Development and application of a diagnostic instrument to evaluate grade-11 and -12 students' concepts of covalent bonding and structure following a course of instruction

This article initially outlines a procedure used to develop a written diagnostic instrument to identify grade-11 and -12 students' misconceptions and misunderstandings of the chemistry topic covalent bonding and structure. The content to be taught was carefully defined through a concept map and propositional statements. Following instruction, student understanding of the topic was identified from interviews, student-drawn concept maps, and free-response questions. These data were used to produce 15 two-tier multiple-choice items where the first tier examined content knowledge and the second examined understanding of that knowledge in six conceptual areas, namely, bond polarity, molecular shape, polarity of molecules, lattices, intermolecular forces, and the octet rule. The diagnostic instrument was administered to a total of 243 grade-11 and -12 chemistry students and has a Cronbach alpha reliability of 0.73. Item difficulties ranged from 0.13 to 0.60; discrimination values ranged from 0.32 to 0.65. Each item was analyzed to ascertain student understanding of and identify misconceptions related to the concepts and propositional statements underlying covalent bonding and structure.     

Communicating Across Differences: Toward a Multicultural Approach to Institutional Transformation

In the two decades since Audre Lorde (1984) pointed out that we have no patterns for relating across our differences as equals (p. 115), struggles to transform higher education have come to focus on communication about and across differences. Despite these efforts, conversations in higher education about group difference and equity too often exacerbate feelings of cynicism and disenfranchisement. In this article we discuss research into the actual discourses at work in communication about the cultural politics of institutional practices. We report on an analysis of qualitative data, using this data to help clarify the challenges of relating across differences as equals.Patrick Bruch is Assistant Professor of Writing Studies in the General College at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He received a B.A. in English from Western Michigan University and a Ph.D. in English from Wayne State University. His teaching and research focus on struggles for equality within and through higher education. He thanks Mark Pedelty for helpful feedback on an earlier draft of this article. Rashné Jehangir received her B.A. in Psychology from Lawrence University and her M.A. in Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She currently serves as an Associate Counselor Advocate for first-generation, low-income students in the TRIO Student Support Services program in the General College, University of Minnesota. Her current publications focus on cooperative learning, learning communities, and social justice and access policy to higher education. Dana Britt Lundell is Director of the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy (CRDEUL) in the General College at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She received her M.A. in English and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota. She is Co-Editor of the CRDEUL monograph and 2004 President of the Minnesota Association for Developmental Education (MNADE). Jeanne L. Higbee received her B.S. in Sociology from Iowa State University and earned both her M.S. in Counseling and Guidance and Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She currently serves as Professor and Senior Advisor to the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy, General College, University of Minnesota. Her research interests are related to student development and the access and retention of student populations that traditionally have been underserved in postsecondary educational institutions. Karen L. Miksch is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, General College. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Affirmative action programs designed to recruit, admit, and retain a diverse student body, as well as access to college preparatory programs, are two ongoing areas of her research. All correspondence should be addressed to Patrick L. Bruch, General College, University of Minnesota, 128 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455     

Gamification and student motivation

The literature suggests that gamified learning interventions may increase student engagement and enhance learning. We empirically investigate this by exploring the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the participation and performance of over 100 undergraduate students in an online gamified learning intervention. The paper makes a number of contributions. First, by synthesizing the literature the central concepts required for a learning intervention to be considered gamified are mapped and the development of an online gamified learning intervention is described. Second, the effect of gamification on learning outcomes is examined using a pre- and post-intervention survey. We find that gamified learning interventions have a positive impact on student learning. Third, our results show that while generally positive, the impact of gamified intervention*ns on student participation varies depending on whether the student is motivated intrinsically or extrinsically. These findings will be of practical interest to teaching and learning practitioners working in a range of educational contexts, and at all levels of education, who wish to increase student engagement and enhance learning.     

