Showing papers in "Instructional Science in 2012"
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of online peer assessment, in the form of peer grading and peer feedback, on students' learning were investigated using multiple regression models and the results indicated that the provision by student assessors of feedback that identified problems and gave suggestions was a significant predictor of the performance of the assessors themselves, and that positive affective feedback was related to their performance of assessees.
Abstract: This study reports the effects of online peer assessment, in the form of peer grading and peer feedback, on students’ learning. One hundred and eighty one high school students engaged in peer assessment via an online system—iLap. The number of grade-giving and grade-receiving experiences was examined and the peer feedback was coded according to different cognitive and affective dimensions. The effects, on both assessors and assessees, were analyzed using multiple regression. The results indicate that the provision by student assessors of feedback that identified problems and gave suggestions was a significant predictor of the performance of the assessors themselves, and that positive affective feedback was related to the performance of assessees. However, peer grading behaviors were not a significant predictor of project performance. This study explains the benefits of online peer assessment in general and highlights the importance of specific types of feedback. Moreover, it expands our understanding of how peer assessment affects the different parties involved.
199 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the relation between teachers' emotions in teaching and their approaches to teaching in individual courses and found that there are significant relations between the ways teachers emotionally experience the context of teaching and the ways they approach their teaching, with positive emotions being associated with student-focused teaching approaches and negative emotions with transmission approaches.
Abstract: This study investigated the relations between teachers’ emotions in teaching and their approaches to teaching in individual courses. It is derived from two fields of study that have hitherto been largely unconnected in higher education. While the research literature shows (a) a range of variables are related to the teaching approaches that teachers adopt and that these approaches are related to the quality of their students’ learning, and (b) that the emotional experience of teachers is an important factor in teaching, no studies have been reported on the connections between emotions and approaches in teaching in higher education. Two self-report questionnaires: the Approach to Teaching Inventory-Revised and the Emotions in Teaching Inventory, were completed by a sample of 175 Australian higher education teachers. The results suggest that there are significant relations between the ways teachers emotionally experience the context of teaching and the ways they approach their teaching, with positive emotions being associated with student-focused teaching approaches and negative emotions with transmission approaches. The relations help explain why new teaching strategies may not be successful or not even adopted.
196 citations
TL;DR: Analyses of learning processes and learning outcomes confirm partly the positive effects of both measures of self-regulated learning prompts: the more extended measure (with training) had superior effects on students’ learning transfer performance and acceptance.
Abstract: The aim of this research was to develop and evaluate tools and supports for self-regulated learning with hypertext information structures, such as Web pages. Two kinds of supports for self-regulated learning were developed and tested experimentally: Prompting and Prompting with Training. In Experiment 1, Prompting was tested with a pre-post-test between subject design, including thinking-aloud data. Students of the experimental group (n = 20) were prompted for self-regulation activities that had to be followed while learning basic learning theory. No self-regulation support was offered in the control group (n = 20). In Experiment 2 (Prompting with Training), the experimental group (n = 20) received a short training, in addition to the prompting: the self-regulated learning activities were explained in detail, demonstrated and practiced right before the learning session. Again, no self-regulation support was offered in the control group (n = 20). Analyses of learning processes and learning outcomes confirm partly the positive effects of both measures of self-regulated learning prompts. The more extended measure (with training) had superior effects on students’ learning transfer performance and acceptance. Implications for the design of instructional support to improve self-regulated learning with computer-based learning environments are discussed.
162 citations
TL;DR: These results challenge the claim that there is little efficacy in having learners solve problems targeting concepts that are novel to them, and that DI needs to happen before learners should solve problems on their own.
Abstract: In a study with ninth-grade mathematics students on learning the concept of variance, students experienced either direct instruction (DI) or productive failure (PF), wherein they were first asked to generate a quantitative index for variance without any guidance before receiving DI on the concept. Whereas DI students relied only on the canonical formulation of variance taught to them, PF students generated a diversity of formulations for variance but were unsuccessful in developing the canonical formulation. On the posttest however, PF students significantly outperformed DI students on conceptual understanding and transfer without compromising procedural fluency. These results challenge the claim that there is little efficacy in having learners solve problems targeting concepts that are novel to them, and that DI needs to happen before learners should solve problems on their own.
