The relationship between epistemological beliefs and the propensity for lifelong learning

The characteristics of lifelong learners have been extensively discussed in the literature and generally encapsulate two broad dimensions; skills and abilities related to learning, and beliefs about learning and knowledge. This study examined the factors that may predict such characteristics and thus an individual's propensity to engage in lifelong learning in a sample of university students. Together, openness to experience, change readiness, approaches to learning, self-efficacy and epistemological beliefs significantly predicted lifelong learning characteristics. In particular, the unique contribution of epistemological beliefs to the profile of a lifelong learner was supported. Results indicate that these beliefs may be a key predictor of lifelong learning.     

Monitoring Brain Activity of Geriatric Learners With Low‐Cost Neurophysiological Technology

Cultural stereotypes rooted in both antiquated data and misinterpretation of data have long perpetuated the belief that older adults are unable to learn new concepts because they are doomed to lose brain cells at an alarming rate during their geriatric years. However, advances in neurophysiological technologies that allow researchers to observe the functional structures of the brain, as opposed to the individual's observable behavior, provide new insights about geriatric learners' brain processes during learning. This article aims to explore the opportunities offered and challenges posed by using low‐cost electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor the brain activity of geriatric learners during learning activities. The article defines geriatric learners; discusses instructional theories and strategies for geriatric learners; and examines the potential contributions of using low‐cost EEGs to monitor the brain of geriatric learners during the learning process.     

Development and validation of perceptions of online interaction scale

The aim of this study was to develop a measurement instrument which is compatible with literature, of which validity and reliability are proved with the aim of determining interaction perceived by learners in online learning environments. Accordingly, literature review was made, and outline form of the scale was formed with item pool by taking 14 expert opinions. As a result of exploratory factor analysis of data obtained from participation of 177 learners from eight different universities, it was seen that the scale consisted of 30 items and 3 dimensions. These dimensions are learner–content interaction, learner–instructor interaction and learner–learner interaction. Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of the whole scale was .95. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that fit indexes of the structure provided a good and acceptable fit. Based on these findings, Perceptions of Online Interaction Scale is a valid and reliable tool that may be used in measuring interaction occurring in online learning environments.     

An instrument for measuring five aspects of children's attitudes towards microcomputers

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument which would identify and measure independent dimensions of children's attitudes towards microcomputers. The sample consisted of 501 sixth and seventh grade Tasmanian children. The instrument produced by Williams, Coulombe, and Lievrouw (1983) was used as a starting point. Exploratory factor analytic procedures were used to arrive at a final instrument consisting of 17 adjective pairs in semantic differential format. Composite scores are calculated for five dimensions: 'functioning', 'difficulty', 'involvement','appeal' and 'novelty'. Recommendations are given for the use of these dimensions in studies of differences.     

Language anxiety caused by the single mode of instruction in multilingual classrooms: The case of African language learners

ABSTRACT

The capacity to use language is unique from one individual to another. This could also depend on the individual's exposure to a language. This article aims to contribute to the growing area of research on language anxiety by exploring the extent to which language anxiety affects learners’ performance in learning in multilingual classrooms, especially African learners who are learning English as a second language. Learners, especially in the Intermediate Phase in South Africa who are learning in a second language for the first time, may experience a certain level of anxiety because that language is foreign to them. The discussion idea is further advanced by exploring the use more than one language in teaching in order to promote learner autonomy in the learning process. The conclusion will try to provide possible means to deal with language anxiety amongst learners in order to improve learner performance.     

