Field independence in higher education and the case of distance learning

It has been postulated that student autonomy in distance education could be operationalized in terms of the cognitive style of field independence. While distance learning students often obtain high scores on field independence, this is also true of campus-based students. Field independence is not positively related to students’ course evaluations, their preference for independent learning, their course completion in distance education, nor their level of autonomy. Consequently, field independence is not useful for understanding experiences or attainment in distance education.     

The CLEM model: Path analysis of the mediating effects of attitudes and motivational beliefs on the relationship between perceived learning environment and course performance in an undergraduate non-major biology course

In this study, the following questions were addressed in an undergraduate non-major biology course using a large lecture format: Is there a relationship between students?? perceptions of their learning environment and course performance, and what roles do motivation and attitudes play in mediating that relationship? The purpose of this study was to test a path model describing the mediating effects of motivation and attitudes on learning environments and course performance. The study considered contemporary understanding of teaching and learning, as well as motivation and attitudes, in suggesting a direction for future reform efforts and to guide post-secondary science education instructors and leaders in the design of learning environments for undergraduate non-major biology courses. Among the classroom learning environment variables assessed in this study, personal relevance was the major contributor to predicting attitudes, motivation and course performance. Although the classroom learning environment had a very weak direct effect on course performance, there was a moderate total effect on self-efficacy and intrinsic goal orientation. The classroom learning environment also had a moderate total effect on attitudes toward biology. Attitudes toward biology had a moderate direct effect on self-efficacy. While attitudes toward biology was significantly correlated with course performance, the direct effect was extremely weak and was dropped from the model. However, attitudes toward biology had a moderate indirect effect on course performance due to the mediating effects of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy had a strong direct effect on course performance and therefore seemed to be particularly important. The model tested in this study explained 33?% of the variance in course performance, 56?% of the variance in self-efficacy, 24?% of the variance in attitudes toward biology, and 18?% of the variance in intrinsic goal orientation. To improve course performance, instructors should focus on building self-efficacy among their students and ensure that students find the course personally relevant.     

课程教学大纲的设计和执行——以纽约市立大学英语系《社会语言学》为例

课程教学大纲是确保教学过程顺利进行的重要环节。有效的课程教学大纲应包括教师和课程基本信息;课程目的和目标;教育理念;课程基本内容;课程时间安排和作业时间要求;使用教材;课外阅读;授课方法;学生反馈和学生成绩评定方式;学生的学习工具和学习资料等。以美国纽约市立大学斯坦顿岛学院英语系《社会语言学》教学大纲为例,探讨如何设计课程教学大纲并在教学过程中确保其有效执行。     

Self-regulated learning by writing learning protocols: Do goal structures matter?

Having students write learning protocols is an established follow-up task to course work that elicits processes of self-regulated learning. To date, a wealth of research has focused on optimizing the learning protocol task itself by integrating instructional support measures such as prompts. By contrast, research that focuses on optimizing the context in which learning protocol writing is embedded is widely missing. In the present study, we approached this gap by focusing on the role of the contextual factor goal structure. Specifically, in an experiment with N = 166 high school students we tested whether embedding the learning protocol task in a mastery goal structure would be more beneficial than embedding it in a performance goal structure. The mastery goal structure fostered metacognitive processes, learning outcomes, and learning efficiency. We conclude that considering contextual factors such as the goal structure is crucial for understanding and optimizing the effects of learning protocols.     

TARGET模式在基础日语教学中的应用

动机对于外语学习者来说,是决定学习者成功实现目标的重要原因之一,而课程教学模式是保证人才培养质量和教学质量的重要手段。在基础日语教学中,建构激发学生的课堂学习动机的教学模式对促进学习者的学习和提高教学质量是有利的。TARGET模式是一个有关课堂动机激发的教学模式,它从六个层面阐述了课堂结构对学生目标定向的作用,提出了有利于掌握目标定向的课堂结构和相应的教学策略。将TARGET教学模式应用于基础日语教学中,建构激发课堂学习动机的基础日语教学模式,可以激发学生的学习动机,提高课堂学习效果。     

A practical approach to student-centred learning

Coauthor Edwards has developed and delivered an undergraduate first year course in which students were encouraged to take more responsibility for their own learning. The techniques used included giving students responsibility for:

• 1

  setting their own objectives, and working at their own pace
• 2

  making self-assessments of their own work, and the marks to be awarded for it
• 3

  arranging their own visits, individually or in small groups, to public or private organisations
• 4

  liaising with external lecturers, and agreeing the content of their lectures with them
• 5

  keeping their own diaries of work plans and achievements
• 6

  arranging and moderating their own computer-based electronic conference.

Coauthor Sutton was invited to be an external observer of the operation of the course. He met the students in large and small groups on several occasions; observed the processes involved in self-assessment; and used two questionnaires to help elicit the students' feelings about the course. This article discusses the course, its content, the learning methods used, the students' reactions, and the results obtained.     