146 citations
TL;DR: Jarodzka, H., Balslev, T., Holmqvist, K, Nystrom, M., Scheiter, K., Gerjets, P., & Eika, B. as mentioned in this paper presented clinical reasoning based on visual observation via eye-movement modelling examples.
Abstract: Jarodzka, H., Balslev, T., Holmqvist, K., Nystrom, M., Scheiter, K., Gerjets, P., & Eika, B. (2012). Conveying clinical reasoning based on visual observation via eye-movement modelling examples. Instructional Science, 40(5), 813-827. doi:10.1007/s11251-012-9218-5
136 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that having an explicit learning theory adds value to lesson study, as the variation theory of learning serves as a source of guiding principles for the teachers when they engage in pedagogical design, lesson analysis and evaluation.
Abstract: The lesson study approach is a systematic process for producing professional knowledge about teaching by teachers, and has spread rapidly and extensively in the United States. The learning study approach is essentially a kind of lesson study with an explicit learning theory—the variation theory of learning. In this paper, we argue that having an explicit learning theory adds value to lesson study, as the variation theory of learning serves as a source of guiding principles for the teachers when they engage in pedagogical design, lesson analysis and evaluation. Through the use of two Hong Kong learning study cases, one from each of the two major ways of conducting learning study, we demonstrate the power of variation theory in explaining and predicting the relationship between what has taken place in the classroom and what the learners learn, and subsequently identifying ways to improve student learning through promoting teacher professional learning in a learning study setting.
130 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship among cognitive and motivational vari- ables impacting college students' willingness to take mitigative action to reduce the impacts of human-induced climate change and found statistically significant changes in their attitudes about climate change.
Abstract: This study examined the relationship among cognitive and motivational vari- ables impacting college students' willingness to take mitigative action to reduce the impacts of human-induced climate change. One hundred and forty college students were asked to read a persuasive text about human-induced climate change and were pre and post tested on their attitudes about climate change and their willingness to take action to mitigate its effects. Students showed statistically significant changes in their attitudes about climate change and their willingness to commit to take action. A path model demonstrated that openness to change and a willingness to think deeply about issues predicted both change in attitudes and expressed willingness to take action. This research demonstrates that a persuasive text has the potential to promote change around complex socio-scientific issues.
128 citations
TL;DR: Empirical evidence was found that a computer-supported collaboration script can foster formal quality of argumentation as well as corresponding cognitive elaboration in online discussions.
Abstract: This study explores the relation between argumentation in online discussions, cognitive elaboration, and individual knowledge acquisition. In a one-factorial experimental design with 48 participants we investigated the effect of an argumentative computer-supported collaboration script (with vs. without) on the formal quality of argumentation, cognitive elaboration, and individual knowledge acquisition in online discussions. Furthermore, we examined the relation between the formal quality of argumentation, cognitive elaboration, and individual knowledge acquisition. Empirical evidence was found that a computer-supported collaboration script can foster formal quality of argumentation as well as corresponding cognitive elaboration. Construction of formally sound arguments is positively related to both deep cognitive elaboration and individual acquisition of knowledge on argumentation.
113 citations
TL;DR: This paper studied teacher-student discourse in Pre-K science activities, with particular attention to teacher questioning, and found that when questions were open-ended, students employed a more varied vocabulary and more complex sentence structures.
Abstract: In the current study, we focus on teacher-student discourse in Pre-K science activities, with particular attention to teacher questioning. Videotaped classroom observations and teacher interviews served as the corpus of data. Overall, teachers asked mostly closed-ended questions, but used more open-ended questions when experiments were being conducted. During experiments, teachers’ questions were aimed at prediction and reasoning. In contrast, teachers used primarily closed-ended questions when science skills were being practiced and during science book readings, when their questions were oriented toward recognition and recall of factual information. The effects of the teachers’ questions can be seen in the students’ responses. When questions were open-ended, students employed a more varied vocabulary and more complex sentence structures. When teachers’ questions were oriented toward prediction and reasoning, students practiced these higher level cognitive skills in responding. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for teaching practice in early childhood science education.
