Connecting instructional and cognitive aspects of an LE: A study of the global seminar project

My research problem is based on the lack of unifying conceptual cohesion between the discourses concerning cognitive and instructional aspects of learning environments (LE). I contrast that lack with practical developments of LE studies connected at the level of practical implementation and evaluation. Next, I briefly review the LE boundaries, which are established within cognitive and instructional domains of LE research. This study aims to bring the aforementioned discourses together via reconsidering and clarifying LE conceptual understandings. Using the case of a global seminar project (GSP), my goal is to define an LE as a conceptual phenomenon and a practical model with the two objectives of determining the GSP??s components that establish the course in a context of higher education; and the GSP??s specific contributions to deep learning. Within a qualitative research framework, I used three forms of data collection: 20 open-ended interviews of the GSP instructors; 11 direct observations of the GSP classroom; and the GSP??s written documents and artifacts. Noting the contextual significance of the suggested LE framework that resulted from this study, I propose a definition of an LE as a conceptual phenomenon and educational model. Here, I introduce the key understandings of an LE and outline its significance based on a broader analysis of the results. I conclude with an interpretation of the results and potential limitations of my approach.     

Élaboration d'un environnement logo favorable au développement d'habiletés en manipulation procédurale

Résumé Un environnement pédagogique propice à l'acquisition et à l'expression des habiletés procédurales en Logo est mis au point et accueille des enfants de 10–12 ans dans un projet d'une durée de 8 mois. Dans des phases successives de familiarisation et d'évaluation des compétences, on propose aux 10 participants une série de mises en situation requérant la manipulation de procédures en programmation Logo. Une analyse des comportements des enfants en termes de leurs habiletés fines et distinctes permet d'observer leur compétence et intérêt à manipuler des procédures. La discussion met en perspective l'importance des habiletés acquises et retrace les conditions environnementales qui en favorisent et supportent l'expression. Les limites dans les compétences observées sont aussi soulignées, ceci dans une perspective d'identification des étapes encore à parcourir dans la poursuite de l'acquisition et de la maîtrise des habiletés procédurales.

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A learning environment that facilitated the acquisition and expression of procedural skills in LOGO was set up for children in the 10 to 12 year range. In successive phases of familiarization and evaluation of competence over an eight month period, ten participants were placed in a series of situations that required them to manipulate programming procedures in LOGO. A fine-grained analysis of each of the children's behavior revealed their competence and interest in manipulating procedures. The importance of the acquired skills and the environmental conditions that favor and support their expression are discussed. Limits in the competencies observed are highlighted in order to identify the further steps to be taken in the acquisition and mastery of procedural skills.

     

The effect of contrasting cases during problem solving prior to and after instruction

Instructional Science - Research on productive failure suggests that attempting to solve a problem prior to instruction facilitates conceptual understanding compared to receiving instruction prior...     

Process-Oriented Worked Examples: Improving Transfer Performance Through Enhanced Understanding

The research on worked examples has shown thatfor novices, studying worked examples is oftena more effective and efficient way of learningthan solving conventional problems. Thistheoretical paper argues that addingprocess-oriented information to worked examplescan further enhance transfer performance,especially for complex cognitive skills withmultiple possible solution paths.Process-oriented information refers to theprincipled (``why'') and strategic (``how'')information that experts use when solvingproblems. From a cognitive load perspective,studying the expert's ``why'' and ``how''information can be seen as constituting agermane cognitive load, which can fosterstudents' understanding of the principles of adomain and the rationale behind the selectedoperators, and their knowledge about howexperts select a strategy, respectively. Issueswith regard to the design, implementation, andassessment of effects of process-orientedworked examples are discussed, as well as thequestions they raise for future research.     

When Developmental Education is Optional,What Will Students Do? A Preliminary Analysis of Survey Data on Student Course Enrollment Decisions in an Environment of Increased Choice

Historically, college students needing additional academic preparation have been assigned to developmental/remedial courses. In 2013 Florida took a drastic departure from this model by passing Senate Bill 1720, which prohibited institutions from requiring placement tests and made developmental education optional for many students, regardless of prior academic preparation. For this pilot study we conducted a survey at two colleges in the Florida College System to begin to understand the kinds of courses students will take now that developmental education is optional and the factors that students considered when making their course enrollment decisions.     

