Perfect presence: What does this mean for the design of virtual learning environments?

One of the advantages of building a virtual reality system is that it allows students to enter new worlds which in these instances include trips to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, a field visit to an Oak Wood and a close encounter in a 3D maze. In all these environments the factors affecting a sense of being there or presence was investigated. Enhanced audio feedback increased a subjective sense of presence but did not increase students' conceptual learning scores. We have also found that a sense of social presence enhanced the notion of being there together with measures of collaboration. However being there can take its toll on students and our findings suggest it imposes a cognitive overload. Where students have a choice, they try and reduce this overload by asking for conceptual tools to assist them in their learning tasks. The studies reported in this paper provide some benchmark data about these issues which deserve further investigation if we are to design effective virtual environments for conceptual learning.     

Role of Discrepant Questioning Leading to Model Element Modification

Discrepant questioning is a teaching technique that can help students “unlearn” misconceptions and process science ideas for deep understanding. Discrepant questioning is a technique in which teachers question students in a way that requires them to examine their ideas or models, without giving information prematurely to the student or passing judgment on the student’s model. This strategy prompts students to see the contradictions in their own model. This study focused on the analysis of small group tutoring sessions on human respiration. Individual and small group construction of mental models was analyzed after instructed with a standardized teaching sequence based on model construction and criticism theory (Rea-Ramirez in Model of conceptual understanding in human respiration and strategies for instruction, Dissertation Abstracts International, 59 (10), 5196B, 1998). Analysis provided deeper understanding of the role discrepant questioning played in this construction of understanding and suggested new models of learning.     

Towards practical reflexivity in online discussion groups

This paper continues the discussion about student-driven, interactive learning activities in higher education. Using object-oriented activity theory, the article explores the relational aspects of reflexive practice as demonstrated in five online discussions groups to develop students’ conceptual understanding. The purpose of the research is to describe both the process of reflection during online interaction and how practical engagement with the discipline is supported through pedagogical guidance. The students wrote short texts on the practice of health promotion ethics and discussed their perspectives in relation to theory and research. The analysis proved the importance of structural design in learning assignments to enable the cohesive and dialogic nature of interaction. Practical reflexivity is a necessary condition for enhancing the ability of professionals to question and justify critical aspects of their organisational relationships.     

Protecting academic freedom in changing times: the role of Heads of Departments

In changing times for higher education that are dominated by a neoliberal ideology, we set out to uncover how Heads of Departments (HoDs) perceive their role with respect to supporting their staff and their academic freedom. Freedom to pursue academic research is seen as key to the generation of new knowledge yet it is potentially constrained by funding regimes and university accountability systems. As HoDs operate at the interface between university systems and individual academic projects, how they perceive their role can have a profound influence on the working environment of their departmental staff. The research study is located in two successful departments in a research intensive university in England. The study shows that the HoDs were not captured by the neoliberal discourse and aimed to protect their staff so they could ‘get on with their work’. In so doing they interpreted university demands to the best advantage of their departments but were not active in challenging university driven changes, thus raising questions about the effects of accommodating to change, so risking incremental change, and of how less successful departments might be able to protect their staff and their academic freedom.     

El papel del adulto en el lenguaje del niño

RESUMEN

El lenguaje, por sus raíces biológicas, forma parte de la herencia específica de nuestra especie y es común a todos los humanos; por sus raíces culturales divide en nación o en comunidad geográfica. El niño pequeño tiene un sistema de interacción con el mundo—con las personas, los objetos, los acontecimientos y las relaciones—antes de saber hablar, y el lenguaje se expresará primero a través de estas interacciones no verbales; si el niño está «envuelto» por el lenguaje, lo adquirirá sin esfuerzo, pero la forma de adquirirlo—que el lenguaje sea un instrumento de expresión precisa y de imaginación o, simplemente, un medio que le permita intercambios a nivel biológico y social—dependerá del entorno lingüístico en un momento dado. Es precisamente ahí donde los programas de educación preescolar deben intervenir. Se citan dos estudios para demostrar que el mejor método es considerar al niño como factor activo del lenguaje y se presentan las dos partes del diálogo niño-adulto para explicar cómo el niño mismo puede controlar y programar el diálogo.     

Is the relationship between competence beliefs and test anxiety influenced by goal orientation?

The study described here aimed to examine the relations between test anxiety, competence beliefs and achievement goals, and in particular if the relations between competence beliefs and test anxiety were moderated by achievement goals. Pupils in their first year of secondary schooling completed self-report questionnaires for test anxiety, competence beliefs and achievement goals. Results indicated that pupils with low competence beliefs in Mathematics reported more worrisome thoughts when they held a mastery-avoidance goal and female pupils with low verbal competence beliefs reported more off-task behaviours when they held a performance-approach goal. Male pupils with low verbal competence beliefs reported fewer off-task behaviours when they held a performance-approach goal. These findings may reflect how Mathematics may be uniquely related to a fear of failure among school subjects and how the gendered nature of verbal self-concept becomes important when peer comparison is a salient goal for pupils.     

Open educational resources: an analysis of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities student preferences

The cost of college tuition and textbooks continues to rise and can function as a barrier to education for many students. This study evaluated Minnesota State Colleges and Universities students’ attitudes towards different types of learning material (e.g. commercially printed textbooks, eBooks and open educational resources (OERs)) and class type preferences (e.g. on-campus, hybrid and online). In addition, students indicated that they had ever chosen not to purchase a required textbook as well as how much they pay on average for a single textbook and approximately how much they paid for textbooks in the most recent semester. Cost was noted as a common deterrent; however, a more frequent reason provided by students for not buying a textbook was being able to adequately complete assignments without the textbook. This indicates that instructional method might be more of an issue than cost. OERs would lower these costs, but few students have been exposed to this kind of learning material and the overall impact on teaching quality is still largely unknown. The differences between two-year institutions and four-year institutions are examined and ideas to remedy the problem are noted.