112 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the impact of explicit teaching of reading strategies on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students' reading performance in Iran.
Abstract: This study explored the impact of explicit teaching of reading strategies on English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students’ reading performance in Iran. The study employed a questionnaire adapted from Chamot and O’Malley’s (1994) cognitive and metacognitive strategies framework. To test the effects of explicit teaching of cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies on reading performance and strategy transfer, the study has a quasi-experimental design involving a contrast group and a treatment group, with whom an intervention program was implemented. The treatment group achieved significantly better results than the contrast group after four months of strategy-based instruction. Results of paired-sample t-tests and independent t-tests and effect size showed that reading comprehension and reading strategy use improved with strategy instruction. Moreover, SPANOVA analyses showed that the participants in the treatment group performed better than those in the contrast group in reading comprehension and reading strategy transfer. Results also showed that strategy instruction contributed to autonomous reading behaviors. Recommendations for further research are discussed.
112 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the potential of reciprocal peer tutoring to promote both university students' metacognitive knowledge and their metACognitive regulation skills, and found significant changes are observed in students' actual metachognitive regulation.
Abstract: It is widely recognized that metacognition is an important mediator for successful and high-level learning, especially in higher education. Nevertheless, a majority of higher education students possess insufficient metacognitive knowledge and regulation skills to self-regulate their learning adequately. This study explores the potential of reciprocal peer tutoring to promote both university students’ metacognitive knowledge and their metacognitive regulation skills. The study was conducted in a naturalistic higher education setting, involving 67 students tutoring each other during a complete semester. A multi-method pretest–posttest design was used combining a self-report questionnaire, assessing students’ metacognitive knowledge and their perceived metacognitive skilfulness, with the analysis of think-aloud protocols, revealing students’ actual use of metacognitive strategies. Results indicate no significant pretest to posttest differences in students’ metacognitive knowledge, nor in their perception of metacognitive skill use. In contrast, significant changes are observed in students’ actual metacognitive regulation. At posttest, students demonstrate significantly more frequent and more varied use of metacognitive regulation, especially during the orientation, monitoring, and evaluation phases. Furthermore, our findings point to an increase in more profound and higher-quality strategy use at posttest.
TL;DR: It is suggested that process guidance in the form of metacognitive scaffolding augments the inherent benefits of Invention Activities and can lead to gains at both domain and inquiry levels.
Abstract: Invention and Productive Failure activities ask students to generate methods that capture the important properties of some given data (eg, uncertainty) before being taught the expert solution Invention and Productive Failure activities are a class of scientific inquiry activities in that students create, implement, and evaluate mathematical models based on data Yet, lacking sufficient inquiry skills, students often do not actualize the full potential of these activities We identified key invention strategies in which students often fail to engage: exploratory analysis, peer interaction, self-explanation, and evaluation A classroom study with 134 students evaluated the effect of supporting these skills on the quality and outcomes of the invention process Students in the Unguided Invention condition received conventional Invention Activities; students in the Guided Invention condition received complementary metacognitive scaffolding Students were asked to invent methods for calculating uncertainties in best-fitting lines Guided Invention students invented methods that included more conceptual features and ranked the given datasets more accurately, although the quality of their mathematical expressions was not improved At the process level, Guided Invention students revised their methods more frequently and had more and better instances of unprompted self-explanations even on components of the activity that were not supported by the metacognitive scaffolding Classroom observations are used to demonstrate the effect of the scaffolding on students’ learning behaviours These results suggest that process guidance in the form of metacognitive scaffolding augments the inherent benefits of Invention Activities and can lead to gains at both domain and inquiry levels
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed an emotion control treatment and investigated its effects on college students' academic emotions, motivation, and achievement in an online remedial mathematics course and found that the treatment group showed more positive emotions of enjoyment and pride than the control group.