Empowering or disempowering the international Ph.D. student? Constructions of the dependent and independent learner

There is in higher education a powerful discourse of ‘independent learning’. While there may be pedagogical rationales to support the desirability of increased independence at the tertiary stage, it may also serve other institutional agendas, such as functioning as a way for academic staff to ‘manage’ the frustrations experienced as teachers as a result of pressures to prioritise research. However, the individualisation of learning constituted by this discourse under‐emphasises the collaborative nature of learning. Academic success and failure are neither the property of the individual students nor of the instruction they receive, but lie rather in the relationships between students and the practices in which they and their teachers engage during the course of their ongoing interactions. The learning experiences of international doctoral students are used here to illustrate ways in which discourses of dependence and independence can operate to disempower students.     

Is class worth their time? College student perspectives on class structure and attendance

While prior studies have primarily relied upon quantitative methods to understand student attendance, the goal of this study was to extend prior research by utilizing qualitative data to gain additional insight into college students’ perceptions of class attendance. Data from five focus groups with undergraduate students revealed four primary themes impacting attendance: (1) students’ use of time, (2) class content and type, (3) the student-professor relationship, and (4) university and course policies. Overall, students believe they are the best judge of how to use their time, campus culture and overcommitment play a critical role influencing attendance, and there are practical strategies to promote student engagement and class attendance. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided to institutions and professors on how to promote class attendance and optimize the student learning experience.     

Implementing Experiential Learning Activities in a Large Enrollment Introductory Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

ABSTRACT:  Experiential learning activities are often viewed as impractical, and potentially unfeasible, instructional tools to employ in a large enrollment course. Research has shown, though, that the metacognitive skills that students utilize while participating in experiential learning activities enable them to assess their true level of understanding and mastery of the subject matter. The objectives of this study were to (1) create and implement 2 experiential learning activities in our introductory, large enrollment course and (2) evaluate their cognitive and affective impact on student learning. For the 1st activity, completed in class during the nutrition and health section, the instructional team asked the students to complete a dietary intake assessment. For the 2nd activity, completed via the course website, the instructional team asked the students to complete a food safety survey prior to the commencement of the food microbiology and processing section to assess the students' own personal food safety behaviors. The students were asked to evaluate both the cognitive and affective aspects of the experiential learning activities by completing a reflective questionnaire after participating in each activity. The majority of the students that participated in the experiential learning activities reported that the activities helped them learn the course material (97% for the dietary intake activity and 77% for the food safety activity) and that they liked participating in the activity (85% for the dietary intake activity) or were engaged by the activity (77% for the food safety activity). These results indicate that experiential learning activities can be successfully created for and implemented in large enrollment courses.     

Preparing a Data Scientist: A Pedagogic Experience in Designing a Big Data Analytics Course

In this article, we present an experiential perspective on how a big data analytics course was designed and delivered to students at a major Midwestern university. In reference to the MSIS 2006 Model Curriculum, we designed this course as a level 2 course, with prerequisites in databases, computer programming, statistics, and data mining. Students in the class were mostly seniors or at the graduate level, and had a strong technical and quantitative background. We include details of concepts covered in the course, as well as summaries of four major sample course assignments used. Some of the concepts covered include large‐scale data collection and management using the Hadoop ecosystem, stream mining, visual analytics, and social network analytics. Besides Hadoop, the course also introduced various IBM and Teradata big data tools. We show how the course modules align with the intended learning goals and course objectives. A post‐course survey indicated that the structure and organization of the course helped students clearly and concisely assimilate the course content.     

英语专业听力大班教学策略实证研究——基于网络自主学习视角

高等教育大众化使得越来越多的适龄青年走人大学课堂,大班教学也成为英语专业课程的重要形式.以技能学习为主的英语听力课程面对大班教学,如何既保证教学质量又保证学生学习的兴趣,提高学生自主学习的自觉性,网络自主学习下的专业听力大班教学策略给我们提供了许多的启示.     

Teaching Supply Chain Management Complexities: A SCOR Model Based Classroom Simulation

The SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) Model Supply Chain Classroom Simulation is an in‐class experiential learning activity that helps students develop a holistic understanding of the processes and challenges of supply chain management. The simulation has broader learning objectives than other supply chain related activities such as the Beer Game. Competing supply chains work to produce and sell two products, each experiencing differential demand. Seasonal demand, time delays, quality defects, and disruptions offer complexities that are part of actual supply chain management. The behavioral dynamics of collaboration between various functional nodes is illustrated through students’ interactions as they try to achieve their role's objectives. Through their decisions and actions, students develop a practical understanding of the processes and complexities of supply chain management. The classroom simulation actively engages students, and has been used successfully in multiple courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at multiple universities and by a major corporation during a manager training session. Assessments indicate that the simulation is an effective experiential learning activity. While it offers learning outcome flexibility, common debrief themes are SCOR model processes, supply chain relationships, information flow, seasonal demand, quality defects, reverse logistics, and supply chain disruptions.     

Public Administration Education in Britain

Abstract

Students, quality assessment bodies established by the Government to determine output‐related funding, and other groups in society are placing more and more pressure on tertiary institutions to improve the quality of their teaching practices. Some institutions are responding to this pressure by implementing student‐centred approaches to teaching, where the students and course leaders become equal partners in determining the course work assessment process, teaching methods and learning outcomes. To a certain extent the learning outcomes are set by the Government's quality assessment bodies. However the course work assessment process, teaching methods and interpretation of these pre‐specified learning outcomes, can still be negotiated with the students in a student‐centred manner.