Measuring language learning environments in secondary science classrooms

The purpose of this study was to explore a new learning environment instrument which could be used by teaching practitioners and other educators to measure the language learning environment in the secondary science classroom. The science teacher is central in creating science classrooms conductive to the language needs of students and should be promoting the learning of language in the science curriculum and in the teaching strategies with English as second language learners. The data in this study were collected using a structured self-administered survey with a sample of 240 secondary school students from eight science classrooms. Factor analysis identified five dimensions, namely, Teacher Support, Vocabulary Development, Assessment, Motivation and Language for Learning Science. These five dimensions explained 56.9% of the variance in the language learning environment instrument. The internal reliability of the dimensions using Cronbach’s α ranged from 0.603 to 0.830. The study revealed significant differences in the dimensions of the language learning environment between what the students perceived to actually be occurring to what they would prefer. Implications from this preliminary research include the ability for measuring the language learning environment in the secondary science class and the potential for practitioners to use the information to develop teaching strategies conducive to learning for all students.     

Dimensions of educational transactions in a videoconferencing learning environment

Abstract

Moore's Theory of Transactional Distance suggests that dialogue, structure, and learner autonomy are the key elements delineating the educational transaction in distance learning environments. However, the conceptualizations of these concepts in a telecommunication era have not been systematically addressed. By investigating 121 learners’ experiences with videoconferencing, this study identified the dimensions (factors) constituting dialogue, structure, and learner autonomy in such a learning environment. Exploratory factor analysis using a principal axis factor method was carried out. It was concluded that each of these three concepts represented multi‐faceted ideas. Dialogue consisted of three dimensions: in‐class discussion, out‐of‐class electronic communication, and out‐of‐class face‐to‐face interaction. Structure contained the dimensions of course organization and course delivery. Learner autonomy was comprised of independence and interdependence. The results of this study can inform videoconferencing researchers and practitioners of the factors of the educational transaction that should be considered in videoconferencing courses.     

Self‐regulated learning ability of Chinese distance learners

This study reports on self‐regulated learning (SRL) of Chinese distance learners by using a structured SRL scale. SRL of adult and lifelong learners is a well‐researched area, though its application within distance education is a new area of investigation. Open and distance learning lean heavily on self‐learning and self‐learning resources, though interaction at designated learning centers and online learning platforms is occasionally offered. In China, there is still persistence of the age‐old teacher‐centric model of teaching‐learning; and, within distance education offered largely by the radio and television universities, there is insistence for regular tuition classes at designated branch schools. At the backdrop of understanding and enhancing SRL of Chinese distance learners, the authors took up this research to find out the elements and levels of SRL ability among Chinese distance learners. Based on factor analysis (on 357 students for item analysis and on 600 distance learners for structural validity of the initial 117‐item scale), a standardized 54‐item Self‐regulated Learning Ability Scale was finalized and administered on a random sample of 2738 undergraduate learners (1630 males and 1108 females) from the Open Distance Education Centre of Beijing Normal University, P.R. China, doing an online course during 2009–10. The sample came from either senior high school (grade 12) or junior college (grade 14). Data on four dimensions of SRL—planning, control, regulating and evaluation—were analyzed using ‘t’ test for variables of gender, level of education and age. Results indicated that all the participants had above‐average levels of SRL in all the four dimensions of planning, control, regulating and evaluation. In so far as gender was concerned, male distance learners were better in SRL than female distance learners, especially in control (ie, content and resources) and all the evaluation dimensions. Though no age difference was found, students from junior colleges had better planning, regulating and evaluating abilities than those who came from senior high schools. These results have been discussed in the context of current changes in Chinese distance/online education and also in relation to the age‐old Chinese culture of learning. The results will also have implications for designing distance and online learning generally.     

Developing an instrument to characterise peer‐led groups in collaborative learning environments: assessing problem‐solving approach and group interaction

Collaborative learning is being used extensively by educators at all levels. Peer‐led team learning in a version of collaborative learning that has shown consistent success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Using a multi‐phase research study we describe the development of an observation instrument that can be used to assess peer‐led group learning. This paper illustrates the development of a classification system for peer‐led learning groups and an instrument based on this classification system. The instrument evaluates small learning groups on two important aspects of group learning: problem solving approach and group interaction style. We provide evidence of the factor structure of the two dimensions using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. We also provide information about the reliability of the two scales as measured by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data from a large peer‐led learning programme was used to conduct the factor analysis. Results from the factor analysis confirmed that the instrument is actually measuring two key characteristics of small learning groups: problem solving approach and group interaction style, characteristics that have been linked to effective functioning of the group and to the student learning outcomes. This instrument may be particularly appealing to practitioners (faculty members, those running small‐group learning programmes, etc.) because it is easy to use and it does not require extensive time for analysis.     

