Fragile knowledge and conflicting evidence: what effects do contiguity and personal characteristics of museum visitors have on their processing depth?

Until recently, museums mainly communicated well-established knowledge. Current science, however, is characterized by a rapid knowledge increase, so that we often have to deal with fragile and inconsistent knowledge. In order to develop exhibitions that encourage visitors to process information in a differentiated way, museums need to know how visitors deal with conflicting information. Furthermore, museum professionals need information on personal and situational factors that may promote the processing of such information. We tested whether conflict processing is influenced by personal characteristics such as situational interest, epistemological beliefs, tolerance of ambiguity, and self-efficacy on the one hand and by situational conditions such as the spatial arrangement of information on the other hand. In two science museums and one museum of cultural history, text pairs were displayed that described a topic from conflicting perspectives. The spatial distance between the two texts was manipulated. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires captured the personal characteristics of 323 visitors and the way they dealt with conflicting information. The results showed that a majority of the visitors perceived a conflict, and a large proportion was willing to process the information at a deeper level. Sophisticated epistemological beliefs, a high tolerance of ambiguity, and high self-efficacy were found to promote situational interest in conflicting information. High situational interest, in turn, promoted a tendency to process deeply. Placing text pairs in close proximity had a positive effect on the processing depth in science museums but not in the museum of cultural history. A possible explanation lies in the higher density of additional and potentially interfering information in the science museums compared to the museum of cultural history.     

A Walker Runs Through the Syllabus

A bag of 24 packets of a well‐known brand of crisps provides a handy visual (and edible) aid to looking at the syllabus of a basic course in statistics.     

Learning styles and student perceptions of the use of interactive online tutorials

This study examined the effects of learning styles on learner perceptions of the use of interactive online tutorials. Learners were categorised into five learning style categories and four learning modalities. The responses to a questionnaire with four survey dimensions were analysed in order to ascertain differences based on learning styles, gender and class standing. Researchers investigated whether relationships, interactions, main effects and associations between the variables and survey dimensions existed. The majority of learners perceived the tutorials as useful, accessible, well designed and helpful in completing assignments. Researchers found significant main effects for both gender and learning style, and gender and the perception of usefulness. The relationship between learning styles and gender was statistically significant.     

Disciplinary Differences in Student Ratings of Teaching Quality

Comparisons of large samples of course and teaching evaluation questionnaire data show consistent disciplinary differences. The current study examined the disciplinary differences in a theoretical model positing the impact of the perceived nature of teaching and learning environment on the development of generic capabilities by testing of (1) whether a common model of good teaching operated across disciplines and (2) the extent of deployment of teaching variables and their impact on learning outcomes. The sample consisted of 3,305 first and third year Chinese undergraduates of a university in Hong Kong, divided into four broad disciplinary groupings. Multiple-group structural equation modelling analysis showed configural invariance of the hypothesised model, suggesting a common model of good teaching across disciplines; and significant differences in the magnitude of structural paths and latent mean values across the four disciplinary groups were obtained reflecting differences between disciplines in the extent to which elements within the teaching and learning environment were brought into play. Possible reasons in terms of the epistemological nature of the disciplines were given to explain for the disciplinary variations.     

‘Taking culture seriously’: implications for intercultural education and training

Albeit indispensable to understanding human action, the concept of culture has suffered from excessive enthusiasm in the fields of intercultural education as well as in intercultural teacher training, leading too often to culturalist stances. These excesses of intercultural education and training as well as their contradictory message (between praising and minimising – even ignoring – culture and cultural differences) have led some scholars to advocate for the abandonment of the concept of culture altogether. Rather than this radical and counterproductive approach, we propose a heuristic tool: the dialectical square of cultural difference, as well as three metaphors of culture, that should help teacher educators to foster a dynamic and complex understanding of culture and cultural difference among pre- and in-service teachers.     

Thoughts on improvable objects, contradiction and object/tool reciprocity in a study of zoo educator professional development

In this forum we discuss three aspects designed to clarify and extend Kelly and Kassing’s paper. These are the roles of improvable objects, contradiction and object/tool reciprocity. In each case we cite relevant literature and pose questions to the field. Our goal is to seed ideas for future discussions concerning the role of activity theory in our current and future research in informal learning settings.     

Technology in Biomechanics Instruction

When used appropriately, modem technology has the potential for improving the effectiveness of biomechanics instruction. Computer presentation packages can be used to assist individuals in understanding complex concepts in a classroom setting or at a remote site. Video and force plate technology employed in progressive stages, moving from simple hand calculations to computerized data processing, can give students a better appreciation of basic principles and improve their ability to apply them in the analysis of cyclic and discrete motor skills.