Impaired Value Learning for Faces in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Wang, Quan; DiNicola, Lauren; Heymann, Perrine; Hampson, Michelle; Chawarska, Katarzyna

2018-01-01

One of the common findings in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited selective attention toward social objects, such as faces. Evidence from both human and nonhuman primate studies suggests that selection of objects for processing is guided by the appraisal of object values. We hypothesized that impairments in selective attention in ASD may reflect a disruption of a system supporting learning about object values in the social domain. We examined value learning in social (faces) and nonsocial (fractals) domains in preschoolers with ASD (n = 25) and typically developing (TD) controls (n = 28), using a novel value learning task implemented on a gaze-contingent eye-tracking platform consisting of value learning and a selective attention choice test. Children with ASD performed more poorly than TD controls on the social value learning task, but both groups performed similarly on the nonsocial task. Within-group comparisons indicated that value learning in TD children was enhanced on the social compared to the nonsocial task, but no such enhancement was seen in children with ASD. Performance in the social and nonsocial conditions was correlated in the ASD but not in the TD group. The study provides support for a domain-specific impairment in value learning for faces in ASD, and suggests that, in ASD, value learning in social and nonsocial domains may rely on a shared mechanism. These findings have implications both for models of selective social attention deficits in autism and for identification of novel treatment targets. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning to Listen and Listening to Learn: One Student's Experience of Small Group Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Remedios, Louisa; Clarke, David; Hawthorne, Lesleyanne

2012-01-01

The dialogic nature of small group collaborative learning requires verbal contributions from students to progress individual and group learning. Speaking can become privileged over listening as a collaborative act, and an imbalance in these values can become embedded in the classroom culture to the degree that the core value of listening can be…

Service Learning as Holistic Values Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovat, Terence; Clement, Neville

2016-01-01

Recent research findings have led to the conception that values pedagogy connotes a philosophy of learning and principle of curriculum organization with potential to enhance all dimensions of the learning environment. Enhancement includes student responsibility to themselves and others and positive impact on learning outcomes. Allied research…

A meta-cognitive learning algorithm for a Fully Complex-valued Relaxation Network.

PubMed

Savitha, R; Suresh, S; Sundararajan, N

2012-08-01

This paper presents a meta-cognitive learning algorithm for a single hidden layer complex-valued neural network called "Meta-cognitive Fully Complex-valued Relaxation Network (McFCRN)". McFCRN has two components: a cognitive component and a meta-cognitive component. A Fully Complex-valued Relaxation Network (FCRN) with a fully complex-valued Gaussian like activation function (sech) in the hidden layer and an exponential activation function in the output layer forms the cognitive component. The meta-cognitive component contains a self-regulatory learning mechanism which controls the learning ability of FCRN by deciding what-to-learn, when-to-learn and how-to-learn from a sequence of training data. The input parameters of cognitive components are chosen randomly and the output parameters are estimated by minimizing a logarithmic error function. The problem of explicit minimization of magnitude and phase errors in the logarithmic error function is converted to system of linear equations and output parameters of FCRN are computed analytically. McFCRN starts with zero hidden neuron and builds the number of neurons required to approximate the target function. The meta-cognitive component selects the best learning strategy for FCRN to acquire the knowledge from training data and also adapts the learning strategies to implement best human learning components. Performance studies on a function approximation and real-valued classification problems show that proposed McFCRN performs better than the existing results reported in the literature. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modification Of Learning Rate With Lvq Model Improvement In Learning Backpropagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tata Hardinata, Jaya; Zarlis, Muhammad; Budhiarti Nababan, Erna; Hartama, Dedy; Sembiring, Rahmat W.

2017-12-01

One type of artificial neural network is a backpropagation, This algorithm trained with the network architecture used during the training as well as providing the correct output to insert a similar but not the same with the architecture in use at training.The selection of appropriate parameters also affects the outcome, value of learning rate is one of the parameters which influence the process of training, Learning rate affects the speed of learning process on the network architecture.If the learning rate is set too large, then the algorithm will become unstable and otherwise the algorithm will converge in a very long period of time.So this study was made to determine the value of learning rate on the backpropagation algorithm. LVQ models of learning rate is one of the models used in the determination of the value of the learning rate of the algorithm LVQ.By modifying this LVQ model to be applied to the backpropagation algorithm. From the experimental results known to modify the learning rate LVQ models were applied to the backpropagation algorithm learning process becomes faster (epoch less).

Flipping Radiology Education Right Side Up.

PubMed

O'Connor, Erin E; Fried, Jessica; McNulty, Nancy; Shah, Pallav; Hogg, Jeffery P; Lewis, Petra; Zeffiro, Thomas; Agarwal, Vikas; Reddy, Sravanthi

2016-07-01

In flipped learning, medical students independently learn facts and concepts outside the classroom, and then participate in interactive classes to learn to apply these facts. Although there are recent calls for medical education reform using flipped learning, little has been published on its effectiveness. Our study compares the effects of flipped learning to traditional didactic instruction on students' academic achievement, task value, and achievement emotions. At three institutions, we alternated flipped learning with traditional didactic lectures during radiology clerkships, with 175 medical students completing a pretest on general diagnostic imaging knowledge to assess baseline cohort comparability. Following instruction, posttests and survey examinations of task value and achievement emotions were administered. Linear mixed effects analysis was used to examine the relationship between test scores and instruction type. Survey responses were modeled using ordinal category logistic regression. Instructor surveys were also collected. There were no baseline differences in test scores. Mean posttest minus pretest scores were 10.5% higher in the flipped learning group than in the didactic instruction group (P = 0.013). Assessment of task value and achievement emotions showed greater task value, increased enjoyment, and decreased boredom with flipped learning (all P < 0.01). All instructors preferred the flipped learning condition. Flipped learning was associated with increased academic achievement, greater task value, and more positive achievement emotions when compared to traditional didactic instruction. Further investigation of flipped learning methods in radiology education is needed to determine whether flipped learning improves long-term retention of knowledge, academic success, and patient care. Copyright © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

VALUE: Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhodes, Terrel L.

2008-01-01

This chapter discusses the Association of American Colleges and Universities' (AAC&U's) Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) project, which aims to demonstrate that faculty across the country share fundamental expectations about student learning on all of the essential learning outcomes deemed critical for student…

Learned value and object perception: Accelerated perception or biased decisions?

PubMed

Rajsic, Jason; Perera, Harendri; Pratt, Jay

2017-02-01

Learned value is known to bias visual search toward valued stimuli. However, some uncertainty exists regarding the stage of visual processing that is modulated by learned value. Here, we directly tested the effect of learned value on preattentive processing using temporal order judgments. Across four experiments, we imbued some stimuli with high value and some with low value, using a nonmonetary reward task. In Experiment 1, we replicated the value-driven distraction effect, validating our nonmonetary reward task. Experiment 2 showed that high-value stimuli, but not low-value stimuli, exhibit a prior-entry effect. Experiment 3, which reversed the temporal order judgment task (i.e., reporting which stimulus came second), showed no prior-entry effect, indicating that although a response bias may be present for high-value stimuli, they are still reported as appearing earlier. However, Experiment 4, using a simultaneity judgment task, showed no shift in temporal perception. Overall, our results support the conclusion that learned value biases perceptual decisions about valued stimuli without speeding preattentive stimulus processing.

Magic Learning Pill: Ontological and Instrumental Learning in Order to Speed Up Education.

PubMed

Matusov, Eugene; Baker, Daniella; Fan, Yueyue; Choi, Hye Jung; L Hampel, Robert

2017-09-01

The purpose of this research is to investigate the phenomenology of learning - people"s attitudes toward their learning experiences that have inherent worth in themselves (i.e., ontological learning) or have value outside of the learning itself (i.e., instrumental learning). In order to explore this topic, 58 participants from the U.S., Russia, and Brazil were interviewed with a central question derived from the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's short story "Profession": whether participants would take a "Magic Learning Pill" (MLP) to avoid the process of learning, and instead magically acquire the knowledge. The MLP would guarantee the immediate learning by skipping the process of learning while achieving the same effect of gaining skills and knowledge. Almost all participants could think of some learning experiences for which they would take MLP and others for which they would not. Many participants would not take MLP for ontological learning, which is learning experiences that have inherent value for the people, while they would take MLP for instrumental learning, which is learning that mainly serves some other non-educational purposes. The main finding suggests that both instrumental and ontological types of learning are recognized by a wide range of people from diverse cultures as present and valued in their lives. This is especially significant in light of the overwhelmingly instrumental tone of public discourse about education. In the context of formal education, ontological learning was mentioned 35 times (28.0%) while instrumental learning was mentioned 74 times (60.2%). Although ontological learning was often mentioned as taking place outside of school, incorporating pedagogy supporting ontological learning at school deserves consideration.

Embedding spiritual value through science learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johan, H.; Suhandi, A.; Wulan, A. R.; Widiasih; Ruyani, A.; Karyadi, B.; Sipriyadi

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study was to embed spiritual value through science learning program especially earth planet. Various phenomena in earth planet describe a divinity of super power. This study used quasi experimental method with one group pre-test-post-test design. Convenience sampling was conducted in this study. 23 pre-service physics teacher was involved. Pre-test and post-test used a questionnaire had been conducted to collected data of spiritual attitude. Open ended question had been utilized at post-test to collected data. A fourth indicators of spiritual value related to divinity of God was used to embed spiritual value. The results show a shifted of students’ awareness to divinity of God. Before implementing the earth planet learning, 85.8% of total students strongly agree that learning activity embed spiritual value while after learning process, it increased be 93.4%. After learning earth planet, it known that students’ spiritual value was influenced by character of earth planet concept which unobservable and media visual which display each incredible phenomena process in our earth planet. It can be concluded that spiritual value can be embedded through unobservable phenomena of during learning earth planet process.

The Relationship between Teacher Value Orientations and Engagement in Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ning, Hoi Kwan; Lee, Daphnee; Lee, Wing On

2016-01-01

The development of teacher professional learning communities (PLC) has attracted growing attention among practitioners, policy-makers and researchers. The aims of this study were to identify typologies of professional learning teams based on measures of professional learning engagement, and assess their linkages with teachers' value orientations.…

Offering a Framework for Value Co-Creation in Virtual Academic Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranjbarfard, Mina; Heidari Sureshjani, Mahboobeh

2018-01-01

Purpose: This research aims to convert the traditional teacher-student models, in which teachers determine the learning resources, into a flexible structure and an active learning environment so that students can participate in the educational processes and value co-creation in virtual academic learning environments (VALEs).…

Is There a Difference in Learning Style among Cultures?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fierro, Darlene

Each child has a personal learning style that results from innate tendencies and environmental experiences. Because cultural groups often share common values, the experiences of children growing up with those values are reflected in their classroom learning behaviors. This paper discusses cultural differences in children's learning styles. The…

Learning What to Learn: The Effects of Task Experience on Strategy Shifts in the Allocation of Study Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ariel, Robert

2013-01-01

Learners typically allocate more resources to learning items that are higher in value than they do to items lower in value. For instance, when items vary in point value for learning, participants allocate more study time to the higher point items than they do to the lower point items. The current experiments extend this research to a context where…

Exploring ward nurses' perceptions of continuing education in clinical settings.

PubMed

Govranos, Melissa; Newton, Jennifer M

2014-04-01

Health care systems demand that nurses are flexible skilful workers who maintain currency and competency in order to deliver safe effective patient centered care. Nurses must continually build best practice into their care and acquire lifelong learning. Often this learning is acquired within the work environment and is facilitated by the clinical nurse educator. Understanding clinical nurses' values and needs of continuing education is necessary to ensure appropriate education service delivery and thus enhance patient care. To explore clinical ward-based nurses' values and perceptions towards continuing education and what factors impact on continuing education in the ward. A case study approach was utilized. A major teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia. A range of clinical nursing staff (n=23). Four focus groups and six semi-structured individual interviews were undertaken. Focus group interviews explored participants' values and perceptions on continuing education through a values clarification tool. Thematic analysis of interviews was undertaken to identify themes and cluster data. Three central themes: 'culture and attitudes', 'what is learning?' and 'being there-being seen', emerged reflecting staffs' values and perceptions of education and learning in the workplace. Multiple factors influence ward nurses' ability and motivation to incorporate lifelong learning into their practice. Despite variance in nurses' values and perceptions of CE in clinical environments, CE was perceived as important. Nurses yearned for changes to facilitate lifelong learning and cultivate a learning culture. Clinical nurse educators need to be cognizant of adult learners' characteristics such as values, beliefs, needs and potential barriers, to effectively facilitate support in a challenging and complex learning environment. Organizational support is essential so ward managers in conjunction with educational departments can promote and sustain continuing education, lifelong learning and a culture conducive to learning. © 2013.

Leadership development through action learning sets: an evaluation study.

PubMed

Walia, Surinder; Marks-Maran, Di

2014-11-01

This article examines the use of action learning sets in a leadership module delivered by a university in south east England. An evaluation research study was undertaking using survey method to evaluate student engagement with action learning sets, and their value, impact and sustainability. Data were collected through a questionnaire with a mix of Likert-style and open-ended questions and qualitative and quantitative data analysis was undertaken. Findings show that engagement in the action learning sets was very high. Action learning sets also had a positive impact on the development of leadership knowledge and skills and are highly valued by participants. It is likely that they would be sustainable as the majority would recommend action learning to colleagues and would consider taking another module that used action learning sets. When compared to existing literature on action learning, this study offers new insights as there is little empirical literature on student engagement with action learning sets and even less on value and sustainability. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An International Perspective on Value Learning in the Kindergarten--Exemplified by the Value Forgiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunnestad, Arve; Mørreaunet, Sissel; Onyango, Silas

2015-01-01

This article highlights value learning in kindergartens exemplified by the value of forgiveness. Values are basic ideas on human behaviour and they function as a compass that helps children to make choices and priorities in their lives, to choose between good or bad, right or wrong. Value learning is an important part of the educational work in a…

Integration of living values into physics learning based on local potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarah, S.; Prasetyo, Z. K.; Wilujeng, I.

2018-05-01

Living values are the principles and beliefs that influence the way of life and behavior of people in society. These values are defined to determine the individuals’ characteristics in the physical, intellectual, social-emotional, and spiritual dimensions. Such values could be acquired through physics learning. Therefore, the study concerned here was aimed at determining the difference in the living values acquired between students of the grade officially termed Grade X at a state senior high school referred to as SMAN 1 Selomerto, Central Java, Indonesia, who learned physics by using content based on local potentials and those who learned physics without using that content. A quasi-experiment with the control group pre-test post-test design was conducted to collect the data. The data were analyzed by using tests of normality, homogeneity, and different. The results indicate no difference in the living values acquired between students learning physics by using local-potential content and those learning physics without using that content.

Context transfer in reinforcement learning using action-value functions.

PubMed

Mousavi, Amin; Nadjar Araabi, Babak; Nili Ahmadabadi, Majid

2014-01-01

This paper discusses the notion of context transfer in reinforcement learning tasks. Context transfer, as defined in this paper, implies knowledge transfer between source and target tasks that share the same environment dynamics and reward function but have different states or action spaces. In other words, the agents learn the same task while using different sensors and actuators. This requires the existence of an underlying common Markov decision process (MDP) to which all the agents' MDPs can be mapped. This is formulated in terms of the notion of MDP homomorphism. The learning framework is Q-learning. To transfer the knowledge between these tasks, the feature space is used as a translator and is expressed as a partial mapping between the state-action spaces of different tasks. The Q-values learned during the learning process of the source tasks are mapped to the sets of Q-values for the target task. These transferred Q-values are merged together and used to initialize the learning process of the target task. An interval-based approach is used to represent and merge the knowledge of the source tasks. Empirical results show that the transferred initialization can be beneficial to the learning process of the target task.

Context Transfer in Reinforcement Learning Using Action-Value Functions

PubMed Central

Mousavi, Amin; Nadjar Araabi, Babak; Nili Ahmadabadi, Majid

2014-01-01

This paper discusses the notion of context transfer in reinforcement learning tasks. Context transfer, as defined in this paper, implies knowledge transfer between source and target tasks that share the same environment dynamics and reward function but have different states or action spaces. In other words, the agents learn the same task while using different sensors and actuators. This requires the existence of an underlying common Markov decision process (MDP) to which all the agents' MDPs can be mapped. This is formulated in terms of the notion of MDP homomorphism. The learning framework is Q-learning. To transfer the knowledge between these tasks, the feature space is used as a translator and is expressed as a partial mapping between the state-action spaces of different tasks. The Q-values learned during the learning process of the source tasks are mapped to the sets of Q-values for the target task. These transferred Q-values are merged together and used to initialize the learning process of the target task. An interval-based approach is used to represent and merge the knowledge of the source tasks. Empirical results show that the transferred initialization can be beneficial to the learning process of the target task. PMID:25610457

Human reinforcement learning subdivides structured action spaces by learning effector-specific values

PubMed Central

Gershman, Samuel J.; Pesaran, Bijan; Daw, Nathaniel D.

2009-01-01

Humans and animals are endowed with a large number of effectors. Although this enables great behavioral flexibility, it presents an equally formidable reinforcement learning problem of discovering which actions are most valuable, due to the high dimensionality of the action space. An unresolved question is how neural systems for reinforcement learning – such as prediction error signals for action valuation associated with dopamine and the striatum – can cope with this “curse of dimensionality.” We propose a reinforcement learning framework that allows for learned action valuations to be decomposed into effector-specific components when appropriate to a task, and test it by studying to what extent human behavior and BOLD activity can exploit such a decomposition in a multieffector choice task. Subjects made simultaneous decisions with their left and right hands and received separate reward feedback for each hand movement. We found that choice behavior was better described by a learning model that decomposed the values of bimanual movements into separate values for each effector, rather than a traditional model that treated the bimanual actions as unitary with a single value. A decomposition of value into effector-specific components was also observed in value-related BOLD signaling, in the form of lateralized biases in striatal correlates of prediction error and anticipatory value correlates in the intraparietal sulcus. These results suggest that the human brain can use decomposed value representations to “divide and conquer” reinforcement learning over high-dimensional action spaces. PMID:19864565

Human reinforcement learning subdivides structured action spaces by learning effector-specific values.

PubMed

Gershman, Samuel J; Pesaran, Bijan; Daw, Nathaniel D

2009-10-28

Humans and animals are endowed with a large number of effectors. Although this enables great behavioral flexibility, it presents an equally formidable reinforcement learning problem of discovering which actions are most valuable because of the high dimensionality of the action space. An unresolved question is how neural systems for reinforcement learning-such as prediction error signals for action valuation associated with dopamine and the striatum-can cope with this "curse of dimensionality." We propose a reinforcement learning framework that allows for learned action valuations to be decomposed into effector-specific components when appropriate to a task, and test it by studying to what extent human behavior and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity can exploit such a decomposition in a multieffector choice task. Subjects made simultaneous decisions with their left and right hands and received separate reward feedback for each hand movement. We found that choice behavior was better described by a learning model that decomposed the values of bimanual movements into separate values for each effector, rather than a traditional model that treated the bimanual actions as unitary with a single value. A decomposition of value into effector-specific components was also observed in value-related BOLD signaling, in the form of lateralized biases in striatal correlates of prediction error and anticipatory value correlates in the intraparietal sulcus. These results suggest that the human brain can use decomposed value representations to "divide and conquer" reinforcement learning over high-dimensional action spaces.

Physical Activity and Fitness Knowledge Learning in Physical Education: Seeking a Common Ground

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Senlin; Chen, Ang; Sun, Haichun; Zhu, Xihe

2013-01-01

Motivation to learn is a disposition developed through exposure to learning opportunities. Guided by the expectancy-value theory of Eccles and Wigfield (1995), this study examined the extent to which expectancy belief and task value influenced elementary school students' physical activity and knowledge learning in physical education (PE).…

Learning Gaps in a Learning Organization: Professionals' Values versus Management Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parding, Karolina; Abrahamsson, Lena

2010-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this article is to challenge the concept of "the learning organization" as unproblematic and inherently good. Design/methodology/approach: The research looked at how teachers--as an example of public sector professionals in a work organization that claims to be a learning organization--view their conditions for…

Methods of integrating Islamic values in teaching biology for shaping attitude and character

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Listyono; Supardi, K. I.; Hindarto, N.; Ridlo, S.

2018-03-01

Learning is expected to develop the potential of learners to have the spiritual attitude: moral strength, self-control, personality, intelligence, noble character, as well as the skills needed by themselves, society, and nation. Implementation of role and morale in learning is an alternative way which is expected to answer the challenge. The solution offered is to inject student with religious material Islamic in learning biology. The content value of materials teaching biology includes terms of practical value, religious values, daily life value, socio-political value, and the value of art. In Islamic religious values (Qur'an and Hadith) various methods can touch human feelings, souls, and generate motivation. Integrating learning with Islamic value can be done by the deductive or inductive approach. The appropriate method of integration is the amtsal (analog) method, hiwar (dialog) method, targhib & tarhib (encouragement & warning) method, and example method (giving a noble role model / good example). The right strategy in integrating Islamic values is outlined in the design of lesson plan. The integration of Islamic values in lesson plan will facilitate teachers to build students' character because Islamic values can be implemented in every learning steps so students will be accustomed to receiving the character value in this integrated learning.

Forgetting in Reinforcement Learning Links Sustained Dopamine Signals to Motivation

PubMed Central

Morita, Kenji

2016-01-01

It has been suggested that dopamine (DA) represents reward-prediction-error (RPE) defined in reinforcement learning and therefore DA responds to unpredicted but not predicted reward. However, recent studies have found DA response sustained towards predictable reward in tasks involving self-paced behavior, and suggested that this response represents a motivational signal. We have previously shown that RPE can sustain if there is decay/forgetting of learned-values, which can be implemented as decay of synaptic strengths storing learned-values. This account, however, did not explain the suggested link between tonic/sustained DA and motivation. In the present work, we explored the motivational effects of the value-decay in self-paced approach behavior, modeled as a series of ‘Go’ or ‘No-Go’ selections towards a goal. Through simulations, we found that the value-decay can enhance motivation, specifically, facilitate fast goal-reaching, albeit counterintuitively. Mathematical analyses revealed that underlying potential mechanisms are twofold: (1) decay-induced sustained RPE creates a gradient of ‘Go’ values towards a goal, and (2) value-contrasts between ‘Go’ and ‘No-Go’ are generated because while chosen values are continually updated, unchosen values simply decay. Our model provides potential explanations for the key experimental findings that suggest DA's roles in motivation: (i) slowdown of behavior by post-training blockade of DA signaling, (ii) observations that DA blockade severely impairs effortful actions to obtain rewards while largely sparing seeking of easily obtainable rewards, and (iii) relationships between the reward amount, the level of motivation reflected in the speed of behavior, and the average level of DA. These results indicate that reinforcement learning with value-decay, or forgetting, provides a parsimonious mechanistic account for the DA's roles in value-learning and motivation. Our results also suggest that when biological systems for value-learning are active even though learning has apparently converged, the systems might be in a state of dynamic equilibrium, where learning and forgetting are balanced. PMID:27736881

Forgetting in Reinforcement Learning Links Sustained Dopamine Signals to Motivation.