Uncovering young children's motivational beliefs about learning science

Young children, ages 5–6 years, develop first beliefs about science and themselves as science learners, and these beliefs are considered important precursors of children's future motivation to pursue science. Yet, due to a lack of adequate measures, little is known about young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. The present two‐part study explores the motivational beliefs of young children using a new measure—the Young Children's Science Motivation (Y‐CSM) scale. Initial measurement development involved a thorough literature review of existing measures, and an extensive piloting phase until a final instrument was reached. To establish scale reliability, measurement invariance as well construct and criterion validity, the final instrument was administered to a new sample of 277 young children, age 5–6 years, in northern Germany. Results reveal that children's motivational beliefs can be empirically differentiated into their self‐confidence and enjoyment in science at this young age. Older children were more motivated in science, but no significant gender differences were found. Importantly, children in preschools with a science focus reported significantly higher science motivation. This finding stresses the importance of early science education for the development of children's motivational beliefs science.     

Towards a knowledge-sharing scaffolding environment based on learners' questions

This article describes a web‐based communicative space (a Dynamic Frequently Asked Questions environment—DFAQ) in which learners consult one another using questions, and in which both the flow of interaction and its artefacts become a resource available to a community of learners. Anecdotal evidence suggests that learners embarking on their first year of university study enter a world that is essentially text‐based and are inclined to view text as an authority, as something fixed that closes rather than opens up enquiry. Motivated by the need to scaffold learners’ engagement with academic text, we developed the DFAQ in which learners asked questions and other learners responded. The article discusses the learning activity that led to student consultation and provides a critical review of the environment based on student interviews. Our conclusion is that the environment provides learners with a unique ‘space’ in which to access questions and responses that they might not have generated themselves. Furthermore, given the environment's capacity to recruit, hold and focus attention as well as model appropriate questioning behaviour, we think that it does indeed provide a space that scaffolds learners’ engagement with the text.     

Learning environment,learning styles and conceptual understanding

In recent years there have been many studies on learners developing conceptions of natural phenomena. However, so far there have been few attempts to investigate how the characteristics of the learners and their environment influence such conceptions. This study began with an attempt to use an instrument developed by McCarthy (1981) to describe learners in Malaysian primary schools. This proved inappropriate as Asian primary classrooms do not provide the same kind of environment as US classrooms. It was decided to develop a learning style checklist to suit the local context and which could be used to describe differences between learners which teachers could appreciate and use. The checklist included four dimensions — perceptual, process, self-confidence and motivation. The validated instrument was used to determine the learning style preferences of primary four pupils in Penang, Malaysia. Later, an analysis was made regarding the influence of learning environment and learning styles on conceptual understanding in the topics of food, respiration and excretion. This study was replicated in the Philippines with the purpose of investigating the relationship between learning styles and achievement in science, where the topics of food, respiration and excretion have been taken up. A number of significant relationships were observed in these two studies. Specializations: science education, primary science, educational research and measurement, educational management.     

Seven plus or minus two

For over 50 years, seven plus or minus two has been a commonly used guideline for gauging how many chunks of new information should be presented at one time in learning and performance situations. Often cited as the limit of working memory, this guideline was created as a result of misinterpreting an article by Miller (1956). More recent studies suggest that the limit for working memory is more like three, and sometimes four, with various factors influencing the capacity of an individual's working memory. Given too much novel information at one time, learners and performers can be derailed by cognitive overload. Instructional designers and performance consultants can adjust the presentation of new information to manage intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. This column provides suggestions about how to reduce cognitive overload to improve learning and performance.     

