Chemistry Is in the News: assessing intra‐group peer review     

Kathleen M. Carson 《Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education》2010,35(4):381-402

Interdisciplinarity is rapidly becoming a norm within both the professional and academic worlds, and the ability to collaborate is becoming an essential skill for all graduates. Chemistry Is in the News (CIITN) is a curriculum that aims to teach students this skill by engaging student collaborative groups in a project that ties real world events and topics to the content taught in the classroom. While the collaborative activity has been successful in many ways, the challenge of maintaining individual accountability within the collaborative activity has persisted. The need to balance the tension between promoting collaboration and maintaining individual performance standards drove the development of an intra‐group peer review system. In developing this peer review system, four goals guide the design: the desire to promote collaboration, to produce a differentiated score among group members reflecting the contribution each person made, to improve student perception of fairness and accuracy in the assessment process of CIITN and to avoid artificially inflating students’ grades. The system was assessed in the winter semester of 2004 in a large lecture course at a major Midwestern university via student questionnaires and the CIITN scores. Evidence is provided to suggest that the intra‐group peer review system has met its core goals.  相似文献   

Examining the perceived value of professional judgement and decision-making in mountain leaders in the UK: a mixed-methods investigation     

L. Collins  H. J. Carson  P. Amos  D. Collins 《Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning》2018,18(2):132-147

This paper utilised a two-part mixed-methodology to examine the value placed on judgement and decision-making by a sample of qualified mountain leaders in the UK. Qualified leaders (N = 331) completed a web-based survey and a smaller sample (N = 8) were then interviewed. Survey data showed that mountain leaders place greater value on their judgements and decision-making when compared to the technical skills of mountain navigation and rope work; however, the process for developing these judgement skills was unclear. Interview data identified that judgement skills appear transferrable from other domains experienced by the leaders (e.g. emergency services, military) but are then recontextualised and modified for effective use within mountain leadership. The leaders facilitated this via a nested reflective process that combines in-action, on-action and on-action/in-context aspects that rely on metacognition. This combination of reflection and metacognition allows for rapid development of judgement making skills in-context. Implications for mountain leadership training are discussed.  相似文献   

Quantitative and qualitative changes in teaching histology by means of virtual microscopy in an introductory course in human anatomy     

Polly R. Husmann  Valerie Dean O'Loughlin  Mark W. Braun 《Anatomical sciences education》2009,2(5):218-226

This study compares overall laboratory averages and individual test scores along with a student survey to determine the effects of using virtual microscopy in place of optical microscopes in a large undergraduate human anatomy course. T‐tests revealed that the first two laboratory examinations (of four) and the overall laboratory averages were significantly increased compared with the previous year. We hypothesize that this is due to students' ability to use and understand the technology quickly as opposed to learning how to maneuver an optical microscope. Students also responded positively in a survey about the virtual microscope, indicating that increased accessibility, ease of use, and the ability to understand the material were important components of the virtual microscope. In addition, an increase in student collaboration was noted because multiple students were able to view the image at a time. This level of acceptance of virtual microscopy has been reported in previous studies, though this level of increased examination scores is rare. We attribute this to differences between the medical students, with whom this technology has been researched in the past, and undergraduate introductory students. Anat Sci Educ 2:218–226, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.  相似文献   

Youth Leaders' Perceptions of Commitment to a Responsibility-Based Physical Activity Program     

Tammy Schilling  Tom Martinek  Sarah Carson 《Research quarterly for exercise and sport》2013,84(2):48-60

This study extended Schilling's (2001) study by investigating program commitment among a larger (N = 12), older (M = 16.7 years), and more experienced (M = 5.96 years) sample of participants in the Project Effort Youth Leader Corps. Individual interviews elicited a greater number and specificity of themes. Program-related barriers included logistics, structure, and relationships, and personal-related barriers included perceived alternatives, personal characteristics, and “real-life” responsibilities. Similar to Schilling's (2001) earlier study, antecedents grouped under program environment, program structure, relationships, and personal characteristics. Participants also described outcomes in terms of behavior and emotional involvement but reported more themes related to leadership. Results are discussed in terms of consistencies and changes over time and implications for program development, expansion, and evaluation.  相似文献   

Pupil guidance: An integral part of teacher education and development in Scotland?     

Valerie Wilson  Stuart Hall  John Hall 《Teaching and Teacher Education》2007

Many schools throughout the UK are experiencing challenging behaviour from pupils and high levels of absence and exclusion as they seek to implement initiatives aimed at raising pupil attainment [National Audit Office (2005). Improving school attendance, London: The Stationery Office]. These initiatives often presuppose that pupils will receive adequate levels of guidance and support to help them make curricular, personal, social, and health decisions. However, little is heard from teachers and students undertaking initial teacher education courses on how they have been prepared for this extended role of supporting increasing diverse student populations; nor do we know how they define guidance/pupil support and integrate this with their concept of the professional role of a teacher. This article presents evidence from a one-year study of pupil support in Scotland commissioned by the Scottish Executive Education Department. The study provided evidence for The National Review of Guidance Provision in Scotland [Scottish Executive (2003). The national review of guidance. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive; Scottish Executive (2005). Happy, safe and achieving their potential. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive]. The study explored the views of all 32 local authorities in Scotland, a sample of students in training in two universities and teachers, headteachers and pupils in eight case study schools, and also a sample of their parents. This article focuses specifically on the findings relating to teachers and students in training. It identifies the ways in which they support pupils and how well they think they have been prepared for that task. Two dominant models of pupil support emerge from these data: an embedded and a specialist approach, and these vary according to school and education sector. Primary school teachers were more likely to embed pupil support into their concept of being teachers, whereas secondary teachers perceived it to be a separate, specialist function, which many were reluctant to undertake. Some implications for teacher education are highlighted.  相似文献   

