Mindfulness,adult learning and therapeutic education: integrating the cognitive and affective domains of learning

Although it has been given qualified approval by a number of philosophers of education, the so‐called ‘therapeutic turn’ in education has been the subject of criticism by several commentators on post‐compulsory and adult learning over the last few years. A key feature of this alleged development in recent educational policy is said to be the replacement of the traditional goals of knowledge and understanding with personal and social objectives concerned with enhancing and developing confidence and self‐esteem in learners. After offering some critical observations on these developments, I suggest that there are some educationally justifiable goals underpinning what has been described as a therapeutic turn. Whilst accepting that ‘self‐esteem’ and cognate concepts cannot provide a general end or universal aim of education, the therapeutic function—the affective domain of learning—is more valuable and significant than is generally acknowledged. This claim is justified by an examination of the concept of ‘mindfulness’ which, it is argued, can be an immensely powerful and valuable notion that is integrally connected with the centrally transformative and developmental nature of learning and educational activity at all levels. The incorporation of mindfulness strategies within adult learning programmes may go some way towards re‐connecting the cognitive and affective dimensions of education.     

Effects of learning approaches,locus of control,socio-economic status and self-efficacy on academic achievement: a Turkish perspective

In this study the effects of learning approaches, locus of control (LOC), socio-economic status and self-efficacy on undergraduate students in North Cyprus was investigated. Four questionnaires were administered on 99 students in order to collect data regarding the learning approaches, LOC, self-efficacy and demographic factors. High cumulative grade point average and self-efficacy were shown to be an indicator of academic achievement and high self-efficacy was related to the use of deep approach (DA). Students, whose mothers had lower levels of education, were found to also predict academic success. No direct significant relationship between DA and academic achievement was found.     

Science education for environmental awareness: approaches to integrating cognitive and affective domains

Science education has an important part in developing understanding of concepts that underpin environmental issues, leading potentially to pro‐environmental behaviour. However, science is commonly perceived negatively, leading to inappropriate and negative models of science that do not connect to people’s experiences. The article argues that the cognitive and affective domains need to be explicitly integrated in a science education that informs environmental education, as a sense of relationship is essential for environmental care and responsibility leading to informed action. The features of such approaches to science education are discussed through analysis of the impact of modern and constructive postmodern science education models on environmental education, and possible strategies for making connections between cognitive and affective domains are proposed. The analysis incorporates the development of positive approaches to science and environmental issues through teacher modelling of biophilic behaviour, active learning through constructivist pedagogy, the politicisation of science education to address social and environmental issues, suitable experiences of natural environments and living organisms, and science curricula that emphasise conceptual integration to demonstrate complex environmental effects, including the environmental consequences of human behaviour.     

Working towards a scalable model of problem-based learning instruction in undergraduate engineering education

The intent of the study presented in this paper is to show that the model of problem-based learning (PBL) can be made scalable by designing curriculum around a set of open-ended problems (OEPs). The detailed statistical analysis of the data collected to measure the effects of traditional and PBL instructions for three courses in Electronics and Communication Engineering, namely Analog Electronics, Digital Electronics and Pulse, Digital & Switching Circuits is presented here. It measures the effects of pedagogy, gender and cognitive styles on the knowledge, skill and attitude of the students. The study was conducted two times with content designed around same set of OEPs but with two different trained facilitators for all the three courses. The repeatability of results for effects of the independent parameters on dependent parameters is studied and inferences are drawn.     

重庆市高职院校开展产学研结合教育的现状与对策

在对重庆市高职院校开展产学研结合教育的现状及存在问题进行深入调研的基础上．通过认真分析和总结产生这些问题的原因,针对重庆高职院校的实际情况,对开展产学研结合教育从政府发挥管理职能、突出高职院校的主体作用和发挥行业协会的作用三个方面提出了对策建议,为搞好高职院校产学研结合教育工作提供参考。     

Spatial cognition in engineering education: developing a spatial ability framework to support the translation of theory into practice

ABSTRACT

A substantial degree of empirical evidence has illustrated the correlation between spatial skills and performance in engineering education. This evidence has been foundational in the construction of educational interventions which have resulted in both increased levels of spatial ability and increased educational performance and retention. However, the cognitive faculty of spatial cognition is widely recognised as multifactorial and a number of factors exist within this domain which have not been examined as potential influences on educational success. A number of factors have been identified within the pertinent literature which do not appear in any formal framework of spatial cognition. This paper presents a review and synthesis of this work with the amalgam presented as a model to support the further integration of spatial ability into engineering educational practices.     