PubMed

Kato, Ayaka; Morita, Kenji

2016-10-01

It has been suggested that dopamine (DA) represents reward-prediction-error (RPE) defined in reinforcement learning and therefore DA responds to unpredicted but not predicted reward. However, recent studies have found DA response sustained towards predictable reward in tasks involving self-paced behavior, and suggested that this response represents a motivational signal. We have previously shown that RPE can sustain if there is decay/forgetting of learned-values, which can be implemented as decay of synaptic strengths storing learned-values. This account, however, did not explain the suggested link between tonic/sustained DA and motivation. In the present work, we explored the motivational effects of the value-decay in self-paced approach behavior, modeled as a series of 'Go' or 'No-Go' selections towards a goal. Through simulations, we found that the value-decay can enhance motivation, specifically, facilitate fast goal-reaching, albeit counterintuitively. Mathematical analyses revealed that underlying potential mechanisms are twofold: (1) decay-induced sustained RPE creates a gradient of 'Go' values towards a goal, and (2) value-contrasts between 'Go' and 'No-Go' are generated because while chosen values are continually updated, unchosen values simply decay. Our model provides potential explanations for the key experimental findings that suggest DA's roles in motivation: (i) slowdown of behavior by post-training blockade of DA signaling, (ii) observations that DA blockade severely impairs effortful actions to obtain rewards while largely sparing seeking of easily obtainable rewards, and (iii) relationships between the reward amount, the level of motivation reflected in the speed of behavior, and the average level of DA. These results indicate that reinforcement learning with value-decay, or forgetting, provides a parsimonious mechanistic account for the DA's roles in value-learning and motivation. Our results also suggest that when biological systems for value-learning are active even though learning has apparently converged, the systems might be in a state of dynamic equilibrium, where learning and forgetting are balanced.

"Bringing Learning Closer to Home": The Value and Impact of the Lisbon Strategy for Strengthening the Role of Local Learning Centres and Partnerships in South-Eastern Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zarifis, George K.

2008-01-01

This paper presents a comparative examination of four local learning centres that provide learning opportunities throughout life in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. The paper aims to assess some of the strengths and weaknesses of different types of local learning centres and partnerships in South-Eastern Europe--in line with the value and…

On valuing peers: theories of learning and intercultural competence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cajander, Åsa; Daniels, Mats; McDermott, Roger

2012-12-01

This paper investigates the links between the contributing student pedagogy and other forms of peer-mediated learning models, e.g. open-ended group projects and communities of practice. We find that a fundamental concern in each of these models is the attribution of value; specifically, recognition of the value of learning that is enabled by peer interaction, and the way in which value is created and assessed within a learning community. Value is also central to theories of intercultural competence. We examine the role that the concept of value plays in the development cycle of intercultural competence and relate it to its function in peer-mediated learning models. We also argue that elements of social learning theory, principally recent work on value creation in communities of practice, are very relevant to the construction and assessment of the type of activities proposed within the contributing student pedagogy. Our theoretical analysis is situated within the context of a globally distributed open-ended group project course unit and our conclusions are illustrated with reference to student practice in this environment.

Expectancy-value theory in persistence of learning effects in schizophrenia: role of task value and perceived competency.

PubMed

Choi, Jimmy; Fiszdon, Joanna M; Medalia, Alice

2010-09-01

Expectancy-value theory, a widely accepted model of motivation, posits that expectations of success on a learning task and the individual value placed on the task are central determinants of motivation to learn. This is supported by research in healthy controls suggesting that beliefs of self-and-content mastery can be so influential they can predict the degree of improvement on challenging cognitive tasks even more so than general cognitive ability. We examined components of expectancy-value theory (perceived competency and task value), along with baseline arithmetic performance and neuropsychological performance, as possible predictors of learning outcome in a sample of 70 outpatients with schizophrenia randomized to 1 of 2 different arithmetic learning conditions and followed up after 3 months. Results indicated that as with nonpsychiatric samples, perceived self-competency for the learning task was significantly related to perceptions of task value attributed to the learning task. Baseline expectations of success predicted persistence of learning on the task at 3-month follow-up, even after accounting for variance attributable to different arithmetic instruction, baseline arithmetic ability, attention, and self-reports of task interest and task value. We also found that expectation of success is a malleable construct, with posttraining improvements persisting at follow-up. These findings support the notion that expectancy-value theory is operative in schizophrenia. Thus, similar to the nonpsychiatric population, treatment benefits may be enhanced and better maintained if remediation programs also focus on perceptions of self-competency for the training tasks. Treatment issues related to instilling self-efficacy in cognitive recovery programs are discussed.

Assessing the Value of E-Learning Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Yair

2006-01-01

"Assessing the Value of E-Learning Systems" provides an extensive literature review pulling theories from the field of information systems, psychology and cognitive sciences, distance and online learning, as well as marketing and decision sciences. This book provides empirical evidence for the power of measuring value in the context of e-learning…

The Leadership Roles of Distance Learning Administrators (DLAs) in Increasing Educational Value and Quality Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFarlane, Donovan A.

2011-01-01

This paper examines the leadership roles of distance learning administrators (DLAs) in light of the demand and need for value and quality in educational distance learning programs and schools. The author explores the development of distance learning using available and emerging technologies in relation to increased demand for education, training,…

Shared Values and Socio-Cultural Norms: E-Learning Technologies from a Social Practice Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shih, Patti; Velan, Gary M.; Shulruf, Boaz

2017-01-01

From a perspective of social practice, learning is a socially constituted practice that is imbued with socio-culturally significant meanings and shaped by the values and norms shared within a community of learners. This focus group study examines the role of e-learning technologies in mediating the social practice of learning among coursework…

The Value Simulation-Based Learning Added to Machining Technology in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fang, Linda; Tan, Hock Soon; Thwin, Mya Mya; Tan, Kim Cheng; Koh, Caroline

2011-01-01

This study seeks to understand the value simulation-based learning (SBL) added to the learning of Machining Technology in a 15-week core subject course offered to university students. The research questions were: (1) How did SBL enhance classroom learning? (2) How did SBL help participants in their test? (3) How did SBL prepare participants for…

Student Perspectives of the Integration of Faith and Learning in an Online Counselor Education Program: A Program Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Wynsberg, Kevin

2016-01-01

The integration of faith and learning is a valued aspect of Christian education and holds particular importance in training professional counselors. Currently, literature related to integration learning has been limited to residential environments, and students' expectations and most valued aspects of learning integration have received little…

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…

Mobile Learning for Teacher Professional Learning: Benefits, Obstacles and Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aubusson, Peter; Schuck, Sandy; Burden, Kevin

2009-01-01

This paper reflects on the role of mobile learning in teachers' professional learning. It argues that effective professional learning requires reflection and collaboration and that mobile learning is ideally suited to allow reflection-in-action and to capture the spontaneity of learning moments. The paper also argues for the value of…

Learning Leaders for Learning Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Frederick; Psencik, Kay

2017-01-01

Principals who pay attention to their own learning serve as models for others. What principals do every day, how they view and value student and educator learning, how they organize their staff into learning communities, and the designs they support for those teams to learn make a significant difference in the learning of those they serve. In this…

The relationship between mood state and perceived control in contingency learning: effects of individualist and collectivist values.

PubMed

Msetfi, Rachel M; Kornbrot, Diana E; Matute, Helena; Murphy, Robin A

2015-01-01

Perceived control in contingency learning is linked to psychological wellbeing with low levels of perceived control thought to be a cause or consequence of depression and high levels of control considered to be the hallmark of mental healthiness. However, it is not clear whether this is a universal phenomenon or whether the value that people ascribe to control influences these relationships. Here we hypothesize that values affect learning about control contingencies and influence the relationship between perceived control and symptoms of mood disorders. We tested these hypotheses with European university samples who were categorized as endorsing (or not) values relevant to control-individualist and collectivist values. Three online experimental contingency learning studies (N 1 = 127, N 2 = 324, N 3 = 272) were carried out. Evidence suggested that individualist values influenced basic learning processes via an effect on learning about the context in which events took place. Participants who endorsed individualist values made control judgments that were more in line with an elemental associative learning model, whilst those who were ambivalent about individualist values made judgments that were more consistent with a configural process. High levels of perceived control and individualist values were directly associated with increased euphoric symptoms of bipolar disorder, and such values completely mediated the relation between perceived control and symptoms. The effect of low perceived control on depression was moderated by collectivist values. Anxiety created by dissonance between values and task may be a catalyst for developing mood symptoms. Conclusions are that values play a significant intermediary role in the relation between perceived control and symptoms of mood disturbance.

Associations of learning style with cultural values and demographics in nursing students in Iran and Malaysia

PubMed Central

Abdollahimohammad, Abdolghani; Ja’afar, Rogayah

2015-01-01

Purpose: The goal of the current study was to identify associations between the learning style of nursing students and their cultural values and demographic characteristics. Methods: A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to gather data from two populations. All 156 participants were female, Muslim, and full-time degree students. Data were collected from April to June 2010 using two reliable and validated questionnaires: the Learning Style Scales and the Values Survey Module 2008 (VSM 08). A simple linear regression was run for each predictor before conducting multiple linear regression analysis. The forward selection method was used for variable selection. P-values ≤0.05 and ≤0.1 were considered to indicate significance and marginal significance, respectively. Moreover, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was performed to determine the invariance of the Farsi and English versions of the VSM 08. Results: The perceptive learning style was found to have a significant negative relationship with the power distance and monumentalism indices of the VSM 08. Moreover, a significant negative association was observed between the solitary learning style and the power distance index. However, no significant association was found between the analytic, competitive, and imaginative learning styles and cultural values (P>0.05). Likewise, no significant associations were observed between learning style, including the perceptive, solitary, analytic, competitive, and imaginative learning styles, and year of study or age (P>0.05). Conclusion: Students who reported low values on the power distance and monumentalism indices are more likely to prefer perceptive and solitary learning styles. Within each group of students in our study sample from the same school the year of study and age did not show any significant associations with learning style. PMID:26268831

Associations of learning style with cultural values and demographics in nursing students in Iran and Malaysia.

PubMed

Abdollahimohammad, Abdolghani; Ja'afar, Rogayah

2015-01-01

The goal of the current study was to identify associations between the learning style of nursing students and their cultural values and demographic characteristics. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to gather data from two populations. All 156 participants were female, Muslim, and full-time degree students. Data were collected from April to June 2010 using two reliable and validated questionnaires: the Learning Style Scales and the Values Survey Module 2008 (VSM 08). A simple linear regression was run for each predictor before conducting multiple linear regression analysis. The forward selection method was used for variable selection. P-values ≤0.05 and ≤0.1 were considered to indicate significance and marginal significance, respectively. Moreover, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was performed to determine the invariance of the Farsi and English versions of the VSM 08. The perceptive learning style was found to have a significant negative relationship with the power distance and monumentalism indices of the VSM 08. Moreover, a significant negative association was observed between the solitary learning style and the power distance index. However, no significant association was found between the analytic, competitive, and imaginative learning styles and cultural values (P>0.05). Likewise, no significant associations were observed between learning style, including the perceptive, solitary, analytic, competitive, and imaginative learning styles, and year of study or age (P>0.05). Students who reported low values on the power distance and monumentalism indices are more likely to prefer perceptive and solitary learning styles. Within each group of students in our study sample from the same school the year of study and age did not show any significant associations with learning style.

Effects of Ventral Striatum Lesions on Stimulus-Based versus Action-Based Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Rothenhoefer, Kathryn M; Costa, Vincent D; Bartolo, Ramón; Vicario-Feliciano, Raquel; Murray, Elisabeth A; Averbeck, Bruno B

2017-07-19

Learning the values of actions versus stimuli may depend on separable neural circuits. In the current study, we evaluated the performance of rhesus macaques with ventral striatum (VS) lesions on a two-arm bandit task that had randomly interleaved blocks of stimulus-based and action-based reinforcement learning (RL). Compared with controls, monkeys with VS lesions had deficits in learning to select rewarding images but not rewarding actions. We used a RL model to quantify learning and choice consistency and found that, in stimulus-based RL, the VS lesion monkeys were more influenced by negative feedback and had lower choice consistency than controls. Using a Bayesian model to parse the groups' learning strategies, we also found that VS lesion monkeys defaulted to an action-based choice strategy. Therefore, the VS is involved specifically in learning the value of stimuli, not actions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reinforcement learning models of the ventral striatum (VS) often assume that it maintains an estimate of state value. This suggests that it plays a general role in learning whether rewards are assigned based on a chosen action or stimulus. In the present experiment, we examined the effects of VS lesions on monkeys' ability to learn that choosing a particular action or stimulus was more likely to lead to reward. We found that VS lesions caused a specific deficit in the monkeys' ability to discriminate between images with different values, whereas their ability to discriminate between actions with different values remained intact. Our results therefore suggest that the VS plays a specific role in learning to select rewarded stimuli. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/376902-13$15.00/0.

Utility of learning plans in general practice vocational training: a mixed-methods national study of registrar, supervisor, and educator perspectives.

PubMed

Garth, Belinda; Kirby, Catherine; Silberberg, Peter; Brown, James

2016-08-19

Learning plans are a compulsory component of the training and assessment requirements of general practice (GP) registrars in Australia. There is a small but growing number of studies reporting that learning plans are not well accepted or utilised in general practice training. There is a lack of research examining this apparent contradiction. The aim of this study was to examine use and perceived utility of formal learning plans in GP vocational training. This mixed-method Australian national research project utilised online learning plan usage data from 208 GP registrars and semi-structured focus groups and telephone interviews with 35 GP registrars, 12 recently fellowed GPs, 16 supervisors and 17 medical educators across three Regional Training Providers (RTPs). Qualitative data were analysed thematically using template analysis. Learning plans were used mostly as a log of activities rather than as a planning tool. Most learning needs were entered and ticked off as complete on the same day. Learning plans were perceived as having little value for registrars in their journey to becoming a competent GP, and as a bureaucratic hurdle serving as a distraction rather than an aid to learning. The process of learning planning was valued more so than the documentation of learning planning. This study provides creditable evidence that mandated learning plans are broadly considered by users to be a bureaucratic impediment with little value as a learning tool. It is more important to support registrars in planning their learning than to enforce documentation of this process in a learning plan. If learning planning is to be an assessed competence, methods of assessment other than the submission of a formal learning plan should be explored.

Dynamic Interaction between Reinforcement Learning and Attention in Multidimensional Environments.

PubMed

Leong, Yuan Chang; Radulescu, Angela; Daniel, Reka; DeWoskin, Vivian; Niv, Yael

2017-01-18

Little is known about the relationship between attention and learning during decision making. Using eye tracking and multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data, we measured participants' dimensional attention as they performed a trial-and-error learning task in which only one of three stimulus dimensions was relevant for reward at any given time. Analysis of participants' choices revealed that attention biased both value computation during choice and value update during learning. Value signals in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and prediction errors in the striatum were similarly biased by attention. In turn, participants' focus of attention was dynamically modulated by ongoing learning. Attentional switches across dimensions correlated with activity in a frontoparietal attention network, which showed enhanced connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex between switches. Our results suggest a bidirectional interaction between attention and learning: attention constrains learning to relevant dimensions of the environment, while we learn what to attend to via trial and error. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Less Is Sometimes More: Goal Content Matters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Simons, Joke; Lens, Willy; Soenens, Bart; Matos, Lennia; Lacante, Marlies

2004-01-01

According to expectancy-value theories, increasing the utility value of a learning activity should result in higher motivation and better learning. In contrast, self-determination theory posits that the content of the future goals (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) that enhance the utility value of the learning activity needs to be considered as well.…

Adolescent Expectancy-Value Motivation and Learning: A Disconnected Case in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Xihe; Chen, Ang

2010-01-01

This study reports adolescent expectancy-value motivation, and its relation to fitness knowledge and psychomotor skill learning in physical education. Students (N = 854) from 12 middle schools provided data on expectancy-value motivation, fitness knowledge and psychomotor skill learning. Results from dependent t-test and MANOVA indicated that 8th…

Disseminating Innovations in Teaching Value-Based Care Through an Online Learning Network.

PubMed

Gupta, Reshma; Shah, Neel T; Moriates, Christopher; Wallingford, September; Arora, Vineet M

2017-08-01

A national imperative to provide value-based care requires new strategies to teach clinicians about high-value care. We developed a virtual online learning network aimed at disseminating emerging strategies in teaching value-based care. The online Teaching Value in Health Care Learning Network includes monthly webinars that feature selected innovators, online discussion forums, and a repository for sharing tools. The learning network comprises clinician-educators and health system leaders across North America. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of all webinar presenters and the active members of the network, and we assessed program feasibility. Six months after the program launched, there were 277 learning community members in 22 US states. Of the 74 active members, 50 (68%) completed the evaluation. Active members represented independently practicing physicians and trainees in 7 specialties, nurses, educators, and health system leaders. Nearly all speakers reported that the learning network provided them with a unique opportunity to connect with a different audience and achieve greater recognition for their work. Of the members who were active in the learning network, most reported that strategies gleaned from the network were helpful, and some adopted or adapted these innovations at their home institutions. One year after the program launched, the learning network had grown to 364 total members. The learning network helped participants share and implement innovations to promote high-value care. The model can help disseminate innovations in emerging areas of health care transformation, and is sustainable without ongoing support after a period of start-up funding.

"Learning-in-Action" and "Learning Inaction": Advancing the Theory and Practice of Critical Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vince, Russ

2008-01-01

This paper seeks to improve our understanding of the emotional and political dynamics that are generated (and too often avoided) in action learning. The idea at the centre of the paper is a distinction between "learning-in-action" and "learning inaction". The phrase "learning-in-action" represents the value of action…

Investigating Student Use and Value of E-Learning Resources to Develop Academic Writing within the Discipline of Environmental Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taffs, Kathryn H.; Holt, Julienne I.

2013-01-01

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education to support student learning is expanding. However, student usage has been low and the value of e-learning resources has been under investigation. We reflect on best practices for pedagogical design of e-learning resources to support academic writing in environmental…

Launching Professional Learning Communities: Beginning Actions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leo, Tara; Cowan, D'Ette

2000-01-01

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a school where administrators and teachers continuously seek and share learning to increase their effectiveness for students and act on what they learn. PLCs are characterized by five dimensions: shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application of learning,…

Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory in Athletic Training Education: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schellhase, Kristen C.

2008-01-01

Objective: Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory offers insight into the development of learning styles, classification of learning styles, and how students learn through experience. Discussion is presented on the value of Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory for Athletic Training Education. Data Sources: This article reviews research related to…

Investigating the Educational Value of Social Learning Networks: A Quantitative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dafoulas, Georgios; Shokri, Azam

2016-01-01

Purpose: The emergence of Education 2.0 enabled technology-enhanced learning, necessitating new pedagogical approaches, while e-learning has evolved into an instrumental pedagogy of collaboration through affordances of social media. Social learning networks and ubiquitous learning enabled individual and group learning through social engagement and…

The observation of biology implemented by integrated religion values in integrated Islamic school (Decriptive Study in X Integrated Senior Hight School Tasikmalaya)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurjanah, E.; Adisendjaja, Y. H.; Kusumastuti, M. N.

2018-05-01

The learning Integrated Religious value is one of the efforts to increase the motivation of learning and building the student character. This study aims to describe the application of Biology learning integrated religion values in Integrated Islamic School. Research methods used in this research is descriptive. Participants in this study involved the headmaster, headmaster of curriculum, biology teachers, boarding school teachers, the lead of boarding schools, and students. The instruments used are interview, observation and the student questionnaire about learning biology. The results showed that learning in X school consists of two curriculums, there was the curriculum of national education and curriculum of boarding school. The curriculum of national education referred to 2013 curriculum and boarding school curriculum referred to the curriculum of Salafi boarding school (Kitab Kuning). However, in its learning process not delivered integrated. The main obstacle to implementing the learning integrated religious values are 1) the background of general teacher education did not know of any connection between biology subject and subject that are studied in boarding school; 2) schools did not form the teaching team; 3) unavailability of materials integrated religious values.

Toward Eco-Civilization through Learning as Valuing: A Proposal for Whitehead Based Creative Inquiry in China's Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regnier, Robert

2016-01-01

This paper develops the notion of learning as valuing to support reform in Chinese schools as they transition from teaching as transmission to teaching as fostering creative inquiry in efforts to move China to become an eco-civilization. The notion of learning as valuing here is developed from the concept of value in the work of Alfred North…

The relationship between mood state and perceived control in contingency learning: effects of individualist and collectivist values

PubMed Central

Msetfi, Rachel M.; Kornbrot, Diana E.; Matute, Helena; Murphy, Robin A.

2015-01-01

Perceived control in contingency learning is linked to psychological wellbeing with low levels of perceived control thought to be a cause or consequence of depression and high levels of control considered to be the hallmark of mental healthiness. However, it is not clear whether this is a universal phenomenon or whether the value that people ascribe to control influences these relationships. Here we hypothesize that values affect learning about control contingencies and influence the relationship between perceived control and symptoms of mood disorders. We tested these hypotheses with European university samples who were categorized as endorsing (or not) values relevant to control—individualist and collectivist values. Three online experimental contingency learning studies (N1 = 127, N2 = 324, N3 = 272) were carried out. Evidence suggested that individualist values influenced basic learning processes via an effect on learning about the context in which events took place. Participants who endorsed individualist values made control judgments that were more in line with an elemental associative learning model, whilst those who were ambivalent about individualist values made judgments that were more consistent with a configural process. High levels of perceived control and individualist values were directly associated with increased euphoric symptoms of bipolar disorder, and such values completely mediated the relation between perceived control and symptoms. The effect of low perceived control on depression was moderated by collectivist values. Anxiety created by dissonance between values and task may be a catalyst for developing mood symptoms. Conclusions are that values play a significant intermediary role in the relation between perceived control and symptoms of mood disturbance. PMID:26483707

Progressive sampling-based Bayesian optimization for efficient and automatic machine learning model selection.

PubMed

Zeng, Xueqiang; Luo, Gang

2017-12-01

Machine learning is broadly used for clinical data analysis. Before training a model, a machine learning algorithm must be selected. Also, the values of one or more model parameters termed hyper-parameters must be set. Selecting algorithms and hyper-parameter values requires advanced machine learning knowledge and many labor-intensive manual iterations. To lower the bar to machine learning, miscellaneous automatic selection methods for algorithms and/or hyper-parameter values have been proposed. Existing automatic selection methods are inefficient on large data sets. This poses a challenge for using machine learning in the clinical big data era. To address the challenge, this paper presents progressive sampling-based Bayesian optimization, an efficient and automatic selection method for both algorithms and hyper-parameter values. We report an implementation of the method. We show that compared to a state of the art automatic selection method, our method can significantly reduce search time, classification error rate, and standard deviation of error rate due to randomization. This is major progress towards enabling fast turnaround in identifying high-quality solutions required by many machine learning-based clinical data analysis tasks.

From Learning Cultures to Educational Cultures: Values and Judgements in Educational Research and Educational Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biesta, Gert

2011-01-01

This article outlines a new approach to the study of learning and the improvement of education. The approach consists of two elements: a theory of learning cultures and a cultural theory of learning. Learning cultures are different from learning contexts or learning environments in that they are to be understood as the social practices through…

The Value of Service-Learning: The Student Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caspersz, Donella; Olaru, Doina

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss the value of service-learning to students. There currently exists a gap in this understanding. We apply mixed-methods research using a sample of higher education students to develop this discussion. We found that students valued service-learning for the opportunity that it provides to increase their personal…

"Flipping" the introductory clerkship in radiology: impact on medical student performance and perceptions.

