Problem solving beyond the logic of things: contextual effects on understanding and solving word problems

Arguments are put forward in this paper that classroom word problem solving is more-and also less-than the urgent analysis of a factual structure, in the sense that it is essentially a species of a social-cognitive activity. Word-or story-problems, presented in classroom contexts, represent textual and pragmatic patterms of a certain grammaticality. To present a problem verbally to a student means to organize a fact in some way for the attention of a problem solver. There is not only the structure of the problem text itself by which situations are denoted, but there is also the stimulative nature of the social-pragmatic context which shapes the student's textbook-problem solving behavior over a long period of time.The present paper discusses the results of several studies showing, for example, that subject matter related attitudes towards a problem frequently do not play an important part in the problem solving efforts; that students often solve problems correctly without understanding them; and that false contextual expectations can lead to abstruse errors of understanding and to peculiar solution attempts.The studies indicate that students can become sensitive and skilful in perceiving and capitalizing on subtle textual and contextual signs pointing to the solution and anticipating its pattern. It seems that usual textbook problems let students get accustomed to certain courses of processing where a simple fact, like whether an equation works out evenly or does not, can stop the process or push it further. It is argued that the deeper reason for the observed textual and contextual influences on understanding and problem solving lies in a fundamental weakness of the student's epistemic control behavior. The psychological and instructional significance of the studies is discussed.     

The Case of Turkish University Students and MOOCs

Though initially proposed as a means of overcoming common barriers to higher education, MOOCs often exacerbate the very issues of accessibility and exclusivity that they were designed to avoid. Students from developing countries in particular face considerable obstacles that hinder or outright prevent their enrollment in and completion of MOOCs. This study finds that, for these students, participation in MOOCs is often complicated by language barriers, limited technological resources, and prevailing Americentric or Eurocentric designs and mindsets, among other issues. These findings were determined and reinforced by a study of Turkish college students from a large state-sponsored metropolitan university, who indicated different levels of knowledge regarding MOOCs as well as various issues, concerns, and complaints. These issues of accessibility and exclusivity must be addressed before MOOCs will truly be able to democratize access to high-quality university-level education, and the best solutions are those that acknowledge the multicultural nature of their user communities.     

Student perceptions and use of feedback during active learning: a new model from repeated stimulated recall interviews

As active learning pedagogies continue to increase in popularity in higher education, new questions have emerged about how instructors can manage all of the associated ‘moving parts’ of active learning, including how and when to deliver feedback. Currently, little is known about how students perceive the effects of verbal feedback during in-class activities. This study examined two large sections of introductory biology held in an active learning SCALE-UP (Student-Centred Active Learning Environments with Upside-down Pedagogies) classroom. Thematic analysis of repeated stimulated recall interviews with 15 students (72 total interviews) uncovered three main categories of feedback effects that students perceived: assure, alert and add (AAA). These three categories were supported by repeated stimulated recall surveys with a larger student population (262 students). We describe each category, quantify the frequency of each category in the target course, outline the students’ perceived impact of each on examination preparation and performance, and conclude with implications regarding how understanding students’ perceptions of their feedback experience may help instructors to deliver student-centred feedback during active learning.     

Rechtssprechung-Leits?tze

Rechtssprechung - Leits?tze

Rechtssprechung-Leits?tze     

First year university students’ self-perception of ICT skills: Do learning styles matter?

Do ICT skills of freshmen change in 6 months at the university? What is the contribution of learning styles (or patterns) to the explanation of the variance in self-perceived ICT skills and the possible change in these skills? And what is the contribution of learning styles and of gender, social class, and ICT course attendance to the explanation of the variance in these skills? To answer these questions, data were collected in a panel research project that recruited 714 freshmen at a large Belgian university. The data show that the ability of the students to maintain a computer and to develop a website improves at the university but not the ability to use the Internet or to apply basic ICT skills. The analyses show that there is a link, albeit weak, between learning styles and self-perceived ICT skills. Learning styles can partially explain differences between groups of students with different characteristics. The data show that having a certain learning style might influence the perception of students of their ICT skill, but learning styles do not allow one to predict the change in the self-perceived ICT skills of the students.     

Unintended Consequences: Understanding the Relationship Between Dual Enrollment Participation,College Undermatch,and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment

Research in Higher Education - Recent research suggests that dual enrollment programs are a useful recruiting tool for colleges and universities as many high school students remain at their dual...     

Hanna Arendt: a political theorist on the theme of renewal in education

The article is about the writing of a political theorist, Hannah Arendt, on the subject of education. The two major themes of her work (the concept of public and private worlds and the idea of renewal) are described and related to educational questions. Two forces which help the educator to avoid conservatism or utopianism are the variety of mankind and the artist's and scientist's vision. The influence of these thoughts on the teacher's task is then studied with particular attention to Arendt's notion of responsibility. Other implications for educators are the understanding of the school as a social institution, implications for curriculum planning and the relationship between education and society. The essay ends by setting out Arendt's resolution of the paradox of preparing children with assurance for an unpredictable future.     

Empirical Considerations on Intelligence Testing and Models of Intelligence: Updates for Educational Measurement Professionals

ABSTRACT

This brief article introduces the topic of intelligence as highly appropriate for educational measurement professionals. It describes some of the uses of intelligence tests both historically and currently. It argues why knowledge of intelligence theory and intelligence testing is important for educational measurement professionals. The articles that follow in this special issue will provide readers with considerable information about the history of intelligence theory and testing, and especially of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of testing and its implementation. The following articles will also provide a well-reasoned approach to the way science should work in evaluating tests and the models on which they are based.     

Correlates of early reading performance in a transparent orthography

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 83first – and 81 fourth graders at the end of theschool year to examine factors accounting forearly reading performance in Finnish, atransparent orthography with a clear mapping ofphonemes onto graphemes. Measures for bothgrades included reading comprehension, phonemeawareness, and object- and digit naming.Additionally measures of skills in morphology,spelling and a screening battery wereadministered to the first graders. The sets ofmeasures accounted for 56% of the variance inreading performance in first grade and 64% infourth grade. Phoneme awareness was stronglyrelated to reading performance and spelling atthe end of first grade, but only forless-skilled readers in fourth grade. Theseresults suggest a larger role for phonemeawareness for children learning a transparentorthography than has been suggested in earlierstudies. At the same time, listeningcomprehension contributed more strongly tofirst-grade reading performance than has beenreported for children learning to readEnglish.     

English language teachers becoming more efficacious through research engagement at their Turkish university

While it is generally recognized that teacher research can be a very beneficial form of continuing professional development (CPD), there is still relatively limited research available on the impact this activity has on teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, which are of interest to educational psychologists because, while being open to constant change, these beliefs influence the way in which knowledge is transformed into action. There is also a relative lack of available research into how teachers develop as researchers; the processes whereby they gain practical knowledge and more positive self-efficacy beliefs in planning, conducting, analysing, presenting and writing up research require further exploration. This qualitative multi-case study addresses these issues, exploring the development of three in-service teachers of English on a foundation programme at a Turkish university. Findings reveal that engaging in CPD which directly benefited their learners helped all three teachers develop positive teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and deeper practical knowledge in relation to the specific tasks that concerned them. Furthermore, from a starting point of having low self-efficacy beliefs in conducting practical research, which reflected their lack of prior knowledge in this area, they all became more efficacious as they gained research experience and developed practical knowledge of research. This study highlights the benefits, then, of helping teachers become more efficacious through CPD that engages them as knowledge-generators. Enthusiastic mentoring, autonomy support and the opportunity to present their research more widely all helped the teachers in this Turkish context to develop.