Sample records for learning goals based

  1. The Goal Specificity Effect on Strategy Use and Instructional Efficiency during Computer-Based Scientific Discovery Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kunsting, Josef; Wirth, Joachim; Paas, Fred

    2011-01-01

    Using a computer-based scientific discovery learning environment on buoyancy in fluids we investigated the "effects of goal specificity" (nonspecific goals vs. specific goals) for two goal types (problem solving goals vs. learning goals) on "strategy use" and "instructional efficiency". Our empirical findings close an important research gap,…

  2. The Role of Learning Goals in Building a Knowledge Base for Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jansen, Amanda; Bartell, Tonya; Berk, Dawn

    2009-01-01

    In this article, we describe features of learning goals that enable indexing knowledge for teacher education. Learning goals are the key enabler for building a knowledge base for teacher education; they define what counts as essential knowledge for prospective teachers. We argue that 2 characteristics of learning goals support knowledge-building…

  3. Tying knots: an activity theory analysis of student learning goals in clinical education.

    PubMed

    Larsen, Douglas P; Wesevich, Austin; Lichtenfeld, Jana; Artino, Antony R; Brydges, Ryan; Varpio, Lara

    2017-07-01

    Learning goal programmes are often created to help students develop self-regulated learning skills; however, these programmes do not necessarily consider the social contexts surrounding learning goals or how they fit into daily educational practice. We investigated a high-frequency learning goal programme in which students generated and shared weekly learning goals with their clinical teams in core Year 3 clerkships. Our study explores: (i) how learning goals were incorporated into the clinical work, and (ii) the factors that influenced the use of students' learning goals in work-based learning. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 students and 14 supervisors (attending physicians and residents) sampled from all participating core clerkships. Interviews were coded for emerging themes. Using cultural historical activity theory and knotworking as theoretical lenses, we developed a model of the factors that influenced students' learning goal usage in a work-based learning context. Students and supervisors often faced the challenge of reconciling contradictions that arose when the desired outcomes of student skill development, grading and patient care were not aligned. Learning goals could function as tools for developing new ways of acting that overcame those contradictions by facilitating collaborative effort between students and their supervisors. However, for new collaborations to take place, both students and supervisors had to engage with the goals, and the necessary patients needed to be present. When any one part of the system did not converge around the learning goals, the impact of the learning goals programme was limited. Learning goals are potentially powerful tools to mediate interactions between students, supervisors and patients, and to reconcile contradictions in work-based learning environments. Learning goals provide a means to develop not only learners, but also learning systems. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

  4. A Bayesian Developmental Approach to Robotic Goal-Based Imitation Learning.

    PubMed

    Chung, Michael Jae-Yoon; Friesen, Abram L; Fox, Dieter; Meltzoff, Andrew N; Rao, Rajesh P N

    2015-01-01

    A fundamental challenge in robotics today is building robots that can learn new skills by observing humans and imitating human actions. We propose a new Bayesian approach to robotic learning by imitation inspired by the developmental hypothesis that children use self-experience to bootstrap the process of intention recognition and goal-based imitation. Our approach allows an autonomous agent to: (i) learn probabilistic models of actions through self-discovery and experience, (ii) utilize these learned models for inferring the goals of human actions, and (iii) perform goal-based imitation for robotic learning and human-robot collaboration. Such an approach allows a robot to leverage its increasing repertoire of learned behaviors to interpret increasingly complex human actions and use the inferred goals for imitation, even when the robot has very different actuators from humans. We demonstrate our approach using two different scenarios: (i) a simulated robot that learns human-like gaze following behavior, and (ii) a robot that learns to imitate human actions in a tabletop organization task. In both cases, the agent learns a probabilistic model of its own actions, and uses this model for goal inference and goal-based imitation. We also show that the robotic agent can use its probabilistic model to seek human assistance when it recognizes that its inferred actions are too uncertain, risky, or impossible to perform, thereby opening the door to human-robot collaboration.

  5. A Bayesian Developmental Approach to Robotic Goal-Based Imitation Learning

    PubMed Central

    Chung, Michael Jae-Yoon; Friesen, Abram L.; Fox, Dieter; Meltzoff, Andrew N.; Rao, Rajesh P. N.

    2015-01-01

    A fundamental challenge in robotics today is building robots that can learn new skills by observing humans and imitating human actions. We propose a new Bayesian approach to robotic learning by imitation inspired by the developmental hypothesis that children use self-experience to bootstrap the process of intention recognition and goal-based imitation. Our approach allows an autonomous agent to: (i) learn probabilistic models of actions through self-discovery and experience, (ii) utilize these learned models for inferring the goals of human actions, and (iii) perform goal-based imitation for robotic learning and human-robot collaboration. Such an approach allows a robot to leverage its increasing repertoire of learned behaviors to interpret increasingly complex human actions and use the inferred goals for imitation, even when the robot has very different actuators from humans. We demonstrate our approach using two different scenarios: (i) a simulated robot that learns human-like gaze following behavior, and (ii) a robot that learns to imitate human actions in a tabletop organization task. In both cases, the agent learns a probabilistic model of its own actions, and uses this model for goal inference and goal-based imitation. We also show that the robotic agent can use its probabilistic model to seek human assistance when it recognizes that its inferred actions are too uncertain, risky, or impossible to perform, thereby opening the door to human-robot collaboration. PMID:26536366

  6. The Effects of Peer Competition-Based Science Learning Game on Secondary Students' Performance, Achievement Goals, and Perceived Ability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Ching-Huei; Law, Victor; Chen, Wei-Yu

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of different modes of competition on science learning in a game-based learning (GBL) environment. Some key motivational constructs such as learning goals, performance goals, and perceived ability were also investigated. One hundred ninety-five students from a secondary school in Taiwan were…

  7. Neuromodulatory adaptive combination of correlation-based learning in cerebellum and reward-based learning in basal ganglia for goal-directed behavior control

    PubMed Central

    Dasgupta, Sakyasingha; Wörgötter, Florentin; Manoonpong, Poramate

    2014-01-01

    Goal-directed decision making in biological systems is broadly based on associations between conditional and unconditional stimuli. This can be further classified as classical conditioning (correlation-based learning) and operant conditioning (reward-based learning). A number of computational and experimental studies have well established the role of the basal ganglia in reward-based learning, where as the cerebellum plays an important role in developing specific conditioned responses. Although viewed as distinct learning systems, recent animal experiments point toward their complementary role in behavioral learning, and also show the existence of substantial two-way communication between these two brain structures. Based on this notion of co-operative learning, in this paper we hypothesize that the basal ganglia and cerebellar learning systems work in parallel and interact with each other. We envision that such an interaction is influenced by reward modulated heterosynaptic plasticity (RMHP) rule at the thalamus, guiding the overall goal directed behavior. Using a recurrent neural network actor-critic model of the basal ganglia and a feed-forward correlation-based learning model of the cerebellum, we demonstrate that the RMHP rule can effectively balance the outcomes of the two learning systems. This is tested using simulated environments of increasing complexity with a four-wheeled robot in a foraging task in both static and dynamic configurations. Although modeled with a simplified level of biological abstraction, we clearly demonstrate that such a RMHP induced combinatorial learning mechanism, leads to stabler and faster learning of goal-directed behaviors, in comparison to the individual systems. Thus, in this paper we provide a computational model for adaptive combination of the basal ganglia and cerebellum learning systems by way of neuromodulated plasticity for goal-directed decision making in biological and bio-mimetic organisms. PMID:25389391

  8. Neuromodulatory adaptive combination of correlation-based learning in cerebellum and reward-based learning in basal ganglia for goal-directed behavior control.

    PubMed

    Dasgupta, Sakyasingha; Wörgötter, Florentin; Manoonpong, Poramate

    2014-01-01

    Goal-directed decision making in biological systems is broadly based on associations between conditional and unconditional stimuli. This can be further classified as classical conditioning (correlation-based learning) and operant conditioning (reward-based learning). A number of computational and experimental studies have well established the role of the basal ganglia in reward-based learning, where as the cerebellum plays an important role in developing specific conditioned responses. Although viewed as distinct learning systems, recent animal experiments point toward their complementary role in behavioral learning, and also show the existence of substantial two-way communication between these two brain structures. Based on this notion of co-operative learning, in this paper we hypothesize that the basal ganglia and cerebellar learning systems work in parallel and interact with each other. We envision that such an interaction is influenced by reward modulated heterosynaptic plasticity (RMHP) rule at the thalamus, guiding the overall goal directed behavior. Using a recurrent neural network actor-critic model of the basal ganglia and a feed-forward correlation-based learning model of the cerebellum, we demonstrate that the RMHP rule can effectively balance the outcomes of the two learning systems. This is tested using simulated environments of increasing complexity with a four-wheeled robot in a foraging task in both static and dynamic configurations. Although modeled with a simplified level of biological abstraction, we clearly demonstrate that such a RMHP induced combinatorial learning mechanism, leads to stabler and faster learning of goal-directed behaviors, in comparison to the individual systems. Thus, in this paper we provide a computational model for adaptive combination of the basal ganglia and cerebellum learning systems by way of neuromodulated plasticity for goal-directed decision making in biological and bio-mimetic organisms.

  9. Re-Examining Cognition during Student-Centered, Web-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hannafin, Michael; Hannafin, Kathleen; Gabbitas, Bruce

    2009-01-01

    During student-centered learning, the individual assumes responsibility for determining learning goals, monitoring progress toward meeting goals, adjusting or adapting approaches as warranted, and determining when individual goals have been adequately addressed. This can be particularly challenging while learning from the World-Wide Web, where…

  10. Do Career Goals Promote Continuous Learning among Practicing Teachers?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ng, Chi-Hung

    2010-01-01

    Practicing teachers often engage in continuous professional learning with certain career considerations. Based on achievement goal theory, this study explored the effects of career goals on teacher's learning using a sample of practicing teachers in Hong Kong. Two forms of career goals were assessed using a questionnaire. Professional learning…

  11. A Model of Statistics Performance Based on Achievement Goal Theory.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bandalos, Deborah L.; Finney, Sara J.; Geske, Jenenne A.

    2003-01-01

    Tests a model of statistics performance based on achievement goal theory. Both learning and performance goals affected achievement indirectly through study strategies, self-efficacy, and test anxiety. Implications of these findings for teaching and learning statistics are discussed. (Contains 47 references, 3 tables, 3 figures, and 1 appendix.)…

  12. Resident Self-Assessment and Learning Goal Development: Evaluation of Resident-Reported Competence and Future Goals.

    PubMed

    Li, Su-Ting T; Paterniti, Debora A; Tancredi, Daniel J; Burke, Ann E; Trimm, R Franklin; Guillot, Ann; Guralnick, Susan; Mahan, John D

    2015-01-01

    To determine incidence of learning goals by competency area and to assess which goals fall into competency areas with lower self-assessment scores. Cross-sectional analysis of existing deidentified American Academy of Pediatrics' PediaLink individualized learning plan data for the academic year 2009-2010. Residents self-assessed competencies in the 6 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competency areas and wrote learning goals. Textual responses for goals were mapped to 6 ACGME competency areas, future practice, or personal attributes. Adjusted mean differences and associations were estimated using multiple linear and logistic regression. A total of 2254 residents reported 6078 goals. Residents self-assessed their systems-based practice (51.8) and medical knowledge (53.0) competencies lowest and professionalism (68.9) and interpersonal and communication skills (62.2) highest. Residents were most likely to identify goals involving medical knowledge (70.5%) and patient care (50.5%) and least likely to write goals on systems-based practice (11.0%) and professionalism (6.9%). In logistic regression analysis adjusting for postgraduate year (PGY), gender, and degree type (MD/DO), resident-reported goal area showed no association with the learner's relative self-assessment score for that competency area. In the conditional logistic regression analysis, with each learner serving as his or her own control, senior residents (PGY2/3+s) who rated themselves relatively lower in a competency area were more likely to write a learning goal in that area than were PGY1s. Senior residents appear to develop better skills and/or motivation to explicitly turn self-assessed learning gaps into learning goals, suggesting that individualized learning plans may help improve self-regulated learning during residency. Copyright © 2015 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. The Intersection of Community-Based Writing and Computer-Based Writing: A Cyberliteracy Case Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gabor, Catherine

    The learning goals that inform service learning as a whole can contribute to the computers and writing field significantly. This paper demonstrates how two lines of inquiry can be furthered, community-based writing and computers and writing, through new data and critical reflection on learning goals and communication tools. The paper presents a…

  14. Conducting and Supporting a Goal-Based Scenario Learning Environment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Montgomery, Joel; And Others

    1994-01-01

    Discussion of goal-based scenario (GBS) learning environments focuses on a training module designed to prepare consultants with new skills in managing clients, designing user-friendly graphical computer interfaces, and working in a client/server computing environment. Transforming the environment from teaching focused to learning focused is…

  15. The Effects of Goal-Oriented Instructions in Digital Game-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Erhel, Séverine; Jamet, Eric

    2016-01-01

    Few studies have investigated the effects of the instructions provided in educational computer games on cognitive processing and learning outcomes. In our experiment, we sought to compare the effects on learning outcomes of two different types of goal-oriented instructions: "mastery-goal" instructions, which prompt learners to develop…

  16. Blocking of Goal-Location Learning Based on Shape

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alexander, Tim; Wilson, Stuart P.; Wilson, Paul N.

    2009-01-01

    Using desktop, computer-simulated virtual environments (VEs), the authors conducted 5 experiments to investigate blocking of learning about a goal location based on Shape B as a consequence of preliminary training to locate that goal using Shape A. The shapes were large 2-dimensional horizontal figures on the ground. Blocking of spatial learning…

  17. Career Goal-Based E-Learning Recommendation Using Enhanced Collaborative Filtering and PrefixSpan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ma, Xueying; Ye, Lu

    2018-01-01

    This article describes how e-learning recommender systems nowadays have applied different kinds of techniques to recommend personalized learning content for users based on their preference, goals, interests and background information. However, the cold-start problem which exists in traditional recommendation algorithms are still left over in…

  18. Motivation and value influences in the relative balance of goal-directed and habitual behaviours in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    PubMed

    Voon, V; Baek, K; Enander, J; Worbe, Y; Morris, L S; Harrison, N A; Robbins, T W; Rück, C; Daw, N

    2015-11-03

    Our decisions are based on parallel and competing systems of goal-directed and habitual learning, systems which can be impaired in pathological behaviours. Here we focus on the influence of motivation and compare reward and loss outcomes in subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) on model-based goal-directed and model-free habitual behaviours using the two-step task. We further investigate the relationship with acquisition learning using a one-step probabilistic learning task. Forty-eight OCD subjects and 96 healthy volunteers were tested on a reward and 30 OCD subjects and 53 healthy volunteers on the loss version of the two-step task. Thirty-six OCD subjects and 72 healthy volunteers were also tested on a one-step reversal task. OCD subjects compared with healthy volunteers were less goal oriented (model-based) and more habitual (model-free) to reward outcomes with a shift towards greater model-based and lower habitual choices to loss outcomes. OCD subjects also had enhanced acquisition learning to loss outcomes on the one-step task, which correlated with goal-directed learning in the two-step task. OCD subjects had greater stay behaviours or perseveration in the one-step task irrespective of outcome. Compulsion severity was correlated with habitual learning in the reward condition. Obsession severity was correlated with greater switching after loss outcomes. In healthy volunteers, we further show that greater reward magnitudes are associated with a shift towards greater goal-directed learning further emphasizing the role of outcome salience. Our results highlight an important influence of motivation on learning processes in OCD and suggest that distinct clinical strategies based on valence may be warranted.

  19. Dynamic updating of hippocampal object representations reflects new conceptual knowledge

    PubMed Central

    Mack, Michael L.; Love, Bradley C.; Preston, Alison R.

    2016-01-01

    Concepts organize the relationship among individual stimuli or events by highlighting shared features. Often, new goals require updating conceptual knowledge to reflect relationships based on different goal-relevant features. Here, our aim is to determine how hippocampal (HPC) object representations are organized and updated to reflect changing conceptual knowledge. Participants learned two classification tasks in which successful learning required attention to different stimulus features, thus providing a means to index how representations of individual stimuli are reorganized according to changing task goals. We used a computational learning model to capture how people attended to goal-relevant features and organized object representations based on those features during learning. Using representational similarity analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging data, we demonstrate that neural representations in left anterior HPC correspond with model predictions of concept organization. Moreover, we show that during early learning, when concept updating is most consequential, HPC is functionally coupled with prefrontal regions. Based on these findings, we propose that when task goals change, object representations in HPC can be organized in new ways, resulting in updated concepts that highlight the features most critical to the new goal. PMID:27803320

  20. Promoting Critical Thinking through Service Learning: A Home-Visiting Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, Cynthia G.; Oswald, Brianna R.

    2018-01-01

    As stated in APA Learning Outcomes 2 and 3, two central goals of higher education instruction are promoting students' critical thinking skills and connecting student learning to real-life applications. To meet these goals, a community-based service-learning experience was designed using task value, interpersonal accountability, cognitive…

  1. Achievement Goals, Study Strategies, and Achievement: A Test of the "Learning Agenda" Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Senko, Corwin; Hama, Hidetoshi; Belmonte, Kimberly

    2013-01-01

    Two classroom studies tested whether mastery-approach goals and performance-approach goals nudge students to pursue different learning agendas. Each showed that mastery-approach goals promote an interest-based studying approach in which students allocate study time disproportionately to personally interesting material over duller material. Study 2…

  2. Goal-Based Learning: Conceptual Design "Jump-Start" Workbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Montgomery, Joel R.

    This workbook explains the process of using the goal-based learning (GBL) approach to accelerating performance change to design an education or training program. The first half of the workbook, which focuses on the nature and benefits of GBL, discusses the following topics: shifting the focus of education; differences between lecture-based and…

  3. Profiling Differences in Achievement and Social Goals of Students at Different Levels of Expertise

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Malley, Patricia Tenowich; Sonnenschein, Susan

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to integrate domain-learning theory and goal theory to investigate the learning processes, achievement goals, social goals, and achievement of 141 college students. Cluster-analytic procedures were used to categorize participants at different levels of expertise based on their responses on knowledge, interest, and…

  4. Presenting the Students’ Academic Achievement Causal Model based on Goal Orientation

    PubMed Central

    NASIRI, EBRAHIM; POUR-SAFAR, ALI; TAHERI, MAHDOKHT; SEDIGHI PASHAKY, ABDULLAH; ASADI LOUYEH, ATAOLLAH

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: Several factors play a role in academic achievement, individual's excellence and capability to do actions and tasks that the learner is in charge of in learning areas. The main goal of this study was to present academic achievement causal model based on the dimensions of goal orientation and learning approaches among the students of Medical Science and Dentistry courses in Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional model. The participants included 175 first and second students of the Medical and Dentistry schools in Guilan University of Medical Sciences selected by random cluster sampling [121 persons (69%) Medical Basic Science students and 54 (30.9%) Dentistry students]. The measurement tool included the Goal Orientation Scale of Bouffard and Study Process Questionnaire of Biggs) and the students’ Grade Point Average. The study data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equations modeling. SPSS 14 and Amos were used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated a significant relationship between goal orientation and learning strategies (P<0.05). In addition, the results revealed that a significant relationship exists between learning strategies[Deep Learning (r=0.37, P<0.05), Surface Learning (r=-0.21,P<0.05)], and academic achievement.The suggested model of research is fitted to the data of the research. Conclusion: Results showed that the students' academic achievement model fits with experimental data, so it can be used in learning principles which lead to students’ achievement in learning. PMID:28979914

  5. Computer-Based Feedback and Goal Intervention: Learning Effects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Valdez, Alfred

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated how a goal intervention influences the learning effects gained from feedback when acquiring concepts and rules pertaining to the topic of descriptive statistics. Three feedback conditions; knowledge of correct response feedback (KCRF), principle-based feedback (PBF), and no-feedback (NF), were crossed with two goal…

  6. Accomplishing PETE Learning Standards and Program Accreditation through Teacher Candidates' Technology-Based Service Learning Projects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gibbone, Anne; Mercier, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    Teacher candidates' use of technology is a component of physical education teacher education (PETE) program learning goals and accreditation standards. The methods presented in this article can help teacher candidates to learn about and apply technology as an instructional tool prior to and during field or clinical experiences. The goal in…

  7. STEM learning activity among home-educating families

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bachman, Jennifer

    2011-12-01

    Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning was studied among families in a group of home-educators in the Pacific Northwest. Ethnographic methods recorded learning activity (video, audio, fieldnotes, and artifacts) which was analyzed using a unique combination of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and Mediated Action (MA), enabling analysis of activity at multiple levels. Findings indicate that STEM learning activity is family-led, guided by parents' values and goals for learning, and negotiated with children to account for learner interests and differences, and available resources. Families' STEM education practice is dynamic, evolves, and influenced by larger societal STEM learning activity. Parents actively seek support and resources for STEM learning within their home-school community, working individually and collectively to share their funds of knowledge. Home-schoolers also access a wide variety of free-choice learning resources: web-based materials, museums, libraries, and community education opportunities (e.g. afterschool, weekend and summer programs, science clubs and classes, etc.). A lesson-heuristic, grounded in Mediated Action, represents and analyzes home STEM learning activity in terms of tensions between parental goals, roles, and lesson structure. One tension observed was between 'academic' goals or school-like activity and 'lifelong' goals or everyday learning activity. Theoretical and experiential learning was found in both activity, though parents with academic goals tended to focus more on theoretical learning and those with lifelong learning goals tended to be more experiential. Examples of the National Research Council's science learning strands (NRC, 2009) were observed in the STEM practices of all these families. Findings contribute to the small but growing body of empirical CHAT research in science education, specifically to the empirical base of family STEM learning practices at home. It also fills a current gap regarding STEM learning among home-educating families, a small, but growing part of society's STEM learning infrastructure for which little research exists.

  8. Through the eyes of professional developers: Understanding the design of learning experiences for science teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Higgins, Tara Eileen

    Professional development is important for improving teacher practice and student learning, particularly in inquiry-oriented and technology-enhanced science instruction. This study examines professional developers' practices and their impact on teachers' classroom instruction and student achievement. It analyzes professional developers designing and implementing a five-year professional development program designed to support middle school science teachers. The professional developers are four university-based researchers who worked with sixteen science teachers over three years, setting program goals, facilitating workshops, providing in-classroom support for teachers, and continually refining the program. The analysis is guided by the knowledge integration perspective, a sociocognitive framework for understanding how teachers and professional developers integrate their ideas about teaching and learning. The study investigates the professional developers' goals and teachers' interpretations of those goals. It documents how professional developers plan teacher learning experiences and explores the connection between professional development activities and teachers' classroom practice. Results are based on two rounds of interviews with professional developers, audio recordings of professional developers' planning meetings and videotaped professional development activities. Data include classroom observations, teacher interviews, teacher reflections during professional development activities, and results from student assessments. The study shows the benefit of a professional development approach that relies on an integrated cycle of setting goals, understanding teachers' interpretations, and refining implementation. The professional developers based their design on making inquiry and technology accessible, situating professional development in teachers' work, supporting collaboration, and sustaining learning. The findings reflect alignment of the design goals with the perspective guiding the curriculum design, and consider multiple goals for student and teacher learning. The study has implications for professional development design, particularly in supporting inquiry-oriented science and technology-enhanced instruction. Effective professional developers formulate coherent conceptions of program goals, use evidence of teacher outcomes to refine their goals and practices, and connect student and teacher learning. This study illustrates the value of research on the individuals who design and lead professional development programs.

  9. From creatures of habit to goal-directed learners: Tracking the developmental emergence of model-based reinforcement learning

    PubMed Central

    Decker, Johannes H.; Otto, A. Ross; Daw, Nathaniel D.; Hartley, Catherine A.

    2016-01-01

    Theoretical models distinguish two decision-making strategies that have been formalized in reinforcement-learning theory. A model-based strategy leverages a cognitive model of potential actions and their consequences to make goal-directed choices, whereas a model-free strategy evaluates actions based solely on their reward history. Research in adults has begun to elucidate the psychological mechanisms and neural substrates underlying these learning processes and factors that influence their relative recruitment. However, the developmental trajectory of these evaluative strategies has not been well characterized. In this study, children, adolescents, and adults, performed a sequential reinforcement-learning task that enables estimation of model-based and model-free contributions to choice. Whereas a model-free strategy was evident in choice behavior across all age groups, evidence of a model-based strategy only emerged during adolescence and continued to increase into adulthood. These results suggest that recruitment of model-based valuation systems represents a critical cognitive component underlying the gradual maturation of goal-directed behavior. PMID:27084852

  10. Goals, Success Factors, and Barriers for Simulation-Based Learning: A Qualitative Interview Study in Health Care

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dieckmann, Peter; Friis, Susanne Molin; Lippert, Anne; Ostergaard, Doris

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: This study describes (a) process goals, (b) success factors, and (c) barriers for optimizing simulation-based learning environments within the simulation setting model developed by Dieckmann. Methods: Seven simulation educators of different experience levels were interviewed using the Critical Incident Technique. Results: (a) The…

  11. [The Medical Examination - Between Desire and Reality - Analysis of Consensus Between the Second Part of the Medical Licensing Exam (IMPP) and the National Catalogue of Expertise-based Learning Goals in Surgery (NKLC)].

    PubMed

    Sterz, Jasmina; Rüsseler, Miriam; Britz, Vanessa; Stefanescu, Christina; Hoefer, Sebastian H; Adili, Farzin; Schreckenbach, Teresa; Schleicher, Iris; Weber, Roxane; Hofmann, Hans-Stefan; Voß, Friedericke; König, Sarah; Heinemann, Markus K; Kadmon, Martina

    2017-12-01

    Background The working party of the German Society for Surgery (DGCH) on undergraduate surgical education has developed a national expertise-based catalogue of learning goals in surgery (NKLC). This study analyses the extent to which the questions of the German second medical licensing examination compiled by the IMPP are congruent with the NKLC and which thematic focus is emphasised. Materials and Methods Firstly, a guideline and evaluation sheet were developed in order to achieve documentation of the individual examination questions of the second licensing examination with respect to the learning goals of the NKLC. In a retrospective analysis from autumn 2009 to autumn 2014, eleven licensing examinations in human medicine were screened independently by three different reviewers. In accordance with the guideline, the surgical questions were identified and subsequently matched to the learning goals of the NKLC. The analysis included the number of surgical learning goals as well as the number of surgical questions for each examination, learning goal, and different levels of expertise (LE). Results Thirteen reviewers from six surgical disciplines participated in the analysis. On average, reviewers agreed on the differentiation between surgical and non-surgical questions in 79.1% of all 3480 questions from 11 licensing examinations. For each examination (n = 320 questions), 98.8 ± 22.6 questions (min.: 69, max.: 150) were rated as surgical. For each surgical learning goal addressed, 2.2 ± 0.3 questions (min.: 1, max.: 16) were asked. For each examination, 23.5 ± 6.3 questions (min.: 11; max.: 31) referred to learning goals of LE 3, 52.5 ± 16.7 questions (min.: 34; max.: 94) addressed learning goals of LE 2 and 22.8 ± 7.7 questions (min.: 9; max.: 34) were related to learning goals of LE 1. 64 learning goals (27.8% of all learning goals of the NKLC) were not reflected in the examinations. With a total of 70 questions, the most frequently examined surgical topic was "disorders of the rheumatic spectrum". Conclusion The number of surgical examination questions in the German second medical licensing examination seems to be sufficient. However, the questions seem to be unevenly distributed between different surgical areas of undergraduate education. In order to achieve a more homogenous representation of relevant surgical topics, improved alignment is needed between the state examination with existing catalogues of learning goals by the IMPP. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  12. Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Students' Learning with Erroneous Worked Examples

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klopp, Eric; Stark, Robin; Kopp, Veronika; Fischer, Martin R.

    2013-01-01

    The acquisition of diagnostic competence is seen as a major goal during the course of study in medicine. One innovative method to foster this goal is problem-based learning with erroneous worked examples provided in a computer learning environment. The present study explores the relationship of attitudinal, emotional and cognitive factors for…

  13. Describing content in middle school science curricula

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwarz-Ballard, Jennifer A.

    As researchers and designers, we intuitively recognize differences between curricula and describe them in terms of design strategy: project-based, laboratory-based, modular, traditional, and textbook, among others. We assume that practitioners recognize the differences in how each requires that students use knowledge, however these intuitive differences have not been captured or systematically described by the existing languages for describing learning goals. In this dissertation I argue that we need new ways of capturing relationships among elements of content, and propose a theory that describes some of the important differences in how students reason in differently designed curricula and activities. Educational researchers and curriculum designers have taken a variety of approaches to laying out learning goals for science. Through an analysis of existing descriptions of learning goals I argue that to describe differences in the understanding students come away with, they need to (1) be specific about the form of knowledge, (2) incorporate both the processes through which knowledge is used and its form, and (3) capture content development across a curriculum. To show the value of inquiry curricula, learning goals need to incorporate distinctions among the variety of ways we ask students to use knowledge. Here I propose the Epistemic Structures Framework as one way to describe differences in students reasoning that are not captured by existing descriptions of learning goals. The usefulness of the Epistemic Structures framework is demonstrated in the four curriculum case study examples in Part II of this work. The curricula in the case studies represent a range of content coverage, curriculum structure, and design rationale. They serve both to illustrate the Epistemic Structures analysis process and make the case that it does in fact describe learning goals in a way that captures important differences in students reasoning in differently designed curricula. Describing learning goals in terms of Epistemic Structures provides one way to define what we mean when we talk about "project-based" curricula and demonstrate its "value added" to educators, administrators and policy makers.

  14. The Effect of Precommitment on Student Achievement within a Technology-Rich Project-Based Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hao, Qiang; Branch, Robert Maribe; Jensen, Lucas

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of precommitment on college students' goal setting and academic performance, and students' attitude towards precommitment-related activities. Precommitment refers to a procedure in which students set up learning goals, possibly with a time limit at the beginning of a learning phase, then report the comparison…

  15. Deep Learning in Distance Education: Are We Achieving the Goal?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shearer, Rick L.; Gregg, Andrea; Joo, K. P.

    2015-01-01

    As educators, one of our goals is to help students arrive at deeper levels of learning. However, how is this accomplished, especially in online courses? This design-based research study explored the concept of deep learning through a series of design changes in a graduate education course. A key question that emerged was through what learning…

  16. Using Learning Analytics for Preserving Academic Integrity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amigud, Alexander; Arnedo-Moreno, Joan; Daradoumis, Thanasis; Guerrero-Roldan, Ana-Elena

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents the results of integrating learning analytics into the assessment process to enhance academic integrity in the e-learning environment. The goal of this research is to evaluate the computational-based approach to academic integrity. The machine-learning based framework learns students' patterns of language use from data,…

  17. Analysis of chemistry textbook content and national science education standards in terms of air quality-related learning goals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Naughton, Wendy

    In this study's Phase One, representatives of nine municipal agencies involved in air quality education were interviewed and interview transcripts were analyzed for themes related to what citizens need to know or be able to do regarding air quality concerns. Based on these themes, eight air quality Learning Goal Sets were generated and validated via peer and member checks. In Phase Two, six college-level, liberal-arts chemistry textbooks and the National Science Education Standards (NSES) were analyzed for congruence with Phase One learning goals. Major categories of desired citizen understandings highlighted in agency interviews concerned air pollution sources, impact, detection, and transport. Identified cognitive skills focused on information-gathering and -evaluating skills, enabling informed decision-making. A content match was found between textbooks and air quality learning goals, but most textbooks fail to address learning goals that remediate citizen misconceptions and inabilities---particularly those with a "personal experience" focus. A partial match between NSES and air quality learning goals was attributed to differing foci: Researcher-derived learning goals deal specifically with air quality, while NSES focus is on "fundamental science concepts," not "many science topics." Analysis of findings within a situated cognition framework suggests implications for instruction and NSES revision.

  18. From Creatures of Habit to Goal-Directed Learners: Tracking the Developmental Emergence of Model-Based Reinforcement Learning.

    PubMed

    Decker, Johannes H; Otto, A Ross; Daw, Nathaniel D; Hartley, Catherine A

    2016-06-01

    Theoretical models distinguish two decision-making strategies that have been formalized in reinforcement-learning theory. A model-based strategy leverages a cognitive model of potential actions and their consequences to make goal-directed choices, whereas a model-free strategy evaluates actions based solely on their reward history. Research in adults has begun to elucidate the psychological mechanisms and neural substrates underlying these learning processes and factors that influence their relative recruitment. However, the developmental trajectory of these evaluative strategies has not been well characterized. In this study, children, adolescents, and adults performed a sequential reinforcement-learning task that enabled estimation of model-based and model-free contributions to choice. Whereas a model-free strategy was apparent in choice behavior across all age groups, a model-based strategy was absent in children, became evident in adolescents, and strengthened in adults. These results suggest that recruitment of model-based valuation systems represents a critical cognitive component underlying the gradual maturation of goal-directed behavior. © The Author(s) 2016.

  19. Consideration of learning orientations as an application of achievement goals in evaluating life science majors in introductory physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mason, Andrew J.; Bertram, Charles A.

    2018-06-01

    When considering performing an Introductory Physics for Life Sciences course transformation for one's own institution, life science majors' achievement goals are a necessary consideration to ensure the pedagogical transformation will be effective. However, achievement goals are rarely an explicit consideration in physics education research topics such as metacognition. We investigate a sample population of 218 students in a first-semester introductory algebra-based physics course, drawn from 14 laboratory sections within six semesters of course sections, to determine the influence of achievement goals on life science majors' attitudes towards physics. Learning orientations that, respectively, pertain to mastery goals and performance goals, in addition to a learning orientation that does not report a performance goal, were recorded from students in the specific context of learning a problem-solving framework during an in-class exercise. Students' learning orientations, defined within the context of students' self-reported statements in the specific context of a problem-solving-related research-based course implementation, are compared to pre-post results on physics problem-solving items in a well-established attitudinal survey instrument, in order to establish the categories' validity. In addition, mastery-related and performance-related orientations appear to extend to overall pre-post attitudinal shifts, but not to force and motion concepts or to overall course grade, within the scope of an introductory physics course. There also appears to be differentiation regarding overall course performance within health science majors, but not within biology majors, in terms of learning orientations; however, health science majors generally appear to fare less well on all measurements in the study than do biology majors, regardless of learning orientations.

  20. Integrating the Demonstration Orientation and Standards-Based Models of Achievement Goal Theory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wynne, Heather Marie

    2014-01-01

    Achievement goal theory and thus, the empirical measures stemming from the research, are currently divided on two conceptual approaches, namely the reason versus aims-based models of achievement goals. The factor structure and predictive utility of goal constructs from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Strategies (PALS) and the latest two versions…

  1. Learning Object Retrieval and Aggregation Based on Learning Styles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramirez-Arellano, Aldo; Bory-Reyes, Juan; Hernández-Simón, Luis Manuel

    2017-01-01

    The main goal of this article is to develop a Management System for Merging Learning Objects (msMLO), which offers an approach that retrieves learning objects (LOs) based on students' learning styles and term-based queries, which produces a new outcome with a better score. The msMLO faces the task of retrieving LOs via two steps: The first step…

  2. A randomized controlled trial on errorless learning in goal management training: study rationale and protocol

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Many brain-injured patients referred for outpatient rehabilitation have executive deficits, notably difficulties with planning, problem-solving and goal directed behaviour. Goal Management Training (GMT) has proven to be an efficacious cognitive treatment for these problems. GMT entails learning and applying an algorithm, in which daily tasks are subdivided into multiple steps. Main aim of the present study is to examine whether using an errorless learning approach (preventing the occurrence of errors during the acquisition phase of learning) contributes to the efficacy of Goal Management Training in the performance of complex daily tasks. Methods/Design The study is a double blind randomized controlled trial, in which the efficacy of Goal Management Training with an errorless learning approach will be compared with conventional Goal Management Training, based on trial and error learning. In both conditions 32 patients with acquired brain injury of mixed etiology will be examined. Main outcome measure will be the performance on two individually chosen everyday-tasks before and after treatment, using a standardized observation scale and goal attainment scaling. Discussion This is the first study that introduces errorless learning in Goal Management Training. It is expected that the GMT-errorless learning approach will improve the execution of complex daily tasks in brain-injured patients with executive deficits. The study can contribute to a better treatment of executive deficits in cognitive rehabilitation. Trial registration (Dutch Trial Register): http://NTR3567 PMID:23786651

  3. Aligning Goals, Assessments, and Activities: An Approach to Teaching PCR and Gel Electrophoresis

    PubMed Central

    Robertson, Amber L.; Batzli, Janet; Harris, Michelle; Miller, Sarah

    2008-01-01

    Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis have become common techniques used in undergraduate molecular and cell biology labs. Although students enjoy learning these techniques, they often cannot fully comprehend and analyze the outcomes of their experiments because of a disconnect between concepts taught in lecture and experiments done in lab. Here we report the development and implementation of novel exercises that integrate the biological concepts of DNA structure and replication with the techniques of PCR and gel electrophoresis. Learning goals were defined based on concepts taught throughout the cell biology lab course and learning objectives specific to the PCR and gel electrophoresis lab. Exercises developed to promote critical thinking and target the underlying concepts of PCR, primer design, gel analysis, and troubleshooting were incorporated into an existing lab unit based on the detection of genetically modified organisms. Evaluative assessments for each exercise were aligned with the learning goals and used to measure student learning achievements. Our analysis found that the exercises were effective in enhancing student understanding of these concepts as shown by student performance across all learning goals. The new materials were particularly helpful in acquiring relevant knowledge, fostering critical-thinking skills, and uncovering prevalent misconceptions. PMID:18316813

  4. An Intelligent E-Learning System Based on Learner Profiling and Learning Resources Adaptation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tzouveli, Paraskevi; Mylonas, Phivos; Kollias, Stefanos

    2008-01-01

    Taking advantage of the continuously improving, web-based learning systems plays an important role for self-learning, especially in the case of working people. Nevertheless, learning systems do not generally adapt to learners' profiles. Learners have to spend a lot of time before reaching the learning goal that is compatible with their knowledge…

  5. Cognition- and affect-based trust and feedback-seeking behavior: the roles of value, cost, and goal orientations.

    PubMed

    Choi, Byoung Kwon; Moon, Hyoung Koo; Nae, Eun Young

    2014-01-01

    We examined how subordinates' cognition- and affect-based trust in supervisors influences their feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) by considering the different cost/value perception of FSB and goal orientation (i.e., learning and performance goal orientations). Using data from 194 supervisor-subordinate dyads in South Korea, we conducted multiple regression analyses to test our hypotheses. The results showed that, whereas subordinates' cognition-based trust in supervisors positively influenced their FSB through increasing the perceived value of feedback received from supervisors, their affect-based trust in supervisors positively influenced their FSB through decreasing the perceived value of FSB. Additionally, we found that, when subordinates had high levels of learning goal orientation, the increasing influence of cognition-based trust on the value of feedback was stronger; in contrast, when subordinates had low levels of performance goal orientation, the decreasing influence of affect-based trust on the cost of FSB was stronger. The theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research were discussed.

  6. Effects of Problem-Based Learning on Recognition Learning and Transfer Accounting for GPA and Goal Orientation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bergstrom, Cassendra M.; Pugh, Kevin J.; Phillips, Michael M.; Machlev, Moshe

    2016-01-01

    Conflicting research results have stirred controversy over the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) compared to direct instruction at fostering content learning, particularly for novices. We addressed this by investigating effectiveness with respect to recognition learning and transfer and conducting an aptitude-treatment interaction…

  7. Understanding and Predicting Student Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in Game-Based Learning Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sabourin, Jennifer L.; Shores, Lucy R.; Mott, Bradford W.; Lester, James C.

    2013-01-01

    Self-regulated learning behaviors such as goal setting and monitoring have been found to be crucial to students' success in computer-based learning environments. Consequently, understanding students' self-regulated learning behavior has been the subject of increasing attention. Unfortunately, monitoring these behaviors in real-time has…

  8. Community-Based Service-Learning: Partnerships of Reciprocal Exchange?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hammersley, Laura

    2012-01-01

    Community-based service-learning (CBSL) integrates experiential learning and academic goals with organized activities designed to meet the objectives of community partners. CBSL has potential to enhance (1) academic learning, (2) foster civic responsibility, (3) develop life skills and (4) transform student attitudes. However, little research…

  9. Analysis of mathematical literacy ability based on goal orientation in model eliciting activities learning with murder strategy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wijayanti, R.; Waluya, S. B.; Masrukan

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this research are (1) to analyze the learning quality of MEAs with MURDER strategy, (2) to analyze students’ mathematical literacy ability based on goal orientation in MEAs learning with MURDER strategy. This research is a mixed method research of concurrent embedded type where qualitative method as the primary method. The data were obtained using the methods of scale, observation, test and interviews. The results showed that (1) MEAs Learning with MURDER strategy on students' mathematical literacy ability is qualified, (2) Students who have mastery goal characteristics are able to master the seven components of mathematical literacy process although there are still two components that the solution is less than the maximum. Students who have performance goal characteristics have not mastered the components of mathematical literacy process with the maximum, they are only able to master the ability of using mathematics tool and the other components of mathematical literacy process is quite good.

  10. Hierarchical extreme learning machine based reinforcement learning for goal localization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    AlDahoul, Nouar; Zaw Htike, Zaw; Akmeliawati, Rini

    2017-03-01

    The objective of goal localization is to find the location of goals in noisy environments. Simple actions are performed to move the agent towards the goal. The goal detector should be capable of minimizing the error between the predicted locations and the true ones. Few regions need to be processed by the agent to reduce the computational effort and increase the speed of convergence. In this paper, reinforcement learning (RL) method was utilized to find optimal series of actions to localize the goal region. The visual data, a set of images, is high dimensional unstructured data and needs to be represented efficiently to get a robust detector. Different deep Reinforcement models have already been used to localize a goal but most of them take long time to learn the model. This long learning time results from the weights fine tuning stage that is applied iteratively to find an accurate model. Hierarchical Extreme Learning Machine (H-ELM) was used as a fast deep model that doesn’t fine tune the weights. In other words, hidden weights are generated randomly and output weights are calculated analytically. H-ELM algorithm was used in this work to find good features for effective representation. This paper proposes a combination of Hierarchical Extreme learning machine and Reinforcement learning to find an optimal policy directly from visual input. This combination outperforms other methods in terms of accuracy and learning speed. The simulations and results were analysed by using MATLAB.

  11. Valence-dependent influence of serotonin depletion on model-based choice strategy

    PubMed Central

    Worbe, Y; Palminteri, S; Savulich, G; Daw, N D; Fernandez-Egea, E; Robbins, T W; Voon, V

    2016-01-01

    Human decision-making arises from both reflective and reflexive mechanisms, which underpin goal-directed and habitual behavioural control. Computationally, these two systems of behavioural control have been described by different learning algorithms, model-based and model-free learning, respectively. Here, we investigated the effect of diminished serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) neurotransmission using dietary tryptophan depletion (TD) in healthy volunteers on the performance of a two-stage decision-making task, which allows discrimination between model-free and model-based behavioural strategies. A novel version of the task was used, which not only examined choice balance for monetary reward but also for punishment (monetary loss). TD impaired goal-directed (model-based) behaviour in the reward condition, but promoted it under punishment. This effect on appetitive and aversive goal-directed behaviour is likely mediated by alteration of the average reward representation produced by TD, which is consistent with previous studies. Overall, the major implication of this study is that serotonin differentially affects goal-directed learning as a function of affective valence. These findings are relevant for a further understanding of psychiatric disorders associated with breakdown of goal-directed behavioural control such as obsessive-compulsive disorders or addictions. PMID:25869808

  12. Grading for Understanding--Standards-Based Grading

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zimmerman, Todd

    2017-01-01

    Standards-based grading (SBG), sometimes called learning objectives-based assessment (LOBA), is an assessment model that relies on students demonstrating mastery of learning objectives (sometimes referred to as standards). The goal of this grading system is to focus students on mastering learning objectives rather than on accumulating points. I…

  13. Dorsolateral Striatal Lesions Impair Navigation Based on Landmark-Goal Vectors but Facilitate Spatial Learning Based on a "Cognitive Map"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kosaki, Yutaka; Poulter, Steven L.; Austen, Joe M.; McGregor, Anthony

    2015-01-01

    In three experiments, the nature of the interaction between multiple memory systems in rats solving a variation of a spatial task in the water maze was investigated. Throughout training rats were able to find a submerged platform at a fixed distance and direction from an intramaze landmark by learning a landmark-goal vector. Extramaze cues were…

  14. A Genetic Algorithm Approach to Recognise Students' Learning Styles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yannibelli, Virginia; Godoy, Daniela; Amandi, Analia

    2006-01-01

    Learning styles encapsulate the preferences of the students, regarding how they learn. By including information about the student learning style, computer-based educational systems are able to adapt a course according to the individual characteristics of the students. In accomplishing this goal, educational systems have been mostly based on the…

  15. On learning navigation behaviors for small mobile robots with reservoir computing architectures.

    PubMed

    Antonelo, Eric Aislan; Schrauwen, Benjamin

    2015-04-01

    This paper proposes a general reservoir computing (RC) learning framework that can be used to learn navigation behaviors for mobile robots in simple and complex unknown partially observable environments. RC provides an efficient way to train recurrent neural networks by letting the recurrent part of the network (called reservoir) be fixed while only a linear readout output layer is trained. The proposed RC framework builds upon the notion of navigation attractor or behavior that can be embedded in the high-dimensional space of the reservoir after learning. The learning of multiple behaviors is possible because the dynamic robot behavior, consisting of a sensory-motor sequence, can be linearly discriminated in the high-dimensional nonlinear space of the dynamic reservoir. Three learning approaches for navigation behaviors are shown in this paper. The first approach learns multiple behaviors based on the examples of navigation behaviors generated by a supervisor, while the second approach learns goal-directed navigation behaviors based only on rewards. The third approach learns complex goal-directed behaviors, in a supervised way, using a hierarchical architecture whose internal predictions of contextual switches guide the sequence of basic navigation behaviors toward the goal.