PubMed

Belfi, Lily M; Bartolotta, Roger J; Giambrone, Ashley E; Davi, Caryn; Min, Robert J

2015-06-01

Among methods of "blended learning" (ie, combining online modules with in-class instruction), the "flipped classroom" involves student preclass review of material while reserving class time for interactive knowledge application. We integrated blended learning methodology in a "flipped" introductory clerkship in radiology, and assessed the impact of this approach on the student educational experience (performance and perception). In preparation for the "flipped clerkship," radiology faculty and residents created e-learning modules that were uploaded to an open-source website. The clerkship's 101 rising third-year medical students were exposed to different teaching methods during the course, such as blended learning, traditional lecture learning, and independent learning. Students completed precourse and postcourse knowledge assessments and surveys. Student knowledge improved overall as a result of taking the course. Blended learning achieved greater pretest to post-test improvement of high statistical significance (P value, .0060) compared to lecture learning alone. Blended learning also achieved greater pretest to post-test improvement of borderline statistical significance (P value, .0855) in comparison to independent learning alone. The difference in effectiveness of independent learning versus lecture learning was not statistically significant (P value, .2730). Student perceptions of the online modules used in blended learning portions of the course were very positive. They specifically enjoyed the self-paced interactivity and the ability to return to the modules in the future. Blended learning can be successfully applied to the introductory clerkship in radiology. This teaching method offers educators an innovative and efficient approach to medical student education in radiology. Copyright © 2015 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Framing Reinforcement Learning from Human Reward: Reward Positivity, Temporal Discounting, Episodicity, and Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-29

Framing Reinforcement Learning from Human Reward: Reward Positivity, Temporal Discounting, Episodicity , and Performance W. Bradley Knox...positive a trainer’s reward values are; temporal discounting, the extent to which future reward is discounted in value; episodicity , whether task...learning occurs in discrete learning episodes instead of one continuing session; and task performance, the agent’s performance on the task the trainer

A Study on the Learning Processes in Discrimination Shift Learning of Children with Mental Retardation: From the Point of Developmental View of "Logical Manipulation by Classification."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanno, Atsushi

1989-01-01

The study was designed to investigate the learning processes in discrimination shift learning, in terms of developmental views of "logical manipulation by classification." Tasks comparing sizes of intradimensional value-classes and comparing sizes of interdimensional value-classes were devised in order to measure subjects' levels of…

Learning Styles: Fashion Fad or Lever for Change? The Application of Learning Style Theory to Inclusive Curriculum Delivery.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Jan

2002-01-01

Examines how four classifications of learning styles--field dependence/independence, holistic/sequential, styles linked to the experiential learning cycle, and "deep" and "surface" learning--relate to curriculum values. Draws on research at Sheffield Hallam University into the learning styles of General National Vocational…

Chinese Preservice Teachers’ Professional Identity Links with Education Program Performance: The Roles of Task Value Belief and Learning Motivations

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yan; Hawk, Skyler T.; Zhang, Xiaohui; Zhao, Hongyu

2016-01-01

Professional identity is a key issue spanning the entirety of teachers’ career development. Despite the abundance of existing research examining professional identity, its link with occupation-related behavior at the primary career stage (i.e., GPA in preservice education) and the potential process that underlies this association is still not fully understood. This study explored the professional identity of Chinese preservice teachers, and its links with task value belief, intrinsic learning motivation, extrinsic learning motivation, and performance in the education program. Grade-point average (GPA) of courses (both subject and pedagogy courses) was examined as an indicator of performance, and questionnaires were used to measure the remaining variables. Data from 606 preservice teachers in the first 3 years of a teacher-training program indicated that: (1) variables in this research were all significantly correlated with each other, except the correlation between intrinsic learning motivation and program performance; (2) professional identity was positively linked to task value belief, intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations, and program performance in a structural equation model (SEM); (3) task value belief was positively linked to intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivation; (4) higher extrinsic (but not intrinsic) learning motivation was associated with increased program performance; and (5) task value belief and extrinsic learning motivation were significant mediators in the model. PMID:27199810

Chinese Preservice Teachers' Professional Identity Links with Education Program Performance: The Roles of Task Value Belief and Learning Motivations.

PubMed

Zhang, Yan; Hawk, Skyler T; Zhang, Xiaohui; Zhao, Hongyu

2016-01-01

Professional identity is a key issue spanning the entirety of teachers' career development. Despite the abundance of existing research examining professional identity, its link with occupation-related behavior at the primary career stage (i.e., GPA in preservice education) and the potential process that underlies this association is still not fully understood. This study explored the professional identity of Chinese preservice teachers, and its links with task value belief, intrinsic learning motivation, extrinsic learning motivation, and performance in the education program. Grade-point average (GPA) of courses (both subject and pedagogy courses) was examined as an indicator of performance, and questionnaires were used to measure the remaining variables. Data from 606 preservice teachers in the first 3 years of a teacher-training program indicated that: (1) variables in this research were all significantly correlated with each other, except the correlation between intrinsic learning motivation and program performance; (2) professional identity was positively linked to task value belief, intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations, and program performance in a structural equation model (SEM); (3) task value belief was positively linked to intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivation; (4) higher extrinsic (but not intrinsic) learning motivation was associated with increased program performance; and (5) task value belief and extrinsic learning motivation were significant mediators in the model.

Developing Learning Environments: Challenges for Theory, Research and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iles, Paul

1994-01-01

Key challenges in development of learning organizations, promotion of learning culture, enhancement of learning processes, and development of learning communities are appropriateness of current models for interdisciplinary teams; whether valuing diversity enhances effectiveness; how global human resource development affects domestic; and what…

The habenula encodes negative motivational value associated with primary punishment in humans.

PubMed

Lawson, Rebecca P; Seymour, Ben; Loh, Eleanor; Lutti, Antoine; Dolan, Raymond J; Dayan, Peter; Weiskopf, Nikolaus; Roiser, Jonathan P

2014-08-12

Learning what to approach, and what to avoid, involves assigning value to environmental cues that predict positive and negative events. Studies in animals indicate that the lateral habenula encodes the previously learned negative motivational value of stimuli. However, involvement of the habenula in dynamic trial-by-trial aversive learning has not been assessed, and the functional role of this structure in humans remains poorly characterized, in part, due to its small size. Using high-resolution functional neuroimaging and computational modeling of reinforcement learning, we demonstrate positive habenula responses to the dynamically changing values of cues signaling painful electric shocks, which predict behavioral suppression of responses to those cues across individuals. By contrast, negative habenula responses to monetary reward cue values predict behavioral invigoration. Our findings show that the habenula plays a key role in an online aversive learning system and in generating associated motivated behavior in humans.

Learning outcomes through the cooperative learning team assisted individualization on research methodology’ course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pakpahan, N. F. D. B.

2018-01-01

All articles must contain an abstract. The research methodology is a subject in which the materials must be understood by the students who will take the thesis. Implementation of learning should create the conditions for active learning, interactive and effective are called Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) cooperative learning. The purpose of this study: 1) improving student learning outcomes at the course research methodology on TAI cooperative learning. 2) improvement of teaching activities. 3) improvement of learning activities. This study is a classroom action research conducted at the Department of Civil Engineering Universitas Negeri Surabaya. The research subjects were 30 students and lecturer of courses. Student results are complete in the first cycle by 20 students (67%) and did not complete 10 students (33%). In the second cycle students who complete being 26 students (87%) and did not complete 4 students (13%). There is an increase in learning outcomes by 20%. Results of teaching activities in the first cycle obtained the value of 3.15 with the criteria enough well. In the second cycle obtained the value of 4.22 with good criterion. The results of learning activities in the first cycle obtained the value of 3.05 with enough criterion. In the second cycle was obtained 3.95 with good criterion.

Developing support for remote nursing education through workplace culture that values learning.

PubMed

Gibb, Heather; Anderson, Judith; Forsyth, Katreena

2004-10-01

The present study presents the cultural challenges of introducing workplace learning associated with a nursing educational pathway into small rural hospitals. Focus groups were conducted before and after an action research intervention to determine whether changes in understanding and values on learning had occurred. Eight multipurpose services or small rural hospitals across rural New South Wales were involved in the intervention. Nursing staff from eight rural health facilities participated voluntarily in the present study. Two outcomes were achieved: The development of mentoring, locally tailored to the needs and expectations of nursing participants; Values and understanding of learning were enhanced, with advanced levels of learning being identified and demonstrated by staff in the practice setting. Small rural hospitals can provide opportunities for advanced clinical learning. Forms of major mentoring are, however, critical to this process.

MLBCD: a machine learning tool for big clinical data.

PubMed

Luo, Gang

2015-01-01

Predictive modeling is fundamental for extracting value from large clinical data sets, or "big clinical data," advancing clinical research, and improving healthcare. Machine learning is a powerful approach to predictive modeling. Two factors make machine learning challenging for healthcare researchers. First, before training a machine learning model, the values of one or more model parameters called hyper-parameters must typically be specified. Due to their inexperience with machine learning, it is hard for healthcare researchers to choose an appropriate algorithm and hyper-parameter values. Second, many clinical data are stored in a special format. These data must be iteratively transformed into the relational table format before conducting predictive modeling. This transformation is time-consuming and requires computing expertise. This paper presents our vision for and design of MLBCD (Machine Learning for Big Clinical Data), a new software system aiming to address these challenges and facilitate building machine learning predictive models using big clinical data. The paper describes MLBCD's design in detail. By making machine learning accessible to healthcare researchers, MLBCD will open the use of big clinical data and increase the ability to foster biomedical discovery and improve care.

Individual Values, Learning Routines and Academic Procrastination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dietz, Franziska; Hofer, Manfred; Fries, Stefan

2007-01-01

Background: Academic procrastination, the tendency to postpone learning activities, is regarded as a consequence of postmodern values that are prominent in post-industrialized societies. When students strive for leisure goals and have no structured routines for academic tasks, delaying strenuous learning activities becomes probable. Aims: The…

Humanoids Learning to Walk: A Natural CPG-Actor-Critic Architecture.

PubMed

Li, Cai; Lowe, Robert; Ziemke, Tom

2013-01-01

The identification of learning mechanisms for locomotion has been the subject of much research for some time but many challenges remain. Dynamic systems theory (DST) offers a novel approach to humanoid learning through environmental interaction. Reinforcement learning (RL) has offered a promising method to adaptively link the dynamic system to the environment it interacts with via a reward-based value system. In this paper, we propose a model that integrates the above perspectives and applies it to the case of a humanoid (NAO) robot learning to walk the ability of which emerges from its value-based interaction with the environment. In the model, a simplified central pattern generator (CPG) architecture inspired by neuroscientific research and DST is integrated with an actor-critic approach to RL (cpg-actor-critic). In the cpg-actor-critic architecture, least-square-temporal-difference based learning converges to the optimal solution quickly by using natural gradient learning and balancing exploration and exploitation. Futhermore, rather than using a traditional (designer-specified) reward it uses a dynamic value function as a stability indicator that adapts to the environment. The results obtained are analyzed using a novel DST-based embodied cognition approach. Learning to walk, from this perspective, is a process of integrating levels of sensorimotor activity and value.

Humanoids Learning to Walk: A Natural CPG-Actor-Critic Architecture

PubMed Central

Li, Cai; Lowe, Robert; Ziemke, Tom

2013-01-01

The identification of learning mechanisms for locomotion has been the subject of much research for some time but many challenges remain. Dynamic systems theory (DST) offers a novel approach to humanoid learning through environmental interaction. Reinforcement learning (RL) has offered a promising method to adaptively link the dynamic system to the environment it interacts with via a reward-based value system. In this paper, we propose a model that integrates the above perspectives and applies it to the case of a humanoid (NAO) robot learning to walk the ability of which emerges from its value-based interaction with the environment. In the model, a simplified central pattern generator (CPG) architecture inspired by neuroscientific research and DST is integrated with an actor-critic approach to RL (cpg-actor-critic). In the cpg-actor-critic architecture, least-square-temporal-difference based learning converges to the optimal solution quickly by using natural gradient learning and balancing exploration and exploitation. Futhermore, rather than using a traditional (designer-specified) reward it uses a dynamic value function as a stability indicator that adapts to the environment. The results obtained are analyzed using a novel DST-based embodied cognition approach. Learning to walk, from this perspective, is a process of integrating levels of sensorimotor activity and value. PMID:23675345

Uncertainty in action-value estimation affects both action choice and learning rate of the choice behaviors of rats

PubMed Central

Funamizu, Akihiro; Ito, Makoto; Doya, Kenji; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

2012-01-01

The estimation of reward outcomes for action candidates is essential for decision making. In this study, we examined whether and how the uncertainty in reward outcome estimation affects the action choice and learning rate. We designed a choice task in which rats selected either the left-poking or right-poking hole and received a reward of a food pellet stochastically. The reward probabilities of the left and right holes were chosen from six settings (high, 100% vs. 66%; mid, 66% vs. 33%; low, 33% vs. 0% for the left vs. right holes, and the opposites) in every 20–549 trials. We used Bayesian Q-learning models to estimate the time course of the probability distribution of action values and tested if they better explain the behaviors of rats than standard Q-learning models that estimate only the mean of action values. Model comparison by cross-validation revealed that a Bayesian Q-learning model with an asymmetric update for reward and non-reward outcomes fit the choice time course of the rats best. In the action-choice equation of the Bayesian Q-learning model, the estimated coefficient for the variance of action value was positive, meaning that rats were uncertainty seeking. Further analysis of the Bayesian Q-learning model suggested that the uncertainty facilitated the effective learning rate. These results suggest that the rats consider uncertainty in action-value estimation and that they have an uncertainty-seeking action policy and uncertainty-dependent modulation of the effective learning rate. PMID:22487046

Associability-modulated loss learning is increased in posttraumatic stress disorder

PubMed Central

Brown, Vanessa M; Zhu, Lusha; Wang, John M; Frueh, B Christopher

2018-01-01

Disproportionate reactions to unexpected stimuli in the environment are a cardinal symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here, we test whether these heightened responses are associated with disruptions in distinct components of reinforcement learning. Specifically, using functional neuroimaging, a loss-learning task, and a computational model-based approach, we assessed the mechanistic hypothesis that overreactions to stimuli in PTSD arise from anomalous gating of attention during learning (i.e., associability). Behavioral choices of combat-deployed veterans with and without PTSD were fit to a reinforcement learning model, generating trial-by-trial prediction errors (signaling unexpected outcomes) and associability values (signaling attention allocation to the unexpected outcomes). Neural substrates of associability value and behavioral parameter estimates of associability updating, but not prediction error, increased with PTSD during loss learning. Moreover, the interaction of PTSD severity with neural markers of associability value predicted behavioral choices. These results indicate that increased attention-based learning may underlie aspects of PTSD and suggest potential neuromechanistic treatment targets. PMID:29313489

Impairments in action-outcome learning in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Morris, Richard W; Cyrzon, Chad; Green, Melissa J; Le Pelley, Mike E; Balleine, Bernard W

2018-03-03

Learning the causal relation between actions and their outcomes (AO learning) is critical for goal-directed behavior when actions are guided by desire for the outcome. This can be contrasted with habits that are acquired by reinforcement and primed by prevailing stimuli, in which causal learning plays no part. Recently, we demonstrated that goal-directed actions are impaired in schizophrenia; however, whether this deficit exists alongside impairments in habit or reinforcement learning is unknown. The present study distinguished deficits in causal learning from reinforcement learning in schizophrenia. We tested people with schizophrenia (SZ, n = 25) and healthy adults (HA, n = 25) in a vending machine task. Participants learned two action-outcome contingencies (e.g., push left to get a chocolate M&M, push right to get a cracker), and they also learned one contingency was degraded by delivery of noncontingent outcomes (e.g., free M&Ms), as well as changes in value by outcome devaluation. Both groups learned the best action to obtain rewards; however, SZ did not distinguish the more causal action when one AO contingency was degraded. Moreover, action selection in SZ was insensitive to changes in outcome value unless feedback was provided, and this was related to the deficit in AO learning. The failure to encode the causal relation between action and outcome in schizophrenia occurred without any apparent deficit in reinforcement learning. This implies that poor goal-directed behavior in schizophrenia cannot be explained by a more primary deficit in reward learning such as insensitivity to reward value or reward prediction errors.

Model-free and model-based reward prediction errors in EEG.

PubMed

Sambrook, Thomas D; Hardwick, Ben; Wills, Andy J; Goslin, Jeremy

2018-05-24

Learning theorists posit two reinforcement learning systems: model-free and model-based. Model-based learning incorporates knowledge about structure and contingencies in the world to assign candidate actions with an expected value. Model-free learning is ignorant of the world's structure; instead, actions hold a value based on prior reinforcement, with this value updated by expectancy violation in the form of a reward prediction error. Because they use such different learning mechanisms, it has been previously assumed that model-based and model-free learning are computationally dissociated in the brain. However, recent fMRI evidence suggests that the brain may compute reward prediction errors to both model-free and model-based estimates of value, signalling the possibility that these systems interact. Because of its poor temporal resolution, fMRI risks confounding reward prediction errors with other feedback-related neural activity. In the present study, EEG was used to show the presence of both model-based and model-free reward prediction errors and their place in a temporal sequence of events including state prediction errors and action value updates. This demonstration of model-based prediction errors questions a long-held assumption that model-free and model-based learning are dissociated in the brain. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Wikis and Collaborative Learning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Binbin; Niiya, Melissa; Warschauer, Mark

2015-01-01

While collaborative learning and collaborative writing can be of great value to student learning, the implementation of a technology-supported collaborative learning environment is a challenge. With their built-in features for supporting collaborative writing and social communication, wikis are a promising platform for collaborative learning;…

Conceptual Change in Understanding the Nature of Science Learning: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiBenedetto, Christina M.

This study is the first of its kind to explore the thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and values of secondary educators as they experience conceptual change in their understanding of the nature of science learning vis a vis the Framework for K-12 Science Education published by the National Research Council. The study takes aim at the existing gap between the vision for science learning as an active process of inquiry and current pedagogical practices in K-12 science classrooms. For students to understand and explain everyday science ideas and succeed in science studies and careers, the means by which they learn science must change. Focusing on this change, the study explores the significance of educator attitudes, beliefs and values to science learning through interpretive phenomenological analysis around the central question, "In what ways do educators understand and articulate attitudes and beliefs toward the nature of science learning?" The study further explores the questions, "How do educators experience changes in their understanding of the nature of science learning?" and "How do educators believe these changes influence their pedagogical practice?" Study findings converge on four conceptions that science learning: is the action of inquiry; is a visible process initiated by both teacher and learner; values student voice and changing conceptions is science learning. These findings have implications for the primacy of educator beliefs, attitudes and values in reform efforts, science teacher leadership and the explicit instruction of both Nature of Science and conceptual change in educator preparation programs. This study supports the understanding that the nature of science learning is cognitive and affective conceptual change. Keywords: conceptual change, educator attitudes and beliefs, framework for K-12 science education, interpretive phenomenological analysis, nature of science learning, next generation science standards, science professional development, secondary science education.

The effectiveness of learning material with Edmodo to enhance the level of student's probabilistic thinking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujadi, Imam; Kurniasih, Rini; Subanti, Sri

2017-05-01

In the era of 21st century learning, it needs to use technology as a learning media. Using Edmodo as a learning media is one of the options as the complement in learning process. However, this research focuses on the effectiveness of learning material using Edmodo. The aim of this research to determine whether the level of student's probabilistic thinking that use learning material with Edmodo is better than the existing learning materials (books) implemented to teach the subject of students grade 8th. This is quasi-experimental research using control group pretest and posttest. The population of this study was students grade 8 of SMPN 12 Surakarta and the sampling technique used random sampling. The analysis technique used to examine two independent sample using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The obtained value of test statistic is M=0.38, since 0.38 is the largest tabled critical one-tailed value M0.05=0.011. The result of the research is the learning materials with Edmodo more effectively to enhance the level of probabilistic thinking learners than the learning that use the existing learning materials (books). Therefore, learning material using Edmodo can be used in learning process. It can also be developed into another learning material through Edmodo.

Lifelong Learning--A Public Library Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahlert, Maureen

This paper presents a public library perspective on lifelong learning. The first section discusses the lifelong learning challenge, including the aims of the Australian National Marketing Strategy for Skills and Lifelong Learning, and findings of a national survey related to the value of and barriers to learning. The second section addresses the…

Designing for Inquiry-Based Learning with the Learning Activity Management System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, P.; Aiyegbayo, O.; Little, S.

2009-01-01

This paper explores the relationship between practitioners' pedagogical purposes, values and practices in designing for inquiry-based learning in higher education, and the affordances of the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) as a tool for creating learning designs in this context. Using a qualitative research methodology, variation was…

The Value of Significant Learning Strategies in Undergraduate Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coco, Charles M.

2012-01-01

Learning taxonomies can assist faculty in developing course structures that promote enhanced student learning in the cognitive and affective domains. Significant Learning is one approach to course design that allows for development in six key areas: Foundational Knowledge, Application, Integration, Human Dimension, Caring, and Learning How to…

Lifelong Learning: An Instrument for Improving School Education in Japan?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawano, Yukiko

Although Japanese society has long valued and practiced lifelong learning, it has not yet been successful in building an ethic that prizes learning, teaches creativity, and includes everyone. Bureaucratic and legal mechanisms undertaken in Japan to promote lifelong learning have included the establishment of Lifelong Learning Councils, a system…

Active Learning Strategies in Face-to-Face Courses. IDEA Paper #53

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millis, Barbara J.

2012-01-01

As numerous research studies suggest, teachers who desire increased student learning should adopt active learning. This article explores the research, defines active learning, discusses its value, offers suggestions for implementing it, and provides six concrete examples of active learning approaches: Thinking-Aloud Pair Problem-Solving;…

Safe or Unsafe? The Paradox of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Jane; Bell, Diane

2017-01-01

Business Driven Action Learning (BDAL), as a learning philosophy that attempts to create real value for business is often used by executive education providers in their management development programmes. As the action learning facilitator, I found that the learning that took place during such a management development programme resulted in…

Dopamine reward prediction errors reflect hidden state inference across time

PubMed Central

Starkweather, Clara Kwon; Babayan, Benedicte M.; Uchida, Naoshige; Gershman, Samuel J.

2017-01-01

Midbrain dopamine neurons signal reward prediction error (RPE), or actual minus expected reward. The temporal difference (TD) learning model has been a cornerstone in understanding how dopamine RPEs could drive associative learning. Classically, TD learning imparts value to features that serially track elapsed time relative to observable stimuli. In the real world, however, sensory stimuli provide ambiguous information about the hidden state of the environment, leading to the proposal that TD learning might instead compute a value signal based on an inferred distribution of hidden states (a ‘belief state’). In this work, we asked whether dopaminergic signaling supports a TD learning framework that operates over hidden states. We found that dopamine signaling exhibited a striking difference between two tasks that differed only with respect to whether reward was delivered deterministically. Our results favor an associative learning rule that combines cached values with hidden state inference. PMID:28263301

Dopamine reward prediction errors reflect hidden-state inference across time.

PubMed

Starkweather, Clara Kwon; Babayan, Benedicte M; Uchida, Naoshige; Gershman, Samuel J

2017-04-01

Midbrain dopamine neurons signal reward prediction error (RPE), or actual minus expected reward. The temporal difference (TD) learning model has been a cornerstone in understanding how dopamine RPEs could drive associative learning. Classically, TD learning imparts value to features that serially track elapsed time relative to observable stimuli. In the real world, however, sensory stimuli provide ambiguous information about the hidden state of the environment, leading to the proposal that TD learning might instead compute a value signal based on an inferred distribution of hidden states (a 'belief state'). Here we asked whether dopaminergic signaling supports a TD learning framework that operates over hidden states. We found that dopamine signaling showed a notable difference between two tasks that differed only with respect to whether reward was delivered in a deterministic manner. Our results favor an associative learning rule that combines cached values with hidden-state inference.

Understanding the Behavioral Intention to Play Austronesian Learning Games: From the Perspectives of Learning Outcome, Service Quality, and Hedonic Value

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsiao, Kuo-Lun; Huang, Tien-Chi; Chen, Mu-Yen; Chiang, Nien-Ting

2018-01-01

Although ubiquitous learning is a novel and creative teaching approach, two key issues inhibit its success overall: a lack of appropriate learning strategies regarding learning objectives, and ineffective learning tools for receiving knowledge regarding the chosen subjects. To address these issues, we develops and designs a game-based educational…

Corporate E-Learning: How Three Healthcare Companies Implement and Measure the Effectiveness of E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodges, Allison

2009-01-01

Technological advancements such as the growth of the Internet provide opportunities for learning that are hard to resist. As technology continues to change at a rapid pace, e-learning has become an important priority of corporate education. E-learning is evolving as a way to train and enhance employee value by combining different learning styles…

Quantifying the Value of Service-Learning: A Comparison of Grade Achievement between Service-Learning and Non-Service-Learning Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brail, Shauna

2016-01-01

This study evaluates whether students who participate voluntarily in a service-learning activity achieve higher learning outcomes, measured by grades, than students who voluntarily choose not to participate in service learning. Analysis is based on a study of an introductory urban studies course at a large North American research university over a…

Hispanic-American Students and Learning Style. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griggs, Shirley; Dunn, Rita

This digest identifies cultural values that may affect the learning processes of Hispanic-American students, reviews research on the learning styles of Hispanic-American students, and discusses the implications of this research for counseling and teaching Hispanic youth. One cultural value that is of paramount importance in most Hispanic cultures…

The Value of Interactive Assignments in the Online Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florenthal, Bela

2016-01-01

The offerings of Web-based supplemental material for textbooks have been increasingly growing. When deciding to adopt a textbook, instructors examine the added value of the associated supplements, also called "e-learning tools," to enhance students' learning of course concepts. In this study, one such supplement, interactive assignments,…

Value Co-Creation through Learning Styles Segmentation and Integrated Course Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Mark; Collins, Marianne K.

