Exploring the Adult Learning Research Field by Analysing Who Cites Whom

In this article we report on findings from a large-scale bibliographic study conducted based on the citation practices within the field of research on adult learning. Our data consist of 151,261 citation links between more than 33,000 different authors whose papers were published in five leading international journals in the field of adult learning during the time period 2006–2014. By analysing the composition of the dominating citation clusters we are able to construct a telescopic view of the research field based on an accumulation of bibliographic citations. The results consist of two parts. First we go through the dominating players active in the field, their position and mutual relationship. Secondly, we derive two main structural oppositions inherent in the citation networks, one connected to the research object (studying education or work) and the second to the level of analysis (cognition or policy). We find that the most dominating tradition within adult learning the last few decades – sociocultural perspectives on learning - occupies a very central position in the space of citations, balancing between these opposing poles. We hope that this analysis will help foster reflexivity concerning our own research practices, and will reveal the relations of dominance currently prevailing within the field of adult learning.     

Hands-On Learning: A Problem-Based Approach to Teaching Microsoft Excel

The development of a student's ability to make data-driven decisions has become a focus in higher education (Schield 1999 Schield, M. 1999. “Statistical Literacy: Thinking Critically about Statistics.” Of Significance: A Topical Journal of the Association of Public Data Users 1 (1): 15–21. [Google Scholar]; Stephenson and Caravello 2007 Stephenson, E., and P. Caravello. 2007. “Incorporating Data Literacy into Undergraduate Information Literacy Programs in the Social Sciences; a Pilot Project.” Reference Services Review 35 (4):525–40. doi:10.1108/00907320710838354.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Data literacy, the ability tounderstand and use data to effectively inform decisions, is a fundamental component of information competence (Mandinach and Gummer 2013 Mandinach, E. B., and E. S. Gummer. 2013. “A systemic view of implementing data literacy in educator preparation.” Educational Researcher 42 (1): 30–37. doi:10.3102/0013189X12459803.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Stephenson and Caravello, 2007 Stephenson, E., and P. Caravello. 2007. “Incorporating Data Literacy into Undergraduate Information Literacy Programs in the Social Sciences; a Pilot Project.” Reference Services Review 35 (4):525–40. doi:10.1108/00907320710838354.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). This commentary highlights the structure of a data literacy course that aims to simultaneously teach problem-solving skills and Microsoft Excel skills through real-world examples and problem based learning. This commentary aims to provide insight to other educators teaching similar courses regarding using technology as a tool for developing a student's problem solving ability.     

Training Teachers in Mixed‐age Classrooms: effects of a staff development programme

A quasi‐experimental, treatment‐control group investigation was designed to test the effects of the staff development programme Dealing with Mixed‐age Classes. Research findings from mixed‐age glasses, effective teaching and classroom management and organisation were translated into teacher behaviours. Following seven three‐hour workshops teachers in mixed‐aged classes implemented self‐designed plans to increase selected research‐derived teaching behaviours and pupils’ time‐on‐task. Based on pre‐ and post‐training classroom observations, a significant treatment effect was found for pupils’ time‐on‐task levels in mixed‐age classrooms and for teacher behaviours regarding effective instruction, lesson design and execution, classroom organisation and management.     

Realistic considerations in solving problematic word problems: Do Japanese and Belgian children have the same difficulties?

The aim of this study was to compare Japanese and Belgian elementary school pupils' (lack of) activation of real-world knowledge during understanding and solving arithmetic word problems in a school context. The word problem test used in a study by Verschaffel, De Corte, and Lasure (1994) was collectively administered to 91 Japanese fifth graders. Besides standard problems which can be modeled in a straightforward way by one or two basic arithmetic operations with the given numbers, this test contained a series of problematic items which cannot be modeled and solved in such a way, at least if one seriously takes into account the realities of the context evoked by the problem statement. The results of the study revealed that Japanese pupils, similarly to Belgian children, have a strong tendency to neglect commonsense knowledge and realistic considerations during their solution of word problems. Moreover, a comparison of Japanese pupils with and without extra hints aimed at improving the disposition towards more realistic mathematical problem solving revealed that these extra hints had only a small effect.     