The role of importance and interest in the processing of text

In this review, text-based research on importance and interest is analyzed with several objectives in mind. First, the constructs of importance and interest are unidimensionally considered to show that various forms of each can operate within any text-learning environment. Second, research specifically addressing the interplay between these two factors is explored in relation to the goal of learning from text. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the research on importance and interest from a methodological standpoint and to delineate key findings that emerge from this body of research. Finally, based on the review of the literature, implications for future research and instructional practice are presented.     

"I'd rather not talk about it": adolescents' and young adults' use of topic avoidance in stepfamilies

This study examined adolescents' and young adults' use of topic avoidance with their mothers, fathers, stepmothers, and stepfathers. The types of topics avoided differed according to the type of parent-child relationship. Specifically, adolescents and young adults engaged in the most topic avoidance with their stepparents (regardless of whether the stepparent was a stepmother or stepfather), followed by their fathers, and then their mothers. Quantitative measures indicated that sex was the most frequently avoided topic across all relationship types. Open-ended responses revealed additional commonly avoided topics, including talking about the other parent/family, deep conversations, and money (e.g., child support payments). The most frequently reported reasons for this avoidance were self protection, relationship protection, and conflict. This research suggests that children in stepfamilies face unique decisions about topic avoidance. Communication Boundary Management Theory (Petronio, 1991) was used to explain how adolescents and young adults might engage in topic avoidance to regulate their personal boundaries, constructing relatively impermeable boundaries with some adults while maintaining looser boundaries with others. Finally, numerous practical suggestions are offered for understanding the balance between openness and closedness in stepfamilies and for promoting healthy stepfamily functioning.     

Profiles of school readiness among four-year-old Head Start children

This study uses the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) data from 1997 to investigate the degree to which child, family, classroom, teacher, and Head Start program characteristics are related to children's school readiness and continued development over the four-year-old Head Start year. Latent class analyses were used to examine the constellation of school readiness competencies within individual Head Start children in both the fall and spring of the four-year-old Head Start year. Multinomial regression analyses examined patterns of association between demographic and program characteristics and profile membership over time. Four distinct developmental profiles were found in the sample in the fall, and three were found in the spring. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Head Start children (43%) moved from a developmental profile including some risk to a strengths profile between the fall and spring of the Head Start year. Child age, family structure, parental educational attainment, classroom quality and teacher's level of educational attainment emerged as important factors associated with stability and change in profile membership over the four-year-old Head Start year, but receipt of social services through Head Start was not associated with stability or change in profile membership.     

Homework Stress: Construct Validation of a Measure

This article presents 2 studies aimed at validating a measure of stress experienced by children and parents around the issue of homework, applying Benson's program of validation (Benson, 1998 Benson, J. 1998. Developing a strong program of construct validation: A test anxiety example. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 17: 10–17. doi: 10.1111/j.1745–3992.1998.tb00616.x[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Study 1 provides external validity of the measure by supporting hypothesized relations between stress around homework and students’ and parents’ positive and negative affect, students’ sense of competence, and students’ type of motivation. In Study 2, the measure was administered to students with and without learning disability—2 groups assumed to differ in the level of stress experienced while doing homework. Results of both studies support the validity of the measure.     

Impact of senior design project for the development of leadership and management skills in construction management

Senior design courses are a core part of curricula across engineering and technology disciplines. Such courses offer Construction Management (CMG) students the opportunity to bring together, assimilate and apply the knowledge they have acquired over their entire undergraduate academic programme to an applied technical project. Senior or Capstone design course engages students in a real-world project, enhance leadership development, and prepare to manage and lead project teams. The CMG programme's multidisciplinary approach at Alabama A&M University, combines essential components of construction techniques with concepts of business management to develop technically qualified individuals for responsible management roles in the design, construction and operation of major construction projects. This paper analyses the performance of the students and improvement due to the interaction with the faculty advisors and industrial panel during the two semester Capstone project. The results of this Capstone sequence have shown a continuous improvement of student performance.