2014-01-01

This paper describes an innovative Principles of Marketing course design and delivery which matches learning and teaching styles, while reducing multi-section variation. Value co-creation is encouraged by instructors and students collaborating in the creation of customized learning experiences which facilitates both teaching style and learning…

Learning Partnerships in Rural Early Childhood Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coombe, Kennece; Lubawy, Joy

2002-01-01

A study examined the value of six theoretical aspects of learning communities in rural New South Wales (Australia) preschools. Surveys of nine preschool directors indicated that they recognized the value of shared decision making, reflection, and delegating power, and that open communication was necessary for developing a learning environment…

From prediction error to incentive salience: mesolimbic computation of reward motivation

PubMed Central

Berridge, Kent C.

2011-01-01

Reward contains separable psychological components of learning, incentive motivation and pleasure. Most computational models have focused only on the learning component of reward, but the motivational component is equally important in reward circuitry, and even more directly controls behavior. Modeling the motivational component requires recognition of additional control factors besides learning. Here I will discuss how mesocorticolimbic mechanisms generate the motivation component of incentive salience. Incentive salience takes Pavlovian learning and memory as one input and as an equally important input takes neurobiological state factors (e.g., drug states, appetite states, satiety states) that can vary independently of learning. Neurobiological state changes can produce unlearned fluctuations or even reversals in the ability of a previously-learned reward cue to trigger motivation. Such fluctuations in cue-triggered motivation can dramatically depart from all previously learned values about the associated reward outcome. Thus a consequence of the difference between incentive salience and learning can be to decouple cue-triggered motivation of the moment from previously learned values of how good the associated reward has been in the past. Another consequence can be to produce irrationally strong motivation urges that are not justified by any memories of previous reward values (and without distorting associative predictions of future reward value). Such irrationally strong motivation may be especially problematic in addiction. To comprehend these phenomena, future models of mesocorticolimbic reward function should address the neurobiological state factors that participate to control generation of incentive salience. PMID:22487042

The primate amygdala represents the positive and negative value of visual stimuli during learning

PubMed Central

Paton, Joseph J.; Belova, Marina A.; Morrison, Sara E.; Salzman, C. Daniel

2008-01-01

Visual stimuli can acquire positive or negative value through their association with rewards and punishments, a process called reinforcement learning. Although we now know a great deal about how the brain analyses visual information, we know little about how visual representations become linked with values. To study this process, we turned to the amygdala, a brain structure implicated in reinforcement learning1–5. We recorded the activity of individual amygdala neurons in monkeys while abstract images acquired either positive or negative value through conditioning. After monkeys had learned the initial associations, we reversed image value assignments. We examined neural responses in relation to these reversals in order to estimate the relative contribution to neural activity of the sensory properties of images and their conditioned values. Here we show that changes in the values of images modulate neural activity, and that this modulation occurs rapidly enough to account for, and correlates with, monkeys’ learning. Furthermore, distinct populations of neurons encode the positive and negative values of visual stimuli. Behavioural and physiological responses to visual stimuli may therefore be based in part on the plastic representation of value provided by the amygdala. PMID:16482160

Learning coefficient of generalization error in Bayesian estimation and vandermonde matrix-type singularity.

PubMed

Aoyagi, Miki; Nagata, Kenji

2012-06-01

The term algebraic statistics arises from the study of probabilistic models and techniques for statistical inference using methods from algebra and geometry (Sturmfels, 2009 ). The purpose of our study is to consider the generalization error and stochastic complexity in learning theory by using the log-canonical threshold in algebraic geometry. Such thresholds correspond to the main term of the generalization error in Bayesian estimation, which is called a learning coefficient (Watanabe, 2001a , 2001b ). The learning coefficient serves to measure the learning efficiencies in hierarchical learning models. In this letter, we consider learning coefficients for Vandermonde matrix-type singularities, by using a new approach: focusing on the generators of the ideal, which defines singularities. We give tight new bound values of learning coefficients for the Vandermonde matrix-type singularities and the explicit values with certain conditions. By applying our results, we can show the learning coefficients of three-layered neural networks and normal mixture models.

Active Learning Using Arbitrary Binary Valued Queries

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-10-01

active learning in the sense that the learner has complete choice in the information received. Specifically, we allow the learner to ask arbitrary yes...no questions. We consider both active learning under a fixed distribution and distribution-free active learning . In the case of active learning , the...a concept class is actively learnable iff it is finite, so that active learning is in fact less powerful than the usual passive learning model. We

Design e-learning with flipped learning model to improve layout understanding the concepts basic of the loop control structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handayani, D. P.; Sutarno, H.; Wihardi, Y.

2018-05-01

This study aimed in design and build e-learning with classroom flipped model to improve the concept of understanding of SMK students on the basic programming subject. Research and development obtained research data from survey questionnaire given to students of SMK class X RPL in SMK Negeri 2 Bandung and interviews to RPL productive teacher. Data also obtained from questionnaire of expert validation and students' assessment from e-learning with flipped classroom models. Data also obtained from multiple-choice test to measure improvements in conceptual understanding. The results of this research are: 1) Developed e- learning with flipped classroom model considered good and worthy of use by the average value of the percentage of 86,3% by media experts, and 85,5% by subjects matter experts, then students gave judgment is very good on e-learning either flipped classroom model with a percentage of 79,15% votes. 2) e-learning with classroom flipped models show an increase in the average value of pre-test before using e-learning 26.67 compared to the average value post-test after using e- learning at 63.37 and strengthened by the calculation of the index gains seen Increased understanding of students 'concepts by 50% with moderate criteria indicating that students' understanding is improving.

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.

Uncertainty in action-value estimation affects both action choice and learning rate of the choice behaviors of rats.

PubMed

Funamizu, Akihiro; Ito, Makoto; Doya, Kenji; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

2012-04-01

The estimation of reward outcomes for action candidates is essential for decision making. In this study, we examined whether and how the uncertainty in reward outcome estimation affects the action choice and learning rate. We designed a choice task in which rats selected either the left-poking or right-poking hole and received a reward of a food pellet stochastically. The reward probabilities of the left and right holes were chosen from six settings (high, 100% vs. 66%; mid, 66% vs. 33%; low, 33% vs. 0% for the left vs. right holes, and the opposites) in every 20-549 trials. We used Bayesian Q-learning models to estimate the time course of the probability distribution of action values and tested if they better explain the behaviors of rats than standard Q-learning models that estimate only the mean of action values. Model comparison by cross-validation revealed that a Bayesian Q-learning model with an asymmetric update for reward and non-reward outcomes fit the choice time course of the rats best. In the action-choice equation of the Bayesian Q-learning model, the estimated coefficient for the variance of action value was positive, meaning that rats were uncertainty seeking. Further analysis of the Bayesian Q-learning model suggested that the uncertainty facilitated the effective learning rate. These results suggest that the rats consider uncertainty in action-value estimation and that they have an uncertainty-seeking action policy and uncertainty-dependent modulation of the effective learning rate. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Organizational Learning through Knowledge Workers and Infomediaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milam, John

2005-01-01

Knowledge management is defined and compared to information management and the institutional research function. In order to promote learning, new tools such as learning histories are needed, mistakes must be valued, and dissatisfaction recognized as part of the learning process.

E-Learning as an Emerging Technology in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grover, Pooja; Gupta, Nehta

2010-01-01

E-learning is a combination of learning services and technology that allow us to provide high value integrated learning any time, any place. It is about a new blend of resources, interactivity, performance support and structured learning activities. This methodology makes use of various types of technologies in order to enhance or transform the…

A Pilot Study of a Criminal Justice Service-Learning Course: The Value of a Multicultural Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirschinger-Blank, Nancy; Simons, Lori; Finley, Laura; Clearly, Joseph; Thoerig, Michael

2013-01-01

This article provides a description and evaluation of a service-learning juvenile justice course designed to broaden university students' attitudes toward diversity issues. Diversity service learning integrates academic learning with community service by providing students with opportunities to learn about social disparities associated with…

The Credentials of Brain-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Andrew

2004-01-01

This paper discusses the current fashion for brain-based learning, in which value-laden claims about learning are grounded in neurophysiology. It argues that brain science cannot have the authority about learning that some seek to give it. It goes on to discuss whether the claim that brain science is relevant to learning involves a category…

A Model for Predicting Learning Flow and Achievement in Corporate e-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joo, Young Ju; Lim, Kyu Yon; Kim, Su Mi

2012-01-01

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of learning flow and achievement in corporate online training. Self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and test anxiety were selected as learners' motivational factors, while perceived usefulness and ease of use were also selected as learning environmental factors. Learning flow was…

Closing the Gap: Impact of Student Proactivity and Learning Goal Orientation on E-Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kickul, Gerard; Kickul, Jill

2006-01-01

To increase flexibility in course offerings and to enhance student-learning experiences, universities and management educators have introduced and incorporated a number of new and innovative e-learning technologies. However, little systematic research has been conducted to examine the value of using the technology to facilitate learning and…

Where's the Learning in Higher Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keeling, Richard P.; Hersh, Richard H.

2012-01-01

While cost and completion are important issues, they are not the fundamental problems that have put higher learning in crisis. What calls for urgent attention is low "value"--a critical deficit in the quality and quantity of learning in college. To state it as plainly as possible: Most students graduate without learning enough. There is no longer…

Learning about Learning--Together

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller-Young, Janice; Felten, Peter; Clayton, Patti H.

2017-01-01

It is believed that the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)--i.e., inquiry into learning--has the potential to further deepen the ability to question, learn, and act together--especially when it is understood and enacted through the values and practices of democratic civic engagement (DCE). The authors provide a brief example of what they…

Selective visual attention and motivation: the consequences of value learning in an attentional blink task.

PubMed

Raymond, Jane E; O'Brien, Jennifer L

2009-08-01

Learning to associate the probability and value of behavioral outcomes with specific stimuli (value learning) is essential for rational decision making. However, in demanding cognitive conditions, access to learned values might be constrained by limited attentional capacity. We measured recognition of briefly presented faces seen previously in a value-learning task involving monetary wins and losses; the recognition task was performed both with and without constraints on available attention. Regardless of available attention, recognition was substantially enhanced for motivationally salient stimuli (i.e., stimuli highly predictive of outcomes), compared with equally familiar stimuli that had weak or no motivational salience, and this effect was found regardless of valence (win or loss). However, when attention was constrained (because stimuli were presented during an attentional blink, AB), valence determined recognition; win-associated faces showed no AB, but all other faces showed large ABs. Motivational salience acts independently of attention to modulate simple perceptual decisions, but when attention is limited, visual processing is biased in favor of reward-associated stimuli.

An Overview and Evaluation of Recent Machine Learning Imputation Methods Using Cardiac Imaging Data.

PubMed

Liu, Yuzhe; Gopalakrishnan, Vanathi

2017-03-01

Many clinical research datasets have a large percentage of missing values that directly impacts their usefulness in yielding high accuracy classifiers when used for training in supervised machine learning. While missing value imputation methods have been shown to work well with smaller percentages of missing values, their ability to impute sparse clinical research data can be problem specific. We previously attempted to learn quantitative guidelines for ordering cardiac magnetic resonance imaging during the evaluation for pediatric cardiomyopathy, but missing data significantly reduced our usable sample size. In this work, we sought to determine if increasing the usable sample size through imputation would allow us to learn better guidelines. We first review several machine learning methods for estimating missing data. Then, we apply four popular methods (mean imputation, decision tree, k-nearest neighbors, and self-organizing maps) to a clinical research dataset of pediatric patients undergoing evaluation for cardiomyopathy. Using Bayesian Rule Learning (BRL) to learn ruleset models, we compared the performance of imputation-augmented models versus unaugmented models. We found that all four imputation-augmented models performed similarly to unaugmented models. While imputation did not improve performance, it did provide evidence for the robustness of our learned models.

Conceptualizing impact assessment as a learning process

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

Sánchez, Luis E., E-mail: lsanchez@usp.br; Mitchell, Ross, E-mail: ross.mitchell@ualberta.net

This paper explores how project developers and their consultants, government regulators and stakeholders can learn from the impact assessment (IA) process, thus potentially improving its effectiveness and enhancing project sustainability. Despite the benefits that learning can bring to an organization, failure to learn appears commonplace both within the IA process and, once approved, subsequent industrial development. To nurture organizational learning through IA, enabling structures that foster information sharing and interpretation and enhance organizational memory are needed. In this paper learning outcomes are grouped into three categories: acquisition of knowledge and skills, developing new behaviors and developing sustainability-oriented norms and values.more » Means to achieve such outcomes include education and training, experiential learning, learning through public participation (social learning) and a ‘learning organization approach’. Societal expectations increasingly demand not only projects that ‘pass’ the review criteria of regulators, financiers and the community, but IA processes capable of delivering sustainable outcomes that include learning and sharing of knowledge. It is proposed that learning be treated as a purposeful – not as an accidental – outcome of IA, and facilitated by adopting a ‘learning organization approach’ coupled with best practice such as early stakeholder engagement. - Highlights: • Proponents are challenged to develop projects that deliver sustainable outcomes. • Passing the test of government approval may be insufficient to obtain a social license. • Learning by all stakeholders is vital to meet these challenges. • Learning outcomes have to go beyond instrumental learning to reach new behaviors, norms and values. • A “learning organization approach” can promote mutual learning and improve project design.« less

Value Development Underlies the Benefits of Parents' Involvement in Children's Learning: A Longitudinal Investigation in the United States and China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheung, Cecilia Sin-Sze; Pomerantz, Eva M.

2015-01-01

This research examined whether the benefits of parents' involvement in children's learning are due in part to value development among children. Four times over the 7th and 8th grades, 825 American and Chinese children (M age = 12.73 years) reported on their parents' involvement in their learning and their perceptions of the value their parents…

Becoming a Learning Organization: A Precondition for Person Centered Services to People with Learning Difficulties.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iles, Ian K.

2003-01-01

This article suggests that services for people with intellectual disabilities in England will need to undergo radical revision as agencies strive to implement person centered planning as described in the White Paper, "Valuing People." It further suggests that services need to become learning organizations, committed to values of…

Is "Learning without Limits" a Framework of Values?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Booth, Tony

2015-01-01

In this article the author connects his own work with Brian Simon's writing on IQ (intelligence quotient) testing and selection and with the Learning without Limits project. He discusses the significance he gives to a values framework in the development of education and asks whether "Learning without Limits," in part, stands for a…

Learning the Value of Money from Stochastically Varying Prices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garling, Tommy; Gamble, Amelie; Juliusson, Asgeir

2007-01-01

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated learning of the value of money from product prices in an unfamiliar currency when the prices are proportional to quantity. In support of the second stage of a hypothesized 2-stage process of learning, Experiment 1, in which 32 undergraduates participated, shows that response times for inferences of…

The Relationship between Cultural Values and Learning Preference: The Impact of Acculturation Experiences upon East Asians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chuang, Szu-Fang

2012-01-01

Globalization and technology advancement are creating more biculturalism at workplaces and learning settings. However, little is known about acculturation experience and its influence on a person's cultural values and learning preference. The research reported in this study investigates the impact of acculturation experiences upon the relationship…

Adults' Learning Motivation: Expectancy of Success, Value, and the Role of Affective Memories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorges, Julia; Kandler, Christian

2012-01-01

The present study tested the applicability of expectancy-value theory to adults' learning motivation. Motivation was measured as the anticipated reaction (AR) of German students (N = 300) to receiving their instructions in English as a new learning opportunity. We used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Expectancies of success…

Learning by Singing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, Brock

This essay discusses singing as a method of learning cultural values and the types of songs sung in a midwestern one-room country school in the 1930s. Singing and memorized poetry were major mediums for education in values. School children learned many songs with themes of patriotism and citizenship, such as "The Star Spangled Banner,""America the…

Efficacy of Group Based Learning in Learning Moral Value

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singaravelu, G.

2008-01-01

The present study highlights the efficacy of Group Based Learning on cultivating moral value of the students at Standard VIII. Parallel group Experimental method was adopted in the study. Eighty students (control group = 40 students + experimental = 40 students) were selected as sample for the study. Researcher self-made achievement tool was…

Relativism, Values and Morals in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jorgensen, Lone Morris; Ryan, SueAnn

2004-01-01

"The New Zealand Curriculum Framework", 1993, is the official document for teaching, learning and assessment in New Zealand schools. It consists of a set of curriculum statements, which define the learning principles, achievement aims and essential skills for seven learning areas. It also indicates the place of attitudes and values in…

Model-Based Reinforcement Learning under Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement in Rodents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huh, Namjung; Jo, Suhyun; Kim, Hoseok; Sul, Jung Hoon; Jung, Min Whan

2009-01-01

Reinforcement learning theories postulate that actions are chosen to maximize a long-term sum of positive outcomes based on value functions, which are subjective estimates of future rewards. In simple reinforcement learning algorithms, value functions are updated only by trial-and-error, whereas they are updated according to the decision-maker's…

Music: Highly Engaged Students Connect Music to Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Shelly M.; Pearson, Dunn, Jr.

2013-01-01

A musician and a mathematics educator create and implement a set of elementary school lessons integrating music and math. Students learn the basics of music theory including identifying notes and learning their fractional values. They learn about time signatures and how to determine correct note values per measure. Students are motivated by…

The Culture of Learning Continuum: Promoting Internal Values in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sagy, Ornit; Kali, Yael; Tsaushu, Masha; Tal, Tali

2018-01-01

This study endeavors to identify ways to promote a productive learning culture in higher education. Specifically, we sought to encourage development of internal values in students' culture of learning and examine how this can promote their understanding of scientific content. Set in a high enrollment undergraduate biology course, we designed a…

A Case of a Laptop Learning Campus: How Do Technology Choices Affect Perceptions?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Percival, Jennifer; Percival, Nathan

2009-01-01

Laptop learning programs have been developed to create ubiquitous online learning environments. Given the infancy of many programs, there is little understanding of aspects of the program are perceived to provide value to faculty and students. This paper focuses on the value proposition (with respect to perceived benefits versus capital…

The Learning Outcomes Race: The Value of Self-Reported Gains in Large Research Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Douglass, John Aubrey; Thomson, Gregg; Zhao, Chun-Mei

2012-01-01

Throughout the world, measuring "learning outcomes" is viewed by many stakeholders as a relatively new method to judge the "value added" of colleges and universities. The potential to accurately measure learning gains is also a diagnostic tool for institutional self-improvement. This essay discussed the marketisation of…

Relationships between Teacher Value Orientations, Collegiality, and Collaboration in School Professional Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ning, Hoi Kwan; Lee, Daphnee; Lee, Wing On

2015-01-01

Unlike past research which has mainly examined whole school or whole department professional learning communities, this study focused on factors related to effective collaborative practices within teacher learning teams. Our main objective was to ascertain the roles of team value orientations (collectivism and power distance) and team collegiality…

Value conditioning modulates visual working memory processes.

PubMed

Thomas, Paul M J; FitzGibbon, Lily; Raymond, Jane E

2016-01-01

Learning allows the value of motivationally salient events to become associated with stimuli that predict those events. Here, we asked whether value associations could facilitate visual working memory (WM), and whether such effects would be valence dependent. Our experiment was specifically designed to isolate value-based effects on WM from value-based effects on selective attention that might be expected to bias encoding. In a simple associative learning task, participants learned to associate the color of tinted faces with gaining or losing money or neither. Tinted faces then served as memoranda in a face identity WM task for which previously learned color associations were irrelevant and no monetary outcomes were forthcoming. Memory was best for faces with gain-associated tints, poorest for faces with loss-associated tints, and average for faces with no-outcome-associated tints. Value associated with 1 item in the WM array did not modulate memory for other items in the array. Eye movements when studying faces did not depend on the valence of previously learned color associations, arguing against value-based biases being due to differential encoding. This valence-sensitive value-conditioning effect on WM appears to result from modulation of WM maintenance processes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Impaired Expected Value Computations Coupled With Overreliance on Stimulus-Response Learning in Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Hernaus, Dennis; Gold, James M; Waltz, James A; Frank, Michael J

2018-04-03

While many have emphasized impaired reward prediction error signaling in schizophrenia, multiple studies suggest that some decision-making deficits may arise from overreliance on stimulus-response systems together with a compromised ability to represent expected value. Guided by computational frameworks, we formulated and tested two scenarios in which maladaptive representations of expected value should be most evident, thereby delineating conditions that may evoke decision-making impairments in schizophrenia. In a modified reinforcement learning paradigm, 42 medicated people with schizophrenia and 36 healthy volunteers learned to select the most frequently rewarded option in a 75-25 pair: once when presented with a more deterministic (90-10) pair and once when presented with a more probabilistic (60-40) pair. Novel and old combinations of choice options were presented in a subsequent transfer phase. Computational modeling was employed to elucidate contributions from stimulus-response systems (actor-critic) and expected value (Q-learning). People with schizophrenia showed robust performance impairments with increasing value difference between two competing options, which strongly correlated with decreased contributions from expected value-based learning (Q-learning). Moreover, a subtle yet consistent contextual choice bias for the probabilistic 75 option was present in people with schizophrenia, which could be accounted for by a context-dependent reward prediction error in the actor-critic. We provide evidence that decision-making impairments in schizophrenia increase monotonically with demands placed on expected value computations. A contextual choice bias is consistent with overreliance on stimulus-response learning, which may signify a deficit secondary to the maladaptive representation of expected value. These results shed new light on conditions under which decision-making impairments may arise. Copyright © 2018 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrative and Deep Learning through a Learning Community: A Process View of Self

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahoney, Sandra; Schamber, Jon

2011-01-01

This study investigated deep learning produced in a community of general education courses. Student speeches on liberal education were analyzed for discovering a grounded theory of ideas about self. The study found that learning communities cultivate deep, integrative learning that makes the value of a liberal education relevant to students.…

Distance and Face-to-Face Learning Culture and Values: A Conceptual Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tejeda-Delgado, Carmen; Millan, Brett J.; Slate, John R.

2011-01-01

With distance learning increasing in popularity across the country and the world, a review of the extant literature as it relates to distance learning and face-to-face learning is warranted. In particular, this paper examined distance learning, including a historical overview, prevailing themes in past research, and studies relating the importance…

The Big Picture: Understanding Learning and Meta-Learning Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carneiro, Roberto

2007-01-01

The future learning agenda is fraught with uncertainty. This opening article attempts to pose broad societal questions that determine the learning agenda-setting as well as the emergence of new knowledge paradigms. It begins with a quick overview of the futures of learning agenda. Then, it moves on to depict the value chain that departs from…

Virtual Speed Mentoring in the Workplace--Current Approaches to Personal Informal Learning in the Workplace: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Chuck; Langlois, Kristen; Watson, Henry

2010-01-01

Informal learning is the biggest undiscovered treasure in today's workplace. Marcia Conner, author and often-cited voice for workplace learning, suggests that "Informal learning accounts for over 75% of the learning taking place in organizations today" (1997). IBM understands the value of the hyper-connected informal workplace and…

What Makes Learners Learn? Motivational Learning Theory in Home Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feingold, S. Norman

1979-01-01

Motivation is vital to all learning with the possible exception of incidental learning. Home study may adapt motivational learning theory to its goals by considering basic concepts with related examples. First, the more advance reasons an individual has to believe in the value of home study, the more likely will be the success of educational…

FORUM: Affective Learning. Affective Learning: Evolving from Values and Planned Behaviors to Internalization and Pervasive Behavioral Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thweatt, Katherine S.; Wrench, Jason S.

