Reviews

Sam Pickering teaches English at the University of Connecticut     

Auditorysame/different concept learning by monkeys

Two rhesus monkeys learned the auditory abstract concept ofsame/different. They were trained with 38 different environmental and natural sounds, which were arranged in different combinations as training progressed. Upon transfer to 138 different novel stimuli, they performed as well (78.8% correct) on the first exposure to the novel stimuli as they did (77.3%) with their training stimuli. The comparatively large set of training sounds, contact with the sound source, and a special fading procedure are thought to have contributed to the monkeys’ being able to learn this concept. Implications for species’ similarities/differences in cognitive processing are discussed.     

Mnemonic artwork-learning strategies: Helping students remember more than “Who painted what?”

In two experiments, a recently devised mnemonic strategy was examined in the context of college students recalling the theme and contents of various paintings. With the painting-artist mnemonic strategy: (a) the artist's name is first recoded as a more concrete proxy; and (b) the recoded stimulus is then related to a prominent feature of the painting. Previous research has demonstrated that such a strategy enhances students' recall of artist names when cued with the associated paintings. The present study extends those findings by demonstrating that the strategy similarly facilitates students' recall of paintings and painting information when cued with the associated artist names. Of three different mnemonic variations included, one that incorporates a verbally described mnemonic interaction into the painting proved most effective. Suggestions for future research and educational implications are included in the discussion.     

Compliance and Comprehension in Very Young Toddlers

We studied the relation of compliance with comprehension in 30 toddlers, 10 each at 12–13, 14–16, and 17–18 months of age. Requests, using preselected words, were made to children in the context of a naturalistic and pleasant play situation in a quasilaboratory setting. Detailed coding systems were used to define comprehension, compliance, and patterns of compliance-comprehension, noncompliance-comprehension, compliance-noncomprehension, and noncompliance-noncomprehension at each age period. Findings indicated significant shifts in the categories of compliance-comprehension and noncompliance-noncomprehension across the 3 ages, with the most striking change occurring between 14–16 and 17–18 months. Implications of the data are discussed.     

An ecological approach to the on-line assessment of problem-solving paths: Principles and applications

In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework for designing on-line situated assessment tools for multimedia instructional systems. Based on an ecological psychology approach to situated learning, a graph theoretic methodology is applied to monitor students' performance (solution paths) throughout the learning activity. Deviation of the student's path from the target (expert) path generates indicators which can function as alerts to the student and to the instructor. The information collected in the dribble files and presented visually enables the instructor to identify problems quickly and intervene appropriately. The feasibility of the methodology is explored in case studies describing three instructional systems that teach (1) critical thinking and problem-solving skills, (2) principles of hemodynamic monitoring and treatment, and (3) orthodontic treatment, respectively.     

The Status of Career and Technical Education Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in the United States

The purpose of this study was to examine undergraduate and graduate student enrollments, course delivery modes, and curricular trends and issues of CTE programs. Based on findings from 139 program/department coordinators, results emphasized that although CTE programs within institutions of higher education have declined in number (Fletcher, Gordon, Asunda, &; Zirkle, 2015 Fletcher, E., &; Djajalaksana, Y. (2015). Instructional strategy preferences in the career and technical education classroom. Journal of Research in Business Education, 57(1), 32–56. [Google Scholar]), student enrollments within those programs have remained steady compared to prior studies (Bruening et al., 2001 Bruening, T., Scanlon, D., Hodes, C., Dhital, P., Shao, X., &; Liu, S. (2001). The status of career and technical education teacher preparation programs. (Report No. V051A990004). Minneapolis, MN: The National Research Center for Career and Technical Education. [Google Scholar]; Lynch, 1990 Lynch, R. (1990). A national database on vocational teacher education (Report No. V051A80004-89). Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education. [Google Scholar]). Even so, CTE program/department administrators have articulated that declining student enrollment is a major challenge within their programs. Additionally, the development of online courses and the impact of state/national educational reform initiatives were identified as major curricular trends for CTE programs. Recommendations include the need for CTE faculty to embrace online instruction, and for programs to use broader nomenclature of CTE/Workforce Education, instead of names of more traditional subdisciplines within the field to remain more accessible and sustainable in the future. The condition of undergraduate and graduate CTE programs will likely impact the viability and sustainability of CTE teacher preparation programs, recruitment of a talented and diverse CTE teaching force, continuity of the U.S. teaching workforce, and ability of K–12 teachers to maintain high-quality CTE programs.