A Practical Introduction to Authoring for Computer-Assisted Instruction Part 8: multi-media CAL

Until recently the majority of applications of the computer within conversational computer-assisted learning and computer-based training have utilized a keyboard/ cathode ray tube model of human/computer interaction. However, because of its greater scope, instructional designers are turning increasingly to the use of a workstation model of student interaction with computers. Such a model can lead to the implementation of didactic dialogue that is more natural, more exciting and far more flexible. In this paper we show how such a model forms the basic foundations for multi- media CAL. We then outline some case studies involving the use of this approach and summarize some author languages that have been designed for use in this area.     

Online vs. offline course evaluation revisited: testing the invariance of a course evaluation questionnaire using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis framework

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - Survey-based formats of assessing teaching quality in higher education are widely used and will likely continue to be used by higher...     

Shifting Challenges in Teacher-Education Research and Accreditation: Lessons Learned from Limitations on Studying Program Impact

ABSTRACT

A critical issue in educator preparation is how to ascertain if program graduates are sufficiently prepared to be effective through the acquisition of meaningful evidence of graduates’ impact on their students. Challenges to proving specific impact of educator-preparation programs on student learning include identifying and following program completers as they move into diverse teaching environments. Barriers include lack of access to measures such as students’ achievement scores and work samples. This article puts the research on educator-preparation-program accountability into perspective and provides a discussion about whether or not we have the capacity at this moment in time to access meaningful data about and proof of teacher impact.     

Verbal discussions about social problem-solving between friends and non-friends

In the field of developmental social psychology there is a consensus concerning the social nature of intelligence. In spite of the important empirical investigations in this field over the last fifteen years, the influence of the quality of a relationship on joint problem-solving and learning is still poorly understood. This explorary study investigated the influence of socio-affective context on the interactive modalities surrounding social problem-solving discussions conducted with 32 dyads of 8-year-old Swiss francophone children. Sociometric interviews with children and teachers were carried out to identify the following naturally-ocurring socio-affective contexts: reciprocal friendship (RF), asymmetrical friendship (AF) and reciprocal absence of friendship (“reciprocal non-friendship” RNF; excluding enemies). Comparisons of verbal exchanges and dyadic performance across the three groups suggests that reciprocal friendship facilitates collaboration and the organization of collective work. Two rival hypotheses opposing socio-affective proximity (reciprocal friendship) and socio-affective distance (asymmetrical friendship and reciprocal absence of friendship) are discussed with respect to the influence of social interactions on social problem-solving.     

Simulated learning for generic communication competency development: a case study of Australian post-graduate pharmacy students

Authentic workplace experience is becoming increasingly challenging to provide for students. Simulation represents an effective pedagogical strategy for communication competency development in preparation for, or in lieu of clinical placements/practicums. The case study represents an innovative approach to simulating aspects of a pharmacy practice when insufficient placements were available. Prior to undertaking a three-week placement, a cohort of Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) students (N?=?95) completed two four-hour simulated learning modules (SLMs). Each of the six SLMs addressed interpersonally challenging, commonly experienced pharmacy practice scenarios generated by pharmacists/pharmacy educators. Scenarios, underpinned by the Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership (EXCELL) model, included schemas called Social Interaction Maps (SIMs), and involved interacting with trained actors. EXCELL is an evidence-based, professional development resource centred on learning generic social competencies including participating in a team, refusing a request and giving feedback. Evaluations comprised students’ survey responses collected before, during and after SLM workshops and pharmacy placements, and reflections from workshop facilitators. Students reported significant improvements in their overall communication competencies post-workshops and post-placement. Facilitators rated SLMs as a useful strategy to improve students’ communication competence and workplace readiness. Future curriculum development could benefit from including discipline-specific, interpersonally challenging SLMs using SIMs and actors (where possible) to simulate workplace interactions.     

Parents do matter: trajectories of change in externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence

This study examined the relative influence of three parenting behaviors (support, behavioral control, and psychological control) and deviant peers on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence. A white, working-to-middle-class sample of adolescents and their mothers and fathers in two-earner families participated in a 32-year longitudinal study (N = 109 families). The study began when the adolescents were in sixth grade (M age = 11.5 years). Analyses showed that parents' firm behavioral control seemed to halt the upward trajectory in externalizing problems among adolescents with deviant peers. Initial levels of internalizing problems were higher among adolescents with parents who reported lower levels of behavioral control and among adolescents with deviant peers. This study suggests that parenting exerts an important influence in adolescents' lives and may do so even in the face of potentially negative peer influence.     

Deal‐making and rule‐breaking: behind the façade of equity in academia

A glass ceiling for women still exists in academia after two decades of equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation in Australia. There are complex factors that when combined make gender inequity in the higher education sector highly resistant to change. Using personal histories as a reflexive device, the paper makes explicit the embedded male patterns of behaviour in academia that operate beneath the façade of policies and rules put into place to counter inequity. In particular, the paper focuses on the cognitive dissonance individuals experience due to the disparity between formal organizational policies promoting equity, such as workload allocations, and perceptions of the unequal opportunities for women and men. Using social identity theory and the leader member exchange (LMX) framework, the daily experiences of three academic women are interpreted, the impediments to equality identified, and suggestions made for more fundamental change to gendered organizational structures within academia. The analysis of such behaviours shows that the traditional emphasis of EEO legislation on formal policies and procedures to bring about gender equity in academia needs to be accompanied by cultural change programs that make explicit and challenge behaviours that reproduce and reinforce male hegemony in academia.     

Accessing university education: perceptions, preferences, and expectations for interpreting by deaf students

This paper provides a brief review of the history of deaf education in Australia, Australian Sign Language (Auslan), and Auslan interpreting. A panel of Australian deaf university students from diverse linguistic and educational backgrounds provides insights into their perceptions of sign language interpreting provision in university lectures. They commented on their interpreting preferences after viewing two videotaped segments of university lecture interpretation, one demonstrating a predominantly free approach and the other a predominantly literal approach. Expectations of the deaf students were explored in relation to the educational backgrounds and qualifications of university interpreters; comprehension of interpreters is also discussed. Results suggest that the university students preferred interpreters to combine both interpretation styles, switching between literal and free approaches when appropriate. In doing so, students can access lecture content in Auslan while accessing subject-specific terminology or academic language in English. In terms of qualifications, the students advocated for interpreters to have a university qualification in general, especially if they are working in a university context. However, the students also acknowledged that interpreting did not provide them with full access in educational settings.