2015-01-01

The mission of "Communication Education" is to publish the best research on communication and learning. Researchers study the communication-learning interface in many ways, but a common approach is to explore how instructor and student communication can lead to better learning outcomes. Although scholars have long classified learning…

Development and Validation of a Learning Analytics Framework: Two Case Studies Using Support Vector Machines

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ifenthaler, Dirk; Widanapathirana, Chathuranga

2014-01-01

Interest in collecting and mining large sets of educational data on student background and performance to conduct research on learning and instruction has developed as an area generally referred to as learning analytics. Higher education leaders are recognizing the value of learning analytics for improving not only learning and teaching but also…

From E-Learning to Social Learning--A Health Care Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hajli, Mahmood; Bugshan, Hatem; Lin, Xiaolin; Featherman, Mauricio

2013-01-01

Purpose: The emergence of Web 2.0 opened a new route for education to use the values derived from this development. The future of e-learning is social learning, where individuals can learn online due to the facility of social media. Social media such as online communities are places for social interactions between users. These social interactions…

Accounting for Cultural Preferences in the Design of Online Learning in the Arab World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Andrea

2010-01-01

If cultural values affect the way that people learn, these should be accounted for in learning design. This article discusses innovative, pedagogically-sound design principles that were developed from theory and refined in an Arabic learning environment, in Oman. These principles are recommended for designing online learning that is culturally…

The Effects of Formal Learning and Informal Learning on Job Performance: The Mediating Role of the Value of Learning at Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Yoonhee; Choi, Woojae

2016-01-01

Although research has widely recognized the relationships between formal and informal learning and job performance, empirical studies have not paid sufficient attention to these relationships. In addition, there is little understanding how individual perceptions toward learning influence the relationships between the aforementioned two types of…

Teachers as Learning Designers: What Technology Has to Do with Learning. A View from Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fei, Victor Lim; Hung, David

2016-01-01

This article discusses the controversies and value in the use of technology for learning. It proposes that as a teaching tool, technology also opens up new possibilities for teachers to design meaningful learning experiences for their students. The appropriate use of technology promises to deepen the learning of traditional literacy, numeracy, and…

Valuing Errors for Learning: Espouse or Enact?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grohnert, Therese; Meuwissen, Roger H. G.; Gijselaers, Wim H.

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how organisations can discourage covering up and instead encourage learning from errors through a supportive learning from error climate. In explaining professionals' learning from error behaviour, this study distinguishes between espoused (verbally expressed) and enacted (behaviourally expressed) values…

From prediction error to incentive salience: mesolimbic computation of reward motivation.

PubMed

Berridge, Kent C

2012-04-01

Reward contains separable psychological components of learning, incentive motivation and pleasure. Most computational models have focused only on the learning component of reward, but the motivational component is equally important in reward circuitry, and even more directly controls behavior. Modeling the motivational component requires recognition of additional control factors besides learning. Here I discuss how mesocorticolimbic mechanisms generate the motivation component of incentive salience. Incentive salience takes Pavlovian learning and memory as one input and as an equally important input takes neurobiological state factors (e.g. drug states, appetite states, satiety states) that can vary independently of learning. Neurobiological state changes can produce unlearned fluctuations or even reversals in the ability of a previously learned reward cue to trigger motivation. Such fluctuations in cue-triggered motivation can dramatically depart from all previously learned values about the associated reward outcome. Thus, one consequence of the difference between incentive salience and learning can be to decouple cue-triggered motivation of the moment from previously learned values of how good the associated reward has been in the past. Another consequence can be to produce irrationally strong motivation urges that are not justified by any memories of previous reward values (and without distorting associative predictions of future reward value). Such irrationally strong motivation may be especially problematic in addiction. To understand these phenomena, future models of mesocorticolimbic reward function should address the neurobiological state factors that participate to control generation of incentive salience. © 2012 The Author. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Exploring the Perceptions of Core Values of Nursing in Taiwanese Nursing Students at the Baccalaureate Level.

PubMed

Lin, Chun-Chih; Han, Chin-Yen; Pan, I-Ju; Lin, Pi-Li

2016-06-01

The core values of nursing are a standard component of the nursing curriculum in Taiwan. Therefore, these values provide an essential guide for educating and evaluating the learning outcomes of nursing students. Student perceptions of those core values that relate to the process of curricula learning are key to measuring the core values of nursing. This study explores the views on the core values of nursing of baccalaureate-level nursing students at a Taiwanese university. This qualitative study collected data from the reflection reports of 109 students and analyzed these data using thematic content analysis. The results of this study identified that the learning of core values of nursing tends to utilize the latent curriculum rather than the open curriculum. Critical thinking was perceived and experienced by asking "why." General clinical skills and basic biomedical science were categorized collectively as care ability, which relates to the thinking, analysis, and mapping of client health problems. The value of communication and teamwork capability was defined as the sequential process of accepting, interacting, communicating, and collaborating. Caring was defined as contributing empathy with respect to one's self and to others. Ethics was defined as a moral perspective, as respecting others, and as prioritizing the needs of clients. Accountability was defined as a way of observing standards within the role given in a position. Finally, lifelong learning is a process of learning that encourages more aggressive learning. The progress of core values of nursing in this study reflects positive movement and achievement. The participants expressed the perception that the core values of nursing enhance understanding, which enables nursing educators to reframe the nursing curriculum to meet their learning needs. The perceptions of nursing students of core values of nursing may be used as a guide to increase clinical nursing competence in healthcare.

Integrated method of teaching in Web Quest activity and its impact on undergraduate students' cognition and learning behaviors: a future trend in medical education.

PubMed

Badiyepeymaie Jahromi, Zohreh; Mosalanejad, Leili

2015-01-14

Web Quest is one of the new ways of teaching and learning that is based on research, and includes the principles of learning and cognitive activities, such as collaborative learning, social and cognitive learning, and active learning, and increases motivation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Web Quest influence on students' learning behaviors. In this quasi-experimental study, which was performed on undergraduates taking a psychiatric course at Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, simple sampling was used to select the cases to be studied; the students entered the study through census and were trained according to Web Quest methodology. The procedure was to present the course as a case study and team work. Each topic included discussing concepts and then patient's treatment and the communicative principles for two weeks. Active participation of the students in response to the scenario and introduced problem was equal to preparing scientific videos about the disease and collecting the latest medical treatment for the disease from the Internet.Three questionnaires, including the self-directed learning Questionnaire, teamwork evaluation Questionnaire (value of team), and Buffard self-regulated Questionnaire, were the data gathering tools. The results showed that the average of self-regulated learning and self-directed learning (SDL) increased after the educational intervention. However, the increase was not significant. On the other hand, problem solving (P=0.001) and the value of teamwork (P=0.002), apart from increasing the average, had significant statistical values. In view of Web Quest's positive impacts on students' learning behaviors, problem solving and teamwork, the effective use of active learning and teaching practices and use of technology in medical education are recommended.

Integrated Method of Teaching in Web Quest Activity and Its Impact on Undergraduate Students’ Cognition and Learning Behaviors: A Future Trend in Medical Education

PubMed Central

Jahromi, Zohreh Badiyepeymaie; Mosalanejad, Leili

2015-01-01

Introduction: Web Quest is one of the new ways of teaching and learning that is based on research, and includes the principles of learning and cognitive activities, such as collaborative learning, social and cognitive learning, and active learning, and increases motivation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Web Quest influence on students’ learning behaviors. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, which was performed on undergraduates taking a psychiatric course at Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, simple sampling was used to select the cases to be studied; the students entered the study through census and were trained according toWeb Quest methodology. The procedure was to present the course as a case study and team work. Each topic included discussing concepts and then patient’s treatment and the communicative principles for two weeks. Active participation of the students in response to the scenario and introduced problem was equal to preparing scientific videos about the disease and collecting the latest medical treatment for the disease from the Internet. Three questionnaires, including the self-directed learning Questionnaire, teamwork evaluation Questionnaire (value of team), and Buffard self-regulated Questionnaire, were the data gathering tools. Results: The results showed that the average of self-regulated learning and self-directed learning (SDL) increased after the educational intervention. However, the increase was not significant. On the other hand, problem solving (P=0.001) and the value of teamwork (P=0.002), apart from increasing the average, had significant statistical values. Conclusions: In view of Web Quest’s positive impacts on students’ learning behaviors, problem solving and teamwork, the effective use of active learning and teaching practices and use of technology in medical education are recommended. PMID:25946931

Rehabilitation and Prosthetic Services

MedlinePlus

... VA Learning University (VALU) SimLearn Libraries (VALNET) VA Software Documentation Library (VDL) About VHA Learn about VHA Forms & ... & Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) Our Mission The mission of the Prosthetic & ...

Attentional Selection Can Be Predicted by Reinforcement Learning of Task-relevant Stimulus Features Weighted by Value-independent Stickiness.

PubMed

Balcarras, Matthew; Ardid, Salva; Kaping, Daniel; Everling, Stefan; Womelsdorf, Thilo

2016-02-01

Attention includes processes that evaluate stimuli relevance, select the most relevant stimulus against less relevant stimuli, and bias choice behavior toward the selected information. It is not clear how these processes interact. Here, we captured these processes in a reinforcement learning framework applied to a feature-based attention task that required macaques to learn and update the value of stimulus features while ignoring nonrelevant sensory features, locations, and action plans. We found that value-based reinforcement learning mechanisms could account for feature-based attentional selection and choice behavior but required a value-independent stickiness selection process to explain selection errors while at asymptotic behavior. By comparing different reinforcement learning schemes, we found that trial-by-trial selections were best predicted by a model that only represents expected values for the task-relevant feature dimension, with nonrelevant stimulus features and action plans having only a marginal influence on covert selections. These findings show that attentional control subprocesses can be described by (1) the reinforcement learning of feature values within a restricted feature space that excludes irrelevant feature dimensions, (2) a stochastic selection process on feature-specific value representations, and (3) value-independent stickiness toward previous feature selections akin to perseveration in the motor domain. We speculate that these three mechanisms are implemented by distinct but interacting brain circuits and that the proposed formal account of feature-based stimulus selection will be important to understand how attentional subprocesses are implemented in primate brain networks.

Quality in E-Learning: A Framework for Promoting and Assuring Quality in Virtual Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masoumi, D.; Lindstrom, B.

2012-01-01

With the growing demand for e-learning along with striving for excellence associated with globalization, there are worldwide calls for enhancing and assuring quality in e-learning, specifically in the context of the developing countries. Such calls for quality enhancement, accountability, added value, value for money, self-evaluation, and role…

Assessing the Learning Value of Campus Open Spaces through Post-Occupancy Evaluations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spooner, David

2008-01-01

The idea that the physical design and configuration of a campus can elicit and support studying behavior has important ramifications, as all academic institutions underscore learning in their mission statements. This article evaluates the learning value, or ability of a campus space to support studying behavior, through the use of a post-occupancy…

Integration of Learning Organization Ideas and Islamic Core Values Principle at University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmad, Aini; Sulan, Norrihan; Abdul Rani, Anita

2017-01-01

Purpose: The concept of learning organization has been inspiring both public and private sectors since the early 90s. This paper discusses the implementation of learning organization ideas along with the organization's core values at one of the public universities in Malaysia. The purpose of this paper is to identify the components of core values…

The Impact of Values-Job Fit and Age on Work-Related Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Den Ouweland, Loth; Van den Bossche, Piet

2017-01-01

Research shows that both individual and job-related factors influence a worker's work-related learning. This study combines these factors, examining the impact of fit between one's work values and job characteristics on learning. Although research indicates that fit benefits multiple work-related outcomes, little is known about the impact of fit…

Explorations in Statistics: Hypothesis Tests and P Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curran-Everett, Douglas

2009-01-01

Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This second installment of "Explorations in Statistics" delves into test statistics and P values, two concepts fundamental to the test of a scientific null hypothesis. The essence of a test statistic is that it compares what…

Valuing the Adult Learner in E-Learning: Part Two--Insights from Four Companies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waight, Consuelo L.; Stewart, Barbara L.

2005-01-01

Purpose--To investigate how the adult learner is valued in e-learning corporate settings. Design/methodology/approach--Case study methodology was used for this research. Four Fortune 500 companies that had active e-learning initiatives for a minimum of four years were selected. Data for the development of the four cases were collected via…

Chinese View of Learning and Implications for Developing Human Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Baiyin; Zheng, Wei; Li, Mingfei

2006-01-01

Chinese society has a unique view of teaching and learning that has evolved from its long history and is heavily embedded in its social and cultural roots. However, no systematic effort has been made to outline how cultural factors such as values and beliefs influence learning. This paper identifies traditional Chinese values and beliefs in…

Web-Based Interactive 3D Visualization as a Tool for Improved Anatomy Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petersson, Helge; Sinkvist, David; Wang, Chunliang; Smedby, Orjan

2009-01-01

Despite a long tradition, conventional anatomy education based on dissection is declining. This study tested a new virtual reality (VR) technique for anatomy learning based on virtual contrast injection. The aim was to assess whether students value this new three-dimensional (3D) visualization method as a learning tool and what value they gain…

Music lessons: revealing medicine's learning culture through a comparison with that of music.

PubMed

Watling, Christopher; Driessen, Erik; van der Vleuten, Cees P M; Vanstone, Meredith; Lingard, Lorelei

2013-08-01

Research on medical learning has tended to focus on the individual learner, but a sufficient understanding of the learning process requires that attention also be paid to the essential influence of the cultural context within which learning takes place. In this study, we undertook a comparative examination of two learning cultures - those of music and medicine - in order to unearth assumptions about learning that are taken for granted within the medical culture. We used a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore experiences of learning within the two cultures. We conducted nine focus groups (two with medical students, three with residents, four with music students) and four individual interviews (with one clinician-educator, one music educator and two doctor-musicians), for a total of 37 participants. Analysis occurred alongside and informed data collection. Themes were identified iteratively using constant comparisons. Cultural perspectives diverged in terms of where learning should occur, what learning outcomes are desired, and how learning is best facilitated. Whereas medicine valued learning by doing, music valued learning by lesson. Whereas medical learners aimed for competence, music students aimed instead for ever-better performance. Whereas medical learners valued their teachers for their clinical skills more than for their teaching abilities, the opposite was true in music, in which teachers' instructional skills were paramount. Self-assessment challenged learners in both cultures, but medical learners viewed self-assessment as a skill they could develop, whereas music students recognised that external feedback would always be required. This comparative analysis reveals that medicine and music make culturally distinct assumptions about teaching and learning. The contrasts between the two cultures illuminate potential vulnerabilities in the medical learning culture, including the risks inherent in its competence-focused approach and the constraints it places on its own teachers. By highlighting these vulnerabilities, we provide a stimulus for reimagining and renewing medicine's educational practices. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Fidelity of the representation of value in decision-making

PubMed Central

Dowding, Ben A.

2017-01-01

The ability to make optimal decisions depends on evaluating the expected rewards associated with different potential actions. This process is critically dependent on the fidelity with which reward value information can be maintained in the nervous system. Here we directly probe the fidelity of value representation following a standard reinforcement learning task. The results demonstrate a previously-unrecognized bias in the representation of value: extreme reward values, both low and high, are stored significantly more accurately and precisely than intermediate rewards. The symmetry between low and high rewards pertained despite substantially higher frequency of exposure to high rewards, resulting from preferential exploitation of more rewarding options. The observed variation in fidelity of value representation retrospectively predicted performance on the reinforcement learning task, demonstrating that the bias in representation has an impact on decision-making. A second experiment in which one or other extreme-valued option was omitted from the learning sequence showed that representational fidelity is primarily determined by the relative position of an encoded value on the scale of rewards experienced during learning. Both variability and guessing decreased with the reduction in the number of options, consistent with allocation of a limited representational resource. These findings have implications for existing models of reward-based learning, which typically assume defectless representation of reward value. PMID:28248958

Implementing Infrastructures for Managing Learning Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klemke, Roland; Ternier, Stefaan; Kalz, Marco; Specht, Marcus

2010-01-01

Making learning objects available is critical to reuse learning resources. Making content transparently available and providing added value to different stakeholders is among the goals of the European Commission's eContentplus programme. This paper analyses standards and protocols relevant for making learning objects accessible in distributed data…

Do Training Institutions Learn from Experience?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castro, Claudio de Moura

2011-01-01

This essay is concerned with organisational learning and, in particular, policy learning. Sometimes, organisations learn; sometimes they do not. Sometimes they use their acquired knowledge, but this is, not always the case. Inside organisations, particular values, rules and incentive systems are developed. In addition, organisations need to…

Healthcare Learning Community and Student Retention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Sherryl W.

2014-01-01

Teaching, learning, and retention processes have evolved historically to include multifaceted techniques beyond the traditional lecture. This article presents related results of a study using a healthcare learning community in a southwest Georgia university. The value of novel techniques and tools in promoting student learning and retention…

Empirical Linkages between Firm Competencies and Organisational Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Peter; Donegan, Kevin

2003-01-01

Management, operational, technology, and learning competencies in 26 large and 15 small Australian construction contractors were identified at five levels: simplistic, structure, efficiency, value, and dynamic. Organizational learning appeared useful when combined with competency development embedded in the routines of a learning culture.…

Open the VALT™: Creation and application of a visually authentic learning tool.

PubMed

Ackland-Tilbrook, Vanessa; Warland, Jane

2015-05-01

This paper describes the process of creating and applying a Visually Authentic Learning Tool (VALT™) in an undergraduate midwifery program. The VALT was developed to facilitate learning in the topic "bleeding in pregnancy". The VALTs objective is to open the mind of the student to facilitate learning via the visual representation of authentic real life simulations designed to enhance and bring to life the written scenario. Students were asked for their feedback of the VALTs. A descriptive analysis was performed on the collated results to determine how the students rated the VALTS in terms of satisfaction and meeting their learning needs. Overall the students seemed to value the VALTs as they present an engaging and unique opportunity to promote learning whilst acknowledging and valuing different learning style within the student group. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cultural dimensions of learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyford, Glen A.

1990-06-01

How, what, when and where we learn is frequently discussed, as are content versus process, or right brain versus left brain learning. What is usually missing is the cultural dimension. This is not an easy concept to define, but various aspects can be identified. The World Decade for Cultural Development emphasizes the need for a counterbalance to a quantitative, economic approach. In the last century poets also warned against brutalizing materialism, and Sorokin and others have described culture more recently in terms of cohesive basic values expressed through aesthetics and institutions. Bloom's taxonomy incorporates the category of affective learning, which internalizes values. If cultural learning goes beyond knowledge acquisition, perhaps the surest way of understanding the cultural dimension of learning is to examine the aesthetic experience. This can use myths, metaphors and symbols, and to teach and learn by using these can help to unlock the human potential for vision and creativity.

Collaborative, case-based learning: how do students actually learn from each other?

PubMed

Thurman, Joanne; Volet, Simone E; Bolton, John R

2009-01-01

The value of collaborative, case-based, and problem-based learning has received increased attention in recent years. Several studies have documented veterinary staff and students' generally positive feedback on group learning activities, but one largely unaddressed question is how students actually learn from each other. This study examined how second-year veterinary students learned from each other during a collaborative, case-based learning project. Data were students' written reflections on their learning in the veterinary course and the specific learning experience, and a matched pre- and post-task questionnaire. Consistent with prior research describing veterinary students as individualistic learners, only a third of students spontaneously mentioned learning from each other as one of their most effective strategies. However, when prompted to describe a time when they felt that group members were really learning from each other, students reported highly valuable collaborative learning processes, which they explicitly linked to learning and understanding benefits. Questionnaire data were consistent, showing that students became more positive toward several aspects of the activity as well as toward group work in general. One unexpected finding was the lack of a relationship between students' self-evaluation of their learning and how well group members knew each other. These findings provide strong support for the educational value of collaborative, case-based learning. In light of other research evidence (using observation data) that the amount of time students actually engage in high-level collaborative processes may be rather limited, this article points to the need for veterinary teachers to better prepare students for group learning activities.

Effect of Internet-Based Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (i-CAM) on Statistics Learning among Postgraduate Students.

PubMed

Saadati, Farzaneh; Ahmad Tarmizi, Rohani; Mohd Ayub, Ahmad Fauzi; Abu Bakar, Kamariah

2015-01-01

Because students' ability to use statistics, which is mathematical in nature, is one of the concerns of educators, embedding within an e-learning system the pedagogical characteristics of learning is 'value added' because it facilitates the conventional method of learning mathematics. Many researchers emphasize the effectiveness of cognitive apprenticeship in learning and problem solving in the workplace. In a cognitive apprenticeship learning model, skills are learned within a community of practitioners through observation of modelling and then practice plus coaching. This study utilized an internet-based Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (i-CAM) in three phases and evaluated its effectiveness for improving statistics problem-solving performance among postgraduate students. The results showed that, when compared to the conventional mathematics learning model, the i-CAM could significantly promote students' problem-solving performance at the end of each phase. In addition, the combination of the differences in students' test scores were considered to be statistically significant after controlling for the pre-test scores. The findings conveyed in this paper confirmed the considerable value of i-CAM in the improvement of statistics learning for non-specialized postgraduate students.

[Social learning as an uncertainty-reduction strategy: an adaptationist approach].

PubMed

Nakanishi, Daisuke; Kameda, Tatsuya; Shinada, Mizuho

2003-04-01

Social learning is an effective mechanism to reduce uncertainty about environmental knowledge, helping individuals adopt an adaptive behavior in the environment at small cost. Although this is evident for learning about temporally stable targets (e.g., acquiring avoidance of toxic foods culturally), the functional value of social learning in a temporally unstable environment is less clear; knowledge acquired by social learning may be outdated. This paper addressed adaptive values of social learning in a non-stationary environment empirically. When individual learning about the non-stationary environment is costly, a hawk-dove-game-like equilibrium is expected to emerge in the population, where members who engage in costly individual learning and members who skip the information search and free-ride on other members' search efforts coexist at a stable ratio. Such a "producer-scrounger" structure should qualify effectiveness of social/cultural learning severely, especially "conformity bias" when using social information (Boyd & Richerson, 1985). We tested these predictions by an experiment implementing a non-stationary uncertain environment in a laboratory. The results supported our thesis. Implications of these findings and some future directions were discussed.

Perceived Emotional Intelligence and Learning Strategies in Spanish University Students: A New Perspective from a Canonical Non-symmetrical Correspondence Analysis.

PubMed

Vega-Hernández, María C; Patino-Alonso, María C; Cabello, Rosario; Galindo-Villardón, María P; Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo

2017-01-01

Recent studies have revealed that emotional competences are relevant to the student's learning process and, more specifically, in the use of learning strategies (LSs). The aim of this study is twofold. First, we aim to analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and LSs applying the scales TMMS-24 and Abridged ACRA to a sample of 2334 Spanish university students, whilst also exploring possible gender differences. Second, we aim to propose a methodological alternative based on the Canonical non-symmetrical correspondence analysis (CNCA), as an alternative to the methods traditionally used in Psychology and Education. Our results show that PEI has an impact on the LS of the students. Male participants with high scores on learning support strategies are positively related to high attention, clarity, and emotional repair. However, the use of cognitive and control LS is related to low values on the PEI dimensions. For women, high scores on cognitive, control, and learning support LS are related to high emotional attention, whereas dimensions such as study habits and learning support are related to adequate emotional repair. Participants in the 18-19 and 22-23 years age groups showed similar behavior. High scores on learning support strategies are related to high values on three dimensions of the PEI, and high values of study habits show high values for clarity and low values for attention and repair. The 20-21 and older than 24 years age groups behaved similarly. High scores on learning support strategies are related to low values on clarity, and study habits show high values for clarity and repair. This article presents the relationship between PEI and LS in university students, the differences by gender and age, and CNCA as an alternative method to techniques used in this field to study this association.

