Students' Metacognitive Development in an Innovative Second Year Chemical Engineering Course

In this paper the metacognitive development of students in a second year chemical engineering course (which had such development as an explicit aim) is investigated. Journal data from the class were analysed and a framework comprising four different areas of metacognitive development was arrived at. Within each area, key shifts in approach were identified. The first area (category 1) concerns students' knowledge and awareness (conceptions) of learning, and the important development in this area was from a focus on solving problems towards a stronger valuing of conceptual understanding. The second and third areas deal with aspects of control. The second area (category 2a) is that of organising one's learning, and here students were seen to develop from an uninformed focus on discipline and time management, towards a more metacognitively informed use of resources. The third area (category 2b) is monitoring of learning, with the key shift here from naïvely accepting outside judgements, to using them strategically for purposes of self-assessment. The fourth area (category 3) involves students' sense of a purpose for learning beyond the subject. Important developments here were both in terms of a career goal, as well as personal growth. Data from interviews with five students largely confirmed the validity of these categories, as well as illustrating that different students showed development in different areas.     

From behaviourism to cognitive behaviourism to cognitive development: Steps in the evolution of instructional design

The recent history of instructional technology is traced, starting with the work of Skinner, moving on to the task analytic approach of Gagné, and following through to contemporary efforts associated with the cognitive revolution. It is suggested that an understanding of the process of cognitive development may enable us to build on and improve earlier approaches, by adapting them more directly to students' current levels of cognitive development, and by ensuring that we do not overtax their information processing capabilities. To illustrate and support this claim, a number of recent instructional studies are cited, some of which have utilized classic developmental tasks, and some of which have utilized conventional classroom material.Presented at the conference for Educational Technology in the 80's Caracas, Venezuela, June 14–18, 1982.     

Educational paradigms and engineering educators in South Africa

In this response to Waghid (2000) the authorsquestion the validity of conclusions reachedfrom an examination of the proceedings of anengineering education conference in SouthAfrica. The authors argue that these papersdo not represent the views of engineeringeducators in general. Furthermore they querythe way in which Waghid uses reference toteaching methods in these papers to deduce thetheoretical perspective of the presenters. Itis suggested that the views of the educatorsinvolved in this conference and others like itin South Africa, can be characterised asfalling within a broad interpretivist(constructivist) perspective. Finally, theauthors agree that an engagement with acritical perspective would contributesignificantly to the transformation of theculture of engineering education in SouthAfrica.     

The significance of context for curriculum development in engineering education: a case study across three African countries

Curriculum reform is a key topic in the engineering education literature, but much of this discussion proceeds with little engagement with the impact of the local context in which the programme resides. This article thus seeks to understand the influence of local contextual dynamics on curriculum reform in engineering education. The empirical study is a comparative analysis of the context for curriculum reform in three different chemical engineering departments on the African continent, located in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. All three departments are currently engaged in processes of curriculum reform, but the analysis shows how the different contexts in which these efforts are taking place exert strong shaping effects on the processes and outcomes for that reform.     

Free-range RSS Feeds and Farm-raised Journals: What to Expect When Using RSS as a TOC Service

Anyone who has tried to set up RSS feeds with or for a patron knows that the RSS feeds for e-journals can behave wildly, like free-range cattle, while the e-journals that libraries subscribe to tend to be more like farm-raised cattle, because they are packaged for institutions rather than individuals. Because of this disconnect, the experience of teaching RSS feeds to one's patrons can be fraught with “oops” moments. Knowing what to expect can help librarians prepare to teach patrons to use RSS feeds without scaring them away from a powerful tool. This article will discuss some problems to expect and ways to work around them.     

A third approach beyond the false dichotomy between teacher- and student-centred approaches in the engineering classroom

ABSTRACT

Most of the contemporary critiques of university teaching are variants of a central argument that sets up a polarity between socalled ‘traditional’ teaching, often termed ‘teacher-centred’ and ‘transmissive’, and approaches that by contrast are considered ‘student-centred’, often also referred to with the phrase ‘active learning’. This editorial argues that it is important for engineering educators to be able to interrogate these calls for change, drawing on an informed sense of ‘evidence-based practice’ in education. Drawing on scholarship from higher education research, it is suggested that the polarity typical to these debates is actually a false dichotomy, and what is needed to foster high-quality student learning is a third approach to teaching that skillfully combines a focus on knowledge with pedagogical strategies that foster student engagement.     

Evaluation of an attempt to teach scientific inquiry and criticism in a working class high school

A group of 15 low SES 14-year-olds, who had not yet reached Piaget's stage of “formal operations”, were taught to design controlled experiments and to criticize poorly controlled experiments. As judged by performance on a nonstandardized text, they learned to do this well, and significantly outperformed matched controls. (p <.001). The results were interpreted with reference to Inhelder and Piaget's work on the origins of scientific thinking.     

Aligning Physical Activity Measures With the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health Framework for Childhood Disability

ABSTRACT

The introduction of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health has placed emphasis on framing health behavior as a multidimensional construct. In relation to childhood physical activity, this encompasses dimensions of functional performance, activity attendance, and subjective perceptions of involvement and enjoyment within activity settings. Current literature, however, primarily investigates physical activity in terms of performance and activity levels. The resulting misalignment of theory and measurement practice challenges the development of a comprehensive understanding of childhood physical activity behavior. For children with disabilities, who may have nuanced experiences in activity, there may be greater necessity to examine additional dimensions of physical activity (e.g., participation). In an effort to support meaningful interpretations of physical activity behavior measures among children with disabilities, the purposes of this article are to (a) conceptualize childhood physical activity within the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, and (b) provide guidance on aligning measurement tools with physical activity dimensions.     

Alienation and engagement: development of an alternative theoretical framework for understanding student learning

In this paper it is suggested that the themes of alienation and engagement offer a productive alternative perspective for characterising the student experience of learning in higher education, compared to current dominant perspectives such as that offered by approaches to learning and related concepts. A conceptual and historical background of the concept of alienation is presented, followed by an overview of some contemporary perspectives. Drawing on this literature, a framework is then developed for characterising student learning. It comprises three categories, referring to the alienation resulting from 1. entering the higher education community, 2. fitting into the higher education community, and 3. staying in the higher education community. Each category has an associated set of theoretical tools that can be drawn upon in analysing this aspect of the student experience.