The effects of test anxiety on learning at superficial and deep levels of processing

The effect of test anxiety on learning superficial and deep level tasks was examined. Ninety college students classified as either high or low test-anxious learned a paired-associate word list using either a superficial level or a deep level processing strategy. The results indicated that on the superficial level processing task, the performance of the low test-anxious students was not significantly different from that of the high test-anxious students, while on the deep level processing task the performance of the low test-anxious students was significantly better than the performance of the high test-anxious students. The results are discussed in the context of a cognitive-attentional theory of test anxiety and the mechanisms by which test anxiety may disrupt performance.     

Undergraduate Laboratories?Some Comments on Efficient Use of Students' Time

Some sort of reportorial process is necessary for evaluation of undergraduate laboratory work. A variety of methods currently employed are not entirely satisfactory. Ideally, such a process should accomplish its purpose with a minimum expenditure of time and effort and, wherever possible, enhance the educational efficiency of the laboratory. Under certain conditions, verbal communication may be employed to these ends. In addition to more efficient use of time, other results include: more accurate evaluation, increased effectiveness of laboratory problems as teaching devices, and useful training in the use of verbal communication. In other terms, the communication channel between instructor and student may be given greater capacity, less noise, and changed more nearly into a closed loop.     

Appropriate intellectual property protection and economic growth in countries at different levels of development

This paper examines how the role of patents and utility models in innovation and economic growth varies by level of economic development. Using a panel dataset of over 70 countries, we find that patent protection is an important determinant of innovation and that patentable innovations contribute to economic growth in developed countries, but not in developing. Instead, in developing economies, a minor form of intellectual property rights (IPRs) - namely utility models - is conducive to innovation and growth, controlling for other factors. Using Korean firm level data as a case study, we find that utility model innovations contribute to firm performance when firms are technologically lagging and that those minor innovations can be a learning device and thus a stepping stone for developing more patentable inventions later on. Upon reaching higher levels of technological capabilities, firms become more reliant upon patents and less on utility models. Thus the lesson here is that patent protection enhances innovation and economic growth in countries where the capacity to conduct innovative research exists. Where this capacity is weaker, a system that provides incentives to conduct minor, incremental inventions is more conducive to growth. The significance of this paper is to emphasize the importance not just of the strength of IPRs but of the appropriate type of IPRs for economic development.     

Enhancing the pedagogical value of multimedia products in higher education

Abstract

In higher education settings two aims of multimedia development and use are: to enhance student learning by changing the nature of the curriculum experience, and to improve the teaching environment. This paper proceeds from the premise that the involvement of academic developers in the production of multimedia projects has the potential to enhance the pedagogical value of the final product. The evaluation of multimedia projects is considered in relation to five issues: conceptual need, students, medium, integration, and relation to existing products. Also presented are associated questions which can be used to explore each issue, and corresponding techniques which can be used to answer those questions. Suggestions are made for ways in which academic developers might create opportunities to work on multimedia development, and specific journals are suggested to assist developers in becoming familiar with the field.     

Relationships between learning environment and mathematics anxiety

We investigated relationships between the learning environment and students’ mathematics anxiety, as well as differences between the sexes in perceptions of learning environment and anxiety. A sample of 745 high-school students in 34 different mathematics classrooms in four high schools in Southern California was used to cross-validate the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) learning environment instrument, together with an updated Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating scale. Mathematics anxiety was found to have two factorially-distinct dimensions (namely, learning mathematics anxiety and mathematics evaluation anxiety) which yielded different patterns of results for sex differences and anxiety–environment associations. Relative to males, females perceived a more positive classroom environment and more anxiety about mathematics evaluation, but less anxiety about mathematics learning. Some statistically significant associations were found between anxiety and learning environment scales for learning mathematics anxiety but not for mathematics evaluation anxiety.