Abstract: We designed and developed an emotion control treatment and investigated its effects on college students’ academic emotions, motivation, and achievement in an online remedial mathematics course. The treatment group showed more positive emotions of enjoyment and pride than the control group. The treatment group also showed a higher level of motivation than the control group but there was no difference between the two groups in achievement. Implications for the design and development of interventions or systems for students’ emotion control are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse first-year bioscience students' perceptions of their teaching-learning environment and their approaches to learning as well as the relationship of these to academic achievement as measured by students' progression in studies and how they succeed.
Abstract: The examination of academic progression has become an essential tool for measuring the effectiveness of educational systems. Research concerning the relationship between student learning and how they progress in their studies, however remains scarce. The aim of this study is two-fold: Firstly, the study aims to analyse first-year bioscience students’ perceptions of their teaching–learning environment and their approaches to learning as well as the relationship of these to academic achievement as measured by students’ progression in studies and how they succeed. Secondly, the present study explores factors students feel either enhance or impede their studying as well as the relationship of those factors with their approaches to learning and academic achievement. The data consist of responses from 188 first-year students who began their studies in the fall 2007 and 2008. The data were collected in a Finnish context with a modified and shortened version of the Experiences in Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). The analyses were carried out using factor analysis, one-way ANOVA and structural equation modeling. According to the results, organised studying was related to both academic progression and study success. In addition, academic progression was positively related to peer support. Furthermore, most of the students found that problems in time management impeded their studies and that pre-set schedules enhanced them. Results indicate that social support and self-regulation skills are important for academic achievement.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report findings from a phenomenographic investigation into blended university teaching using virtual learning environments (VLEs), and suggest that pedagogical beliefs and circumstances underpinning face-to-face teaching are more influential in shaping approaches to blended VLE use than VLE system features.
Abstract: This paper reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into blended university teaching using virtual learning environments (VLEs). Interviews with 25 Computer Science teachers in Greek universities illuminated a spectrum of teachers’ conceptions and approaches from ‘teacher-focused and content-oriented’, through ‘student-focused and content-oriented’, to ‘student-focused and process-oriented’. Using VLEs was described as a means of supporting: A—information transfer; B—application and clarification of concepts; C—exchange and development of ideas, and resource exploration and sharing; D—collaborative knowledge-creation, and development of process awareness and skills. The study suggests that pedagogical beliefs and circumstances underpinning face-to-face teaching are more influential in shaping approaches to blended VLE use than VLE system features. The authors propose that the findings could be used to inform educational enhancement initiatives and that there is a need for further discipline-focused research on blended teaching.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an account of how learning takes place in problem-based learning (PBL), and identify the relationships between the learning-oriented activities of students with their learning outcomes.
Abstract: This study aimed to provide an account of how learning takes place in problem-based learning (PBL), and to identify the relationships between the learning-oriented activities of students with their learning outcomes. First, the verbal interactions and computer resources studied by nine students for an entire PBL cycle were recorded. The relevant concepts articulated and studied individually while working on the problem-at-hand were identified as units of analysis and counted to demonstrate the growth in concepts acquired over the PBL cycle. We identified two distinct phases in the process-an initial concept articulation, and a later concept repetition phase. To overcome the sample-size limitations of the first study, we analyzed the verbal interactions of, and resources studied, by another 35 students in an entire PBL cycle using structural equation modeling. Results show that students' verbal contributions during the problem analysis phase strongly influenced their verbal contributions during self-directed learning and reporting phases. Verbal contributions and individual study influenced similarly the contributions during the reporting phase. Increased verbalizations of concepts during the reporting phase also led to higher achievement. We found that collaborative learning is significant in the PBL process, and may be more important than individual study in determining students' achievement.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed early adolescent students' cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and found that students' knowledge about how they learn has substantial room for improvement, and recommended to support teachers and students to engage with cognitive and meta-cognitive strategy instruction.