  16. Can goal-free problems facilitating students' flexible thinking?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maulidya, Sity Rahmy; Hasanah, Rusi Ulfa; Retnowati, Endah

    2017-08-01

    Problem solving is the key of doing and also learning mathematics. It takes also the fundamental role of developing mathematical knowledge. Responding to the current reform movement in mathematics, students are expected to learn to be a flexible thinker. The ability to think flexible is challenged by the globalisation, hence influence mathematics education. A flexible thinking includes ability to apply knowledge in different contexts rather than simply use it in similar context when it is studied. Arguably problem solving activities can contribute to the development of the ability to apply skills to unfamiliar situations. Accordingly, an appropriate classroom instructional strategy must be developed. A cognitive load theory suggests that by reducing extraneous cognitive load during learning could enhance transfer learning. A goal-free problem strategy that is developed based in cognitive load theory have been showed to be effective for transfer learning. This strategy enables students to learn a large numbers of problem solving moves from a mathematics problem. The instruction in a goal-free problem directs students to `calculate as many solution as you can' rather than to calculate a single given goal. Many experiment research evident goal-free problem enhance learning. This literature review will discuss evidence goal-free problem facilitate students to solve problems flexibly and thus enhance their problem solving skills, including how its implication in the classroom.

  17. Learning in Structured Connectionist Networks

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-04-01

    the structure is too rigid and learning too difficult for cognitive modeling. Two algorithms for learning simple, feature-based concept descriptions...and learning too difficult for cognitive model- ing. Two algorithms for learning simple, feature-based concept descriptions were also implemented. The...Term Goals Recent progress in connectionist research has been encouraging; networks have success- fully modeled human performance for various cognitive

  18. Goal selection versus process control while learning to use a brain-computer interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Royer, Audrey S.; Rose, Minn L.; He, Bin

    2011-06-01

    A brain-computer interface (BCI) can be used to accomplish a task without requiring motor output. Two major control strategies used by BCIs during task completion are process control and goal selection. In process control, the user exerts continuous control and independently executes the given task. In goal selection, the user communicates their goal to the BCI and then receives assistance executing the task. A previous study has shown that goal selection is more accurate and faster in use. An unanswered question is, which control strategy is easier to learn? This study directly compares goal selection and process control while learning to use a sensorimotor rhythm-based BCI. Twenty young healthy human subjects were randomly assigned either to a goal selection or a process control-based paradigm for eight sessions. At the end of the study, the best user from each paradigm completed two additional sessions using all paradigms randomly mixed. The results of this study were that goal selection required a shorter training period for increased speed, accuracy, and information transfer over process control. These results held for the best subjects as well as in the general subject population. The demonstrated characteristics of goal selection make it a promising option to increase the utility of BCIs intended for both disabled and able-bodied users.

  19. Alternative Goal Structures for Computer Game-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ke, Fengfeng

    2008-01-01

    This field study investigated the application of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in classroom use of computer math games and its impact on students' math performance and math learning attitudes. One hundred and sixty 5th-grade students were recruited and randomly assigned to Teams-Games-Tournament cooperative gaming,…

  20. Modulation of spatial attention by goals, statistical learning, and monetary reward.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Yuhong V; Sha, Li Z; Remington, Roger W

    2015-10-01

    This study documented the relative strength of task goals, visual statistical learning, and monetary reward in guiding spatial attention. Using a difficult T-among-L search task, we cued spatial attention to one visual quadrant by (i) instructing people to prioritize it (goal-driven attention), (ii) placing the target frequently there (location probability learning), or (iii) associating that quadrant with greater monetary gain (reward-based attention). Results showed that successful goal-driven attention exerted the strongest influence on search RT. Incidental location probability learning yielded a smaller though still robust effect. Incidental reward learning produced negligible guidance for spatial attention. The 95 % confidence intervals of the three effects were largely nonoverlapping. To understand these results, we simulated the role of location repetition priming in probability cuing and reward learning. Repetition priming underestimated the strength of location probability cuing, suggesting that probability cuing involved long-term statistical learning of how to shift attention. Repetition priming provided a reasonable account for the negligible effect of reward on spatial attention. We propose a multiple-systems view of spatial attention that includes task goals, search habit, and priming as primary drivers of top-down attention.

  1. Modulation of spatial attention by goals, statistical learning, and monetary reward

    PubMed Central

    Sha, Li Z.; Remington, Roger W.

    2015-01-01

    This study documented the relative strength of task goals, visual statistical learning, and monetary reward in guiding spatial attention. Using a difficult T-among-L search task, we cued spatial attention to one visual quadrant by (i) instructing people to prioritize it (goal-driven attention), (ii) placing the target frequently there (location probability learning), or (iii) associating that quadrant with greater monetary gain (reward-based attention). Results showed that successful goal-driven attention exerted the strongest influence on search RT. Incidental location probability learning yielded a smaller though still robust effect. Incidental reward learning produced negligible guidance for spatial attention. The 95 % confidence intervals of the three effects were largely nonoverlapping. To understand these results, we simulated the role of location repetition priming in probability cuing and reward learning. Repetition priming underestimated the strength of location probability cuing, suggesting that probability cuing involved long-term statistical learning of how to shift attention. Repetition priming provided a reasonable account for the negligible effect of reward on spatial attention. We propose a multiple-systems view of spatial attention that includes task goals, search habit, and priming as primary drivers of top-down attention. PMID:26105657

  2. Learning Strategies for Success in a Web-Based Course: A Descriptive Exploration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hu, Haihong; Gramling, Jennifer

    2009-01-01

    Web-based distance instruction has become a popular delivery method for education. How are learning strategies helping make the connection between Web-based technologies and educational goals? The purpose of this study was to examine learners' use of self-regulated learning strategies in a Web-based course. Twelve students from an information…

  3. The Generalization of Visuomotor Learning to Untrained Movements and Movement Sequences Based on Movement Vector and Goal Location Remapping

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Howard G.

    2013-01-01

    The planning of goal-directed movements is highly adaptable; however, the basic mechanisms underlying this adaptability are not well understood. Even the features of movement that drive adaptation are hotly debated, with some studies suggesting remapping of goal locations and others suggesting remapping of the movement vectors leading to goal locations. However, several previous motor learning studies and the multiplicity of the neural coding underlying visually guided reaching movements stand in contrast to this either/or debate on the modes of motor planning and adaptation. Here we hypothesize that, during visuomotor learning, the target location and movement vector of trained movements are separately remapped, and we propose a novel computational model for how motor plans based on these remappings are combined during the control of visually guided reaching in humans. To test this hypothesis, we designed a set of experimental manipulations that effectively dissociated the effects of remapping goal location and movement vector by examining the transfer of visuomotor adaptation to untrained movements and movement sequences throughout the workspace. The results reveal that (1) motor adaptation differentially remaps goal locations and movement vectors, and (2) separate motor plans based on these features are effectively averaged during motor execution. We then show that, without any free parameters, the computational model we developed for combining movement-vector-based and goal-location-based planning predicts nearly 90% of the variance in novel movement sequences, even when multiple attributes are simultaneously adapted, demonstrating for the first time the ability to predict how motor adaptation affects movement sequence planning. PMID:23804099

  4. Integrating Problem-Based Learning and Simulation: Effects on Student Motivation and Life Skills.

    PubMed

    Roh, Young Sook; Kim, Sang Suk

    2015-07-01

    Previous research has suggested that a teaching strategy integrating problem-based learning and simulation may be superior to traditional lecture. The purpose of this study was to assess learner motivation and life skills before and after taking a course involving problem-based learning and simulation. The design used repeated measures with a convenience sample of 83 second-year nursing students who completed the integrated course. Data from a self-administered questionnaire measuring learner motivation and life skills were collected at pretest, post-problem-based learning, and post-simulation time points. Repeated-measures analysis of variance determined that the mean scores for total learner motivation (F=6.62, P=.003), communication (F=8.27, P<.001), problem solving (F=6.91, P=.001), and self-directed learning (F=4.45, P=.016) differed significantly between time points. Post hoc tests using the Bonferroni correction revealed that total learner motivation and total life skills significantly increased both from pretest to postsimulation and from post-problem-based learning test to postsimulation test. Subscales of learner motivation and life skills, intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, problem-solving skills, and self-directed learning skills significantly increased both from pretest to postsimulation test and from post-problem-based learning test to post-simulation test. The results demonstrate that an integrating problem-based learning and simulation course elicits significant improvement in learner motivation and life skills. Simulation plus problem-based learning is more effective than problem-based learning alone at increasing intrinsic goal orientation, task value, self-efficacy for learning and performance, problem solving, and self-directed learning.

  5. Motivational Influences of Using Peer Evaluation in Problem-Based Learning in Medical Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abercrombie, Sara; Parkes, Jay; McCarty, Teresita

    2015-01-01

    This study investigates the ways in which medical students' achievement goal orientations (AGO) affect their perceptions of learning and actual learning from an online problem-based learning environment, Calibrated Peer Review™. First, the tenability of a four-factor model (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) of AGO was tested with data collected from…

  6. Redesigning Problem-Based Learning in the Knowledge Creation Paradigm for School Science Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeo, Jennifer; Tan, Seng Chee

    2014-01-01

    The introduction of problem-based learning into K-12 science classrooms faces the challenge of achieving the dual goal of learning science content and developing problem-solving skills. To overcome this content-process tension in science classrooms, we employed the knowledge-creation approach as a boundary object between the two seemingly…

  7. Teaching and Learning in History: Effective and Reform-Based Practices for Students with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De La Paz, Susan

    2013-01-01

    This article provides a review of effective and reform-based approaches to instruction that focus on teaching and learning of history for students with LD. Historical thinking goals, such as learning to think like a historian, to develop contextualized understandings, and to apply domain-specific approaches when reading and writing with primary…

  8. Using Design-Based Research in Informal Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reisman, Molly

    2008-01-01

    Design-Based Research (DBR) has been a tool of the learning sciences since the early 1990s, used as a way to improve and study learning environments. Using an iterative process of design with the goal of reining theories of learning, researchers and educators now use DBR seek to identify "how" to make a learning environment work. They then draw…

  9. The Impact of a Teaching-Learning Program Based on a Brain-Based Learning on the Achievement of the Female Students of 9th Grade in Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shabatat, Kawthar; Al-Tarawneh, Mohammed

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed at recognizing the impact of teaching-learning program based on a brain-based learning on the achievement of female students of 9th grade in chemistry, to accomplish the goal of this study the researchers designed instruments of: instructional plans, pre achievement and past achievement exams to use them for the study-validity and…

  10. Traditional classroom education versus computer-based learning: how nurses learn about pressure ulcers.

    PubMed

    Esche, Carol Ann; Warren, Joan I; Woods, Anne B; Jesada, Elizabeth C; Iliuta, Ruth

    2015-01-01

    The goal of the Nurse Professional Development specialist is to utilize the most effective educational strategies when educating staff nurses about pressure ulcer prevention. More information is needed about the effect of computer-based learning and traditional classroom learning on pressure ulcer education for the staff nurse. This study compares computer-based learning and traditional classroom learning on immediate and long-term knowledge while evaluating the impact of education on pressure ulcer risk assessment, staging, and documentation.

  11. Multiple Goal Orientations and Foreign Language Anxiety

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koul, Ravinder; Roy, Laura; Kaewkuekool, Sittichai; Ploisawaschai, Suthee

    2009-01-01

    This investigation examines Thai college students' motivational goals for learning the English language. Thai student volunteers (N = 1387) from two types of educational institutions participated in this survey study which combined measures of goal orientations based on two different goal constructs and motivation models. Results of two-step…

  12. The Framework of Intervention Engine Based on Learning Analytics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sahin, Muhittin; Yurdugül, Halil

    2017-01-01

    Learning analytics primarily deals with the optimization of learning environments and the ultimate goal of learning analytics is to improve learning and teaching efficiency. Studies on learning analytics seem to have been made in the form of adaptation engine and intervention engine. Adaptation engine studies are quite widespread, but intervention…

  13. Team-Based Learning in Large Enrollment Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kibble, Jonathan D.; Bellew, Christine; Asmar, Abdo; Barkley, Lisa

    2016-01-01

    The goal of this review is to highlight the key elements needed to successfully deploy team-based learning (TBL) in any class, but especially in large enrolment classes, where smooth logistics are essential. The text is based on a lecture and workshop given at the American Physiological Society's Institute on Teaching and Learning in Madison, WI,…

  14. Assessing a Faculty Development Program for the Adoption of Brain-Based Learning Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lavis, Catherine C.; Williams, Kimberly A.; Fallin, Jana; Barnes, Pamela K.; Fishback, Sarah J.; Thien, Stephen

    2016-01-01

    Kansas State University designed a 20-month faculty development program with the goal of fostering broad, institution-wide adoption of teaching practices that focus on brain-based learning. Components of the program included annual teaching and learning workshops, reading and discussion groups based on content of a book about how the brain learns…

  15. Adventure Learning: Theory and Implementation of Hybrid Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doering, A.

    2008-12-01

    Adventure Learning (AL), a hybrid distance education approach, provides students and teachers with the opportunity to learn about authentic curricular content areas while interacting with adventurers, students, and content experts at various locations throughout the world within an online learning environment (Doering, 2006). An AL curriculum and online environment provides collaborative community spaces where traditional hierarchical classroom roles are blurred and learning is transformed. AL has most recently become popular in K-12 classrooms nationally and internationally with millions of students participating online. However, in the literature, the term "adventure learning" many times gets confused with phrases such as "virtual fieldtrip" and activities where someone "exploring" is posting photos and text. This type of "adventure learning" is not "Adventure Learning" (AL), but merely a slideshow of their activities. The learning environment may not have any curricular and/or social goals, and if it does, the environment design many times does not support these objectives. AL, on the other hand, is designed so that both teachers and students understand that their online and curriculum activities are in synch and supportive of the curricular goals. In AL environments, there are no disparate activities as the design considers the educational, social, and technological affordances (Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns, & Beers, 2004); in other words, the artifacts of the learning environment encourage and support the instructional goals, social interactions, collaborative efforts, and ultimately learning. AL is grounded in two major theoretical approaches to learning - experiential and inquiry-based learning. As Kolb (1984) noted, in experiential learning, a learner creates meaning from direct experiences and reflections. Such is the goal of AL within the classroom. Additionally, AL affords learners a real-time authentic online learning experience concurrently as they study the AL curriculum. AL is also grounded in an inquiry- based approach to learning where learners are pursuing answers to questions they have posed rather than focusing on memorizing and regurgitating isolated, irrelevant facts. Both the curriculum and the online classroom are developed to foster students' abilities to inquire via "identifying and posing questions, designing and conducting investigations, analyzing data and evidence, using models and explanations, and communicating findings" (Keys and Bryan, 2001, p 121). The union of experiential and inquiry-based learning is the foundation of AL, guiding and supporting authentic learning endeavors. Based on these theoretical foundations, the design of the adventure learning experiences follows seven interdependent principles that further operationalize AL: researched curriculum grounded in inquiry; collaboration and interaction opportunities between students, experts, peers, and content; utilization of the Internet for curriculum and learning environment delivery; enhancement of curriculum with media and text from the field delivered in a timely manner; synched learning opportunities with the AL curriculum; pedagogical guidelines of the curriculum and the online learning environment; and adventure-based education. (Doering, 2006).

  16. Model-based learning protects against forming habits.

    PubMed

    Gillan, Claire M; Otto, A Ross; Phelps, Elizabeth A; Daw, Nathaniel D

    2015-09-01

    Studies in humans and rodents have suggested that behavior can at times be "goal-directed"-that is, planned, and purposeful-and at times "habitual"-that is, inflexible and automatically evoked by stimuli. This distinction is central to conceptions of pathological compulsion, as in drug abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Evidence for the distinction has primarily come from outcome devaluation studies, in which the sensitivity of a previously learned behavior to motivational change is used to assay the dominance of habits versus goal-directed actions. However, little is known about how habits and goal-directed control arise. Specifically, in the present study we sought to reveal the trial-by-trial dynamics of instrumental learning that would promote, and protect against, developing habits. In two complementary experiments with independent samples, participants completed a sequential decision task that dissociated two computational-learning mechanisms, model-based and model-free. We then tested for habits by devaluing one of the rewards that had reinforced behavior. In each case, we found that individual differences in model-based learning predicted the participants' subsequent sensitivity to outcome devaluation, suggesting that an associative mechanism underlies a bias toward habit formation in healthy individuals.

  17. A Descriptive Case Study of Writing Standards-Based Individualized Education Plan Goals via Problem-Based Learning in a Virtual World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blair, Peter J.

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this study was to examine the professional development experiences of two contrastive participants while they were creating standards-based individualized education plan (IEP) goals using a virtual world called TeacherSim. Two specific focuses of the study were on how special educators engaged with the task of creating standards-based…

  18. The Positive Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Employee Performance: The Moderating Role of Power Distance.

    PubMed

    Wang, Honglei; Guan, Bichen

    2018-01-01

    Based on goal setting theory, this study explores the positive effect and influencing process of authoritarian leadership on employee performance, as well as the moderating role of individual power distance in this process. Data from 211 supervisor-subordinate dyads in Chinese organizations indicates that authoritarian leadership is positively associated with employee performance, and learning goal orientation mediates this relationship. Furthermore, power distance moderates the effect of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation, such that the effect was stronger when individual power distance was higher. The indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance via learning goal orientation is also moderated by power distance. Theoretical and managerial implications and future directions are also discussed.

  19. The Positive Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Employee Performance: The Moderating Role of Power Distance

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Honglei; Guan, Bichen

    2018-01-01

    Based on goal setting theory, this study explores the positive effect and influencing process of authoritarian leadership on employee performance, as well as the moderating role of individual power distance in this process. Data from 211 supervisor-subordinate dyads in Chinese organizations indicates that authoritarian leadership is positively associated with employee performance, and learning goal orientation mediates this relationship. Furthermore, power distance moderates the effect of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation, such that the effect was stronger when individual power distance was higher. The indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance via learning goal orientation is also moderated by power distance. Theoretical and managerial implications and future directions are also discussed. PMID:29628902

  20. Teachers' Mastery Goals: Using a Self-Report Survey to Study the Relations between Teaching Practices and Students' Motivation for Science Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vedder-Weiss, Dana; Fortus, David

    2018-02-01

    Employing achievement goal theory (Ames Journal of Educational psychology, 84(3), 261-271, 1992), we explored science teachers' instruction and its relation to students' motivation for science learning and school culture. Based on the TARGETS framework (Patrick et al. The Elementary School Journal, 102(1), 35-58, 2001) and using data from 95 teachers, we developed a self-report survey assessing science teachers' usage of practices that emphasize mastery goals. We then used this survey and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses to study the relations between 35 science teachers' mastery goals in each of the TARGETS dimensions, the decline in their grade-level 5-8 students' ( N = 1.356) classroom and continuing motivation for science learning, and their schools' mastery goal structure. The findings suggest that adolescents' declining motivation for science learning results in part from a decreasing emphasis on mastery goals by schools and science teachers. Practices that relate to the nature of tasks and to student autonomy emerged as most strongly associated with adolescents' motivation and its decline with age.

  1. Effects of Goal Line Feedback on Level, Slope, and Stability of Performance within Curriculum-Based Measurement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuchs, Lynn S.; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Nineteen special educators implemented Curriculum-Based Measurement with a total of 36 learning-disabled math pupils in grades 2-8 to examine the effects of goal line feedback. Results indicated comparable levels and slopes of student performance across treatment conditions, although goal line feedback was associated with greater performance…

  2. Exploring the Articulation and Evaluation of the Learning Outcomes of Instructor Development: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Macfarlane, Jack P.

    2014-01-01

    The definition of clear goals is essential to the effectiveness of training intended for the advancement of professional development. Properly articulated instructional goals also facilitate the evaluation of the intended outcomes of the learning event. Although outcomes-based instruction is prevalent in K-12 settings as well as in post-secondary…

  3. Effects of Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualized Goal Structures on Learning Outcomes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, David W.; Johnson, Roger T.

    A theoretical orientation to three goal structures (cooperation, competition, and individualization) is postulated, based upon Deutsch's extension of Lewin's theory of motivation. Lewin postulated that a state of tension within a person motivates movement toward the accomplishment of desired goals; a goal structure specifies the type of…

  4. Development of Adaptive Kanji Learning System for Mobile Phone

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Mengmeng; Ogata, Hiroaki; Hou, Bin; Hashimoto, Satoshi; Liu, Yuqin; Uosaki, Noriko; Yano, Yoneo

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes an adaptive learning system based on mobile phone email to support the study of Japanese Kanji. In this study, the main emphasis is on using the adaptive learning to resolve one common problem of the mobile-based email or SMS language learning systems. To achieve this goal, the authors main efforts focus on three aspects:…

  5. Clinical skills-related learning goals of senior medical students after performance feedback.

    PubMed

    Chang, Anna; Chou, Calvin L; Teherani, Arianne; Hauer, Karen E

    2011-09-01

    Lifelong learning is essential for doctors to maintain competence in clinical skills. With performance feedback, learners should be able to formulate specific and achievable learning goals in areas of need. We aimed to determine: (i) the type and specificity of medical student learning goals after a required clinical performance examination; (ii) differences in goal setting among low, average and high performers, and (iii) whether low performers articulate learning goals that are concordant with their learning needs. We conducted a single-site, multi-year, descriptive comparison study. Senior medical students were given performance benchmarks, individual feedback and guidelines on learning goals; each student was subsequently instructed to write two clinical skills learning goals. Investigators coded the learning goals for specificity, categorised the goals, and performed statistical analyses to determine their concordance with student performance level (low, average or high) in data gathering (history taking and physical examination) or communication skills. All 208 students each wrote two learning goals and most (n=200, 96%) wrote two specific learning goals. Nearly two-thirds of low performers in data gathering wrote at least one learning goal that referred to history taking or physical examination; one-third wrote learning goals pertaining to the organisation of the encounter. High performers in data gathering wrote significantly more patient education goals and significantly fewer history-taking goals than average or low performers. Only 50% of low performers in communication wrote learning goals related to communication skills. Low performers in communication were significantly more likely than average or high performers to identify learning goals related to improving performance in future examinations. The provision of performance benchmarking, individual feedback and brief written guidelines helped most senior medical students in our study to write specific clinical skills learning goals. Many low-performing students did not write learning goals concordant with their areas of weakness. Future work might focus on enhancing low performers' continued learning in areas of performance deficits. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

  6. An Innovative Approach to Scheme Learning Map Considering Tradeoff Multiple Objectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Yu-Shih; Chang, Yi-Chun; Chu, Chih-Ping

    2016-01-01

    An important issue in personalized learning is to provide learners with customized learning according to their learning characteristics. This paper focused attention on scheming learning map as follows. The learning goal can be achieved via different pathways based on alternative materials, which have the relationships of prerequisite, dependence,…

  7. Using Online Digital Tools and Video to Support International Problem-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lajoie, Susanne P.; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; Wiseman, Jeffrey; Chan, Lap Ki; Lu, Jingyan; Khurana, Chesta; Cruz-Panesso, Ilian; Poitras, Eric; Kazemitabar, Maedeh

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this study is to examine how to facilitate cross-cultural groups in problem-based learning (PBL) using online digital tools and videos. The PBL consisted of two video-based cases used to trigger student-learning issues about giving bad news to HIV-positive patients. Mixed groups of medical students from Canada and Hong Kong worked with…

  8. Social E-Learning in Topolor: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shi, Lei; Al Qudah, Dana; Cristea, Alexandra I.

    2013-01-01

    Social e-learning is a process through which learners achieve their learning goals via social interactions with each other by sharing knowledge, skills, abilities and educational materials. Adaptive e-learning enables adaptation and personalization of the learning process, based on learner needs, knowledge, preferences and other characteristics.…

  9. Blended Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halan, Deepak

    2005-01-01

    Blended learning basically refers to using several methods for teaching. It can be thought to be a learning program where more than one delivery mode is being used with the ultimate goal of optimizing the learning result and cost of program delivery. Examples of blended learning could be the combination of technology-based resources and…

  10. The Construction of an Ontology-Based Ubiquitous Learning Grid

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liao, Ching-Jung; Chou, Chien-Chih; Yang, Jin-Tan David

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to incorporate adaptive ontology into ubiquitous learning grid to achieve seamless learning environment. Ubiquitous learning grid uses ubiquitous computing environment to infer and determine the most adaptive learning contents and procedures in anytime, any place and with any device. To achieve the goal, an…

  11. Promoting Higher Order Thinking Skills Using Inquiry-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Madhuri, G. V.; Kantamreddi, V. S. S. N; Prakash Goteti, L. N. S.

    2012-01-01

    Active learning pedagogies play an important role in enhancing higher order cognitive skills among the student community. In this work, a laboratory course for first year engineering chemistry is designed and executed using an inquiry-based learning pedagogical approach. The goal of this module is to promote higher order thinking skills in…

  12. Transformative Professional Development: Inquiry-Based College Science Teaching Institutes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhao, Ningfeng; Witzig, Stephen B.; Weaver, Jan C.; Adams, John E.; Schmidt, Frank

    2012-01-01

    Two Summer Institutes funded by the National Science Foundation were held for current and future college science faculty. The overall goal was to promote learning and practice of inquiry-based college science teaching. We developed a collaborative and active learning format for participants that involved all phases of the 5E learning cycle of…

  13. Using MBTI for the Success Assessment of Engineering Teams in Project-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodríguez Montequín, V.; Mesa Fernández, J. M.; Balsera, J. Villanueva; García Nieto, A.

    2013-01-01

    Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching and learning methodology that emphasizes student centered instruction by assigning projects. The students have to conduct significant projects and cope with realistic working conditions and scenarios. PBL is generally done by groups of students working together towards a common goal. Several factors play…

  14. Games for Participatory Science: A Paradigm for Game-Based Learning for Promoting Science Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shapiro, R. Benjamin; Squire, Kurt D.

    2011-01-01

    Debates in forums such as "Educational Technology" and the National Academies of Science (National Research Council, 2011) emphasize the promise (and indeed recent successes) of digital game-based learning programs, but also the need for research-driven approaches that carefully delineate learning goals. This article introduces one such…

  15. Using a modified Learning Potential Assessment Device and Mediated Learning Experiences to Assess Minority Student Progress and Program Goals in an Undergraduate Research Based Geoscience Program Serving American Indians

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mitchell, L. W.

    2002-12-01

    During the initiation of a new program at the University of North Dakota designed to promote American Indians to engage in geoscience research and complete geoscience related degrees, an evaluation procedure utilizing a modified Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) and Mediated Learning Experiences (MLE) to assess minority student progress was implemented. The program, called Indians Into Geosciences (INGEOS), utilized a modified form of the Learning Potential Assessment Device first to assess cultural factors, determination, and other baseline information, and second, utilized a series of Mediated Learning Experiences to enhance minority students' opportunities in a culturally appropriate, culturally diverse, and scientifically challenging manner in an effort to prepare students for competitive research careers in the geosciences. All of the LPADs and MLEs corresponded directly to the three goals or eight objectives of INGEOS. The three goals of the INGEOS program are: 1) increasing the number of American Indians earning degrees at all levels, 2) engaging American Indians in challenging and technically based scientific research, and 3) preparing American Indians for successful geoscience careers through multicultural community involvement. The eight objectives of the INGEOS program, called the Eight Points of Success, are: 1) spiritual health, 2) social health, 3) physical health, 4) mental health, 5) financial management, 6) research involvement, 7) technical exposure, and 8) multicultural community education. The INGEOS program goals were evaluated strictly quantitatively utilizing a variety of data sources such as grade point averages, number of credits earned, research project information, and developed products. The INGEOS Program goals reflected a combined quantitative score of all participants, whereas the objectives reflected qualitative measures and are specific for each INGEOS participant. Initial results indicate that those participants which show progress through Mediated Learning Experiences within all of the Eight Points of Success, have a higher likelihood of contributing to all three of the INGEOS programs goals.

  16. The Importance of Multiple Representations of Mathematical Problems: Evidence from Chinese Preservice Elementary Teachers' Analysis of a Learning Goal

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kang, Rui; Liu, Di

    2018-01-01

    This article describes a study of how Chinese preservice teachers unpacked a learning goal pertaining to adding fractions and understanding the concepts underlying the operation. Based on work in the USA by Morris, Hiebert, and Spizter ("Journal for Research in Mathematics Education," 40(5), 491-529, 2009), 50 Chinese preservice teachers…

  17. The Effect of Problem Based Learning (PBL) Instruction on Students' Motivation and Problem Solving Skills of Physics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Argaw, Aweke Shishigu; Haile, Beyene Bashu; Ayalew, Beyene Tesfaw; Kuma, Shiferaw Gadisa

    2017-01-01

    Through the learning of physics, students will acquire problem solving skills which are relevant to their daily life. Determining the best way in which students learn physics takes a priority in physics education. The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of problem based learning strategy on students' problem solving skills and…

  18. Medical student changes in self-regulated learning during the transition to the clinical environment.

    PubMed

    Cho, Kenneth K; Marjadi, Brahm; Langendyk, Vicki; Hu, Wendy

    2017-03-21

    Self-regulated learning (SRL), which is learners' ability to proactively select and use different strategies to reach learning goals, is associated with academic and clinical success and life-long learning. SRL does not develop automatically in the clinical environment and its development during the preclinical to clinical learning transition has not been quantitatively studied. Our study aims to fill this gap by measuring SRL in medical students during the transitional period and examining its contributing factors. Medical students were invited to complete a questionnaire at the commencement of their first clinical year (T0), and 10 weeks later (T1). The questionnaire included the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and asked about previous clinical experience. Information about the student's background, demographic characteristics and first clinical rotation were also gathered. Of 118 students invited to participate, complete paired responses were obtained from 72 medical students (response rate 61%). At T1, extrinsic goal orientation increased and was associated with gender (males were more likely to increase extrinsic goal orientation) and type of first attachment (critical care and community based attachments, compared to hospital ward based attachments). Metacognitive self-regulation decreased at T1 and was negatively associated with previous clinical experience. Measurable changes in self-regulated learning occur during the transition from preclinical learning to clinical immersion, particularly in the domains of extrinsic goal orientation and metacognitive self-regulation. Self-determination theory offers possible explanations for this finding which have practical implications and point the way to future research. In addition, interventions to promote metacognition before the clinical immersion may assist in preserving SRL during the transition and thus promote life-long learning skills in preparation for real-world practice.

  19. Distraction during learning with hypermedia: difficult tasks help to keep task goals on track

    PubMed Central

    Scheiter, Katharina; Gerjets, Peter; Heise, Elke

    2014-01-01

    In educational hypermedia environments, students are often confronted with potential sources of distraction arising from additional information that, albeit interesting, is unrelated to their current task goal. The paper investigates the conditions under which distraction occurs and hampers performance. Based on theories of volitional action control it was hypothesized that interesting information, especially if related to a pending goal, would interfere with task performance only when working on easy, but not on difficult tasks. In Experiment 1, 66 students learned about probability theory using worked examples and solved corresponding test problems, whose task difficulty was manipulated. As a second factor, the presence of interesting information unrelated to the primary task was varied. Results showed that students solved more easy than difficult probability problems correctly. However, the presence of interesting, but task-irrelevant information did not interfere with performance. In Experiment 2, 68 students again engaged in example-based learning and problem solving in the presence of task-irrelevant information. Problem-solving difficulty was varied as a first factor. Additionally, the presence of a pending goal related to the task-irrelevant information was manipulated. As expected, problem-solving performance declined when a pending goal was present during working on easy problems, whereas no interference was observed for difficult problems. Moreover, the presence of a pending goal reduced the time on task-relevant information and increased the time on task-irrelevant information while working on easy tasks. However, as revealed by mediation analyses these changes in overt information processing behavior did not explain the decline in problem-solving performance. As an alternative explanation it is suggested that goal conflicts resulting from pending goals claim cognitive resources, which are then no longer available for learning and problem solving. PMID:24723907

  20. Use of Case-Based or Hands-On Laboratory Exercises with Physiology Lectures Improves Knowledge Retention, but Veterinary Medicine Students Prefer Case-Based Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McFee, Renee M.; Cupp, Andrea S.; Wood, Jennifer R.

    2018-01-01

    Didactic lectures are prevalent in physiology courses within veterinary medicine programs, but more active learning methods have also been utilized. Our goal was to identify the most appropriate learning method to augment the lecture component of our physiology course. We hypothesized that case-based learning would be well received by students and…

  1. E-Learning Personalization Based on Hybrid Recommendation Strategy and Learning Style Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klasnja-Milicevic, Aleksandra; Vesin, Boban; Ivanovic, Mirjana; Budimac, Zoran

    2011-01-01

    Personalized learning occurs when e-learning systems make deliberate efforts to design educational experiences that fit the needs, goals, talents, and interests of their learners. Researchers had recently begun to investigate various techniques to help teachers improve e-learning systems. In this paper, we describe a recommendation module of a…

  2. Self-Assessment in University Assessment of Prior Learning Procedures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brinke, D. Joosten-Ten; Sluijsmans, D. M. A.; Jochems, W. M. G.

    2009-01-01

    Competency-based university education, in which lifelong learning and flexible learning are key elements, demands a renewed vision on assessment. Within this vision, Assessment of Prior Learning (APL), in which learners have to show their prior learning in order for their goals to be recognised, becomes an important element. This article focuses…

  3. Soft systems thinking and social learning for adaptive management.

    PubMed

    Cundill, G; Cumming, G S; Biggs, D; Fabricius, C

    2012-02-01

    The success of adaptive management in conservation has been questioned and the objective-based management paradigm on which it is based has been heavily criticized. Soft systems thinking and social-learning theory expose errors in the assumption that complex systems can be dispassionately managed by objective observers and highlight the fact that conservation is a social process in which objectives are contested and learning is context dependent. We used these insights to rethink adaptive management in a way that focuses on the social processes involved in management and decision making. Our approach to adaptive management is based on the following assumptions: action toward a common goal is an emergent property of complex social relationships; the introduction of new knowledge, alternative values, and new ways of understanding the world can become a stimulating force for learning, creativity, and change; learning is contextual and is fundamentally about practice; and defining the goal to be addressed is continuous and in principle never ends. We believe five key activities are crucial to defining the goal that is to be addressed in an adaptive-management context and to determining the objectives that are desirable and feasible to the participants: situate the problem in its social and ecological context; raise awareness about alternative views of a problem and encourage enquiry and deconstruction of frames of reference; undertake collaborative actions; and reflect on learning. ©2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Automated Inattention and Fatigue Detection System in Distance Education for Elementary School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hwang, Kuo-An; Yang, Chia-Hao

    2009-01-01

    Most courses based on distance learning focus on the cognitive domain of learning. Because students are sometimes inattentive or tired, they may neglect the attention goal of learning. This study proposes an auto-detection and reinforcement mechanism for the distance-education system based on the reinforcement teaching strategy. If a student is…

  5. A Longitudinal Assessment of an Initial Cohort in a Psychology Learning Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buch, Kim; Spaulding, Sue

    2008-01-01

    Discipline-based learning communities have become a popular strategy for improving student performance and satisfaction. This article describes the goals and features of a university-based, first-year psychology learning community (PLC) implemented in Fall 2003. We also report the results of a longitudinal assessment of the impact of the PLC on…

  6. Teachers' Mastery Goals: Using a Self-Report Survey to Study the Relations between Teaching Practices and Students' Motivation for Science Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vedder-Weiss, Dana; Fortus, David

    2018-01-01

    Employing achievement goal theory (Ames "Journal of Educational psychology," 84(3), 261-271, 1992), we explored science teachers' instruction and its relation to students' motivation for science learning and school culture. Based on the TARGETS framework (Patrick et al. "The Elementary School Journal," 102(1), 35-58, 2001) and…

  7. Managers' Informal Learning: A Trait Activation Theory Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noe, Raymond A.; Tews, Michael J.; Michel, John W.

    2017-01-01

    Research focusing on how individual differences and the work context influence informal learning is growing but incomplete. This study contributes to our understanding of the antecedents of informal learning by examining the relationships of goal orientation, job autonomy and training climate with informal learning. Based on trait activation…

  8. Theoretically Based Pedagogical Strategies Leading to Deep Learning in Asynchronous Online Gerontology Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Majeski, Robin; Stover, Merrily

    2007-01-01

    Online learning has enjoyed increasing popularity in gerontology. This paper presents instructional strategies grounded in Fink's (2003) theory of significant learning designed for the completely asynchronous online gerontology classroom. It links these components with the development of mastery learning goals and provides specific guidelines for…

  9. Constructing inquiry: One school's journey to develop an inquiry-based school for teachers and students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sisk-Hilton, Stephanie Lee

    This study examines the two way relationship between an inquiry-based professional development model and teacher enactors. The two year study follows a group of teachers enacting the emergent Supporting Knowledge Integration for Inquiry Practice (SKIIP) professional development model. This study seeks to: (a) identify activity structures in the model that interact with teachers' underlying assumptions regarding professional development and inquiry learning; (b) explain key decision points during implementation in terms of these underlying assumptions; and (c) examine the impact of key activity structures on individual teachers' stated belief structures regarding inquiry learning. Linn's knowledge integration framework facilitates description and analysis of teacher development. Three sets of tensions emerge as themes that describe and constrain participants' interaction with and learning through the model. These are: learning from the group vs. learning on one's own; choosing and evaluating evidence based on impressions vs. specific criteria; and acquiring new knowledge vs. maintaining feelings of autonomy and efficacy. In each of these tensions, existing group goals and operating assumptions initially fell at one end of the tension, while the professional development goals and forms fell at the other. Changes to the model occurred as participants reacted to and negotiated these points of tension. As the group engaged in and modified the SKIIP model, they had repeated opportunities to articulate goals and to make connections between goals and model activity structures. Over time, decisions to modify the model took into consideration an increasingly complex set of underlying assumptions and goals. Teachers identified and sought to balance these tensions. This led to more complex and nuanced decision making, which reflected growing capacity to consider multiple goals in choosing activity structures to enact. The study identifies key activity structures that scaffolded this process for teachers, and which ultimately promoted knowledge integration at both the group and individual levels. This study is an "extreme case" which examines implementation of the SKIIP model under very favorable conditions. Lessons learned regarding appropriate levels of model responsiveness, likely areas of conflict between model form and teacher underlying assumptions, and activity structures that scaffold knowledge integration provide a starting point for future, larger scale implementation.

  10. Members Matter in Team Training: Multilevel and Longitudinal Relationships between Goal Orientation, Self-Regulation, and Team Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dierdorff, Erich C.; Ellington, J. Kemp

    2012-01-01

    Longitudinal data from 338 individuals across 64 teams in a simulation-based team-training context were used to examine the effects of dispositional goal orientation on self-regulated learning (self-efficacy and metacognition). Team goal orientation compositions, as reflected by average goal orientations of team members, were examined for…

  11. Congruence between Students' and Teachers' Goals: Implications for Social and Academic Motivation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spera, Christopher; Wentzel, Kathryn R.

    2003-01-01

    This study examined student-teacher goal congruence and its relation to social and academic motivation. Based on a sample of 97 ninth-graders, high levels of goal congruence for each of the four goals measured (prosocial, responsibility, learning, performance) was positively related to student interest in class and perceived social support from…

  12. Implementing goals for non-cognitive outcomes within a basic science course.

    PubMed

    Derstine, Pamela L

    2002-09-01

    An essential principle of competency-based education (CBE) is use of observable outcomes with assessments as judgments of competence based on defined criteria. Faculty are accustomed to using learning objectives as the defining criteria for knowledge, assessing students using written exams. Faculty are less familiar with how the principles of CBE are applied to other competencies. We recently adopted school-wide goals and objectives, modeled after the ACGME Outcomes Project. The present objective was to give faculty first-hand experience in CBE within a basic science course, including both cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. The format for the learner-centered, first-year Cell and Molecular Biology course was previously described.(1) Course goals were that students: (1) gain an understanding of the principles and concepts of cell and molecular biology, (2) develop an appreciation for how these principles and concepts are important to medicine, (3) demonstrate an ability to think critically using these principles and concepts. Goal 1 was measured by written exams. We assumed goals 2 and 3 were met through small-group problem-solving sessions, and outcomes were not assessed. The revised 2001 course goals were to prepare students for medical knowledge and lifelong learning and communication and professionalism. The goals for medical knowledge and lifelong learning were to: (1) demonstrate ability to use principles and concepts of cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics to analyze medically relevant data, solve problems, make predictions, and determine a course of action; (2) effectively use information technology to search, evaluate, and critically review scientific evidence related to principles and concepts covered in the course; (3) use appropriate techniques to teach peers in a conference setting. The goals for communication and professionalism were to: (1) use appropriate skills and attitudes to collaborate effectively with peers and faculty to accomplish learning goals; (2) maintain a personal learning portfolio to develop habits of reflective learning, broaden understanding of content beyond recall, and enhance communication with faculty; (3) demonstrate personal integrity in meeting course requirements and in interactions with peers and faculty throughout the course. Goals for medical knowledge and lifelong learning were assessed by written exams and by separate tools utilizing four-point Likert scales (novice, advanced beginner, proficient, distinguished) with specific observable criteria for a written research paper and a group PowerPoint presentation. Faculty and student assessments generated a number that was combined with exam grades for a lettered competency grade. A 19-item, five-point Likert scale was used by students to self- and peer-assess goals for communication and professionalism. Small-group faculty facilitators used the tool to give formative feedback midcourse, summative feedback at course conclusion, and competency grades. The tools may be viewed at: . Faculty achieved enhanced understanding of students, assisted by descriptive criteria, while suggesting improvements in forms. Better agreement on criteria definitions and consistency in form use is needed. Students developed understanding and improved communication/professionalism skills, based on repeated exposures to criteria and feedback. It remains to be seen whether the skills are used/developed in other courses. A majority of students did not use the learning portfolio as envisioned. Better design and implementation of school-wide rather than course-specific reflective portfolios may increase use and integrate learning in all courses with all six competencies.

  13. Exploring the Potential of Art-Based Education for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: A Case Study of Engagement in Learning through the Arts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abedin, Golnar

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits of arts-based education for adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) placed in an inclusion program. The goal was to examine the potential of arts education as an inclusive curricular component that enhances students' engagement in learning. The study is framed within the education policy…

  14. Influence of Game Quests on Pupils' Enjoyment and Goal-Pursuing in Math Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Zhi-Hong; Liao, Calvin C. Y.; Cheng, Hercy N. H.; Yeh, Charles Y. C.; Chan, Tak-Wai

    2012-01-01

    As a medium for learning, digital games provide promising possibilities to motivate and engage students in subject learning. In this study, a game-based learning system, My-Pet-My-Quest, is developed to support pupils' math learning. This is due to the fact that most students in Taiwan have relatively lower positive attitude towards math learning,…

  15. An explanatory model of academic achievement based on aptitudes, goal orientations, self-concept and learning strategies.

    PubMed

    Miñano Pérez, Pablo; Castejón Costa, Juan-Luis; Gilar Corbí, Raquel

    2012-03-01

    As a result of studies examining factors involved in the learning process, various structural models have been developed to explain the direct and indirect effects that occur between the variables in these models. The objective was to evaluate a structural model of cognitive and motivational variables predicting academic achievement, including general intelligence, academic self-concept, goal orientations, effort and learning strategies. The sample comprised of 341 Spanish students in the first year of compulsory secondary education. Different tests and questionnaires were used to evaluate each variable, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to contrast the relationships of the initial model. The model proposed had a satisfactory fit, and all the hypothesised relationships were significant. General intelligence was the variable most able to explain academic achievement. Also important was the direct influence of academic self-concept on achievement, goal orientations and effort, as well as the mediating ability of effort and learning strategies between academic goals and final achievement.

  16. From Movements to Actions: Two Mechanisms for Learning Action Sequences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Endress, Ansgar D.; Wood, Justin N.

    2011-01-01

    When other individuals move, we interpret their movements as discrete, hierarchically-organized, goal-directed actions. However, the mechanisms that integrate visible movement features into actions are poorly understood. Here, we consider two sequence learning mechanisms--transitional probability-based (TP) and position-based encoding…

  17. Adaptive Knowledge Management of Project-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tilchin, Oleg; Kittany, Mohamed

    2016-01-01

    The goal of an approach to Adaptive Knowledge Management (AKM) of project-based learning (PBL) is to intensify subject study through guiding, inducing, and facilitating development knowledge, accountability skills, and collaborative skills of students. Knowledge development is attained by knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, and knowledge…

  18. Four Sides to Every Story: Creating Effective Multimedia Business Simulations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, William; Legere, Sylvie M.

