"Anatomizing" reversed: Use of examination questions that foster use of higher order learning skills by students     

Burns ER 《Anatomical sciences education》2010,3(6):330-334

"Anatomizing" is a new verb some use to describe the breaking apart of a complex entity such as the human body, into isolated tidbits of information for study, which can never equal the complex, integrated whole. Although popular with first-year medical students, this practice of "tidbitting" anatomical information into easy to memorize facts or tables of facts does not prepare medical students for the inevitable task of dealing with the integrated structure-function of the human body, both normal and diseased, as patient managers. Examination questions drive the cognitive methods students will use to learn content. Asking students on examinations for recall of previously memorized tidbits fosters the cognitive learning behavior of only memorization. Examination questions, however, can be constructed that assess student understanding and integration of the content, that is, student use of cognitive and metacognitive methods of higher order learning that will foster high-quality learning producing better practitioners and lifelong learners. This kind of efficient student learning needs to begin in the first year of medical school.Learning more efficiently and at deeper levels of understanding is especially pertinent as the contact hours in anatomy courses continue to decrease.  相似文献   

The Impact of a Science/Technology/Society Teaching Approach on Student Learning in Five Domains     

Hakan Akcay  Robert E. Yager 《Journal of Science Education and Technology》2010,19(6):602-611

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Chautauqua Professional Development Program in terms of the mastery of basic science concepts, understanding major science processes, use of creativity skills, improvement of student attitudes toward science, and the ability to apply science concepts and processes in new situations. Participants included twelve teachers who agreed to participate in an experimental study where Science, Technology, and Society (STS) strategies were utilized with two class sections where in one class the teacher determined the course structure and the form of instruction that was typically used. Conversely, the experimental class was almost exclusively student-centered. A total of twenty-four sections of students were in STS sections (365 students) and a similar number in control sections (359 students).The data collected were analyzed using quantitative methods. The results were tabulated and contrasted for students enrolled in the two sections for all the teachers. The results indicate that students in the student-centered STS sections achieved significantly better than students in the teacher-directed STS sections in terms of understanding and use of process skills, use of creativity skills, development of more positive attitudes; and the ability to apply science concepts in new contexts. However, there were no significant differences noted with respect to mastery of basic science concepts. Apparently student-centered STS approaches result in students with conceptual understandings but it is no better than the situation where teachers guide and direct inquiry STS approaches which focus much more exclusively on specific concepts and their definitions.  相似文献   

Summer Professional Development in Chemistry for Inservice Teachers Using OWL Quick Prep     

Cynthia B. Powell  Kim L. Pamplin  Robert E. Blake  Diana S. Mason 《Journal of Science Education and Technology》2010,19(2):126-132

Secondary teachers participating in summer professional development chemistry workshops in Texas used an online chemistry tutoring program, OWL Quick Prep (Day et al. in OWL: Online Web-based Learning, Brooks-Cole Cengage Learning, Florence, KY, 1997) as a part of the inservice training. Self-reported demographic data were used to identify factors in preparation and practice that affected pretest and posttest scores. Data from the pretests and posttests indicate that nomenclature and problems requiring calculations were the most challenging topics for the cohort. The participants who correctly completed 90% of the questions in the tutoring modules showed significant improvement in content mastery.  相似文献   

Reading,learning and enacting: interpretation at visitor sites in the Wet Tropics rainforest of Australia     

Karen Elizabeth McNamara  Bruce Prideaux 《Environmental Education Research》2010,16(2):173-188

The northern Wet Tropics rainforest of Australia was declared a world heritage site in 1988 and now supports an extensive tourism industry that attracts an estimated 2.5 million local and international visits annually. As part of the visitor experience, many sites include both environmental and cultural interpretation experiences, which range from static displays to one‐on‐one guided tours. This paper identifies visitor demand and level of satisfaction with the static signage and displays used at rainforest sites throughout the Wet Tropics. The research involves visitor surveys conducted in 2007 and 2008 and observations at a number of rainforest sites. The results indicate that visitors consider the level of interpretation to be adequate, but appear to use it poorly. While higher at commercial sites, visitor interest in reading the interpretation is very low at public sites. Overall, this article seeks to address whether the aims of nature‐based interpretation, including education and the influencing of attitudes and site behaviour, are being achieved.  相似文献   