Abstract: The quality of teachers’ knowledge about how people learn influences students’ learning outcomes. Similarly, the quality of students’ knowledge about how they learn influences their engagement in self-regulated learning and consequently, their learning achievement. There is a gap between research findings that support these two premises and teaching–learning practices in classrooms. In this paper we describe attempts to reduce this gap. In Study 1 we surveyed early adolescent students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and demonstrated that students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategy knowledge has substantial room for improvement. In Studies 2 and 3 we collaborated with teachers to embed explicit cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction, using learning protocols, into regular class lessons. Studies 2 and 3 showed that the learning protocols slipped readily into teachers’ typical lesson designs, scaffolded teachers’ delivery of strategy instruction, and scaffolded some students’ acquisition of strategy knowledge, although progress was sometimes slow. Recommendations are presented for supporting teachers and students to engage with cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction.
TL;DR: The authors investigated the influence of online students' perceived information overload on their participation and knowledge construction in terms of cognitive and metacognitive processing as observed in online discussions via computer mediated communication (CMC).
Abstract: Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has been used widely to engage learners in academic discourse for knowledge construction. Due to the features of the task environment, one of the main problems caused by the medium is information overload (IO). Yet the literature is unclear about the impact of IO on student learning. This study therefore investigated the influence of online students’ perceived IO on their participation and knowledge construction in terms of cognitive and metacognitive processing as observed in online discussions via CMC. Interviews with students and computer conferencing transcripts were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results indicated that students’ perceived IO might influence their participation and levels of cognitive processing in online discussions. However, the results suggest that IO did not affect every student because some seemed to have learned how to manage IO. The results further suggest the critical role of learners’ metacognitive competence regarding internal management of cognitive load.
TL;DR: It is argued that simulation as a realistic and relevant activity cannot be predesigned but emerges in the interaction between the participants, the simulator, and the context, and concluded that the design of simulation activities needs to account for the possibilities of participants understanding the specific conditions of the simulation and the work practices that the simulation represents.
Abstract: Because simulators offer the possibility of functioning as authentic representations of real-world tasks, these tools are regarded as efficient for developing expertise. The users’ experience of realism is recognised as crucial, and is often regarded as an effect of the similarity between reality and the simulator itself. In this study, it is argued that simulation as a realistic and relevant activity cannot be predesigned but emerges in the interaction between the participants, the simulator, and the context. The study draws on interaction analysis of video data from medical training. The aim is to contrast the use of two different simulators to explore the requirements needed to establish and maintain simulations as authentic representations of clinical practice. Irrespective of the realism of the simulator, glitches in the understanding of the simulation as work-related activity appear and are bridged by participants. This regularly involves an orientation to the relevant similarities with work and, simultaneously, the ruling out of irrelevant dissimilarities. In doing so, the participants rely on established professional practices to construe the situation. Moreover, the realism of the simulation is maintained through the participants’ mutual orientation to the moral order of good clinical practice and a proper simulation. It is concluded that the design of simulation activities needs to account for the possibilities of participants understanding the specific conditions of the simulation and the work practices that the simulation represents. Learning to simulate is thus something that needs further attention in its own right.
TL;DR: In this paper, a Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) based teaching strategy was developed to facilitate conceptual change and its effectiveness on student understanding of condensation in primary science education.
Abstract: This article reports on the development of a Predict–Observe–Explain, POE-based teaching strategy to facilitate conceptual change and its effectiveness on student understanding of condensation. The sample consisted of 52 first-year students in primary science education department. Students’ ideas were elicited using a test consisting of five probe questions and semi-structured interviews. A teaching activity composed of three Predict–Discuss–Explain–Observe–Discuss–Explain (PDEODE) tasks was employed, based on students’ preconceptions identified with the test. Conceptual change in students’ understanding of condensation was evaluated via a pre-, post-, and delayed post-test approach and students’ interviews. Test scores were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings suggested that the strategy helps students to achieve better conceptual understanding for the concept of condensation and enables students to retain these new conceptions in their long-term memory.
TL;DR: Kapur et al. as discussed by the authors developed the learning method TAU (Think Ask and Understand) to promote student learning in a relearning situation in university-level mathematics, which provides support (i.e., a role script) for students' interaction during a collaborative problem-solving phase at the beginning of the learning process, while content-related instruction is delayed until a subsequent phase.
