Promoting Constructive Activities that Support Vicarious Learning During Computer-Based Instruction

This article explores several ways computer-based instruction can be designed to support constructive activities and promote deep-level comprehension during vicarious learning. Vicarious learning, discussed in the first section, refers to knowledge acquisition under conditions in which the learner is not the addressee and does not physically interact in any way with the source of the content to be mastered. The second section describes cognitive constructivism from the standpoint of schema theory and the work of Bartlett (1932). The next section describes four principles of curriculum design that support constructive processes during vicarious learning and reviews the process of self-explanation and how computer prompted self-explanation supports constructive activities. Research showing the important role that overhearing deep-level reasoning questions plays in supporting constructive activities and deep-level learning is also described. In the next section, vicarious learning supported by deep-level reasoning questions is contrasted with tutoring as one kind of interactive learning. In the final section, some conclusions are drawn, a few empirical issues are discussed, and two caveats are noted.     

HIV/AIDS education for health care workers: needs assessment for a model tertiary curriculum

This paper deals with the learning needs of Health Care Workers (HCWs) in the field of HIV/ AIDS. Essentially the paper covers their perceived initial education and training needs at tertiary level through to the continuing vocational professional development of HCWs who are involved in the practice of health care of people living with HIV/AIDS. The focus of the paper provides an illustration of the theme of adult education that searches for roles of social relevance in both a community and continuing professional setting, notably in the context of challenging human needs. In this illustration, the identification of the tertiary level education and training needs of HCWs by the practitioners themselves, as well as other interested stakeholders, is designed to help others who follow them practice with competence and confidence in this complex area of human need. Ultimately the continuing education of HCWs in such a challenging context is concerned with empowering people living with HIV/AIDS to come to realistic and positive terms with their condition.     

¿Software para hacer pensar? Sobre la yuxtaposición de los sistemas simbólicos

Una de las ideas más viejas y resistentes que forman parte del acervo habitual de los críticos de la cultura es la de la competitividad e incompatibilidad de los lenguajes y sistemas de símbolos (palabra-imagen, etc.). Lo que parece ser sólo una manifestación más dè la necesidad de zanjar la complejidad de las cosas con la toma de partido y la división entre buenos y malos. Pero las investigaciones de los últimos años sobre creatividad e imagen y ahora sobre el ordenador, nos obligan a revisar la idea y a adoptar una posición más constructiva y optimista. El artículo de Dickson subraya, además de ese aspecto constructivo de la multi-representación, otro valor esencial y no demasiado comentado del ordenador: su capacidad de interlocutor y maestro de ceremonias en ese diálogo constructivo de lengua a lengua. Alumnos y profesores parecen tener un papel más gratificante en esa nueva concepción educativa del ordenador.     

THE AGING ADULT LEARNER: A TRULY NEGLECTED SPECIES

This paper will examine the impact of and need for educational opportunities among adult U.S. citizens. To assess quality of life across 15 different dimensions, 3‐ to 4‐hour interviews were conducted with nationally representative samples of 30‐, 50‐, and 70‐year‐olds. Ratings on importance indicated that learning was of decreasing importance to older groups. However, a large proportion of all age groups reported that their needs were not being well met in learning. Correlations of ratings on needs met with ratings on overall quality of life, weighted by importance ratings, revealed that learning related substantially to overall quality of life. Analyses of the educational needs of these cohorts identified adult education programs needed to improve quality of life.

This paper is adapted from a presentation given at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society, San Francisco, 1977.

Support for this project was provided by a grant from the National Institute of Education (Grant NIE‐G‐00‐3‐0148) for the interviews with the 30‐year‐olds and a grant from the Administration on Aging (Grant 90‐A‐514) for the interviews with the 50‐ and 70‐year‐olds.