    1998-01-01

    Discusses the goal-based design concepts used to build a CD-ROM-based course for senior executives at Andersen Consulting. Topics include quality management; continuous improvement; problem-centered learning; video storytelling; feedback; multimedia learning environments; course organization; and possible future applications. (Author/LRW)

  19. New Learning: Re-Apprenticing the Learner.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stockhausen, Lynette; Zimitat, Craig

    2002-01-01

    Discusses higher education's goal of teaching students to become independent critical thinkers and explores the theoretical background to the development of The Interdisciplinary Critical Thinking Tool (TICTT), an Internet tool based on a model that incorporates concepts from cognitive apprenticeship, problem-based learning, and critical thinking.…

  20. Problem-Based Learning: A Learning Environment for Enhancing Learning Transfer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hung, Woei

    2013-01-01

    Knowledge application and transfer is one of the ultimate learning goals in education. For adult learners, these abilities are not only beneficial but also critical. The ability to apply knowledge learned from school is only a basic requirement in workplaces. In this ever-changing world, the ability to near and far transfer knowledge is the skill…

  1. Co-Creation Learning Procedures: Comparing Interactive Language Lessons for Deaf and Hearing Students.

    PubMed

    Hosono, Naotsune; Inoue, Hiromitsu; Tomita, Yutaka

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses co-creation learning procedures of second language lessons for deaf students, and sign language lessons by a deaf lecturer. The analyses focus on the learning procedure and resulting assessment, considering the disability. Through questionnaires ICT-based co-creative learning technologies are effective and efficient and promote spontaneous learning motivation goals.

  2. Teachers' Perspectives of Whole-Class Discourse: Focusing on Effective Instruction to Improve Student Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bennett, Cory A.

    2013-01-01

    Improving student learning is a constant goal within classrooms and schools, yet decisions based on a single test score may lead to less effective learning environments. Increased student learning stems from more effective and student-centered learning situations wherein students play a fundamental role in the formulation and development of their…

  3. Creating a Multimedia Enhanced Problem-Based Learning Environment for Middle School Science: Voices from the Developers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Min; Horton, Lucas; Lee, Jaejin; Kang, Jina; Rosenblum, Jason; O'Hair, Matthew; Lu, Chu-Wei

    2014-01-01

    This paper describes the design and development process used to create Alien Rescue, a multimedia-enhanced learning environment that supports problem-based learning (PBL) in middle school science. The goal of the project is to further our understandings of technology, pedagogy, and instructional theories as they relate to the application of PBL…

  4. Elements of Problem-Based Learning: Suggestions for Implementation in the Asynchronous Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Erik

    2010-01-01

    Problem-based learning, or PBL, is a student-centered instructional approach that is derived from constructivist epistemology. It is based upon ill-structured real-world problems with the goal of strengthening and developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in learners. Initially utilized in medical schools to strengthen diagnostic…

  5. Starting learning in medical practice: an evaluation of a new Introductory Clerkship.

    PubMed

    Jacobs, J C G; Bolhuis, S; Bulte, J A; Laan, R; Holdrinet, R S G

    2005-08-01

    The transition from undergraduate medical education to learning in clinical clerkships can be difficult for students. Learning in clinical practice requires awareness of learning opportunities and goals, active elaboration and reflection. Staff should provide students with guidance to learn from their experiences. A new Introductory Clerkship was designed to facilitate the start of goal-oriented, active and reflective work-based learning. This four-week clerkship is a result of the cooperation of six major specialties in the university hospital. The innovations included explicitly formulated goals, a description of the student's activities in daily practice and of the staff's role, group meetings, a logbook, a halfway formative interview and a final summative interview. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent the innovations of the new Introductory Clerkship were implemented and how students and residents valued them. Two questionnaires were constructed: one was administered to students (n = 54) and the other to residents (n = 27). Students considered participation in daily practice very instructive, although more observations of history taking and physical examination are wanted. The interviews and group meetings promote students' learning. Use of the logbook needs improvement. Residents perceived a shortage of time and would appreciate more participation of staff members, as well as a better preparation for supervising tasks. Overall, the study demonstrates that it is possible to introduce innovations in clinical clerkships to improve the learning environment of work-based learning.

  6. Guia para Madres y Padres de Familia sobre Educacion Pre-Escolar a Temprana Edad (A Parents' Guide to Early Childhood Education).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dodge, Diane Trister; Phinney, Joanna

    This booklet for parents explains what children learn in preschools that employ the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood and the ways in which learning can be reinforced at home. The first sections of the booklet explain the goals and philosophy of experience-based preschools. Goals include teaching children to love reading and school and to be…

  7. A lateralized avian hippocampus: preferential role of the left hippocampal formation in homing pigeon sun compass-based spatial learning.

    PubMed

    Gagliardo, Anna; Vallortigara, Giorgio; Nardi, Daniele; Bingman, Verner P

    2005-11-01

    The hippocampal formation (HF) plays a crucial role in amniote spatial cognition. There are also indications of functional lateralization in the contribution of the left and right HF in processes that enable birds to navigate space. The experiments described in this study were designed to examine left and right HF differences in a task of sun compass-based spatial learning in homing pigeons (Columba livia). Control, left (HFL) and right (HFR) HF lesioned pigeons were trained in an outdoor arena to locate a food reward using their sun compass in the presence or absence of alternative feature cues. Subsequent to training, the pigeons were subjected to test sessions to determine if they learned to represent the goal location with their sun compass and the relative importance of the sun compass vs. feature cues. Under all test conditions, the control pigeons demonstrated preferential use of the sun compass in locating the goal. By contrast, the HFL pigeons demonstrated no ability to locate the goal by the sun compass but an ability to use the feature cues. The behaviour of the HFR pigeons demonstrated that an intact left HF is sufficient to support sun compass-based learning, but in conflict situations and in contrast to controls, they often relied on feature cues. In conclusion, only the left HF is capable of supporting sun compass-based learning. However, preferential use of the sun compass for learning requires an intact right HF. The data support the hypothesis that the left and right HF make different but complementary contributions toward avian spatial cognition.

  8. Integrating Service Learning into Public Relations Coursework: Applications, Implications, Challenges, and Rewards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gleason, James P.; Violette, Jayne L.

    2012-01-01

    Drawing on a theoretical framework based on "use-inspired" applied research and service learning practice (Honnet-Porter & Poulsen, 1989), this paper argues the relationship between a service-learning approach and Public Relations coursework is a natural and highly desirable fit. Through examination of the goals of both service-learning and public…

  9. Improving Engagement in Science: A Biosocial System Perspective.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hanrahan, Mary U.

    The goal of my multi-study research program has been to learn how to engage all students in learning science. Most learning theories applied to science pedagogy take either a psychological or a sociocultural perspective and hence ignore either sociocultural or motivational factors when considering classroom learning. Based on my own research…

  10. Connecting Formal and Informal Learning Experiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Mahony, Timothy Kieran

    2010-01-01

    The learning study reports on part of a larger project being lead by the author. In this dissertation I explore one goal of this project--to understand effects on student learning outcomes as a function of using different methods for connecting out-of-school experiential learning with formal school-based instruction. There is a long history of…

  11. Evaluating Bayesian Networks' Precision for Detecting Students' Learning Styles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garcia, Patricio; Amandi, Analia; Schiaffino, Silvia; Campo, Marcelo

    2007-01-01

    Students are characterized by different learning styles, focusing on different types of information and processing this information in different ways. One of the desirable characteristics of a Web-based education system is that all the students can learn despite their different learning styles. To achieve this goal we have to detect how students…

  12. The ESP Instruction: A Study Based on the Pattern of Autonomous Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Jianfeng

    2013-01-01

    Autonomous inquiry learning is a kind of learning model, which relies mainly on learners and emphasizes that learners should inquire knowledge actively; moreover, ESP, which emphasizes the combination of language learning and specific purposes learning, is a goal-oriented and well targeted instruction system. Therefore, ESP and autonomous inquiry…

  13. Using Active Learning in a Studio Classroom to Teach Molecular Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nogaj, Luiza A.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the conversion of a lecture-based molecular biology course into an active learning environment in a studio classroom. Specific assignments and activities are provided as examples. The goal of these activities is to involve students in collaborative learning, teach them how to participate in the learning process, and give…

  14. Factors Influencing Beliefs for Adoption of a Learning Analytics Tool: An Empirical Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ali, Liaqat; Asadi, Mohsen; Gasevic, Dragan; Jovanovic, Jelena; Hatala, Marek

    2013-01-01

    Present research and development offer various learning analytics tools providing insights into different aspects of learning processes. Adoption of a specific tool for practice is based on how its learning analytics are perceived by educators to support their pedagogical and organizational goals. In this paper, we propose and empirically validate…

  15. Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for overreliance on habit learning in alcohol-dependent patients

    PubMed Central

    Sjoerds, Z; de Wit, S; van den Brink, W; Robbins, T W; Beekman, A T F; Penninx, B W J H; Veltman, D J

    2013-01-01

    Substance dependence is characterized by compulsive drug-taking despite negative consequences. Animal research suggests an underlying imbalance between goal-directed and habitual action control with chronic drug use. However, this imbalance, and its associated neurophysiological mechanisms, has not yet been experimentally investigated in human drug abusers. The aim of the present study therefore was to assess the balance between goal-directed and habit-based learning and its neural correlates in abstinent alcohol-dependent (AD) patients. A total of 31 AD patients and 19 age, gender and education matched healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during completion of an instrumental learning task designed to study the balance between goal-directed and habit learning. Task performance and task-related blood oxygen level-dependent activations in the brain were compared between AD patients and healthy matched controls. Findings were additionally associated with duration and severity of alcohol dependence. The results of this study provide evidence for an overreliance on stimulus-response habit learning in AD compared with HC, which was accompanied by decreased engagement of brain areas implicated in goal-directed action (ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior putamen) and increased recruitment of brain areas implicated in habit learning (posterior putamen) in AD patients. In conclusion, this is the first human study to provide experimental evidence for a disturbed balance between goal-directed and habitual control by use of an instrumental learning task, and to directly implicate cortical dysfunction to overreliance on inflexible habits in AD patients. PMID:24346135

  16. Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for overreliance on habit learning in alcohol-dependent patients.

    PubMed

    Sjoerds, Z; de Wit, S; van den Brink, W; Robbins, T W; Beekman, A T F; Penninx, B W J H; Veltman, D J

    2013-12-17

    Substance dependence is characterized by compulsive drug-taking despite negative consequences. Animal research suggests an underlying imbalance between goal-directed and habitual action control with chronic drug use. However, this imbalance, and its associated neurophysiological mechanisms, has not yet been experimentally investigated in human drug abusers. The aim of the present study therefore was to assess the balance between goal-directed and habit-based learning and its neural correlates in abstinent alcohol-dependent (AD) patients. A total of 31 AD patients and 19 age, gender and education matched healthy controls (HC) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during completion of an instrumental learning task designed to study the balance between goal-directed and habit learning. Task performance and task-related blood oxygen level-dependent activations in the brain were compared between AD patients and healthy matched controls. Findings were additionally associated with duration and severity of alcohol dependence. The results of this study provide evidence for an overreliance on stimulus-response habit learning in AD compared with HC, which was accompanied by decreased engagement of brain areas implicated in goal-directed action (ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior putamen) and increased recruitment of brain areas implicated in habit learning (posterior putamen) in AD patients. In conclusion, this is the first human study to provide experimental evidence for a disturbed balance between goal-directed and habitual control by use of an instrumental learning task, and to directly implicate cortical dysfunction to overreliance on inflexible habits in AD patients.

  17. Project-Based Learning: A Review of the Literature

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kokotsaki, Dimitra; Menzies, Victoria; Wiggins, Andy

    2016-01-01

    Project-based learning (PBL) is an active student-centred form of instruction which is characterised by students' autonomy, constructive investigations, goal-setting, collaboration, communication and reflection within real-world practices. It has been explored in various contexts and in different phases of schooling, from primary to higher…

  18. Emerging Technologies, ISD, and Learning Environments: Critical Perspectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hannafin, Michael J.

    1992-01-01

    Reviews the evolution of instructional systems design and computer-based learning environments, focusing on the effects of technological advances. Classification of learning environments is discussed in the context of the dimensions of scope (macrolevel or microlevel), user activity (generative or mathemagenic), educational activity (goal-directed…

  19. Analytical learning and term-rewriting systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Laird, Philip; Gamble, Evan

    1990-01-01

    Analytical learning is a set of machine learning techniques for revising the representation of a theory based on a small set of examples of that theory. When the representation of the theory is correct and complete but perhaps inefficient, an important objective of such analysis is to improve the computational efficiency of the representation. Several algorithms with this purpose have been suggested, most of which are closely tied to a first order logical language and are variants of goal regression, such as the familiar explanation based generalization (EBG) procedure. But because predicate calculus is a poor representation for some domains, these learning algorithms are extended to apply to other computational models. It is shown that the goal regression technique applies to a large family of programming languages, all based on a kind of term rewriting system. Included in this family are three language families of importance to artificial intelligence: logic programming, such as Prolog; lambda calculus, such as LISP; and combinatorial based languages, such as FP. A new analytical learning algorithm, AL-2, is exhibited that learns from success but is otherwise quite different from EBG. These results suggest that term rewriting systems are a good framework for analytical learning research in general, and that further research should be directed toward developing new techniques.

  20. Students' Perceptions of Blended Learning and its Effectiveness As a Part of Second Year Dental Curriculum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Varthis, Spyridon

    The field of dental medical education is one of the most rapidly evolving fields in education. Newer teaching methods are being evaluated and incorporated in dental institutions. One of the promising new methods is the blended learning approach that may involve a "flipped" instructional sequencing, where online instruction precedes the group meeting, allowing for more sophisticated learning through discussion and critical thinking. The author conducted a mixed method, experimental study that focused on second year dental students' perceptions of blended learning and its effectiveness. A sample size of 40 dental students in their second year from a Northeastern Regional Dental School were invited to participate in this study to evaluate a blended learning approach in comparison to a more traditional lecture format. Students who participated in the study, participated in group problem-solving, responded to Likert-type surveys, completed content exams, and were interviewed individually. Based on Likert survey data and interview responses, the participants in the blended learning treatment reported very positive opinions including positive perceptions of the organization, support of meaningful learning and potential merits for use in dental education. There also was evidence that the blended learning group achieved at least as well as the traditional lecture group, and excelled on certain content test items. The results of this study support the conclusion that blended instruction promotes active, in-depth and self-regulated learning. During blended learning, students set standards or goals regarding their learning, evaluate their progress toward these goals, and then adapt and regulate their cognition, motivation, and behavior in order to accomplish their goals. Overall, the results of this research on blended learning, including the use of problem-based learning in group discussions, supports the merits of incorporating blended earning in dental education curricula.

  1. Evaluation of students' experience with Problem-based Learning (PBL) applied at the College of Medicine, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia.

    PubMed

    Alduraywish, Abdulrahman Abdulwahab; Mohager, Mazin Omer; Alenezi, Mohammed Jayed; Nail, Abdelsalam Mohammed; Aljafari, Alfatih Saifudinn

    2017-12-01

    To evaluate the students' experience with problem-based learning. This cross-sectional, qualitative study was conducted at the College of Medicine, Al Jouf University, Sakakah, Saudi Arabia, in October 2015, and comprised medical students of the 1st to 5th levels. Interviews were conducted using Students' Course Experience Questionnaire. The questionnaire contained 37 questions covering six evaluative categories: appropriate assessment, appropriate workload, clear goals and standards, generic skills, good teaching, and overall satisfaction. The questionnaire follows the Likert's scale model. Mean values were interpreted as: >2.5= at least disagree, 2.5->3= neither/nor (uncertain), and 3 or more= at least agree. Of the 170 respondents, 72(42.7%) agreed that there was an appropriate assessment accompanied with the problem-based learning. Also, 107(63.13%) students agreed that there was a heavy workload on them. The goal and standards of the course were clear for 71(42.35%) students, 104(61.3%) agreed that problem-based learning improved their generic skills, 65(38.07%) agreed the teaching was good and 82(48.08%) students showed overall satisfaction. The students were satisfied with their experience with the problem-based learning.

  2. Teachers' instructional goals for science practice: Identifying knowledge gaps using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Farrar, Cynthia Hamen

    In AP Biology, the course goal, with respect to scientific acts and reasoning, has recently shifted toward a reform goal of science practice, where the goal is for students to have a scientific perspective that views science as a practice of a community rather than a body of knowledge. Given this recent shift, this study is interested in the gaps that may exist between an individual teacher's instructional goal and the goals of the AP Biology course. A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) methodology and perspective is used to analyze four teachers' knowledge, practice, and learning. Teachers have content knowledge for teaching, a form of knowledge that is unique for teaching called specialized content knowledge. This specialized content knowledge (SCK) defines their instructional goals, the student outcomes they ultimately aim to achieve with their students. The study employs a cultural-historical continuum of scientific acts and reasoning, which represents the development of the AP Biology goal over time, to study gaps in their instructional goal. The study also analyzes the contradictions within their teaching practice and how teachers address those contradictions to shift their instructional practice and learn. The findings suggest that teachers have different interpretations of the AP Biology goals of science practice, placing their instructional goal at different points along the continuum. Based on the location of their instructional goal, different micro-communities of teachers exist along the continuum, comprised of teachers with a shared goal, language, and culture of their AP Biology teaching. The in-depth study of one teacher's AP Biology teaching, using a CHAT perspective, provides a means for studying the mechanisms that connect SCK to classroom actions and ultimately to instructional practice. CHAT also reveals the nature and importance of contradictions or cognitive dissonance in teacher learning and the types of support teachers need to recognize contradictions and to internalize and set their instructional goal, facilitating their learning. Without recognition of contradictions, some of these micro-communities are not aware that their instruction is not in line with the AP Biology goal of science practice. An in-depth look at teacher learning revealed the criticality of reflective practice and the need for an "expert" within a teacher's community to facilitate = learning and develop SCK to incorporate science practice in classroom instruction.

  3. Aesthetic Learning about, in, with and through the Arts: A Curriculum Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindstrom, Lars

    2012-01-01

    Aesthetic learning is a major issue in arts education. The "method of art" is often expected to facilitate in-depth learning not only in the arts but across the curriculum. This article defines aesthetic learning in terms of a conceptual framework based on two dimensions, one representing the goal and the other the means of aesthetic learning. The…

  4. A Comprehensive System of School Reform Based on Student Results

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Little, Mary E.

    2007-01-01

    School reform is achieved through the collaboration and coordination among educators with the mutual goal of improved learning for all students. Given the complexity within and among educational systems, the need to develop and implement a common framework of school reform based upon mutually agreed-upon goals, standards, outcomes, and…

  5. Cooperative Project-Based Learning in a Web-Based Software Engineering Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Piccinini, Nicola; Scollo, Giuseppe

    2006-01-01

    Even in self-organized project-based learning, the instructors' role re-mains critical, especially in the initial orientation provided to the students in order to grasp the educational goals and the various roles they may undertake to achieve them. In this paper we survey a few questions proposed to that purpose in a web-based software engineering…

  6. Activity Development for Intersection Operations The National Transportation Curriculum Project : Developing Activity-Based Learning Modules for the Introductory Transportation Engineering Course

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2012-05-01

    The goal of this work was to develop activity-based learning materials for the introductory transportation engineering course : with the purpose of increasing student understanding and concept retention. These materials were to cover intersection : o...

  7. Designing Your Community-Based Learning Project: Five Questions To Ask about Your Pedagogical and Participatory Goals.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carter, Marion; Cadge, Wendy; Rivero, Estela; Curran, Sara

    2002-01-01

    Presents a set of five questions to be considered in the preliminary planning of a community-based learning (CBL) project. Discusses each question and outlines advantages and disadvantages of decisions, focusing on competing interests of students, instructors, and partner organizations. (Author/KDR)

  8. Game-Based Learning: A Different Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Royle, Karl

    2008-01-01

    Because the goals of games and the object of school-based learning are fundamentally mismatched, efforts to integrate games into the curriculum have largely fallen flat despite the best intentions of teachers and the gaming industry. Arguing that educational game designers should be investigating ways to get education into games rather than…

  9. Project-Based Learning in International Financial Management

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, John H.; Legister, Allison P.

    2018-01-01

    This exploratory study measures the effectiveness of the signature project-based learning model to assess the enhancement of student engagement. The goal of the signature project is to prepare students to apply critical thinking and collaborative skills; making connections between global financial issues and textbook concepts in application to a…

  10. Utilizing Problem-Based Learning in Qualitative Analysis Lab Experiments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hicks, Randall W.; Bevsek, Holly M.

    2012-01-01

    A series of qualitative analysis (QA) laboratory experiments utilizing a problem-based learning (PBL) module has been designed and implemented. The module guided students through the experiments under the guise of cleaning up a potentially contaminated water site as employees of an environmental chemistry laboratory. The main goal was the…

  11. Environmental Learning Using a Problem-Based Approach in the Field: A Case Study of a Hong Kong School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kwan, Tammy; So, Max

    2008-01-01

    This study investigated the environmental learning of a group of senior geography students through a problem-based learning (PBL) field programme to see if the goals of education "for" the environment could be accomplished. In the PBL field programme, the students were given a problem statement concerning a real-life scenario of an old…

  12. Second Graders' Emerging Particle Models of Matter in the Context of Learning through Model-Based Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Samarapungavan, Ala; Bryan, Lynn; Wills, Jamison

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we present a study of second graders' learning about the nature of matter in the context of content-rich, model-based inquiry instruction. The goal of instruction was to help students learn to use simple particle models to explain states of matter and phase changes. We examined changes in students' ideas about matter, the coherence…

  13. Examining the Efficacy of Project-Based Learning on Cultivating the 21st Century Skills among High School Students in a Global Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Chi-Syan; Ma, Jung-Tsan; Kuo, Karen Yi-Chwen; Chou, Chien-Tzu Candace

    2015-01-01

    The goal of the study is to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with Project-Based Learning strategy in a global context on the aspects of both fostering learning community of practices and nurturing the 21st century skills. For collecting empirical data, the study implements and administers an online international project-based…

  14. The Threshold Level--For Schools?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lauerbach, Gerda

    1979-01-01

    Comments on the document "Threshold Level for Modern Language Learning Schools" (J. A. Van Ek, Strasbourg, 1976) and its appropriateness as a description of learning goals for the first years of foreign language teaching. Criticizes particularly the "reduced learning" concept, on which the threshold projects are based. (IFS/WGA)

  15. The development of learning media of acid-base indicator from extract of natural colorant as an alternative media in learning chemistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nurhadi, Mukhamad; Wirhanuddin, Erwin, Muflihah, Erika, Farah; Widiyowati, Iis Intan

    2017-03-01

    The development of learning media of acid base indicator from extract of natural colorants as an alternative media in chemistry learning; acid-base solution by using creative problem solving model at SMA N 10 Samarinda has been done. This research aimed to create and develop the learning media from extract of natural colorants, measure its quality and effectiveness, and measure the quality of student learning outcome in acid-base solution topic by using that media. The development process used Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) method. The learning media of acid-base indicator was created in the form of box experiment. Its quality was in the range of very good and it was effectively applied in the learning and gave positive impact on the achievement of learning goals.

  16. Family-Centred Applied Behaviour Analysis Verbal Behaviour Intervention for Young Taiwanese Children with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chu, Szu-Yin

    2016-01-01

    Current educational policy promotes the use of evidence-based practices to maximize children's learning outcomes. With the goal of enhancing a child's ability to learn functional language, the purpose of this study was to focus on involving families through the utilization of evidence-based intervention based upon the Applied Behaviour Analysis…

  17. Reward-Based Learning Drives Rapid Sensory Signals in Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Dorsal Hippocampus Necessary for Goal-Directed Behavior.

    PubMed

    Le Merre, Pierre; Esmaeili, Vahid; Charrière, Eloïse; Galan, Katia; Salin, Paul-A; Petersen, Carl C H; Crochet, Sylvain

    2018-01-03

    The neural circuits underlying learning and execution of goal-directed behaviors remain to be determined. Here, through electrophysiological recordings, we investigated fast sensory processing across multiple cortical areas as mice learned to lick a reward spout in response to a brief deflection of a single whisker. Sensory-evoked signals were absent from medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus in naive mice, but developed with task learning and correlated with behavioral performance in mice trained in the detection task. The sensory responses in medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus occurred with short latencies of less than 50 ms after whisker deflection. Pharmacological and optogenetic inactivation of medial prefrontal cortex or dorsal hippocampus impaired behavioral performance. Neuronal activity in medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus thus appears to contribute directly to task performance, perhaps providing top-down control of learned, context-dependent transformation of sensory input into goal-directed motor output. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Discovery of Action Patterns and User Correlations in Task-Oriented Processes for Goal-Driven Learning Recommendation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhou, Xiaokang; Chen, Jian; Wu, Bo; Jin, Qun

    2014-01-01

    With the high development of social networks, collaborations in a socialized web-based learning environment has become increasing important, which means people can learn through interactions and collaborations in communities across social networks. In this study, in order to support the enhanced collaborative learning, two important factors, user…

  19. A Web-Based Blended Learning Environment for Programming Languages: Students' Opinions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yagci, Mustafa

    2017-01-01

    A learning environment which increases the desire and efforts of students to attain learning goals leads to greater motivation and success. This study examines the negative and positive opinions of students regarding the effectiveness of the learning process and students' success in a computer programming course in which face-to-face and web-based…

  20. Enhancing Formal E-Learning with Edutainment on Social Networks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Labus, A.; Despotovic-Zrakic, M.; Radenkovic, B.; Bogdanovic, Z.; Radenkovic, M.

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports on the investigation of the possibilities of enhancing the formal e-learning process by harnessing the potential of informal game-based learning on social networks. The goal of the research is to improve the outcomes of the formal learning process through the design and implementation of an educational game on a social network…

  1. Assessing the Quality of Learning Environments in Swedish Schools: Development and Analysis of a Theory-Based Instrument

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Westling Allodi, Mara

    2007-01-01

    The Goals, Attitudes and Values in School (GAVIS) questionnaire was developed on the basis of theoretical frameworks concerning learning environments, universal human values and studies of students' experience of learning environments. The theory hypothesises that learning environments can be described and structured in a circumplex model using…

  2. Slim Chance: A Weight Control Program for the Learning Disabled.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rotatori, Anthony J.; And Others

    1982-01-01

    A school-based diet program for learning disabled children stresses modifying eating behavior by learning alternative ways of interacting with the environment. Techniques stress the importance of self regulation, strategies for self monitoring, the establishment of realistic weight goals, use of stimulus control procedures, increased physical…

  3. Early Prediction of Student Self-Regulation Strategies by Combining Multiple Models

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sabourin, Jennifer L.; Mott, Bradford W.; Lester, James C.

    2012-01-01

    Self-regulated learning behaviors such as goal setting and monitoring have been found to be crucial to students' success in computer-based learning environments. Consequently, understanding students' self-regulated learning behavior has been the subject of increasing interest. Unfortunately, monitoring these behaviors in real-time has proven…

  4. Redesign of a Life Span Development Course Using Fink's Taxonomy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fallahi, Carolyn R.

    2008-01-01

    This study compared a traditional lecture-based life span development course to the same course redesigned using Fink's (2003) taxonomy of significant learning. The goals, activities, and feedback within the course corresponded to Fink's 6 taxa (knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, learning how to learn). Undergraduates in…

  5. Innovation Learning in Comprehensive Education?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindfors, Eila; Hilmola, Antti

    2016-01-01

    The goal of this article is to clarify the concept of innovation and by presenting a research on the basic education outcome assessment data from an innovation learning perspective, answer to a question: Do students learn innovation in comprehensive education? The empirical information in this research is based on data collected in the national…

  6. School Garden Wizard: Home

    Science.gov Websites

    ! Gardening and plant-based learning open a door to discovery of the living world. It stimulates even as it achieve learning goals in ways that are recommended by the National Science Standards and most state and Learning Inspiring Stories A Teacher's Perspective Gardening Tools Seasonal Considerations Special Needs

  7. Applying the Practical Inquiry Model to Investigate the Quality of Students' Online Discourse in an Information Ethics Course Based on Bloom's Teaching Goal and Bird's 3C Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Chien-Jen; Yang, Shu Ching

    2012-01-01

    The goal of this study is to better understand how the study participants' cognitive discourse is displayed in their learning transaction in an asynchronous, text-based conferencing environment based on Garrison's Practical Inquiry Model (2001). The authors designed an online information ethics course based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational…

  8. On Teaching and Learning in College. Reemphasizing the Roles of Learners and the Disciplines. First Edition. The Jossey-Base Series in Higher Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dressel, Paul L.; Marcus, Dora

    College education is examined with focus on what students need to learn to maximize their full human potential. Part 1, "Teaching, Learning, and the Purpose of Education," examines: teaching styles and effects on learning; the goals of teaching; education as a humanizing experience; and enriching learning through technology. Part 2, "Teaching…

  9. A Semantic Web-Based Authoring Tool to Facilitate the Planning of Collaborative Learning Scenarios Compliant with Learning Theories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Isotani, Seiji; Mizoguchi, Riichiro; Isotani, Sadao; Capeli, Olimpio M.; Isotani, Naoko; de Albuquerque, Antonio R. P. L.; Bittencourt, Ig. I.; Jaques, Patricia

    2013-01-01

    When the goal of group activities is to support long-term learning, the task of designing well-thought-out collaborative learning (CL) scenarios is an important key to success. To help students adequately acquire and develop their knowledge and skills, a teacher can plan a scenario that increases the probability for learning to occur. Such a…

  10. Early clinical experience: do students learn what we expect?

    PubMed

    Helmich, Esther; Bolhuis, Sanneke; Laan, Roland; Koopmans, Raymond

    2011-07-01

    Early clinical experience is thought to contribute to the professional development of medical students, but little is known about the kind of learning processes that actually take place. Learning in practice is highly informal and may be difficult to direct by predefined learning outcomes. Learning in medical practice includes a socialisation process in which some learning outcomes may be valued, but others neglected or discouraged. This study describes students' learning goals (prior to a Year 1 nursing attachment) and learning outcomes (after the attachment) in relation to institutional educational goals, and evaluates associations between learning outcomes, student characteristics and place of attachment. A questionnaire containing open-ended questions about learning goals and learning outcomes was administered to all Year 1 medical students (n = 347) before and directly after a 4-week nursing attachment in either a hospital or a nursing home. Two confirmatory focus group interviews were conducted and data were analysed using qualitative and quantitative content analyses. Students' learning goals corresponded with educational goals with a main emphasis on communication and empathy. Other learning goals included gaining insight into the organisation of health care and learning to deal with emotions. Self-reported learning outcomes were the same, but students additionally mentioned reflection on professional behaviour and their own future development. Women and younger students mentioned communication and empathy more often than men and older students. Individual learning goals, with the exception of communicating and empathising with patients, did not predict learning outcomes. Students' learning goals closely match educational goals, which are adequately met in early nursing attachments in both hospitals and nursing homes. Learning to deal with emotions was under-represented as a learning goal and learning outcome, which may indicate that emotional aspects of medical students' professional development are neglected in the first year of medical education. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011.

  11. Stress enhances model-free reinforcement learning only after negative outcome

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Daeyeol

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies found that stress shifts behavioral control by promoting habits while decreasing goal-directed behaviors during reward-based decision-making. It is, however, unclear how stress disrupts the relative contribution of the two systems controlling reward-seeking behavior, i.e. model-free (or habit) and model-based (or goal-directed). Here, we investigated whether stress biases the contribution of model-free and model-based reinforcement learning processes differently depending on the valence of outcome, and whether stress alters the learning rate, i.e., how quickly information from the new environment is incorporated into choices. Participants were randomly assigned to either a stress or a control condition, and performed a two-stage Markov decision-making task in which the reward probabilities underwent periodic reversals without notice. We found that stress increased the contribution of model-free reinforcement learning only after negative outcome. Furthermore, stress decreased the learning rate. The results suggest that stress diminishes one’s ability to make adaptive choices in multiple aspects of reinforcement learning. This finding has implications for understanding how stress facilitates maladaptive habits, such as addictive behavior, and other dysfunctional behaviors associated with stress in clinical and educational contexts. PMID:28723943

  12. Stress enhances model-free reinforcement learning only after negative outcome.

    PubMed

    Park, Heyeon; Lee, Daeyeol; Chey, Jeanyung

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies found that stress shifts behavioral control by promoting habits while decreasing goal-directed behaviors during reward-based decision-making. It is, however, unclear how stress disrupts the relative contribution of the two systems controlling reward-seeking behavior, i.e. model-free (or habit) and model-based (or goal-directed). Here, we investigated whether stress biases the contribution of model-free and model-based reinforcement learning processes differently depending on the valence of outcome, and whether stress alters the learning rate, i.e., how quickly information from the new environment is incorporated into choices. Participants were randomly assigned to either a stress or a control condition, and performed a two-stage Markov decision-making task in which the reward probabilities underwent periodic reversals without notice. We found that stress increased the contribution of model-free reinforcement learning only after negative outcome. Furthermore, stress decreased the learning rate. The results suggest that stress diminishes one's ability to make adaptive choices in multiple aspects of reinforcement learning. This finding has implications for understanding how stress facilitates maladaptive habits, such as addictive behavior, and other dysfunctional behaviors associated with stress in clinical and educational contexts.

  13. Effects of Learning Goal Attainability Level, Text Organization, and Age Level on Learning Disabled Adolescents' Silent Reading Comprehension.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindsey, Jimmy D.

    1983-01-01

    Results indicated that attainability levels of learning goals affected the students' reading comprehension. LD adolescents had significantly higher comprehension when assessed on information associated with a learning goal completely attainable than on information associated with a partially attainable learning goal. (Author/CL)

  14. "But Electricity Isn't Static": Science Discussion, Identification of Learning Issues, and Use of Resources in a Problem-Based Learning Education Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siegel, Marcelle A.; Lee, Julia A. C.

    While increasing teachers' scientific knowledge base has been identified as a challenge for teacher education (e.g., NCES, 1996), the skills used to identify a need for knowledge and the skills necessary to search for that knowledge have been less discussed. Yet, the ability to learn for oneself is really the goal of lifelong teacher education. In…

  15. Dorsolateral striatal lesions impair navigation based on landmark-goal vectors but facilitate spatial learning based on a “cognitive map”

    PubMed Central

    Poulter, Steven L.; Austen, Joe M.

    2015-01-01

    In three experiments, the nature of the interaction between multiple memory systems in rats solving a variation of a spatial task in the water maze was investigated. Throughout training rats were able to find a submerged platform at a fixed distance and direction from an intramaze landmark by learning a landmark-goal vector. Extramaze cues were also available for standard place learning, or “cognitive mapping,” but these cues were valid only within each session, as the position of the platform moved around the pool between sessions together with the intramaze landmark. Animals could therefore learn the position of the platform by taking the consistent vector from the landmark across sessions or by rapidly encoding the new platform position on each session with reference to the extramaze cues. Excitotoxic lesions of the dorsolateral striatum impaired vector-based learning but facilitated cognitive map-based rapid place learning when the extramaze cues were relatively poor (Experiment 1) but not when they were more salient (Experiments 2 and 3). The way the lesion effects interacted with cue availability is consistent with the idea that the memory systems involved in the current navigation task are functionally cooperative yet associatively competitive in nature. PMID:25691518

  16. Strategic Plan 2013 to 2016

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lumina Foundation for Education, 2013

    2013-01-01

    In 2009, Lumina Foundation released its first strategic plan, based on the goal that 60% of Americans obtain a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by 2025-- a goal now known as Goal 2025. Much has changed even in the short time since that plan was written, both in the external environment and in what has been learned from this work.…

  17. Digital Games and the US National Research Council's Science Proficiency Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martinez-Garza, Mario; Clark, Douglas B.; Nelson, Brian C.

    2013-01-01

    This review synthesises research on digital games and science learning as it supports the goals for science proficiency outlined in the report by the US National Research Council on science education reform. The review is organised in terms of these research-based goals for science proficiency in light of their alignment with current science…

  18. Are There Detrimental Effects From Proficiency-Based Training in Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery Among Novices? An Exploration of Goal Theory.

    PubMed

    Stoller, Jeremy; Joseph, Jeremy; Parodi, Nicholas; Gardner, Aimee

    2016-01-01

    Goal theory states that novices may experience unintended, detrimental learning effects, with decreased performance, when given performance goals on complex tasks. In these situations, it may be more appropriate to give novices learning goals to help avoid these negative consequences. The purpose of this study was to see whether this tenant of goal theory applied to novices learning 2 tasks of fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS). Medical and physician assistant students were randomized to a performance goals group and a learning goals group. The performance goals consisted of the published proficiency standards of FLS. Both groups were pretested on perception of surgery, self-efficacy, and general affect. Each group underwent a practice session for the peg transfer task. They were tested and scored per the published standards of FLS. The participants completed NASA Task Load Index, task complexity, and postaffect questionnaires related to the peg transfer task. This was repeated with the suture with intracorporeal knot task. Posttest perception of surgery and self-efficacy questionnaires were completed. In total, 48 students participated in the study: 23 in the performance goals group and 25 in the learning goals group. Most of the participants (n = 40) were first-year medical and physician assistant students. There were no significant differences between the groups in perception of surgery, affect, goal commitment, subjective task complexity, subjective workload, and self-efficacy. There were no differences between the groups concerning overall FLS score for both the peg transfer and suturing tasks. Both groups exhibited significant increases in self-efficacy and perception of surgery (p < 0.05). FLS skills can be given to novice learners without concern for detrimental effects as might be expected by other work on goal theory. Given that performance was the same for both groups, surgical educators may have multiple pathways to educational success when incorporating goals into training programs for basic surgical skills. Copyright © 2015 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. The effects of topic choice in project-based instruction on undergraduate physical science students' interest, ownership, and motivation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Milner-Bolotin, Marina

    2001-07-01

    Motivating nonscience majors in science and mathematics studies became one of the most interesting and important challenges in contemporary science and mathematics education. Therefore, designing and studying a learning environment, which enhances students' motivation, is an important task. This experimental study sought to explore the implications of student autonomy in topic choice in a project-based Physical Science Course for nonscience majors' on students' motivational orientation. It also suggested and tested a model explaining motivational outcomes of project-based learning environment through increased student ownership of science projects. A project, How Things Work, was designed and implemented in this study. The focus of the project was application of physical science concepts learned in the classroom to everyday life situations. Participants of the study (N = 59) were students enrolled in three selected sections of a Physical Science Course, designed to fulfill science requirements for nonscience majors. These sections were taught by the same instructor over a period of an entire 16-week semester at a large public research university. The study focused on four main variables: student autonomy in choosing a project topic, their motivational orientation, student ownership of the project, and the interest in the project topic. Achievement Goal Orientation theory became the theoretical framework for the study. Student motivational orientation, defined as mastery or performance goal orientation, was measured by an Achievement Goal Orientation Questionnaire. Student ownership was measured using an original instrument, Ownership Measurement Questionnaire, designed and tested by the researchers. Repeated measures yoked design, ANOVA, ANCOVA, and multivariate regression analysis were implemented in the study. Qualitative analysis was used to complement and verify quantitative results. It has been found that student autonomy in the project choice did not make a significant impact on their motivational orientation, while their initial interest in the project topic did. The latter was found to be related to students' ownership of the project, which was found to lead to improved mastery goal orientation. These findings indicate that incorporating project-based learning in science teaching may lead to increased student mastery goal orientation, and may result in improved science learning.

  20. Inquiry-based Learning and Digital Libraries in Undergraduate Science Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apedoe, Xornam S.; Reeves, Thomas C.

    2006-12-01

    The purpose of this paper is twofold: to describe robust rationales for integrating inquiry-based learning into undergraduate science education, and to propose that digital libraries are potentially powerful technological tools that can support inquiry-based learning goals in undergraduate science courses. Overviews of constructivism and situated cognition are provided with regard to how these two theoretical perspectives have influenced current science education reform movements, especially those that involve inquiry-based learning. The role that digital libraries can play in inquiry-based learning environments is discussed. Finally, the importance of alignment among critical pedagogical dimensions of an inquiry-based pedagogical framework is stressed in the paper, and an example of how this can be done is presented using earth science education as a context.

  1. Understanding Player Activity in a Game-Based Virtual Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boyer, David Matthew

    2011-01-01

    This study examines player activity in a game-based virtual learning environment as a means toward evaluating instructional and game design. By determining the goals embedded in project development and the availability and structure of in-game activities, the first part of this research highlights opportunities for players to engage with learning…

  2. Motivation and Performance in a Game-Based Intelligent Tutoring System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, G. Tanner; McNamara, Danielle S.

    2013-01-01

    One strength of educational games stems from their potential to increase students' motivation and engagement during educational tasks. However, game features may also detract from principle learning goals and interfere with students' ability to master the target material. To assess the potential impact of game-based learning environments, in this…

  3. School-Based Health Centers + School Nurses = Student Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Assembly on School-Based Health Care, 2010

    2010-01-01

    School-based health centers (SBHCs) and school nurses know that healthy students learn better. They share an important mission: providing preventive care for all students they serve, with the goal of keeping students in class learning. They both: (1) Educate students and families about healthy behaviors and nutrition; (2) Enroll students and…

  4. Lives in Context: Facilitating Online, Cross-Course, Collaborative Service Projects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elwood, Susan A.

    2014-01-01

    An inquiry-based, cross-course, collaborative structure is being implemented toward a graduate program's goals of using project-based learning as a consistent, core learning experience in each course cycle. This paper focuses upon the course collaborative structure and the two key forms of assessment used in each collaborative cycle: a progressive…

  5. Detangling the Interrelationships between Self- Regulation and Ill-Structured Problem Solving in Problem-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ge, Xun; Law, Victor; Huang, Kun

    2016-01-01

    One of the goals for problem-based learning (PBL) is to promote self-regulation. Although self-regulation has been studied extensively, its interrelationships with ill-structured problem solving have been unclear. In order to clarify the interrelationships, this article proposes a conceptual framework illustrating the iterative processes among…

  6. Teacher and Student Based Instructions on Probability Achievement Outcomes and Attitudes of Secondary School Students in Bungoma North, Kenya

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pale, Joseph W.

    2016-01-01

    Teacher based is the usual instructional method used by most teachers in high school. Traditionally, teachers direct the learning and students work individually and assume a receptive role in their education. Student based learning approach is an instructional use of small groups of students working together to accomplish shared goals to increase…

  7. Development and Validation of a Web-Based Module to Teach Metacognitive Learning Strategies to Students in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Oma B.

    2009-01-01

    This study used a design based-research (DBR) methodology to examine how an Instructional Systematic Design (ISD) process such as ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) can be employed to develop a web-based module to teach metacognitive learning strategies to students in higher education. The goal of the study was…

  8. Goal Directed Model Inversion: A Study of Dynamic Behavior

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Colombano, Silvano P.; Compton, Michael; Raghavan, Bharathi; Lum, Henry, Jr. (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    Goal Directed Model Inversion (GDMI) is an algorithm designed to generalize supervised learning to the case where target outputs are not available to the learning system. The output of the learning system becomes the input to some external device or transformation, and only the output of this device or transformation can be compared to a desired target. The fundamental driving mechanism of GDMI is to learn from success. Given that a wrong outcome is achieved, one notes that the action that produced that outcome 0 "would have been right if the outcome had been the desired one." The algorithm then proceeds as follows: (1) store the action that produced the wrong outcome as a "target" (2) redefine the wrong outcome as a desired goal (3) submit the new desired goal to the system (4) compare the new action with the target action and modify the system by using a suitable algorithm for credit assignment (Back propagation in our example) (5) resubmit the original goal. Prior publications by our group in this area focused on demonstrating empirical results based on the inverse kinematic problem for a simulated robotic arm. In this paper we apply the inversion process to much simpler analytic functions in order to elucidate the dynamic behavior of the system and to determine the sensitivity of the learning process to various parameters. This understanding will be necessary for the acceptance of GDMI as a practical tool.

  9. A goal management intervention for polyarthritis patients: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Arends, Roos Y; Bode, Christina; Taal, Erik; Van de Laar, Mart A F J

    2013-08-13

    A health promotion intervention was developed for inflammatory arthritis patients, based on goal management. Elevated levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, which indicate maladjustment, are found in such patients. Other indicators of adaptation to chronic disease are positive affect, purpose in life and social participation. The new intervention focuses on to improving adaptation by increasing psychological and social well-being and decreasing symptoms of affective disorders. Content includes how patients can cope with activities and life goals that are threatened or have become impossible to attain due to arthritis. The four goal management strategies used are: goal maintenance, goal adjustment, goal disengagement and reengagement. Ability to use various goal management strategies, coping versatility and self-efficacy are hypothesized to mediate the intervention's effect on primary and secondary outcomes. The primary outcome is depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes are anxiety symptoms, positive affect, purpose in life, social participation, pain, fatigue and physical functioning. A cost-effectiveness analysis and stakeholders' analysis are planned. The protocol-based psycho-educational program consists of six group-based meetings and homework assignments, led by a trained nurse. Participants are introduced to goal management strategies and learn to use these strategies to cope with threatened personal goals. Four general hospitals participate in a randomized controlled trial with one intervention group and a waiting list control condition. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a goal management intervention. The study has a holistic focus as both the absence of psychological distress and presence of well-being are assessed. In the intervention, applicable goal management competencies are learned that assist people in their choice of behaviors to sustain and enhance their quality of life. Nederlands Trial Register = NTR3606, registration date 11-09-2012.

  10. Work-Based Curriculum to Broaden Learners' Participation in Science: Insights for Designers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bopardikar, Anushree; Bernstein, Debra; Drayton, Brian; McKenney, Susan

    2018-05-01

    Around the globe, science education during compulsory schooling is envisioned for all learners regardless of their educational and career aspirations, including learners bound to the workforce upon secondary school completion. Yet, a major barrier in attaining this vision is low learner participation in secondary school science. Because curricula play a major role in shaping enacted learning, this study investigated how designers developed a high school physics curriculum with positive learning outcomes in learners with varied inclinations. Qualitative analysis of documents and semistructured interviews with the designers focused on the curriculum in different stages—from designers' ideas about learning goals to their vision for enactment to the printed materials—and on the design processes that brought them to fruition. This revealed designers' emphases on fostering workplace connections via learning goals and activities, and printed supports. The curriculum supported workplace-inspired, hands-on design-and-build projects, developed to address deeply a limited set of standards aligned learning goals. The curriculum also supported learners' interactions with relevant workplace professionals. To create these features, the designers reviewed other curricula to develop vision and printed supports, tested activities internally to assess content coverage, surveyed states in the USA receiving federal school-to-work grants and reviewed occupational information to choose unit topics and career contexts, and visited actual workplaces to learn about authentic praxis. Based on the worked example, this paper offers guidelines for designing work-based science curriculum products and processes that can serve the work of other designers, as well as recommendations for research serving designers and policymakers.

