Students’ perceptions about peer assessment for writing: their origin and impact on revision work

We investigate students’ negative perceptions about an online peer assessment system for undergraduate writing across the disciplines. Specifically, we consider the nature of students’ resistance to peer assessment; what factors influence that resistance; and how students’ perceptions impact their revision work. We do this work by first examining findings from an end-of-course survey administered to 250 students in ten courses across six universities using an online peer assessment system called SWoRD for their writing assignments. Those findings indicate that students have the most positive perceptions of SWoRD in those courses where an instructor graded their work in addition to peers (as opposed to peer-only grading). We then move to an in-depth examination of perceptions and revision work among 84 students using SWoRD and no instructor grading for assessment of writing in one university class. Findings from that study indicate that students sometimes regard peer assessment as unfair and often believe that peers are unqualified to review and assess students’ work. Furthermore, students’ perceptions about the fairness of peer assessment drop significantly following students’ experience in doing peer assessment. Students’ fairness perceptions—and drops in those perceptions—are most significantly associated with their perceptions about the extent to which peers’ feedback is useful and positive. However, students’ perceptions appear to be unrelated to the extent of their revision work. This research fills a considerable gap in the literature regarding the origin of students’ negative perceptions about peer assessment, as well as how perceptions influence performance.     

Slowmation: Preservice elementary teachers representing science knowledge through creating multimodal digital animations

Research has identified the value of learners using technology to construct their own representations of science concepts. In this study, we investigate how learners, such as preservice elementary teachers, design and make a narrated animation to represent their science knowledge. The type of animation exemplified is called a “Slowmation” (abbreviated from “Slow Animation”), which is a simplified way for preservice teachers to make an animation that integrates features from claymation, object animation, and digital storytelling. Drawing on semiotic theory, a case study of three preservice elementary teachers, who were audio and video recorded as they created a slowmation, illustrates how the construction process enabled them to engage with a science concept in multiple ways. Findings suggest that when preservice teachers create a slowmation, they design and make a sequence of five representations, each being a semiotic system with particular affordances that link as a semiotic progression: (i) research notes; (ii) storyboard; (iii) models; and (iv) digital photographs, which culminate in (v) a narrated animation. In this study, the authors present their theoretical framework, explain how the preservice teachers created a slowmation using a sequence of representations to show their science knowledge and discuss the implications of these findings for learners in universities and schools. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 985–1009, 2011     

Positive biases in self-assessment of mathematics competence, achievement goals, and mathematics performance

The study examined how biases in self-evaluations of math competence relate to achievement goals and progress in math achievement. It was expected that performance goals would be related to overestimation and mastery goals to accurate self-assessments. A sample of French high-school students completed a questionnaire measuring their math achievement goals and their perceived competence in math. Students’ math grades for the three trimesters of the school year were collected from school records. Bias in self-evaluations was computed by comparing students’ rating on the ‘perceived competence in math’ scale with their actual math achievement as measured by their second trimester math grades. Students were classified into one of three groups (over-raters, accurate raters, or under-raters) depending on whether their self-perceptions of competence in math were higher than, similar to, or lower than their relative math achievement in their class. As expected, overrating of one's performance was related to performance goals. Furthermore, the over-raters were the only group who progressed in their math achievement from Trimester 2 to 3. No relation was found between mastery goals and accurate self-assessment.     

Children’s informal learning in the context of schools of the knowledge society

This paper builds on a key finding of a 5-year Danish research project con-cerning children in the 7 to 15 age group: children’s principal use of computers and the internet takes place in their spare time, and it is during their spare time that the majority of children really learn how to use interactive media. The project shows that in children’s spare-time use of ICT they employ informal forms of learning based to a large extent on their social interaction both in physical and virtual spaces. These informal learning forms can be identified as learning hierarchies, learning communities and learning networks; they are important contributions to the school of the knowledge society. The ICT in New Learning Environments project based on anthropologically inspired methods and social learning theories shows that students bring their informal forms of learning into the school context. This happens particularly when the school has undergone physical alterations and when its organisation of learning and teaching are also restructured, with project-based learning becoming an important part of the school work and with the media available in the learning environment. Using organisation theory, the school working with ICT and project-based learning is shown to simultaneously constitute a mixed mode between the school of the industrial and the knowledge society. The research shows that it is possible to tip the balance in the direction of the school of the knowledge society, and thus of the future, by comprehensively using ICT and project work in the day-to-day activities of the school, alongside and integrated with the traditional forms of learning, and not least by employing the informal learning processes children develop outside school. For teachers this will mean an extension of their function: no longer merely communicators of knowledge, they will have to become knowledge managers and overall leaders of projects, and this entails much more dialogue with the pupils.

Factors (not) affecting what students do with computers and internet at home

This paper presents the results of an analysis of secondary students’ computer use, aimed at understanding how different factors influence the profile of activities carried out by students with computers. The analysis is based on the data from a national study aimed at measuring students’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills for learning. A factor analysis was carried out to categorize students’ activities with computers and several indexes were constructed to define the comparison groups. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explain the frequency of the activities. Results show that students with access to computers at home mainly perform activities categorized as Socializing, Academic, Gaming and Production and that although the absolute frequency of these activities differs across groups, the profiles of computer use are surprisingly similar for groups based on students’ socio-economic group, experience with ICT, and self-confidence in the use of ICT. The only variable that discriminates user profiles is gender. Based on these findings, it can be claimed that Chilean secondary students with access to computers at home tend to show a rather homogenous computer-use profile, once access is equated.     