Many disciplines in tertiary institutions currently face, or can expect to face in the future, extremely large class sizes. Many argue that it is not possible to implement a student‐centred approach in the large class setting. Indeed, they suggest that there is a negative relationship between class size and the quality of the learning experience.

This paper examines the application of a student‐centred approach to a final year business studies course involving over 100 students completing their BSc (Hons). A survey of the students at the end of the year indicated that, relative to the other courses being taken by the students, this course achieved an unusual treble: higher levels of student learning, higher student workload, and yet, higher levels of student enjoyment. These results would tend to dispel the myth that student‐centred approaches can only be successful in the smaller class setting.     

The impact of diversity,prior academic achievement and goal orientation on learning performance in group capstone projects

ABSTRACT

Capstone projects are common in undergraduate programmes, providing students with a culminating educational experience designed to draw on the knowledge and skills accumulated over the course of their studies. While there are many benefits to capstone projects, they are not without challenges. In particular, when these projects are conducted in groups, forming groups to optimise the learning outcomes and managing group dynamics can be challenging. In this article, we report on the analysis of data collected from 346 undergraduate business students who completed capstone projects at a Hong Kong university. Measures included students’ learning goal (mastery and performance), satisfaction with their supervisor and group diversity in relation to gender, prior academic achievement, self-report nationality and programme of study. Analysis of this data in conjunction with student grades for the project was conducted to inform improvements in design and delivery of the capstone subject to improve students’ learning outcomes. The results showed that for groups consisting of three students, group diversity in respect to prior academic achievement as measured by grade point average (GPA) is positively related to the grade achieved in the capstone project. However, diversity in respect to the nationalities in the group was related to poorer performance. Furthermore, the more teacher-focused the group supervisor’s approach was, the worse the grade achieved for the project. The results suggest that groups made up of students of different nationalities tend to have lower grades compared to homogeneous groups. In contrast, having a group with a mix of GPAs can result in higher grades on the project. While these findings have informed our understanding of group performance on capstone projects, work is needed to fully understand what underlies the diversity effects identified which will be explored with future cohorts.     

The relationship between engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning and students’ course experiences

While there has been a good deal of discussion about the scholarship of teaching and learning, and models have been developed to understand its scope, the effects on students’ learning of academics engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning are unclear. In the context of initiatives to develop the scholarship of teaching and learning in a large research‐intensive university in Australia, this paper discusses the relationship between faculty performance on a set of scholarly accomplishments in relation to teaching and learning from 2002 to 2004, and changes in students’ course experiences from 2001 to 2005. The paper provides evidence of the relationship between the scholarship of teaching and learning and students’ course experiences and demonstrates the effectiveness of institutional strategies to encourage the scholarship of teaching and learning.     

场依存性、场独立性与商务英语阅读教学

不同的学习目标、不同的学习任务和不同的学习环境,需要不同的认知风格和学习策略。在商务英语阅读教学中,关注学生的个别差异,利用认知风格中的场独立性和场依存性的理论指导阅读教学有其重要意义。教师的教学应结合学生的认知方式的特点,以培养提高学生的阅读理解能力。教师对学生认知方式的了解和尊重,能使自己的教学特点与学生的需要有机地联系起来,建立良好的师生关系,根据学生的认知特点因材施教,就能取得好的教学效果。     

The Other Two Rs in the Discrete Mathematics Course

Independent of the content and placement of the discrete mathematics course in the computer science curriculum, a common goal is to improve the students’ ability to read and communicate mathematical or technical material. This paper describes a teaching format for the discrete mathematics course that fosters this goal. Instead of lecturing, the instructor responds to questions and asks questions over material the students have read. In periodic problem sessions, student groups polish and present problem solutions for the rest of the class to critique. This approach not only improves the technical reading and communication skills of the students, but involves students more actively in the total learning process.     

Teachers' views on and use of printed materials in a distance learning teacher education course

Despite the heavy emphasis on online learning in recent years, print is still an important medium for course delivery in distance education. Distance educators have argued that, with the incorporation of appropriate access structures, distance learning materials can be self‐instructional and interactive. This study aims to explore the extent to which students on a distance teacher education course considered that the print materials had achieved the course objectives, and how they made use of the in‐text access structures. The results indicate that, although teachers on the course agreed that the materials were able to achieve the course objectives, the extent to which they made use of the access devices varied considerably.     

Review Article

Abstract

The Department of Business and Management Studies in the Crewe+Alsager Faculty of Manchester Metropolitan University runs a large HND course in Business Studies and Finance. As student numbers have increased on the HND course, tutors have needed to seek strategies for the management of effective teaching and learning with large student numbers.

This paper reviews those strategies in relation to lectures, seminars, reading and information sources and assignments. Individual tutors have evolved different strategies using a mix of control and independence strategies as appropriate to their module and its learning objectives.