Redesigning a curriculum for inquiry: an ecology case study

This article reports on an interdisciplinary ecology degree that was redesigned to provide more research activity for undergraduates. A case study approach explored how the teaching team constructed a curriculum that used inquiry activities. The development of an inquiry curriculum was enabled by a University audit focusing on the links between teaching and research, a Programme Review that signalled a need for change, and a Programme Director and group of academics committed to change. In addition, curriculum planning discussions were facilitated by an academic staff developer, who developed a shared vision for an inquiry approach during extended conversations amongst the planning group. Consequently, the new programme progressively develops inquiry skills in four out of five core courses (papers/modules). At stages 1 and 2, structured, guided and open inquiry activities lead to an open inquiry capstone course at stage 3.     

The Effects of Individual and Group Monetary Incentives on High Performance

This study examined whether high performers performed better (a) under individual and group incentive pay than under hourly pay and (b) under individual incentive pay than under group incentive pay. Participants were 11 college students. An ABCDC within‐subject design was used in which A was hourly pay with individual feedback, B was individual incentives with individual feedback, C was individual incentives with individual and group feedback, and D was group incentives with individual and group feedback. Participants performed better under both individual and group incentive pay than under hourly pay (p<.01). They did not significantly decrease performance when switched from individual to group incentives, but increased their performance when switched back to individual incentives (p<.01). Individual incentive pay was rated as the most preferred and most satisfying of the three pay systems, and group incentive pay as the least preferred, least satisfying and most stressful. These data suggest that high performers perform better under individual than group incentive pay after exposure to both and are highly likely to prefer individual incentive pay.     

A Comparison of Training Methods on the Acquisition of Automotive Product Knowledge

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a traditional training program with a fluency‐building training program on the acquisition of automotive product knowledge in a lab setting. The effects were assessed by how accurately and quickly participants responded on a product‐knowledge test. Results indicated that participants who completed the fluency training responded faster and more accurately than control groups immediately after the study. However, the difference between the fluency group and the group that received study objectives disappeared when retention was assessed several weeks after training. The difference remained between these groups and a group that did not receive study objectives. The results were used to modify globally delivered training. This study extended previous studies by examining the effects of training designed to teach product knowledge to sales representatives in automotive dealerships and illustrates the benefits of collaboration between academic researchers and professional trainers.     

Use of a mnemonic technique to teach young children foreign language vocabulary

Children 3 to 6 years of age learned simple Spanish vocabulary items using an adaptation of the keyword method of foreign language vocabulary learning. Using this version of the keyword method, the learner remembered a picture of the translation referent of the vocabulary item interacting with the referent of a concrete English word which sounded like part of the foreign word (the keyword). Children who used the keyword method remembered more vocabulary translations than children who were not instructed in keyword method usage.     

Toward a Toolkit Approach to Describing Classroom Quality

Research conducted in preschool classrooms has long relied on measures of classroom quality that were developed in the 1980s based on theory and data available at that time. They examine classroom quality broadly, provide limited detail about supports for pre-academic instruction, and only weakly predict variation in children's acquisition of skills and knowledge critical for school readiness. This article draws on data from observational studies that employ more fine-grained instruments while arguing that the field needs a “toolkit” that includes measures that describe classrooms broadly, that focus on different content areas, and still others that examine fine-grained details of teacher-child interaction. Different combinations of measures could be used for accountability and research. The heterogeneity of tools could allow for cross referencing results from varied tools and progressive improvement in our identify features of classrooms that predict children's development.