On the relationship between solution strategies in two mental rotation tasks

Individual differences in solution strategies have frequently been reported for different measures of mental rotation (MR) ability. In the present study (N = 346 German students), we investigated the relationship between solution strategies on two tests commonly used to identify different patterns of strategies: the Mental Rotations Test (MRT; Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978; Peters, Laeng, Lathan, Jackson, Zaiouna, & Richardson, 1995) and the Cube Comparison Test (CCT; Amthauer, 1953; Amthauer, Brocke, Liepmann, & Beauducel, 2001). The results revealed high convergent validity of the solution strategy assignment. Individuals using analytic (holistic) strategies on the MRT tended to use analytic (holistic) strategies also on the CCT. More females than males were identified as users of analytic solution strategies on the MRT. In addition, males tended to generally show a faster performance than did females. Our findings suggest that solution strategies in MR generalize across different tasks and are not an artifact of a particular test.     

Elicitation of situated values: need for tools to help stakeholders and designers to reflect and communicate

Explicitly considering human values in the design process of socio-technical systems has become a responsibility of designers. It is, however, challenging to design for values because (1) relevant values must be identified and communicated between all stakeholders and designers and (2) stakeholders?? values differ and trade-offs must be made. We focus on the first aspect, which requires elicitation of stakeholders?? situated values, i.e. values relevant to a specific real life context. Available techniques to elicit knowledge and requirements from stakeholders lack in providing the context and means for reflection needed to elicit situated values as well as an explicit concept of value. In this paper we present our design of a tool to support active elicitation of stakeholders?? values and communication between stakeholders and designers. We conducted an exploratory user study in which we compared the suitability of methods used in social sciences for (1) eliciting situated values, (2) supporting people??s expressions of values and (3) being implemented in value elicitation tool. Based on the outcomes we propose a design for a value elicitation tool that consists of a mobile application used by stakeholders for data collection and in-situ self-reflection, and a website used collaboratively by designers and stakeholders to analyse and communicate values. Discussion focuses on contributions to value sensitive design.     

Training on the project: a quantifying approach to competence development

In the project ‘Competence-Driven Project Portfolio Analysis’ (CDPPA), an integrated system for supporting R&D project selection, staff assignment and activity scheduling with special consideration of the strategic development of competencies has been designed and implemented prototypically. The system has been field-tested at the Electronic Commerce Competence Center (EC3), a public–private partnership R&D enterprise. Experiences from this trial application are summarised and discussed, particularly concerning data collection and competence measurement, the benefits and limits of the chosen multi-criteria decision analysis approach, the evaluation of introduced changes to the decision-making processes, and the transparency of the formal planning model and its components.     

Modular microfluidic system as a model of cystic fibrosis airways

A modular microfluidic airways model system that can simulate the changes in oxygen tension in different compartments of the cystic fibrosis (CF) airways was designed, developed, and tested. The fully reconfigurable system composed of modules with different functionalities: multichannel peristaltic pumps, bubble traps, gas exchange chip, and cell culture chambers. We have successfully applied this system for studying the antibiotic therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the bacteria mainly responsible for morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis, in different oxygen environments. Furthermore, we have mimicked the bacterial reinoculation of the aerobic compartments (lower respiratory tract) from the anaerobic compartments (cystic fibrosis sinuses) following an antibiotic treatment. This effect is hypothesised as the one on the main reasons for recurrent lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients.     

Renal lactate elimination is maintained during moderate exercise in humans

Reduced hepatic lactate elimination initiates blood lactate accumulation during incremental exercise. In this study, we wished to determine whether renal lactate elimination contributes to the initiation of blood lactate accumulation. The renal arterial-to-venous (a-v) lactate difference was determined in nine men during sodium lactate infusion to enhance the evaluation (0.5 mol x L(-1) at 16 ± 1 mL x min(-1); mean ± s) both at rest and during cycling exercise (heart rate 139 ± 5 beats x min(-1)). The renal release of erythropoietin was used to detect kidney tissue ischaemia. At rest, the a-v O(2) (CaO(2)-CvO(2)) and lactate concentration differences were 0.8 ± 0.2 and 0.02 ± 0.02 mmol x L(-1), respectively. During exercise, arterial lactate and CaO(2)-CvO(2) increased to 7.1 ± 1.1 and 2.6 ± 0.8 mmol x L(-1), respectively (P < 0.05), indicating a -70% reduction of renal blood flow with no significant change in the renal venous erythropoietin concentration (0.8 ± 1.4 U x L(-1)). The a-v lactate concentration difference increased to 0.5 ± 0.8 mmol x L(-1), indicating similar lactate elimination as at rest. In conclusion, a -70% reduction in renal blood flow does not provoke critical renal ischaemia, and renal lactate elimination is maintained. Thus, kidney lactate elimination is unlikely to contribute to the initial blood lactate accumulation during progressive exercise.