Models as Relational Categories

Model-based learning (MBL) has an established position within science education. It has been found to enhance conceptual understanding and provide a way for engaging students in authentic scientific activity. Despite ample research, few studies have examined the cognitive processes regarding learning scientific concepts within MBL. On the other hand, recent research within cognitive science has examined the learning of so-called relational categories. Relational categories are categories whose membership is determined on the basis of the common relational structure. In this theoretical paper, I argue that viewing models as relational categories provides a well-motivated cognitive basis for MBL. I discuss the different roles of models and modeling within MBL (using ready-made models, constructive modeling, and generative modeling) and discern the related cognitive aspects brought forward by the reinterpretation of models as relational categories. I will argue that relational knowledge is vital in learning novel models and in the transfer of learning. Moreover, relational knowledge underlies the coherent, hierarchical knowledge of experts. Lastly, I will examine how the format of external representations may affect the learning of models and the relevant relations. The nature of the learning mechanisms underlying students’ mental representations of models is an interesting open question to be examined. Furthermore, the ways in which the expert-like knowledge develops and how to best support it is in need of more research. The discussion and conceptualization of models as relational categories allows discerning students’ mental representations of models in terms of evolving relational structures in greater detail than previously done.     

Changes in University Students’ Explanation Models of DC Circuits

One well-known learning obstacle is that students rarely use the concepts in the way that scientists use them. Rather, students mix up closely related concepts and are inclined towards matter-based conceptualisations. Furthermore, some researchers have argued that certain difficulties are rooted in the student’s limited repertoire of causal schemes. These two aspects are conveniently represented in the recent proposal of the systemic view of concept learning. We applied this framework in our analyses of university students’ explanations of DC circuits and their use of concepts such as voltage, current and resistance. Our data consist of transcribed group interviews, which we analysed with content analysis. The results of our analysis are represented with directed graphs. Our results show that students had a rather refined ontological knowledge of the concepts. However, students relied on rather simple explanation models, but few students were able to modify their explanations during the interview. Based on the analysis, we identified three processes of change: model switch, model refinement and model elaboration. This emphasises the importance of relevant relational knowledge at a later stage of learning. This demonstrates how concept individuation and learning of relational structures occurs (and in which order) and sets forth interesting research questions for future research.     

One Instructional Sequence Fits all? A Conceptual Analysis of the Applicability of Concreteness Fading in Mathematics,Physics, Chemistry,and Biology Education

To help students acquire mathematics and science knowledge and competencies, educators typically use multiple external representations (MERs). There has been considerable interest in examining ways to present, sequence, and combine MERs. One prominent approach is the concreteness fading sequence, which posits that instruction should start with concrete representations and progress stepwise to representations that are more idealized. Various researchers have suggested that concreteness fading is a broadly applicable instructional approach. In this theoretical paper, we conceptually analyze examples of concreteness fading in the domains of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology and discuss its generalizability. We frame the analysis by defining and describing MERs and their use in educational settings. Then, we draw from theories of analogical and relational reasoning to scrutinize the possible cognitive processes related to learning with MERs. Our analysis suggests that concreteness fading may not be as generalizable as has been suggested. Two main reasons for this are discussed: (1) the types of representations and the relations between them differ across different domains, and (2) the instructional goals between domains and subsequent roles of the representations vary.

     

Using Slack for computer-mediated communication to support higher education students’ peer interactions during Master’s thesis seminar

Our study contributes to the research on computer-mediated communication in higher education by experimenting a modern communication tool called Slack. In particular, we consider using Slack to support students’ peer interactions during Master’s thesis work. For this purpose, we designed a case study that was executed in a Master’s thesis seminar course. During the course, all out-of-class communication was carried out by using Slack, instead of e-mails or learning management systems. After the course, we used a questionnaire to investigate how the students perceived Slack for asking for assistance, their intention to use Slack, and Slack’s ease of use. Furthermore, the questionnaire asked feedback about challenges that the students found in slack. To examine the students’ peer support in Slack, we analysed the messages in the course’s public discussion channels. We investigated opportunities and challenges of Slack from instructional perspective by conducting an auto-ethnographic data collection. Our analysis revealed that the students perceived Slack as an easy-to-use communication tool with a low threshold of asking questions. The students also expressed high intentions to use Slack in the future. However, the students were worried of information overload in Slack, frustrated with decentralisation of communication tools in higher education, and cautious of using communication tools that are not officially supported by the university. The students’ interactions were assigned to three categories: practical, technical, and thesis-related. Analysis of these categories revealed that the students were able to explicate and solve issues in Slack, but the issues were only related to practical and technical problems, instead of actual Master’s thesis writing. The teacher perceived that Slack enhanced bi-directional communication with the students, but faced issues related to file management and user authentication. The results implicate that developing an alternative for Slack from educational premises could be more useful than a product that is not originally developed for pedagogical needs. Finally, we present recommendations that help educators to use Slack in their educational practices.     

Associations between child sexual abuse and negative sexual experiences and revictimization among women: does measuring severity matter?

Women with histories of child sexual abuse (CSA) are more likely than those without such experiences to report a variety of negative sexual outcomes. This study examines the explanatory power of a CSA summed composite versus dichotomous (presence/absence) measurement in predicting a comprehensive negative sexual behavior outcome. Study participants were obtained from a community based sample examining women's sexual decision-making. The continuous CSA measurement reflects cumulative histories of CSA through a composite score capturing abuse specific characteristics. Using a cross-validation approach, the sample (n = 835) was randomly split and the explanatory power of each measure was examined through a series of multiple linear regressions comparing model fit indexes and performing a formal likelihood ratio test of one model against another. All CSA measures explained a similar percentage of variance but overall the CSA summed composite explained the data significantly better in terms predicting negative sexual experiences and revictimization than a binary measure as demonstrated with the likelihood ratio test. The results were replicated by cross-validating the predictive power of the CSA composite score between the split samples. Consistency of CSA regression estimates for the summed composite between training and validation samples were also confirmed. Given the superiority of the CSA summed composites over the binary variable, we recommend using this measure when examining associations between CSA histories and negative sexual experiences and revictimization.     

Communication strategies to overcome functional and psychological resistance to Internet banking

This paper aims to investigate how customers experiencing different kinds of resistance to Internet banking perceive the information and guidance offered by the service provider. A postal survey was conducted and 251 effective responses from Internet banking non-users were received. Based on the earlier literature a typology of consumer resistance to innovations is proposed and four resistance segments, namely Non-Resistors, Functional Resistors, Psychological Resistors and Dual Resistors are identified. The results show that those customers reporting both functional and psychological resistance to Internet banking are more dissatisfied with the information and guidance offered by the service provider compared to those with only psychological resistance or no resistance to the innovation. Communication strategies to reduce and overcome different kinds of resistance to Internet banking are proposed.