We have previously reported in this journal that spatial ability influences academic performance in engineering. We have also reported that spatial ability is trainable, and can be increased through instruction focused on using perception and mental imagery in three-dimensional representation. In this article, we present the results of a longitudinal evaluative study of student difficulties with engineering graphics at our university, involving research over a 24-year period. Prior to our intervention, the first-year engineering graphics course at our university had a failure rate of 36% for all engineering students, and failure rates of 80% for African students studying at our university. In terms of outcomes, our study indicates that changed teaching practices have been associated with increased pass rates, which currently average 88% for all students. There is clear evidence that African students no longer experience major difficulties in passing the course. This can be attributed both to changes in teaching methodology, as well as broader contextual changes occurring in South Africa over the period reviewed.
Despite evidence of increased pass rates, our data suggest that there is a continuing relationship between three-dimensional spatial perception and academic performance in engineering graphics, as well as with aggregated first-year engineering marks. For this reason, many students still require academic support. There is also evidence that female students experience difficulties with engineering graphics due to lack of previous technical experience, and use a variety of strategies to overcome their study problems. The most effective appear to be use of peers and friends, and in particular students who had previously taken the course, as mediators of the course content and materials. Those female students who have not taken technical drawing at school level, and female students who do not network with other engineering students, are those at greatest disadvantage. 相似文献
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an age-specific incidence of hospitalized cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) that has similar properties to the previously reported "normal crying curve," as a form of indirect evidence that crying is an important stimulus for SBS. DESIGN AND SETTING: The study analyzed cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome by age at hospitalization from hospital discharge data for California hospitals from October 1996 through December 2000. PATIENTS: All cases of children less than 18 months (78 weeks) of age for whom the diagnostic code for Shaken Baby Syndrome (995.55) in the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification was assigned. RESULTS: There were 273 hospitalizations for SBS. Like the "normal crying curve," the curve of age-specific incidence starts at 2-3 weeks, has a clear peak, and declines to baseline by about 36 weeks of age. In contrast to the normal crying curve that peaks at 5-6 weeks, the peak of SBS hospitalizations occurs at 10-13 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The age-specific incidence curve of hospitalized SBS cases has a similar starting point and shape to the previously reported normal crying curve but the peak occurs about 4-6 weeks later. Of the likely predisposing causes, this pattern is only consistent with the properties of early crying. There are numerous explanations for the lag in the peaks between crying and SBS hospitalizations, including the possibility of repeat shakings prior to hospitalization. The importance of crying as a stimulus to SBS may provide an opportunity for preventive intervention. 相似文献
Demands for institutional accountability in higher education have been increasing and have led to greater attention to the evaluation of teaching, the assumption being that improved teaching will result in enhanced learning. In our work as academic developers, we are increasingly helping academic managers make explicit teaching policies and practices that seem fair and equitable. To help us in this work, we have developed a framework for evaluating the practice of teaching. What is unique about this framework is the language it provides to differentiate aspects of teaching. For instance, it provides a basis for differentiating and linking criteria to standards, i.e. the level of achievement desired or expected. Standards are critical if the evaluation of teaching is to be seen as fair and equitable, yet they are often unexamined in other representations of the evaluation of teaching. Although the original intent of our efforts was to provide a framework for academic managers, we have come to find it useful in our own work as university teachers and as academic developers. Examples of all three uses are provided in the paper. 相似文献
Through reflection on the First International iPED Conference 2006, and its overarching theme of ‘Pedagogical Research and Academic Identities’, this paper considers the achievement of the wider aims of the conference, which were to facilitate dialogue between researchers in order to explore the conference themes collaboratively, and to provide networking opportunities which would enable participants to build alliances. The abstracts for all papers mentioned are available via the conference website www.coventry.ac.uk/iped2006. 相似文献
In an attempt to ensure students had a positive experience in their first semester, and to encourage future effective use of tutors’ feedback comments, a post-1992 university used a module in the school of education to develop an innovative feedback process. The process involved four stages: a first submission of written work, written feedback on that work, viva on student understanding of feedback, and final submission of written work. Between the viva and final submission, students could choose to improve their work for a specified number of grade points. The innovation was met favourably by students, and overall grades were improved against the previous iteration of the module. The project showed promise for adaptation in other forms for use across the University, though some ideological issues around assessment remain unresolved. The matter of the innovation and institutional quality standards is discussed in detail. 相似文献
The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify threshold concepts in the careers of educational developers. Twenty-one common threshold concepts emerged, with one threshold concept common among all participants: Facilitating a change process. The remaining 20 threshold concepts were captured in the following three categories: (1) Ways of knowing and being that facilitate change in individuals and in groups; (2) Ways of knowing and being that facilitate systemic change and (3) Core ways of knowing and being. Study results may provide guidance for the design of initial and ongoing formation programmes in educational development. 相似文献
Describing students with disabilities as presenting ‘challenging behaviour’ is common in US schools. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the discourse utilised by teachers in order to understand their beliefs and practices surrounding young students considered to present challenging behaviour. This study examines teachers’ language in four ways: which discourses they draw from, the consequences of engaging in the discourse on practice, what maintains the use of such discourse and finally the possibilities for change. The critical discourse analysis unpacked that teachers begin labelling the students as challenging, not the behaviour. Consequences of this thinking emerged as teachers excluded the students, or what they consider ‘the problems’ from the classroom. Exclusion was found to be the ‘necessary’ response when control is prioritised in the classroom. In sum, the discourse of control is available for shaping how teachers understand and support students. Developing a relationship with students empowers teachers to see past the labels, the control discourse, and truly support students in inclusive classrooms. Finally, implications for practice are shared to improve the experience of inclusive education for both student and teacher. 相似文献