of minority languages. The article also discusses different language movements and their impact on Indian education.

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Zusammenfassung Die Frage der Bildung in Indien kann ohne einen Bezug zum sozial-linguistischen Kontext nicht hinreichend diskutiert werden. Dieser Artikel liefert Hintergrundinformationen zum linguistischen Profil Indiens. Der Begriff Minderheiten wird im Zusammenhang mit Indien definiert und der den Sprachminderheiten in der indischen Verfassung zugestandene Schutz untersucht. Anschließend wird die Sprachpolitik im indischen Bildungssystem angesprochen und die Empfehlungen unterschiedlicher Bildungskommissionen werden analysiert. Die wesentlichen abgehandelten Themen beinhalten folgende Bereiche: die Anzahl der unterrichteten Sprachen, die Unterrichtssprache und die Bildungspolitik hinsichtlich der Sprachminderheiten. Der Artikel befaßt sich außerdem mit unterschiedlichen Sprachbewegungen und ihrem Einfluß auf die indische Bildung.

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Resumen La cuestión de educación en la India no podrá discutirse adecuadamente sin hacer referencia a su contexto sociolingüístico. Este trabajo provee informaciones de fondo sobre el perfil lingüistico de la India. Define el término de minorias en el contexto indio y examina la protección que la Constitución de la India ofrece a las minorías lingüísticas. A ello se agrega una discusión de la política lingüística en la educación india, en la que se analizan las recomendaciones de las diferentes comisiones de educación. Fntre otras cosas, los puntos tratados son: el número de lenguas que se enseñan, el medio de instrucción, y las políticas de educación referentes a las personas que hablan lenguuas minoritarias. El artículo también trata los diferentes movimientos lingüísticos y sus impactos en la educación en la India.

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Résumé On ne peut vraiment débattre la question de l'éducation en Inde sans la replacer dans son contexts socio-linguistique. Cet article fournit une information de base sur le profil linguistique de l'Inde. Il y définit le terme de minorités dans le contexte de ce pays et étudie la protection que la Constitution indienne assure aux minorités linguistiques. Il s'ensuit un exposé de la politique linguistique dans l'enseignement de ce pays, incluant une analyse des recommandations des différentes commissions pédagogiques. Les points essentiels traités portent sur le nombre de langues enseignées, la langue d'enseignement et les politiques pédagogiques touchant les locuteurs de langues minoritaires. L'article analyse enfin les différents mouvements linguistiques et leur influence sur l'éducation en Inde.

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Visual processing during mathematical problem solving

This study investigated, in the context of mathematical problem solving by secondary school students, the nature of the visual schemata which Johnson (1987) hypothesises mediate between logical propositional structures and rich specific visual images. Four groups of grade 10 students were studied, representing all combinations of high and low operational ability in mathematics (equivalent to Johnson's logical propositional structures) and high and low vividness of visual imagery (corresponding to Johnson's rich images). The results suggested first, that success at problem solving was related to logical operational ability, but not to vividness of visual imagery. Second, a variety of visually based strategies were used during problem solving which differed in their level of generality and abstraction, and use of these strategies appeared related to either logical operational ability or vividness of visual imagery, depending on their level of abstraction. The results supported Presmeg's (1992b) continuum of abstraction of image schemata.Throughout the paper, the first High or Low denotes logical operational ability, and the second, vividness of visual imagery.     

The relationship between psychological identification with instructors and student ratings of college courses

Drawing upon Freud's seminal discussion of psychological identification vis-a-vis group psychodynamics, this study investigated the relationship between degree of student identification with an instructor and students' ratings of instructional effectiveness. Specifically, it was hypothesized that students who highly identify with their instructor will rate the course more favorably, perceive greater progress on their part toward course related objectives, and report higher motivation to learn than students who do not identify with their instructor. Using a 50 item personality trait Q-sample, 96 undergraduates from eight different courses taught by three different instructors were asked to describe the instructor, their actual self, and their ideal self; Q-sorts for the instructor and ideal self were correlated separately for each student as the measure of identification. Instructional effectiveness was assessed using the Kansas State IDEA form. Correlational and path analyses of the data provided support for the hypothesis. Results are discussed in light of the unique contribution made by the traditional notion of identification to instructional outcomes and evaluation.     

Does the teaching of probability improve probabilistic intuitions?

The paper analyzes the effects of a teaching programme in probability devised for junior high school pupils (grades 5, 6 and 7). It was found that most of the notions were too difficult for the fifth grade pupils. In contrast, about 60–70% of the sixth graders and about 80–90% of the seventh graders were able to understand and use correctly most of the concepts contained in the programme. It was also found that, as an indirect effect the course on probability had a beneficial effect on some intuitively based misconceptions of the subjects, like: the representiveness effect; the positive recency effect; the notion of a lucky choice; the superstitious belief in the possibility of influencing the course of events by some particular behaviour.