  11. Competency-based goals, objectives, and linked evaluations for rheumatology training programs: a standardized template of learning activities from the Carolinas Fellows Collaborative.

    PubMed

    Criscione-Schreiber, Lisa G; Bolster, Marcy B; Jonas, Beth L; O'Rourke, Kenneth S

    2013-06-01

    American Council on Graduate Medical Education program requirements mandate that rheumatology training programs have written goals, objectives, and performance evaluations for each learning activity. Since learning activities are similar across rheumatology programs, we aimed to create competency-based goals and objectives (CBGO) and evaluations that would be generalizable nationally. Through an established collaboration of the 4 training programs' directors in North Carolina and South Carolina, we collaboratively composed CBGO and evaluations for each learning activity for rheumatology training programs. CBGO and linked evaluations were written using appropriate verbs based on Bloom's taxonomy. Draft documents were peer reviewed by faculty at the 4 institutions and by members of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Clinician Scholar Educator Group. We completed templates of CBGO for core and elective rotations and conferences. Templates detail progressive fellow performance improvement appropriate to educational level. Specific CBGO are mirrored in learning activity evaluations. Templates are easily modified to fit individual program attributes, have been successfully implemented by our 4 programs, and have proven their value in 4 residency review committee reviews. We propose adoption of these template CBGO by the ACR, with access available to all rheumatology training programs. Evaluation forms that exactly reflect stated objectives ensure that trainees are assessed using standardized measures and that trainees are aware of the learning expectations. The objectives mirrored in the evaluations closely align with the proposed milestones for internal medicine training, and will therefore be a useful starting point for creating these milestones in rheumatology. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Rheumatology.

  12. Diffusion-based neuromodulation can eliminate catastrophic forgetting in simple neural networks

    PubMed Central

    Clune, Jeff

    2017-01-01

    A long-term goal of AI is to produce agents that can learn a diversity of skills throughout their lifetimes and continuously improve those skills via experience. A longstanding obstacle towards that goal is catastrophic forgetting, which is when learning new information erases previously learned information. Catastrophic forgetting occurs in artificial neural networks (ANNs), which have fueled most recent advances in AI. A recent paper proposed that catastrophic forgetting in ANNs can be reduced by promoting modularity, which can limit forgetting by isolating task information to specific clusters of nodes and connections (functional modules). While the prior work did show that modular ANNs suffered less from catastrophic forgetting, it was not able to produce ANNs that possessed task-specific functional modules, thereby leaving the main theory regarding modularity and forgetting untested. We introduce diffusion-based neuromodulation, which simulates the release of diffusing, neuromodulatory chemicals within an ANN that can modulate (i.e. up or down regulate) learning in a spatial region. On the simple diagnostic problem from the prior work, diffusion-based neuromodulation 1) induces task-specific learning in groups of nodes and connections (task-specific localized learning), which 2) produces functional modules for each subtask, and 3) yields higher performance by eliminating catastrophic forgetting. Overall, our results suggest that diffusion-based neuromodulation promotes task-specific localized learning and functional modularity, which can help solve the challenging, but important problem of catastrophic forgetting. PMID:29145413

  13. When Are Powerful Learning Environments Effective? The Role of Learner Activities and of Students' Conceptions of Educational Technology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gerjets, Peter H.; Hesse, Friedrich W.

    2004-01-01

    The goal of this chapter is to outline a theoretical and empirical perspective on how learners' conceptions of educational technology might influence their learning activities and thereby determine the power of computer-based learning environments. Starting with an introduction to the concept of powerful learning environments we outline how recent…

  14. INDIVIDUALIZING UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTION, EXPLORING COMPUTER POTENTIAL TO AID COLLEGE TEACHERS BY DIRECTING THE LEARNING PROCESS. INTER-UNIVERSITY PROJECT ONE, PUBLICATIONS SERIES.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    FALL, CHARLES R.

    THIS DOCUMENT CONCLUDES THAT INSTRUCTION BY COMPUTER-BASED RESOURCE UNITS CAN FACILITATE LEARNING AND PROVIDE THE INSTRUCTOR WITH VALUABLE ASSISTANCE. BY PRE-PLANNING THE TEACHING-LEARNING SITUATION, RESOURCE UNITS CAN FREE THE INSTRUCTOR FOR DECISION-MAKING TASKS. RESOURCE UNITS CAN ALSO PROVIDE APPROPRIATE LEARNING GOALS AND STUDY GUIDES TO EACH…

  15. A Wiki-Based Teaching Material Development Environment with Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Yen-Ting; Lin, Yi-Chun; Huang, Yueh-Min; Cheng, Shu-Chen

    2013-01-01

    One goal of e-learning is to enhance the interoperability and reusability of learning resources. However, current e-learning systems do little to adequately support this. In order to achieve this aim, the first step is to consider how to assist instructors in re-organizing the existing learning objects. However, when instructors are dealing with a…

  16. Collaborative 3D Learning Games for Future Learning: Teachers' Instructional Practices to Enhance Shared Knowledge Construction among Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hämäläinen, Raija; Oksanen, Kimmo

    2014-01-01

    Collaborative games will enable new kinds of possibilities for learning. In the future, the goal of game-based learning should be to introduce new ideas and deepen learners' in-depth understanding. However, studies have shown that shared high-level knowledge construction is a challenging process. Moreover, thus far, few empirical studies have…

  17. Successful Implementation of User-Centered Game Based Learning in Higher Education: An Example from Civil Engineering

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ebner, Martin; Holzinger, Andreas

    2007-01-01

    Goal: The use of an online game for learning in higher education aims to make complex theoretical knowledge more approachable. Permanent repetition will lead to a more in-depth learning. Objective: To gain insight into whether and to what extent, online games have the potential to contribute to student learning in higher education. Experimental…

  18. Learning Goals of AACSB-Accredited Undergraduate Business Programs: Predictors of Conformity versus Differentiation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brink, Kyle E.; Palmer, Timothy B.; Costigan, Robert D.

    2014-01-01

    Learning goals are central to assurance of learning. Yet little is known about what goals are used by business programs or how they are established. On the one hand, business schools are encouraged to develop their own unique learning goals. However, business schools also face pressures that would encourage conformity by adopting goals used by…

  19. Before They Can Speak, They Must Know.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cromie, William J.; Edson, Lee

    1984-01-01

    Intelligent relationships with people are among the goals for tomorrow's computers. Knowledge-based systems used and being developed to achieve these goals are discussed. Automatic learning, producing inferences, parallelism, program languages, friendly machines, computer vision, and biomodels are among the topics considered. (JN)

  20. Goal-Proximity Decision-Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Veksler, Vladislav D.; Gray, Wayne D.; Schoelles, Michael J.

    2013-01-01

    Reinforcement learning (RL) models of decision-making cannot account for human decisions in the absence of prior reward or punishment. We propose a mechanism for choosing among available options based on goal-option association strengths, where association strengths between objects represent previously experienced object proximity. The proposed…

  1. Learning Agreements and Work-Based Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gibbs, Paul

    2009-01-01

    The goal of autonomous learning as preparation for being-in-the-world-of-change has clear advantages for both individuals and society. Tomkins and McGraw declare, rather inspirationally, that the challenge for academics is leading "students to the wisdom of their own minds and setting them free on their own learning". In this paper, the…

  2. College Teaching and Community Outreaching: Service Learning in an Obesity Prevention Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Himelein, Melissa; Passman, Liz; Phillips, Jessica M.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Service learning can enrich students' knowledge, skills and commitment to occupational goals while positively affecting communities. Undergraduate students in a course on obesity engaged in service learning by assisting with a family-based obesity prevention program, Getting Into Fitness Together (GIFT). Purpose: The impact of GIFT on…

  3. Preschool--An Arena for Children's Learning of Social and Cognitive Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Pia; Sheridan, Sonja; Sandberg, Anette

    2014-01-01

    The aim is to investigate Swedish preschool teachers' accounts of children's learning in relation to the goals in the Swedish preschool curriculum. The research question is: "What do preschool teachers see as fundamental aspects of learning in preschool practice?" The study is based on interactionist perspectives founded in Urie…

  4. Fostering Personalized Learning in Science Inquiry Supported by Mobile Technologies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Song, Yanjie; Wong, Lung-Hsiang; Looi, Chee-Kit

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we present a mobile technology-assisted seamless learning process design where students were facilitated to develop their personalized and diversified understanding in a primary school's science topic of the life cycles of various living things. A goal-based approach to experiential learning model was adopted as the pedagogical…

  5. Assessment and Program Accountability in Early Childhood Education: Lessons Learned in Ohio

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boat, Mary; Zorn, Debbie; Austin, James T.

    2005-01-01

    Ensuring that children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, start school ready to learn is an important goal. This paper presents lessons learned from the state of Ohio's multi-year program to develop a standards-based assessment system for programs delivering state-funded early childhood education (ECE) through programs receiving…

  6. A Challenge-Feedback Learning Approach to Teaching International Business

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sternad, Dietmar

    2015-01-01

    This article introduces a challenge-feedback learning (CFL) approach based on the goal-setting theory of human motivation, the deliberate practice theory of expert performance, and findings from the research on active and collaborative learning. The core of the teaching concept is the CFL cycle in which students repeatedly progress through four…

  7. Apprenticing for Creativity in the Improvisation Lesson: A Qualitative Enquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    de Bruin, Leon R.

    2018-01-01

    Effective teacher-student learning relationships can propel students to advanced ways of knowing and acting. In much arts based higher education learning, dynamic and fluid interplay of cognitive, meta-cognitive and aspirational aims and goals are prevalent and passed to students in a learning relationship that can be described as a cognitive…

  8. [Do mastery goals buffer self-esteem from the threat of failure?].

    PubMed

    Niiya, Yu; Crocker, Jennifer

    2007-12-01

    Self-esteem is vulnerable when failure occurs in the domain where people base their self-worth (Crocker & Wolfe, 2001). We tested whether learning orientations can reduce the vulnerability of self-esteem associated with contingent self-worth and encourage persistence following failure. Our past research (Niiya, Crocker, & Bartmess, 2004) indicated that people who base their self-worth on academics maintain their self-esteem following failure when they are primed with an incremental theory of intelligence. Our present study extends these findings by (a) examining whether mastery goals (Elliot & Church, 1997) can also buffer self-esteem from failure, (b) using a different manipulation of success and failure, (c) using a different task, and (d) including a measure of persistence. We found that college students who based their self-esteem on academic competence reported lower self-esteem following failure than following success when they had low mastery goals, but the effect of success and failure was eliminated when students had high mastery goals. Moreover, high mastery students showed greater persistence following failure than low mastery students. The study provided converging evidence that learning orientations buffer self-esteem from failure.

  9. Project-Based Teaching: Helping Students Make Project Connections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, Heather Jo Pusich

    Project-based curriculum materials are designed to support students in engaging with scientific content and practices in meaningful ways, with the goal of improving students' science learning. However, students need to understand the connections between what they are doing on a day-to-day basis with respect to the goals of the overall project for students to get the motivational and cognitive benefits of a project-based approach. In this dissertation, I looked at the challenges that four ninth grade science teachers faced as they helped students to make these connections using a project-based environmental science curriculum. The analysis revealed that in general when the curriculum materials made connections explicit, teachers were better able to articulate the relationship between the lesson and the project during enactment. However, whether the connections were explicit or implicit in the materials, enactments of the same lesson across teachers revealed that teachers leveraged different aspects of the project context in different ways depending on their knowledge, beliefs, and goals about project-based teaching. The quantitative analysis of student data indicated that when teacher enactments supported project goals explicitly, students made stronger connections between a lesson and the project goal. Therefore, a teacher's ability to make clear connections during classroom instruction is essential. Furthermore, when students made connections between each lesson and the larger project goals their attitudes toward the lesson were more positive and they performed better on the final assessment. These findings suggest that connections between individual lessons and the goals of the project are critical to the effectiveness of project-based learning. This study highlights that while some teachers were able to forge these connections successfully as a result of leveraging cognitive resources, teachers' beliefs, knowledge and goals about project-based teaching are variable. As such, teachers adopting project-based curriculum materials need more support - through educative curriculum materials, coaching, or ongoing professional development - to help them support project connections consistently and explicitly in their teaching practice.

  10. [Problem based learning: achievement of educational goals in the information and comprehension sub-categories of Bloom cognitive domain].

    PubMed

    Montecinos, P; Rodewald, A M

    1994-06-01

    The aim this work was to assess and compare the achievements of medical students, subjected to problem based learning methodology. The information and comprehension categories of Bloom were tested in 17 medical students in four different occasions during the physiopathology course, using a multiple choice knowledge test. There was a significant improvement in the number of correct answers towards the end of the course. It is concluded that these medical students obtained adequate learning achievements in the information subcategory of Bloom using problem based learning methodology, during the physiopathology course.

  11. Assessing Students' Understanding of Human Behavior: A Multidisciplinary Outcomes Based Approach for the Design and Assessment of an Academic Program Goal.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keith, Bruce; Meese, Michael J.; Efflandt, Scott; Malinowski, Jon C.; LeBoeuf, Joseph; Gallagher, Martha; Hurley, John; Green, Charles

    2002-01-01

    Presents a strategy for the curricular design and assessment of one multidisciplinary program goal: understanding human behavior. Discusses how to assess a desired outcome based on four specific areas: (1) organizational context; (2) articulation of a learning model; (3) program design and implementation; and (4) outcomes assessment. (Author/KDR)

  12. The correlation between achievement goals, learning strategies, and motivation in medical students.

    PubMed

    Kim, Sun; Hur, Yera; Park, Joo Hyun

    2014-03-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the pursuit of achievement goals in medical students and to assess the relationship between achievement goals, learning strategy, and motivation. Two hundred seventy freshman and sophomore premedical students and sophomore medical school students participated in this study, which used the Achievement Goals Scale and the Self-Regulated Learning Strategy Questionnaire. The achievement goals of medical students were oriented toward moderate performance approach levels, slightly high performance avoidance levels, and high mastery goals. About 40% of the students were high or low in all three achievement goals. The most successful adaptive learners in the areas of learning strategies, motivation, and school achievement were students from group 6, who scored high in both performance approach and mastery goals but low in performance avoidance goals. And goal achievement are related to the academic self-efficacy, learning strategies, and motivation in medical students. In the context of academic achievement, mastery goals and performance approach goals are adaptive goals.

  13. An integrated utility-based model of conflict evaluation and resolution in the Stroop task.

    PubMed

    Chuderski, Adam; Smolen, Tomasz

    2016-04-01

    Cognitive control allows humans to direct and coordinate their thoughts and actions in a flexible way, in order to reach internal goals regardless of interference and distraction. The hallmark test used to examine cognitive control is the Stroop task, which elicits both the weakly learned but goal-relevant and the strongly learned but goal-irrelevant response tendencies, and requires people to follow the former while ignoring the latter. After reviewing the existing computational models of cognitive control in the Stroop task, its novel, integrated utility-based model is proposed. The model uses 3 crucial control mechanisms: response utility reinforcement learning, utility-based conflict evaluation using the Festinger formula for assessing the conflict level, and top-down adaptation of response utility in service of conflict resolution. Their complex, dynamic interaction led to replication of 18 experimental effects, being the largest data set explained to date by 1 Stroop model. The simulations cover the basic congruency effects (including the response latency distributions), performance dynamics and adaptation (including EEG indices of conflict), as well as the effects resulting from manipulations applied to stimulation and responding, which are yielded by the extant Stroop literature. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. A Typology of Learning Activities for International Business Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schertzer, Clinton B.; And Others

    A typology of learning activities for business education was developed at Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) based on three primary goals for internationalization of business education: awareness, understanding, and competency. Fifteen types of internationalization pedagogical activities are identified: international examples, international…

  15. Faculty Perceptions of Problem-Based Learning in a Veterinary College

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Malinowski, Robert

    2012-01-01

    Problem-based learning (PBL) has been embraced by several veterinary colleges as one approach to manage the ever-growing body of knowledge in the profession. The goal is to foster the development of problem-solving and critical thinking skills in students, enabling them to make logical and informed decisions, rather than rely on the rote…

  16. Disrupting the Discussion: The Story of Disruptive Students in the Online Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cowden, Belle Doyle

    2011-01-01

    Many online classrooms today are designed based on learner-centered principles. Implicit with this design perspective is the goal to create and facilitate a virtual learning community in which students learn from and share with each other through discussion-based computer conferencing. In the current literature, little has been shared on what…

  17. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Physlet-Based Materials in Supporting Conceptual Learning about Electricity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ülen, Simon; Gerlic, Ivan; Slavinec, Mitja; Repnik, Robert

    2017-01-01

    To provide a good understanding of many abstract concepts in the field of electricity above that of their students is often a major challenge for secondary school teachers. Many educational researchers promote conceptual learning as a teaching approach that can help teachers to achieve this goal. In this paper, we present Physlet-based materials…

  18. Place in the City: Place-Based Learning in a Large Urban Undergraduate Geoscience Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirkby, Kent C.

    2014-01-01

    One of my principal goals at the University of Minnesota is to transform the university's entry-level geoscience program into an effective ''concluding'' geoscience course that provides students with a clear understanding of the many interactions between Earth processes and human society. Although place-based learning appeared to be a promising…

  19. The Role of Argumentation in Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning during Problem-Based Learning in Medical Education: A Conceptual Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ju, Hyunjung; Choi, Ikseon

    2018-01-01

    One of the important goals of problem-based learning (PBL) in medical education is to enhance medical students' clinical reasoning--hypothetico-deductive reasoning (HDR) in particular--through small group discussions. However, few studies have focused on explicit strategies for promoting students' HDR during group discussions in PBL. This paper…

  20. Online Project-Based Learning: How Collaborative Strategies and Problem Solving Processes Impact Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, W. Randall; Macgregor, S. Kim

    2005-01-01

    The goal of this study was to gain insights into the interactions that occur in online communications in a project-based learning activity implemented in an undergraduate course. A multi-case study was conducted of six collaborative groups, focusing on the types and frequencies of interactions that occurred within each group and the perceptions…

  1. Virtual Task-Based Situated Language-Learning with "Second Life": Developing EFL Pragmatic Writing and Technological Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdallah, Mahmoud M. S.; Mansour, Marian M.

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports on an experimental research study that aimed at investigating the effectiveness of employing a virtual task-based situated language learning (TBSLL) environment mediated by Second Life (SL) in developing EFL student teachers' pragmatic writing skills and their technological self-efficacy. To reach this goal, a control-only…

  2. A New Curriculum Design for Native American Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sharpes, Don

    The goals of planning for innovation and reform of American Indian schools should include a culturally based and child oriented curriculum. The curriculum design should be based on the assumptions that it will provide: (1) motivation and interest for the youth it serves; (2) children with the capacity to learn how to learn; (3) an individually…

  3. IGeneration: A Study in Challenge Based Learning at a Small Private University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hift, Jodi A.

    2013-01-01

    Faculty-buy in is an essential component of successful technology integration processes at the Higher Education level. The goal of this case study was to assess the University faculty's role in the utilization of Challenge Based Learning while teaching undergraduate students. Did the University have the faculty's support and buy-in concerning the…

  4. Social Sciences, Grades 3, 6, 8, 10, 12. State Goals for Learning and Sample Learning Objectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield. Dept. of School Improvement Services.

    This document, developed by the Illinois State Board of Education, identifies five goals for learning in the social sciences, and provides sample learning objectives for grades 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, which are consistent with these goals. The state goals for learning are broadly stated expressions of what the Illinois State Board of Education wants and…

  5. Fine Arts, Grades 3, 6, 8, 10, 12. State Goals for Learning and Sample Learning Objectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield. Dept. of School Improvement Services.

    This document, developed by the Illinois State Boaord of Education, identifies five state goals for learning in the fine arts, and provides sample learning objectives for grades, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, which are consistent with the goals. The state goals for learning are broadly stated expressions of what the Illinois State Board of Education expects…

  6. Goal orientation and its relationship to academic success in a laptop-based BScN program.

    PubMed

    Goldsworthy, Sandra J; Goodman, Bill; Muirhead, Bill

    2005-01-01

    This longitudinal study, conducted within a laptop-based BScN program examines the relationship of goal orientation profiles to comfort with technology and academic success. In phase 1 of this study, 101 first year nursing students completed an on line survey. The measurement tools used were Goal Orientation Assessment, Multiple Intelligences Learning Inventory and a locally developed Technology Comfort survey. Results showed that students were predominantly high in the mastery goal orientation profile. Males had a higher comfort level with technology. Age was inversely related to comfort with technology. An unexpected finding was that grade point average was inversely related to comfort with use of technology. The data did not support the commonly held belief that today's students are uniformly well-skilled and comfortable with new technologies. This study will continue over the next three years and will allow comparison of variables over time. Specific teaching interventions may be developed to accommodate varying learning and motivational styles in relation to comfort with technology.

  7. Integrated learning through student goal development.

    PubMed

    Price, Deborah; Tschannen, Dana; Caylor, Shandra

    2013-09-01

    New strategies are emerging to promote structure and increase learning in the clinical setting. Nursing faculty designed a mechanism by which integrative learning and situated coaching could occur more readily in the clinical setting. The Clinical Goals Initiative was implemented for sophomore-, junior-, and senior-level students in their clinical practicums. Students developed weekly goals reflecting three domains of professional nursing practice. Goals were shared with faculty and staff nurse mentors at the beginning of the clinical day to help guide students and mentors with planning for learning experiences. After 6 weeks, faculty and students were surveyed to evaluate project effectiveness. Faculty indicated that goal development facilitated clinical learning by providing more student engagement, direction, and focus. Students reported that goal development allowed them to optimize clinical learning opportunities and track their growth and progress. Faculty and students indicated the goals promoted student self-learning, autonomy, and student communication with nurse mentors and faculty. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  8. The Four Scaffolding Modules for Collaborative Problem-Based Learning through the Computer Network on Moodle LMS for the Computer Programming Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tiantong, Monchai; Teemuangsai, Sanit

    2013-01-01

    Scaffolding is a learning approach designed to promote a deeper understanding, it is the support given during the learning process which is tailored to the needs of the student with the intention of helping the student achieve the learning goals, including resources, a compelling task, templates and guides, and guidance on the development of…

  9. A mediation analysis of achievement motives, goals, learning strategies, and academic achievement.

    PubMed

    Diseth, Age; Kobbeltvedt, Therese

    2010-12-01

    Previous research is inconclusive regarding antecedents and consequences of achievement goals, and there is a need for more research in order to examine the joint effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement. To investigate the relationship between achievement motives, achievement goals, learning strategies (deep, surface, and strategic), and academic achievement in a hierarchical model. Participants were 229 undergraduate students (mean age: 21.2 years) of psychology and economics at the University of Bergen, Norway. Variables were measured by means of items from the Achievement Motives Scale (AMS), the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, and an achievement goal scale. Correlation analysis showed that academic achievement (examination grade) was positively correlated with performance-approach goal, mastery goal, and strategic learning strategies, and negatively correlated with performance-avoidance goal and surface learning strategy. A path analysis (structural equation model) showed that achievement goals were mediators between achievement motives and learning strategies, and that strategic learning strategies mediated the relationship between achievement goals and academic achievement. This study integrated previous findings from several studies and provided new evidence on the direct and indirect effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement.

  10. Role of the Perigenual Anterior Cingulate and Orbitofrontal Cortex in Contingency Learning in the Marmoset

    PubMed Central

    Jackson, Stacey A. W.; Horst, Nicole K.; Pears, Andrew; Robbins, Trevor W.; Roberts, Angela C.

    2016-01-01

    Two learning mechanisms contribute to decision-making: goal-directed actions and the “habit” system, by which action-outcome and stimulus-response associations are formed, respectively. Rodent lesion studies and human neuroimaging have implicated both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in the neural basis of contingency learning, a critical component of goal-directed actions, though some published findings are conflicting. We sought to reconcile the existing literature by comparing the effects of excitotoxic lesions of the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), a region of the mPFC, and OFC on contingency learning in the marmoset monkey using a touchscreen-based paradigm, in which the contingent relationship between one of a pair of actions and its outcome was degraded selectively. Both the pgACC and OFC lesion groups were insensitive to the contingency degradation, whereas the control group demonstrated selectively higher performance of the nondegraded action when compared with the degraded action. These findings suggest the pgACC and OFC are both necessary for normal contingency learning and therefore goal-directed behavior. PMID:27130662

  11. Students’ Achievement Goals, Learning-Related Emotions and Academic Achievement

    PubMed Central

    Lüftenegger, Marko; Klug, Julia; Harrer, Katharina; Langer, Marie; Spiel, Christiane; Schober, Barbara

    2016-01-01

    In the present research, the recently proposed 3 × 2 model of achievement goals is tested and associations with achievement emotions and their joint influence on academic achievement are investigated. The study was conducted with 388 students using the 3 × 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire including the six proposed goal constructs (task-approach, task-avoidance, self-approach, self-avoidance, other-approach, other-avoidance) and the enjoyment and boredom scales from the Achievement Emotion Questionnaire. Exam grades were used as an indicator of academic achievement. Findings from CFAs provided strong support for the proposed structure of the 3 × 2 achievement goal model. Self-based goals, other-based goals and task-approach goals predicted enjoyment. Task-approach goals negatively predicted boredom. Task-approach and other-approach predicted achievement. The indirect effects of achievement goals through emotion variables on achievement were assessed using bias-corrected bootstrapping. No mediation effects were found. Implications for educational practice are discussed. PMID:27199836

  12. Academic goals and learning quality in higher education students.

    PubMed

    Valle, Antonio; Núñez, José C; Cabanach, Ramón G; González-Pienda, Julio A; Rodríguez, Susana; Rosário, Pedro; Muñoz-Cadavid, María A; Cerezo, Rebeca

    2009-05-01

    In this paper, the relations between academic goals and various indicators that define the quality of the learning process are analyzed. The purpose was to determine to what extent high, moderate, or low levels of academic goals were positively or negatively related to effort regulation, the value assigned to academic tasks, meta-cognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy, beliefs about learning control, and management of time and study environment. The investigation was carried out with a sample of 632 university students (70% female and 30% male) and mean age of 21.22 (SD=2.2).The results show that learning goals, or task orientation, are positively related to all the indictors of learning quality considered herein. Although for other kinds of goals-work-avoidance goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals-significant relations were not found with all the indicators, there was a similar tendency of significant results in all cases; the higher the levels of these goals, the lower the levels of the indicators of learning quality.

  13. Group-Based Assessment as a Dynamic Approach to Marketing Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bicen, Pelin; Laverie, Debra A.

    2009-01-01

    Assessment is a prominent issue in education today. However, assessment of learning often occurs only at the end of the semester to satisfy accreditation agencies. An alternative is to conduct assessments during the course, not only to assess if learning goals are being met but also to assess student learning during the course. Assessment for…

  14. Problem-Based Conversations: Using Preservice Teachers' Problems as a Mechanism for Their Professional Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Matthew

    2008-01-01

    Which Learning to teach is a challenge. When people make the decision to become teachers, they enter their undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, graduate, or alternative teacher education programs with a goal of learning how to teach so their future students learn. Many teacher candidates, understandably, do not foresee the complexity of the journey…

  15. Campus-Based Geographic Learning: A Field Oriented Teaching Scenario

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jennings, Steven A.; Huber, Thomas P.

    2003-01-01

    The use of field classes and the need for university master planning are presented as a way to enhance learning. This field-oriented, goal-oriented approach to learning is proposed as a general model for university-level geographic education. This approach is presented for physical geography classes, but could also be applied to other subdivisions…

  16. Facilitating Social Collaboration in Mobile Cloud-Based Learning: A Teamwork as A Service (TaaS) Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sun, Geng; Shen, Jun

    2014-01-01

    Mobile learning is an emerging trend that brings many advantages to distributed learners, enabling them to achieve collaborative learning, in which the virtual teams are usually built to engage multiple learners working together towards the same pedagogical goals in online courses. However, the socio-technical mechanisms to enhance teamwork…

  17. Improving Course Evaluations to Improve Instruction and Complex Learning in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frick, Theodore W.; Chadha, Rajat; Watson, Carol; Zlatkovska, Emilija

    2010-01-01

    Recent research has touted the benefits of learner-centered instruction, problem-based learning, and a focus on complex learning. Instructors often struggle to put these goals into practice as well as to measure the effectiveness of these new teaching strategies in terms of mastery of course objectives. Enter the course evaluation, often a…

  18. Team-Based Learning, Faculty Research, and Grant Writing Bring Significant Learning Experiences to an Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Hedeel Guy; Heyl, Deborah L.; Liggit, Peggy

    2016-01-01

    This biochemistry laboratory course was designed to provide significant learning experiences to expose students to different ways of succeeding as scientists in academia and foster development and improvement of their potential and competency as the next generation of investigators. To meet these goals, the laboratory course employs three…

  19. Professional Learning Communities' Impact on Science Teacher Classroom Practice in a Midwestern Urban School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carpenter, Dan

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this reputation-based, multiple-site case study was to explore professional learning communities' impact on teacher classroom practice. The goal of this research was to describe the administrator and teachers' perceptions with respect to professional learning communities as it related to teacher practice in their school. Educators…

  20. The Role of Multicultural Information in Experiential Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shen, Lan

    2011-01-01

    This paper is based on the author's empirical experience in assisting cultural immersion programs through developing multicultural collections, promoting diversity resources, and creating a supportive information environment for faculty and students. After summarizing the significance, goals, learning objectives, and program models of cultural…

  1. Effects of Persuasion and Discussion Goals on Writing, Cognitive Load, and Learning in Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klein, Perry D.; Ehrhardt, Jacqueline S.

    2015-01-01

    Argumentation can contribute significantly to content area learning. Recent research has raised questions about the effects of discussion (deliberation) goals versus persuasion (disputation) goals on reasoning and learning. This is the first study to compare the effects of these writing goals on individual writing to learn. Grade 7 and 8 students…

  2. Self-Regulated Learning in the Museum: Understanding the Relationship of Visitor's Goals, Learning Strategies, and Appraisals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhou, Ji; Urhahne, Detlef

    2017-01-01

    Self-regulated learning (SRL) in the museum was explored by 2 investigations. The first one investigated 233 visitors on their goals and intended learning strategies by questionnaire before they visited the science museum. Results indicated visitors' learning goals can predict their intended deep-learning strategy. Moreover, visitors can be…

  3. Design and Implementation of Mobile Learning System for Soldiers’ Vocational Skill Identification Based on Android

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Jinqiang

    2017-09-01

    To carry out the identification of the professional skills of the soldiers is to further promote the regularization of the needs of the fire brigade, in accordance with the “public security active forces soldiers professional skills identification implementation approach” to meet the needs of candidates for mobile learning to solve the paper learning materials bring a lot of inconvenience; This article uses the Android technology to develop a set of soldiers professional skills Identification Theory learning app, the learning software based on mobile learning, learning function is perfect, you can learn to practice, to achieve the goal of learning at any time, to enhance the soldier's post ability has a good practical value.

  4. Computational Properties of the Hippocampus Increase the Efficiency of Goal-Directed Foraging through Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning

    PubMed Central

    Chalmers, Eric; Luczak, Artur; Gruber, Aaron J.

    2016-01-01

    The mammalian brain is thought to use a version of Model-based Reinforcement Learning (MBRL) to guide “goal-directed” behavior, wherein animals consider goals and make plans to acquire desired outcomes. However, conventional MBRL algorithms do not fully explain animals' ability to rapidly adapt to environmental changes, or learn multiple complex tasks. They also require extensive computation, suggesting that goal-directed behavior is cognitively expensive. We propose here that key features of processing in the hippocampus support a flexible MBRL mechanism for spatial navigation that is computationally efficient and can adapt quickly to change. We investigate this idea by implementing a computational MBRL framework that incorporates features inspired by computational properties of the hippocampus: a hierarchical representation of space, “forward sweeps” through future spatial trajectories, and context-driven remapping of place cells. We find that a hierarchical abstraction of space greatly reduces the computational load (mental effort) required for adaptation to changing environmental conditions, and allows efficient scaling to large problems. It also allows abstract knowledge gained at high levels to guide adaptation to new obstacles. Moreover, a context-driven remapping mechanism allows learning and memory of multiple tasks. Simulating dorsal or ventral hippocampal lesions in our computational framework qualitatively reproduces behavioral deficits observed in rodents with analogous lesions. The framework may thus embody key features of how the brain organizes model-based RL to efficiently solve navigation and other difficult tasks. PMID:28018203

  5. Toward Better Goal Clarity in Instruction: How Focus on Content, Social Exchange and Active Learning Supports Teachers in Improving Dialogic Teaching Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alles, Martina; Seidel, Tina; Gröschner, Alexander

    2018-01-01

    Goal clarity is an essential element of classroom dialogue and a component of effective instruction. Until now, teachers have been struggling to implement goal clarity in the classroom dialogue. In the present study, we investigated the classroom practice of teachers in a video-based intervention called the Dialogic Video Cycle (DVC) and compared…

  6. Identifying Estonian Stakeholder Views as the Bases for Designing Science Teachers' In-Service Course Which Support Promotion of Competence Based Curriculum Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Laius, A.; Post, A.; Rannikmäe, M.

    2015-01-01

    This study solicits views about the goals of science education from a range of stakeholders within the science education community and society. It also compares students' needs, expressed through stakeholder expectations, with the current learning situation of gymnasium graduates. The study uses a Delphi method to solicit views with 111…

  7. The relationship of work avoidance and learning goals to perceived competence, externality and meaning.

    PubMed

    Seifert, T L; O'Keefe, B A

    2001-03-01

    Motivational researchers have suggested that work avoidance may be an academic goal in which students seek to minimise the amount of work they do in school. Additionally, research has also suggested that emotions may be catalysts for goals. This study examined the relationship between emotions and learning or work avoidance goals. Do emotions explain goals? The participants were 512 senior high school students in Eastern Canada. Students completed a survey assessing motivation related constructs. A structural equation model was postulated in which students' affect predicted learning goals and work avoidant goals. A cluster analysis of affect scores was performed followed by between-group and within-group contrasts of goal scores. The structural equation model suggested that a sense of competence and control were predictive of a learning goal while lack of meaning was related to work avoidance. The cluster analysis showed that confidence and control were associated with a learning goal but that a sense of inadequacy, lack of control or lack of meaning could give rise to work avoidance. Emotions seem to be directly linked to goals. Teachers who foster feelings of self-assuredness will be helping students develop learning goals. Students who feel less competent, bored or have little control will adopt work avoidant goals.

  8. Online Case-Based Learning Design for Facilitating Classroom Teachers' Development of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saltan, Fatih

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate whether, and if so how, online case-based learning influence pre-service classroom teachers' self-confidence on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). To achieve the goal, a control group pretest-posttest quasi experimental design was used. Participants of the study consisted of 160 pre-service…

  9. Partnerships in Learning: A Collaborative Project between Higher Education Students and Elementary School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, Peggi E.; Botchwey, Nisha D.

    2017-01-01

    Higher education and K-12 school partnerships are typically designed with an end-goal that serves the instructional needs of one group over the other. For this project, a university professor and elementary school instructor used problem-based and project-based learning strategies to design a curriculum that served the academic needs of both…

  10. A Systematic Review of Research on the Use of Problem-Based Learning in the Preparation and Development of School Leaders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hallinger, Philip; Bridges, Edwin M.

    2017-01-01

    Problem: Problem-based learning (PBL) was introduced into the parlance of educational leadership and management almost 30 years ago. During the ensuing decades, a global community of professors, doctoral students, and curriculum designers has built upon early models with the goal of increasing the impact of school leadership preparation. This…

  11. Developing a practice-based learning and improvement curriculum for an academic general surgery residency.

    PubMed

    O'Connor, Erin S; Mahvi, David M; Foley, Eugene F; Lund, Dennis; McDonald, Robert

    2010-04-01

    Program directors in surgery are now facing the challenge of incorporating the ACGME's practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) competency into residency curriculum. We introduced a comprehensive PBLI experience for postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) residents designed to integrate specific competency goals (ie, quality improvement, clinical thinking, and self-directed learning) within the context of residents' clinical practice. Fourteen PGY2 residents participated in a 3-week PBLI curriculum consisting of 3 components: complex clinical decision making, individual learning plan, and quality improvement (QI). To assess how effectively the curriculum addressed these 3 competencies, residents rated their understanding of PBLI by answering a 12-question written survey given pre- and post-rotation. Resident satisfaction was assessed through standard post-rotation evaluations. Analysis of the pre- and post-rotation surveys from the 14 participants showed an increase in all measured elements, including knowledge of PBLI (p < 0.001), ability to assess learning needs (p < 0.001), set learning goals (p < 0.001), understanding of QI concepts (p = 0.001), and experience with QI projects (p < 0.001). Fourteen QI projects were developed. Although many residents found the creation of measurable learning goals to be challenging, the process of identifying strengths and weaknesses enhanced the resident's self-understanding and contributed to overall satisfaction with the rotation. The initial implementation of our PBLI curriculum demonstrated that residents report personal progress in their clinical decision making, self-directed learning, and familiarity with QI. This comprehensive PBLI curriculum was accepted by surgical residents as a valuable part of their training. We are encouraged to continue a clinically grounded PBLI experience for PGY2 residents. Copyright (c) 2010 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Developing a Practice-Based Learning and Improvement Curriculum for an Academic General Surgery Residency

    PubMed Central

    O'Connor, Erin S.; Mahvi, David M.; Foley, Eugene F.; Lund, Dennis; McDonald, Robert

    2010-01-01

    Background Program Directors in Surgery are now facing the challenge of incorporating the ACGME's practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) competency into residency curriculum. We introduced a comprehensive PBLI experience for PG2 residents designed to integrate specific competency goals (quality improvement, clinical thinking, and self-directed learning) within the context of residents’ clinical practice. Study Design Fourteen PG2 residents participated in a three-week PBLI curriculum consisting of three components: Complex Clinical Decision Making (CCDM), Individual Learning Plan, and Quality Improvement (QI). To assess how effectively the curriculum addressed these three competencies, residents rated their understanding of PBLI by answering a 12-question written survey given pre- and post-rotation. Resident satisfaction was assessed through standard post-rotation evaluations. Results Analysis of the pre and post rotation surveys from the fourteen participants showed an increase in all measured elements, including knowledge of PBLI (p<0.001), ability to assess learning needs (p<0.001) and set learning goals (p<0.001), understanding of QI concepts (p=0.001), and experience with QI projects (p<0.001). Fourteen QI projects were developed. Although many residents found the creation of measurable learning goals to be challenging, the process of identifying strengths and weaknesses enhanced the resident's self-understanding, and contributed to overall satisfaction with the rotation. Conclusions The initial implementation of our PBLI curriculum demonstrated that residents report personal progress in their clinical decision making, self-directed learning, and familiarity with quality improvement. This comprehensive PBLI curriculum was accepted by surgical residents as a valuable part of their training. We are encouraged to continue a clinically-grounded PBLI experience for PG2 residents. PMID:20347732

  13. Use of individualized learning plans among fourth-year sub-interns in pediatrics and internal medicine.

    PubMed

    Shepard, Michelle E; Sastre, Elizabeth A; Davidson, Mario A; Fleming, Amy E

    2012-01-01

    Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs) are an effective tool for promoting self-directed learning among residents. However, no literature details ILP use among medical students. Fifty fourth-year sub-interns in pediatrics and internal medicine created ILPs, including a self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses based on ACGME core competencies and the setting of learning objectives. During weekly follow-up meetings with faculty mentors and peers, students discussed challenges and revised goals. Upon completion of the rotation, students completed a survey of Likert-scale questions addressing satisfaction with and perceived utility of ILP components. Students most often self-identified strengths in the areas of Professionalism and Interpersonal and Communication Skills and weaknesses in Patient Care and Systems-Based Practice. Eighty-two percent set at least one learning objective in an identified area of weakness. Students expressed high confidence in their abilities to create achievable learning objectives and to generate strategies to meet those objectives. Students agreed that discussions during group meetings were meaningful, and they identified the setting learning objectives and weekly meetings as the most important elements of the exercise. Fourth-year sub-interns reported that ILPs helped them to accomplish rotation goals, with the setting of learning objectives and weekly discussions being the most useful elements.

  14. Does Extrinsic Goal Framing Enhance Extrinsic Goal-Oriented Individuals' Learning and Performance? An Experimental Test of the Match Perspective versus Self-Determination Theory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Timmermans, Tinneke; Lens, Willy; Soenens, Bart; Van den Broeck, Anja

    2008-01-01

    Previous work within self-determination theory has shown that experimentally framing a learning activity in terms of extrinsic rather than intrinsic goals results in poorer conceptual learning and performance, presumably because extrinsic goal framing detracts attention from the learning activity and is less directly satisfying of basic…

  15. Goal orientation and self-efficacy in relation to memory in adulthood

    PubMed Central

    Hastings, Erin C.; West, Robin L.

    2011-01-01

    The achievement goal framework (Dweck, 1986) has been well-established in children and college-students, but has rarely been examined empirically with older adults. The current study, including younger and older adults, examined the effects of memory self-efficacy, learning goals (focusing on skill mastery over time) and performance goals (focusing on performance outcome evaluations) on memory performance. Questionnaires measured memory self-efficacy and general orientation toward learning and performance goals; free and cued recall was assessed in a subsequent telephone interview. As expected, age was negatively related and education was positively related to memory self-efficacy, and memory self-efficacy was positively related to memory, in a structural equation model. Age was also negatively related to memory performance. Results supported the positive impact of learning goals and the negative impact of performance goals on memory self-efficacy. There was no significant direct effect of learning or performance goals on memory performance; their impact occurred via their effect on memory self-efficacy. The present study supports past research suggesting that learning goals are beneficial, and performance goals are maladaptive, for self-efficacy and learning, and validates the achievement goal framework in a sample including older adults. PMID:21728891

  16. Task- and self-related pathways to deep learning: the mediating role of achievement goals, classroom attentiveness, and group participation.

    PubMed

    Lau, Shun; Liem, Arief Darmanegara; Nie, Youyan

    2008-12-01

    The expectancy-value and achievement goal theories are arguably the two most dominant theories of achievement motivation in the contemporary literature. However, very few studies have examined how the constructs derived from both theories are related to deep learning. Moreover, although there is evidence demonstrating the links between achievement goals and deep learning, little research has examined the mediating processes involved. The aims of this research were to: (a) investigate the role of task- and self-related beliefs (task value and self-efficacy) as well as achievement goals in predicting deep learning in mathematics and (b) examine how classroom attentiveness and group participation mediated the relations between achievement goals and deep learning. The sample comprised 1,476 Grade-9 students from 39 schools in Singapore. Students' self-efficacy, task value, achievement goals, classroom attentiveness, group participation, and deep learning in mathematics were assessed by a self-reported questionnaire administered on-line. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the hypothesized model linking these variables. Task value was predictive of task-related achievement goals whereas self-efficacy was predictive of task-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Achievement goals were found to fully mediate the relations between task value and self-efficacy on the one hand, and classroom attentiveness, group participation, and deep learning on the other. Classroom attentiveness and group participation partially mediated the relations between achievement goal adoption and deep learning. The findings suggest that (a) task- and self-related pathways are two possible routes through which students could be motivated to learn and (b) like task-approach goals, performance-approach goals could lead to adaptive processes and outcomes.

  17. Self-Protection Profiles of Worth and Academic Goals in University Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferradás, María del Mar; Freire, Carlos; Núñez, José Carlos

    2017-01-01

    This work analyzes the possible existence of self-protection profiles based on a combination of self-handicapping (behavioral and claimed) strategies and defensive pessimism in university students. Similarly, the relationship between these profiles and academic goals (learning, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and work-avoidance) is…

  18. Model-based reinforcement learning with dimension reduction.

    PubMed

    Tangkaratt, Voot; Morimoto, Jun; Sugiyama, Masashi

    2016-12-01

    The goal of reinforcement learning is to learn an optimal policy which controls an agent to acquire the maximum cumulative reward. The model-based reinforcement learning approach learns a transition model of the environment from data, and then derives the optimal policy using the transition model. However, learning an accurate transition model in high-dimensional environments requires a large amount of data which is difficult to obtain. To overcome this difficulty, in this paper, we propose to combine model-based reinforcement learning with the recently developed least-squares conditional entropy (LSCE) method, which simultaneously performs transition model estimation and dimension reduction. We also further extend the proposed method to imitation learning scenarios. The experimental results show that policy search combined with LSCE performs well for high-dimensional control tasks including real humanoid robot control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Did My M.D. Really Go to University to Learn? Detrimental Effects of Numerus Clausus on Self-Efficacy, Mastery Goals and Learning

    PubMed Central

    Sommet, Nicolas; Pulfrey, Caroline; Butera, Fabrizio

    2013-01-01

    Exams with numerus clausus are very common in Medicine, Business Administration and Law. They are intended to select a predefined number of academic candidates on the basis of their rank rather than their absolute performance. Various scholars and politicians believe that numerus clausus policies are a vector of academic excellence. We argue, however, that they could have ironic epistemic effects. In comparison with selective policies based on criterion-based evaluations, selection via numerus clausus creates negative interdependence of competence (i.e., the success of some students comes at the expense of the others). Thus, we expect it to impair students’ sense of self-efficacy and—by extension—the level of mastery goals they adopt, as well as their actual learning. Two field studies respectively reported that presence (versus absence) and awareness (versus ignorance) of numerus clausus policies at University was associated with a decreased endorsement of mastery goals; this effect was mediated by a reduction in self-efficacy beliefs. Moreover, an experimental study revealed that numerus clausus negatively predicted learning; this effect was, again, mediated by a reduction in self-efficacy beliefs. Practical implications for the selection procedures in higher education are discussed. PMID:24376794

  20. Achievement Goal Theory: The Relationship of Accounting Students' Goal Orientations with Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, and Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dull, Richard B.; Schleifer, Lydia L. F.; McMillan, Jeffrey J.