“Accepting Emotional Complexity”: A Socio-Constructivist Perspective on the Role of Emotions in the Mathematics Classroom

A socio-constructivist account of learning and emotions stresses the situatedness of every learning activity and points to the close interactions between cognitive, conative and affective factors in students’ learning and problem solving. Emotions are perceived as being constituted by the dynamic interplay of cognitive, physiological, and motivational processes in a specific context. Understanding the role of emotions in the mathematics classroom then implies understanding the nature of these situated processes and the way they relate to students’ problem-solving behaviour. We will present data from a multiple-case study of 16 students out of 4 different junior high classes that aimed to investigate students’ emotional processes when solving a mathematical problem in their classrooms. After identifying the different emotions and analyzing their relations to motivational and cognitive processes, the relation with students’ mathematics-related beliefs will be examined. We will specifically use Frank’s case to illustrate how the use of a thoughtful combination of a variety of different research instruments enabled us to gather insightful data on the role of emotions in mathematical problem solving.     

Effects of a Demonstration Laboratory on Student Learning

Laboratory and demonstration have long been used to supplement lecture in chemistry education. Current research indicates that students are better served by laboratories which exercise the higher-order cognitive skills, such as inquiry-based laboratories. However, the time and the resources available to perform these recommended types of laboratories are continually shrinking. Due to these factors, a demonstration-laboratory was designed to allow students to make observations through demonstration rather then through hands-on laboratory. For this study, the hands-on procedures of an inquiry style laboratory were replaced by an instructor demonstration of these same procedures. A significant difference was found between student conceptual understanding before and after the experiment, indicating that students performing the laboratory experiment and students viewing the demonstration-laboratory had an increase in conceptual understanding. However, no significant difference was found between the conceptual understanding of the two groups after the experiment, indicating that students learn roughly the same from both methods and that the demonstration-laboratory at least does no harm to the students conceptually. Long-term effects on student understanding were not measured. Student opinions comparing the demonstration laboratory to a hands-on laboratory were also collected and analyzed.     

Word reading and reading comprehension: stability, overlap and independence

Longitudinal twin data were analyzed to investigate the etiology of the stability of genetic and environmental influences on word reading and reading comprehension, as well as the stability of those influences on their relationship. Participating twin pairs were initially tested at a mean age of 10.3 years, and retested approximately five years later. Both word reading and comprehension were found to be highly stable, and genetic influences were primarily responsible for that stability. In contrast to studies with younger participants, no unique genetic influences were observed at follow-up testing in this older sample. High genetic correlations were obtained between word reading and reading comprehension at both ages, indicating common genetic influences. However, significant genetic influence on comprehension was also observed, independent of that on word reading. Although the phenotypic relation between the two measures appeared to decline across time, the genetic etiology of this relation was highly stable.     

The association between mathematical word problems and reading comprehension

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between mathematical word problem skills and reading comprehension. The participants were 225 children aged 9–10 (Grade 4). The children’s text comprehension and mathematical word problem‐solving performance was tested. Technical reading skills were investigated in order to categorise participants as good or poor readers. The results showed that performance on maths word problems was strongly related to performance in reading comprehension. Fluent technical reading abilities increased the aforementioned skills. However, even after controlling for the level of technical reading involved, performance in maths word problems was still related to reading comprehension, suggesting that both of these skills require overall reasoning abilities. There were no gender differences in maths word problem‐solving performance, but the girls were better in technical reading and in reading comprehension. Parental levels of education positively predicted children’s maths word problem‐solving performance and reading comprehension skills.     

Szenario-basierter Systemtest von Software-Produktfamilien

In der Produktfamilienentwicklung werden durch zwei Entwicklungsprozesse, Domain und Application Engineering, zun"achst wiederverwendbare Entwicklungsartefakte produziert, um diese anschlie?end zur Konstruktion von kundenspezifischen Applikationen einzusetzen. Die Wiederverwendbarkeit wird durch die explizite Definition der Variabilit"at der geplanten Applikationen einer Produktfamilie erzielt. Diese proaktive Wiederverwendung ist bisher in den konstruktiven Entwicklungsphasen realisiert, jedoch noch nicht im Test. Mit ScenTED (Scen_ario based TE_st Case D_erivation) wird in diesem Beitrag eine wiederverwendungsorientierte Technik zur Testfallerstellung f"ur den Systemtest, dem Test eines ausf"uhrbaren Systems gegen spezifizierte Use-Cases, von Produktfamilien vorgestellt. ScenTED basiert auf zwei Kernideen: der Erhaltung der Variabilit"at in Testf"allen und der Szenario-basierten Verfeinerung der Testf"alle. Durch die Erhaltung der Variabilit"at wird die Wiederverwendbarkeit von Testf"allen gesichert; die Szenario-basierte Verfeinerung erm"oglicht Nachvollziehbarkeit durch die durchg"angige Nutzung von Szenarien. In diesem Beitrag wird die ScenTED-Technik an einem Beispiel erl"autert und Erfahrungen aus dem industriellen Einsatz diskutiert.