Effects of different sequences of examples and problems on motivation and learning

Recent research has shown that example study only (EE) and example-problem pairs (EP) were more effective (i.e., higher test performance) and efficient (i.e., attained with less effort invested in learning and/or test tasks) than problem-example pairs (PE) and problem solving only (PP). We conducted two experiments to investigate how different example and problem-solving sequences would affect motivational (i.e., self-efficacy, perceived competence, and topic interest) and cognitive (i.e., effectiveness and efficiency) aspects of learning. In Experiment 1, 124 technical students learned a mathematical task with the help of EEEE, EPEP, PEPE, or PPPP and then completed a posttest. Students in the EEEE Condition showed higher posttest performance, self-efficacy, and perceived competence, attained with less effort investment, than students in the EPEP and PPPP Condition. Surprisingly, there were no differences between the EPEP and PEPE Condition on any of the outcome measures. We hypothesized that, because the tasks were relevant for technical students, starting with a problem might not have negatively affected their motivation. Therefore, we replicated the experiment with a different sample of 81 teacher training students. Experiment 2 showed an efficiency benefit of EEEE over EPEP, PEPE, and PPPP. However, only EEEE resulted in greater posttest performance, self-efficacy, and perceived competence than PPPP. We again did not find any differences between the EPEP and PEPE Condition. These results suggest that, at least when short training phases are used, studying examples (only) is more preferable than problem solving only for learning. Moreover, this study showed that example study (only) also enhances motivational aspects of learning whereas problem solving only does not positively affect students’ motivation at all.     

荷兰大学教师发展研究轨迹探析

20世纪60年代以来,荷兰的大学教师发展研究顺应了其教师教育研究的发展,走过了一条从稚嫩到相对成熟的发展之路,至今仍呈现出国际化水平不断提升的良好发展态势。本文对荷兰教师教育研究的历程作简要的回顾,在此基础上,以荷兰跨校教育研究中心和莱顿大学教师教育研究院为例,具体分析该国以研究促发展的大学教师发展研究的内容与特点。     

The impact of physiological load on anticipation skills in badminton: From testing to training

Research remains unclear on the impact of physiological load on perceptual-cognitive skills in sport. Moreover, no study has examined the training of perceptual-cognitive skills under physiological load. The current study comprised two phases. Firstly, we examined the impact of badminton-specific physiological load on anticipatory skills in expert badminton players (n = 13), including key underlying mechanisms, such as gaze behaviour. Under high physiological load, participants displayed less efficient visual search behaviour and showed a reduction in response accuracy. Secondly, we examined the effects of combining perceptual-cognitive simulation training with the high physiological load. Ten of the expert badminton players were assigned to a combined training group, where the simulation training and the physiological load intervention occurred simultaneously or an independent training group, whereby the two components were completed independently. The combined training group showed a positive change in the efficiency of their visual search behaviours compared to the independent training group, but no significant performance improvements were found. Overall, findings demonstrate that high physiological load is detrimental to experts’ anticipatory skills. However, combining perceptual-cognitive simulation training with high physiological load can potentially negate these debilitating effects.     

Motivation counteracts fatigue-induced performance decrements in soccer passing performance

Recent theories suggest that negative effects of fatigue on performance are determined by perception of effort and motivation rather than being directly caused by reaching physiological limits. In the current experiment, the influence of motivation on fatigue-induced decrements in soccer performance was experimentally investigated. Sixty amateur soccer players performed a validated soccer-passing test before and after a fatigue protocol. Results showed that players’ motivation and performance decreased after the fatigue protocol for players in the control group. In contrast, players in the motivation group (i.e., with motivation experimentally induced after the fatigue protocol) were able to uphold their motivation and increase their performance. These results indicate that motivation plays a crucial role in performance under fatigue, as fatigue-induced decrements in soccer passing performance can be counteracted by high levels of motivation. Future research may explore the limits of this counteracting effect and extend findings to other relevant performance aspects.     