Preparing Students for Lifelong Learning: A Review of Instructional Features and Teaching Methodologies

Lifelong learning is intentional learning that people engage in throughout their lives for personal and professional fulfillment and to improve the quality of their lives. In today's climate of continual change and innovation, lifelong learning is a critical educational goal. In order to prepare people for lifelong learning, educational opportunities must develop their capacity for self‐direction, metacognitive awareness, and disposition toward lifelong learning. Several instructional features facilitate the development of metacognitive and self‐directed learning skills, and the disposition to lifelong learning: (1) student autonomy, responsibility, and intentionality; (2) intrinsically motivating learning activities; (3) enculturation; (4) discourse and collaboration among learners; and (5) reflection. This article describes and presents examples of how three teaching methodologies—problem‐based learning, intentional learning environments, and cognitive apprenticeship—employ these instructional features.     

Creating a New Architecture for the Learning College

The publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 triggered a series of major reform efforts in education that are still evolving. As part of the reform efforts, leaders began to refer to a Learning Revolution that would “place learning first by overhauling the traditional architecture of education.” The old architecture—time-bound, place-bound, role-bound, and bureaucracy-bound—was an artifact of earlier eras when school was designed for an agricultural and an industrial economy. It was easy for educational leaders to “place learning first” by changing their language. Vice Presidents of Academic Affairs became Vice Presidents of Learning; Learning Outcomes became the universal goal; the institutions became Learning Colleges. New mission and value statements began to appear in community college catalogs to reflect the new emphasis on learning. The American Association of Community Colleges joined the revolution with a new mission statement: “Building a nation of learners by advancing America's community colleges.” The really hard work was to “overhaul the traditional architecture.” This brief article takes a first step in suggesting what that “overhaul” might look like for departmental structures, workload formula, grading, late registration, and some of the time-bound artifacts. It is noted that the 5 examples are but the tip of the iceberg if community colleges are to fully engage the Learning Revolution.     

Emotion recognition and communication for reducing second‐language speaking anxiety in a web‐based one‐to‐one synchronous learning environment

e‐Learning is becoming an increasingly popular educational paradigm because of the rapid growth of the Internet. Recent studies have argued that affective modelling (ie, considering a learner's emotional or motivational state) should also be considered while designing learning activities. Many studies indicated that various learning emotions markedly impact learning outcomes. In the language education field, many studies have investigated anxiety associated with learning a second language, noting that anxiety has an adverse effect on the performance of those speaking English as a second language. Therefore, how to reduce anxiety associated with learning a second language to increase learning performance is an important research issue in the language education field. Accordingly, this study employed a sensor, signal processing, wireless communication, system‐on‐chip and machine‐learning techniques in developing an embedded human emotion recognition system based on human pulse signals for detecting three human emotions—nervousness, peace and joy—to help teachers reduce language‐learning anxiety of individual learners in a web‐based one‐to‐one synchronous learning environment. The accuracy rate of the proposed emotion recognition model evaluated by cross‐validation is as high as 79.7136% when filtering out human pulse signals that have bias. Moreover, this study applied the embedded emotion recognition system to assist instructor's teaching in a synchronous English conversation environment by immediately reporting variations in individual learner emotions to the teacher during learning. In this instructional experiment, the teacher can give appropriate learning assistance or guidance based on the emotion states of individual learners. Experimental results indicate that the proposed embedded human emotion recognition system is helpful in reducing language‐based anxiety, thus promoting instruction effectiveness in English conversation classes.     