Zoo educators face common and specific demands and resources: an application of the JD-R model     

Daniela Sellmann  Valerie Beckmann  Sarah Panzlaff  Susanne Menzel 《Environmental Education Research》2019,25(1):92-114

Zoo educators are important communicators of the targets in education for sustainable development and therefore carry great responsibility for global environmental change. However, German zoo educators form a heterogeneous group, many of them working in non-permanent job positions and facing multiple challenges at work. Applying the job demands-resources model, our study aims at revealing factors influencing zoo educators’ job strain. Our data from eight in-depth interviews with German zoo educators confirm that they perceive common factors known from other studies, such as demands (e.g. workload) and resources (e.g. supervisory support). Besides this, job-specific factors were identified (e.g. working with humans and animals). The demands zoo educators mentioned could be classified either as job hindrances (e.g. lack of equipment) or job challenges (e.g. learning). Future studies should quantify these results to facilitate the development of appropriate measures to reduce educators’ job strain, thus enhancing their performance.  相似文献   

Optical versus virtual: teaching assistant perceptions of the use of virtual microscopy in an undergraduate human anatomy course   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Collier L  Dunham S  Braun MW  O'Loughlin VD 《Anatomical sciences education》2012,5(1):10-19

Many studies that evaluate the introduction of technology in the classroom focus on student performance and student evaluations. This study focuses on instructor evaluation of the introduction of virtual microscopy into an undergraduate anatomy class. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with graduate teaching assistants (TA) and analyzed through qualitative methods. This analysis showed that the teaching assistants found the virtual microscope to be an advantageous change in the classroom. They cite the ease of use of the virtual microscope, access to histology outside of designated laboratory time, and increasing student collaboration in class as the primary advantages. The teaching assistants also discuss principal areas where the use of the virtual microscope can be improved from a pedagogical standpoint, including requiring students to spend more time working on histology in class.  相似文献   

Independent learning crossing cultures: learning cultures and shifting meanings     

Jane Spiro  Juliet Henderson  Valerie Clifford 《Compare》2012,42(4):607-619

This paper contrasts the notion of ‘independent learning’ as perceived by two informant groups at a UK institution of higher education: (1) teachers, educators and providers of education and (2) their students or ‘consumers’ of education. Both informant groups are staff and students studying in a culture different to that of their first education. They are identified in their receiving institution as ‘international’, or have identified themselves as such. The experience of transition into a UK University was explored with both informant groups, through interviews and focus groups, over a cycle of two years. ‘Independent learning’ as rhetoric and practice emerged for both groups as an issue in their transition from familiar to unfamiliar learning culture. Three key insights emerged. Firstly, a mismatch is identified between teacher perceptions and student interpretation of ‘independent learning’ expectations and practice. Secondly, it emerges that student experience of the learning culture is in a state of continuous flux, evolving between first arrival and end of programme through cycles of bafflement and empowerment. Finally, both students and teachers identify a number of strategies for dealing with this experience of ‘transitional’ independence. The paper concludes by recommending a notion of ‘phased scaffolding’ that might inform educational practice and by reflecting on the implications for the educator in revisiting received educational discourse from the perspective of participants negotiating a second learning culture.  相似文献   

The role of action research in the development of learning networks for entrepreneurs     

Valerie Brett  Martina Mullally  Bill O'Gorman  Nerys Fuller-Love 《Action Learning: Research and Practice》2012,9(2):125-143

Developing sustainable learning networks for entrepreneurs is the core objective of the Sustainable Learning Networks in Ireland and Wales (SLNIW) project. One research team drawn from the Centre for Enterprise Development and Regional Economy at Waterford Institute of Technology and the School of Management and Business from Aberystwyth University has contributed to the understanding of how to create sustainable business learning networks for entrepreneurs. The research findings are attributed to action research by the conduction of two separate cycles in the forum of research projects. The first cycle, called Female Entrepreneurs in Ireland and Wales, produced findings that were reflected on and investigated further by the research team through the establishment of the second cycle named SLNIW. This paper discusses the two action research cycles through the action sets of planning, action, observing and reflecting and the contribution of the development of understanding and practice of networking for entrepreneurs through the production of guidelines for establishing sustainable learning networks.  相似文献   

Narrowmobilization and Tea Party Activism: A Study of Right-Leaning Alternative Media     

Joshua D. Atkinson  Suzanne Valerie Leon Berg 《Communication Studies》2013,64(5):519-535

Past research concerning the theoretical framework of Resistance Performance (RP) has been based on observations of liberal organizations and activists. In the following essay, we engage in a qualitative content analysis of alternative media utilized by conservative “Tea Party” activists to build on the concept of RP. Overall, we discovered that the dominant theme found in much of the content focuses on “purity,” which is considerably different from past RP research that found broad themes of “human rights,” “democracy,” “be the media,” and “principles of unity” embedded within liberal alternative media content. We conclude that the theme of “purity” gives rise to narrowmobilization, which constructs very focused protest communities within right-leaning politics.  相似文献