Perceived Emotional Intelligence and Learning Strategies in Spanish University Students: A New Perspective from a Canonical Non-symmetrical Correspondence Analysis

PubMed Central

Vega-Hernández, María C.; Patino-Alonso, María C.; Cabello, Rosario; Galindo-Villardón, María P.; Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo

2017-01-01

Recent studies have revealed that emotional competences are relevant to the student’s learning process and, more specifically, in the use of learning strategies (LSs). The aim of this study is twofold. First, we aim to analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and LSs applying the scales TMMS-24 and Abridged ACRA to a sample of 2334 Spanish university students, whilst also exploring possible gender differences. Second, we aim to propose a methodological alternative based on the Canonical non-symmetrical correspondence analysis (CNCA), as an alternative to the methods traditionally used in Psychology and Education. Our results show that PEI has an impact on the LS of the students. Male participants with high scores on learning support strategies are positively related to high attention, clarity, and emotional repair. However, the use of cognitive and control LS is related to low values on the PEI dimensions. For women, high scores on cognitive, control, and learning support LS are related to high emotional attention, whereas dimensions such as study habits and learning support are related to adequate emotional repair. Participants in the 18–19 and 22–23 years age groups showed similar behavior. High scores on learning support strategies are related to high values on three dimensions of the PEI, and high values of study habits show high values for clarity and low values for attention and repair. The 20–21 and older than 24 years age groups behaved similarly. High scores on learning support strategies are related to low values on clarity, and study habits show high values for clarity and repair. This article presents the relationship between PEI and LS in university students, the differences by gender and age, and CNCA as an alternative method to techniques used in this field to study this association. PMID:29163272

Learning moral values: Another's desire to punish enhances one's own punitive behavior.

PubMed

FeldmanHall, Oriel; Otto, A Ross; Phelps, Elizabeth A

2018-06-07

There is little consensus about how moral values are learned. Using a novel social learning task, we examine whether vicarious learning impacts moral values-specifically fairness preferences-during decisions to restore justice. In both laboratory and Internet-based experimental settings, we employ a dyadic justice game where participants receive unfair splits of money from another player and respond resoundingly to the fairness violations by exhibiting robust nonpunitive, compensatory behavior (baseline behavior). In a subsequent learning phase, participants are tasked with responding to fairness violations on behalf of another participant (a receiver) and are given explicit trial-by-trial feedback about the receiver's fairness preferences (e.g., whether they prefer punishment as a means of restoring justice). This allows participants to update their decisions in accordance with the receiver's feedback (learning behavior). In a final test phase, participants again directly experience fairness violations. After learning about a receiver who prefers highly punitive measures, participants significantly enhance their own endorsement of punishment during the test phase compared with baseline. Computational learning models illustrate the acquisition of these moral values is governed by a reinforcement mechanism, revealing it takes as little as being exposed to the preferences of a single individual to shift one's own desire for punishment when responding to fairness violations. Together this suggests that even in the absence of explicit social pressure, fairness preferences are highly labile. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Service-Learning: In Service of Whom? A Professor of Business Reflects on Resolving an Underlying Tension In Service-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Volchok, Edward

2017-01-01

A first-time service-learning instructor explores balancing the obligation to help students achieve approved learning outcomes with ensuring that the service-learning partner receives value from the project. This is a vexing issue because few students deliver professional work. The author recommends that while students must be the instructor's top…

Construction and Evaluation of an Integrated Formal/Informal Learning Environment for Foreign Language Learning across Real and Virtual Spaces

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waragai, Ikumi; Ohta, Tatsuya; Kurabayashi, Shuichi; Kiyoki, Yasushi; Sato, Yukiko; Brückner, Stefan

2017-01-01

This paper presents the prototype of a foreign language learning space, based on the construction of an integrated formal/informal learning environment. Before the background of the continued innovation of information technology that places conventional learning styles and educational methods into new contexts based on new value-standards,…

The Learning Loss Scale as an Assessment Tool: An Empirical Examination of Convergent Validity with Performative Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hooker, John; Denker, Katherine

2014-01-01

Higher education has placed an increasingly greater value on assessment. The Learning Loss Scale may be an appropriate tool to assess learning across disciplines. In this paper, we review the culture of assessment, conceptualizations of cognitive learning, the Learning Loss Scale, and a theoretical explanation, and then we test this measure to…

The Effectiveness of the Gesture-Based Learning System (GBLS) and Its Impact on Learning Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shakroum, Moamer; Wong, Kok Wai; Fung, Lance Chun Che

2016-01-01

Several studies and experiments have been conducted in recent years to examine the value and the advantage of using the Gesture-Based Learning System (GBLS).The investigation of the influence of the GBLS mode on the learning outcomes is still scarce. Most previous studies did not address more than one category of learning outcomes (cognitive,…

Dopamine neurons learn relative chosen value from probabilistic rewards

PubMed Central

Lak, Armin; Stauffer, William R; Schultz, Wolfram

2016-01-01

Economic theories posit reward probability as one of the factors defining reward value. Individuals learn the value of cues that predict probabilistic rewards from experienced reward frequencies. Building on the notion that responses of dopamine neurons increase with reward probability and expected value, we asked how dopamine neurons in monkeys acquire this value signal that may represent an economic decision variable. We found in a Pavlovian learning task that reward probability-dependent value signals arose from experienced reward frequencies. We then assessed neuronal response acquisition during choices among probabilistic rewards. Here, dopamine responses became sensitive to the value of both chosen and unchosen options. Both experiments showed also the novelty responses of dopamine neurones that decreased as learning advanced. These results show that dopamine neurons acquire predictive value signals from the frequency of experienced rewards. This flexible and fast signal reflects a specific decision variable and could update neuronal decision mechanisms. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18044.001 PMID:27787196

Making clinical case-based learning in veterinary medicine visible: analysis of collaborative concept-mapping processes and reflections.

PubMed

Khosa, Deep K; Volet, Simone E; Bolton, John R

2014-01-01

The value of collaborative concept mapping in assisting students to develop an understanding of complex concepts across a broad range of basic and applied science subjects is well documented. Less is known about students' learning processes that occur during the construction of a concept map, especially in the context of clinical cases in veterinary medicine. This study investigated the unfolding collaborative learning processes that took place in real-time concept mapping of a clinical case by veterinary medical students and explored students' and their teacher's reflections on the value of this activity. This study had two parts. The first part investigated the cognitive and metacognitive learning processes of two groups of students who displayed divergent learning outcomes in a concept mapping task. Meaningful group differences were found in their level of learning engagement in terms of the extent to which they spent time understanding and co-constructing knowledge along with completing the task at hand. The second part explored students' and their teacher's views on the value of concept mapping as a learning and teaching tool. The students' and their teacher's perceptions revealed congruent and contrasting notions about the usefulness of concept mapping. The relevance of concept mapping to clinical case-based learning in veterinary medicine is discussed, along with directions for future research.

Multi-documents summarization based on clustering of learning object using hierarchical clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustamiin, M.; Budi, I.; Santoso, H. B.

2018-03-01

The Open Educational Resources (OER) is a portal of teaching, learning and research resources that is available in public domain and freely accessible. Learning contents or Learning Objects (LO) are granular and can be reused for constructing new learning materials. LO ontology-based searching techniques can be used to search for LO in the Indonesia OER. In this research, LO from search results are used as an ingredient to create new learning materials according to the topic searched by users. Summarizing-based grouping of LO use Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC) with the dependency context to the user’s query which has an average value F-Measure of 0.487, while summarizing by K-Means F-Measure only has an average value of 0.336.

Distinct prediction errors in mesostriatal circuits of the human brain mediate learning about the values of both states and actions: evidence from high-resolution fMRI.

PubMed

Colas, Jaron T; Pauli, Wolfgang M; Larsen, Tobias; Tyszka, J Michael; O'Doherty, John P

2017-10-01

Prediction-error signals consistent with formal models of "reinforcement learning" (RL) have repeatedly been found within dopaminergic nuclei of the midbrain and dopaminoceptive areas of the striatum. However, the precise form of the RL algorithms implemented in the human brain is not yet well determined. Here, we created a novel paradigm optimized to dissociate the subtypes of reward-prediction errors that function as the key computational signatures of two distinct classes of RL models-namely, "actor/critic" models and action-value-learning models (e.g., the Q-learning model). The state-value-prediction error (SVPE), which is independent of actions, is a hallmark of the actor/critic architecture, whereas the action-value-prediction error (AVPE) is the distinguishing feature of action-value-learning algorithms. To test for the presence of these prediction-error signals in the brain, we scanned human participants with a high-resolution functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol optimized to enable measurement of neural activity in the dopaminergic midbrain as well as the striatal areas to which it projects. In keeping with the actor/critic model, the SVPE signal was detected in the substantia nigra. The SVPE was also clearly present in both the ventral striatum and the dorsal striatum. However, alongside these purely state-value-based computations we also found evidence for AVPE signals throughout the striatum. These high-resolution fMRI findings suggest that model-free aspects of reward learning in humans can be explained algorithmically with RL in terms of an actor/critic mechanism operating in parallel with a system for more direct action-value learning.

"Involvement in Learning" Revisited: Lessons We Have Learned.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Astin, Alexander W.

1999-01-01

Originally published in March/April 1996, reviews the interconnections between two national reports, "Involvement in Learning," and the "Student Learning Imperative." Focuses on the issue of shared values and demonstrates how student affairs professionals can utilize the most recent research to realize the full potential of the…

Individual values, learning routines and academic procrastination.

PubMed

Dietz, Franziska; Hofer, Manfred; Fries, Stefan

2007-12-01

Academic procrastination, the tendency to postpone learning activities, is regarded as a consequence of postmodern values that are prominent in post-industrialized societies. When students strive for leisure goals and have no structured routines for academic tasks, delaying strenuous learning activities becomes probable. The model tested in this study posits that postmodern value orientations are positively related to procrastination and to a lack of daily routines concerning the performance of academic activities. In contrast, modern values are negatively related to procrastination and positively to learning routines. Academic procrastination, in-turn, should be associated with the tendency to prefer leisure activities to schoolwork in case of conflicts between these two life domains. Seven hundred and four students from 6th and 8th grade with a mean age of 13.5 years participated in the study. The sample included students from all tracks of the German educational system. Students completed a questionnaire containing two value prototypes as well as scales on learning routines and procrastination. Decisions in motivational conflicts were measured using two vignettes. Results from structural equation modelling supported the proposed model for the whole sample as well as for each school track. A planned course of the day can prevent procrastination and foster decisions for academic tasks in case of conflicts. Students' learning takes place within a societal context and reflects the values held in the respective culture.

Evolution of learning in fluctuating environments: when selection favors both social and exploratory individual learning.

PubMed

Borenstein, Elhanan; Feldman, Marcus W; Aoki, Kenichi

2008-03-01

Cumulative cultural change requires organisms that are capable of both exploratory individual learning and faithful social learning. In our model, an organism's phenotype is initially determined innately (by its genotypic value) or by social learning (copying a phenotype from the parental generation), and then may or may not be modified by individual learning (exploration around the initial phenotype). The environment alternates periodically between two states, each defined as a certain range of phenotypes that can survive. These states may overlap, in which case the same phenotype can survive in both states, or they may not. We find that a joint social and exploratory individual learning strategy-the strategy that supports cumulative culture-is likely to spread when the environmental states do not overlap. In particular, when the environmental states are contiguous and mutation is allowed among the genotypic values, this strategy will spread in either moderately or highly stable environments, depending on the exact nature of the individual learning applied. On the other hand, natural selection often favors a social learning strategy without exploration when the environmental states overlap. We find only partial support for the "consensus" view, which holds that individual learning, social learning, and innate determination of behavior will evolve at short, intermediate, and long environmental periodicities, respectively.

Reward-based training of recurrent neural networks for cognitive and value-based tasks

PubMed Central

Song, H Francis; Yang, Guangyu R; Wang, Xiao-Jing

2017-01-01

Trained neural network models, which exhibit features of neural activity recorded from behaving animals, may provide insights into the circuit mechanisms of cognitive functions through systematic analysis of network activity and connectivity. However, in contrast to the graded error signals commonly used to train networks through supervised learning, animals learn from reward feedback on definite actions through reinforcement learning. Reward maximization is particularly relevant when optimal behavior depends on an animal’s internal judgment of confidence or subjective preferences. Here, we implement reward-based training of recurrent neural networks in which a value network guides learning by using the activity of the decision network to predict future reward. We show that such models capture behavioral and electrophysiological findings from well-known experimental paradigms. Our work provides a unified framework for investigating diverse cognitive and value-based computations, and predicts a role for value representation that is essential for learning, but not executing, a task. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21492.001 PMID:28084991

Persistent Artefacts in an Online Classroom: The Value of a Dynamic Learning Archive

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berry, Stuart C.

2016-01-01

This paper summarizes a multi-year research project that examines the use and value of visible and persistent artefacts within an online learning environment. This study is framed within elements of a business management theory. Changes to an online learning environment are documented as well as an examination of the impact of these changes on the…

Life, the Universe and Almost Everything: The Value of Adults Learning in Science. A Policy Discussion Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlton, Shiela

This paper explores the value of encouraging adults in the United Kingdom to participate in learning in science through extensive consultations with practitioners in the field of science education. Data were also collected through a literature review and a brief survey to collect views regarding adults' participation in learning opportunities in…

Assessment for Learning in International Contexts: Exploring Shared and Divergent Dimensions in Teacher Values and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warwick, Paul; Shaw, Stuart; Johnson, Martin

2015-01-01

The Assessment for Learning in International Contexts (ALIC) project sought to extend knowledge around teachers' understandings of Assessment for Learning (AfL). Using a modified version of a survey item devised by James and Pedder for use with teachers in England, evidence was gathered about the assessment practices that were highly valued by…

Organizational Learning from Cross-Cultural Experiences: An Ethnomethodological Case Study Examining the Relative Importance of Social Structure and Cultural Values during Dynamic Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waldecker, Gary T.

2011-01-01

This study explored how social structure and cultural values dynamically interact in collective learning between two religious organizations cooperating in a joint project. It further explored the enablers of and impediments to collective learning in this context. The study employed the theoretical framework provided by the Organizational Learning…

An Examination of the Value of Service Learning Hours in Broward County Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baum, Richard G.; Clement, Russell W.

2006-01-01

The present study was conducted to examine the value of service learning hours to the Broward County community and illustrate the benefits of community service to students as well as the community at large. The total number of service learning hours contributed by Broward County high school students was aggregated from the district's data…

Mathematics and Experiential Learning--Are They Compatible?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davidovitch, Nitza; Yavich, Roman; Keller, Nelly

2014-01-01

In the process of experiential learning, students acquire skills and values as the consequence of a direct experience. Experiential learning draws on senses, emotions, and cognition and appeals to learners' entire being. Such learning, by nature, enables the development of a variety of capabilities, such as planning, teamwork, coping with…

Integrated Strategic Planning in a Learning-Centered Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, Susan; Kaufman, Roger

2007-01-01

In learning-centered community colleges, planning, like all processes, must measurably improve learning and learner performance. This article shares Valencia Community College's approach to revising its strategic planning process based on the Organizational Elements Model to: 1) focus strategic planning on learning results that add value for…

Professional Learning Experiences Used in Student Teaching as a Vehicle for Transformational Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matamala, Shana L.

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the extent of transformational learning for teacher candidates during student teaching. This study further examined the influence of values, beliefs, role expectations, personnel, programs, life changes, and educational experiences on transformational learning during student teaching. Methodology:…

The Power of Service-Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Mary H.; Corbin, Linda

2003-01-01

Describes key elements of service learning: response to the community, student-led decision-making, analytical reflection. Includes a case study of service learning in the Hudson, Massachusetts, Public School District, the main goal of which is to provide students with opportunities to learn the core values of empathy, ethics, and service. (PKP)

Learning from Simulation Design to Develop Better Experiential Learning Initiatives: An Integrative Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canhoto, Ana Isabel; Murphy, Jamie

2016-01-01

Simulations offer engaging learning experiences, via the provision of feedback or the opportunities for experimentation. However, they lack important attributes valued by marketing educators and employers. This article proposes a "back to basics" look at what constitutes an effective experiential learning initiative. Drawing on the…

Green School--A Service Learning Instrument to Enhance School Society Relation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madhusoodanan, Harikrishnan; Vitus, Geetha Janet

2014-01-01

A Green school is energy efficient, higher performing school that can be environmentally beneficial. Importance of Green school lies in the environmental friendliness value it upholds. Service learning has emanated out of philosophies of progressiveness and pragmatism. Service learning enables students to grow and learn through active…

Engagement and Kindness in Digitally Mediated Learning with Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cramp, Andy; Lamond, Catherine

2016-01-01

This paper explores the significance of designing online learning led by the principle of direct and meaningful participant engagement. It considers the notion of kindness as a crucial value contributing to pedagogy and the development of meaningful learning relationships. The paper challenges the "delivery" approach to online learning,…

Open Badges: Novel Means to Motivate, Scaffold and Recognize Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jovanovic, Jelena; Devedzic, Vladan

2015-01-01

This report is centered on the emerging concept and technology of Open Badges (OBs) that are offering novel means and practices of motivating, scaffolding, recognizing, and credentialing learning. OBs are closely associated with values such as openness and learners' agency, participatory learning and peer-learning communities. This report points…

Understanding Resistance: Reflections on Race and Privilege through Service-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Espino, Michelle M.; Lee, Jenny J.

2011-01-01

Service-learning has been hailed as an effective means to bridge classroom learning with practical application in the local context. Numerous studies have demonstrated the educational value of service-learning, particularly the potential to build awareness and appreciation for diversity. Students' resistance to even acknowledging issues of…

Exploring Moodle Functionality for Managing Open Distance Learning E-Assessments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koneru, Indira

2017-01-01

Current and emerging technologies enable Open Distance Learning (ODL) institutions integrate e-Learning in innovative ways and add value to the existing teaching-learning and assessment processes. ODL e-Assessment systems have evolved from Computer Assisted/Aided Assessment (CAA) systems through intelligent assessment and feedback systems.…

The Integrative Learning Value of Field Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durrant, Kate L.; Hartman, Thomas P. V.

2015-01-01

The integrative learning ethos pervades modern higher education. Broadly speaking, this aims to produce well-rounded, adaptable graduates suited to a range of working environments. In a more narrow sense it should produce students that are able to make connections across learning experiences and achieve learning at the highest cognitive level. Our…

Professional Learning Orientations: Patterns of Dissonance and Alignment between Teachers' Values and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedder, David; Opfer, V. Darleen

2013-01-01

Through its positive influence on teachers' classroom practices and their students' learning, effective professional learning of teachers is an important condition for school improvement. However, the Teaching and Learning International Survey reports that teachers' professional development in most countries falls short of meeting the needs of…

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…

Optimizing the learning rate for adaptive estimation of neural encoding models

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Closed-loop neurotechnologies often need to adaptively learn an encoding model that relates the neural activity to the brain state, and is used for brain state decoding. The speed and accuracy of adaptive learning algorithms are critically affected by the learning rate, which dictates how fast model parameters are updated based on new observations. Despite the importance of the learning rate, currently an analytical approach for its selection is largely lacking and existing signal processing methods vastly tune it empirically or heuristically. Here, we develop a novel analytical calibration algorithm for optimal selection of the learning rate in adaptive Bayesian filters. We formulate the problem through a fundamental trade-off that learning rate introduces between the steady-state error and the convergence time of the estimated model parameters. We derive explicit functions that predict the effect of learning rate on error and convergence time. Using these functions, our calibration algorithm can keep the steady-state parameter error covariance smaller than a desired upper-bound while minimizing the convergence time, or keep the convergence time faster than a desired value while minimizing the error. We derive the algorithm both for discrete-valued spikes modeled as point processes nonlinearly dependent on the brain state, and for continuous-valued neural recordings modeled as Gaussian processes linearly dependent on the brain state. Using extensive closed-loop simulations, we show that the analytical solution of the calibration algorithm accurately predicts the effect of learning rate on parameter error and convergence time. Moreover, the calibration algorithm allows for fast and accurate learning of the encoding model and for fast convergence of decoding to accurate performance. Finally, larger learning rates result in inaccurate encoding models and decoders, and smaller learning rates delay their convergence. The calibration algorithm provides a novel analytical approach to predictably achieve a desired level of error and convergence time in adaptive learning, with application to closed-loop neurotechnologies and other signal processing domains. PMID:29813069

Optimizing the learning rate for adaptive estimation of neural encoding models.

PubMed

Hsieh, Han-Lin; Shanechi, Maryam M

2018-05-01

Closed-loop neurotechnologies often need to adaptively learn an encoding model that relates the neural activity to the brain state, and is used for brain state decoding. The speed and accuracy of adaptive learning algorithms are critically affected by the learning rate, which dictates how fast model parameters are updated based on new observations. Despite the importance of the learning rate, currently an analytical approach for its selection is largely lacking and existing signal processing methods vastly tune it empirically or heuristically. Here, we develop a novel analytical calibration algorithm for optimal selection of the learning rate in adaptive Bayesian filters. We formulate the problem through a fundamental trade-off that learning rate introduces between the steady-state error and the convergence time of the estimated model parameters. We derive explicit functions that predict the effect of learning rate on error and convergence time. Using these functions, our calibration algorithm can keep the steady-state parameter error covariance smaller than a desired upper-bound while minimizing the convergence time, or keep the convergence time faster than a desired value while minimizing the error. We derive the algorithm both for discrete-valued spikes modeled as point processes nonlinearly dependent on the brain state, and for continuous-valued neural recordings modeled as Gaussian processes linearly dependent on the brain state. Using extensive closed-loop simulations, we show that the analytical solution of the calibration algorithm accurately predicts the effect of learning rate on parameter error and convergence time. Moreover, the calibration algorithm allows for fast and accurate learning of the encoding model and for fast convergence of decoding to accurate performance. Finally, larger learning rates result in inaccurate encoding models and decoders, and smaller learning rates delay their convergence. The calibration algorithm provides a novel analytical approach to predictably achieve a desired level of error and convergence time in adaptive learning, with application to closed-loop neurotechnologies and other signal processing domains.

Students' perceptions of a community-based service-learning project related to aging in place.

PubMed

Oakes, Claudia E; Sheehan, Nancy W

2014-01-01

This article describes a service-learning project that was designed to help undergraduate health professions students understand the complexities related to aging in place. The service-learning project also incorporated a research component to expose the students to the research process. Students' reflections regarding the benefits that they derived from the experience suggest that they value learning about older adults through one-on-one interactions more than they value the opportunity to participate in the research project. Implications for undergraduate health professional education are discussed.

Value Education through Distance Learning: Opinions of Students Who Already Completed Value Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deveci, Handan

2015-01-01

Individuals in a society should be systematically trained on value education so that they can appreciate values such as love, respect, tolerance, and honesty. Employment of value training approaches within Anadolu University Open and Distance Learning System will make it possible to educate many people on values. The purpose of this research is to…

Looking at Filipino Pre-Service Teachers' Value for Education through Epistemological Beliefs about Learning and Asian Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magno, Carlo

2010-01-01

The present study investigated the contribution of epistemological beliefs about learning and Asian values on pre-service teachers' value for education. The relationship of epistemological beliefs and valuing education is based on Schwartz and Bilsky's (1987; 1990) theory of human values. The participants were 362 pre-service teachers from…

An Exploratory Study of the Relationship between Self-Directed Learning and Senge's Five Disciplines Necessary to Become a Learning Organization: In a High-Tech Company

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masier, Darren Joseph

2013-01-01

The manner by which organizations value their workforce has been shown to impact learning within organizations (Confessore, 1997; Marsick & Watkins, 2010; Weldy & Gillis, 2003). Leadership is faced with a multitude of options to facilitate learning (Cho, 2002; Confessore & Kops, 1998), and employee learning has been linked to…

UPMC's blueprint for BuILDing a high-value health care system.

