Are four heads better than one? A comparison of cooperative and traditional teaching formats in an introductory biology course

The objective of this experiment was to compare the impact of a cooperative learning format with a traditional lecture-oriented format in the teaching of introductory biology. Differences were found in favor of the cooperative learning format in measures of student satisfaction, the ability to find information on one's own, the acquisition of factual knowledge, and the ability to work with others. The results of this study affirm the viability of using a cooperative learning approach over a traditional lecture format.Judith E. Miller is Director of Educational Development and Professor of Biology and Biotechnology at WPI, Worcester, Massachusetts. She received the Ph.D. in Microbiology from Case Western Reserve University and the B.S. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University. Her special interests include the restructuring of technical courses to include cooperative learning and educational productivity. James E. Groccia is the Director of the Program for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He received the Ed.D. in Educational and Counseling Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the M.S.Ed. in Social Science Education from Hofstra University, and the B.A. in Psychology from Hartwick College.     

Excellence through Special Education? Lessons from the Finnish School Reform

The present article focuses on connections between part-time special education and the good results of Finnish students in PISA studies. After a brief summary of the comprehensive school system and special education in Finland, PISA results are analysed. The analysis shows that the relative amount of special education targeted at language problems is highest in Finland among those countries from which comparative statistics are available. The writers argue that this preventive language-oriented part-time special education is an important factor behind the good PISA results.     

Understanding the Link Between Noncognitive Attributes and College Retention

The attention to students’ noncognitive attributes has recently flourished within academic research and public discourse. This paper adds to the literature by examining the interrelationships among several key noncognitive attributes as well as exploring direct and indirect relationships between noncognitive attributes and second-year retention. Within a multi-institutional sample of 10,622 students, academic self-efficacy, academic grit, self-discipline, and time management all load onto a single noncognitive factor with strong inter-item correlations and internal reliability. Moreover, structural equation modeling analyses indicate a sizable and positive indirect effect of noncognitive attributes on college retention, which is mediated by social adjustment, institutional commitment, and college grade point average.

     

The influence of shock during response prevention upon resistance to extinction of an avoidance response

A recent study found that avoidance extinction is equally facilitated by response prevention (blocking) whether the latter involves CS-alone or CS-shock presentations. An experiment was performed to determine whether this result was due to the use of a lengthy shock (5 sec) during response prevention. Five groups of rats were extinguished: (1) without prior blocking, (2) after blocking with CS only, (3) after blocking with a lengthy (5 sec) CS-contingent shock, (4) after blocking with a brief (.5 sec) CS-contingent shock, or (5) after blocking with a brief (.5 sec) shock only. The group blocked with the brief CS-contingent shock was substantially more resistant to extinction than the other four groups. The unblocked group and the group blocked with brief shock only required more trials to extinguish than the groups blocked with CS only or with lengthy CS-contingent shock, but did not differ from each other. The groups blocked with CS only or with lengthy CS-contingent shock also failed to differ from one another. The data support a significant role for Pavlovian conditioning processes in the effect of response prevention upon avoidance extinction.     

Serial learning,interitem associations,phrasing cues,interference, overshadowing,chunking, memory,and extinction

Two experiments indicated that two approaches to serial learning are too extreme—the classical view that it consists only of interitem associations and various recent views that it involves no interitem associations. The novel assumption introduced here was that phrasing cues, normally conceptualized as merely segregating long series into smaller units or chunks, may also enter into associations with items, thereby reducing interitem interference and facilitating serial learning. It was found that one item could become a signal for another item, an interitem association, or be overshadowed by a phrasing cue, such as a brightness and temporal cue, also signaling that item. The items were .045-g pellets. Rats traversed a runway for items arranged in ordered series, 14-7-3-1-0 pellets (Experiment 1) or 10-2-0-10 (Experiment 2). Complete tracking of, for example, the 10-2-0-10 series would consist of fastest running to 10 pellets and slowest running to 0 pellets. In both investigations, the interitem association overshadowed was that between 0 pellets and the subsequent rewarded item, 0 → 14 (Experiment 1) or 0 → 10 (Experiment 2). Either repetitions of the 14-7-3-1-0 subpattern (Experiment 1) or merely the terminal 10-pellet item (Experiment 2) were phrased, both methods producing identical results. Overshadowing the 0-pellet item produced superior serial learning, more rapid extinction, and, in Experiment 1, considerable elevation of responding when the brightness phrasing cue was introduced in extinction, an effect said to be conceptually identical to spontaneous recovery and one demonstrating directly that phrasing cues are in reality overshadowing cues. It was suggested that many effects attributed to forgetting may be due to unrecognized overshadowing of memory cues by phrasing cues, giving rise to exaggerated estimates of forgetting.     

A National Analysis of Noncredit Community College Education: Enrollment,Funding, Accountability,and Contextual Issues

ABSTRACT

Noncredit community college enrollment accounts for approximately 40% of all enrollment in the two-year sector, or five million students (American Association of Community Colleges, 2016). Yet, this population is seldom discussed in the higher education literature due to inconsistent definitions, funding, and data reporting at the state level. Many of the structural elements (e.g., funding, enrollment) have not been documented recently or completely. This study used data from the 2015 Survey of Access and Finance Issues, administered annually to the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges. The authors calculated noncredit enrollment by function and frequencies on funding mechanisms, funding by function, noncredit data reporting, and the measures captured at the state level. The study also employed polychoric and polyserial correlations examining the relationships among structural, contextual, and perspective-based items. This was done to capture the national landscape on this important community college function through the lens of state-level community college leaders.     

Assessing Differential Item Functioning in Direct Writing Assessments: Problems and an Example

The recent emphasis on various types of performance assessments raises questions concerning the differential effects of such assessments on population subgroups. Procedures for detecting differential item functioning (DIF) in data from performance assessments are available but may be hindered by problems that stem from this mode of assessment. Foremost among these are problems related to finding an appropriate matching variable. These problems are discussed and results are presented for three methods for DIF detection in polytomous items using data from a direct writing assessment. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of using different combinations of internal and external matching variables. The procedures included a generalized Mantel-Haenszel statistic, a technique based on meta-analysis methodology, and logistic discriminant function analysis. In general, the results did not support the use of an external matching criterion and indicated that continued problems may be expected in attempts to assess DIF in performance assessments.     

Humorous materials to enhance active learning

The use of humour in teaching and learning can be contentious, with some authors suggesting that the efficacy of humorous materials is mediated by the culture of the student. Nevertheless, humour represents a potential vehicle for the introduction of active learning in a classroom setting, as judicious use of humour may lead to a more relaxed learning atmosphere and greater student engagement. This article describes how humour was used to good effect in creating a suite of online materials designed to enhance the academic English skills of international students. The materials, funded through a grant from the Office for Learning and Teaching and now openly accessible on the English for Uni website, were developed using an action research process. This involved an iterative process of designing, trialling and evaluating the resources to ensure that humour was used appropriately. In the final stages, Biggs’ Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome taxonomy was also used to evaluate student learning. The results show that the materials improved students’ understanding of the topics presented on the site and that the element of humour stimulated student interest in learning.