Applying the modality principle to real-time feedback and the acquisition of higher-order cognitive skills

Effectively presenting complex material is a crucial component of instructional design within simulation-based training (SBT) environments. One approach to facilitate the acquisition of higher-order knowledge is to embed instructional strategies within the systems themselves. Currently, however, there are few established guidelines to inform developers how best to implement such strategies. In response, this study aims to explore the presentation of one such strategy—feedback—during SBT of a complex decision-making task. Specifically, this study extends past research on the modality principle of multimedia learning by comparing the use of spoken- versus printed-text real-time feedback in an SBT environment. During two primarily visual training scenarios, participants received spoken-text (Spoken Group), printed-text (Printed Group), or no feedback (Control Group) based on their performance. Results indicated that the Spoken Group demonstrated greater decision-making performance during training and assessment compared to the Printed Group. These findings are consistent with those of past research and suggest that the modality principle can be extended to the presentation of real-time feedback during SBT of higher-order cognitive skills.     

Teaching Practices that Promote Motor Skills in Early Childhood Settings

Early childhood educators, especially those in preschool centers, are often expected to design and implement movement programs. However, these individuals may not have been taught these skills during their education. The purpose of this study was to determine if early childhood majors could successfully be taught to implement a mastery climate instructional approach to promote motor skill development to preschool-age children. Twenty undergraduate Early Childhood Education majors, who completed a Motor Development Across the School Years course, designed and implemented a movement program to develop preschoolers’ locomotor and object control skills. Fourteen preschoolers participated in an 11-week movement program. Preschoolers’ motor performance was assessed with the Test of Gross Motor Development—2nd Edition prior to and following the intervention. Results indicate significant improvements in total performance (p < .05) and locomotor skills (p = .037). Findings indicate that with guidance and training, early childhood majors can effectively design and implement a mastery-based movement program that enhances motor skill competence. The findings also demonstrate the need and value for early childhood majors to receive training in the design and implementation of movement programs. This paper provides a conceptual framework and practical recommendations to assist teachers and educators with implementing a mastery climate movement programs.     

Metacognition and the spacing effect: the role of repetition, feedback, and instruction on judgments of learning for massed and spaced rehearsal

Although memory performance benefits from the spacing of information at encoding, judgments of learning (JOLs) are often not sensitive to the benefits of spacing. The present research examines how practice, feedback, and instruction influence JOLs for spaced and massed items. In Experiment 1, in which JOLs were made after the presentation of each item and participants were given multiple study-test cycles, JOLs were strongly influenced by the repetition of the items, but there was little difference in JOLs for massed versus spaced items. A similar effect was shown in Experiments 2 and 3, in which participants scored their own recall performance and were given feedback, although participants did learn to assign higher JOLs to spaced items with task experience. In Experiment 4, after participants were given direct instruction about the benefits of spacing, they showed a greater difference for JOLs of spaced vs massed items, but their JOLs still underestimated their recall for spaced items. Although spacing effects are very robust and have important implications for memory and education, people often underestimate the benefits of spaced repetition when learning, possibly due to the reliance on processing fluency during study and attending to repetition, and not taking into account the beneficial aspects of study schedule.     

The Impact of Teachers and Their Science Teaching on Students’ ‘Science Interest’: A four-year study

There is a crisis in school science in Australia and this may be related to insufficient students developing an interest in science. This extended study looked at changes in 14 students’ interest in science as they moved through junior secondary school into Year 10. Although the majority of these students still had an interest in science in Year 10, it had fluctuated for most students from year to year. The presence or absence of simple, but effective, teaching practices, identified by these students, seems to suggest one way to retain or improve situational and, it would appear, in several cases, personal interest.     

Content strategy in LibGuides: An exploratory study

Since its inception in 2007, Springshare's LibGuides has become a popular content management system (CMS) with academic libraries. The challenges of managing LibGuides content through a cohesive content strategy have not been well documented. The researchers conducted a survey of academic libraries that were using the LibGuides platform in Fall 2019 to determine how institutions are managing content challenges. Of 120 respondents, only 53% of the respondents indicated that their institutions had content guidelines that LibGuides authors were expected to follow. The top three most observed elements of these content guidelines were page design (80%), content reuse policies (77%), naming conventions (73%), and navigation (3%). 15% of respondents' institutions did not review guides once they were published. Of those that reviewed guides post-publication, authors (84%) most frequently reviewed their own guides. These findings imply that LibGuides are largely cared for on an honour system. Guidelines tend towards quantifiable elements and omit more abstract concepts.     

Learning from failure: a meta-analysis of the empirical studies

The authors searched five scholarly databases for a decade of research publications examining learning from failure as an instructional strategy. Out of 187 publications, 62 were found to be relevant to the topic from which only 12 used experimental design to examine the issue and reported statistics appropriate for meta-analysis. The studies also represented only two of our search domains-productive failure and failure-driven memory. The small number of experimental studies on this topic is a telling indication of the state of experimental research in this area. However, they revealed a moderately positive result for the effect of learning from failure. An examination of moderating variables indicated that participants’ grade level, subject matter domain, and study’s duration, while not significant in explaining the differences across the examined studies, showed positive medium effect sizes. Instructional design implications of our findings and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Health sciences libraries building survey, 1999–2009

Objective:

A survey was conducted of health sciences libraries to obtain information about newer buildings, additions, remodeling, and renovations.

Method:

An online survey was developed, and announcements of survey availability posted to three major email discussion lists: Medical Library Association (MLA), Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL), and MEDLIB-L. Previous discussions of library building projects on email discussion lists, a literature review, personal communications, and the author''s consulting experiences identified additional projects.

Results:

Seventy-eight health sciences library building projects at seventy-three institutions are reported. Twenty-two are newer facilities built within the last ten years; two are space expansions; forty-five are renovation projects; and nine are combinations of new and renovated space. Six institutions report multiple or ongoing renovation projects during the last ten years.

Conclusions:

The survey results confirm a continuing migration from print-based to digitally based collections and reveal trends in library space design. Some health sciences libraries report loss of space as they move toward creating space for “community” building. Libraries are becoming more proactive in using or retooling space for concentration, collaboration, contemplation, communication, and socialization. All are moving toward a clearer operational vision of the library as the institution''s information nexus and not merely as a physical location with print collections.

Highlights

• Seventy-eight health sciences library building projects at seventy-three institutions were reported as completed in the last ten years.
• Five health sciences library projects illustrate the diversity of projects reported.
• Eleven trends in health sciences library buildings are identified.
• Numerous challenges are briefly discussed.

Implications

• Changing services and usage patterns demand innovative ways to use library space.
• Libraries are making more proactive efforts to retool library physical space.
• Migration from print to digital collections is continuing at an accelerated pace.
• More library space is now dedicated for “community” building.