Abstract: To promote student learning in a relearning situation in university-level mathematics, we developed the learning method TAU (Think
Ask
Understand). TAU provides support (i.e. a role script) for students’ interaction during a collaborative problem-solving phase at the beginning of the learning process, while content-related instruction is delayed until a subsequent phase. As the contents targeted in university-level mathematics are complex, withholding instruction will most likely result in students’ failure to solve problems, even in relearning situations. However, there is reason to believe (e.g. Kapur, Instr Sci 38(6):523–550, 2009) that due to their collaborative grappling with the contents, students will be better prepared to benefit from the subsequent instruction phase and thus ultimately learn more than students who receive instruction right at the beginning. In a four-week, in vivo experiment with 76 students, we compared TAU to a direct instruction condition (i.e. a condition in which students received instruction right at the beginning). Post-test analyses showed a significant interaction effect between condition and week: Students in the TAU condition outperformed students in the direct instruction condition in all weeks but the first. The results suggest that the more students were familiarized with TAU, the better their learning outcomes became. Our process data further indicate that students collaborated fruitfully in accordance with the role script and increasingly internalized the script. This collaboration may then have paved the way for increased learning from the subsequent instruction. Our results provide evidence that delaying instruction can also promote learning in relearning situations and at the university level. Moreover, our findings call into question whether all support must be delayed; the primary issue may not be whether or not to provide support, but rather when to provide which kind of support.
TL;DR: This article examined 9th graders' understanding of the complex, multilevel, systemic construct of feeding relations, nested within a larger system of a live model and found that students exhibited initial system thinking, manifested in different levels of increased ability to identify: system components, processes, levels, and their interrelations; ecosystem patterns and control mechanisms; equilibrium shifts; and spatial and temporal aspects of feeding relation.
Abstract: Considering well-documented difficulties in mastering ecology concepts and system thinking, the aim of the study was to examine 9th graders’ understanding of the complex, multilevel, systemic construct of feeding relations, nested within a larger system of a live model. Fifty students interacted with the model and manipulated a variable within it in the course of this model ecosystem yearlong inquiry, in a laboratory/traditional learning environment. Students’ written responses to 10 pretest–posttest probes underwent fine-grain analysis regarding 53 descriptors of the system of feeding relations. Overall, students exhibited initial system thinking, manifested in different levels of increased ability to identify: system components, processes, levels, and their interrelations; ecosystem patterns and control mechanisms; equilibrium shifts; and spatial and temporal aspects of feeding relations. However, many still exhibited a deficient understanding of the system studied, reflecting a deficient system thinking. Implications for systemic ecology teaching and learning are discussed.
TL;DR: This special issue comes amidst persistent and recently reignited debates about how and when to structure learning and problem-solving activities with the goal to achieve both improved performance on the learning tasks and sustainable learning.
Abstract: This special issue comes amidst persistent and recently reignited debates about how and when to structure learning and problem-solving activities (Kirschner et al. 2006; Tobias and Duffy 2009). At the heart of the work reported in this special issue lies the incommensurability between learning and performance; that is, conditions that maximize performance in the short term may not necessarily be the ones that maximize learning in the long term (Schmidt and Bjork 1992). Two possibilities for designing instruction emerge. First is the possibility of designing conditions that maximize performance in the short term and that also maximize learning in the long term. Let us call such design efforts designing for productive success. Productive success research examines different instructional designs for structuring learning and problem-solving activities with the goal to achieve both improved performance on the learning tasks and sustainable learning. In fact, immediate success is often thought of as a proxy for long-term learning gains—as students who can perform well in the short run, are more likely to perform better on delayed assessments. Indeed, the majority of research in the cognitive and learning sciences speaks to this paradigm; and rightly so, because understanding conditions under which learning and problem-solving activities can lead to productive success is an important line of research. For example, cognitive load theory proposes direct instruction in the form of well-designed worked examples with the goal to avoid cognitively overloading learners, thus enabling learners to succeed in performing well on the learning tasks and to learn more (Sweller 2010). Constructivist approaches that fall into the genre of guided inquiry involve scaffolded activities initially to engender learning, with a gradual fading of scaffolding as learners gain expertise (Puntambekar and Hubscher 2005; Schmidt et al. 2007).