Drawing Pedagogies in Higher Education: the Learning Impact of a Collaborative Cross‐disciplinary Drawing Course

Drawing is taught in higher education across art and design but also, increasingly, in medical education, with a variety of aims and approaches. It is argued that there is a need, in both these disciplinary domains, to make more explicit the underpinning pedagogical approach to drawing and the impact that different approaches have on learning. The research described in this article focuses on an optional drawing course for undergraduate craft students and medical students. The course is run by the College of Arts and Humanities at a UK university and has a thematic focus on the human body. This qualitative case study sets out, in the context of selected theory about the teaching and learning of drawing, to explore what the learning impact of a particular collaborative model of teaching drawing was on a cross‐disciplinary student group. Findings included, with reference to Riley's framework of drawing pedagogies, that a range of philosophical and pedagogical ideas about drawing were blended from the teaching perspective in a way that enabled students from distinct disciplinary backgrounds to engage and learn. A shift was observed in students’ perceptions of drawing, with both sets of students questioning previously held assumptions about the use and value of drawing within their learning. Life drawing and anatomy laboratory drawing, in particular, provoked deep and challenging reflections about different cultural conceptions of the human body and the practice of collaborative drawing, with dialogic reflection, enabling insights to be developed into different disciplinary epistemologies.     

Jocks,Teckers, and Nerds: The role of the adolescent peer group in the formation and maintenance of secondary school institutional culture

The adolescent peer group constitutes a vital component of the institutional culture of the contemporary secondary school. Formed among students and reinforced by administrators and teachers, it takes the form of a structured status hierarchy whose membership and boundaries are clearly understood within the school community. Individual students' perceptions of their positions within that hierarchy have the potential to impact significantly on their attitudes towards the institution they attend as well as the process of formal education. This study focuses on the attitudes and opinions expressed by 268 students attending two composite secondary schools in a mid‐sized Canadian city, and attempts to provide an insight into an aspect of secondary school education that is not often acknowledged by educators.     

Designing for impact: a conceptual framework for learning analytics as self-assessment tools

Abstract

Although it is frequently claimed that learning analytics can improve self-evaluation and self-regulated learning by students, most learning analytics tools appear to have been developed as a response to existing data rather than with a clear pedagogical model. As a result there is little evidence of impact on learning. Even fewer learning analytics tools seem to be informed by an understanding of the social context and social practices within which they would be used. As a result, there is very little evidence that learning analytics tools are actually impacting on practice. This paper draws on research in self-regulated learning and in the social practices of learning and assessment to clarify a series of design issues which should be considered by those seeking to develop learning analytics tools which are intended to improve student self-evaluation and self-regulation. It presents a case study of how these design issues influenced the development of a particular tool: the Learning Companion.     

Influences on students' perceptions of their personal development during the first three years of college

This study sought to determine whether students' perceptions of their personal growth are related to their college experiences after controlling for their precollege characteristics, whether the amount of reported development varies over the first three years of college, and whether the influences on students' perceived personal development vary from one year to another. Results indicate that students' self-reported personal development is unattributable to their precollege traits and is remarkably constant from the freshman through junior years. Differences between men and women in reported growth are, however, evident. The sources of influence on reported growth vary over the three years; the only common influence is informal contact with faculty.An earlier version of this paper was presented to the annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Toronto, May 1983.     

Adapted Physical Education Teachers’ Concerns in Teaching Students with Disabilities in an Urban Public School District

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not adapted physical education (APE) teachers had job‐related concerns associated with teaching students with disabilities in an urban public school district. The participants were six experienced, itinerant APE teachers, who taught in urban public schools in a midwestern state in the United States. The research method was a collective case study situated in concerns theory. Data were collected from teacher interviews, on‐site observations, and stimulated recall sessions. Case analyses and cross‐case analyses were conducted using constant comparative procedures. Findings indicate that the teachers had job‐related concerns explainable within the tenets of concerns theory. They also had concerns not situated within concerns theory that were unique to their itinerant status.     

Recruiting Honours Students in the Face of Market Demand for Pass Degrees: A Case Study

Third year undergraduate and fourth year honours students in a large university economics department were surveyed for this study with a view to some resolution of how honours participation rates might be improved (and hence the pool of potential postgraduates enlarged) when good employment opportunities are available to three‐year graduates. Reasons why students choose to do or not to do an honours year are examined in relation to their background characteristics, circumstantial factors, previous assessment, course structure and perceptions of market demand for honours graduates, opportunity costs and career paths. The results draw attention to ways in which more students might be attracted to the honours stream, the honours year and beyond. It is concluded that higher education institutions and federal bodies must share this responsibility.     

Managing schools and training school managers: some concepts

The role of theory is to tell us the way things are rather than how they ought to be or how we would like them to be. (Thomas Barr Greenfield, 1980)