The application of artificial intelligence principles to teaching and training*

This paper compares and contrasts the use of AI principles in industrial training with more normal computer‐based training (CBT) approaches. A number of applications of CBT are illustrated (for example simulations, tutorial presentations, fault diagnosis, management games, industrial relations exercises) and compared with an alternative approach using AI. An evaluation of the relative merits of the two approaches will be given. Existing CBT packages are used to illustrate the points raised and the emphasis of the arguments will be on the effectiveness of AI and CBT in terms of both cost and learning. The position of AI applications within CBT is discussed, as is the task of getting started in applying these techniques.     

Dickens for All: Inclusive Approaches to Literature and Communication with People with Severe and Profound Learning Disabilities

Keith Park, a teacher of children with visual impairment and learning disabilities with the Greenwich Visual Impairment Service, describes a series of multisensory interactive drama games re-telling the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, following a discussion of the potential uses of literature with people with severe and profound learning disabilities.     

Wake up Information Literacy Instruction: Ideas for Student Engagement

In this article, three librarians from Santa Fe College, the community college winner of the 2015 ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award, share their successful work in information literacy instruction. While the ACRL award is given for overall achievement, this article focuses upon their creative and varied approaches to instruction, incorporating a wide blend of strategies to reach students across the college. Beginning with targeted approaches to virtual instruction, including broad use of the flipped classroom model, and building in active learning techniques, the librarians at Santa Fe College have built an instruction program that could serve as a model to community college libraries across the country.     

The private problem with public service: rural teachers in educational markets

Staffing rural and remote schools is an important policy issue for the public good. This paper examines the private issues it also poses for teachers with families working in these communities, as they seek to reconcile careers with educational choices for children. The paper first considers historical responses to staffing rural and remote schools in Australia, and the emergence of neoliberal policy encouraging marketisation of the education sector. We report on interviews about considerations motivating household mobility with 11 teachers across regional, rural and remote communities in Queensland. Like other middle-class parents, these teachers prioritised their children's educational opportunities over career opportunities. The analysis demonstrates how teachers in rural and remote communities constitute a special group of educational consumers with insider knowledge and unique dilemmas around school choice. Their heightened anxieties around school choice under neoliberal policy are shown to contribute to the public issue of staffing rural and remote schools.     

EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF ON‐TASK IN A BOX AS A CLASS‐WIDE INTERVENTION

The present study evaluated the effects of the On‐Task in a Box intervention on student on‐task behavior when used as a class‐wide intervention. The intervention package includes self‐monitoring, video modeling, and reinforcement contingency components. A multiple baseline design across three elementary classrooms was used to determine the effects of the intervention on student behavior. Results indicated immediate increases in on‐task behavior in all classrooms. Calculation of nonoverlap of all pairs’ effect sizes indicated strong intervention and maintenance effects on on‐task behavior of students in all classrooms. Social validity data were also collected, which indicated adequate validity of the intervention. Results of the study suggest that the intervention package may be effective for improving class‐wide levels of on‐task behavior.     

Qualitative Outcomes of a Homestay Immersion With Critical Reflection

The authors explore the impact of a 3‐week homestay cultural immersion on 10 counselor trainees by analyzing their 210 structured journals using consensual qualitative research. Findings suggest that establishing meaningful relationships and engaging in critical reflection are central to increasing multicultural awareness. Implications for multicultural counseling training and research are provided.     

Technologies and Reformed-Based Science Instruction: The Examination of a Professional Development Model Focused on Supporting Science Teaching and Learning with Technologies

Journal of Science Education and Technology - While access to computers, other technologies, and cyber-enabled resources that could be leveraged for enhancing student learning in science is...