Professional development for design-based learning in engineering education: a case study

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach in which students gather and apply theoretical knowledge to solve design problems. In this study, we examined how critical DBL dimensions (project characteristics, design elements, the teacher's role, assessment, and social context) are applied by teachers in the redesign of DBL projects. We conducted an intervention for the professional development of the DBL teachers in the Mechanical Engineering and the Electrical Engineering departments. We used the Experiential Learning Cycle as an educational model for the professionalisation programme. The findings show that the programme encouraged teachers to apply the DBL theoretical framework. However, there are some limitations with regard to specific project characteristics. Further research into supporting teachers to develop open-ended and multidisciplinary activities in the projects that support learning is recommended.     

Trajectories in teacher education: Recognising prior learning in practice

This article analyses the trajectories into teacher education of a group of child minders who are studying to become pre-school teachers. The specific focus is what impact their prior experiences and learning from pre-school have on their trajectories, and how these experiences and learning are recognised in the first year of teacher education. A situated learning perspective is applied, with a focus on participation and trajectories in the two communities of practice in which teacher education is situated – the university and the pre-school. The data consist of transcribed interviews with ten student teachers, and additional data are gathered from stakeholders in the program. The results show that prior experiences and learning are given implicit and indirect recognition. In the practice of the pre-school, the trajectory means a shift in identity, from child minder to student teacher and pre-school teacher. In the practice of the university, prior experiences and learning help students in their trajectories from peripheral to fuller participation.     

Expectancy-value and cognitive process outcomes in mathematics learning: a structural equation analysis

Existing research has yielded evidence to indicate that the expectancy-value theoretical model predicts students' learning in various achievement contexts. Achievement values and self-efficacy expectations, for example, have been found to exert positive effects on cognitive process and academic achievement outcomes. We tested a conceptual model that depicted the interrelations between the non-cognitive (task value, self-efficacy) and cognitive (deep-learning approach, reflective-thinking) processes of learning, and academic achievement outcomes in mathematics. University students (n = 289) were administered a number of Likert-scale inventories and LISREL 8.80 was used to test various a priori and a posteriori models. Structural equation modeling yielded some important findings: (1) the positive temporally displaced effects of prior academic achievement, self-efficacy expectations and task value on achievement in mathematics, (2) the positive relations between self-efficacy expectations and task values and cognitive process outcomes and (3) the possible mediating role of self-efficacy expectations and task value between prior academic achievement and deep learning, reflective-thinking practice and academic achievement. Overall, our research investigation has provided empirical groundings for further advancement into this area of students' learning.     

The potential of supplemental instruction in engineering education: creating additional peer-guided learning opportunities in difficult compulsory courses for first-year students

Supplemental Instruction (SI) can be an efficient way of improving student success in difficult courses. Here, a study is made on SI attached to difficult first-year engineering courses. The results show that both the percentage of students passing a difficult first-year engineering course, and scores on the course exams are considerably higher for students attending SI, compared to students not attending. The study also shows that a higher percentage of female students attend SI, compared to male students. However, both genders seem to benefit to the same degree as a result of attending SI meetings. Also all students, independent of prior academic ability, benefit from attending SI. A qualitative study suggests that SI meetings provide elements important for understanding course material, which are missing from other scheduled learning opportunities in the courses.     

Assessment as learning: blurring the boundaries of assessment and learning for theory,policy and practice

This paper explores assessment and learning in a way that blurs their boundaries. The notion of assessment as learning (AaL) is offered as an aspect of formative assessment (assessment for learning). It considers how pupils self-regulate their own learning, and in so doing make complex decisions about how they use feedback and engage with the learning priorities of the classroom. Discussion is framed from a sociocultural stance, yet challenges some of the perspectives that have widely become accepted. It offers three new views to help explore the concept of AaL: understanding feedback; understanding the learning gap; and exploring vocabularies of assessment. Pragmatically, the ideas examined suggest that teachers may need to consider less about focused and directive feedback, but more about how learners interpret and understand feedback from their self-regulatory and self-productive identities and how vocabularies for assessment can be more collaboratively shared in learning contexts.     

Towards characterising design-based learning in engineering education: a review of the literature

Design-based learning is a teaching approach akin to problem-based learning but one to which the design of artefacts, systems and solutions in project-based settings is central. Although design-based learning has been employed in the practice of higher engineering education, it has hardly been theorised at this educational level. The aim of this study is to characterise design-based learning from existing empirical research literature on engineering education. Drawing on a perspective that accounts for domain-specific, idiosyncratic and learner-centred aspects of design problems in the context of engineering education, 50 empirical studies on project-based and problem-based engineering education, to which the design of artefacts is central, were reviewed. Based on the findings, design-based learning is characterised with regard to domain-specificity, learner expertise and task authenticity. The implications of this study for the practice of engineering education are discussed.     

