Teaching with the Case Method Online: Pure Versus Hybrid Approaches

The impact of hybrid classroom/distance education approaches is examined in the context of the case method. Four distinct semester‐long treatments, which varied mixes of classroom and online discussion, were used to teach a graduate MIS survey course. Specific findings suggest that by using Web technology, college instructors may offer students the option of participating in high‐quality courses using the case method pedagogy in an online environment. Students not only appear to do as well as in the traditional classroom, but the data suggest that students in the online environment may perform better at multiple levels of learning outcomes, especially when using a blend of classroom and online technologies. Furthermore, the precepts of the case method pedagogy may be enhanced by the use of online discussions. Instructors employing the technique may find their own importance devalued, while the time demands of the approach can be much greater than for traditional classes. The findings infer that it is the model of learning and its fit with supporting technologies, rather than the presence of technology per se, which enhances learning outcomes.     

The similarities between birth plans and living wills

Birth plans and living wills are both advance directives that promote individualized care and improved outcomes for individuals and their families.     

A hypercard based environment for the constructivist teaching of Newtonian physics

Many students have severe difficulties in successfully gaining a good understanding of Newtonian Mechanics. They exhibit deep misconceptions, many of which have developed as pre-instructional ideas on the subject in order to explain observed phenomena and experience. We have been developing a series of computer based systems to address this problem by presenting the learner with flexible routes of learning to help elicit, restructure and understand the concepts involved. The systems are based on our previously described theories of the application of Hypermedia to allow constructivist approaches to learning. We are committed to developing usable, inviting and self-paced packages that allow for individual differences, and levels of communication for students. The system is constructed using off-the-shelf multimedia authoring tools, that allow non-programmers to build educational packages that take account of soundly based theories of learning.     

'It's Like We're a Normal Way and Everyone Else is Different': Australian children's constructions of citizenship and national identity

The more people are urged to 'think globally' and to see themselves as 'citizens of the world', the more taken-for granted notions of national belonging (national identity) are called into question. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Australia where, in recent times, a number of events have caused Australians to think most carefully about what it means to be Australian. While there have been plenty of opportunities for adults to debate these issues, little attention has been paid to the way children are now conceptualising their senses of 'belonging'. Do children see themselves as global citizens, an identity they are increasingly encouraged to embrace through mass media, mass communications and the Internet, or do they see themselves as belonging to an entity called 'Australia', or are they juggling with both identities? This study examines how 28 young Australian children are thinking about what it means to be 'Australian' and 'a citizen' in global times.