PubMed

Keyser, Donna; Kogan, Jane; McGowan, Marion; Peele, Pamela; Holder, Diane; Shrank, William

2018-03-30

National-level demonstration projects and real-world studies continue to inform health care transformation efforts and catalyze implementation of value-based service delivery and payment models, though evidence generation and diffusion of learnings often occurs at a relatively slow pace. Rapid-cycle learning models, however, can help individual organizations to more quickly adapt health care innovations to meet the challenges and demands of a rapidly changing health care landscape. Integrated delivery and financing systems (IDFSs) offer a unique platform for rapid-cycle learning and innovation. Since both the provider and payer benefit from delivering care that enhances the patient experience, improves quality, and reduces cost, incentives are aligned to experiment with value-based models, enhance learning about what works and why, and contribute to solutions that can accelerate transformation. In this article, we describe how the UPMC Insurance Services Division, as part of a large IDFS, uses its Business, Innovation, Learning, and Dissemination (BuILD) model to prioritize, design, test, and refine health care innovations and accelerate learning. We provide examples of how the BuILD model offers an approach for quickly assessing the impact and value of health care transformation efforts. Lessons learned through the BuILD process will offer insights and guidance for a wide range of stakeholders whether an IDFS or independent payer-provider collaborators. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neural Basis of Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making

PubMed Central

Lee, Daeyeol; Seo, Hyojung; Jung, Min Whan

2012-01-01

Reinforcement learning is an adaptive process in which an animal utilizes its previous experience to improve the outcomes of future choices. Computational theories of reinforcement learning play a central role in the newly emerging areas of neuroeconomics and decision neuroscience. In this framework, actions are chosen according to their value functions, which describe how much future reward is expected from each action. Value functions can be adjusted not only through reward and penalty, but also by the animal’s knowledge of its current environment. Studies have revealed that a large proportion of the brain is involved in representing and updating value functions and using them to choose an action. However, how the nature of a behavioral task affects the neural mechanisms of reinforcement learning remains incompletely understood. Future studies should uncover the principles by which different computational elements of reinforcement learning are dynamically coordinated across the entire brain. PMID:22462543

Connecting Expectations and Values: Students' Perceptions of Developmental Mathematics in a Computer-Based Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Karen Latrice Terrell

2014-01-01

Students' perceptions influence their expectations and values. According to Expectations and Values Theory of Achievement Motivation (EVT-AM), students' expectations and values impact their behaviors (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). This study seeks to find students' perceptions of developmental mathematics in a mastery learning computer-based…

Leadership Perspectives on Operationalizing the Learning Health Care System in an Integrated Delivery System.

PubMed

Psek, Wayne; Davis, F Daniel; Gerrity, Gloria; Stametz, Rebecca; Bailey-Davis, Lisa; Henninger, Debra; Sellers, Dorothy; Darer, Jonathan

2016-01-01

Healthcare leaders need operational strategies that support organizational learning for continued improvement and value generation. The learning health system (LHS) model may provide leaders with such strategies; however, little is known about leaders' perspectives on the value and application of system-wide operationalization of the LHS model. The objective of this project was to solicit and analyze senior health system leaders' perspectives on the LHS and learning activities in an integrated delivery system. A series of interviews were conducted with 41 system leaders from a broad range of clinical and administrative areas across an integrated delivery system. Leaders' responses were categorized into themes. Ten major themes emerged from our conversations with leaders. While leaders generally expressed support for the concept of the LHS and enhanced system-wide learning, their concerns and suggestions for operationalization where strongly aligned with their functional area and strategic goals. Our findings suggests that leaders tend to adopt a very pragmatic approach to learning. Leaders expressed a dichotomy between the operational imperative to execute operational objectives efficiently and the need for rigorous evaluation. Alignment of learning activities with system-wide strategic and operational priorities is important to gain leadership support and resources. Practical approaches to addressing opportunities and challenges identified in the themes are discussed. Continuous learning is an ongoing, multi-disciplinary function of a health care delivery system. Findings from this and other research may be used to inform and prioritize system-wide learning objectives and strategies which support reliable, high value care delivery.

Representation in incremental learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

Work focused on two areas in machine learning: representation for inductive learning and how to apply concept learning techniques to learning state preferences, which can represent search control knowledge for problem solving. Specifically, in the first area the issues of the effect of representation on learning, on how learning formalisms are biased, and how concept learning can benefit from the use of a hybrid formalism are addressed. In the second area, the issues of developing an agent to learn search control knowledge from the relative values of states, of the source of that qualitative information, and of the ability to use both quantitative and qualitative information in order to develop an effective problem-solving policy are examined.

What Primary Students in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Value in Mathematics Learning: A Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Qiaoping; Barkatsas, Tasos; Law, Huk-Yuen; Leu, Yuh-Chyn; Seah, Wee Tiong; Wong, Ngai-Ying

2016-01-01

It has become increasingly recognized that what teachers and students value affect teaching and learning in general and in the area of mathematics in particular. Yet, the extent to which this is so varies across cultural regions. In recent years, how the ethnic Chinese teach and learn mathematics has attracted much attention worldwide. It is…

An Exploration of the Value Placed on the Content, Interaction and Incentive Dimensions of Learning by Young People in Post-Compulsory Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mainwaring, Deborah

2016-01-01

The paper presents the findings of quantitative research that explores the value young people in post-compulsory education in England attach to three dimensions of learning. The dimensions of learning are the content dimension, the interaction dimension and the incentive dimension. Three hundred and thirty-one young people in four post-compulsory…

Effect of Internet-Based Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (i-CAM) on Statistics Learning among Postgraduate Students

PubMed Central

Saadati, Farzaneh; Ahmad Tarmizi, Rohani

2015-01-01

Because students’ ability to use statistics, which is mathematical in nature, is one of the concerns of educators, embedding within an e-learning system the pedagogical characteristics of learning is ‘value added’ because it facilitates the conventional method of learning mathematics. Many researchers emphasize the effectiveness of cognitive apprenticeship in learning and problem solving in the workplace. In a cognitive apprenticeship learning model, skills are learned within a community of practitioners through observation of modelling and then practice plus coaching. This study utilized an internet-based Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (i-CAM) in three phases and evaluated its effectiveness for improving statistics problem-solving performance among postgraduate students. The results showed that, when compared to the conventional mathematics learning model, the i-CAM could significantly promote students’ problem-solving performance at the end of each phase. In addition, the combination of the differences in students' test scores were considered to be statistically significant after controlling for the pre-test scores. The findings conveyed in this paper confirmed the considerable value of i-CAM in the improvement of statistics learning for non-specialized postgraduate students. PMID:26132553

The Power of "We" Language in Creating Equitable Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erb, Cathy Smeltzer

2010-01-01

Effective teaching values the classroom as a learning community in which instructional approaches optimize learning for all students. Contrary to the principles of an equitable learning environment is the use of "me" language by teachers, a practice that promotes the role of teacher as high status and inadvertently excludes students from the…

Family Learning: The Missing Exemplar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dentzau, Michael W.

2013-01-01

As a supporter of informal and alternative learning environments for science learning I am pleased to add to the discussion generated by Adriana Briseno-Garzon's article, "More than science: family learning in a Mexican science museum". I am keenly aware of the value of active family involvement in education in general, and science education in…

What's in a Name: Dimensions of Social Learning in Teacher Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vrieling, E.; van den Beemt, A.; de Laat, M.

2016-01-01

Induced by a literature review, this paper presents a framework of dimensions and indicators highlighting the underpinning aspects and values of social learning within teacher groups. Notions of social networks, communities of practice and learning teams were taken as the main perspectives to influence this social learning framework. The review…

Inspiring a Life Full of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ludlam, John

2012-01-01

The Secrets and Words films had everything one would expect from a BBC drama--great writing, acting and directing allied with high production values. But the dramas were also powerful learning tools, co-commissioned by BBC Learning and aimed at inspiring people who have difficulty with reading and writing to seek help. The BBC's learning vision is…

Fulfilling a European Vision through Flexible Learning and Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris, Margaret S. G.

2012-01-01

This article considers the value of flexibility and free choice in learning, and examines the increasing recognition of the evolving and wide range of appropriate environments for learning, such as the workplace, the home, the community, and the virtual world. This "Lifeplace Learning" is compared to the requirements and visions of the…

Global Connectedness in Higher Education: Student Voices on the Value of Cross-Cultural Learning Dialogue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehtomäki, Elina; Moate, Josephine; Posti-Ahokas, Hanna

2016-01-01

The study explores how sense of global connectedness can be enhanced by creating opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue in higher education. Thematic analysis of randomly selected 15 learning journals, students' reflections on their learning during an international seminar was used to identify students' significant learning experiences. The…

Act Local or Global?: Comparing Student Experiences in Domestic and International Service-Learning Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niehaus, Elizabeth; Crain, Léna Kavaliauskas

2013-01-01

International service-learning (ISL) is a popular way to facilitate student growth in the areas of cross-cultural learning and civic engagement. However, many have questioned whether international trips provide any added value compared to domestic service-learning. Using the context of Alternative Break programs, this study compares student…

Valuing the Adult Learner in E-Learning: A Conceptual Model for Corporate Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waight, Consuelo L.; Stewart, Barbara

2005-01-01

The framework describes that e-Learning engagement, learning and transfer within corporate settings can possibly be achieved if antecedents such as needs assessment, learner analysis, for example, and moderators such as return on investment, learning theories, for example, are adhered. The realization of antecedents and moderators, however, are…

The Application of Learning Organization to Enhance Learning in Singapore Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Retna, Kala S.; Ng, Pak Tee

2016-01-01

The rise of interest in the learning organization (LO) concept attests to the value of learning by individuals and organizations for continuous improvement and adaptability to the ever-changing environment. Although the LO concept originated from business contexts, it was subsequently extended to educational organizations, particularly to schools.…

Making the Switch: Lightbulbs, Literacy, and Service-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiaravalloti, Laura A.

2009-01-01

Service-learning is an instructional methodology teachers can use to foster student engagement in rigorous curricula. Through service-learning, middle level students see that what they are learning in school is real and important, and that they can be valued, contributing members of society. In this article, the Titans team at Remington Middle…

Recommending Peers for Learning: Matching on Dissimilarity in Interpretations to Provoke Breakdown

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajagopal, Kamakshi; van Bruggen, Jan M.; Sloep, Peter B.

2017-01-01

People recommenders are a widespread feature of social networking sites and educational social learning platforms alike. However, when these systems are used to extend learners' Personal Learning Networks, they often fall short of providing recommendations of learning value to their users. This paper proposes a design of a people recommender based…

Gaining Insight into Business Telecommunications Students through the Assessment of Learning Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandman, Thomas E.

2009-01-01

The assessment of student learning styles can be of significant value for developing and evaluating an appropriate mix of pedagogical techniques and activities. With this in mind, learning style preferences were collected from over 300 undergraduate business telecommunications students. These set of data show that a breadth of learning style…

Reconciling Reinforcement Learning Models with Behavioral Extinction and Renewal: Implications for Addiction, Relapse, and Problem Gambling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Redish, A. David; Jensen, Steve; Johnson, Adam; Kurth-Nelson, Zeb

2007-01-01

Because learned associations are quickly renewed following extinction, the extinction process must include processes other than unlearning. However, reinforcement learning models, such as the temporal difference reinforcement learning (TDRL) model, treat extinction as an unlearning of associated value and are thus unable to capture renewal. TDRL…

Learning at the "Boundaries": Radical Listening, Creationism, and Learning from the "Other"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexakos, Konstantinos; Pierwola, Agnieszka

2013-01-01

In our forum contribution to Federica Raia's manuscript (2012) on learning at the boundaries, we propose that using radical listening in the science education classroom, especially when contentious issues such as evolution are discussed, helps stakeholders learn from each other's values and viewpoints and contributes to bridging divides.

A Correlational Study of the Factors that Influence Lifelong Learning in the Army Civilian Corps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godinez, Eileen U.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative, correlational study was to determine if a relationship existed between employee value for learning, supervisor support for training, education, and leader development, perceived access to learning opportunities, demographic characteristics, and pursuit of lifelong learning. A researcher-generated survey was used to…

Getting into the Swing of Things: Using Pendulums to Learn the Scientific Method.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grambo, Gregory

1996-01-01

A middle school science teacher describes the learning and thinking processes of his class as they worked and played with pendulums and learned to build a swing that could tell time. The article illustrates how students can learn the value of the scientific method for problem solving. (DB)

Jewishly-Informed Mature Adult Service-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bretan, Gail Helene

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to describe, implement, and interpret the intersection of service-learning, Jewish values and ways of knowing, adult education, and lifelong learning for people over the age of 50. By expanding service-learning to include both older adults and Jewish ways of knowing, there is potential for transforming these frameworks…

Culture, Learning Styles, and Web 2.0

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olaniran, Bolanle A.

2009-01-01

This article explores Web 2.0 in interactive learning environments. Specifically, the article examines Web 2.0 as an interactive learning platform that holds potential, but is also limited by learning styles and cultural value preferences. The article explores the issue of control from both teacher and learner perspectives, and in particular the…

Leadership for Learning: Lessons from 40 Years of Empirical Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallinger, Philip

2011-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to present a research-based model of leadership for learning. It argues that the field has made substantial progress over the past 40 years in identifying ways in which leadership contributes to learning and school improvement. Four specific dimensions of leading for learning are presented: values and beliefs, leadership…

The Impact of Space on Students' Perceptions of the Value and Quality of Their Learning Experience: A Case Study of the Collaborative Learning Forum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Greg; Baumann, Christoph; Bilgin, Ayse A.; Bulger, David; Coutts, Pamela M.; Engel, Roger M.; Giuriato, Rosemary; Gudlaugsdottir, Sigurbjorg; Rigney, Curtis; Tomossy, George F.

2012-01-01

Universities in Australia and worldwide, are building a new generation of learning and teaching spaces which are designed to encourage and support active and collaborative modes of learning and teaching. However, there is little evidence to show that students will recognise the contribution these spaces make to their learning. Temple (2008) argued…

Lifelong Learning, Lifelong Education and Adult Education in Higher Institutions of Learning in Eastern Africa: The Case of Makerere University Institute of Adult and Continuing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Openjuru, George L.

2011-01-01

This paper advocates for policy recognition of lifelong learning by institutions of higher learning and governments in Eastern Africa. Lifelong learning and lifelong education are two concepts that aim at widening access to and the participation of adult learners in the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. There are many…

Instructional designing the STEM education model for fostering creative thinking abilities in physics laboratory environment classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chanthala, Chumpon; Santiboon, Toansakul; Ponkham, Kamon

2018-01-01

To investigate the effects of students' activity-based on learning approaching management through the STEM Education Instructional Model for fostering their creative thinking abilities of their learning achievements in physics laboratory classroom environments with the sample size consisted of 48 students at the 10th grade level in two classes in Mahasarakham University Demonstration School(Secondary Division) in Thailand. Students' creative thinking abilities were assessed with the with the 24-item GuilfordCreative Thinking Questionnaire (GCTQ). Students' perceptions of their physics classroom learning environments were obtained using the 35-item Physics Laboratory Environment Inventory (PLEI). Associations between students' learning achievements of their post-test assessment indicated that 26% of the coefficient predictive value (R2) of the variance in students' creative thinking abilities was attributable to their perceptions for the GCTQ. Students' learning outcomes of their post-test assessment, the R2value indicated that 35% of the variances for the PLEI, the R2value indicated that 63% of the variances for their creative thinking abilities were attributable to theiraffecting the activity-based on learning for fostering their creative thinking are provided.

Values, Predicaments, and Countermeasures for a Model Combining Learning with Working in Higher Vocational Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Jun

2014-01-01

Combining learning with working is a fundamental way to deepen teaching reform in higher vocational education. Based on an analysis of the social value, individual value, educational value, and current predicaments of higher vocational education, this article explores effective ways to realize the value of this talent development model and…

Creating a Culture for Evidence-Based Assessment of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grannan, Sharisse; Calkins, Susanna

2018-01-01

An annual Learning, Teaching, and Assessment Forum supports peer-led conversations among faculty about their own evidence-based assessment initiatives and promotes dialogue about the value of assessment for improving learning and teaching.

Influence of Psychosocial Classroom Environment on Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velayutham, Sunitadevi; Aldridge, Jill M.

2013-04-01

The primary aim of this study was two-fold: 1) to identify salient psychosocial features of the classroom environment that influence students' motivation and self-regulation in science learning; and 2) to examine the effect of the motivational constructs of learning goal orientation, science task value and self-efficacy in science learning on students' self-regulation in science classrooms. Data collected from 1360 science students in grades 8, 9 and 10 in five public schools in Perth, Western Australia were utilized to validate the questionnaires and to investigate the hypothesized relationships. Structural Equation Modeling analysis suggested that student cohesiveness, investigation and task orientation were the most influential predictors of student motivation and self-regulation in science learning. In addition, learning goal orientation, task value and self-efficacy significantly influenced students' self-regulation in science. The findings offer potential opportunities for educators to plan and implement effective pedagogical strategies aimed at increasing students' motivation and self-regulation in science learning.

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

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.

Mathematical disposition of junior high school students viewed from learning styles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putra, Arief Karunia; Budiyono, Slamet, Isnandar

2017-08-01

The relevance of this study is the growth of character values for students in Indonesia. Mathematics is a subject that builds the character values for students. It can be seen from the students' confidence in answering mathematics problems, their persistent and resilience in mathematics task. In addition, students have a curiosity in mathematics and appreciate the usefulness of mathematics. In mathematics, it is called a mathematical disposition. One of the factors that can affect students' mathematical disposition is learning style. Each student has a dominant learning style. Three of the most popular ones are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. The most important uses of learning styles is that it makes it easy for teachers to incorporate them into their teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine which one that gives better mathematical dispositions among students with learning styles of visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. The subjects were 150 students in Sleman regency. Data obtained through questionnaires. Based on data analysis that has been done with benchmark assessment method, it can be concluded that students with visual learning style has a mathematical disposition better than students with auditory and kinesthetic learning styles, while students with kinesthetic learning style has a mathematical disposition better than students with auditory learning style. These results can be used as a reference for students with individual learning styles to improve the mathematical positive disposition in the learning process of mathematics.

Comparisons between students' learning achievements of their conventional instruction and the science, technology and social conceptual instructional design on digestion system issue of secondary students at the 10th grade level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wichalek, Supattra; Chayaburakul, Kanokporn; Santiboon, Toansakul

2018-01-01

The purposes of this action research study were 1) to develop learning activities according to the instructional designing model of science, technology, and social (STS) on Digestion Issue, 2) to compare students' learning achievements between their learning activities with the conventional instructional (CIM) and conceptual instructional designing methods of science, technology, and social (STS) on digestion system of secondary students at the 10th grade level with a sample size of 35 experimental student group of their STS learning method, and 91 controlling group in two classes in the first semester in academic year 2016. Using the 4-Instructional Innovative Lesson Plans, the Students' Learning Behaviour Observing Form, the Questionnaire on Teacher Behaviour Interaction (QTBI), the Researcher's Recording Form, the Learning Activity Form, and the Parallel Learning Achievement Test (LAT) were assessed. The results of this research have found that; the Index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC) value ranged from 0.67 to 1.00; the difficulty values were 0.47 and 0.79 for the CIM and STS methods, respectively, the discriminative validity for the LAT was ranged from 0.20 to 0.75. The reliability of the QTBI was 0.79. Students' responses of their learning achievements with the average means scores indicted of the normalized gain values of 0.79 for the STS group, and 0.50 and 0.36 for the CIM groups, respectively. Students' learning achievements of their post-test indicated that of a higher than pre-test, the pre-test and post-test assessments were also differentiated evidence at the 0.05 levels for the STS and CIM groups, significantly. The 22-students' learning outcomes from the STS group evidences at a high level, only of the 9-students' responses in a moderate level were developed of their learning achievements, responsibility.

Multi-Interval Discretization of Continuous-Valued Attributes for Classification Learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fayyad, U.; Irani, K.

1993-01-01

Since most real-world applications of classification learning involve continuous-valued attributes, properly addressing the discretization process is an important problem. This paper addresses the use of the entropy minimization heuristic for discretizing the range of a continuous-valued attribute into multiple intervals.

What Australian Primary School Students Value in Mathematics Learning: A WIFI Preliminary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seah, Wee Tiong; Barkatsas, Tasos

2014-01-01

Grades 5/6 students in Melbourne reported the valuing of "achievement," "open-endedness," "relevance," "humanism," "ICT," and "openness" most in mathematics learning. Although prior research suggested that students in East Asia valued "achievement" most as well, there was an…

Understanding the internet-based distance learning preferences of European respiratory specialists.

PubMed

Roberts, C M; Milon, S; Kurosinski, P

2006-08-01

We studied the learning preferences of 160 respiratory specialists from four European countries who participated in ten internet-based learning modules and answered linked survey questions. Specialists were enthusiastic for internet learning amongst all national groups and particularly wanted to access material for teaching others. The value of social interactive learning was acknowledged but British and German subjects appeared more reluctant to participate. Internet delivered distance learning is well perceived amongst respiratory specialists. There is potential for both individual and group learning that could be realized by developing Europe-wide continuing professional development communities.

How Instructional Strategies Impact Students' Learning, Motivation, and Learning Strategies in Introductory Geology Courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perkins, D.; Budd, D. A.; Stempien, J. A.; Kraft, K.; Matheney, R. K.; McConnell, D.; Wirth, K. R.; Bykerk-Kauffman, A.

2010-12-01

The Geoscience Affective Research Network (GARNET) quantified the relationship between classroom teaching styles, student learning, and students’ motivations and attitudes for 14 different instructors at 2 community colleges, a private college, and 4 large public universities. Instruction was characterized with the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). The 0-100 scale reflects the span between traditional instructor-centered lecture and interactive, student-centered courses. Every participating instructor was observed at least twice. Student learning was measured using a 15-question concept inventory (CI) focused on geologic time and plate tectonics. Twelve questions were from the Geologic Concept Inventory of Libarkin and Anderson (2005) and 3 questions were added on relative time. Students’ affective domain was measured using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), 81 questions that define 15 motivation and cognitive subcategories. 1152 students completed both surveys in the 2nd and 14th weeks of their class during the 2008-2010 academic years. RTOP scores ranged from 19 to 87. Learning gains ranged from 18.6% to 47.4% with students learning significantly more from instructors with higher RTOP scores. Learning gains and RTOP positively covary (R2 = 0.67). Adjusting for questions on which students scored high prior to instruction (>90% correct), results in an even stronger relationship (R2 = 0.89). Higher RTOP scores correlate to significant declines in many aspects of student motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic goals, task value, control of learning, and effort regulation). Declines occur mainly in lower and/or middle performing students as measured by grades. The highest performing students only show declines with respect to their control of learning beliefs. Students’ self-efficacy also declines with increasing use of student-student interactions. Higher RTOP scores only exhibit positive correlations to a few aspects of learning strategies at the end of a term (less value on memorization strategies; more value on help seeking strategies). The data indicate that using constructivist teaching strategies and interactive engagement promotes learning in introductory physical geology, but also result in students’ becoming less motivated to learn and believing they have less control over their learning. We hypothesize that this contrast arises from students not understanding how to regulate their learning in non-traditional classrooms. Students, particularly those who perform poorly relative to their expectations, lose confidence in their abilities, lose motivation, and believe they are not in control of their learning.

Learning to Change: New Dimensions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loughlin, Kathleen

1996-01-01

Change involves thoughts, emotions, values, and actions but thought gets the most attention. Learning to change necessitates an integration of rational and nonrational ways of knowing. Nonrational ways and human care are important dimensions of the learning process. (SK)

What Convinces Enterprises To Value Training and Learning and What Does Not? A Study in Using Case Studies To Develop Cultures of Training and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Figgis, Jane; Alderson, Anna; Blackwell, Anna; Butorac, Anne; Mitchell, Keith; Zubrick, Ann

A study examined the feasibility of using case studies to convince enterprises to value training and learning. First, 10 Australian enterprises were studied in sufficient depth to construct a comprehensive picture of each enterprise, its culture, and the strategies it uses to develop the skills and knowledge of individual employees and the…

Cavity approach to noisy learning in nonlinear perceptrons.

