Distributed by Design: On the Promises and Pitfalls of Collaborative Learning with Multiple Representations

This article presents a designed learning environment intended to engage students in learning about the relationships among multiple representations as they work together on a shared task. Over the course of several extended problem-solving sessions, groups developed several successive alignments of participants and representations as they learned to solve increasingly difficult tasks. Our findings highlight the emergent and often unexpected meanings that learners established for representational tools as their groups reorganized into increasingly effective problem-solving ensembles. Our findings echo those of prior research regarding learners' considerable competence and creativity in interpreting and applying distributed representational tools, as well as the careful coordination among learners involved in establishing and acting on those interpretations. Challenges in this design space include instances in our data where students capitalized on connections among representations without really trying to understand those connections, temporarily undermined the distributed character of the representations, and worked more efficiently by reducing the number of participants actively involved in breaking codes. Our findings indicate that managing these challenges requires presenting groups with regular opportunities to reconsider and reorganize their roles, and to experiment with different meanings and uses of flexible tools in the context of tasks with carefully sequenced levels of difficulty.     

Student Performance in a Multimedia Case-Study Environment

Does an online, multimedia case study influence students’ performance, motivation, and perceptions of science in collegiate level biology classes, and if so, how? One hundred and eight students in 5 classes from 4 campuses in the United States and Puerto Rico participated in data collection (performance tests, surveys and focus group interviews). Pre- and post-test results increased after students participated in the learning environment (F(1, 80) = 17.256, p ≤ 0.01, η² = 0.177). Student confidence in their knowledge also increased. During focus group interviews students reported that the project was a good learning experience (95 %), would help with future classes or careers (87 %), and stimulated student curiosity by demonstrating the application of theoretical knowledge in real-world situations (64 %). The learning environment motivated students by making material relevant, which resulted in better performance. This pedagogical tool is not instructor dependent, and is adaptable.     

An SEM Approach for the Evaluation of Intervention Effects Using Pre-Post-Post Designs

A directly applicable latent variable modeling procedure for classical item analysis is outlined. The method allows one to point and interval estimate item difficulty, item correlations, and item-total correlations for composites consisting of categorical items. The approach is readily employed in empirical research and as a by-product permits examining the latent structure of tentative versions of multiple-component measuring instruments. The discussed procedure is straightforwardly utilized with the increasingly popular latent variable modeling software Mplus, and is illustrated on a numerical example.     

Scaffolding Voluntary Summer Reading for Children in Grades 3 to 5: An Experimental Study

The effects of a voluntary summer reading intervention with teacher and parent scaffolding were investigated in an experimental study. A total of 24 teachers and 400 children in Grades 3, 4, and 5 were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: control, books only, books with oral reading scaffolding, and books with oral reading and comprehension scaffolding. Books were matched to children's reading levels and interests. Children were pre- and posttested on measures of oral reading fluency (DIBELS) and silent reading ability (Iowa Test of Basic Skills [ITBS]). Results showed that children in the books with oral reading and comprehension scaffolding condition scored significantly higher on the ITBS posttest than children in the control condition. In addition, children in the two scaffolding conditions combined scored higher on the ITBS posttest than children in the control and books only conditions combined. Practical implications for summer voluntary reading interventions are discussed.     

Responding to change: a new role for agricultural colleges in England and Wales

Abstract

Rural labour market changes are creating a demand for new and more flexible education and training opportunities. With the decline in agricultural production and the consequent reduction in demand for agricultural education, agricultural colleges in England and Wales are considering what their future role will be as providers of education and training for a diversified rural economy. To what extent and in what ways agricultural colleges are adapting to their new role and the factors which inhibit or facilitate institutional change was the subject of a research project undertaken in England and Wales between 1990 and 1992. The results show considerable variation between colleges in the way they are responding to change. This is reflected in the manner in which colleges perceive themselves, their mission and policy, how they perceive their constituency and the links they have with this constituency, as well as their ability to identify new training needs and provide relevant, flexible and more accessible learning opportunities to meet these needs.     

Assessment Planning for Distance Education Library Services: Strategic Roadmaps for Determining and Reporting Organizational Performance and Value

ABSTRACT

Through a review of the literature, the author sought to identify what assessment planning practices exist in libraries, how the assessment planning process works in libraries, and what components constitute a library assessment plan. The findings suggest that, while libraries determine and report a great many aspects of organizational performance, general assessment planning (which encompasses total organizational impact and value) is not frequently used or integrated into the library's comprehensive strategic planning process, and it does not always effectively cover the scope of the assessment activities and information needed by organizational leaders and administrators to develop effective strategic plans and decisions. This lack of integration creates disconnects between the library's ability to determine and report organizational value and the library's need to provide accountability evidence to stakeholders and use the performance measurement results effectively in executing strategic planning and decision making. Using the findings of the review, the author proposes an alternative set of assessment planning components and focus areas.     

Gleanings From the Whirl

No abstract available for this article.     

Diversity of body types in network television programming: A content analysis

This study uses content analysis to examine the diversity of men and women's body types on primetime network television programs and afternoon soap operas in order to compare male and female portrayals and to determine if the portrayals of both genders reflect the real population. The results show females are portrayed in a smaller range of body types and are more slender than males; heavier body types are less likely to be in romantic situations, wear revealing clothing, and are older than thin body types; and television body types are generally thinner than the real population.