Effects of locus of control on behavioral intention and learning performance of energy knowledge in game-based learning

Game-based learning has been gradually adopted in energy education as an effective learning tool because digital games have the potential to increase energy literacy and encourage behavior change. However, not every learner can benefit from this support. There is a need to examine how human factors affect learners’ reactions to digital games for supporting learning. This study addresses this issue by developing a digital educational game and examining the effects of locus of control on behavioral intention and learning performance of energy knowledge in game-based learning. The results demonstrated that learners with internal locus of control (ILC) outperformed external locus of control (ELC) learners in energy knowledge after interacting with the game. Moreover, the proposed game can reasonably reduce the differences in the behavioral intention of the ILC and ELC learners, indicating that ELC learners significantly improved their behavioral intention after playing the game, especially their external behavioral intention in the aspects of persuasion, legal action, and political action. The findings of this study are discussed to enhance the understanding of locus of control on behavioral intention and energy knowledge in the context of digital games.     

Communities of practice in higher education: professional learning in an academic career

This article focuses on the life history of a university academic, and the ways in which he learned in different communities of practice during his career. This account raises questions about the applicability of situated learning theory to a knowledge-based organisation, and argues that both the external context and the individuals within the community impinge on learning. It suggests that the role of academic staff developers may vary depending on the CoP and should include developing networks, facilitation, providing relevant expertise, improving harmony within CoPs and harnessing the benefits of internationally dispersed CoPs.     

Negotiating co-ownership of learning in higher education: an underexplored practice for adult learning

Adults who enrol in higher education institutions (HEIs) often have contributions that could serve in enhancing the planning and implementation of their programmes. Importantly, while terms such as active learner engagement and knowledge co-creation dominate adult learning discussions, there are unanswered questions pertaining to how adult learners negotiate co-ownership of their learning. The current empirical study explores the relevant factors that could enhance adult learners’ involvement in negotiating co-ownership of learning in a higher education setting. A mixed method of gathering and analysing data from adult learners (n?=?200) was followed. While structural equation modelling (SEM) served as the quantitative data analysis method, codes, categories and themes developed from the focus group discussions and interviews were used to analyse the qualitative data. The study revealed that negotiating co-ownership of learning among adult learners in HEIs is influenced by the level of engagement and adult learners’ acquisition of relevant core knowledge and skills. The authors discuss the implications of the results by reflecting on the pluses of negotiating co-ownership of learning at the institutional and classroom levels while also showing how the lack of these provisions could hinder effective learning among adult learners.     

英语教学中的文化教育

在英语教学中,人们对语言与文化关系的错误理解主要表现在两点,一是认为外语教学的主要目的是语言知识的教学;另一点认为目前的教学内容使文化教学难以进行.本文结合对这两个问题的讨论,探讨交际性语言教学中,处理好文化与语言关系的必要性和可能性,并提出一些建议.     

Translating expertise into effective instruction: The impacts of cognitive task analysis (CTA) on lab report quality and student retention in the biological sciences

Poor instruction has been cited as a primary cause of attrition from STEM majors and a major obstacle to learning for those who stay [Seymour and Hewitt [1997]. Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences. Boulder, CO: Westview]. Using a double‐blind design, this study tests the hypothesis that the lack of explicit instructions in scientific inquiry skills is a major factor in both low STEM retention and academic underperformance. This project delivered supplemental instruction to students in a laboratory‐based undergraduate biology course (n = 314) that was derived either from cognitive task analyses (CTAs) conducted with expert biologists (treatment) or was authored and delivered by an award‐winning biology instructor (control). Students receiving traditional instruction were almost six times more likely to withdraw from the course than students in the treatment condition (8.1% vs. 1.4% of initial enrollment). Of the students who completed the course, those who received the CTA‐based instruction demonstrated significantly higher levels of performance in the discussion section of their written laboratory reports. Significantly higher performances were seen specifically in the areas of analyzing data to formulate valid conclusions, considering alternative explanations, consideration for the limitations of the experimental design and implications of the research. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1165–1185, 2010     

Using technology for teaching and learning in higher education: a critical review of the role of evidence in informing practice

The use of technology for teaching and learning is now widespread, but its educational effectiveness is still open to question. This mixed-method study explores educational practices with technology in higher education. It examines what forms of evidence (if any) have influenced teachers' practices. It comprises a literature review, a questionnaire and interviews. A framework was used to analyse a wide range of literature. The questionnaires were analysed using content analysis and the interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings suggest that evidence has partial influence upon practice with practitioners preferring to consult colleagues and academic developers. The study underscored the difficulty in defining and evaluating evidence, highlighting ontological and epistemological issues. The academic developer's role appears to be key in mediating evidence for practitioners.     

Situated learning theory and the pedagogy of teacher education: Towards an integrative view of teacher behavior and teacher learning

Lave and Wenger have greatly influenced existing views of learning and teaching, but relatively little has been written about the implications for the understanding of teacher behavior and teacher learning, and for the pedagogy of teacher education. Based on their work, a three-level model of learning is used to analyze the friction between teacher behavior in practice and the wish to ground teachers' practices in theory. Supported by empirical data on teacher learning and brain research, this model reconciles the situated learning perspective with traditional cognitive theory, and leads to concrete implications for the pedagogy of teacher education.