移动学习的案例研究及内容分析——以mGage项目为例

文章首先对移动学习在中小学课堂中的应用、移动学习的形式和信息设计进行了文献综述。在此基础上,又对美国圣地亚哥州立大学教育技术系开展的mGage项目进行了案例分析。研究者设计出一套详细的评价工具,从视觉吸引力、认知过程、资源质量等16个维度评估学生的WebQuest作品。结果显示,参加移动学习的实验组的得分明显高于对照组。统计分析表明,使用移动设备进行学习的实验组,除了在工具使用维度上具有明显优势外,在认知过程维度和资源质量维度的得分也胜过对照组。文章最后对研究进行了反思总结并展望了下一阶段的研究工作,以期为移动学习进入中小学课堂提供有意义的借鉴。     

College Academic Assistance Programs and Practices

Most public institutions offer some form of academic assistance to help their students adjust to the demands of college level learning tasks. Because these academic assistance efforts vary considerably, ranging from an emphasis on functional reading to an emphasis on strategic learning, it is important to describe these programs and their instructional methodologies and to review the pertinent research supporting them. After examining four critical issues confronting all academic assistance programs, the authors examined the goals, assessment procedures, salient features, and program evaluation methods of four prevalent program models: learning to learn courses, supplemental instruction, required programs for underprepared students, and integrated reading/writing courses. They concluded by outlining suggestions for future research and by listing specific questions that college students need to ask about the programs at their institutions.     

The role of the institutional researcher in a sex discrimination suit

This paper has three purposes, the first being a summary of what transpires when an institution of higher education is the defendant in a class action suit charging prejudicial treatment of some minority group. The second purpose is to demonstrate how easily the plaintiffs can use the institution's own data to establish aprima facie case for disparate treatment. The final goal is to display typical data and statistical exhibits that an institution might expect to see filed against them by the plaintiffs. Considerable attention is placed on discussing the role institutional researchers play in the defense phase, particularly with regard to strategies for defending against a multivariate regression model that the claimants' statistical expert has submitted in evidence of a classwide bias. The hoped for result of this exposition would be greater alertness to the vulnerability of any institution and an appreciation of the need for advance preparation that would ensure the availability of data and techniques required to make a strong defense against a class action suit that may be unwarranted.Presented at the Twenty-First Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Minneapolis, May 1981.     

Practitioner-centred research and the Ph.D.

This paper is about Ph.Ds, practitioner-centred research and action learning. The aim of this paper is to help develop a framework for those completing doctorates based on action learning. The paper explores relationships between the personal learning of action learning participants and the public knowledge associated with conventional research. It concludes that the new professional doctorates based on action learning offer a way of integrating evidence-based practice with practice-based evidence.     

Writes of passage: writing up qualitative data as a threshold concept in doctoral research

Effective writing is an essential skill for all doctoral students, yet it is one that receives relatively little attention in training and supervision. This article explores extensive feedback from participants in a series of workshops for doctoral candidates engaged with writing up qualitative data. The themes arising from the data analysis are discussed in terms of the affective domain of writing, and the main claim is that writing up qualitative data has been identified as what Meyer and Land would call a threshold concept for doctoral candidates employing qualitative analysis. Drawing on Turner's notion of liminality, the article concludes that interdisciplinary workshops can be instrumental in helping doctoral candidates understand the role of writing, and of writing up qualitative data in particular, in their development into independent, autonomous researchers.     

The common first year programme: some lessons from a construction science course

In 2005, the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University, Melbourne, introduced a new curriculum format for all first year students. All students enrolling in one of the four undergraduate degrees offered by the school commenced a common first year programme. This new curriculum was adopted to provide students with a broader depth of knowledge and experience across all study areas and to provide greater skill enhancement for graduates. The common first year university experience allows students to build a multidisciplinary degree based upon their interests and skills. But the common first year has created a number of challenges for the lecturing staff: extremely large classes, space and resourcing issues, assessment and administration problems; greater strains upon technology; and increase in the impersonal nature of the learning environment. This paper examines how one of these large first year classes (construction science) was conducted to address some of the learning issues arising from a common first year. It describes how students were encouraged over the semester to electronically build and create a classroom resource of e-reference material on construction science topics, which was the basis for classroom discussion, interaction and assessment. The result was an electronic reference folder on CD that provided students with both a starting point for assignments, class interaction and assessment, and the development of vital information technology literacy skills.     

“Packaged” Information: How are new Means of Delivering Information Affecting Students’ Information-Seeking Behavior?

This article explores two methods of “packaging” information for students: custom textbooks and web-based discovery services. It examines the implementation of each of these initiatives at the University of Reading, using the institution as a case study to explore the implications on students’ information-seeking behavior. This is combined with a review of the relevant literature surrounding each service. Custom textbooks were used by the University's History department to support one of its first-year undergraduate modules, with the aim of providing a source of essential reading. The University Library released its web-based discovery service to students in October 2011. Various effects on information-seeking behavior are observed, including the potential decline of critical thinking in order to evaluate sources and the danger of sidelining search skills in favor of easy information solutions. The article concludes that librarians have an important role to play in helping students to understand the complexity of information searching. Whilst custom textbooks and discovery services are in some ways beneficial to students, they still require guidance from expert library staff to help them navigate these resources as independent learners. Finally, topics for further research are presented.