    2015-01-01

    Students' goal orientations are examined using two major frameworks for learning: achievement goal theory (AGT) and students' approaches to learning (SAL). Previous student success research is extended, by examining goal constructs from the AGT framework to determine if they help explain the learning process in accounting. Data were gathered using…

  1. A trial of team-based versus small-group learning for second-year medical students: does the size of the small group make a difference?

    PubMed

    Willett, Laura Rees; Rosevear, G Craig; Kim, Sarang

    2011-01-01

    Team-based learning is a large-group instructional modality intended to provide active learning with modest faculty resources. The goal is to determine if team-based learning could be substituted for small-group learning in case sessions without compromising test performance or satisfaction. One hundred and sixty-seven students were assigned to team-based or small-group learning for 6 case discussion sessions. Examination scores and student satisfaction were compared. Instruction modality had no meaningful effect on examination score, 81.7% team based versus 79.7% small-group, p=.56 after multivariate adjustment. Student satisfaction was lower with team-based learning, 2.45 versus 3.74 on a 5-point scale, p<.001. Survey responses suggested that the very small size (8-10 students) of our small groups influenced the preference for small-group learning. Team-based learning does not adversely affect examination performance. However, student satisfaction may be inferior, especially if compared to instruction in very small groups of 10 or fewer students.

  2. Metacognitive components in smart learning environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sumadyo, M.; Santoso, H. B.; Sensuse, D. I.

    2018-03-01

    Metacognitive ability in digital-based learning process helps students in achieving learning goals. So that digital-based learning environment should make the metacognitive component as a facility that must be equipped. Smart Learning Environment is the concept of a learning environment that certainly has more advanced components than just a digital learning environment. This study examines the metacognitive component of the smart learning environment to support the learning process. A review of the metacognitive literature was conducted to examine the components involved in metacognitive learning strategies. Review is also conducted on the results of study smart learning environment, ranging from design to context in building smart learning. Metacognitive learning strategies certainly require the support of adaptable, responsive and personalize learning environments in accordance with the principles of smart learning. The current study proposed the role of metacognitive component in smart learning environment, which is useful as the basis of research in building environment in smart learning.

  3. Failure Analysis of a Complex Learning Framework Incorporating Multi-Modal and Semi-Supervised Learning

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pullum, Laura L; Symons, Christopher T

    2011-01-01

    Machine learning is used in many applications, from machine vision to speech recognition to decision support systems, and is used to test applications. However, though much has been done to evaluate the performance of machine learning algorithms, little has been done to verify the algorithms or examine their failure modes. Moreover, complex learning frameworks often require stepping beyond black box evaluation to distinguish between errors based on natural limits on learning and errors that arise from mistakes in implementation. We present a conceptual architecture, failure model and taxonomy, and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) of a semi-supervised, multi-modal learningmore » system, and provide specific examples from its use in a radiological analysis assistant system. The goal of the research described in this paper is to provide a foundation from which dependability analysis of systems using semi-supervised, multi-modal learning can be conducted. The methods presented provide a first step towards that overall goal.« less

  4. Using a Learning Coach to Develop Family Medicine Residents' Goal-Setting and Reflection Skills

    PubMed Central

    George, Paul; Reis, Shmuel; Dobson, Margaret; Nothnagle, Melissa

    2013-01-01

    Background Self-directed learning (SDL) skills, such as self-reflection and goal setting, facilitate learning throughout a physician's career. Yet, residents do not often formally engage in these activities during residency. Intervention To develop resident SDL skills, we created a learning coach role for a junior faculty member to meet with second-year residents monthly to set learning goals and promote reflection. Methods The study was conducted from 2008–2010 at the Brown Family Medicine Residency in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. During individual monthly meetings with the learning coach, residents entered their learning goals and reflections into an electronic portfolio. A mixed-methods evaluation, including coach's ratings of goal setting and reflection, coach's meeting notes, portfolio entries, and resident interviews, was used to assess progress in residents' SDL abilities. Results Coach ratings of 25 residents' goal-setting ability increased from a mean of 1.9 to 4.6 (P < .001); ratings of reflective capacity increased from a mean of 2.0 to 4.7 (P < .001) during each year. Resident portfolio entries showed a range of domains for goal setting and reflection. Resident interviews demonstrated progressive independence in setting goals and appreciation of the value of reflection for personal development. Conclusions Introducing a learning coach, use of a portfolio, and providing protected time for self-reflected learning allowed residents to develop SDL skills at their own pace. The learning coach model may be applicable to other residency programs in developing resident lifelong learning skills. PMID:24404275

  5. A Balanced Scorecard-Based Model for Evaluating E-Learning and Conventional Pedagogical Activities in Nursing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hovelja, Tomaž; Vavpotic, Damjan; Žvanut, Boštjan

    2016-01-01

    The evaluation of e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities in nursing programmes has focused either on a single pedagogical activity or the entire curriculum, and only on students' or teachers' perspective. The goal of this study was to design and test a novel approach for evaluation of e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities…

  6. Design Research on Mathematics Education: Investigating the Progress of Indonesian Fifth Grade Students' Learning on Multiplication of Fractions with Natural Numbers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shanty, Nenden Octavarulia; Hartono, Yusuf; Putri, Ratu Ilma Indra; de Haan, Dede

    2011-01-01

    This study aimed at investigating the progress of students' learning on multiplication fractions with natural numbers through the five activity levels based on Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach proposed by Streefland. Design research was chosen to achieve this research goal. In design research, the Hypothetical Learning Trajectory…

  7. Integrating Model-Based Learning and Animations for Enhancing Students' Understanding of Proteins Structure and Function

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barak, Miri; Hussein-Farraj, Rania

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a study conducted in the context of chemistry education reforms in Israel. The study examined a new biochemistry learning unit that was developed to promote in-depth understanding of 3D structures and functions of proteins and nucleic acids. Our goal was to examine whether, and to what extent teaching and learning via…

  8. Significant Learning Experiences for English Foreign Language Students (Experiencias significativas para estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Becerra, Luz María; McNulty, Maria

    2010-01-01

    This action research examines experiences that students in a grade 10 EFL class had with redesigning a grammar-unit into a topic-based unit. Strategies were formulating significant learning goals and objectives, and implementing and reflecting on activities with three dimensions of Dee Fink's (2003) taxonomy of significant learning: the human…

  9. Evaluation of EPE Videos in Different Phases of a Learning Process

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kolas, Line; Munkvold, Robin; Nordseth, Hugo

    2012-01-01

    The goal of the paper is to present possible use of EPE videos in different phases of a learning and teaching process. The paper is based on an evaluation of EPE (easy production educational) videos. The evaluation framework used in this study, divides the teaching and learning process into four main phases: 1) The preparation phase, 2) The…

  10. E-Learning and Instructional Management System Based on Local Computer Networks and Internet

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khazaal, Hasan F.; Abbas, Riyadh A.; Abdulridha, Basim M.; Karam, Marc; Aglan, Heshmat

    2014-01-01

    This article describes the educational efforts invested at Wasit University (WU), in Wasit, Iraq, in order to make WU the first university in that country to implement campus-wide e-learning, which is essential for any country aiming for progress through the essential goal of "Education For All"; e-learning being economic, far-reaching,…

  11. "Yes, Your Honor!": A Corpus-Based Study of Technical Vocabulary in Discipline-Related Movies and TV Shows

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Csomay, Eniko; Petrovic, Marija

    2012-01-01

    Vocabulary is an essential element of every second/foreign language teaching and learning program. While the goal of language teaching programs is to focus on explicit vocabulary teaching to promote learning, "materials which provide visual and aural input such as movies may be conducive to incidental vocabulary learning." (Webb and Rodgers, 2009,…

  12. Issues of Identity and Knowledge in the Schooling of VET: A Case Study of Lifelong Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tennant, Mark; Yates, Lyn

    2005-01-01

    This article discusses two school-based case studies of vocational education and training in the areas of information technology and hospitality from the perspective of the agendas of "lifelong learning". Lifelong learning can be seen as both a policy goal leading to institutional and programme reforms and as a process which fosters in learners…

  13. Student Perceptions of the Relationship between Web-Based Instructional Tools and Perceived Attainment of Intended Learning Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parenti, Melissa A.

    2012-01-01

    With the advent of and continual adaptations related to distance learning, there is a recognized need for up to date research in the area of effectiveness of online education programs. More specifically, assessing the capacity to attain academic goals by use of asynchronous and synchronous learning management systems (LMS) that power distance…

  14. Effect of Learning Communities on Student Attitudes and Corresponding Behaviors: "A Mediated Test of Involvement Theory"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bonilla, Daniel; Buch, Kimberly K.; Johnson, Cindy Wolf

    2013-01-01

    Learning communities are small pre-selected student groups based on a common interest with a variety of goals related to student outcomes. Previous research has shown robust effects of learning community participation on student success outcomes, but little is known about the mechanisms which may mediate these effects. The current study analyzed…

  15. Using concept maps and goal-setting to support the development of self-regulated learning in a problem-based learning curriculum.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Lisa; Bennett, Sue; Lockyer, Lori

    2016-09-01

    Problem-based learning (PBL) in medical education focuses on preparing independent learners for continuing, self-directed, professional development beyond the classroom. Skills in self-regulated learning (SRL) are important for success in PBL and ongoing professional practice. However, the development of SRL skills is often left to chance. This study presents the investigated outcomes for students when support for the development of SRL was embedded in a PBL medical curriculum. This investigation involved design, delivery and testing of SRL support, embedded into the first phase of a four-year, graduate-entry MBBS degree. The intervention included concept mapping and goal-setting activities through iterative processes of planning, monitoring and reflecting on learning. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data from seven students to develop case studies of engagement with, and outcomes from, the SRL support. The findings indicate that students who actively engaged with support for SRL demonstrated increases in cognitive and metacognitive functioning. Students also reported a greater sense of confidence in and control over their approaches to learning in PBL. This study advances understanding about how the development of SRL can be integrated into PBL.

  16. Student views on the role of self-regulated learning in a surgery clerkship.

    PubMed

    Lyons-Warren, Ariel M; Kirby, John P; Larsen, Douglas P

    2016-12-01

    Self-regulated learning, including student-generated learning goals and flexibility in the learning structure are increasingly being used to enhance medical education. The role of these practices in surgical education of medical students has not been studied. We administered an 18-question electronic survey to all third-year medical students at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Of the 126 students invited, 64 responded and 56 were included in the analysis. We found that third-year medical students develop learning goals at the beginning of the surgery clerkship. Although these learning goals theoretically can be a mechanism for enhanced student-faculty engagement, students are not aware of formal mechanisms for sharing these goals with faculty members. Furthermore, students report a lack of flexibility within the surgery clerkship and discomfort with requesting specific learning opportunities. Finally, students report that they believe increased flexibility could improve student engagement, learning, and the overall clerkship experience. We therefore propose that a mechanism for students to share their learning goals with faculty and an infrastructure in which student learning experiences can be tailored to fit with these individualized goals would enhance student surgical learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Rejecting salient distractors: Generalization from experience.

    PubMed

    Vatterott, Daniel B; Mozer, Michael C; Vecera, Shaun P

    2018-02-01

    Distraction impairs performance of many important, everyday tasks. Attentional control limits distraction by preferentially selecting important items for limited-capacity cognitive operations. Research in attentional control has typically investigated the degree to which selection of items is stimulus-driven versus goal-driven. Recent work finds that when observers initially learn a task, the selection is based on stimulus-driven factors, but through experience, goal-driven factors have an increasing influence. The modulation of selection by goals has been studied within the paradigm of learned distractor rejection, in which experience over a sequence of trials enables individuals eventually to ignore a perceptually salient distractor. The experiments presented examine whether observers can generalize learned distractor rejection to novel distractors. Observers searched for a target and ignored a salient color-singleton distractor that appeared in half of the trials. In Experiment 1, observers who learned distractor rejection in a variable environment rejected a novel distractor more effectively than observers who learned distractor rejection in a less variable, homogeneous environment, demonstrating that variable, heterogeneous stimulus environments encourage generalizable learned distractor rejection. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated the time course of learned distractor rejection across the experiment and found that after experiencing four color-singleton distractors in different blocks, observers could effectively reject subsequent novel color-singleton distractors. These results suggest that the optimization of attentional control to the task environment can be interpreted as a form of learning, demonstrating experience's critical role in attentional control.

  18. Goal-directed decision making as probabilistic inference: A computational framework and potential neural correlates

    PubMed Central

    Solway, A.; Botvinick, M.

    2013-01-01

    Recent work has given rise to the view that reward-based decision making is governed by two key controllers: a habit system, which stores stimulus-response associations shaped by past reward, and a goal-oriented system that selects actions based on their anticipated outcomes. The current literature provides a rich body of computational theory addressing habit formation, centering on temporal-difference learning mechanisms. Less progress has been made toward formalizing the processes involved in goal-directed decision making. We draw on recent work in cognitive neuroscience, animal conditioning, cognitive and developmental psychology and machine learning, to outline a new theory of goal-directed decision making. Our basic proposal is that the brain, within an identifiable network of cortical and subcortical structures, implements a probabilistic generative model of reward, and that goal-directed decision making is effected through Bayesian inversion of this model. We present a set of simulations implementing the account, which address benchmark behavioral and neuroscientific findings, and which give rise to a set of testable predictions. We also discuss the relationship between the proposed framework and other models of decision making, including recent models of perceptual choice, to which our theory bears a direct connection. PMID:22229491

  19. A goal management intervention for polyarthritis patients: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background A health promotion intervention was developed for inflammatory arthritis patients, based on goal management. Elevated levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, which indicate maladjustment, are found in such patients. Other indicators of adaptation to chronic disease are positive affect, purpose in life and social participation. The new intervention focuses on to improving adaptation by increasing psychological and social well-being and decreasing symptoms of affective disorders. Content includes how patients can cope with activities and life goals that are threatened or have become impossible to attain due to arthritis. The four goal management strategies used are: goal maintenance, goal adjustment, goal disengagement and reengagement. Ability to use various goal management strategies, coping versatility and self-efficacy are hypothesized to mediate the intervention’s effect on primary and secondary outcomes. The primary outcome is depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes are anxiety symptoms, positive affect, purpose in life, social participation, pain, fatigue and physical functioning. A cost-effectiveness analysis and stakeholders’ analysis are planned. Methods/design The protocol-based psycho-educational program consists of six group-based meetings and homework assignments, led by a trained nurse. Participants are introduced to goal management strategies and learn to use these strategies to cope with threatened personal goals. Four general hospitals participate in a randomized controlled trial with one intervention group and a waiting list control condition. Discussion The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a goal management intervention. The study has a holistic focus as both the absence of psychological distress and presence of well-being are assessed. In the intervention, applicable goal management competencies are learned that assist people in their choice of behaviors to sustain and enhance their quality of life. Trial registration Nederlands Trial Register = NTR3606, registration date 11-09-2012. PMID:23941633

  20. The Impact of an Evidence-Based Medicine Workshop on Residents' Attitudes towards and Self-Reported Ability in Evidence-Based Practice.

    PubMed

    Baum, Karyn D

    2003-12-01

    Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a part of many medical school and residency curricula worldwide, but there is little research into the most effective methods to teach these skills. To evaluate whether a course on EBM utilizing adult learning principals leads to both immediate and short-term attitudinal, confidence, and behavioral change. Seventy-three (73) Internal Medicine and Internal Medicine/Pediatric residents attended a half-day seminar on EBM. Participants completed pre- and post-course 5-point Likert questionnaires, and set two personal goals for integrating EBM into their daily practice. We performed nonparametric two -sample Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests to compare responses. We also elicited the self-reported success of the residents in meeting their goals one-month post-course. Attitudes about EBM improved (3.5 pre-course vs. 3.7 post-course), as well as selfreported EBM skills (3.0 vs. 3.3). Seventy-two percent of residents reported having met at least one of their two goals for the integration of EBM into their practice. An EBM workshop based upon adult learning principles was successful in meeting multiple educational goals. The links between andragogy, learners' internal drive for behavior change, and successful EBM education should be further explored.

  1. A New Approach to Active Learning in the Planetarium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hodge, T. M.; Saderholm, J. C.

    2012-08-01

    In a recent survey, Small & Plummer (2010) found that the goals of planetarium professionals are aligned with inquiry-based, active learning. However, most planetarium shows are designed as passive entertainment, with education as a secondary goal. In addition, there are very few research-based studies on the types of activities which promote greater learning within the planetarium environment, particularly at the post-secondary level. We report the results of the pilot test of a novel use of the planetarium to provide a simulated night sky, which students use to make longitudinal observations and measurements of planetary positions. In spite of several pragmatic limitations, the planetarium environment is well suited to student construction of both geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system from direct observation. The curriculum we are developing addresses common misconceptions about the nature of science, in particular the use of modeling in the development of scientific knowledge.

  2. Exercise-enhanced Neuroplasticity Targeting Motor and Cognitive Circuitry in Parkinson’s Disease

    PubMed Central

    Petzinger, G. M.; Fisher, B. E.; McEwen, S.; Beeler, J. A.; Walsh, J. P.; Jakowec, M. W.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this review is to highlight the potential role of exercise in promoting neuroplasticity and repair in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Exercise interventions in individuals with PD incorporate goal-based motor skill training in order to engage cognitive circuitry important in motor learning. Using this exercise approach, physical therapy facilitates learning through instruction and feedback (reinforcement), and encouragement to perform beyond self-perceived capability. Individuals with PD become more cognitively engaged with the practice and learning of movements and skills that were previously automatic and unconscious. Studies that have incorporated both goal-based training and aerobic exercise have supported the potential for improving both cognitive and automatic components of motor control. Utilizing animal models, basic research is beginning to reveal exercise-induced effects on neuroplasticity. Since neuroplasticity occurs at the level of circuits and synaptic connections, we examine the effects of exercise from this perspective. PMID:23769598

  3. Studies on a Novel Neuro-dynamic Model for Prediction Learning of Fluctuated Data Streams: Beyond Dichotomy between Probabilistic and Deterministic Models

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-11-04

    learning by robots as well as video image understanding by accumulated learning of the exemplars are discussed. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Cognitive ...learning to predict perceptual streams or encountering events by acquiring internal models is indispensable for intelligent or cognitive systems because...various cognitive functions are based on this compentency including goal-directed planning, mental simulation and recognition of the current situation

  4. Fostering interprofessional learning in a rehabilitation setting: development of an interprofessional clinical learning unit.

    PubMed

    Vanderzalm, Jeanne; Hall, Mark D; McFarlane, Lu-Anne; Rutherford, Laurie; Patterson, Steven K

    2013-01-01

    The development and implementation of interprofessional (IP) clinical learning units as a method to enhance IP clinical education and improve patient care in a rehabilitation setting are described. Using a community-based participatory research approach, academia and healthcare delivery agencies formed a partnership to create an IP clinical learning unit in a rehabilitation setting. Preimplementation data from surveys and focus group data identified areas for improvement to enhance IP understanding and collaboration. A working group developed and implemented initiatives to enhance IP practice. Preimplementation, eight themes emerged from which the working group identified goals and implemented strategies to strengthen IP learning. Goals included Creation of an IP Learning Environment, Increased Awareness of IP Practice, Role Clarification, Enhanced IP Communication, and Reflection and Evaluation. Postimplementation data revealed six themes: Communication, Informal IP Learning, Role Awareness, Positive Learning Environment, Logistics, and Challenges. The development of the IP clinical learning unit was successful and rewarding, but not without its challenges. Formal IP education was necessary to enhance collaborative practice, even in a multidisciplinary environment. Commitment and support from all participants, particularly managers and administrators from the healthcare agency, were critical to success. The focus of this unit was on a stroke rehabilitation unit; however, the development and implementation principles identified may be applicable to any team-based clinical setting. © 2013 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.

  5. Multiple goals, motivation and academic learning.

    PubMed

    Valle, Antonio; Cabanach, Ramón G; Núnez, José C; González-Pienda, Julio; Rodríguez, Susana; Piñeiro, Isabel

    2003-03-01

    The type of academic goals pursued by students is one of the most important variables in motivational research in educational contexts. Although motivational theory and research have emphasised the somewhat exclusive nature of two types of goal orientation (learning goals versus performance goals), some studies (Meece, 1994; Seifert, 1995, 1996) have shown that the two kinds of goals are relatively complementary and that it is possible for students to have multiple goals simultaneously, which guarantees some flexibility to adapt more efficaciously to various contexts and learning situations. The principal aim of this study is to determine the academic goals pursued by university students and to analyse the differences in several very significant variables related to motivation and academic learning. Participants were 609 university students (74% women and 26% men) who filled in several questionnaires about the variables under study. We used cluster analysis ('quick cluster analysis' method) to establish the different groups or clusters of individuals as a function of the three types of goals (learning goals, performance goals, and social reinforcement goals). By means of MANOVA, we determined whether the groups or clusters identified were significantly different in the variables that are relevant to motivation and academic learning. Lastly, we performed ANOVA on the variables that revealed significant effects in the previous analysis. Using cluster analysis, three groups of students with different motivational orientations were identified: a group with predominance of performance goals (Group PG: n = 230), a group with predominance of multiple goals (Group MG: n = 238), and a group with predominance of learning goals (Group LG: n = 141). Groups MG and LG attributed their success more to ability, they had higher perceived ability, they took task characteristics into account when planning which strategies to use in the learning process, they showed higher persistence, and used more deep learning strategies than did the students with predominance of performance goals (Group PG). On the other hand, Groups MG and PG took the evaluation criteria more into account when deciding which strategies to use in order to learn, and they attributed their failures more to luck than did Group LG. Students from Group MG attributed their success more to effort than did the other two groups and they attained higher achievement than Group PG. Group LG tended to attribute their failures more to lack of effort than did the other two groups.

  6. Adapting research-based curricula at Seattle Pacific University: Results on student learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Close, Eleanor; Vokos, Stamatis; Lindberg, John; Seeley, Lane

    2004-05-01

    Seattle Pacific University is the recent recipient of a NSF CCLI grant to improve student learning in introductory physics and calculus courses. This talk will outline the goals of this collaborative project and present some initial results on student performance. Results from research-based assessments will be presented as well as specific examples of successes and challenges from mechanics and electricity and magnetism.

  7. The Effect of Project-Based Learning on Students' Statistical Literacy Levels for Data Representation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koparan, Timur; Güven, Bülent

    2015-01-01

    The point of this study is to define the effect of project-based learning approach on 8th Grade secondary-school students' statistical literacy levels for data representation. To achieve this goal, a test which consists of 12 open-ended questions in accordance with the views of experts was developed. Seventy 8th grade secondary-school students, 35…

  8. My Science Is Better than Your Science: Conceptual Change as a Goal in Teaching Science Majors Interested in Teaching Careers about Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Utter, Brian C.; Paulson, Scott A.; Almarode, John T.; Daniel, David B.

    2018-01-01

    We argue, based on a multi-year collaboration to develop a pedagogy course for physics majors by experts in physics, education, and the science of learning, that the process of teaching science majors about education and the science of learning, and evidence-based teaching methods in particular, requires conceptual change analogous to that…

  9. Experiences in the Application of Project-Based Learning in a Switching-Mode Power Supplies Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lamar, D. G.; Miaja, P. F.; Arias, M.; Rodriguez, A.; Rodriguez, M.; Vazquez, A.; Hernando, M. M.; Sebastian, J.

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents the introduction of problem-based learning (PBL) in a power electronics course at the University of Oviedo, Gijon, Spain, by means of two practical projects: the design and construction of a switching-mode power supply (SMPS) prototype and the static study of a dc-dc converter topology. The goal of this innovation was for…

  10. Digital learning objects in nursing consultation: technology assessment by undergraduate students.

    PubMed

    Silveira, DeniseTolfo; Catalan, Vanessa Menezes; Neutzling, Agnes Ludwig; Martinato, Luísa Helena Machado

    2010-01-01

    This study followed the teaching-learning process about the nursing consultation, based on digital learning objects developed through the active Problem Based Learning method. The goals were to evaluate the digital learning objects about nursing consultation, develop cognitive skills on the subject using problem based learning and identify the students' opinions on the use of technology. This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 71 students in the sixth period of the nursing program at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The data was collected through a questionnaire to evaluate the learning objects. The results showed positive agreement (58%) on the content, usability and didactics of the proposed computer-mediated activity regarding the nursing consultation. The application of materials to the students is considered positive.

  11. Designing Serious Game Interventions for Individuals with Autism.

    PubMed

    Whyte, Elisabeth M; Smyth, Joshua M; Scherf, K Suzanne

    2015-12-01

    The design of "Serious games" that use game components (e.g., storyline, long-term goals, rewards) to create engaging learning experiences has increased in recent years. We examine of the core principles of serious game design and examine the current use of these principles in computer-based interventions for individuals with autism. Participants who undergo these computer-based interventions often show little evidence of the ability to generalize such learning to novel, everyday social communicative interactions. This lack of generalized learning may result, in part, from the limited use of fundamental elements of serious game design that are known to maximize learning. We suggest that future computer-based interventions should consider the full range of serious game design principles that promote generalization of learning.

  12. Designing the Architecture of Hierachical Neural Networks Model Attention, Learning and Goal-Oriented Behavior

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-12-31

    19,23,25,26,27,28,32,33,35,41]) - A new cost function is postulated and an algorithm that employs this cost function is proposed for the learning of...updates the controller parameters from time to time [53]. The learning control algorithm consist of updating the parameter estimates as used in the...proposed cost function with the other learning type algorithms , such as based upon learning of iterative tasks [Kawamura-85], variable structure

  13. Motivation and emotion predict medical students' attention to computer-based feedback.

    PubMed

    Naismith, Laura M; Lajoie, Susanne P

    2017-12-14

    Students cannot learn from feedback unless they pay attention to it. This study investigated relationships between the personal factors of achievement goal orientations, achievement emotions, and attention to feedback in BioWorld, a computer environment for learning clinical reasoning. Novice medical students (N = 28) completed questionnaires to measure their achievement goal orientations and then thought aloud while solving three endocrinology patient cases and reviewing corresponding expert solutions. Questionnaires administered after each case measured participants' experiences of five feedback emotions: pride, relief, joy, shame, and anger. Attention to individual text segments of the expert solutions was modelled using logistic regression and the method of generalized estimating equations. Participants did not attend to all of the feedback that was available to them. Performance-avoidance goals and shame positively predicted attention to feedback, and performance-approach goals and relief negatively predicted attention to feedback. Aspects of how the feedback was displayed also influenced participants' attention. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for educational theory as well as the design and use of computer learning environments in medical education.

  14. [Perceptions of classroom goal structures, personal achievement goal orientations, and learning strategies].

    PubMed

    Miki, Kaori; Yamauchi, Hirotsugu

    2005-08-01

    We examined the relations among students' perceptions of classroom goal structures (mastery and performance goal structures), students' achievement goal orientations (mastery, performance, and work-avoidance goals), and learning strategies (deep processing, surface processing and self-handicapping strategies). Participants were 323 5th and 6th grade students in elementary schools. The results from structural equation modeling indicated that perceptions of classroom mastery goal structures were associated with students' mastery goal orientations, which were in turn related positively to the deep processing strategies and academic achievement. Perceptions of classroom performance goal stractures proved associated with work avoidance-goal orientations, which were positively related to the surface processing and self-handicapping strategies. Two types of goal structures had a positive relation with students' performance goal orientations, which had significant positive effects on academic achievement. The results of this study suggest that elementary school students' perceptions of mastery goal structures are related to adaptive patterns of learning more than perceptions of performance goal structures are. The role of perceptions of classroom goal structure in promoting students' goal orientations and learning strategies is discussed.

  15. Role of the Perigenual Anterior Cingulate and Orbitofrontal Cortex in Contingency Learning in the Marmoset.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Stacey A W; Horst, Nicole K; Pears, Andrew; Robbins, Trevor W; Roberts, Angela C

    2016-07-01

    Two learning mechanisms contribute to decision-making: goal-directed actions and the "habit" system, by which action-outcome and stimulus-response associations are formed, respectively. Rodent lesion studies and human neuroimaging have implicated both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in the neural basis of contingency learning, a critical component of goal-directed actions, though some published findings are conflicting. We sought to reconcile the existing literature by comparing the effects of excitotoxic lesions of the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), a region of the mPFC, and OFC on contingency learning in the marmoset monkey using a touchscreen-based paradigm, in which the contingent relationship between one of a pair of actions and its outcome was degraded selectively. Both the pgACC and OFC lesion groups were insensitive to the contingency degradation, whereas the control group demonstrated selectively higher performance of the nondegraded action when compared with the degraded action. These findings suggest the pgACC and OFC are both necessary for normal contingency learning and therefore goal-directed behavior. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

  16. A Combinatorics Course with One Goal: Authentic Mathematical Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storm, Christopher

    2017-01-01

    This article shares an example of a course in Combinatorics, taught at Adelphi University in Fall 2012, designed with a primary goal of engaging students in pursuing mathematics as mathematicians do. The course went beyond usual applications of inquiry-based learning in that students were also charged with the responsibility of posing the…

  17. Lifelong Learning and Vision 2020 in Malaysia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leong, Yip Kai

    The Malaysian government has adopted the creation of a fully developed economy by the year 2020 as a principal goal, emphasizing that the development should be economic, political, social, spiritual, psychological, and cultural. In order to develop the necessary human resource base to reach this goal, the country must strengthen the teaching of…

  18. How Setting Goals Enhances Learners' Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Listening Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ballesteros Muñoz, Liliana; Tutistar Jojoa, Silvana

    2014-01-01

    This article outlines a study that explores the relationship between SMART goal setting (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based) and learning English in Colombia concerning a foreign language learners' self-efficacy beliefs in listening. The participants were seventh and ninth grade students of two schools in Bogotá, Colombia.…

  19. The Impact of Service-Learning on Health Education Students' Cultural Competence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Housman, Jeff; Meaney, Karen S.; Wilcox, Michelle; Cavazos, Arnoldo

    2012-01-01

    Background: Development of cultural competence in future health educators is often mentioned as a goal of health education preparation programs; however research demonstrating evidence-based methods for development of cultural competence is limited. Purpose: To determine the impact of a service-learning project on development of cultural…

  20. Teachers' Considerations of Students' Thinking during Mathematics Lesson Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amador, Julie M.

    2016-01-01

    Teachers' abilities to design mathematics lessons are related to their capability to mobilize resources to meeting intended learning goals based on their noticing. In this process, knowing how teachers consider Students' thinking is important for understanding how they are making decisions to promote student learning. While teaching, what teachers…

  1. Alternate Learning Center. Abstracts of Inservice Training Programs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhode Island State Dept. of Education, Providence. Div. of Development and Operations.

    This booklet is a collection of abstracts describing the 18 programs offered at the Alternate Learning Center of the Rhode Island Teacher Center which has as its Primary function school based inservice training for local teachers and administrators. Each project is described in detail, including course goals, specific objectives, training…

  2. Parent-Child Learning Interactions: A Review of the Literature on Scaffolding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mermelshtine, Roni

    2017-01-01

    Background: Scaffolding can be observed during learning-based interactions, when interventions by parents are adjusted according to children's observed abilities, with the main goal of enabling the child to work independently (Wood "et al.", 1976, "Journal of child psychology and psychiatry," 17, 89). Such contingent…

  3. High School Students' Motivation to Learn Mathematics: The Role of Multiple Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ng, Chi-hung Clarence

    2018-01-01

    Using a sample of 310 Year 10 Chinese students from Hong Kong, this survey study examined the effects of multiple goals in learning mathematics. Independent variables were mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and pro-social goals. Dependent variables included perceived classroom goal structures, teacher's support, learning motives…

  4. Wellness works: community service health promotion groups led by occupational therapy students.

    PubMed

    Scott, A H

    1999-01-01

    In the context of a group process course, occupational therapy students learned health promotion skills through working on personal wellness goals and leading community-based health promotion groups. The groups targeted topics such as smoking cessation, improving diet, reducing stress through yoga, meditation, tai chi chuan, ROM (Range of Motion) Dance, aerobics, and a variety of other activities. After identifying a personal wellness goal and developing it in a Wellness Awareness Learning Contract, each student used a Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) to predict an expected outcome for achieving the goal and to measure his or her progress toward attaining the goal. Students also used the GAS to measure progress in attaining group leadership skills within the community groups, which they outlined in a separate Group Skills Contract. Students kept weekly logs to foster reflective thinking, and the logs were used for interactive dialogue with the instructor. To further evaluate lifestyle change, students compared pretest and posttest scores on a Self-Assessment Scorecard, which surveyed six areas of health and human potential in body, mind, and spirit. Students monitored their own change process on both their personal health lifestyle goals and their group leadership skills while developing a richer appreciation of the dynamics of working for change with clients in community and traditional settings. Differences on the Self-Assessment Scorecard indicated improvement on two of the six scales for physical health and choices. Students experienced firsthand the challenges of developing healthier lifestyles on the basis of their personal goals as well as through fostering group changes. The two GAS learning contracts provided them with concrete evidence of their growth and learning. This experience--embedded in the context of a group process course with a community service learning group practicum--provided most students with a positive initial experience with group leadership as they began to explore roles as agents for lifestyle and health change. Suggestions for expanding health promotion roles in practice in the changing health care environment are also examined.

  5. Neuroscientific Model of Motivational Process

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Sung-il

    2013-01-01

    Considering the neuroscientific findings on reward, learning, value, decision-making, and cognitive control, motivation can be parsed into three sub processes, a process of generating motivation, a process of maintaining motivation, and a process of regulating motivation. I propose a tentative neuroscientific model of motivational processes which consists of three distinct but continuous sub processes, namely reward-driven approach, value-based decision-making, and goal-directed control. Reward-driven approach is the process in which motivation is generated by reward anticipation and selective approach behaviors toward reward. This process recruits the ventral striatum (reward area) in which basic stimulus-action association is formed, and is classified as an automatic motivation to which relatively less attention is assigned. By contrast, value-based decision-making is the process of evaluating various outcomes of actions, learning through positive prediction error, and calculating the value continuously. The striatum and the orbitofrontal cortex (valuation area) play crucial roles in sustaining motivation. Lastly, the goal-directed control is the process of regulating motivation through cognitive control to achieve goals. This consciously controlled motivation is associated with higher-level cognitive functions such as planning, retaining the goal, monitoring the performance, and regulating action. The anterior cingulate cortex (attention area) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (cognitive control area) are the main neural circuits related to regulation of motivation. These three sub processes interact with each other by sending reward prediction error signals through dopaminergic pathway from the striatum and to the prefrontal cortex. The neuroscientific model of motivational process suggests several educational implications with regard to the generation, maintenance, and regulation of motivation to learn in the learning environment. PMID:23459598

  6. Neuroscientific model of motivational process.

    PubMed

    Kim, Sung-Il

    2013-01-01

    Considering the neuroscientific findings on reward, learning, value, decision-making, and cognitive control, motivation can be parsed into three sub processes, a process of generating motivation, a process of maintaining motivation, and a process of regulating motivation. I propose a tentative neuroscientific model of motivational processes which consists of three distinct but continuous sub processes, namely reward-driven approach, value-based decision-making, and goal-directed control. Reward-driven approach is the process in which motivation is generated by reward anticipation and selective approach behaviors toward reward. This process recruits the ventral striatum (reward area) in which basic stimulus-action association is formed, and is classified as an automatic motivation to which relatively less attention is assigned. By contrast, value-based decision-making is the process of evaluating various outcomes of actions, learning through positive prediction error, and calculating the value continuously. The striatum and the orbitofrontal cortex (valuation area) play crucial roles in sustaining motivation. Lastly, the goal-directed control is the process of regulating motivation through cognitive control to achieve goals. This consciously controlled motivation is associated with higher-level cognitive functions such as planning, retaining the goal, monitoring the performance, and regulating action. The anterior cingulate cortex (attention area) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (cognitive control area) are the main neural circuits related to regulation of motivation. These three sub processes interact with each other by sending reward prediction error signals through dopaminergic pathway from the striatum and to the prefrontal cortex. The neuroscientific model of motivational process suggests several educational implications with regard to the generation, maintenance, and regulation of motivation to learn in the learning environment.

  7. Learning Science, Learning about Science, Doing Science: Different goals demand different learning methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hodson, Derek

    2014-10-01

    This opinion piece paper urges teachers and teacher educators to draw careful distinctions among four basic learning goals: learning science, learning about science, doing science and learning to address socio-scientific issues. In elaboration, the author urges that careful attention is paid to the selection of teaching/learning methods that recognize key differences in learning goals and criticizes the common assertion that 'current wisdom advocates that students best learn science through an inquiry-oriented teaching approach' on the grounds that conflating the distinction between learning by inquiry and engaging in scientific inquiry is unhelpful in selecting appropriate teaching/learning approaches.

  8. The Effect of Data-Driven Approach to Teaching Vocabulary on Iranian Students' Learning of English Vocabulary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barabadi, Elyas; Khajavi, Yaser

    2017-01-01

    Corpus-based data-driven learning (DDL) is an innovation in teaching and learning new vocabulary for EFL students. Using teacher-prepared materials obtained from COCA corpus, the goal of the present study is to compare DDL and traditional methods of teaching vocabulary like consultation of dictionary or a grammar book. As such, two intact classes…

  9. An On-Campus Botanical Tour to Promote Student Satisfaction and Learning in a University Level Biodiversity or General Biology Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ratnayaka, Harish H.

    2017-01-01

    Outdoor, hands-on and experiential learning, as opposed to instruction-based learning in classroom, increases student satisfaction and motivation leading to a deeper understanding of the subject. However, the use of outdoor exercises in undergraduate biology courses is declining due to a variety of constraints. Thus, the goal of this paper is to…

  10. A New Mathematical Framework for Design Under Uncertainty

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-05

    blending multiple information sources via auto-regressive stochastic modeling. A computationally efficient machine learning framework is developed based on...sion and machine learning approaches; see Fig. 1. This will lead to a comprehensive description of system performance with less uncertainty than in the...Bayesian optimization of super-cavitating hy- drofoils The goal of this study is to demonstrate the capabilities of statistical learning and

  11. The specificity of parenting effects: Differential relations of parent praise and criticism to children's theories of intelligence and learning goals.

    PubMed

    Gunderson, Elizabeth A; Donnellan, M Brent; Robins, Richard W; Trzesniewski, Kali H

    2018-04-24

    Individuals who believe that intelligence can be improved with effort (an incremental theory of intelligence) and who approach challenges with the goal of improving their understanding (a learning goal) tend to have higher academic achievement. Furthermore, parent praise is associated with children's incremental theories and learning goals. However, the influences of parental criticism, as well as different forms of praise and criticism (e.g., process vs. person), have received less attention. We examine these associations by analyzing two existing datasets (Study 1: N = 317 first to eighth graders; Study 2: N = 282 fifth and eighth graders). In both studies, older children held more incremental theories of intelligence, but lower learning goals, than younger children. Unexpectedly, the relation between theories of intelligence and learning goals was nonsignificant and did not vary with children's grade level. In both studies, overall perceived parent praise positively related to children's learning goals, whereas perceived parent criticism negatively related to incremental theories of intelligence. In Study 2, perceived parent process praise was the only significant (positive) predictor of children's learning goals, whereas perceived parent person criticism was the only significant (negative) predictor of incremental theories of intelligence. Finally, Study 2 provided some support for our hypothesis that age-related differences in perceived parent praise and criticism can explain age-related differences in children's learning goals. Results suggest that incremental theories of intelligence and learning goals might not be strongly related during childhood and that perceived parent praise and criticism have important, but distinct, relations with each motivational construct. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Breaking barriers: a competency-based framework for promoting the integration of the pediatrician's education.

    PubMed

    Naghettini, Alessandra V; Bollela, Valdes R; Costa, Nilce M S C; Salgado, Luciana M R

    2011-01-01

    To describe the process of integration and revision of a pediatric program curriculum which resulted in the creation of a competency-based framework recommended in the Brazilian National Curricular Guidelines. Quali-quantitative analysis of an intervention evaluating the students and professors' perception of the pediatric program curriculum (focus groups and semi-structured interviews). Results were discussed during teaching development workshops. A competency-based framework was suggested for the pediatric program from the 3rd to the 6th year. The new curriculum was approved, implemented, and reevaluated six months later. Twelve students (12%) from the 3rd to the 6th year participated in the focus groups, and 11 professors (78.5%) answered the questionnaire. Most participants reported lack of integration among the courses, lack of knowledge about the learning goals of the internships, few opportunities of practice, and predominance of theoretical evaluation. In the training workshops, a competency-based curriculum was created after pediatrics and collective health professors reached an agreement. The new curriculum was focused on general competency, learning goals, opportunities available to learn these goals, and evaluation system. After six months, 93% (104/112) of students and 79% (11/14) of professors reported greater integration of the program and highlighted the inclusion of the clinical performance evaluation. The collective creation of a competency-based curriculum promoted higher satisfaction of students and professors. After being implemented, the new curriculum was considered to integrate the teaching practices and contents, improving the quality of the clinical performance evaluation.

  13. A Process for Developing and Articulating Learning Goals or Competencies for Social and Emotional Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yoder, Nick; Dusenbury, Linda

    2017-01-01

    Developing and articulating clear goals for student social and emotional learning (SEL) involves a number of important steps. This document focuses specifically on the articulation of learning goals (sometimes called "competencies" or "standards" in state and district policy) and suggests a process for those state teams that…

  14. ME science as mobile learning based on virtual reality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fradika, H. D.; Surjono, H. D.

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of this article described about ME Science (Mobile Education Science) as mobile learning application learning of Fisika Inti. ME Science is a product of research and development (R&D) that was using Alessi and Trollip model. Alessi and Trollip model consists three stages that are: (a) planning include analysis of problems, goals, need, and idea of development product, (b) designing includes collecting of materials, designing of material content, creating of story board, evaluating and review product, (c) developing includes development of product, alpha testing, revision of product, validation of product, beta testing, and evaluation of product. The article describes ME Science only to development of product which include development stages. The result of development product has been generates mobile learning application based on virtual reality that can be run on android-based smartphone. These application consist a brief description of learning material, quizzes, video of material summery, and learning material based on virtual reality.

  15. Understanding motivational structures that differentially predict engagement and achievement in middle school science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Christine S.; Hayes, Kathryn N.; Seitz, Jeffery; DiStefano, Rachelle; O'Connor, Dawn

    2016-01-01

    Middle school has been documented as the period in which a drop in students' science interest and achievement occurs. This trend indicates a lack of motivation for learning science; however, little is known about how different aspects of motivation interact with student engagement and science learning outcomes. This study examines the relationships among motivational factors, engagement, and achievement in middle school science (grades 6-8). Data were obtained from middle school students in the United States (N = 2094). The theoretical relationships among motivational constructs, including self-efficacy, and three types of goal orientations (mastery, performance approach, and performance avoid) were tested. The results showed that motivation is best modeled as distinct intrinsic and extrinsic factors; lending evidence that external, performance based goal orientations factor separately from self-efficacy and an internal, mastery based goal orientation. Second, a model was tested to examine how engagement mediated the relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors and science achievement. Engagement mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and science achievement, whereas extrinsic motivation had no relationship with engagement and science achievement. Implications for how classroom practice and educational policy emphasize different student motivations, and in turn, can support or hinder students' science learning are discussed.

  16. What Does Evidence-Based Instruction in Social and Emotional Learning Actually Look Like in Practice? A Brief on Findings from CASEL's Program Reviews

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dusenbury, Linda; Calin, Sophia; Domitrovich, Celene; Weissberg, Roger P.

    2015-01-01

    In this brief we use the CASEL reviews of evidence-based programs to answer the question, "What do teachers and other adults actually need to do in the classroom and school to help students achieve the goals laid out in social and emotional learning (SEL) standards?" Specifically, we identify and describe four approaches that have been…

  17. Use of machine learning methods to classify Universities based on the income structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Terlyga, Alexandra; Balk, Igor

    2017-10-01

    In this paper we discuss use of machine learning methods such as self organizing maps, k-means and Ward’s clustering to perform classification of universities based on their income. This classification will allow us to quantitate classification of universities as teaching, research, entrepreneur, etc. which is important tool for government, corporations and general public alike in setting expectation and selecting universities to achieve different goals.

  18. A serious game for improving the decision making skills and knowledge levels of Turkish football referees according to the laws of the game.

    PubMed

    Gulec, Ulas; Yilmaz, Murat

    2016-01-01

    Digital game-based learning environments provide emerging opportunities to overcome learning barriers by combining newly developed technologies and traditional game design. This study proposes a quantitative research approach supported by expert validation interviews to designing a game-based learning framework. The goal is to improve the learning experience and decision-making skills of soccer referees in Turkey. A serious game was developed and tested on a group of referees (N = 54). The assessment results of these referees were compared with two sample t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-ranked test for both the experimental group and the control group. The findings of the current study confirmed that a game-based learning environment has greater merit over the paper-based alternatives.

