Comparing active delay and procrastination from a self-regulated learning perspective

Researchers have proposed that the act of postponing academic work may be divided into a traditional definition of procrastination, viewed as maladaptive, and adaptive forms of delay. Adaptive forms of delay may be more consistent with certain facets of self-regulated learning. The current study investigated this issue by examining whether the relations between aspects of self-regulated learning and active delay may be distinct from the relations these aspects of self-regulated learning have with procrastination. Among 206 undergraduates, procrastination was positively predicted by mastery-avoidance goals and negatively by metacognitive strategy usage, whereas active delay was negatively predicted by avoidance goals and positively by self-efficacy. Furthermore, students who reported higher levels of active delay also received better grades. These findings provide support that active delay is a distinct form of delay from procrastination that may be more positive due to its associations with some adaptive self-regulatory processes and academic achievement.     

Reclaiming Kindergarten: Part II: Questions About Policy

Part II of “Reclaiming Kindergarten” continues the discussion related to responding to the crisis in today’s kindergarten. In Part II, two policy questions are posed, the answers to which seek to respond to this continuing crisis. The questions center on issues related to engaging families in kindergarten and the need to consider a new early childhood paradigm where kindergarten is part of a continuous and seamless educational experience spanning prekindergarten through third grade. As in Part I, examples of classroom practice are used to illustrate the effective implementation of these principles in a kindergarten classroom.     

对提升高校教师科学素质的思考

2020年建成创新型国家是我国本世纪的宏伟目标,要实现这个目标,需要大批素质高能力强的创新型人才．高校教师既是创新型国家建设的主力军,又是培养建设创新型国家高素质人才的教育者,因此提升高校教师科学素质是我国建设创新型国家的迫切需要．目前我国高校教师的科学素质现状难以胜任创新型国家建设主力军和创新型人才培养的双重任务,必须采取有效措施和途径,提升高校教师的科学素质,为创新型国家建设做贡献．     

Classroom action research on formative assessment in a context-based chemistry course

Context-based science courses stimulate students to reconstruct the information presented by connecting to their prior knowledge and experiences. However, students need support. Formative assessments inform both teacher and students about students’ knowledge deficiencies and misconceptions and how students can be supported. Research on formative assessments suggests a positive impact on students’ science achievement, although its success depends on how the formative assessment is implemented in class. The aim of this study was to provide insights into the effects of formative assessments on achievement during a context-based chemistry course on lactic acid. In a classroom action research setting, a pre-test/post-test control group design with switching replications was applied. Student achievement was measured in two pre-tests, two post-tests and a retention test. Participants were Grade 9 students from one secondary school in the Netherlands. Repeated-measures analysis showed a significant effect of formative assessments on students’ achievement. During the implementation of the formative assessments, intriguing discussions emerged between students, between students and teacher, and between teachers. Adding formative assessments to context-based approaches reinforces their strength to meet with the current challenges of chemistry education. Formative assessments affect students’ achievement positively and stimulate feedback between students and teacher(s).     

Monitoring the Use of a Staff Student Liaison Committee for Feedback in Quality Engineering Education

The paper explores the use of a staff student liaison committee (SSLC) as one of the mechanisms for assuring quality in civil engineering education. The School of Civil Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, is used as a case study. The school has a SSLC which meets about six times per year and has representatives of all undergraduate courses and some academic staff. It was thought that the SSLC was well regarded by staff and students and contributed to the learning experience of students within the school. A questionnaire was used to ascertain the views of staff and students regarding the effectiveness of the committee in promoting good quality education. The findings indicated that the SSLC was playing an important role, but that it was not as well regarded as academic staff thought, and that many students were not fully aware of its activities. The school has used the findings to adopt new methods of distributing information to the student body and for ascertaining student opinion, principally electronically.     

Concept learning by pigeons: Matching-to-sample with trial-unique video picture stimuli

Pigeons were trained to match-to-sample with several new methodologies: a large number of stimuli, computer-drawn color picture stimuli, responses monitored by a computer touch screen, stimuli presented horizontally from the floor, and grain reinforcement delivered onto the picture stimuli. Following acquisition, matching-to-sample concept learning was assessed by transfer to novel stimuli on the first exposure to pairs of novel stimuli. One group (trial-unique), trained with 152 different pictures presented once daily, showed excellent transfer (80% correct). Transfer and baseline performances were equivalent, indicating that the matching-to-sample concept had been learned. A second group (2-stimulus), trained with only two different pictures, showed no evidence of transfer. These results are discussed in terms of the effect of numbers of exemplars on previous failures to find concept learning in pigeons, and the implications of the positive finding from this experiment on abstract concept learning and evolutionary cognitive development.     

Curriculum stasis: the disconnect between music and technology in the Australian curriculum

Technology is a dominant mediating factor impacting on current human behaviour and social change, which both acts on and is acted upon by other phenomena. This changing social landscape, along with new expectations and requirements, drives our educational priorities and curriculum agenda. There is no denying the prevalence of technology found in the statements and guidelines of the national Australian Curriculum. Further, the National Review of School Music Education identified the importance of technology in school music education in 2005. The curriculum guidelines illustrate an understanding of technology in Music and the Arts that is both vague and limiting. In 2015 we are at a point of curriculum stasis, an equilibrium that highlights a disconnect between music, technology and Australian music education. This article investigates current secondary school Years 7–10 (ages 11–15 years) Music and Arts curriculum statements concerning the use of technology and compares this to the general capability information and computer technology (ICT) curricula. There is wide recognition that digital technology is essential in teaching and learning, but this is not reflected in contemporary Australian Arts and Music curricula.