Historicising teachers’ learning: a case study of productive professional practice

This paper reveals the significant historical traces which informed the learning practices of teachers at one particular school site in a rural and regional educational district in Australia. Drawing upon recent theorising into professional practice, the paper argues that teacher learning practices are intrinsically ‘ecologically’ related to teachers’ practices at specific sites. However, extending beyond this theorising, the research also reveals how teacher learning – in the case presented, in relation to classroom dialogue – is also significantly influenced by earlier learning experiences of the teachers involved. In this way, teachers’ practices are revealed as not only influenced by present-day, site-specific, whole-school teacher learning, but also by particular events encountered by teachers at an earlier phase of their careers. The research argues for a conception of teachers’ learning which is not only site-informed and ecologically arranged, but also deeply temporally embedded.     

教师的成长与培训初探——兼论中国内地实践与经验

随着教育发展及教育理论和教育技术的进步,教师专业化进程日益深化,因此研究教师成长和加强培训促进教师专业发展就成为当下教师工作的重大课题。中国目前开展的课程改革,首要任务之一就是要培训新型教师,推进教师教育模式转型。     

我国优秀女子铅球运动员最后用力技术的运动学分析

采用技术动作录像拍摄与分析法、数理统计分析等研究方法,对我国优秀女子铅球运动员的最后用力技术分别从身体各关节与出手速度、最后用力的两个阶段技术参数,人与铅球系统重心的位移等方面,结合铅球专项理论、运动训练学、运动生物力学等理论进行运动学分析,旨在探讨我国优秀女子铅球运动员最后用力技术的特点,进一步提高其训练的科学性、针对性。     

Experiences of teacher evaluation systems on high school physical education programs

Primary objective: Teacher evaluation is being revamped by policy-makers. The marginalized status of physical education has protected this subject area from reform for many decades, but in our current era of system-wide, data-based decision-making, physical education is no longer immune. Standardized and local testing, together with structured observation measures, are swiftly being mandated in the USA as required elements of teacher evaluation systems in an effort to improve school programs and student achievement. The purpose of this investigation was to document how this reform was initiated and the experiences of teachers, students and administrators, from three high school physical education programs, during initiation of this reform. Documenting how physical education programs respond to such reforms develops our understanding of top-down reform efforts and helps to identify conditions under which such reforms have the intended effect on physical education teachers and student learning in physical education.

Theoretical framework: Fullan’s three phases of school change has been used to analyze and guide school change efforts in several subject areas including physical education. The phases are initiation, implementation and institutionalization. This study is situated primarily within the first phase of school change, the initiation phase.

Methods and procedures: This study took place over a 21-month period in 3 suburban school districts in a northeast metropolitan area of the USA. Interviews with district physical education administrators, high school physical education teachers and students were conducted. Field notes of physical education classes, informal interviews and related artifacts including pre- and post-physical education assessments were collected. To ensure trustworthiness, several steps were taken including member checks, triangulation and peer review. The data were analyzed to find common themes and patterns using the constant comparative method.

Results: Several themes emerged: (1) changes in curriculum and assessment; (2) effect on administrators; (3) stakeholder apathy and (4) department collaboration.

Conclusion: Changes, although minor, did take place in the wake of this top-down teacher reform; however, additional research needs to be completed to determine whether or not these changes are meaningful or long lasting.     

Intercultural Communication Training for English Language Teachers: A Case Study of an Immersion Program for South Korean Teachers

Little research has been conducted that explores connections between the fields of intercultural communication and English-language instruction. To address this gap, we report on an intercultural communication course delivered as an integral part of a short-term professional development immersion program for English-language teachers from South Korea. Study results indicate that intercultural communication training served to enhance participants’ pragmatics awareness along with sensitivity regarding sociocultural influences on communication that they experienced in situ. After the four-week course, most of the participants expressed desire and readiness to integrate intercultural communication into their teaching in South Korea. Intercultural communication training promises to complement pragmatics instruction aiming at improving English-language learning and teaching.     

苏联教师群体的深描画像 ——《教师的日常生活》导读

《教师的日常生活》是当代教育人类学和微观史学的代表作,通过丰富的档案材料和访谈资料立体地呈现了苏联时期教师群体的日常生活和教师群体在苏联社会生态中的地位和命运,以此展现苏联意识形态工作和苏联社会的运作逻辑。