  19. How can leaders foster team learning? Effects of leader-assigned mastery and performance goals and psychological safety.

    PubMed

    Ashauer, Shirley A; Macan, Therese

    2013-01-01

    Learning and adapting to change are imperative as teams today face unprecedented change. Yet, an important part of learning involves challenging assumptions and addressing differences of opinion openly within a group--the kind of behaviors that pose the potential for embarrassment or threat. How can leaders foster an environment in which team members feel it is safe to take interpersonal risks in order to learn? In a study of 71 teams, we found that psychological safety and learning behavior were higher for teams with mastery than performance goal instructions or no goal instructions. Team psychological safety mediated the relationship between mastery and performance goal instructions and learning behavior. Findings contribute to our understanding of how leader-assigned goals are related to psychological safety and learning behavior in a team context, and suggest approaches to foster such processes.

  20. CAN-Care: an innovative model of practice-based learning.

    PubMed

    Raines, Deborah A

    2006-01-01

    The "Collaborative Approach to Nursing Care" (CAN-Care) Model of practice-based education is designed to meet the unique learning needs of the accelerated nursing program student. The model is based on a synergistic partnership between the academic and service settings, the vision of which is to create an innovative practice-based learning model, resulting in a positive experience for both the student and unit-based nurse. Thus, the objectives of quality outcomes for both the college and Health Care Organization are fulfilled. Specifically, the goal is the education of nurses ready to meet the challenges of caring for persons in the complex health care environment of the 21st century.

  1. Fear of causing harm: use of mannequin-based simulation to decrease student anxiety prior to interacting with female teaching associates.

    PubMed

    Pugh, Carla M; Obadina, Eniola T; Aidoo, Kofi A

    2009-01-01

    There is a paucity of research assessing the potential benefits of mannequin trainers when preparing students to interact with teaching associates. The goal of this study was to better understand the effects of mannequin-based simulators on student comfort toward learning specific aspects of the clinical female pelvic exam. First-year medical students (N = 344) were surveyed before and after a mannequin-based simulation curriculum to assess their comfort levels toward learning the female pelvic exam. Causing harm was the top cause of student anxiety toward learning the pelvic exam. Although the mannequin-based simulation curriculum was effective in significantly increasing (p < .001) student comfort levels toward learning the pelvic exam, the majority of students progressed from being "very uncomfortable" with the exam to being "somewhat comfortable." We suggest that mannequin-based simulators be used prior to students' learning experience with pelvic exam teaching associates.

  2. Service-learning, personal development, and social commitment: a case study of university students in Hong Kong.

    PubMed

    Ngai, Steven Sek-yum

    2006-01-01

    Service-learning, which combines academic study with community service, is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. It is ideally suited to achieving both the personal and academic goals of students and the broader goals of civic responsibility and social justice. This paper describes the design of a local service-learning program the author implemented at a university in Hong Kong. Based on survey data collected from 93 university student participants in the program, it illustrates the impact of service-learning on student outcomes. Results show that the majority of the students benefitted as follows: (1) By developing personal autonomy through real world experiences, students develop a recognition of and faith in their potential. It enhances self-assurance, assumption of new responsibilities, and achievement of individual growth. (2) Students move toward becoming responsible citizens and agents of social change. By learning to care for deprived groups in the community, they are assuming meaningful roles and responding to real issues in ways that have a long-lasting impact on their own lives. Recommendations, based on the shortcomings we have witnessed and the changes we have implemented, are also made.

  3. Written feedback and continuity of learning in a geographically distributed medical education program.

    PubMed

    Harvey, Pam; Radomski, Natalie; O'Connor, Dennis

    2013-12-01

    The provision of effective feedback on clinical performance for medical students is important for their continued learning. Written feedback is an underutilised medium for linking clinical performances over time. The aim of this study is to investigate how clinical supervisors construct performance orientated written feedback and learning goals for medical students in a geographically distributed medical education (GDME) programme. This qualitative study uses textual analysis to examine the structure and content of written feedback statements in 1000 mini-CEX records from 33 Australian undergraduate medical students during their 36 week GDME programme. The students were in their second clinical year. Forty percent of mini-CEX records contained written feedback statements. Within these statements, 80% included comments relating to student clinical performance. The way in which written feedback statements were recorded varied in structure and content. Only 16% of the statements contained student learning goals focused on improving a student's clinical performance over time. Very few of the written feedback statements identified forward-focused learning goals. Training clinical supervisors in understanding how their feedback contributes to a student's continuity of learning across their GDME clinical placements will enable more focused learning experiences based on student need. To enhance student learning over time and place, effective written feedback should contain focused, coherent phrases that help reflection on current and future clinical performance. It also needs to provide enough detail for other GDME clinical supervisors to understand current student performance and plan future directions for their teaching.

  4. Achievement Goal Orientation of Community College Mathematics Students and the Misalignment of Instructors' Perceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mesa, Vilma

    2011-01-01

    This study reports findings regarding the application of a survey of achievement goal orientations to a sample of mathematics 777 students enrolled in remedial and college mathematics courses at a community college. The survey was based on the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales [PALS] and it included questions from the Views About Mathematics…

  5. Learning Science, Learning about Science, Doing Science: Different Goals Demand Different Learning Methods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hodson, Derek

    2014-01-01

    This opinion piece paper urges teachers and teacher educators to draw careful distinctions among four basic learning goals: learning science, learning about science, doing science and learning to address socio-scientific issues. In elaboration, the author urges that careful attention is paid to the selection of teaching/learning methods that…

  6. Teachers' Purposeful Design of Effective Technology Learning Activities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morgan, John Andrew Kerlin

    2014-01-01

    The goal of this study was to explore how exemplary teachers design learning activities that incorporate the use of technology. Teachers at three schools in a school district in Southern California were solicited for a survey regarding their use of technology in the classroom. Based on the surveys, high and low technology implementers were…

  7. Making Physiology Learning Memorable: A Mobile Phone-Assisted Case-Based Instructional Strategy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kukolja Taradi, S.; Taradi, M.

    2016-01-01

    The goal of the present study was to determine whether an active learning/teaching strategy facilitated with mobile technologies can improve students' levels of memory retention of key physiological concepts. We used a quasiexperimental pretest/posttest nonequivalent group design to compare the test performances of second-year medical students (n…

  8. Options for Vocabulary Learning Through Communication Tasks.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newton, Jonathan

    2001-01-01

    In a task-based approach to learning, learners will often meet new vocabulary "in passing" as they pursue communicative goals. Argues that such encounters can be turned to the learners' advantage and that rather than remove difficult words, teachers should consider a number of cooperative options for exposing learners to new words during…

  9. Web Based Learning Support for Experimental Design in Molecular Biology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilmsen, Tinri; Bisseling, Ton; Hartog, Rob

    An important learning goal of a molecular biology curriculum is a certain proficiency level in experimental design. Currently students are confronted with experimental approaches in textbooks, in lectures and in the laboratory. However, most students do not reach a satisfactory level of competence in the design of experimental approaches. This…

  10. Development and Evaluation of an Interactive Electronic Laboratory Manual for Cooperative Learning of Medical Histology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khalil, Mohammed K.; Kirkley, Debbie L.; Kibble, Jonathan D.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the development of an interactive computer-based laboratory manual, created to facilitate the teaching and learning of medical histology. The overarching goal of developing the manual is to facilitate self-directed group interactivities that actively engage students during laboratory sessions. The design of the manual…

  11. Web-Based Learning Support for Experimental Design in Molecular Biology: A Top-Down Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aegerter-Wilmsen, Tinri; Hartog, Rob; Bisseling, Ton

    2003-01-01

    An important learning goal of a molecular biology curriculum is the attainment of a certain competence level in experimental design. Currently, undergraduate students are confronted with experimental approaches in textbooks, lectures and laboratory courses. However, most students do not reach a satisfactory level of competence in the designing of…

  12. Professionalising Physics Teachers in Doing Experimental Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haagen-Schutzenhofer, Claudia; Joham, Birgit

    2018-01-01

    It is commonly agreed that experiments play a central role in teaching and learning physics. Recently, Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) has been introduced into science teaching in many countries, thus giving another boost for experiments. From a didactical point of view, experiments can serve a number of different goals in teaching and learning…

  13. Constructing Liminal Blends in a Collaborative Augmented-Reality Learning Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Enyedy, Noel; Danish, Joshua A.; DeLiema, David

    2015-01-01

    In vision-based augmented-reality (AR) environments, users view the physical world through a video feed or device that "augments" the display with a graphical or informational overlay. Our goal in this manuscript is to ask "how" and "why" these new technologies create opportunities for learning. We suggest that AR is…

  14. The Influence of Web-Based Chemistry Learning on Students' Perceptions, Attitudes, and Achievements

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frailich, Marcel; Kesner, Miri; Hofstein, Avi

    2007-01-01

    The goal of this study was to investigate whether integrating a website into chemistry teaching influences 10th-grade students' perceptions of the classroom learning environment, their attitudes regarding the relevance of chemistry, and their understanding of the concept of chemical bonding. Two groups participated in this study: an experimental…

  15. Adopting SCORM 1.2 Standards in a Courseware Production Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barker, Bradley

    2004-01-01

    The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a technology framework for Web-based learning technology. Originated by the Department of Defense and accelerated by the Advanced Distributed Learning initiative SCORM was released in January of 2000 (ADL, 2003). The goals of SCORM are to decrease the cost of training, while increasing the…

  16. Multimedia Glosses and Their Effect on L2 Text Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yanguas, Inigo

    2009-01-01

    The present study investigates the effects that different types of multimedia glosses, namely textual, pictorial, and textual + pictorial, have on text comprehension and vocabulary learning when the goal is exclusively comprehension of a computerized text. This study is based on the theoretical framework of attention, which maintains that…

  17. Pursuing Their Own Learning Agenda: How Mastery-Oriented Students Jeopardize Their Class Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Senko, Corwin; Miles, Kenneth M.

    2008-01-01

    This study explored why mastery-based achievement goals often are unrelated to class grades despite promoting deep learning strategies and high course interest. We hypothesized that mastery-oriented students jeopardize their exam performance by allowing their individual interests to dictate their study efforts such that they neglect boring topics…

  18. Student Off-Task Behavior in Computer-Based Learning in the Philippines: Comparison to Prior Research in the USA

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodrigo, Ma. Mercedes T.; Baker, Ryan S. J. D.; Rossi, Lisa

    2013-01-01

    Background: Off-task behavior can be defined as any behavior that does not involve the learning task or material, or where learning from the material is not the primary goal. One suggested path for understanding how to address off-task behavior is to study classrooms where off-task behavior is less common, particularly in Asia, in order to…

  19. Role of Performance Goals in Prose Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    LaPorte, Ronald E.; Nath, Raghu

    1976-01-01

    Investigates a subject's internalized goals and the relationship of the goals to test performance as a function of different learning instructions. Stating specific goals was found to produce the most significant results among subjects. (Author/DEP)

  20. Cognitive components underpinning the development of model-based learning.

    PubMed

    Potter, Tracey C S; Bryce, Nessa V; Hartley, Catherine A

    2017-06-01

    Reinforcement learning theory distinguishes "model-free" learning, which fosters reflexive repetition of previously rewarded actions, from "model-based" learning, which recruits a mental model of the environment to flexibly select goal-directed actions. Whereas model-free learning is evident across development, recruitment of model-based learning appears to increase with age. However, the cognitive processes underlying the development of model-based learning remain poorly characterized. Here, we examined whether age-related differences in cognitive processes underlying the construction and flexible recruitment of mental models predict developmental increases in model-based choice. In a cohort of participants aged 9-25, we examined whether the abilities to infer sequential regularities in the environment ("statistical learning"), maintain information in an active state ("working memory") and integrate distant concepts to solve problems ("fluid reasoning") predicted age-related improvements in model-based choice. We found that age-related improvements in statistical learning performance did not mediate the relationship between age and model-based choice. Ceiling performance on our working memory assay prevented examination of its contribution to model-based learning. However, age-related improvements in fluid reasoning statistically mediated the developmental increase in the recruitment of a model-based strategy. These findings suggest that gradual development of fluid reasoning may be a critical component process underlying the emergence of model-based learning. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  1. Mathematics. Grades 3, 6, 8, 10, 12. State Goals for Learning and Sample Learning Objectives.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield. Dept. of School Improvement Services.

    This publication is designed to provide assistance to local school districts in Illinois in meeting two new requirements: (1) to submit objectives for student learning to the State Board of Education which meet or exceed the State Goals for Learning and (2) to identify local goals for excellence in education. School districts have the option to…

  2. Predictive Place-Cell Sequences for Goal-Finding Emerge from Goal Memory and the Cognitive Map: A Computational Model

    PubMed Central

    Gönner, Lorenz; Vitay, Julien; Hamker, Fred H.

    2017-01-01

    Hippocampal place-cell sequences observed during awake immobility often represent previous experience, suggesting a role in memory processes. However, recent reports of goals being overrepresented in sequential activity suggest a role in short-term planning, although a detailed understanding of the origins of hippocampal sequential activity and of its functional role is still lacking. In particular, it is unknown which mechanism could support efficient planning by generating place-cell sequences biased toward known goal locations, in an adaptive and constructive fashion. To address these questions, we propose a model of spatial learning and sequence generation as interdependent processes, integrating cortical contextual coding, synaptic plasticity and neuromodulatory mechanisms into a map-based approach. Following goal learning, sequential activity emerges from continuous attractor network dynamics biased by goal memory inputs. We apply Bayesian decoding on the resulting spike trains, allowing a direct comparison with experimental data. Simulations show that this model (1) explains the generation of never-experienced sequence trajectories in familiar environments, without requiring virtual self-motion signals, (2) accounts for the bias in place-cell sequences toward goal locations, (3) highlights their utility in flexible route planning, and (4) provides specific testable predictions. PMID:29075187

  3. Procedural instructions, principles, and examples: how to structure instructions for procedural tasks to enhance performance, learning, and transfer.

    PubMed

    Eiriksdottir, Elsa; Catrambone, Richard

    2011-12-01

    The goal of this article is to investigate how instructions can be constructed to enhance performance and learning of procedural tasks. Important determinants of the effectiveness of instructions are type of instructions (procedural information, principles, and examples) and pedagogical goal (initial performance, learning, and transfer). Procedural instructions describe how to complete tasks in a stepwise manner, principles describe rules governing the tasks, and examples demonstrate how instances of the task are carried out. The authors review the research literature associated with each type of instruction to identify factors determining effectiveness for different pedagogical goals. The results suggest a trade-off between usability and learnability. Specific instructions help initial performance, whereas more general instructions, requiring problem solving, help learning and transfer. Learning from instructions takes cognitive effort, and research suggests that learners typically opt for low effort. However, it is possible to meet both goals of good initial performance and learning with methods such as fading and by combining different types of instructions. How instructions are constructed influences their effectiveness for the goals of good initial performance, learning, and transfer, and it is therefore important for researchers and practitioners alike to define the pedagogical goal of instructions. If the goal is good initial performance, then instructions should highly resemble the task at hand (e.g., in the form of detailed procedural instructions and examples), but if the goal is good learning and transfer, then instructions should be more abstract, inducing learners to expend the necessary cognitive effort for learning.

  4. Paths through interpretive territory: Two teachers' enactment of a technology-rich, inquiry-fostering science curriculum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDonald, Scott Powell

    New understandings about how people learn and constructivist pedagogy pose challenges for teachers. Science teachers face an additional challenge of developing inquiry-based pedagogy to foster complex reasoning skills. Theory provides only fuzzy guidance as to how constructivist or inquiry pedagogy can be accomplished in a wide variety of contexts and local constraints. This study contributes to the understanding of the development of constructivist, inquiry-based pedagogy by addressing the question: How do teachers interpret and enact a technology-rich, inquiry fostering science curricula for fifth grade students' biodiversity learning? This research is a case study of two teachers chosen as critical contrasting cases and represent differences across multiple criteria including: urban I suburban, teaching philosophy, and content preparation. The two fifth grade teachers each enacted BioKIDS: Kids' Inquiry in Diverse Species, an eight week curriculum focused on biodiversity. BioKIDS incorporates multiple learning technologies to support student learning including handheld computer software designed to help students collect field data, and a web-based resource for data on local animal species. The results of this study indicate there are tensions teachers must struggle with when setting goals during enactment of inquiry science curricula. They must find a balance between an emphasis on authentic learning and authentic science, and between natural history and natural science. Authentic learning focuses on students' interests and lives; Authentic science focuses on students working with the tools and processes of science. Natural history focuses on the foundational skills in science of observation and classification. Natural science focuses on analytical science drawing on data to develop claims about the world. These two key tensions in teachers' goal setting were critical in defining and understanding differences in how teachers interpreted a curriculum to meet local context and constraints. This study also examined how teachers used technology and scientific inscriptions to support their goals. Implications for research in science education as well as design of curricula and technology are discussed.

  5. Intentional learning: A concept analysis.

    PubMed

    Mollman, Sarah; Candela, Lori

    2018-01-01

    To use a concept analysis to determine a clear definition of the term "intentional learning" for use in nursing. The term intentional learning has been used for years in educational, business, and even nursing literature. It has been used to denote processes leading to higher order thinking and the ability to use knowledge in new situations; both of which are important skills to develop in nursing students. But the lack of a common, accepted definition of the term makes it difficult for nurse educators to base instruction and learning experiences on or to evaluate its overall effectiveness in educating students for diverse, fast-paced clinical practices. A concept analysis following the eight-step method developed by Walker and Avant (2011). Empirical and descriptive literature.  Five defining attributes were identified: (1) self-efficacy for learning, (2) active, effortful, and engaged learning, (3) mastery of goals where learning is the goal, (4) self-directed learning, and (5) self-regulation of learning. Through this concept analysis, nursing will have a clear definition of intentional learning. This will enable nurse educators to generate, evaluate, and test learning experiences that promote further development of intentional learning in nursing students. Nurses in practice will also be able to evaluate if the stated benefits are demonstrated and how this impacts patient care and outcomes. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Changing Medical School IT to Support Medical Education Transformation.

    PubMed

    Spickard, Anderson; Ahmed, Toufeeq; Lomis, Kimberly; Johnson, Kevin; Miller, Bonnie

    2016-01-01

    Many medical schools are modifying curricula to reflect the rapidly evolving health care environment, but schools struggle to provide the educational informatics technology (IT) support to make the necessary changes. Often a medical school's IT support for the education mission derives from isolated work units employing separate technologies that are not interoperable. We launched a redesigned, tightly integrated, and novel IT infrastructure to support a completely revamped curriculum at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. This system uses coordinated and interoperable technologies to support new instructional methods, capture students' effort, and manage feedback, allowing the monitoring of students' progress toward specific competency goals across settings and programs. The new undergraduate medical education program at Vanderbilt, entitled Curriculum 2.0, is a competency-based curriculum in which the ultimate goal is medical student advancement based on performance outcomes and personal goals rather than a time-based sequence of courses. IT support was essential in the creation of Curriculum 2.0. In addition to typical learning and curriculum management functions, IT was needed to capture data in the learning workflow for analysis, as well as for informing individual and programmatic success. We aligned people, processes, and technology to provide the IT infrastructure for the organizational transformation. Educational IT personnel were successfully realigned to create the new IT system. The IT infrastructure enabled monitoring of student performance within each competency domain across settings and time via personal student electronic portfolios. Students use aggregated performance data, derived in real time from the portfolio, for mentor-guided performance assessment, and for creation of individual learning goals and plans. Poorly performing students were identified earlier through online communication systems that alert the appropriate instructor or coach of low quiz grades or missed learning goals. Graphical and narrative displays of a student's competency performance across courses and clinical experiences informed high-stake decisions made about student progress by the promotions committee. Similarly, graphical display of aggregate student outcomes provided education leaders with information needed to adjust and improve the curriculum. With the alignment of people, processes, and technology, educational IT can facilitate transformational steps in the training of medical students.

  7. Putting education in "educational" apps: lessons from the science of learning.

    PubMed

    Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Zosh, Jennifer M; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Gray, James H; Robb, Michael B; Kaufman, Jordy

    2015-05-01

    Children are in the midst of a vast, unplanned experiment, surrounded by digital technologies that were not available but 5 years ago. At the apex of this boom is the introduction of applications ("apps") for tablets and smartphones. However, there is simply not the time, money, or resources available to evaluate each app as it enters the market. Thus, "educational" apps-the number of which, as of January 2015, stood at 80,000 in Apple's App Store (Apple, 2015)-are largely unregulated and untested. This article offers a way to define the potential educational impact of current and future apps. We build upon decades of work on the Science of Learning, which has examined how children learn best. From this work, we abstract a set of principles for two ultimate goals. First, we aim to guide researchers, educators, and designers in evidence-based app development. Second, by creating an evidence-based guide, we hope to set a new standard for evaluating and selecting the most effective existing children's apps. In short, we will show how the design and use of educational apps aligns with known processes of children's learning and development and offer a framework that can be used by parents and designers alike. Apps designed to promote active, engaged, meaningful, and socially interactive learning-four "pillars" of learning-within the context of a supported learning goal are considered educational. © The Author(s) 2015.

  8. Problem Based Learning (PBL) - An Effective Approach to Improve Learning Outcomes in Medical Teaching.

    PubMed

    Preeti, Bajaj; Ashish, Ahuja; Shriram, Gosavi

    2013-12-01

    As the "Science of Medicine" is getting advanced day-by-day, need for better pedagogies & learning techniques are imperative. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is an effective way of delivering medical education in a coherent, integrated & focused manner. It has several advantages over conventional and age-old teaching methods of routine. It is based on principles of adult learning theory, including student's motivation, encouragement to set goals, think critically about decision making in day-to-day operations. Above all these, it stimulates challenge acceptance and learning curiosity among students and creates pragmatic educational program. To measure the effectiveness of the "Problem Based Learning" as compared to conventional theory/didactic lectures based learning. The study was conducted on 72 medical students from Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana. Two modules of problem based sessions designed and delivered. Pre & Post-test score's scientific statistical analysis was done. Student feed-back received based on questionnaire in the five-point Likert scale format. Significant improvement in overall performance observed. Feedback revealed majority agreement that "Problem-based learning" helped them create interest (88.8 %), better understanding (86%) & promotes self-directed subject learning (91.6 %). Substantial improvement in the post-test scores clearly reveals acceptance of PBL over conventional learning. PBL ensures better practical learning, ability to create interest, subject understanding. It is a modern-day educational strategy, an effective tool to objectively improve the knowledge acquisition in Medical Teaching.

  9. Leveraging MSLQ Data for Predicting Student Achievement Goal Orientations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ali, Liaqat; Hatala, Marek; Winne, Phil; Gaševic, Dragan

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to investigate how the learning strategies and achievement goal orientations of students relate to their academic behaviours and performance in the context of an online learning system. The study also develops and validates a relational model between student learning strategies and achievement goals.

  10. The effects of a problem-based learning digital game on continuing motivation to learn science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toprac, Paul K.

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether playing a problem-based learning (PBL) computer game, Alien Rescue III, would promote continuing motivation (CM) to learn science, and to explore the possible sources of CM. Another goal was to determine whether CM and interest to learn science in the classroom were identical constructs. CM was defined as the pursuit of academic learning goals in noninstructional contexts that were initially encountered in the classroom. Alien Rescue was played for a total of 9 hours in the seventh grade of a private middle school with 44 students, total, participating. The study used a design-based research approach that attempted to triangulate quantitative and qualitative methods. A science knowledge test, and two self-report questionnaires---one measuring motivation and one measuring CM---were administered preintervention, postintervention, and follow-up. Qualitative data was also collected, including student interviews, classroom observations, written responses, and a science teacher interview. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine any significant changes in scores. A multiple regression analysis was used to explore whether a model of CM could be determined using the Eccles' expectancy-value achievement motivation model. The constant comparative method was used to obtain relevant information from the qualitative data. Based on contradictory quantitative and qualitative findings, results were mixed as to whether students exhibited an increase in CM to learn space science. Students continued to freely engage Alien Rescue during the mid-class break, but this does not strictly adhere to the definition of CM. However, many students did find space science more interesting than anticipated and developed increased desire to learn more in class, if not outside of class. Results also suggest that CM and interest in learning more in class are separate but related constructs. Finally, no satisfactory model emerged from the multiple regression analysis but based on students' interviews, continuing interest to learn is influenced by all the components of Eccles' expectancy-value model. Response effects may have confounded quantitative results. Discussion includes challenges of researching in classrooms, CM, and Eccles' motivational model, and the tension between PBL and game based approaches. Future design recommendations and research directions are provided.

  11. Goal-directed, habitual and Pavlovian prosocial behavior

    PubMed Central

    Gęsiarz, Filip; Crockett, Molly J.

    2015-01-01

    Although prosocial behaviors have been widely studied across disciplines, the mechanisms underlying them are not fully understood. Evidence from psychology, biology and economics suggests that prosocial behaviors can be driven by a variety of seemingly opposing factors: altruism or egoism, intuition or deliberation, inborn instincts or learned dispositions, and utility derived from actions or their outcomes. Here we propose a framework inspired by research on reinforcement learning and decision making that links these processes and explains characteristics of prosocial behaviors in different contexts. More specifically, we suggest that prosocial behaviors inherit features of up to three decision-making systems employed to choose between self- and other- regarding acts: a goal-directed system that selects actions based on their predicted consequences, a habitual system that selects actions based on their reinforcement history, and a Pavlovian system that emits reflexive responses based on evolutionarily prescribed priors. This framework, initially described in the field of cognitive neuroscience and machine learning, provides insight into the potential neural circuits and computations shaping prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, it identifies specific conditions in which each of these three systems should dominate and promote other- or self- regarding behavior. PMID:26074797

  12. Constellation Stretch Goals: Review of Industry Inputs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lang, John

    2006-01-01

    Many good ideas received based on industry experience: a) Shuttle operations; b) Commercial aircraft production; c) NASA's historical way of doing business; d) Military and commercial programs. Aerospace performed preliminary analysis: a) Potential savings; b) Cost of implementation; c) Performance or other impact/penalties; d) Roadblocks; e) Unintended consequences; f) Bottom line. Significant work ahead for a "Stretch Goal"to become a good, documented requirement: 1) As a group, the relative "value" of goals are uneven; 2) Focused analysis on each goal is required: a) Need to ensure that a new requirement produces the desired consequence; b) It is not certain that some goals will not create problems elsewhere. 3) Individual implementation path needs to be studied: a) Best place to insert requirement (what level, which document); b) Appropriate wording for the requirement. Many goals reflect "best practices" based on lessons learned and may have value beyond near-term CxP requirements process.

  13. School, Teacher, Peers, and Parents' Goals Emphases and Adolescents' Motivation to Learn Science in and out of School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vedder-Weiss, Dana; Fortus, David

    2013-01-01

    Achievement goal theory distinguishes between mastery goals (the goals of developing competence) and performance goals (the goals of demonstrating competence) [Ames [1992] "Journal of Educational Psychology" 84: 261-271]. In this study, we employed this theory aiming to better understand why adolescents' motivation to learn science…

  14. Goal Setting in Principal Evaluation: Goal Quality and Predictors of Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sinnema, Claire E. L.; Robinson, Viviane M. J.

    2012-01-01

    This article draws on goal-setting theory to investigate the goals set by experienced principals during their performance evaluations. While most goals were about teaching and learning, they tended to be vaguely expressed and only partially achieved. Five predictors (commitment, challenge, learning, effort, and support) explained a significant…

  15. Learning Sequences of Actions in Collectives of Autonomous Agents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Turner, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian K.; Wolpert, David H.; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    In this paper we focus on the problem of designing a collective of autonomous agents that individually learn sequences of actions such that the resultant sequence of joint actions achieves a predetermined global objective. We are particularly interested in instances of this problem where centralized control is either impossible or impractical. For single agent systems in similar domains, machine learning methods (e.g., reinforcement learners) have been successfully used. However, applying such solutions directly to multi-agent systems often proves problematic, as agents may work at cross-purposes, or have difficulty in evaluating their contribution to achievement of the global objective, or both. Accordingly, the crucial design step in multiagent systems centers on determining the private objectives of each agent so that as the agents strive for those objectives, the system reaches a good global solution. In this work we consider a version of this problem involving multiple autonomous agents in a grid world. We use concepts from collective intelligence to design goals for the agents that are 'aligned' with the global goal, and are 'learnable' in that agents can readily see how their behavior affects their utility. We show that reinforcement learning agents using those goals outperform both 'natural' extensions of single agent algorithms and global reinforcement, learning solutions based on 'team games'.

  16. New Contemporary Criterion-Referenced Assessment Instruments for Astronomy & Geology: TOAST & EGGS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guffey, Sarah Katie; Slater, Stephanie J.; Slater, Timothy F.

    2015-08-01

    Considerable effort in the astronomy and Earth sciences education research over the past decade has focused on developing assessment tools in the form of multiple-choice conceptual diagnostics and content knowledge surveys. This has been critically important in advancing discipline-based education research allowing scholar to establish the initial, incoming knowledge state of students as well as to attempt to measure some of the impacts of innovative instructional interventions. Before now, few of the existing instruments were constructed upon a solid list of clearly articulated and widely agreed upon learning objectives. Whereas first-generation assessment tools, such as the Astronomy Diagnostics Test ADT2) were based primarily upon further identifying documented astronomy misconceptions, scholars from the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research team are creating contemporary instruments based instead by developing items using modern test construction techniques and tightly aligned to the consensus learning goals identified by the American Association of the Advancement of Science’s Project 2061 Benchmarks, and the National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards, and the National Research Council’s Frameworks for A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. These consensus learning goals are further enhanced guiding documents from the American Astronomical Society - Chair’s Conference on ASTRO 101 and the NSF-funded Earth Science Literacy Initiative. Two of the resulting criterion-referenced assessment tools widely used by researchers are the Test Of Astronomy STandards (TOAST) and the Exam of GeoloGy StandardS (EGGS). These easy-to-use and easy-to-score multiple-choice instruments have a high degree of reliability and validity for instructors and researchers needing information on students’ initial knowledge state at the beginning of a course and can be used, in aggregate, to help measure the impact teaching innovations with learning goals tightly aligned to consensus goals of the broader education community.

  17. The influence of demographics and work related goals on adaptive development for work related learning amongst private hospital employees.

    PubMed

    Tones, Megan; Pillay, Hitendra; Fraser, Jennifer

    2010-01-01

    Contemporary lifespan development models of adaptive development have been applied to the workforce to examine characteristics of the ageing employee. Few studies have examined adaptive development in terms of worker perceptions of workplace, or their learning and development issues. This study used the recently developed Revised Learning and Development Survey to investigate employee selection and engagement of learning and development goals, opportunities for learning and development at work, and constraints to learning and development at work. Demographic and career goal variables were tested amongst a sample of private hospital employees, almost all of whom were nurses. Workers under 45 years of age perceived greater opportunities for training and development than more mature aged workers. Age and physical demands interacted such that physical demands of work were associated with lower engagement in learning and development goals in mature aged workers. The opposite was observed amongst younger workers. Engagement in learning and development goals at work predicted goals associated with an intention to decrease work hours or change jobs to a different industry when opportunities to learn via work tasks were limited. At the same time limited opportunities for training and development and perceptions of constraints to development at work predicted the intention to change jobs. Results indicate consideration must be paid to employee perceptions in the workplace in relation to goals. They may be important factors in designing strategies to retain workers.

  18. Goal Orientation, Deep Learning, and Sustainable Feedback in Higher Business Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geitz, Gerry; Brinke, Desirée Joosten-ten; Kirschner, Paul A.

    2015-01-01

    Relations between and changeability of goal orientation and learning behavior have been studied in several domains and contexts. To alter the adopted goal orientation into a mastery orientation and increase a concomitant deep learning in international business students, a sustainable feedback intervention study was carried out. Sustainable…

  19. Investigating Elementary Students' Learning Approaches, Motivational Goals, and Achievement in Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hacieminoglu, Esme; Yilmaz-Tuzun, Ozgul; Ertepinar, Hamide

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the relationships among students' learning approaches, motivational goals, previous science grades, and their science achievement for the concepts related to atomic theory and explored the effects of gender and sociodemographic variables on students' learning approaches, motivational goals, and their science achievement for the…

  20. Learning to reach by reinforcement learning using a receptive field based function approximation approach with continuous actions.

    PubMed

    Tamosiunaite, Minija; Asfour, Tamim; Wörgötter, Florentin

    2009-03-01

    Reinforcement learning methods can be used in robotics applications especially for specific target-oriented problems, for example the reward-based recalibration of goal directed actions. To this end still relatively large and continuous state-action spaces need to be efficiently handled. The goal of this paper is, thus, to develop a novel, rather simple method which uses reinforcement learning with function approximation in conjunction with different reward-strategies for solving such problems. For the testing of our method, we use a four degree-of-freedom reaching problem in 3D-space simulated by a two-joint robot arm system with two DOF each. Function approximation is based on 4D, overlapping kernels (receptive fields) and the state-action space contains about 10,000 of these. Different types of reward structures are being compared, for example, reward-on- touching-only against reward-on-approach. Furthermore, forbidden joint configurations are punished. A continuous action space is used. In spite of a rather large number of states and the continuous action space these reward/punishment strategies allow the system to find a good solution usually within about 20 trials. The efficiency of our method demonstrated in this test scenario suggests that it might be possible to use it on a real robot for problems where mixed rewards can be defined in situations where other types of learning might be difficult.

  1. [Continuum, the continuing education platform based on a competency matrix].

    PubMed

    Ochoa Sangrador, C; Villaizán Pérez, C; González de Dios, J; Hijano Bandera, F; Málaga Guerrero, S

    2016-04-01

    Competency-Based Education is a learning method that has changed the traditional teaching-based focus to a learning-based one. Students are the centre of the process, in which they must learn to learn, solve problems, and adapt to changes in their environment. The goal is to provide learning based on knowledge, skills (know-how), attitude and behaviour. These sets of knowledge are called competencies. It is essential to have a reference of the required competencies in order to identify the need for them. Their acquisition is approached through teaching modules, in which one or more skills can be acquired. This teaching strategy has been adopted by Continuum, the distance learning platform of the Spanish Paediatric Association, which has developed a competency matrix based on the Global Paediatric Education Consortium training program. In this article, a review will be presented on the basics of Competency-Based Education and how it is applied in Continuum. Copyright © 2015 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  2. Integrating on campus problem based learning and practice based learning: issues and challenges in using computer mediated communication.

    PubMed

    Conway, J; Sharkey, R

    2002-10-01

    The Faculty of Nursing, University of Newcastle, Australia, has been keen to initiate strategies that enhance student learning and nursing practice. Two strategies are problem based learning (PBL) and clinical practice. The Faculty has maintained a comparatively high proportion of the undergraduate hours in the clinical setting in times when financial constraints suggest that simulations and on campus laboratory experiences may be less expensive.Increasingly, computer based technologies are becoming sufficiently refined to support the exploration of nursing practice in a non-traditional lecture/tutorial environment. In 1998, a group of faculty members proposed that computer mediated instruction would provide an opportunity for partnership between students, academics and clinicians that would promote more positive outcomes for all and maintain the integrity of the PBL approach. This paper discusses the similarities between problem based and practice based learning and presents the findings of an evaluative study of the implementation of a practice based learning model that uses computer mediated communication to promote integration of practice experiences with the broader goals of the undergraduate curriculum.

  3. Behavioral Modeling Based on Probabilistic Finite Automata: An Empirical Study.

    PubMed

    Tîrnăucă, Cristina; Montaña, José L; Ontañón, Santiago; González, Avelino J; Pardo, Luis M

    2016-06-24

    Imagine an agent that performs tasks according to different strategies. The goal of Behavioral Recognition (BR) is to identify which of the available strategies is the one being used by the agent, by simply observing the agent's actions and the environmental conditions during a certain period of time. The goal of Behavioral Cloning (BC) is more ambitious. In this last case, the learner must be able to build a model of the behavior of the agent. In both settings, the only assumption is that the learner has access to a training set that contains instances of observed behavioral traces for each available strategy. This paper studies a machine learning approach based on Probabilistic Finite Automata (PFAs), capable of achieving both the recognition and cloning tasks. We evaluate the performance of PFAs in the context of a simulated learning environment (in this case, a virtual Roomba vacuum cleaner robot), and compare it with a collection of other machine learning approaches.

  4. Active inference and learning.

    PubMed

    Friston, Karl; FitzGerald, Thomas; Rigoli, Francesco; Schwartenbeck, Philipp; O Doherty, John; Pezzulo, Giovanni

    2016-09-01

    This paper offers an active inference account of choice behaviour and learning. It focuses on the distinction between goal-directed and habitual behaviour and how they contextualise each other. We show that habits emerge naturally (and autodidactically) from sequential policy optimisation when agents are equipped with state-action policies. In active inference, behaviour has explorative (epistemic) and exploitative (pragmatic) aspects that are sensitive to ambiguity and risk respectively, where epistemic (ambiguity-resolving) behaviour enables pragmatic (reward-seeking) behaviour and the subsequent emergence of habits. Although goal-directed and habitual policies are usually associated with model-based and model-free schemes, we find the more important distinction is between belief-free and belief-based schemes. The underlying (variational) belief updating provides a comprehensive (if metaphorical) process theory for several phenomena, including the transfer of dopamine responses, reversal learning, habit formation and devaluation. Finally, we show that active inference reduces to a classical (Bellman) scheme, in the absence of ambiguity. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  5. Accelerating Imitation Learning in Relational Domains via Transfer by Initialization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-08-28

    Warcraft , regulation of traffic lights, logistics, and a variety of planning domains. A supervised learning method for imitation learning was recently...some information about the world (traffic density at a signal, distance to the goal etc.). We assume a functional parametrization over the policy and...strategy (RTS) game engine written in C based off the Warcraft series of games. Like all RTS games, it allows multiple agents to be controlled

  6. No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America's Education Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greenberg, Julie; Walsh, Kate

    2008-01-01

    The nation's higher goals for student learning in mathematics cannot be reached without improved teacher capacity. To accomplish these goals an analysis of current teacher preparation in mathematics is necessary, along with the development of an agenda for improvement. Based on groundwork laid during a meeting in Washington, D.C. in March 2007,…

  7. A Case Study of Teacher Beliefs in Contemporary Science Education Goals and Classroom Practices.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mueller, Jennifer C.; Zeidler, Dana L.

    The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine to what extent high school teachers' purported beliefs in contemporary science education goals are embedded in routine classroom practice. The context of this study is a learning community-based high school that belongs to the Coalition of Essential Schools and is sensitive to reform issues. The…

  8. Do I Really Teach for America? Reflections of a Teach for America Teacher

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Diamond, Alex

    2010-01-01

    If one knows what to look for, it is not hard to spot a Teach for America (TFA) classroom. Typically, on one wall, a "Big Goal" poster proclaims the class objective: "Students will, on average, achieve 80 percent of their learning goals based on state standards." On another, tracking charts show the progress of individual students toward meeting…

  9. Implementing an Exemplar-Based Approach in an Interaction Design Subject: Enhancing Students' Awareness of the Need to Be Creative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hendry, Graham D.; Tomitsch, Martin

    2014-01-01

    In higher education effective teaching includes making learning goals and standards clear to students. In architecture and design education in particular, goals and standards around assessment are often not well articulated. There is good evidence that when teachers engage students before an assessment in marking exemplars, and explain why the…

  10. The effects of social concern goals on the value of learning and on the intentions of medical students to change their majors

    PubMed Central

    Park, Soowon; Cho, Seunghee; Lee, Jun-Young

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Background: In the process of developing a professional medical expertise, goals can become a psychological impetus and act as a source of retaining an individual’s persistency. Therefore, the goals of medical students should be considered when designing a curriculum for health professions. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine relative effects of goal categories on the value of learning and intention to change one’s major. Method: Data were obtained from the Korea Education Longitudinal Study, which included 1938 representative Korean college freshmen majoring in medicine, engineering, natural science and humanities. They answered a survey questionnaire about goal categories (i.e., social concern, affiliation, self-growth, leisure, wealth, and fame), the value of learning, and intention to change one's major. Results: For medical students, social concern goals were positively related to the value of learning and negatively related to the intention to change one's major. Social concern goals decreased the intention to change one's major directly, and also indirectly through increased value of learning. Conclusion: Providing context for enhancing medical students’ social concern goals is necessary in a medical training curriculum, not only for the students’ professional development but also for improving society. Abbreviations: GCT: Goal contents theory GPA: Grade point average KELS: Korea education longitudinal study SDLA: Self-directed learning abilities SDT: Self-determination theory PMID:28580860

  11. The effects of social concern goals on the value of learning and on the intentions of medical students to change their majors.

    PubMed

    Park, Soowon; Cho, Seunghee; Lee, Jun-Young

    2017-01-01

    In the process of developing a professional medical expertise, goals can become a psychological impetus and act as a source of retaining an individual's persistency. Therefore, the goals of medical students should be considered when designing a curriculum for health professions. The purpose of this study was to examine relative effects of goal categories on the value of learning and intention to change one's major. Data were obtained from the Korea Education Longitudinal Study, which included 1938 representative Korean college freshmen majoring in medicine, engineering, natural science and humanities. They answered a survey questionnaire about goal categories (i.e., social concern, affiliation, self-growth, leisure, wealth, and fame), the value of learning, and intention to change one's major. For medical students, social concern goals were positively related to the value of learning and negatively related to the intention to change one's major. Social concern goals decreased the intention to change one's major directly, and also indirectly through increased value of learning. Providing context for enhancing medical students' social concern goals is necessary in a medical training curriculum, not only for the students' professional development but also for improving society. GCT: Goal contents theory GPA: Grade point average KELS: Korea education longitudinal study SDLA: Self-directed learning abilities SDT: Self-determination theory.

  12. Supporting online learning with games

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yao, JingTao; Kim, DongWon; Herbert, Joseph P.

    2007-04-01

    This paper presents a study on Web-based learning support systems that is enhanced with two major subsystems: a Web-based learning game and a learning-oriented Web search. The Internet and theWeb may be considered as a first resource for students seeking for information and help. However, much of the information available online is not related to the course contents or is wrong in the worse case. The search subsystem aims to provide students with precise, relative and adaptable documents about certain courses or classes. Therefore, students do not have to spend time to verify the relationship of documents to the class. The learning game subsystem stimulates students to study, enables students to review their studies and to perform self-evaluation through a Web-based learning game such as a treasure hunt game. During the challenge and entertaining learning and evaluation process, it is hoped that students will eventually understand and master the course concepts easily. The goal of developing such a system is to provide students with an efficient and effective learning environment.

  13. Investigating Analytic Tools for e-Book Design in Early Literacy Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roskos, Kathleen; Brueck, Jeremy; Widman, Sarah

    2009-01-01

    Toward the goal of better e-book design to support early literacy learning, this study investigates analytic tools for examining design qualities of e-books for young children. Three research-based analytic tools related to e-book design were applied to a mixed genre collection of 50 e-books from popular online sites. Tool performance varied…

  14. Students' Task Interpretation and Conceptual Understanding in an Electronics Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rivera-Reyes, Presentacion; Lawanto, Oenardi; Pate, Michael L.

    2017-01-01

    Task interpretation is a critical first step for students in the process of self-regulated learning, and a key determinant when they set goals in their learning and select strategies in assigned work. This paper focuses on the explicit and implicit aspects of task interpretation based on Hadwin's model. Laboratory activities improve students'…

  15. Revenue Generation in the Wake of Welfare Reform: Summary of the Pilot Learning Cluster on Early Childhood Finance.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finance Project, Washington, DC.

    Creating more comprehensive, community-based support systems and reforming early childhood financing systems are critical to advancing the goal of having all children enter school ready to learn. The Finance Project is a national initiative to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of financing for education, children's services, and…

  16. Reading and Language Learning: Crosslinguistic Constraints on Second Language Reading Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koda, Keiko

    2007-01-01

    The ultimate goal of reading is to construct text meaning based on visually encoded information. Essentially, it entails converting print into language and then to the message intended by the author. It is hardly accidental, therefore, that, in all languages, reading builds on oral language competence and that learning to read uniformly requires…

  17. Lesson Study: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murphy, Richard; Weinhardt, Felix; Wyness, Gill; Rolfe, Heather

    2017-01-01

    Lesson Study is a popular approach to teacher professional development used widely in Japan. It involves a small group of teachers co-planning a series of lessons based on a shared learning goal for the pupils, with one teacher leading the co-constructed lesson and their colleagues invited to observe pupil learning in the lesson. The team then…

  18. Play or Learn: European-American and Chinese Kindergartners' Perceptions about the Conflict

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Jin

    2016-01-01

    Background: Kindergarten is the age at which children's future time perspective emerges. This capacity enables them to form goals based on past and ongoing experiences and project themselves in the future. This development may play an important role in guiding children in self-regulated learning. When faced with the conflict between their need to…

  19. Health Assessment and Readiness To Learn: An Interagency Collaborative Model.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hatfield, Maryellen Brown

    Consistent with the first of the National Educational Goals 1990 (to ensure that all children in America will start school ready to learn by the year 2000), South Carolina initiated the Pre-School Health Appraisal Project (PSHAP), a collaborative practice model based on the experiences of 4 years of project development and findings. Initiated in…

  20. Experiential Learning in Education for Sustainable Development: Experiences from a Czech-Kazakh Social Learning Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cincera, Jan

    2013-01-01

    The article presents experience from a joint Czech-Kazakh project based on experiential education. The goal of the project was to develop trust and cooperation between various stakeholders to promote effective public participation in local sustainable development issues in Kazakhstan. The article describes the methodology of the programme and its…

  1. Values and the Search for Self.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bellanca, James A.

    The purpose of this book is to help the reader to become a more effective facilitator of learning. Based on the assumption that the most valuable learning is founded in self-knowledge and a resultant knowledge of others, the book presents a view of teaching as helping and caring with a supportive yet flexible structure. It states that the goal of…

  2. Hybrid Augmented Reality for Participatory Learning: The Hidden Efficacy of Multi-User Game-Based Simulation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oh, Seungjae; So, Hyo-Jeong; Gaydos, Matthew

    2018-01-01

    The goal for this research is to articulate and test a new hybrid Augmented Reality (AR) environment for conceptual understanding. From the theoretical lens of embodied interaction, we have designed a multi-user participatory simulation called ARfract where visitors in a science museum can learn about complex scientific concepts on the refraction…

  3. PBL as a Tool for Integrating Autonomy into the Dental Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forrest, Alex S.; Walsh, Laurence J.; Isaacs, Geoff; Williams, Lesley M.

