The relationship between students’ approaches to learning and the assessment of learning outcomes

The purpose of the present study is to gain more insight into the relationship between students’ approaches to learning and students’ quantitative learning outcomes, as a function of the different components of problem-solving that are measured within the assessment. Data were obtained from two sources: the revised two factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) and students’ scores in their final multiple-choice exam. Using a model of cognitive components of problem-solving translated into specifications for assessment, the multiple-choice questions were divided into three categories. Three aspects of the knowledge structure that can be targeted by assessment of problem-solving were used as the distinguishing categories. These were: understanding of concepts; understanding of the principles that link concepts; and linking of concepts and principles to application conditions and procedures. The 133 second year law school students in our sample had slightly higher scores for the deep approach than for the surface approach to learning. Plotting students’ approaches to learning indicated that many students had low scores for both deep and surface approaches to learning. Correlational analysis showed no relationship between students’ approaches to learning and the components of problem-solving being measured within the multiple choice assessment. Several explanations are discussed.     

Qualitative Methoden der Bildinterpretation

Zusammenfassung Die erheblichen Fortschritte der qualitativen Methoden in den vergangenen zwanzig Jahren sind eng mit dem „linguistic turn“ verbunden. Dessen Konsequenzen ebenso wie die für die empirische Sozialforschung ganz allgemein gültige Pr?misse, dass Protokolls?tze, also Texte, die nicht mehr hintergehbaren Grunddaten der (sozial-)wissenschaftlichen Analyse darstellen, haben zu einer Dominanz textinterpretativer Verfahren und zu einer ‘Textfixierung’ qualitativer Methodologien geführt. Insbesondere — und dies ist gerade für die Erziehungswissenschaft besonders folgenschwer — wurde in der qualitativen Forschung nicht unterschieden zwischen einer (textf?rmigen) Verst?ndigung über das Bild und einer (textunabh?ngigen) Verst?ndigung durch das Bild, d.h. im Medium des Bildes. Den methodischen Zugang zur letzteren Ebene, derjenigen einer vorbegrifflichen oder ‘atheoretischen’ Verst?ndigung im Medium des Bildes, haben in den 1920er-Jahren bereits Erwin Panofsky mit seiner Ikonologie und sein Zeitgenosse Karl Mannheim mit der dokumentarischen Methode er?ffnet. Zwischen diesen Methodologien und denjenigen der Semiotik zeigen sich wesentliche Korrespondenzen. Aus der Einsicht, dass die lkonizit?t in ihrer Eigenlogik der Sprache nicht in ad?quater Weise zug?nglich ist, l?sst sich mit Bezug auf die genannten Autoren sowie u.a. Barthes, Foucault und Imdahl die methodologische Konsequenz ziehen, dass wir unsere Konnotationen, unser sprachvermitteltes ikonographisches Vorwissen, soweit wie m?glich ‘einklammern’, also suspendieren müssen, wenn wir der Eigenart des Bildes gerecht werden wollen. Dabei führt der methodische Weg zur Rekonstruktion der Eigensinnigkeit des Bildes über dessen Formalstruktur — insbesondere über die planimetrische Struktur.

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Summary Qualitative methods of interpreting pictures The considerable progress in qualitative methods during the last twenty years is essentially connected with the „linguistic turn“. Its consequences as well as the presumption that textual records are the basic data of all scientific research are responsible for the predominance of methods of text-interpretation and for the particular ‘fixation’ on texts in qualitative methodologies. Especially, there is a lack of differentiation between a communication about pictures and a communication through pictures, i.e. a text-independent understanding via the medium of pictures. The methodical access to a pre-conceptual or ‘atheoretic’ understanding was opened up by Erwin Panofsky in the 1920s with his iconology and by his contemporary Karl Mannheim with his documentary method. Important correspondences between these methodologies and those in the field of semiotics can be demonstrated. From the insight that the iconic character in its obstinacy is not accessible to language in an adequate way, we can — with reference to the mentioned authors as well as to Barthes, Foucault and Imdahl — draw the conclusion that to approach the peculiarities of a picture means to suspend our connotations of language-mediated iconographic (pre-)knowledge as far as possible, to put them „in brackets“. Methodologically, the iconic character can only be reconstructed by describing the formal, especially the planimetric, structure of a picture.

     

Self-Determination and Goal Aspirations: African American and Latino Males’ Perceptions of Their Persistence in Community College Basic and Transfer-Level Writing Courses

This Grounded Theory study utilized Self-determination Theory to analyze the interview results of 18 community college African American and Latino males. The goal was to learn what helped participants to succeed and persist in developmental and transfer-level writing courses despite the obstacles that they faced. Three major themes emerged: (a) Male students of color continued to take and complete English courses because they were determined to achieve their academic goals; (b) they sought assistance and guidance from their English professors, from the writing lab attached to the basic skills course and from the writing tutoring staff; and (c) when they felt overwhelmed and considered dropping their English classes, their determination to achieve their goals and the assistance they received from faculty and other writing staff ultimately kept them from doing so. Therefore, first, community colleges should encourage students’ ability to be autonomous. Second, they can help students develop a sense of relatedness by providing a better sense of belonging. Third, institutions should develop strong faculty networks within the college to increase student motivation and self-determination by providing mentoring opportunities. Finally, institutions should consider utilizing faculty and other institutional agents to help students by providing information regarding various student support services that may help address issues students may be encountering.     