TL;DR: The authors investigated the effect of the CMM learning unit on students' modeling skill and sub-skills, including drawing and transferring between symbols/models and microscopic, macroscopic, and process chemistry understanding levels.
Abstract: Much knowledge in chemistry exists at a molecular level, inaccessible to direct perception. Chemistry instruction should therefore include multiple visual representations, such as molecular models and symbols. This study describes the implementation and assessment of a learning unit designed for 12th grade chemistry honors students. The organic chemistry part of the unit was taught in a Computerized Molecular Modeling (CMM) learning environment, where students explored daily life organic molecules through assignments and two CMM software packages. The research objective was to investigate the effect of the CMM learning unit on students’ modeling skill and sub-skills, including (a) drawing and transferring between a molecular formula, a structural formula, and a model, and (b) transferring between symbols/models and microscopic, macroscopic, and process chemistry understanding levels. About 600 12th grade chemistry students who studied the CMM unit responded to a reflection questionnaire, and were assessed for their modeling skill and sub-skills via pre- and post-case-based questionnaires. Students indicated that the CMM environment contributed to their understanding of the four chemistry understanding levels and the links among them. Students significantly improved their scores in the five modeling sub-skills. As the complexity of the modeling assignments increased, the number of students who responded correctly and fully decreased. We present a hierarchy of modeling sub-skills, starting with understanding symbols and molecular structures, and ending with mastering the four chemistry understanding levels. We recommend that chemical educators use case-based tools to assess their students’ modeling skill and validate the initial hierarchy with a different set of questions.
TL;DR: This article investigated how the effectiveness of small group learning by invention activities may be mediated by composition of the small groups in terms of their mathematical skills, and found that groups may need at least one member with high math ability to take advantage of "learning by invention".
Abstract: Schwartz and Martin (Cogn Instr 22:129–184, 2004) as well as Kapur (Instr Sci, this issue, 2012) have found that students can be better prepared to learn about mathematical formulas when they try to invent them in small groups before receiving the canonical formula from a lesson. The purpose of the present research was to investigate how the effectiveness of invention activities may be mediated by composition of the small groups in terms of their mathematical skills. In two studies, small groups of undergraduates engaged in an “inventing standard deviation” task. Results suggested that groups may need at least one member with high math ability to take advantage of “learning by invention”. Groups consisting of both high and low math ability members generated a broader range of solution attempts during the invention task, and this seemed to be related to better uptake of the standard deviation formula from a later lesson.
TL;DR: In this article, an analysis of perceptions of the teaching situation in relation to e-learning identified key themes influencing adopted approaches: control of teaching, institutional strategy, pedagogical and technological support, time required, teacher skills for using e-Learning, and student abilities and willingness for using learning technology.
Abstract: This study extends prior research on approaches to teaching and perceptions of the teaching situation by investigating these elements when e-learning is involved. In this study, approaches to teaching ranged from a focus on the teacher and the taught content to a focus on the student and their learning, resembling those reported in previous investigations. Approaches to e-teaching ranged from a focus on information transmission to a focus on communication and collaboration. An analysis of perceptions of the teaching situation in relation to e-learning identified key themes influencing adopted approaches: control of teaching, institutional strategy, pedagogical and technological support, time required, teacher skills for using e-learning, and student abilities and willingness for using learning technology. Associations between these elements showed three groups of teachers: one focusing on transmission of information teaching both face-to-face and online while having a general negative perception of the teaching situation in relation to e-learning; a second focusing on student learning both face-to-face and online while having a general positive perception; and a third presenting unexpected patterns of associations. These results may be helpful for supporting different groups of teachers in employing e-learning in their on-campus units of study. At the same time, further research is proposed for inquiring into specific approaches in different disciplines and different university contexts.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined teacher students' contextual learning experiences in authentic study environments using the contextual activity sampling system, a means of mobile-supported experience sampling, and found that studying during the inquiry-based period produced stronger experiences of being challenged as well as negative affects than the teacher-centered period.