    1998-01-01

    Describes the conversion of a conventional didactic course in dental anatomy at the University of Queensland (Australia) into a course in problem-based learning and the resulting effects on learners' autonomy over the first three years of the new course, noting the extent of achievement of course goals, student achievement, and learning style…

  4. User Experience of a Mobile Speaking Application with Automatic Speech Recognition for EFL Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ahn, Tae youn; Lee, Sangmin-Michelle

    2016-01-01

    With the spread of mobile devices, mobile phones have enormous potential regarding their pedagogical use in language education. The goal of this study is to analyse user experience of a mobile-based learning system that is enhanced by speech recognition technology for the improvement of EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' speaking…

  5. The Efficiency Challenge: Creating a Transformative Learning Experience in a Principles of Management Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Durant, Rita A.; Carlon, Donna M.; Downs, Alexis

    2017-01-01

    This article describes the results of the "Efficiency Challenge," a 10-week, Principles of Management course activity that uses reflection and goal setting to help students understand the concept of operational efficiency. With transformative learning theory as a lens, we base our report on 4 years' worth of student reflections regarding…

  6. Learning about Social Capital in a Nonprofit and Philanthropy Management Class

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Livshin, Alexander

    2011-01-01

    The SOTL project was based on the goal of developing learning tools that would help students think and act outside the narrow circles of relatives and friends and develop the potential for broader associations through participating in nonprofit organizations and philanthropy. This was done by having students work in groups to invent a charitable…

  7. Prior Learning Assessment and Competency-Based Education: An Overview of Programs, Policies, and Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Valenzuela, Ireri; MacIntyre, Donald; Klein-Collins, Becky; Clerx, John

    2016-01-01

    How can we help significantly more students reach their educational goals and improve their employment outcomes? How can we reign in the growing time burden and ballooning costs students must shoulder throughout their educational journey? How can we recognize the learning and experience the vast number of nontraditional students bring when they…

  8. Indicators on Informal Learning for Active Citizenship at School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scheerens, Jaap

    2011-01-01

    The article is based on an international comparative study in seven European countries, in which informal learning for active citizenship at school was explored by means of in depth case studies. Active citizenship is being recognized as an important goal of education and school pedagogy in an increasing number of countries. After defining the key…

  9. The Relationship between Self-Directed Learning Readiness and Student Retention in Nursing Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Larmon, Brandy H.

    2015-01-01

    Retention in higher education, especially nursing education, is a concern for nurse educators. Due to the needs of nurse graduates and practicing nurses, the characteristic of self-directed learning in students is often an educational goal of a rigorous nursing curriculum. Program retention is often impacted by such demands. This study, based upon…

  10. On the Nature of and Teachers' Goals for Students' Mathematical Argumentation in High School Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howell, Tracey H.

    2013-01-01

    In an era of new standards and emerging accountability systems, an understanding of the supports needed to aid teachers and students in making necessary transitions in mathematics teaching and learning is critical. Given the established research base demonstrating the importance of justification and reasoning in students' mathematics learning and…

  11. Brave New (Virtual) World: Transforming Language Learning into Cultural Studies through Online Learning Environments (MOOs).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schneider, Jeffrey; von der Emde, Silke

    2000-01-01

    Describes an online approach through using a MOO, a computer program that allows students to share text-based virtual reality. The goal of the program was to build an environment that both enabled practice in the target language and sustained reflection on the processes of cultural production and reception. (Author/VWL)

  12. Our Compulsory Goals: Effective Teaching and Meaningful Learning through Powerful Cultural Tools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Ed.

    2012-01-01

    Wilhelm asks, "But are new literacies just fun?" Then he immediately answers, "Absolutely not--if we as teachers provide the right context and conditions of their use." Offering research-based advice on incorporating technology to increase motivation and deepen learning, Wilhelm boils it down to this bottom line: it's engaged, substantive,…

  13. Biological Dialogues: How to Teach Your Students to Learn Fluency in Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    May, S. Randolph; Cook, David L.; May, Marilyn K.

    2013-01-01

    Biology courses have thousands of words to learn in order to intelligently discuss the subject and take tests over the material. Biological fluency is an important goal for students, and practical methods based on constructivist pedagogies can be employed to promote it. We present a method in which pairs of students write dialogues from…

  14. Developing instruments concerning scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science: a validation study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Tzung-Jin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2017-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop and validate two survey instruments to evaluate high school students' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science. The initial relationships between the sampled students' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science were also investigated. A final valid sample of 600 volunteer Taiwanese high school students participated in this survey by responding to the Scientific Epistemic Beliefs Instrument (SEBI) and the Goal Orientations in Learning Science Instrument (GOLSI). Through both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the SEBI and GOLSI were proven to be valid and reliable for assessing the participants' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science. The path analysis results indicated that, by and large, the students with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs in various dimensions such as Development of Knowledge, Justification for Knowing, and Purpose of Knowing tended to adopt both Mastery-approach and Mastery-avoidance goals. Some interesting results were also found. For example, the students tended to set a learning goal to outperform others or merely demonstrate competence (Performance-approach) if they had more informed epistemic beliefs in the dimensions of Multiplicity of Knowledge, Uncertainty of Knowledge, and Purpose of Knowing.

  15. Simulation-based medical education: time for a pedagogical shift.

    PubMed

    Kalaniti, Kaarthigeyan; Campbell, Douglas M

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of medical education at all levels is to prepare physicians with the knowledge and comprehensive skills, required to deliver safe and effective patient care. The traditional 'apprentice' learning model in medical education is undergoing a pedagogical shift to a 'simulation-based' learning model. Experiential learning, deliberate practice and the ability to provide immediate feedback are the primary advantages of simulation-based medical education. It is an effective way to develop new skills, identify knowledge gaps, reduce medical errors, and maintain infrequently used clinical skills even among experienced clinical teams, with the overall goal of improving patient care. Although simulation cannot replace clinical exposure as a form of experiential learning, it promotes learning without compromising patient safety. This new paradigm shift is revolutionizing medical education in the Western world. It is time that the developing countries embrace this new pedagogical shift.

  16. Success in introductory college physics: The role of gender, high school preparation, and student learning perceptions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Jean Chi-Jen

    Physics is fundamental for science, engineering, medicine, and for understanding many phenomena encountered in people's daily lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between student success in college-level introductory physics courses and various educational and background characteristics. The primary variables of this study were gender, high school mathematics and science preparation, preference and perceptions of learning physics, and performance in introductory physics courses. Demographic characteristics considered were age, student grade level, parents' occupation and level of education, high school senior grade point average, and educational goals. A Survey of Learning Preference and Perceptions was developed to collect the information for this study. A total of 267 subjects enrolled in six introductory physics courses, four algebra-based and two calculus-based, participated in the study conducted during Spring Semester 2002. The findings from the algebra-based physics courses indicated that participant's educational goal, high school senior GPA, father's educational level, mother's educational level, and mother's occupation in the area of science, engineering, or computer technology were positively related to performance while participant age was negatively related. Biology preparation, mathematics preparation, and additional mathematics and science preparation in high school were also positively related to performance. The relationships between the primary variables and performance in calculus-based physics courses were limited to high school senior year GPA and high school physics preparation. Findings from all six courses indicated that participant's educational goal, high school senior GPA, father's educational level, and mother's occupation in the area of science, engineering, or computer technology, high school preparation in mathematics, biology, and the completion of additional mathematics and science courses were positively related to performance. No significant performance differences were found between male and female students. However, there were significant gender differences in physics learning perceptions. Female participants tended to try to understand physics materials and relate the physics problems to real world situations while their male counterparts tended to rely on rote learning and equation application. This study found that participants performed better by trying to understand the physics material and relate physics problems to real world situations. Participants who relied on rote learning did not perform well.

  17. [Digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system].

    PubMed

    da Costa, Cecília Passos Vaz; Luz, Maria Helena Barros Araújo

    2015-12-01

    To describe the creation of a digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system at a public university of Piaui. A methodological study applied to technological production based on the pedagogical framework of problem-based learning. The methodology for creating the learning object observed the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation recommended for contextualized instructional design. The revised taxonomy of Bloom was used to list the educational goals. The four modules of the developed learning object were inserted into the educational platform Moodle. The theoretical assumptions allowed the design of an important online resource that promotes effective learning in the scope of nursing education. This study should add value to nursing teaching practices through the use of digital learning objects for teaching diagnostic reasoning applied to skin and skin appendages.

  18. Cognitive Components Underpinning the Development of Model-Based Learning

    PubMed Central

    Potter, Tracey C.S.; Bryce, Nessa V.; Hartley, Catherine A.

    2016-01-01

    Reinforcement learning theory distinguishes “model-free” learning, which fosters reflexive repetition of previously rewarded actions, from “model-based” learning, which recruits a mental model of the environment to flexibly select goal-directed actions. Whereas model-free learning is evident across development, recruitment of model-based learning appears to increase with age. However, the cognitive processes underlying the development of model-based learning remain poorly characterized. Here, we examined whether age-related differences in cognitive processes underlying the construction and flexible recruitment of mental models predict developmental increases in model-based choice. In a cohort of participants aged 9–25, we examined whether the abilities to infer sequential regularities in the environment (“statistical learning”), maintain information in an active state (“working memory”) and integrate distant concepts to solve problems (“fluid reasoning”) predicted age-related improvements in model-based choice. We found that age-related improvements in statistical learning performance did not mediate the relationship between age and model-based choice. Ceiling performance on our working memory assay prevented examination of its contribution to model-based learning. However, age-related improvements in fluid reasoning statistically mediated the developmental increase in the recruitment of a model-based strategy. These findings suggest that gradual development of fluid reasoning may be a critical component process underlying the emergence of model-based learning. PMID:27825732

  19. Goal Contents and Goal Contexts: Experiments with Chinese Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Ze; Hu, Xiao Yong; Guo, Yong Yu

    2013-01-01

    Using samples of Chinese middle school students, the 2 experimental studies presented here examined the effects of goal content and goal context on test performance, free-choice engagement, and test anxiety within the framework of self-determination theory. Students' learning goals were induced as intrinsic or extrinsic with the learning contexts…

  20. Outreach Science Education: Evidence-Based Studies in a Gene Technology Lab

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scharfenberg, Franz-Josef; Bogner, Franz X.

    2014-01-01

    Nowadays, outreach labs are important informal learning environments in science education. After summarizing research to goals outreach labs focus on, we describe our evidence-based gene technology lab as a model of a research-driven outreach program. Evaluation-based optimizations of hands-on teaching based on cognitive load theory (additional…

  1. Student beliefs and learning environments: Developing a survey of factors related to conceptual change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanrahan, Mary

    1994-12-01

    This paper presents a model for the type of classroom environment believed to facilitate scientific conceptual change. A survey based on this model contains items about students' motivational beliefs, their study approach and their perceptions of their teacher's actions and learning goal orientation. Results obtained from factor analyses, correlations and analyses of variance, based on responses from 113 students, suggest that an empowering interpersonal teacher-student relationship is related to a deep approach to learning, a positive attitude to science, and positive self-efficacy beliefs, and may be increased by a constructivist approach to teaching.

  2. Goal Orientation, Learning Self-Efficacy, and Climate Perceptions in a Post-Acquisition Corporate Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Potosky, Denise

    2010-01-01

    The present investigation offers some insight for human resource development (HRD) practitioners and researchers focused on helping employees pursue learning goals as they adapt to organizational changes. Using a repeated measurement over a five-year time period, this study examined goal orientation, learning self-efficacy, climate perceptions,…

  3. Re-Interpreting Relevant Learning: An Evaluative Framework for Secondary Education in a Global Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrett, Angeline M.; Bainton, David

    2016-01-01

    The 2030 education goal privileges "relevant learning outcomes" as the evaluative space for quality improvement. Whilst the goal was designed for global level monitoring, its influence cuts across different scales. Implementation of the goal involves reinterpreting "relevant learning" at the local level. One way that small…

  4. Science Communication Training: What Are We Trying to Teach?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet; Lewenstein, Bruce V.

    2017-01-01

    Rapid growth in public communication of science and technology has led to many diverse training programs. We ask: What are learning goals of science communication training? A comprehensive set of learning goals for future trainings will draw fully from the range of fields that contribute to science communication. Learning goals help decide what to…

  5. Addiction History Associates with the Propensity to Form Habits.

    PubMed

    McKim, Theresa H; Bauer, Daniel J; Boettiger, Charlotte A

    2016-07-01

    Learned habitual responses to environmental stimuli allow efficient interaction with the environment, freeing cognitive resources for more demanding tasks. However, when the outcome of such actions is no longer a desired goal, established stimulus-response (S-R) associations or habits must be overcome. Among people with substance use disorders (SUDs), difficulty in overcoming habitual responses to stimuli associated with their addiction in favor of new, goal-directed behaviors contributes to relapse. Animal models of habit learning demonstrate that chronic self-administration of drugs of abuse promotes habitual responding beyond the domain of compulsive drug seeking. However, whether a similar propensity toward domain-general habitual responding occurs in humans with SUDs has remained unclear. To address this question, we used a visuomotor S-R learning and relearning task, the Hidden Association between Images Task, which employs abstract visual stimuli and manual responses. This task allows us to measure new S-R association learning and well-learned S-R association execution and includes a response contingency change manipulation to quantify the degree to which responding is habit-based, rather than goal-directed. We find that people with SUDs learn new S-R associations as well as healthy control participants do. Moreover, people with an SUD history slightly outperform controls in S-R execution. In contrast, people with SUDs are specifically impaired in overcoming well-learned S-R associations; those with SUDs make a significantly greater proportion of perseverative errors during well-learned S-R replacement, indicating the more habitual nature of their responses. Thus, with equivalent training and practice, people with SUDs appear to show enhanced domain-general habit formation.

  6. Evaluating the influence of goal setting on intravenous catheterization skill acquisition and transfer in a hybrid simulation training context.

    PubMed

    Brydges, Ryan; Mallette, Claire; Pollex, Heather; Carnahan, Heather; Dubrowski, Adam

    2012-08-01

    Educators often simplify complex tasks by setting learning objectives that focus trainees on isolated skills rather than the holistic task. We designed 2 sets of learning objectives for intravenous catheterization using goal setting theory. We hypothesized that setting holistic goals related to technical, cognitive, and communication skills would result in superior holistic performance, whereas setting isolated goals related to technical skills would result in superior technical performance. We randomly assigned practicing health care professionals to set holistic (n = 14) or isolated (n = 15) goals. All watched an instructional video and studied a list of 9 goals specific to their group. Participants practiced independently in a hybrid simulation (standardized patient combined with an arm simulator). The first and the last practice trials were videotaped for analysis. One-week later, participants completed a transfer test in another hybrid simulation scenario. Blinded experts evaluated performance on all 3 trials using the Direct Observation of Procedural Skills tool. The holistic group scored higher than the isolated group on the holistic Direct Observation of Procedural Skills score for all 3 trials [mean (SD), 45.0 (9.16) vs. 38.4 (9.17); P = 0.01]. The isolated group did not perform better than the holistic group on the technical skills score [10.3 (2.73) vs. 11.6 (3.01); P = 0.11]. Our results suggest that asking learners to set holistic goals did not interfere with their attaining competent holistic and technical skills during hybrid simulation training. This exploratory trial provides preliminary evidence for how to consider integrating hybrid simulation into medical curricula and for the design of learning goals in simulation-based education.

  7. A new computational account of cognitive control over reinforcement-based decision-making: Modeling of a probabilistic learning task.

    PubMed

    Zendehrouh, Sareh

    2015-11-01

    Recent work on decision-making field offers an account of dual-system theory for decision-making process. This theory holds that this process is conducted by two main controllers: a goal-directed system and a habitual system. In the reinforcement learning (RL) domain, the habitual behaviors are connected with model-free methods, in which appropriate actions are learned through trial-and-error experiences. However, goal-directed behaviors are associated with model-based methods of RL, in which actions are selected using a model of the environment. Studies on cognitive control also suggest that during processes like decision-making, some cortical and subcortical structures work in concert to monitor the consequences of decisions and to adjust control according to current task demands. Here a computational model is presented based on dual system theory and cognitive control perspective of decision-making. The proposed model is used to simulate human performance on a variant of probabilistic learning task. The basic proposal is that the brain implements a dual controller, while an accompanying monitoring system detects some kinds of conflict including a hypothetical cost-conflict one. The simulation results address existing theories about two event-related potentials, namely error related negativity (ERN) and feedback related negativity (FRN), and explore the best account of them. Based on the results, some testable predictions are also presented. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Goal-directed imitation: the means to an end.

    PubMed

    Hayes, Spencer J; Ashford, Derek; Bennett, Simon J

    2008-02-01

    The effects of goal-directed imitation and observational learning were examined whilst learning a goal-directed motor skill (three-ball cascade juggling). An observational learning (OL) group observed a model and a control (CON) group received minimal verbal instructions regarding how to hold and release the juggling balls. The OL group performed more juggling cycles across practice and retention than the CON group. In addition, the OL group's upper limb coordination and ball flight trajectory pattern were more similar to the model's movements than the CON group. These data show that when the to-be-learnt movement pattern and end-goal are not specified by the task's mechanical constraints, or can be achieved by modifying a pre-existing motor skill, individuals have difficulty learning on the basis of discovery processes alone. Under these circumstances, observational learning is effective because it conveys to the individual the specific means by which the end-goal can be achieved. These findings lead us to suggest that when the end-goal and the means to achieve the end-goal are directly linked, the means are given sufficient weight in the goal hierarchy such that the model's movement is imitated.

  9. Preoperative learning goals set by surgical residents and faculty.

    PubMed

    Pernar, Luise I M; Breen, Elizabeth; Ashley, Stanley W; Peyre, Sarah E

    2011-09-01

    The operating room (OR) remains the main teaching venue for surgical trainees. The OR is considered a pure-discovery learning environment; the downsides of this can be putatively overcome when faculty and trainee arrive at a shared understanding of learning. This study aimed to better understand preoperative learning goals to identify areas of commonalities and potential barrier to intraoperative teaching. Brief, structured preoperative interviews were conducted outside the OR with the resident and faculty member who were scheduled to operate together. Answers were analyzed and grouped using grounded theory. Twenty-seven resident-faculty pairs were interviewed. Nine residents (33.3%) were junior (PGY 1 and 2) and 18 (66.7%) were senior (PGY 3 through 5). Learning goal categories that emerged from the response analysis were anatomy, basic and advanced surgical skills, general and specific procedural tasks, technical autonomy, and pre-, intra-, and postoperative considerations. Residents articulated fewer learning goals than faculty (1.5 versus 2.4; P = 0.024). The most frequently identified learning goal by both groups was one classifiable under general procedural tasks; the greatest divergence was seen regarding perioperative considerations, which were identified frequently by faculty members but rarely by residents. Faculty articulate significantly more learning goals for the residents they will operate with than residents articulate for themselves. Our data suggest that residents and faculty align on some learning goals for the OR but residents tend to be more limited, focusing predominantly on technical aspects of the operation. Faculty members tend to hold a broader view of the learning potential of the OR. These discrepancies may present barriers to effective intraoperative teaching. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Self-supervised learning as an enabling technology for future space exploration robots: ISS experiments on monocular distance learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Hecke, Kevin; de Croon, Guido C. H. E.; Hennes, Daniel; Setterfield, Timothy P.; Saenz-Otero, Alvar; Izzo, Dario

    2017-11-01

    Although machine learning holds an enormous promise for autonomous space robots, it is currently not employed because of the inherent uncertain outcome of learning processes. In this article we investigate a learning mechanism, Self-Supervised Learning (SSL), which is very reliable and hence an important candidate for real-world deployment even on safety-critical systems such as space robots. To demonstrate this reliability, we introduce a novel SSL setup that allows a stereo vision equipped robot to cope with the failure of one of its cameras. The setup learns to estimate average depth using a monocular image, by using the stereo vision depths from the past as trusted ground truth. We present preliminary results from an experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) performed with the MIT/NASA SPHERES VERTIGO satellite. The presented experiments were performed on October 8th, 2015 on board the ISS. The main goals were (1) data gathering, and (2) navigation based on stereo vision. First the astronaut Kimiya Yui moved the satellite around the Japanese Experiment Module to gather stereo vision data for learning. Subsequently, the satellite freely explored the space in the module based on its (trusted) stereo vision system and a pre-programmed exploration behavior, while simultaneously performing the self-supervised learning of monocular depth estimation on board. The two main goals were successfully achieved, representing the first online learning robotic experiments in space. These results lay the groundwork for a follow-up experiment in which the satellite will use the learned single-camera depth estimation for autonomous exploration in the ISS, and are an advancement towards future space robots that continuously improve their navigation capabilities over time, even in harsh and completely unknown space environments.

  11. Addiction history associates with the propensity to form habits

    PubMed Central

    McKim, Theresa H.; Bauer, Daniel J.; Boettiger, Charlotte A.

    2016-01-01

    Learned habitual responses to environmental stimuli allow efficient interaction with the environment, freeing cognitive resources for more demanding tasks. However, when the outcome of such actions is no longer a desired goal, established stimulus-response (S-R) associations, or habits, must be overcome. Among people with substance use disorders (SUDs), difficulty in overcoming habitual responses to stimuli associated with their addiction in favor of new, goal-directed behaviors, contributes to relapse. Animal models of habit learning demonstrate that chronic self-administration of drugs of abuse promotes habitual responding beyond the domain of compulsive drug seeking. However, whether a similar propensity toward domain-general habitual responding occurs in humans with SUDs has remained unclear. To address this question, we used a visuomotor S-R learning and re-learning task, the Hidden Association Between Images Task (HABIT), which employs abstract visual stimuli and manual responses. This task allows us to measure new S-R association learning, well-learned S-R association execution, and includes a response contingency change manipulation to quantify the degree to which responding is habit-based, rather than goal-directed. We find that people with SUDs learn new S-R associations as well as healthy control subjects do. Moreover, people with an SUD history slightly outperform controls in S-R execution. In contrast, people with SUDs are specifically impaired in overcoming well-learned S-R associations; those with SUDs make a significantly greater proportion of perseverative errors during well-learned S-R replacement, indicating the more habitual nature of their responses. Thus, with equivalent training and practice, people with SUDs appear to show enhanced domain-general habit formation. PMID:26967944

  12. An inter-institutional collaboration: transforming education through interprofessional simulations.

    PubMed

    King, Sharla; Drummond, Jane; Hughes, Ellen; Bookhalter, Sharon; Huffman, Dan; Ansell, Dawn

    2013-09-01

    An inter-institutional partnership of four post-secondary institutions and a health provider formed a learning community with the goal of developing, implementing and evaluating interprofessional learning experiences in simulation-based environments. The organization, education and educational research activities of the learning community align with the institutional and instructional reforms recommended by the Lancet Commission on Health Professional Education for the 21st century. This article provides an overview of the inter-institutional collaboration, including the interprofessional simulation learning experiences, instructor development activities and preliminary results from the evaluation.

  13. Intelligent tutoring systems as tools for investigating individual differences in learning

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shute, Valerie J.

    1987-01-01

    The ultimate goal of this research is to build an improved model-based selection and classification system for the United States Air Force. Researchers are developing innovative approaches to ability testing. The Learning Abilities Measurement Program (LAMP) examines individual differences in learning abilities, seeking answers to the questions of why some people learn more and better than others and whether there are basic cognitive processes applicable across tasks and domains that are predictive of successful performance (or whether there are more complex problem solving behaviors involved).

  14. Interactive Pedagogy in a Literature Based Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mayer, Virginia

    1993-01-01

    Preserving a literary-based curriculum, creating a sensitivity to the literature, and encouraging communicative skills relative to the literature are significant goals in foreign language study. Therefore, a program involving strategic interaction and cooperative learning techniques applied to the study of literature fosters communication and…

  15. The Effects of Achievement Goals and Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors on Reading Comprehension in Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernacki, Matthew L.; Byrnes, James P.; Cromley, Jennifer G.

    2012-01-01

    Studies examining students' achievement goals, cognitive engagement strategies and performance have found that achievement goals tend to predict classes of cognitive strategy use which predict performance on measures of learning. These studies have led to deeper theoretical understanding, but their reliance on self-report data limit the…

  16. Developing Instruments Concerning Scientific Epistemic Beliefs and Goal Orientations in Learning Science: A Validation Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lin, Tzung-Jin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop and validate two survey instruments to evaluate high school students' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science. The initial relationships between the sampled students' scientific epistemic beliefs and goal orientations in learning science were also investigated. A final valid…

  17. A Millennium Learning Goal for Education Post-2015: A Question of Outcomes or Processes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrett, Angeline M.

    2011-01-01

    As the target year for the current Millennium Development Goal of universal completion of primary education approaches, three World Bank economists have proposed its replacement with a Millennium Learning Goal. This is part of a trend of increased privileging of learning outcomes. The proposal is assessed from the perspective of human rights-based…

  18. An Analysis of Approaches to Goal Setting in Middle Grades Personalized Learning Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeMink-Carthew, Jessica; Olofson, Mark W.; LeGeros, Life; Netcoh, Steven; Hennessey, Susan

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the goal-setting approaches of 11 middle grades teachers during the first year of their implementation of a statewide, personalized learning initiative. As an increasing number of middle level schools explore personalized learning, there is an urgent need for empirical research in this area. Goal setting is a critical…

  19. Impact of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE): A Technological Approach to Genetics Teaching on High School Students' Content Knowledge, Self-Efficacy and Career Goal Aspirations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kandi, Kamala M.

    2013-01-01

    This study examines the effect of a technology-based instructional tool "Geniverse" on the content knowledge gains, Science Self-Efficacy, Technology Self-Efficacy, and Career Goal Aspirations among 283 high school learners. The study was conducted in four urban high schools, two of which have achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and…

  20. Neural Modularity Helps Organisms Evolve to Learn New Skills without Forgetting Old Skills

    PubMed Central

    Ellefsen, Kai Olav; Mouret, Jean-Baptiste; Clune, Jeff

    2015-01-01

    A long-standing goal in artificial intelligence is creating agents that can learn a variety of different skills for different problems. In the artificial intelligence subfield of neural networks, a barrier to that goal is that when agents learn a new skill they typically do so by losing previously acquired skills, a problem called catastrophic forgetting. That occurs because, to learn the new task, neural learning algorithms change connections that encode previously acquired skills. How networks are organized critically affects their learning dynamics. In this paper, we test whether catastrophic forgetting can be reduced by evolving modular neural networks. Modularity intuitively should reduce learning interference between tasks by separating functionality into physically distinct modules in which learning can be selectively turned on or off. Modularity can further improve learning by having a reinforcement learning module separate from sensory processing modules, allowing learning to happen only in response to a positive or negative reward. In this paper, learning takes place via neuromodulation, which allows agents to selectively change the rate of learning for each neural connection based on environmental stimuli (e.g. to alter learning in specific locations based on the task at hand). To produce modularity, we evolve neural networks with a cost for neural connections. We show that this connection cost technique causes modularity, confirming a previous result, and that such sparsely connected, modular networks have higher overall performance because they learn new skills faster while retaining old skills more and because they have a separate reinforcement learning module. Our results suggest (1) that encouraging modularity in neural networks may help us overcome the long-standing barrier of networks that cannot learn new skills without forgetting old ones, and (2) that one benefit of the modularity ubiquitous in the brains of natural animals might be to alleviate the problem of catastrophic forgetting. PMID:25837826

  1. Neural modularity helps organisms evolve to learn new skills without forgetting old skills.

    PubMed

    Ellefsen, Kai Olav; Mouret, Jean-Baptiste; Clune, Jeff

    2015-04-01

    A long-standing goal in artificial intelligence is creating agents that can learn a variety of different skills for different problems. In the artificial intelligence subfield of neural networks, a barrier to that goal is that when agents learn a new skill they typically do so by losing previously acquired skills, a problem called catastrophic forgetting. That occurs because, to learn the new task, neural learning algorithms change connections that encode previously acquired skills. How networks are organized critically affects their learning dynamics. In this paper, we test whether catastrophic forgetting can be reduced by evolving modular neural networks. Modularity intuitively should reduce learning interference between tasks by separating functionality into physically distinct modules in which learning can be selectively turned on or off. Modularity can further improve learning by having a reinforcement learning module separate from sensory processing modules, allowing learning to happen only in response to a positive or negative reward. In this paper, learning takes place via neuromodulation, which allows agents to selectively change the rate of learning for each neural connection based on environmental stimuli (e.g. to alter learning in specific locations based on the task at hand). To produce modularity, we evolve neural networks with a cost for neural connections. We show that this connection cost technique causes modularity, confirming a previous result, and that such sparsely connected, modular networks have higher overall performance because they learn new skills faster while retaining old skills more and because they have a separate reinforcement learning module. Our results suggest (1) that encouraging modularity in neural networks may help us overcome the long-standing barrier of networks that cannot learn new skills without forgetting old ones, and (2) that one benefit of the modularity ubiquitous in the brains of natural animals might be to alleviate the problem of catastrophic forgetting.

  2. Teaching Vectors Through an Interactive Game Based Laboratory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    O'Brien, James; Sirokman, Gergely

    2014-03-01

    In recent years, science and particularly physics education has been furthered by the use of project based interactive learning [1]. There is a tremendous amount of evidence [2] that use of these techniques in a college learning environment leads to a deeper appreciation and understanding of fundamental concepts. Since vectors are the basis for any advancement in physics and engineering courses the cornerstone of any physics regimen is a concrete and comprehensive introduction to vectors. Here, we introduce a new turn based vector game that we have developed to help supplement traditional vector learning practices, which allows students to be creative, work together as a team, and accomplish a goal through the understanding of basic vector concepts.

  3. Dopamine selectively remediates 'model-based' reward learning: a computational approach.

    PubMed

    Sharp, Madeleine E; Foerde, Karin; Daw, Nathaniel D; Shohamy, Daphna

    2016-02-01

    Patients with loss of dopamine due to Parkinson's disease are impaired at learning from reward. However, it remains unknown precisely which aspect of learning is impaired. In particular, learning from reward, or reinforcement learning, can be driven by two distinct computational processes. One involves habitual stamping-in of stimulus-response associations, hypothesized to arise computationally from 'model-free' learning. The other, 'model-based' learning, involves learning a model of the world that is believed to support goal-directed behaviour. Much work has pointed to a role for dopamine in model-free learning. But recent work suggests model-based learning may also involve dopamine modulation, raising the possibility that model-based learning may contribute to the learning impairment in Parkinson's disease. To directly test this, we used a two-step reward-learning task which dissociates model-free versus model-based learning. We evaluated learning in patients with Parkinson's disease tested ON versus OFF their dopamine replacement medication and in healthy controls. Surprisingly, we found no effect of disease or medication on model-free learning. Instead, we found that patients tested OFF medication showed a marked impairment in model-based learning, and that this impairment was remediated by dopaminergic medication. Moreover, model-based learning was positively correlated with a separate measure of working memory performance, raising the possibility of common neural substrates. Our results suggest that some learning deficits in Parkinson's disease may be related to an inability to pursue reward based on complete representations of the environment. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Effects on Reading of an Early Intervention Program for Children at Risk of Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    González-Valenzuela, María-José; Martín-Ruiz, Isaías

    2017-01-01

    The study aimed to analyze the effects on reading of an early oral and written language intervention program for Spanish children at risk of learning difficulties. The goal of this classroom-based program was to prioritize a systematic approach to reading and writing and to foster phonological knowledge and the development of oral language…

  5. An Examination of Mastery- and Performance-Based Orientations in Strategic Communication Syllabi and Suggestions for Rhetorical and Pedagogical Improvement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevens, Elise M.; Gibson, Rhonda

    2017-01-01

    This study evaluated syllabi (N = 87) from introductory advertising and public relations courses to examine to what extent and how stated course goals and assignments signal the overall learning orientation of a course and which type of learning orientation--mastery or performance--was most common. Mastery orientations emphasize intrinsic rewards,…

  6. Aptitude-Treatment Interactions during Creativity Training in E-Learning: How Meaning-Making, Self-Regulation, and Knowledge Management Influence Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yeh, Yu-chu; Lin, Chun Fu

    2015-01-01

    The goal of aptitude-treatment interactions (ATIs) is to find the interactions between treatments and learners' aptitudes and therefore to achieve optimal learning. This study aimed at understanding whether the aptitudes of meaning-making, self-regulation, and knowledge management (KM) would interact with the treatment of 17-week KM-based training…

  7. The Effects of Cultural Video Resources on Teaching and Learning Korean Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roh, Jaemin

    2011-01-01

    This dissertation sought to evaluate the potential of a customized, video-based instructional method, the Cultural Video Project (CVP), which was designed to meet the needs of both heritage and non-heritage students learning Korean as a second language in a university setting. The goal of this study was to design and create the CVP, document the…

  8. Lessons Learned: Implementation of the Milwaukee Urban Systemic Initiative in Years One and Two. Report for the Milwaukee Public Schools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Doyle, Lynn H.; Huinker, DeAnn

    The Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI) program is an effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that targets large urban school systems with the goal of sustainable implementation of high-quality, standards-based teaching for the purpose of attaining system-wide increases in students' learning of challenging mathematics and science.…

  9. Learning for the Future: The Emergence of Lifelong Learning and the Internationalisation of Education as the Fourth Way?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Wing On

    2012-01-01

    This article explores the discourse of international educational reform that aims at meeting the various challenges of globalisation and a knowledge-based economy and preparing students for a better future in the twenty-first century. Specifically, it reviews the dominant themes, trends and goals of modern education. It does so by exploring the…

  10. Teaching Students How to Study: A Workshop on Information Processing and Self-Testing Helps Students Learn

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F.; Shockley, Floyd W.; Wilson, Rachel E.

    2011-01-01

    We implemented a "how to study" workshop for small groups of students (6-12) for N = 93 consenting students, randomly assigned from a large introductory biology class. The goal of this workshop was to teach students self-regulating techniques with visualization-based exercises as a foundation for learning and critical thinking in two areas:…

  11. I Feel What He Was Doin': Responding to Justice-Oriented Teaching through Hip-Hop Aesthetics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Petchauer, Emery

    2011-01-01

    This study illustrates a set of learning activities designed from two hip-hop aesthetics and explores their use among a classroom of African American preservice teachers who graduated from urban school districts. Based on the two hip-hop aesthetics of kinetic consumption and autonomy/distance, the specific goal of these learning activities is to…

  12. Giving Credit where Credit Is Due: Creating a Competency-Based Qualifications Framework for Postsecondary Education and Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ganzglass, Evelyn; Bird, Keith; Prince, Heath

    2011-01-01

    The national goal of increasing postsecondary credentials, to improve both equity and economic competitiveness, requires a fresh look at how to recognize learning in noncredit workforce education and training. The credit hour has long been the standard academic currency in postsecondary education. Despite its weakness as a measure of learning, in…

  13. Understanding How Identity Supportive Games Can Impact Ethnic Minority Possible Selves and Learning: A Design-Based Research Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Joey J.

    2009-01-01

    Serious Games are digital games with an educational, informative, or persuasive goal beyond mere entertainment (Abt, 2002). They are promising because they often contain features that appear to be useful for learning (Squire, 2004), eliciting behavioral or attitudinal change (Yee, 2007) or encouraging new perspective taking, empathy, and new ways…

  14. Goals: Coherence and Relevance: 3 Districts Focus on Quality of Professional Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobson, Linda

    2016-01-01

    For more than a century, teachers in Tennessee's Loudon County School District have come together before the start of the school year for a professional development day. For the first time this year, professional learning in the district will be based at each individual school -- a result of the district's use of a new rubric, which states that…

  15. Episodic Feelings and Transfer of Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nemirovsky, Ricardo

    2011-01-01

    The goal of this article is to develop a new perspective on transfer of learning integrating cognition, emotion, and bodily experience. It is based on a case study with a 10-year-old girl as she explored the use of a motion detector, allowing for the simultaneous graphing of the position versus time of 2 moving points. The paper elaborates on the…

  16. Reforming Social Studies Education in the United States.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Senesh, Lawrence

    The efforts to reform the U.S. educational system should focus on the goal of creating a Learning Society. A Learning Society is based upon the commitment to a set of values and to a system of education that affords all members of the community the opportunity to stretch their minds to full capacity from early childhood through adulthood. This…

  17. Role Playing in Online Education: A Teaching Tool to Enhance Student Engagement and Sustained Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bender, Tisha

    2005-01-01

    As online education escalates, it is important for instructors to explore teaching techniques that engage students and enhance learning at a profound level. To achieve this goal, instructors must look at the primarily text-based environment of the online class not as a limitation, but as an opportunity. Attentive and highly personal teaching that…

  18. Does Team Formation Impact Student Performance, Effort and Attitudes in a College Course Employing Collaborative Learning?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pociask, Sarah; Gross, David; Shih, Mei-Yau

    2017-01-01

    The literature on team-based learning emphasizes the importance of team composition and team design, and it is recommended that instructors organize teams to ensure diversity of team members and optimal team performance. But does the method of team formation actually impact student performance? The goal of the present study was to examine whether…

  19. Generic Competencies in the Education of Engineers: The Case of Engineering Program in a Public University in Mexico

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Serna, Alejandra García; Vega, José Luis Arcos; García, Juan José Sevilla; Ruiz, María Amparo Oliveros

    2018-01-01

    We present an analysis regarding generic skills on engineering program offered in a public state university in Mexico (UABC). The university implemented a new educational model changing rigid programs to flexible programs based on competencies. The goal is to determine generic skills related to the four pillars of learning: learning to do,…

  20. Migrating a lecture in nursing informatics to a blended learning format--A bottom-up approach to implement an open-source web-based learning management system.

    PubMed

    Schrader, Ulrich

    2006-01-01

    At the university of applied sciences in Germany a learning management system has been implemented. The migration of classic courses to a web-enhances curriculum can be categorized into three phases independent of the technology used. The first two phases "dedicated website" and "database supported content management system" are mainly concerned with bringing the learning material and current information online and making it available to the students. The goal is here to make the maintenance of the learning material easier. The third phase characterized by the use of a learning management system offers the support of more modern didactic principles like social constructionism or problem-oriented learning. In this papers the phases as they occurred with the migration of a course of nursing informatics are described and experiences discussed.. The absence of institutional goals associated with the use of a learning management system led to a bottom-up approach triggered by faculty activities that can be described by a promoter model rather than by a process management model. The use of an open source learning management systems made this process easier to realize since no financial commitment is required up front.

  1. Integrating Field-Centered, Project Based Activities with Academic Year Coursework: A Curriculum Wide Approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kelso, P. R.; Brown, L. M.

    2015-12-01

    Based upon constructivist principles and the recognition that many students are motivated by hands-on activities and field experiences, we designed a new undergraduate curriculum at Lake Superior State University. One of our major goals was to develop stand-alone field projects in most of the academic year courses. Examples of courses impacted include structural geology, geophysics, and geotectonics, Students learn geophysical concepts in the context of near surface field-based geophysical studies while students in structural geology learn about structural processes through outcrop study of fractures, folds and faults. In geotectonics students learn about collisional and rifting processes through on-site field studies of specific geologic provinces. Another goal was to integrate data and samples collected by students in our sophomore level introductory field course along with stand-alone field projects in our clastic systems and sequence stratigraphy courses. Our emphasis on active learning helps students develop a meaningful geoscience knowledge base and complex reasoning skills in authentic contexts. We simulate the activities of practicing geoscientists by engaging students in all aspects of a project, for example: field-oriented project planning and design; acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting data; incorporating supplemental material and background data; and preparing oral and written project reports. We find through anecdotal evidence including student comments and personal observation that the projects stimulate interest, provide motivation for learning new concepts, integrate skill and concept acquisition vertically through the curriculum, apply concepts from multiple geoscience subdisiplines, and develop soft skills such as team work, problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills. Through this projected-centered Lake Superior State University geology curriculum students practice our motto of "learn geology by doing geology."

  2. A Unified Theoretical Framework for Cognitive Sequencing.

    PubMed

    Savalia, Tejas; Shukla, Anuj; Bapi, Raju S

    2016-01-01

    The capacity to sequence information is central to human performance. Sequencing ability forms the foundation stone for higher order cognition related to language and goal-directed planning. Information related to the order of items, their timing, chunking and hierarchical organization are important aspects in sequencing. Past research on sequencing has emphasized two distinct and independent dichotomies: implicit vs. explicit and goal-directed vs. habits. We propose a theoretical framework unifying these two streams. Our proposal relies on brain's ability to implicitly extract statistical regularities from the stream of stimuli and with attentional engagement organizing sequences explicitly and hierarchically. Similarly, sequences that need to be assembled purposively to accomplish a goal require engagement of attentional processes. With repetition, these goal-directed plans become habits with concomitant disengagement of attention. Thus, attention and awareness play a crucial role in the implicit-to-explicit transition as well as in how goal-directed plans become automatic habits. Cortico-subcortical loops basal ganglia-frontal cortex and hippocampus-frontal cortex loops mediate the transition process. We show how the computational principles of model-free and model-based learning paradigms, along with a pivotal role for attention and awareness, offer a unifying framework for these two dichotomies. Based on this framework, we make testable predictions related to the potential influence of response-to-stimulus interval (RSI) on developing awareness in implicit learning tasks.

  3. A Unified Theoretical Framework for Cognitive Sequencing

    PubMed Central

    Savalia, Tejas; Shukla, Anuj; Bapi, Raju S.

    2016-01-01

    The capacity to sequence information is central to human performance. Sequencing ability forms the foundation stone for higher order cognition related to language and goal-directed planning. Information related to the order of items, their timing, chunking and hierarchical organization are important aspects in sequencing. Past research on sequencing has emphasized two distinct and independent dichotomies: implicit vs. explicit and goal-directed vs. habits. We propose a theoretical framework unifying these two streams. Our proposal relies on brain's ability to implicitly extract statistical regularities from the stream of stimuli and with attentional engagement organizing sequences explicitly and hierarchically. Similarly, sequences that need to be assembled purposively to accomplish a goal require engagement of attentional processes. With repetition, these goal-directed plans become habits with concomitant disengagement of attention. Thus, attention and awareness play a crucial role in the implicit-to-explicit transition as well as in how goal-directed plans become automatic habits. Cortico-subcortical loops basal ganglia-frontal cortex and hippocampus-frontal cortex loops mediate the transition process. We show how the computational principles of model-free and model-based learning paradigms, along with a pivotal role for attention and awareness, offer a unifying framework for these two dichotomies. Based on this framework, we make testable predictions related to the potential influence of response-to-stimulus interval (RSI) on developing awareness in implicit learning tasks. PMID:27917146

  4. Examining the motivational impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic goal framing and autonomy-supportive versus internally controlling communication style on early adolescents' academic achievement.

    PubMed

    Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Simons, Joke; Lens, Willy; Soenens, Bart; Matos, Lennia

    2005-01-01

    The present experimental research examined whether framing early adolescents' (11- to 12-year-olds) learning activity in terms of the attainment of an extrinsic (i.e., physical attractiveness) versus intrinsic (i.e., health) goal and communicating these different goal contents in an internally controlling versus autonomy-supportive way affect performance. Both conceptual and rote learning were assessed. Three experimental field studies, 2 among obese and 1 among nonobese participants, confirmed the hypothesis that extrinsic goal framing and internal control undermine conceptual (but not rote) learning, even in comparison with a control group. Study 3 indicated that the positive effect of intrinsic goal framing on conceptual learning was mediated by task involvement, whereas the positive effect of autonomy-supportive communication style on conceptual learning was mediated by relative autonomous motivation.

  5. Goal-oriented robot navigation learning using a multi-scale space representation.

    PubMed

    Llofriu, M; Tejera, G; Contreras, M; Pelc, T; Fellous, J M; Weitzenfeld, A

    2015-12-01

    There has been extensive research in recent years on the multi-scale nature of hippocampal place cells and entorhinal grid cells encoding which led to many speculations on their role in spatial cognition. In this paper we focus on the multi-scale nature of place cells and how they contribute to faster learning during goal-oriented navigation when compared to a spatial cognition system composed of single scale place cells. The task consists of a circular arena with a fixed goal location, in which a robot is trained to find the shortest path to the goal after a number of learning trials. Synaptic connections are modified using a reinforcement learning paradigm adapted to the place cells multi-scale architecture. The model is evaluated in both simulation and physical robots. We find that larger scale and combined multi-scale representations favor goal-oriented navigation task learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. General Chemistry Students' Goals for Chemistry Laboratory Coursework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeKorver, Brittland K.; Towns, Marcy H.

