Measuring experiences of interest-related pursuits in connected learning

This paper describes an effort to develop a survey instrument capable of measuring important aspects of adolescents’ experiences of interest-related pursuits that are supported by technology. The measure focuses on youths’ experiences of connected learning (Ito et al. in Connected learning: an agenda for research and design. Digital Media and Learning Research Hub, Irvine, 2013), an emerging model of learning across settings supported by digital media. Specifically, the instrument aims to measure the depth with which youth are able to engage in an interest-related pursuit, the level of support and encouragement they receive from peers, and the degree to which their pursuit involves performance or media production as an essential feature. The survey also elicits information regarding the connections between youths’ interest-related pursuits and academic goals, the involvement of adults as co-participants in pursuits, and youths’ access to technology tools they deem necessary for their pursuits. The paper reports on results from a pilot study and two rounds of field-testing, in which we evaluated the validity and reliability of the instrument and compared results with evidence from interviews with youth. Our aim was to investigate the feasibility of an approach to measuring youths’ interest-related pursuits to inform future research and evaluation of initiatives focused on digital media and learning.     

Isolation and distinctiveness in the design of e-learning systems influence user preferences

When faced with excessive detail in an online environment, typical users have difficulty processing all the elements of representation. This in turn creates cognitive overload, which narrows the user's focus to a few select items. In the context of e-learning, we translated this aspect as the learner's demand for a system that facilitates the retrieval of learning content – one in which the representation is easy to read and understand. We hypothesized that the representation of content in an e-learning system's design is an important antecedent for learner preferences. The aspects of isolation and distinctiveness were incorporated into the design of e-learning representation as an attempt to promote student cognition. Following its development, the model was empirically validated by conducting a survey of 300 university students. We found that isolation and distinctiveness in the design elements appeared to facilitate the ability of students to read and remember online learning content. This in turn was found to drive user preferences for using e-learning systems. The findings provide designers with managerial insights for enticing learners to continue using e-learning systems.     

Amnesia induced by hypothermia as a function of treatment-test interval and recooling in rats

In Experiment I, a repeated tests procedure was employed to assess hypothermia-induced amnesia of a footshock experience. Rats tested 4 h after training treatment showed no memory loss, but amnesia was present at 24 h. Although recovery of memory was obtained when the same animals were cooled 2 h prior to a 50-h test, repeated testing also tended to attenuate amnesia. In Experiment II, independent groups were tested at 6 or 50 h after training treatment. Again, memory of the footshock was present at the short, but not at the long, interval. Recooling shortly prior to the 50-h test eliminated amnesia. Experiment III indicated that the return of memory produced by recooling did not persist if testing was delayed. These findings suggested that hypothermia may function as an important contextual cue for memory retrieval.     

Logistic Discriminant Function Analysis for DIF Identification of Polytomously Scored Items

The purpose of this article is to present logistic discriminant function analysis as a means of differential item functioning (DIF) identification of items that are polytomously scored. The procedure is presented with examples of a DIF analysis using items from a 27-item mathematics test which includes six open-ended response items scored polytomously. The results show that the logistic discriminant function procedure is ideally suited for DIF identification on nondichotomously scored test items. It is simpler and more practical than polytomous extensions of the logistic regression DIF procedure and appears to fee more powerful than a generalized Mantel-Haenszelprocedure.     

An Outreach Support Group for International Students

International students often face challenges in adjusting to their new environment without the use of local supports such as counseling. This article suggests how universities can form an outreach support group that encourages the participation of international students by minimizing the stigma associated with using mental health services and by addressing relevant practical and emotional issues that international students face.     

The Development of Distance Learning Delivery Systems

The history of distance learning, traditionally a peripheral university activity, is briefly traced. The advent, first of the British Open University with its renovated philosophy of distance learning, and then of the new information and communication technologies and their application to distance education, has led to a revalorization of open and distance education. These technologies are rapidly blurring the distinction between traditional higher education and distance learning. Various techniques of distance learning are described, particularly the electronic classroom and the electronic library. These techniques, based as they are on text transmission, stand to improve the reading comprehension and writing skills of students even as they make radical changes in the positions, relative to one another, of students and teachers. At the same time, the ease of electronic writing may lead to a decrease in required intellectual rigour, chat rooms producing chatter rather than serious ideas. Also, the economies of scale available via the information and communication technologies may lead to serious cut‐backs in traditional higher education provision.