Expeditionary Learning in Information Systems: Definition,Implementation, and Assessment

In the natural sciences, collecting, cataloguing, and comparing living specimens have long been a popular, collaborative mode of discovery and learning. New species are discovered, and the relationships between species are theorized. From Aristotle's “History of Animals” to Darwin's “On the Origin of Species”, and beyond, this process of learning through expedition has yielded bountiful knowledge and insights to students of science. In this paper, we propose that expeditionary learning can be applied to a softer science: the field of information systems. In the field of information systems, specimens (information systems) are created by humans, evolving with great speed. Expeditionary learning—where students collaboratively discover, catalog, and compare rapidly evolving information system specimens—is an innovative approach for learners in the IS field, and is effective in increasing IS program visibility and delivering significant, measurable community impact. Our results indicate that learning by expedition has a strong, positive community impact through educating external learners (such as high school and community college students, and the general public), and compares favorably to conventional experiential and service learning styles. Though expeditionary learning does not yield improved course evaluations, we demonstrate that learners’ perceived self‐knowledge and intentions to pursue the subject area are improved.     

Dynamic Assessment of Proficiency for Solving Procedural Knowledge Tasks

Computer-coached practice environments can serve two purposes: to instruct and to assess. Sherlock I is a computer-coached practice environment for teaching avionics troubleshooting skills. Instruction is based on the dynamic assessment of the learner in the context of a troubleshooting problem. A cognitive task analysis of troubleshooting proficiency was used to develop Sherlock's instructional and assessment goals. As a learner works through a problem, Sherlock assesses the quality of his or her decisions and uses that information to provide the level of hint explicitness necessary at particular decision points in the problem. Specific competency building is situated within the troubleshooting context and is sharpened to the extent that satisfies each individual's needs. When a learning impasse is reached, Sherlock generates the appropriate level of feedback to the trainee based on his or her prior performance. Sherlock's hinting structure challenges trainees with learning opportunities that would be just beyond their reach without coaching. This form of dynamic assessment is based on patterns of student performance that reflect the processes of learning rather than simply the products of learning. Sherlock provides an example of how intelligent tutoring systems can change the nature of assessment by addressing dimensions of proficiency.     

Cultural diversity in online learning: A study of the perceived effects of dissonance in levels of individualism/collectivism and tolerance of ambiguity

Online learning courses are hypothesized to be influenced by the instructors' and students' cultural values. This study collected survey data from online instructors and students to analyze the effects that Hofstede's individualism/collectivism and ambiguity (in)tolerance cultural dimensions exert on online courses offered from an individualist/ambiguity tolerant perspective. Results revealed that the students' cultural dimensions relate significantly to some of their perceptions of culture in the online classroom. Contrary to their individualist peers, collectivist learners felt that their individualist instructors were not usually aware of cultural differences in the online classroom and that their culture was not being considered to make learning relevant to their cultural context. Ambiguity intolerant students, in contrast with their ambiguity tolerant peers, felt that cultural background consideration is important and would appreciate being informed about relevant cultural differences they might experience taking an online course based on a different cultural perspective. Students from ambiguity intolerant cultures also reported less motivation to participate than their counterparts. In addition, language was found to influence the participation patterns when the ambiguity (in)tolerance values of the students were studied. However, language was not found to influence participation patterns for the individualist/collectivist dimension. The results of the study suggest that cultural differences do affect how students perceive the online classroom.     

Relationship Between Client-Learning Style and Preference for Counselor Approach

A client-counselor matching model based on Kolb's experiential learning theory was examined. A questionnaire, which included Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and four counselor approach profiles, was completed by 205 counseling clients. The clients indicated which counselor they preferred. The following four preference patterns were predicted: concrete learners—experiential approach, abstract learners—rational approach, active learners— behavioral approach, and reflective learners—client-centered approach. The results did not confirm the hypothesized four-way model, although limited support for the matching concept was evident when only two counselor approaches were considered. Clients who preferred directive counselors were more abstract learners. Clients preferring nondirective counselors were more concrete learners. Overall, clients preferred the rational counselor approach. A nonclient comparison group (n = 75) preferred the client-centered approach.