    2015-01-01

    Little research exists on college students' learning goals in chemistry, let alone specifically pertaining to laboratory coursework. Because students' learning goals are linked to achievement and dependent on context, research on students' goals in the laboratory context may lead to better understanding about the efficacy of lab curricula. This…

  7. Setting Writing Revision Goals after Assessment for Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huang, Shu-Chen

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the effects of goal setting for revision in an EFL writing classroom where principles of assessment "for" learning (AfL) were followed. Following draft writing, instruction, and assessment, college freshmen were put into control, goal, and goal+ groups. Before students started to revise their drafts, individuals in…

  8. Dopamine selectively remediates ‘model-based’ reward learning: a computational approach

    PubMed Central

    Sharp, Madeleine E.; Foerde, Karin; Daw, Nathaniel D.

    2016-01-01

    Patients with loss of dopamine due to Parkinson’s disease are impaired at learning from reward. However, it remains unknown precisely which aspect of learning is impaired. In particular, learning from reward, or reinforcement learning, can be driven by two distinct computational processes. One involves habitual stamping-in of stimulus-response associations, hypothesized to arise computationally from ‘model-free’ learning. The other, ‘model-based’ learning, involves learning a model of the world that is believed to support goal-directed behaviour. Much work has pointed to a role for dopamine in model-free learning. But recent work suggests model-based learning may also involve dopamine modulation, raising the possibility that model-based learning may contribute to the learning impairment in Parkinson’s disease. To directly test this, we used a two-step reward-learning task which dissociates model-free versus model-based learning. We evaluated learning in patients with Parkinson’s disease tested ON versus OFF their dopamine replacement medication and in healthy controls. Surprisingly, we found no effect of disease or medication on model-free learning. Instead, we found that patients tested OFF medication showed a marked impairment in model-based learning, and that this impairment was remediated by dopaminergic medication. Moreover, model-based learning was positively correlated with a separate measure of working memory performance, raising the possibility of common neural substrates. Our results suggest that some learning deficits in Parkinson’s disease may be related to an inability to pursue reward based on complete representations of the environment. PMID:26685155

  9. Circuit mechanisms of sensorimotor learning

    PubMed Central

    Makino, Hiroshi; Hwang, Eun Jung; Hedrick, Nathan G.; Komiyama, Takaki

    2016-01-01

    SUMMARY The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our understanding of the modifications in the sensorimotor pathway related to sensorimotor learning. We divide the process in three hierarchical levels with distinct goals: 1) sensory perceptual learning, 2) sensorimotor associative learning, and 3) motor skill learning. Perceptual learning optimizes the representations of important sensory stimuli. Associative learning and the initial phase of motor skill learning are ensured by feedback-based mechanisms that permit trial-and-error learning. The later phase of motor skill learning may primarily involve feedback-independent mechanisms operating under the classic Hebbian rule. With these changes under distinct constraints and mechanisms, sensorimotor learning establishes dedicated circuitry for the reproduction of stereotyped neural activity patterns and behavior. PMID:27883902

  10. Using goal-directed design to create a novel system for improving chronic illness care.

    PubMed

    Fore, David; Goldenhar, Linda M; Margolis, Peter A; Seid, Michael

    2013-10-29

    A learning health system enables patients, clinicians, and researchers to work together to choose care based on the best evidence, drive discovery as a natural outgrowth of patient care, and ensure innovation, quality, safety, and value in health care; all in a more real-time fashion. Our paper describes how goal-directed design (GDD) methods were employed to understand the context and goals of potential participants in such a system as part of a design process to translate the concept of a learning health system into a prototype collaborative chronic care network (C3N), specifically for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease. Thirty-six one-on-one in-depth interviews and observations were conducted with patients (10/36, 28%), caregivers (10/36, 28%), physicians/researchers (10/36, 28%), and nurses (6/36, 17%) from a pediatric gastroenterology center participating in the ImproveCareNow network. GDD methods were used to determine the context and goals of participants. These same methods were used in conjunction with idealized design process techniques to help determine characteristics of a learning health system for this pediatric health care ecology. Research was conducted in a clinic and, in the case of some patients and caregivers, at home. Thematic analysis revealed 3 parent-child dyad personas (ie, representations of interviewees' behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes, and contextual information) that represented adaptation to a chronic illness over time. These were used as part of a design process to generate scenarios (potential interactions between personas and the learning health system under design) from which system requirements were derived. These scenarios in turn helped guide generation, prioritization, design, measurement, and implementation of approximately 100 prototype interventions consistent with the aim of C3N becoming a learning health network. GDD methods help ensure human goals and contexts inform the design of a network of health care interventions which reflect the shape and purpose of a C3N in pediatric chronic illness care. Developing online and in-person interventions according to well-documented context and motivations of participants increases the likelihood that a C3N will enable all participants to act in ways that achieve their goals with grace and dignity. GDD methods complemented quality-improvement methods to generate prototypes consistent with clinical and research aims, as well as the goals of patient disease management.

  11. Gross domestic product estimation based on electricity utilization by artificial neural network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stevanović, Mirjana; Vujičić, Slađana; Gajić, Aleksandar M.

    2018-01-01

    The main goal of the paper was to estimate gross domestic product (GDP) based on electricity estimation by artificial neural network (ANN). The electricity utilization was analyzed based on different sources like renewable, coal and nuclear sources. The ANN network was trained with two training algorithms namely extreme learning method and back-propagation algorithm in order to produce the best prediction results of the GDP. According to the results it can be concluded that the ANN model with extreme learning method could produce the acceptable prediction of the GDP based on the electricity utilization.

  12. High fidelity case-based simulation debriefing: everything you need to know.

    PubMed

    Hart, Danielle; McNeil, Mary Ann; Griswold-Theodorson, Sharon; Bhatia, Kriti; Joing, Scott

    2012-09-01

    In this 30-minute talk, the authors take an in-depth look at how to debrief high-fidelity case-based simulation sessions, including discussion on debriefing theory, goals, approaches, and structure, as well as ways to create a supportive and safe learning environment, resulting in successful small group learning and self-reflection. Emphasis is placed on the "debriefing with good judgment" approach. Video clips of sample debriefing attempts, highlighting the "dos and don'ts" of simulation debriefing, are included. The goal of this talk is to provide you with the necessary tools and information to develop a successful and effective debriefing approach. There is a bibliography and a quick reference guide in Data Supplements S1 and S2 (available as supporting information in the online version of this paper). © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

  13. Multiple Goals in a Hong Kong Chinese Educational Context: An Investigation of Developmental Trends and Learning Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watkins, David; Hattie, John

    2012-01-01

    Social goals have also been proposed as important additions to mastery and performance goals in educational contexts, particularly in non-Western cultures but no study has yet tested the possibility that such goals can also combine with mastery and performance goals leading to superior learning outcomes. Longitudinal studies are also rare in this…

  14. [Catalogue of learning goals for pregraduate education in geriatric medicine. A recommendation of the German Geriatric Society (DGG), the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (DGGG), the Austrian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (ÖGGG) and the Swiss Society of Geriatric Medicine (SFGG) on the basis of recommendations of the European Union of Medical Specialists Geriatric Medicine Section (UEMS-GMS) 2013].

    PubMed

    Singler, K; Stuck, A E; Masud, T; Goeldlin, A; Roller, R E

    2014-11-01

    Sound knowledge in the care and management of geriatric patients is essential for doctors in almost all medical subspecialties. Therefore, it is important that pregraduate medical education adequately covers the field of geriatric medicine. However, in most medical faculties in Europe today, learning objectives in geriatric medicine are often substandard or not even explicitly addressed. As a first step to encourage undergraduate teaching in geriatric medicine, the European Union of Medical Specialists -Geriatric Medicine Section (UEMS-GMS) recently developed a catalogue of learning goals using a modified Delphi technique in order to encourage education in this field. This catalogue of learning objectives for geriatric medicine focuses on the minimum requirements with specific learning goals in knowledge, skills and attitudes that medical students should have acquired by the end of their studies.In order to ease the implementation of this new, competence-based curriculum among the medical faculties in universities teaching in the German language, the authors translated the published English language curriculum into German and adapted it according to medical language and terms used at German-speaking medical faculties and universities of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. This article contains the final German translation of the curriculum. The Geriatric Medicine Societies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland formally endorse the present curriculum and recommend that medical faculties adapt their curricula for undergraduate teaching based on this catalogue.

  15. Mapping remote and multidisciplinary learning barriers: lessons from challenge-based innovation at CERN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jensen, Matilde Bisballe; Utriainen, Tuuli Maria; Steinert, Martin

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents the experienced difficulties of students participating in the multidisciplinary, remote collaborating engineering design course challenge-based innovation at CERN. This is with the aim to identify learning barriers and improve future learning experiences. We statistically analyse the rated differences between distinct design activities, educational background and remote vs. co-located collaboration. The analysis is based on a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire (N = 37). Our analysis found significant ranking differences between remote and co-located activities. This questions whether the remote factor might be a barrier for the originally intended learning goals. Further a correlation between analytical and converging design phases was identified. Hence, future facilitators are suggested to help students in the transition from one design phase to the next rather than only teaching methods in the individual design phases. Finally, we discuss how educators address the identified learning barriers when designing future courses including multidisciplinary or remote collaboration.

  16. Web-Based Learning Information System for Web 3.0

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rego, Hugo; Moreira, Tiago; García-Peñalvo, Francisco Jose

    With the emergence of Web/eLearning 3.0 we have been developing/adjusting AHKME in order to face this great challenge. One of our goals is to allow the instructional designer and teacher to access standardized resources and evaluate the possibility of integration and reuse in eLearning systems, not only content but also the learning strategy. We have also integrated some collaborative tools for the adaptation of resources, as well as the collection of feedback from users to provide feedback to the system. We also provide tools for the instructional designer to create/customize specifications/ontologies to give structure and meaning to resources, manual and automatic search with recommendation of resources and instructional design based on the context, as well as recommendation of adaptations in learning resources. We also consider the concept of mobility and mobile technology applied to eLearning, allowing access by teachers and students to learning resources, regardless of time and space.

  17. The Sociological Imagination and Community-Based Learning: Using an Asset-Based Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garoutte, Lisa

    2018-01-01

    Fostering a sociological imagination in students is a central goal for most introductory sociology courses and sociology departments generally, yet success is difficult to achieve. This project suggests that using elements of asset-based community development can be used in sociology classrooms to develop a sociological perspective. After…

  18. Case Problems for Problem-Based Pedagogical Approaches: A Comparative Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dabbagh, Nada; Dass, Susan

    2013-01-01

    A comparative analysis of 51 case problems used in five problem-based pedagogical models was conducted to examine whether there are differences in their characteristics and the implications of such differences on the selection and generation of ill-structured case problems. The five pedagogical models were: situated learning, goal-based scenario,…

  19. Self Adapted Testing as Formative Assessment: Effects of Feedback and Scoring on Engagement and Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arieli-Attali, Meirav

    2016-01-01

    This dissertation investigated the feasibility of self-adapted testing (SAT) as a formative assessment tool with the focus on learning. Under two different orientation goals--to excel on a test (performance goal) or to learn from the test (learning goal)--I examined the effect of different scoring rules provided as interactive feedback, on test…

  20. The Laboratory-Based Economics Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Paul G.; LaRoe, Ross M.

    1991-01-01

    Describes the liberal arts, computer laboratory-based economics program at Denison University (Ohio). Includes as goals helping students to (1) understand deductive arguments, (2) learn to apply theory in real-world situations, and (3) test and modify theory when necessary. Notes that the program combines computer laboratory experiments for…

  1. Entrepreneurial Thinking in Interdisciplinary Student Teams

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neumeyer, Xaver; McKenna, Ann

    2016-01-01

    Our work investigates students' perception of collaborative expertise and the role of inquiry-based learning in the context of team-based entrepreneurship education. Specifically, we examine students' perception of communication, division of work, shared goals, team conflicts and leadership in their respective teams. In addition, we look at the…

  2. Learning in a Physics Classroom Community: Physics Learning Identity Construct Development, Measurement and Validation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Sissi L.

    At the university level, introductory science courses usually have high student to teacher ratios which increases the challenge to meaningfully connect with students. Various curricula have been developed in physics education to actively engage students in learning through social interactions with peers and instructors in class. This learning environment demands not only conceptual understanding but also learning to be a scientist. However, the success of student learning is typically measured in test performance and course grades while assessment of student development as science learners is largely ignored. This dissertation addresses this issue with the development of an instrument towards a measure of physics learning identity (PLI) which is used to guide and complement case studies through student interviews and in class observations. Using the conceptual framework based on Etienne Wenger's communities of practice (1998), I examine the relationship between science learning and learning identity from a situated perspective in the context of a large enrollment science class as a community of practice. This conceptual framework emphasizes the central role of identity in the practices negotiated in the classroom community and in the way students figure out their trajectory as members. Using this framework, I seek to understand how the changes in student learning identity are supported by active engagement based instruction. In turn, this understanding can better facilitate the building of a productive learning community and provide a measure for achievement of the curricular learning goals in active engagement strategies. Based on the conceptual framework, I developed and validated an instrument for measuring physics learning identity in terms of student learning preferences, self-efficacy for learning physics, and self-image as a physics learner. The instrument was pilot tested with a population of Oregon State University students taking calculus based introductory physics. The responses were analyzed using principal component exploratory factor analysis. The emergent factors were analyzed to create reliable subscales to measure PLI in terms of physics learning self-efficacy and social expectations about learning. Using these subscales, I present a case study of a student who performed well in the course but resisted the identity learning goals of the curriculum. These findings are used to support the factors that emerged from the statistical analysis and suggest a potential model of the relationships between the factors describing science learning and learning identity in large enrollment college science classes. This study offers an instrument with which to measure aspects of physics learning identity and insights on how PLI might develop in a classroom community of practice.

  3. Transforming the advanced lab: Part I - Learning goals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zwickl, Benjamin; Finkelstein, Noah; Lewandowski, H. J.

    2012-02-01

    Within the physics education research community relatively little attention has been given to laboratory courses, especially at the upper-division undergraduate level. As part of transforming our senior-level Optics and Modern Physics Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder we are developing learning goals, revising curricula, and creating assessments. In this paper, we report on the establishment of our learning goals and a surrounding framework that have emerged from discussions with a wide variety of faculty, from a review of the literature on labs, and from identifying the goals of existing lab courses. Our goals go beyond those of specific physics content and apparatus, allowing instructors to personalize them to their contexts. We report on four broad themes and associated learning goals: Modeling (math-physics-data connection, statistical error analysis, systematic error, modeling of engineered "black boxes"), Design (of experiments, apparatus, programs, troubleshooting), Communication, and Technical Lab Skills (computer-aided data analysis, LabVIEW, test and measurement equipment).

  4. Goals, Motivation for, and Outcomes of Personal Learning through Networks: Results of a Tweetstorm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sie, Rory L. L.; Pataraia, Nino; Boursinou, Eleni; Rajagopal, Kamakshi; Margaryan, Anoush; Falconer, Isobel; Bitter-Rijpkema, Marlies; Littlejohn, Allison; Sloep, Peter B.

    2013-01-01

    Recent developments in the use of social media for learning have posed serious challenges for learners. The information overload that these online social tools create has changed the way learners learn and from whom they learn. An investigation of learners' goals, motivations and expected outcomes when using a personal learning network is…

  5. Evolving fuzzy rules in a learning classifier system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Valenzuela-Rendon, Manuel

    1993-01-01

    The fuzzy classifier system (FCS) combines the ideas of fuzzy logic controllers (FLC's) and learning classifier systems (LCS's). It brings together the expressive powers of fuzzy logic as it has been applied in fuzzy controllers to express relations between continuous variables, and the ability of LCS's to evolve co-adapted sets of rules. The goal of the FCS is to develop a rule-based system capable of learning in a reinforcement regime, and that can potentially be used for process control.

  6. Future goal setting, task motivation and learning of minority and non-minority students in Dutch schools.

    PubMed

    Andriessen, Iris; Phalet, Karen; Lens, Willy

    2006-12-01

    Cross-cultural research on minority school achievement yields mixed findings on the motivational impact of future goal setting for students from disadvantaged minority groups. Relevant and recent motivational research, integrating Future Time Perspective Theory with Self-Determination Theory, has not yet been validated among minority students. To replicate across cultures the known motivational benefits of perceived instrumentality and internal regulation by distant future goals; to clarify when and how the future motivates minority students' educational performance. Participants in this study were 279 minority students (100 of Turkish and 179 of Moroccan origin) and 229 native Dutch students in Dutch secondary schools. Participants rated the importance of future goals, their perceptions of instrumentality, their task motivation and learning strategies. Dependent measures and their functional relations with future goal setting were simultaneously validated across minority and non-minority students, using structural equation modelling in multiple groups. As expected, Positive Perceived Instrumentality for the future increases task motivation and (indirectly) adaptive learning of both minority and non-minority students. But especially internally regulating future goals are strongly related to more task motivation and indirectly to more adaptive learning strategies. Our findings throw new light on the role of future goal setting in minority school careers: distant future goals enhance minority and non-minority students' motivation and learning, if students perceive positive instrumentality and if their schoolwork is internally regulated by future goals.

  7. Predicting fifth-grade students' understanding of ecological science concepts with motivational and cognitive variables

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alao, Solomon

    The need to identify factors that contribute to students' understanding of ecological concepts has been widely expressed in recent literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between fifth grade students' prior knowledge, learning strategies, interest, and learning goals and their conceptual understanding of ecological science concepts. Subject were 72 students from three fifth grade classrooms located in a metropolitan area of the eastern United States. Students completed the goal commitment, interest, and strategy use questionnaire (GISQ), and a knowledge test designed to assess their prior knowledge and conceptual understanding of ecological science concepts. The learning goals scale assessed intentions to try to learn and understand ecological concepts. The interest scale assessed the feeling and value-related valences that students ascribed to science and ecological science concepts. The strategy use scale assessed the use of two cognitive strategies (monitoring and elaboration). The knowledge test assessed students' understanding of ecological concepts (the relationship between living organisms and their environment). Scores on all measures were examined for gender differences; no significant gender differences were observed. The motivational and cognitive variables contributed to students' understanding of ecological concepts. After accounting for interest, learning goals, and strategy use, prior knowledge accounted for 28% of the total variance in conceptual understanding. After accounting for prior knowledge, interest, learning goals, and strategy use explained 7%, 6%, and 4% of the total variance in conceptual understanding, respectively. More importantly, these variables were interrelated to each other and to conceptual understanding. After controlling for prior knowledge, learning goals, and strategy use, interest did not predict the variance in conceptual understanding. After controlling for prior knowledge, interest, and strategy use, learning goals did not predict the variance in conceptual understanding. And, after controlling for prior knowledge, interest, and learning goals, strategy use did not predict the variance in conceptual understanding. Results of this study indicated that prior knowledge, interest, learning goals, and strategy use should be included in theoretical models design to explain and to predict fifth grade students' understanding of ecological concepts. Results of this study further suggested that curriculum developers and science teachers need to take fifth grade students' prior knowledge of ecological concepts, interest in science and ecological concepts; intentions to learn and understand ecological concepts, and use of cognitive strategies into account when designing instructional contexts to support these students' understanding of ecological concepts.

  8. Examining Motivational Orientation and Learning Strategies in Computer-Supported Self-Directed Learning (CS-SDL) for Mathematics: The Perspective of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lao, Andrew Chan-Chio; Cheng, Hercy N. H.; Huang, Mark C. L.; Ku, Oskar; Chan, Tak-Wai

    2017-01-01

    One-to-one technology, which allows every student to receive equal access to learning tasks through a personal computing device, has shown increasing potential for self-directed learning in elementary schools. With computer-supported self-directed learning (CS-SDL), students may set their own learning goals through the suggestions of the system…

  9. Promoting higher order thinking skills using inquiry-based learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Madhuri, G. V.; S. S. N Kantamreddi, V.; Goteti, L. N. S. Prakash

    2012-05-01

    Active learning pedagogies play an important role in enhancing higher order cognitive skills among the student community. In this work, a laboratory course for first year engineering chemistry is designed and executed using an inquiry-based learning pedagogical approach. The goal of this module is to promote higher order thinking skills in chemistry. Laboratory exercises are designed based on Bloom's taxonomy and a just-in-time facilitation approach is used. A pre-laboratory discussion outlining the theory of the experiment and its relevance is carried out to enable the students to analyse real-life problems. The performance of the students is assessed based on their ability to perform the experiment, design new experiments and correlate practical utility of the course module with real life. The novelty of the present approach lies in the fact that the learning outcomes of the existing experiments are achieved through establishing a relationship with real-world problems.

  10. Analysis of factors affecting satisfaction level on problem based learning approach using structural equation modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hussain, Nur Farahin Mee; Zahid, Zalina

    2014-12-01

    Nowadays, in the job market demand, graduates are expected not only to have higher performance in academic but they must also be excellent in soft skill. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has a number of distinct advantages as a learning method as it can deliver graduates that will be highly prized by industry. This study attempts to determine the satisfaction level of engineering students on the PBL Approach and to evaluate their determinant factors. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to investigate how the factors of Good Teaching Scale, Clear Goals, Student Assessment and Levels of Workload affected the student satisfaction towards PBL approach.

  11. Adaptive critic learning techniques for engine torque and air-fuel ratio control.

    PubMed

    Liu, Derong; Javaherian, Hossein; Kovalenko, Olesia; Huang, Ting

    2008-08-01

    A new approach for engine calibration and control is proposed. In this paper, we present our research results on the implementation of adaptive critic designs for self-learning control of automotive engines. A class of adaptive critic designs that can be classified as (model-free) action-dependent heuristic dynamic programming is used in this research project. The goals of the present learning control design for automotive engines include improved performance, reduced emissions, and maintained optimum performance under various operating conditions. Using the data from a test vehicle with a V8 engine, we developed a neural network model of the engine and neural network controllers based on the idea of approximate dynamic programming to achieve optimal control. We have developed and simulated self-learning neural network controllers for both engine torque (TRQ) and exhaust air-fuel ratio (AFR) control. The goal of TRQ control and AFR control is to track the commanded values. For both control problems, excellent neural network controller transient performance has been achieved.

  12. An integrated model of learning.

    PubMed

    Trigg, A M; Cordova, F D

    1987-01-01

    Worldwide, most educational systems are based on three levels of education that utilize the pedagogical approaches to learning. In the 1960s, scholars formulated another approach to education that has become known as andragogy and has been applied to adult education. Several innovative scholars have seen how andragogy can be applied to teaching children. As a result, both andragogy and pedagogy are viewed as the opposite ends of the educational spectrum. Both of these approaches have a place and function within the modern educational framework. If one assumes that the goal of education is for the acquisition and application of knowledge, then both of these approaches can be used effectively for the attainment of that goal. In order to utilize these approaches effectively, an integrated model of learning has been developed that consists of initial teaching and exploratory learning phases. This model has both the directive and flexible qualities found in the theories of pedagogy and andragogy. With careful consideration and analysis this educational model can be utilized effectively within most educational systems.

  13. Bounded Community: Designing and Facilitating Learning Communities in Formal Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Brent G.; Ludwig-Hardman, Stacey; Thornam, Christine L.; Dunlap, Joanna C.

    2004-01-01

    Learning communities can emerge spontaneously when people find common learning goals and pursue projects and tasks together in pursuit of those goals. "Bounded" learning communities (BLCs) are groups that form within a structured teaching or training setting, typically a course. Unlike spontaneous communities, BLCs develop in direct response to…

  14. Mobile Learning and Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Asplund, Minna

    2014-01-01

    Students with different achievement goal orientations have different approaches towards learning and studying. There is a widespread interest to find an easy access into learning spaces for those students who have low motivation with fear of failure and academic withdrawal. Mobile learning offers an easily accessible chance with low threshold to…

  15. Neurology clerkship goals and their effect on learning and satisfaction.

    PubMed

    Strowd, Roy E; Salas, Rachel Marie E; Cruz, Tiana E; Gamaldo, Charlene E

    2016-02-16

    To define medical student goals in the neurology clerkship and explore the association between goal setting and student performance, clerkship satisfaction, self-directed learning (SDL), and interest in neurology. A 4-year prospective study of consecutive second- to fourth-year medical students rotating through a required 4-week neurology clerkship was conducted. A goal-generating cohort (first 2 years) was enrolled to describe the breadth of student-derived goals. A goal-evaluating cohort (second 2 years) was used to evaluate the frequency of goal achievement and assess associations with performance (e.g., National Board of Medical Examiners [NBME], examination), satisfaction, and SDL behaviors (both based on 5-point Likert scale). Of 440 evaluable students, 201 were goal-generating and 239 goal-evaluating. The top 3 goals were (1) improvement in neurologic examination, (2) understanding neurologic disease, and (3) deriving a differential diagnosis. More than 90% (n = 216/239) of students reported achieving goals. Achievers reported significantly higher clerkship satisfaction (4.2 ± 0.8 vs. 2.8 ± 1.0, p < 0.0001), greater interest in neurology (71% vs. 35%, p = 0.001), and higher observed tendency toward SDL (4.5 ± 0.5 vs. 4.1 ± 0.8, p < 0.0001). After adjusting for age and training, NBME scores were 1.7 points higher in achievers (95% confidence interval 0.1-3.2, p = 0.04). Students consistently generated similar goals for a required neurology clerkship. Goal achievers had better adjusted standardized test scores, higher satisfaction, and greater tendency toward SDL. This student-generated, goal-setting program may be particularly appealing to clinicians, educators, and researchers seeking resource-lean mechanisms to improve student experience and performance in the clinical clerkships. © 2015 American Academy of Neurology.

  16. Neurology clerkship goals and their effect on learning and satisfaction

    PubMed Central

    Salas, Rachel Marie E.; Cruz, Tiana E.; Gamaldo, Charlene E.

    2016-01-01

    Objective: To define medical student goals in the neurology clerkship and explore the association between goal setting and student performance, clerkship satisfaction, self-directed learning (SDL), and interest in neurology. Methods: A 4-year prospective study of consecutive second- to fourth-year medical students rotating through a required 4-week neurology clerkship was conducted. A goal-generating cohort (first 2 years) was enrolled to describe the breadth of student-derived goals. A goal-evaluating cohort (second 2 years) was used to evaluate the frequency of goal achievement and assess associations with performance (e.g., National Board of Medical Examiners [NBME], examination), satisfaction, and SDL behaviors (both based on 5-point Likert scale). Results: Of 440 evaluable students, 201 were goal-generating and 239 goal-evaluating. The top 3 goals were (1) improvement in neurologic examination, (2) understanding neurologic disease, and (3) deriving a differential diagnosis. More than 90% (n = 216/239) of students reported achieving goals. Achievers reported significantly higher clerkship satisfaction (4.2 ± 0.8 vs 2.8 ± 1.0, p < 0.0001), greater interest in neurology (71% vs 35%, p = 0.001), and higher observed tendency toward SDL (4.5 ± 0.5 vs 4.1 ± 0.8, p < 0.0001). After adjusting for age and training, NBME scores were 1.7 points higher in achievers (95% confidence interval 0.1–3.2, p = 0.04). Conclusion: Students consistently generated similar goals for a required neurology clerkship. Goal achievers had better adjusted standardized test scores, higher satisfaction, and greater tendency toward SDL. This student-generated, goal-setting program may be particularly appealing to clinicians, educators, and researchers seeking resource-lean mechanisms to improve student experience and performance in the clinical clerkships. PMID:26718569

  17. Future of the Pacific: Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists and Engineers Through Place-Based Problem-Solving Using Innovative STEM Curriculum and Technology Tools

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-03-30

    lesson 8.4, " Wind Turbine Design Inquiry." 13 The goal of her project was to combine a1t and science in project-based learning. Although pmt of an...challenged to design, test, and redesign wind turbine blades, defining variables and measuring performance. Their goal was to optimize perfonnance through...hydroelectric. In each model there are more than one variable. For example, the wind farm activity enables the user to select number of turbines

  18. Nicephor[e]: a web-based solution for teaching forensic and scientific photography.

    PubMed

    Voisard, R; Champod, C; Furrer, J; Curchod, J; Vautier, A; Massonnet, G; Buzzini, P

    2007-04-11

    Nicephor[e] is a project funded by "Swiss Virtual Campus" and aims at creating a distant or mixed web-based learning system in forensic and scientific photography and microscopy. The practical goal is to organize series of on-line modular courses corresponding to the educational requirements of undergraduate academic programs. Additionally, this program could be used in the context of continuing educational programs. The architecture of the project is designed to guarantee a high level of knowledge in forensic and scientific photographic techniques, and to have an easy content production and the ability to create a number of different courses sharing the same content. The e-learning system Nicephor[e] consists of three different parts. The first one is a repository of learning objects that gathers all theoretical subject matter of the project such as texts, animations, images, and films. This repository is a web content management system (Typo3) that permits creating, publishing, and administrating dynamic content via a web browser as well as storing it into a database. The flexibility of the system's architecture allows for an easy updating of the content to follow the development of photographic technology. The instructor of a course can decide which modular contents need to be included in the course, and in which order they will be accessed by students. All the modular courses are developed in a learning management system (WebCT or Moodle) that can deal with complex learning scenarios, content distribution, students, tests, and interaction with instructor. Each course has its own learning scenario based on the goals of the course and the student's profile. The content of each course is taken from the content management system. It is then structured in the learning management system according to the pedagogical goals defined by the instructor. The modular courses are created in a highly interactive setting and offer autoevaluating tests to the students. The last part of the system is a digital assets management system (Extensis Portfolio). The practical portion of each course is to produce images of different marks or objects. The collection of all this material produced, indexed by the students and corrected by the instructor is essential to the development of a knowledge base of photographic techniques applied to a specific forensic subject. It represents also an extensible collection of different marks from known sources obtained under various conditions. It allows to reuse these images for creating image-based case files.

  19. Strategic planning for future learning environments: an exploration of interpersonal, interprofessional and political factors.

    PubMed

    Schmidt, Cathrine

    2013-09-01

    This article, written from the stance of a public planner and a policy maker, explores the challenges and potential in creating future learning environments through the concept of a new learning landscape. It is based on the belief that physical planning can support the strategic goals of universities. In Denmark, a political focus on education as a mean to improve national capacity for innovation and growth are redefining the universities role in society. This is in turn changing the circumstances for the physical planning. Drawing on examples of physical initiatives in three different scales--city, building and room scale, the paper highlights how space and place matters on an interpersonal, an interprofessional and a political level. The article suggests that a wider understanding of how new learning landscapes are created--both as a material reality and a political discourse--can help frame an emerging community of practice. This involves university leaders, faculty and students, architects, designers and urban planners, citizens and policy makers with the common goal of creating future learning environments today.

  20. Allothetic and idiothetic sensor fusion in rat-inspired robot localization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weitzenfeld, Alfredo; Fellous, Jean-Marc; Barrera, Alejandra; Tejera, Gonzalo

    2012-06-01

    We describe a spatial cognition model based on the rat's brain neurophysiology as a basis for new robotic navigation architectures. The model integrates allothetic (external visual landmarks) and idiothetic (internal kinesthetic information) cues to train either rat or robot to learn a path enabling it to reach a goal from multiple starting positions. It stands in contrast to most robotic architectures based on SLAM, where a map of the environment is built to provide probabilistic localization information computed from robot odometry and landmark perception. Allothetic cues suffer in general from perceptual ambiguity when trying to distinguish between places with equivalent visual patterns, while idiothetic cues suffer from imprecise motions and limited memory recalls. We experiment with both types of cues in different maze configurations by training rats and robots to find the goal starting from a fixed location, and then testing them to reach the same target from new starting locations. We show that the robot, after having pre-explored a maze, can find a goal with improved efficiency, and is able to (1) learn the correct route to reach the goal, (2) recognize places already visited, and (3) exploit allothetic and idiothetic cues to improve on its performance. We finally contrast our biologically-inspired approach to more traditional robotic approaches and discuss current work in progress.

  1. Early prediction of student goals and affect in narrative-centered learning environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Sunyoung

    Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the role of goal and affect recognition in intelligent tutoring systems. Goal recognition is the task of inferring users' goals from a sequence of observations of their actions. Because of the uncertainty inherent in every facet of human computer interaction, goal recognition is challenging, particularly in contexts in which users can perform many actions in any order, as is the case with intelligent tutoring systems. Affect recognition is the task of identifying the emotional state of a user from a variety of physical cues, which are produced in response to affective changes in the individual. Accurately recognizing student goals and affect states could contribute to more effective and motivating interactions in intelligent tutoring systems. By exploiting knowledge of student goals and affect states, intelligent tutoring systems can dynamically modify their behavior to better support individual students. To create effective interactions in intelligent tutoring systems, goal and affect recognition models should satisfy two key requirements. First, because incorrectly predicted goals and affect states could significantly diminish the effectiveness of interactive systems, goal and affect recognition models should provide accurate predictions of user goals and affect states. When observations of users' activities become available, recognizers should make accurate early" predictions. Second, goal and affect recognition models should be highly efficient so they can operate in real time. To address key issues, we present an inductive approach to recognizing student goals and affect states in intelligent tutoring systems by learning goals and affect recognition models. Our work focuses on goal and affect recognition in an important new class of intelligent tutoring systems, narrative-centered learning environments. We report the results of empirical studies of induced recognition models from observations of students' interactions in narrative-centered learning environments. Experimental results suggest that induced models can make accurate early predictions of student goals and affect states, and they are sufficiently efficient to meet the real-time performance requirements of interactive learning environments.

  2. Transforming School Climate: Educational and Psychoanalytic Perspectives: Introduction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cohen, Jonathan

    2009-01-01

    School climate refers to the character and quality of school life. It is based on these patterns and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching, learning, leadership practices, and organizational structures. School climate is at the nexus of individual and group experience. School climate is based on the individual's…

  3. Comparative Analysis of Palm and Wearable Computers for Participatory Simulations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Klopfer, Eric; Yoon, Susan; Rivas, Luz

    2004-01-01

    Recent educational computer-based technologies have offered promising lines of research that promote social constructivist learning goals, develop skills required to operate in a knowledge-based economy (Roschelle et al. 2000), and enable more authentic science-like problem-solving. In our research programme, we have been interested in combining…

  4. Students Improve in Reading Comprehension by Learning How to Teach Reading Strategies. An Evidence-Based Approach for Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koch, Helvi; Spörer, Nadine

    2017-01-01

    In this intervention study, we investigated how we could teach university students who were majoring in education to teach reading strategies. The goal of the study was to analyze whether and to what extent students would benefit from the intervention with respect to their own learning. Did their own reading skills improve after they attended the…

  5. Redesigning a Course to Help Students Achieve Higher-Order Cognitive Thinking Skills: From Goals and Mechanics to Student Outcomes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Casagrand, Janet; Semsar, Katharine

    2017-01-01

    Here we describe a 4-yr course reform and its outcomes. The upper-division neurophysiology course gradually transformed from a traditional lecture in 2004 to a more student-centered course in 2008, through the addition of evidence-based active learning practices, such as deliberate problem-solving practice on homework and peer learning structures,…

  6. The Creative Learning Group Drug Education Program Developed by the Creative Learning Group. Product Development Report No. 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thompson, Lorna J.; Kratochvil, Daniel W.

    This report of the development of a drug-educational product which appears to have potential impact, is based upon published materials, documents in the files of the developing agency, and interviews with staff who were involved in the development of the product. The long-range goal of the drug program is to encourage young people to develop…

  7. Leadership Implications for the Implementation of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knickman, Kevin; Schulte, Lindsay; Schwemmer, Gabrielle; Young, Henrietta

    2011-01-01

    This document is a Problem Based Learning project addressing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the achievement gap issue that lingers in public education. It centers on the ideas of cultural sensitivity as a means of educating all students in an era of accountability. The goal of the project was to address the problem of minority student…

  8. Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom. A Review of the Research Literature (1986) and November 1987 Supplement.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKeachie, Wilbert J.; And Others

    A review of the research literature on teaching and learning in the college classroom is presented. An introduction notes the role of research in identifying new goals for higher education and offers a conceptual framework based on a student mediation model and a focus on the process-product relationships between faculty teacher behavior and…

  9. Effects of Peer-Assessed Feedback, Goal Setting and a Group Contingency on Performance and Learning by 10-12-Year-Old Academy Soccer Players

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holt, Josh E.; Kinchin, Gary; Clarke, Gill

    2012-01-01

    Background: Coaches developing young talent in team sports must maximise practice and learning of essential game skills and accurately and continuously assess the performance and potential of each player. Relative age effects highlight an erroneous process of initial and on-going player assessment, based largely on subjective opinions of game…

  10. Cognitive control predicts use of model-based reinforcement learning.

    PubMed

    Otto, A Ross; Skatova, Anya; Madlon-Kay, Seth; Daw, Nathaniel D

    2015-02-01

    Accounts of decision-making and its neural substrates have long posited the operation of separate, competing valuation systems in the control of choice behavior. Recent theoretical and experimental work suggest that this classic distinction between behaviorally and neurally dissociable systems for habitual and goal-directed (or more generally, automatic and controlled) choice may arise from two computational strategies for reinforcement learning (RL), called model-free and model-based RL, but the cognitive or computational processes by which one system may dominate over the other in the control of behavior is a matter of ongoing investigation. To elucidate this question, we leverage the theoretical framework of cognitive control, demonstrating that individual differences in utilization of goal-related contextual information--in the service of overcoming habitual, stimulus-driven responses--in established cognitive control paradigms predict model-based behavior in a separate, sequential choice task. The behavioral correspondence between cognitive control and model-based RL compellingly suggests that a common set of processes may underpin the two behaviors. In particular, computational mechanisms originally proposed to underlie controlled behavior may be applicable to understanding the interactions between model-based and model-free choice behavior.

  11. SAN-RL: combining spreading activation networks and reinforcement learning to learn configurable behaviors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    White, J.; Gaines, D. M.; Wilkes, M.; Kusumalnukool, K.; Thongchai, S.; Kawamura, K.

    2001-01-01

    This approach provides the agent with a causal structure, the spreading activation network, relating goals to the actions that can achieve those goals. This enables the agent to select actions relative to the goal priorities.

  12. Speed/accuracy trade-off between the habitual and the goal-directed processes.

    PubMed

    Keramati, Mehdi; Dezfouli, Amir; Piray, Payam

    2011-05-01

    Instrumental responses are hypothesized to be of two kinds: habitual and goal-directed, mediated by the sensorimotor and the associative cortico-basal ganglia circuits, respectively. The existence of the two heterogeneous associative learning mechanisms can be hypothesized to arise from the comparative advantages that they have at different stages of learning. In this paper, we assume that the goal-directed system is behaviourally flexible, but slow in choice selection. The habitual system, in contrast, is fast in responding, but inflexible in adapting its behavioural strategy to new conditions. Based on these assumptions and using the computational theory of reinforcement learning, we propose a normative model for arbitration between the two processes that makes an approximately optimal balance between search-time and accuracy in decision making. Behaviourally, the model can explain experimental evidence on behavioural sensitivity to outcome at the early stages of learning, but insensitivity at the later stages. It also explains that when two choices with equal incentive values are available concurrently, the behaviour remains outcome-sensitive, even after extensive training. Moreover, the model can explain choice reaction time variations during the course of learning, as well as the experimental observation that as the number of choices increases, the reaction time also increases. Neurobiologically, by assuming that phasic and tonic activities of midbrain dopamine neurons carry the reward prediction error and the average reward signals used by the model, respectively, the model predicts that whereas phasic dopamine indirectly affects behaviour through reinforcing stimulus-response associations, tonic dopamine can directly affect behaviour through manipulating the competition between the habitual and the goal-directed systems and thus, affect reaction time.

  13. Evaluation of three different methods of distance learning for postgraduate diagnostic imaging education: A pilot study.

    PubMed

    Poirier, Jean-Nicolas; Cooley, Jeffrey R; Wessely, Michelle; Guebert, Gary M; Petrocco-Napuli, Kristina

    2014-10-01

    Objective : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceived effectiveness and learning potential of 3 Web-based educational methods in a postgraduate radiology setting. Methods : Three chiropractic radiology faculty from diverse geographic locations led mini-courses using asynchronous discussion boards, synchronous Web conferencing, and asynchronous voice-over case presentations formatted for Web viewing. At the conclusion of each course, participants filled out a 14-question survey (using a 5-point Likert scale) designed to evaluate the effectiveness of each method in achieving specified course objectives and goals and their satisfaction when considering the learning potential of each method. The mean, standard deviation, and percentage agreements were tabulated. Results : Twenty, 15, and 10 participants completed the discussion board, Web conferencing, and case presentation surveys, respectively. All educational methods demonstrated a high level of agreement regarding the course objective (total mean rating >4.1). The case presentations had the highest overall rating for achieving the course goals; however, all but one method still had total mean ratings >4.0 and overall agreement levels of 70%-100%. The strongest potential for interactive learning was found with Web conferencing and discussion boards, while case presentations rated very low in this regard. Conclusions : The perceived effectiveness in achieving the course objective and goals was high for each method. Residency-based distance education may be a beneficial adjunct to current methods of training, allowing for international collaboration. When considering all aspects tested, there does not appear to be a clear advantage to any one method. Utilizing various methods may be most appropriate.

  14. Predicting the math/science career goals of low-income prospective first-generation college students.

    PubMed

    Garriott, Patton O; Flores, Lisa Y; Martens, Matthew P

    2013-04-01

    The present study used social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) to predict the math/science goal intentions of a sample of low-income prospective first-generation college students (N = 305). Structural equation modeling was used to test a model depicting relationships between contextual (i.e., social class, learning experiences, proximal supports and barriers) and person-cognitive (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals) variables as hypothesized in SCCT and based on previous literature on low-income first-generation college students. Results indicated that the hypothesized model provided the best representation of the data. All paths in the model were statistically significant, with the exceptions of paths from self-efficacy to goals, outcome expectations to interests, and perceived barriers to self-efficacy. Bootstrapping procedures revealed that the relationships between social class, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations were mediated through learning experiences. Furthermore, the relationship between social supports and goals was mediated by self-efficacy and interests and the relationships between self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals were mediated by interests. Contrary to hypotheses, the relationship between barriers and goals was not mediated by self-efficacy and interests. The hypothesis that proximal contextual supports and barriers would moderate the relationship between interests and goals was not supported. The final model explained 66% and 55% of the variance in math/science interests and goals, respectively. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

  15. Designs of goal-free problems for trigonometry learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Retnowati, E.; Maulidya, S. R.

    2018-03-01

    This paper describes the designs of goal-free problems particularly for trigonometry, which may be considered a difficult topic for high school students.Goal-free problem is an instructional design developed based on a Cognitive load theory (CLT). Within the design, instead of asking students to solve a specific goal of a mathematics problem, the instruction is to solve as many Pythagoras as possible. It was assumed that for novice students, goal-free problems encourage students to pay attention more to the given information and the mathematical principles that can be applied to reveal the unknown variables. Hence, students develop more structured knowledge while solving the goal-free problems. The resulted design may be used in regular mathematics classroom with some adjustment on the difficulty level and the allocated lesson time.

  16. Final Report of the MLA Committee on Lifelong Learning: Helping Adults Return to Learning To Improve Their Employment Potential and Realize Their Career Goals.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alberta Learning, Edmonton.

    In 1999, the Committee on Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of Learning in Alberta, Canada, conducted a series of consultations on lifelong learning to identify ways of helping adults return to learning to improve their employment potential and realize their career goals. The committee received input from more than 450 Albertans in 14 rural and…

  17. Adult Students' Achievement Goal Orientations and Evaluations of the Learning Environment: A Person-Centred Longitudinal Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pulkka, Antti-Tuomas; Niemivirta, Markku

    2013-01-01

    This study focused on the stability and change in students' achievement goal orientations and whether the students' perceptions of the learning environment vary as a function of their achievement goal orientations. Participants were 169 students of the Finnish National Defense University. The students' goal orientations and their evaluations of…

  18. Learning for Development: The Commonwealth of Learning and the Millennium Development Goals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Commonwealth of Learning, 2011

    2011-01-01

    World leaders, meeting at the United Nations in 2000, set eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that aim to transform the condition of humankind in the 21st century. These Goals now guide the policies of governments and the priorities of development agencies. These eight goals are: (1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) Achieve…

  19. Learning and cognition in insects.

    PubMed

    Giurfa, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Insects possess small brains but exhibit sophisticated behavioral performances. Recent works have reported the existence of unsuspected cognitive capabilities in various insect species, which go beyond the traditional studied framework of simple associative learning. In this study, I focus on capabilities such as attention, social learning, individual recognition, concept learning, and metacognition, and discuss their presence and mechanistic bases in insects. I analyze whether these behaviors can be explained on the basis of elemental associative learning or, on the contrary, require higher-order explanations. In doing this, I highlight experimental challenges and suggest future directions for investigating the neurobiology of higher-order learning in insects, with the goal of uncovering l architectures underlying cognitive processing. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. Practical Strategies for Collaboration across Discipline-Based Education Research and the Learning Sciences

    PubMed Central

    Peffer, Melanie; Renken, Maggie

    2016-01-01

    Rather than pursue questions related to learning in biology from separate camps, recent calls highlight the necessity of interdisciplinary research agendas. Interdisciplinary collaborations allow for a complicated and expanded approach to questions about learning within specific science domains, such as biology. Despite its benefits, interdisciplinary work inevitably involves challenges. Some such challenges originate from differences in theoretical and methodological approaches across lines of work. Thus, aims at developing successful interdisciplinary research programs raise important considerations regarding methodologies for studying biology learning, strategies for approaching collaborations, and training of early-career scientists. Our goal here is to describe two fields important to understanding learning in biology, discipline-based education research and the learning sciences. We discuss differences between each discipline’s approach to biology education research and the benefits and challenges associated with incorporating these perspectives in a single research program. We then propose strategies for building productive interdisciplinary collaboration. PMID:27881446

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