萝卜硫烷对脑线粒体的影响:机理观点和未来发展方向

有机硫化物萝卜硫烷(SFN)是一种有效的细胞保护剂,在体外和体内实验模型中均可促进抗氧化、抗炎、抗糖化和抗菌作用。因为氧化磷酸化系统的存在,所以线粒体是三磷酸腺苷(ATP)的主要产生部位。同时,线粒体也是具核人体细胞中产生活性氧的主要场所。线粒体损伤在多种人类疾病中起着重要作用,包括神经退行性病变和代谢异常。本文描述和讨论了SFN调节哺乳动物细胞中线粒体功能和动力学的作用和机理,以及其对肿瘤细胞中线粒体促凋亡途径的促进作用。SFN对线粒体的调节作用使得它在一定程度上被认为是一种细胞保护剂。本文还指出了几个需要通过进一步实验解决的问题,即未来的可能研究方向,这可能会对该领域的研究人员具有指导作用。     

Identification,collection and consumption of weeds and wild vegetables in Mexican communities: institutionalized local ancestral indigenous knowledge as ecological literacy,place and identity

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This paper sets forth the idea that a critical aspect of the socialization process of Mexican communities is to maintain and carry-out traditional knowledge...     

Parent–Infant Room Sharing During the First Months of Life: Longitudinal Links With Behavior During Middle Childhood

Current recommendations encourage parent–infant room sharing for the first 6 months of life. This longitudinal study (N = 193) is the first to examine long-term relations of early room sharing with three domains of child behavior: sleep, behavior problems, and prosocial behavior. Information on room sharing was collected daily for infants’ first 6 months. At ages 6, 7, and 8 years, outcomes were assessed with maternal and teacher questionnaires and behavioral observations. Early room sharing was not related to sleep problems or behavior problems. Additionally, more weeks of room sharing were positively related to higher maternal ratings of child sleep quality and more prosocial behavior. In conclusion, early room sharing appears to be related to positive, but not negative, behavior outcomes in middle childhood.     

Individual differences in local and global metacognitive judgments

Metacognition and Learning - Extensive research has been conducted to understand how accurately students monitor their studying and performance via metacognitive judgments. Moreover, the bases of...     

Collaborative online distance learning: Issues for future practice and research

This article provides an overview of issues of practice and research relating to the use of collaborative online learning in distance education (DE). It begins with an examination of the traditional problems of DE. Following that is a discussion of what collaborative online learning encompasses and a review of the primary instructional design issues that relate to it. These are: (a) course preparation; (b) creating a good social climate and sense of community; (c) the role of the instructor; (d) encouraging true collaboration; and (e) the effective use of technology. As well some of the literature relating to problem‐based learning is referenced and its application to collaborative online learning is discussed. The authors conclude that using new technologies in combination with a collaborative online learning approach in DE may prove to be highly effective when learner characteristics and the learning context are considered carefully. Recommendations for future areas of research are also provided, along with a matrix of variables that may be combined to conceptualise further study in the area.     

Resistance to classroom observation in the context of teacher evaluation: teachers’ and department heads’ experiences and perspectives

This paper reports the main findings of a study that sought to understand how teachers and department heads perceived and experienced the implementation of a classroom observation system in a teacher evaluation context. The data was collected through a teacher and department head survey and interviews with department heads who were responsible for classroom observation. The findings show that respondents regarded classroom observation as an inadequate teacher evaluation instrument. It was also viewed as one of the features of the teacher evaluation system that least contributed to the teachers’ professional development. Department heads felt torn between their intermediate management role as teacher observers and their professional role as teacher peers. Cultural norms of individual professional autonomy that regulated relations among colleagues prevented department heads from using information, gathered through classroom observation, to nourish in-depth professional discussions about concrete educational practices.     

Development and Challenges of the Credit Point System in Dutch Higher Education

This article will focus on the credit point system and especially on the Dutch system. In many countries such a system has a long history, but in others it is a relatively new phenomenon. In the first section, the objectives of credit point systems will be introduced. In the second section the emergence and characteristics of the credit point system in the Netherlands will be presented. In the third section, some results of student behaviour in the first year in Higher education will be shown for different groups of students, such as how many credit points on average they earned and how many hours per week on average they studied. The findings demonstrate how empirical results from student behaviour, combined with the norms of the credit point system, can be used to evaluate the accountability of the academic programmes. In the last section, some challenges for the use of credit point systems in the nearby future will be discussed. Recently, one can see a rapid change from the traditional ways of testing to the assessment of competencies of students and student portfolios.