Enhancing the quality of community learning experiences

An Experiential Learning Questionnaire was designed using a critical incidents technique, open-ended questions and rating scales based on propositions derived from Social Learning Theory. Administered to 218 students in eight Experience-Based Career Education programs in five states, the questionnaire sought to determine the characteristics of both good and poor learning experiences in the community. The study found factors which discriminated between good and poor learning experiences and between young men and women.Research for this study was sponsored by the Education and Work Program of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) under a grant from the National Institute of Education (NIE). The ideas and opinions in this paper do not necessarily reflect the position of NWREL nor NIE and no official endorsement should be inferred.This article is based on a presentation at the 1978 SFEE/NCPSIP annual convention.Readers interested in receiving a copy of the instrument used in thist study may obtain it by writing to the authors at NWREL, Education and Work Program, 710 S. W. Second Avenue, Portland, OR 97204.     

Reflection on Teaching: Types and Goals of Reflection

We describe an elaboration of an empirical cognitive model of reflection (McAlpine, Weston, Beauchamp, Wiseman, & Beauchamp, 1999). Specifically, we explain 2 fundamental constructs in the model that were previously less well understood: goal and type of reflection.     

Assessment of critical thinking ability in medical students

In this study conducted with 80 first‐year students in a graduate medical course at the Australian National University, Canberra, students’ critical thinking skills were assessed using the Watson‐Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (Forms A and B) in a test‐retest design. Results suggested that overall subjects retained consistent patterns of ability in critical thinking over the year. Subjects aged 30 years and over were more likely to perform better on the tests than subjects aged under 30. However, there was a significantly lower group mean on Form B than on Form A. Subjects with an above‐mean score on Form A, or subjects aged 30 years and over, were more likely to be associated with a reduced score on Form B than were subjects with a below‐mean score on Form A, or aged less than 30 years. In motivational terms, it is suggested that subjects who had more highly developed critical thinking skills, and older subjects, conducted a more realistic effort/reward analysis before the administration of Form B, and were less willing to put effort into a test that was not an assessable component of their medical school curriculum, than were other students. For the design of assessment items in higher education, this would suggest that assessment weightings need to reflect accurately the size of the reward, or possible outcome, of completing those assessments if students are to work to their ability.     

Listen,listen, listen and listen: building a comprehension corpus and making it comprehensible

Listening comprehension input is necessary for language learning and acculturation. One approach to developing listening comprehension skills is through exposure to massive amounts of naturally occurring spoken language input. But exposure to this input is not enough; learners also need to make the comprehension corpus meaningful to their learning experience.