Basic Concepts in Early Childhood Educational Standards: A 50-State Review     

Bruce A. Bracken  Elizabeth Crawford 《Early Childhood Education Journal》2010,37(5):421-430

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Mentoring the gifted: a conceptual analysis     

Robert Grassinger  Marion Porath 《High Ability Studies》2010,21(1):27-46

Mentoring is considered among the most effective pedagogical measures, yet it is rarely used in gifted education. One of the main reasons for this neglect seems to be the lack of a thorough analysis of its conceptual foundations from the point of view of giftedness research. This contribution starts with a discussion of conceptual and definitional issues pertinent to mentoring gifted individuals. An ideal definition is proposed, followed by a review of the effectiveness of mentoring programs. Existing mentoring programs rarely take full advantage of the educational potential inherent in mentoring. Next, the conditions and characteristics of effective mentoring are analyzed. From a general pedagogical point of view, mentoring should allow full use of the “Learning Triad” of modeling, instruction, and provision of learning opportunities and satisfy the “Big Four” effective learning processes (improvement‐oriented learning, individualization, feedback, practice). Mentoring can promote excellent development of the whole actiotope of a gifted individual.  相似文献   

Are Canadian adolescents happy？ A gender-based analysis of a nationally representative survey   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Robert D. Weaver Nazim N. Habibov 《美中教育评论》2010,7(4):37-52

In this study, the authors analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of youth to study happiness amongst Canadian adolescents aged 12-17. Testing for differences in the level of happiness between female and male adolescents was conducted. Following this, multivariate analysis was employed to determine which factors were associated with adolescent happiness. The authors determined that the level of happiness appeared to vary between the genders, as the males reported a higher level of happiness than the females. However, the difference between the genders in terms of reported happiness was modest. The authors detected some gender differences in regards to determinants of happiness. The study＇s theoretical and practical implications are also considered.  相似文献   

Looking back over the last year: some ups and downs of 2009     

Robert Jackson 《British Journal of Religious Education》2010,32(1):1-3

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Using Resampling to Compare Two Proportions     

W. Robert Stephenson  Amy G. Froelich  William M. Duckworth 《Teaching Statistics》2010,32(3):66-71

This article shows that when applying resampling methods to the problem of comparing two proportions, students can discover that whether you resample with or without replacement can make a big difference.  相似文献   

Searching the Web to learn about a controversial topic: are students epistemically active?   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Lucia Mason  Angela Boldrin  Nicola Ariasi 《Instructional Science》2010,38(6):607-633

Students are making an increased use of the Web as a source for solving information problems for academic assignments. To extend current research about search behavior during navigation on the Web, this study examined whether students are able to spontaneously reflect, from an epistemic perspective, on the information accessed, and whether their epistemic metacognition is related to individual characteristics, such as prior knowledge of the topic and the need for cognition. In addition, we investigated whether Internet-based learning is influenced by the activation of spontaneous epistemic metacognition in the search context. Forty-six psychology and engineering university students were asked to research information about a controversial subject in order to write an essay. They were also asked to think aloud during their research. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. As revealed by their spontaneous reflections, all participants were epistemically active, although to different extents and levels. As expected, there was evidence that students activated beliefs about the four epistemic dimensions identified in the literature, especially about the credibility of an electronic source and the criteria for justification of knowledge. Prior knowledge was not related to activation of epistemic beliefs in the search context, while the need for cognition significantly associated with aspects of source and its content evaluation. Two patterns of epistemic metacognition were identified and they significantly influenced Internet-based learning. Students who spontaneously generated more sophisticated reflections about the sources as well as the information provided, outperformed students who were active only at the first epistemic level. Educational implications are drawn.  相似文献