Interaction and instruction in the conservation experiment

Though there has been considerable research in recent years into the ways in which children’s performance in conservation experiments is affected by the context of interaction, this has so far lacked a coherent theoretical basis. In this article, concepts from communication theory are applied to the behaviour of experimenter and subject in the experimental situation. It is argued that the child behaves according to the «metacontract» of a teacher-pupil interaction, i.e. he or she expects to receive instruction. In the classical conservation experiment of Piaget, these expectations are thwarted, because the experimenter does not conform to the rules of a teacher-pupil relationship. Instead, the experimenter follows the rules of a different metacontract—that of examination. In experiments where conservation abilities are taught, and in group interactions where conserving children cooperate with non-conserving children, the participants do behave according to the same metacontract. But the value of these studies is reduced by the exclusive attention paid to the eventual achievements of the child, instead of the cognitive processes during the learning phase.     

Student evaluation of audience response technology in large lecture classes

In the past few years, audience response technology (ART) has been widely adopted on college campuses, and is especially popular among instructors of large lecture classes. Claims regarding ART’s benefits to students have received only limited empirical evaluation, and prior studies exhibit methodological limitations. The current study provides a multi-dimensional evaluation, utilizing a newly-developed measure, the Audience Response Technology Questionnaire (ART-Q). Data were provided at three points during a semester by undergraduate students (n = 854) who used ART in three large lecture university courses. Results indicate moderately positive evaluations of ART on some dimensions (e.g., ease of use, impact on attendance), with less positive evaluations on others (e.g., influence on preparation for class). These evaluations showed some variability across time of semester and course, but were not substantially affected by gender, ethnicity, or year in school. Findings are discussed with respect to the need for future research on instructors’ techniques for using ART and their influence on student perceptions and outcomes.

Proving Our Worth: The Impact of Electronic Resource Usage on Academic Achievement

Samford University Library conducted a study to determine correlation between library use and student achievement. This research used electronic resources as a measure of library use and grade point average as an indicator of academic success. The data demonstrate that students with higher GPAs tend to use library online resources more and with a higher frequency than those with lower GPAs. While this does not prove that use of online resources leads to a higher GPA, it provides strong evidence that the two are positively correlated for some populations. This study provides persuasive evidence of the library's contribution to the academic success of students.