Abstract: In the present study teacher students’ contextual learning experiences were examined longitudinally in authentic study environments using the contextual activity sampling system, a means of mobile-supported experience sampling. The students’ (n = 9) experiences were first recorded during a 2 week period in their first year of study. The same measurements were repeated again for a 2 week follow-up in the second year, accompanied by interviews before and after the follow-up. The first year of study consisted mostly of lectures and ordinary small-group work, whereas the second measurement period ran parallel to the completion of an intensive inquiry-based project, which was the focus of the present study. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that studying during the inquiry-based period produced stronger experiences of being challenged as well as negative affects than the teacher-centered period. The participants’ experiences of competence, commitment and positive affects did not differ during the two periods. However, interview data indicated that the participants enjoyed the inquiry-based period and that the work was intensive. Contextual data and interviews were also used to describe students’ experiences during one particular study session during the inquiry-based project. The results suggest that negative affects may be an essential part of the process of gradually learning to take responsibility for both individual and collaborative learning processes. Possibilities for using experience-sampling methods to analyze collaborative learning are also discussed.
TL;DR: This study examined and explored the perceptions of TAs with regard to the nature, content, and design characteristics of training and development for teaching in the research university, finding consistency with some previous research-based principles, but also raising new questions regarding TAs’ needs.
Abstract: Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) need effective, appropriate professional development opportunities that offer both meaningful foundations and strategically useful tools for their teaching. This study examined and explored the perceptions of TAs with regard to the nature, content, and design characteristics of training and development for teaching in the research university. A group of 210 graduate teaching assistants at a research university reported their perceptions of a range of design elements of training sessions and activities. TAs perceived that training contributed to their learning and development, promoting skills and strategies helpful for their teaching. More focused, strategic sessions received higher overall scores than more general foundational sessions, though strategic sessions were grounded in the more foundational ones. Design features that TAs reported most significantly contributed to their development were: expertise of speakers, structural design of events, and quality of support materials. Eighty percent of TAs reported intentions to continue learning about instructional theory and practice. Findings include consistency with some previous research-based principles of training and development, but also raise new questions regarding TAs’ needs and how to address them.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored whether students' achievement-related classroom behaviours, as observed by teachers, can be used as a mediator between student approaches to learning and academic achievement.
Abstract: Studies have shown that the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ)—which provides a measure of student approaches to learning—is a relatively weak predictor of academic achievement. The present study sought to explore whether students’ achievement-related classroom behaviours, as observed by teachers, can be used as a mediator between student approaches to learning and academic achievement. The SPQ was administered to 1,608 students enrolled in six different diploma programmes offered by a polytechnic in Singapore. Data were analysed by means of correlation and path analysis. In line with existing studies, the results revealed that student approaches to learning was a weak predictor of academic achievement. However, achievement-related classroom behaviours turned out to be a significant mediator between student approaches to learning and academic achievement, effectively doubling the explained variance in academic achievement. Implications of these findings for using the SPQ are discussed.
TL;DR: It is indicated that general vocabulary, science vocabulary, and questioning contributed significant variance to the explanation of science reading comprehension, but no particular variable was found to interact with language proficiency in their contribution to scienceReading comprehension.
Abstract: This study investigated the influence of general vocabulary knowledge, science vocabulary knowledge, and text based questioning on the science reading comprehension of three types of students who varied in their English language proficiency Specifically, grade 5 English-Only speakers, English Language Learners in the United States, and students learning English as a Foreign Language in a Spanish-speaking country were compared across the aforementioned variables to examine their relationship to reading comprehension Findings indicated that general vocabulary, science vocabulary, and questioning contributed significant variance to the explanation of science reading comprehension However, no particular variable was found to interact with language proficiency in their contribution to science reading comprehension Findings are discussed in terms of the roles that each variable could play in content area comprehension Implications for content-area literacy instruction of second-language students are considered