PubMed

Luo, P; Michael Wong, K Y

2001-12-01

We analyze the learning of noisy teacher-generated examples by nonlinear and differentiable student perceptrons using the cavity method. The generic activation of an example is a function of the cavity activation of the example, which is its activation in the perceptron that learns without the example. Mean-field equations for the macroscopic parameters and the stability condition yield results consistent with the replica method. When a single value of the cavity activation maps to multiple values of the generic activation, there is a competition in learning strategy between preferentially learning an example and sacrificing it in favor of the background adjustment. We find parameter regimes in which examples are learned preferentially or sacrificially, leading to a gap in the activation distribution. Full phase diagrams of this complex system are presented, and the theory predicts the existence of a phase transition from poor to good generalization states in the system. Simulation results confirm the theoretical predictions.

A Randomized Crossover Design to Assess Learning Impact and Student Preference for Active and Passive Online Learning Modules.

PubMed

Prunuske, Amy J; Henn, Lisa; Brearley, Ann M; Prunuske, Jacob

Medical education increasingly involves online learning experiences to facilitate the standardization of curriculum across time and space. In class, delivering material by lecture is less effective at promoting student learning than engaging students in active learning experience and it is unclear whether this difference also exists online. We sought to evaluate medical student preferences for online lecture or online active learning formats and the impact of format on short- and long-term learning gains. Students participated online in either lecture or constructivist learning activities in a first year neurologic sciences course at a US medical school. In 2012, students selected which format to complete and in 2013, students were randomly assigned in a crossover fashion to the modules. In the first iteration, students strongly preferred the lecture modules and valued being told "what they need to know" rather than figuring it out independently. In the crossover iteration, learning gains and knowledge retention were found to be equivalent regardless of format, and students uniformly demonstrated a strong preference for the lecture format, which also on average took less time to complete. When given a choice for online modules, students prefer passive lecture rather than completing constructivist activities, and in the time-limited environment of medical school, this choice results in similar performance on multiple-choice examinations with less time invested. Instructors need to look more carefully at whether assessments and learning strategies are helping students to obtain self-directed learning skills and to consider strategies to help students learn to value active learning in an online environment.

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.

Learning curve for laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication for achalasia

PubMed Central

Omura, Nobuo; Tsuboi, Kazuto; Hoshino, Masato; Yamamoto, Seryung; Akimoto, Shunsuke; Masuda, Takahiro; Kashiwagi, Hideyuki; Yanaga, Katsuhiko

2017-01-01

Purpose Although laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication (LHD) is widely performed to address achalasia, little is known about the learning curve for this technique. We assessed the learning curve for performing LHD. Methods Of the 514 cases with LHD performed between August 1994 and March 2016, the surgical outcomes of 463 cases were evaluated after excluding 50 cases with reduced port surgery and one case with the simultaneous performance of laparoscopic distal partial gastrectomy. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to identify the cut-off value for the number of surgical experiences necessary to become proficient with LHD, which was defined as the completion of the learning curve. Results We defined the completion of the learning curve when the following 3 conditions were satisfied. 1) The operation time was less than 165 minutes. 2) There was no blood loss. 3) There was no intraoperative complication. In order to establish the appropriate number of surgical experiences required to complete the learning curve, the cut-off value was evaluated by using a ROC curve (AUC 0.717, p < 0.001). Finally, we identified the cut-off value as 16 surgical cases (sensitivity 0.706, specificity 0.646). Conclusion Learning curve seems to complete after performing 16 cases. PMID:28686640

Learning curve for laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication for achalasia.

PubMed

Yano, Fumiaki; Omura, Nobuo; Tsuboi, Kazuto; Hoshino, Masato; Yamamoto, Seryung; Akimoto, Shunsuke; Masuda, Takahiro; Kashiwagi, Hideyuki; Yanaga, Katsuhiko

2017-01-01

Although laparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication (LHD) is widely performed to address achalasia, little is known about the learning curve for this technique. We assessed the learning curve for performing LHD. Of the 514 cases with LHD performed between August 1994 and March 2016, the surgical outcomes of 463 cases were evaluated after excluding 50 cases with reduced port surgery and one case with the simultaneous performance of laparoscopic distal partial gastrectomy. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to identify the cut-off value for the number of surgical experiences necessary to become proficient with LHD, which was defined as the completion of the learning curve. We defined the completion of the learning curve when the following 3 conditions were satisfied. 1) The operation time was less than 165 minutes. 2) There was no blood loss. 3) There was no intraoperative complication. In order to establish the appropriate number of surgical experiences required to complete the learning curve, the cut-off value was evaluated by using a ROC curve (AUC 0.717, p < 0.001). Finally, we identified the cut-off value as 16 surgical cases (sensitivity 0.706, specificity 0.646). Learning curve seems to complete after performing 16 cases.

Learning Research as a Human Science: Old Wine in New Bottles?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Penuel, William R.; O'Connor, Kevin

2010-01-01

Taken as a whole, this volume can be viewed as an argument for reframing learning research as a human science, one focused on interpreting learning situations and organizing for improving learning in ways that put human agency, values, and engagement with social practices at the center. Each chapter illuminates one or more elements of a human…

Formative Value of an Active Learning Strategy: Technology Based Think-Pair-Share in an EFL Writing Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demirci, Cavide; Düzenli, Halil

2017-01-01

Think-Pair-Share (TPS) activities in classrooms provide an opportunity for students to revise, practice and reproduce previously learned knowledge. Teachers also benefit from this active learning strategy by exploiting new learning materials, saving time by minimizing presentations and using it as a formative assessment tool. This article explores…

Writing for Learning in Science: A Model for Use within Classrooms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hand, Brian; Prain, Vaughan

1996-01-01

Discusses writing for learning within science classrooms. Presents a model that can be used by teachers to promote a greater variety of writing types. Includes examples of its use and an explanation of learning strategies students use in these activities. Discusses the value of the model in framing the planning of writing-for-learning tasks.…

Self-Regulation of Motivation when Learning Online: The Importance of Who, Why and How

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sansone, Carol; Fraughton, Tamra; Zachary, Joseph L.; Butner, Jonathan; Heiner, Cecily

2011-01-01

Successful online students must learn and maintain motivation to learn. The Self-regulation of Motivation (SRM) model (Sansone and Thoman 2005) suggests two kinds of motivation are essential: Goals-defined (i.e., value and expectancy of learning), and experience-defined (i.e., whether interesting). The Regulating Motivation and Performance Online…

Learning Engines - A Functional Object Model for Developing Learning Resources for the WWW.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritze, Paul; Ip, Albert

The Learning Engines (LE) model, developed at the University of Melbourne (Australia), supports the integration of rich learning activities into the World Wide Web. The model is concerned with the practical design, educational value, and reusability of software components. The model is focused on the academic teacher who is in the best position to…

Culturally Sensitive Transformational Learning: Incorporating the Afrocentric Paradigm and African Feminism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ntseane, Peggy Gabo

2011-01-01

Informed by the Afrocentric learning paradigm, this conceptual piece argues that Mezirow's version of the theory of transformative learning is useful, but it would be more so if applied to be culturally sensitive. Using Botswana cultural learning values as an example, the article demonstrates how the theory can be made culturally sensitive to an…

Estonian Preschool Teachers' Views on Learning in Preschool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ugaste, Aino; Tuul, Maire; Niglas, Katrin; Neudorf, Evelyn

2014-01-01

As in many Western countries, children's learning in the curriculum of Estonian Early Childhood Education is seen as a lifelong process, wherein the teacher is primarily a guide to children's active learning. Thus, a child-centred approach to learning is valued in the national curriculum, but our interest was whether this approach is fixed in the…

Students' Motivations, Value, and Decision to Participate in Service-Learning at the National FFA Days of Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Richie; Terry, Robert, Jr.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Ramsey, Jon W.

2016-01-01

As agricultural educators continue to seek methods of instruction to make learning impactful for students, service-learning has emerged as a desirable technique for meeting these educational objectives. A gap in the agricultural education literature exists, however, in terms of describing whether these learning experiences motivate students…

Students Connecting with the University Community: The Learning Community as Bridge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDowell Marinchak, Christina L.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this piece is to call attention to learning conversations--to bring forth an understanding of the power of storytelling, and how it functions to make communicative connections possible, thus helping students learn. I want to highlight the value of an embodied way of engaging students during service learning. I begin this perspective…

Improving AACSB Assurance of Learning with Importance-Performance and Learning Growth: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, James W.; McCrohan, Kevin F.

2017-01-01

Two fallacious assumptions can mislead assurance of learning (AoL) loop closing. Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business guidance states that learning goals should reflect the outcomes most valued by the program, but evidence shows that schools assign equal priorities to the skills selected. The second false assumption is that…

The Impact of Service-Learning Course Characteristics on University Students' Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moely, Barbara E.; Ilustre, Vincent

2014-01-01

Undergraduate students' reports of their service-learning course experiences and their gains from participation in those courses were investigated with a sample of 250 students at Tulane University. The students completed a survey in which they rated their service-learning courses in terms of three aspects: Value of Service, Focus on Service, and…

Year-Round Learning: Linking School, Afterschool, and Summer Learning to Support Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dechenes, Sarah; Malone, Helen Janc

2011-01-01

Learning consists of all the ways that youth acquire new knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors. It happens not just in school, but also through afterschool and summer activities, time spent with the family, and increasingly, through interaction with digital media. Broadening ideas about where, when, and how learning happens helps communities to…

The Potential of Experiential Learning Models and Practices in Career and Technical Education and Career and Technical Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Robert W.; Threeton, Mark D.; Ewing, John C.

2010-01-01

Since inception, career and technical education programs have embraced experiential learning as a true learning methodology for students to obtain occupational skills valued by employers. Programs have integrated classroom instruction with laboratory experiences to provide students a significant opportunity to learn. However, it is questionable as…

The Interactions among Information Technology Organizational Learning, Project Learning, and Project Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKay, Donald S., II

2012-01-01

Knowledge gained from completed information technology (IT) projects was not often shared with emerging project teams. Learning lessons from other project teams was not pursued because people lack time, do not see value in learning, fear a potentially painful process, and had concerns that sharing knowledge will hurt their career. Leaders could…

Farm Education and the Value of Learning in an Authentic Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smeds, Pia; Jeronen, Eila; Kurppa, Sirpa

2015-01-01

Farm education is a newly emerging field of research that utilises authentic learning environments, environments that combine a subject of academic study with its real-world surroundings, actors, and activities--in this case, the practical context of a farm. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of various learning environments…

Creation of Exercises for Team-Based Learning in Business

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timmerman, John E.; Morris, R. Franklin, Jr.

2015-01-01

Team-based learning (TBL) is an approach that builds on both the case method and problem-based learning and has been widely adopted in the sciences and healthcare disciplines. In recent years business disciplines have also discovered the value of this approach. One of the key characteristics of the team-based learning approach consists of…

Finnish Upper Secondary Students' Collaborative Processes in Learning Statistics in a CSCL Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oikarinen, Juho Kaleva; Järvelä, Sanna; Kaasila, Raimo

2014-01-01

This design-based research project focuses on documenting statistical learning among 16-17-year-old Finnish upper secondary school students (N = 78) in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. One novel value of this study is in reporting the shift from teacher-led mathematical teaching to autonomous small-group learning in…

Applying the Learning Community Model to Graduate Education: Linking Research and Teaching between Core Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romsdahl, Rebecca J.; Hill, Michael J.

2012-01-01

In graduate education, there is often a great divide between classroom learning and research endeavors. Using learning community (LC) values and strategies, our goal is to build stronger and more meaningful ties between these two aspects of graduate education so that students see them as complimentary learning rather than separate components. This…

Robust reinforcement learning.

PubMed

Morimoto, Jun; Doya, Kenji

2005-02-01

This letter proposes a new reinforcement learning (RL) paradigm that explicitly takes into account input disturbance as well as modeling errors. The use of environmental models in RL is quite popular for both offline learning using simulations and for online action planning. However, the difference between the model and the real environment can lead to unpredictable, and often unwanted, results. Based on the theory of H(infinity) control, we consider a differential game in which a "disturbing" agent tries to make the worst possible disturbance while a "control" agent tries to make the best control input. The problem is formulated as finding a min-max solution of a value function that takes into account the amount of the reward and the norm of the disturbance. We derive online learning algorithms for estimating the value function and for calculating the worst disturbance and the best control in reference to the value function. We tested the paradigm, which we call robust reinforcement learning (RRL), on the control task of an inverted pendulum. In the linear domain, the policy and the value function learned by online algorithms coincided with those derived analytically by the linear H(infinity) control theory. For a fully nonlinear swing-up task, RRL achieved robust performance with changes in the pendulum weight and friction, while a standard reinforcement learning algorithm could not deal with these changes. We also applied RRL to the cart-pole swing-up task, and a robust swing-up policy was acquired.

Views from the Chalkface. Values of Teaching Nature of Science in Hong Kong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Zhi Hong; Wong, Siu Ling

2016-12-01

Although the goal of developing school students' understanding of nature of science (NOS) has long been advocated, there is still a lack of research that focuses on probing how science teachers, a kind of major stakeholder in NOS instruction, perceive the values of teaching NOS. Through semi-structured interviews, this study investigated the views of 15 Hong Kong in-service senior secondary science teachers about the values of teaching NOS. These values as perceived by the teachers fall into two types. The first type is related to students' learning of science in the classroom and involves: (i) facilitating the study of subject knowledge, (ii) increasing the interest in learning science, (iii) supporting the conduct of scientific inquiry, (iv) meeting the needs of public examinations, and (v) fulfilling the requirement of learning science. The second type goes beyond learning science and includes (i) developing thinking skills, (ii) cultivating scientific ethics in students, and (iii) supporting the participation in public decisions on socioscientific issues. Although rich relationships were perceived by these teachers between NOS instruction and students' learning of science, few values were stated from broad social and cultural perspectives. Suggestions are made about developing teachers' views of the values of teaching NOS so as to influence their intention of teaching it.

Leadership Perspectives on Operationalizing the Learning Health Care System in an Integrated Delivery System

PubMed Central

Psek, Wayne; Davis, F. Daniel; Gerrity, Gloria; Stametz, Rebecca; Bailey-Davis, Lisa; Henninger, Debra; Sellers, Dorothy; Darer, Jonathan

2016-01-01

Introduction: Healthcare leaders need operational strategies that support organizational learning for continued improvement and value generation. The learning health system (LHS) model may provide leaders with such strategies; however, little is known about leaders’ perspectives on the value and application of system-wide operationalization of the LHS model. The objective of this project was to solicit and analyze senior health system leaders’ perspectives on the LHS and learning activities in an integrated delivery system. Methods: A series of interviews were conducted with 41 system leaders from a broad range of clinical and administrative areas across an integrated delivery system. Leaders’ responses were categorized into themes. Findings: Ten major themes emerged from our conversations with leaders. While leaders generally expressed support for the concept of the LHS and enhanced system-wide learning, their concerns and suggestions for operationalization where strongly aligned with their functional area and strategic goals. Discussion: Our findings suggests that leaders tend to adopt a very pragmatic approach to learning. Leaders expressed a dichotomy between the operational imperative to execute operational objectives efficiently and the need for rigorous evaluation. Alignment of learning activities with system-wide strategic and operational priorities is important to gain leadership support and resources. Practical approaches to addressing opportunities and challenges identified in the themes are discussed. Conclusion: Continuous learning is an ongoing, multi-disciplinary function of a health care delivery system. Findings from this and other research may be used to inform and prioritize system-wide learning objectives and strategies which support reliable, high value care delivery. PMID:27683668

Changes of Attention during Value-Based Reversal Learning Are Tracked by N2pc and Feedback-Related Negativity

PubMed Central

Oemisch, Mariann; Watson, Marcus R.; Womelsdorf, Thilo; Schubö, Anna

2017-01-01

Previously learned reward values can have a pronounced impact, behaviorally and neurophysiologically, on the allocation of selective attention. All else constant, stimuli previously associated with a high value gain stronger attentional prioritization than stimuli previously associated with a low value. The N2pc, an ERP component indicative of attentional target selection, has been shown to reflect aspects of this prioritization, by changes of mean amplitudes closely corresponding to selective enhancement of high value target processing and suppression of high value distractor processing. What has remained unclear so far is whether the N2pc also reflects the flexible and repeated behavioral adjustments needed in a volatile task environment, in which the values of stimuli are reversed often and unannounced. Using a value-based reversal learning task, we found evidence that the N2pc amplitude flexibly and reversibly tracks value-based choices during the learning of reward associated stimulus colors. Specifically, successful learning of current value-contingencies was associated with reduced N2pc amplitudes, and this effect was more apparent for distractor processing, compared with target processing. In addition, following a value reversal the feedback related negativity(FRN), an ERP component that reflects feedback processing, was amplified and co-occurred with increased N2pc amplitudes in trials following low-value feedback. Importantly, participants that showed the greatest adjustment in N2pc amplitudes based on feedback were also the most efficient learners. These results allow further insight into how changes in attentional prioritization in an uncertain and volatile environment support flexible adjustments of behavior. PMID:29163113

Changes of Attention during Value-Based Reversal Learning Are Tracked by N2pc and Feedback-Related Negativity.

PubMed

Oemisch, Mariann; Watson, Marcus R; Womelsdorf, Thilo; Schubö, Anna

2017-01-01

Previously learned reward values can have a pronounced impact, behaviorally and neurophysiologically, on the allocation of selective attention. All else constant, stimuli previously associated with a high value gain stronger attentional prioritization than stimuli previously associated with a low value. The N2pc, an ERP component indicative of attentional target selection, has been shown to reflect aspects of this prioritization, by changes of mean amplitudes closely corresponding to selective enhancement of high value target processing and suppression of high value distractor processing. What has remained unclear so far is whether the N2pc also reflects the flexible and repeated behavioral adjustments needed in a volatile task environment, in which the values of stimuli are reversed often and unannounced. Using a value-based reversal learning task, we found evidence that the N2pc amplitude flexibly and reversibly tracks value-based choices during the learning of reward associated stimulus colors. Specifically, successful learning of current value-contingencies was associated with reduced N2pc amplitudes, and this effect was more apparent for distractor processing, compared with target processing. In addition, following a value reversal the feedback related negativity(FRN), an ERP component that reflects feedback processing, was amplified and co-occurred with increased N2pc amplitudes in trials following low-value feedback. Importantly, participants that showed the greatest adjustment in N2pc amplitudes based on feedback were also the most efficient learners. These results allow further insight into how changes in attentional prioritization in an uncertain and volatile environment support flexible adjustments of behavior.

Learning Organizations. Developing Cultures for Tomorrow's Workplace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chawla, Sarita, Ed.; Renesch, John, Ed.

This anthology contains 32 essays: "Beginner's Mind" (Sarita Chawla);"Communities of Commitment: The Heart of Learning Organizations" (Fred Kofman, Peter Senge); "Managing the Dream" (Charles Handy); "Ahead of the Wave: Valuing Gender Perspective in Learning Cultures" (Marilynne Anderson); "Mastering…

Integrated Learning Management Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Sharon; Cossarin, Mary; Doxsee, Harry; Schwartz, Linda

2004-01-01

Four integrated learning management packages were reviewed: "CentraOne", "IntraLearn", "Lyceum", and "Silicon Chalk". These products provide different combinations of synchronous and asynchronous tools. The current report examines the products in relation to their specific value for distance educators and students.

Value pricing pilot program : lessons learned

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-08-01

This "Lessons Learned Report" provides a summary of projects sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) Congestion and Value Pricing Pilot Programs from 1991 through 2006 and draws lessons from a sample of projects with the richest an...

Personal Values and Mission Statement: A Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laird-Magee, Tyler; Gayle, Barbra Mae; Preiss, Raymond

2015-01-01

Personal values guide ethical decision-making behaviors. Business professors have traditionally addressed undergraduate ethics-based learning through a learn ethics approach using case studies, simulations, presentations, and other activities. Few offer a live ethics orientation requiring completion of a personal values self-assessment and…

Learning Values about Languages in the Multilingual Preschools of Malaysia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, Ellen C.

In multilingual nations, young children learn early about the social and educational importance that adults attribute to different languages. In Malaysia, parents express their values about languages by choosing specific kindergartens. Preschools' language values are reflected in the amount of time devoted and the seriousness of approach to each…

Character Values and Their Internalization in Teaching and Learning English at Madrasah

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Islami, Milad

2016-01-01

In addition to communicating intellectual-based concepts such as ideas, belief and thought, language is used to communicate norms, values and emotions. As the result, it is important to internalize the character values into the teaching and learning activity of English. The study describes the analysis of the internalization of character values.…

Gender, BMI, Values, and Learning in Physical Education: A Study on Chinese Middle Schoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ding, Haiyong; Sun, Haichun; Chen, Ang

2011-01-01

Students' different perceptions of task values influence their learning experience and achievement in physical education. Framed using the subjective task value construct, this study was conducted to determine the extent to which male and female Chinese middle schoolers with different body sizes differed in their perception of the task values. A…

Understanding the Learning of Values Using a Domains-of-Socialization Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vinik, Julia; Johnston, Megan; Grusec, Joan E.; Farrell, Renee

2013-01-01

The narratives that emerging adults wrote about a time when they learned an important moral, value or lesson were explored in order to determine the characteristics of events that lead to internalized values as well as to compare the way different kinds of moral values are socialized. Lessons resulting from misbehavior were reported most…

Our Strength in Families (OSIDF): A Web-Based Interactive Coping Skills and Resiliency Program for Military Families

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

away) o Can learn to value partner more, rekindle relationship Page 19 o May return refreshed for parenting role after leaving and returning - can...emotional, and behavioral changes in partner b. Both positive (e.g., strengthen relationships, return from separation/deployment refreshed for parenting ... role , learn better communication and new helpful family rituals, learn to value partner more) and negative changes (e.g., intimacy reduced, numbing

"The Treasure Within: Learning to Know, Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together and Learning to Be." What Is the Value of that Treasure 15 Years after Its Publication?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delors, Jacques

2013-01-01

This is an English translation of a speech held by French economist and politician Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission, on 7 November 2011 at the opening of the International Congress on Lifelong Learning in Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain. Fifteen years after the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first…

Hemispheric Asymmetries in Striatal Reward Responses Relate to Approach-Avoidance Learning and Encoding of Positive-Negative Prediction Errors in Dopaminergic Midbrain Regions.

PubMed

Aberg, Kristoffer Carl; Doell, Kimberly C; Schwartz, Sophie

2015-10-28

Some individuals are better at learning about rewarding situations, whereas others are inclined to avoid punishments (i.e., enhanced approach or avoidance learning, respectively). In reinforcement learning, action values are increased when outcomes are better than predicted (positive prediction errors [PEs]) and decreased for worse than predicted outcomes (negative PEs). Because actions with high and low values are approached and avoided, respectively, individual differences in the neural encoding of PEs may influence the balance between approach-avoidance learning. Recent correlational approaches also indicate that biases in approach-avoidance learning involve hemispheric asymmetries in dopamine function. However, the computational and neural mechanisms underpinning such learning biases remain unknown. Here we assessed hemispheric reward asymmetry in striatal activity in 34 human participants who performed a task involving rewards and punishments. We show that the relative difference in reward response between hemispheres relates to individual biases in approach-avoidance learning. Moreover, using a computational modeling approach, we demonstrate that better encoding of positive (vs negative) PEs in dopaminergic midbrain regions is associated with better approach (vs avoidance) learning, specifically in participants with larger reward responses in the left (vs right) ventral striatum. Thus, individual dispositions or traits may be determined by neural processes acting to constrain learning about specific aspects of the world. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3514491-10$15.00/0.

Is the learning value of workplace-based assessment being realised? A qualitative study of trainer and trainee perceptions and experiences.

PubMed

Barrett, Aileen; Galvin, Rose; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; Teunissen, Pim W; O'Shaughnessy, Ann; Horgan, Mary

2017-03-01

Workplace-based assessments (WBAs) were originally intended to inform learning and development by structuring effective observation-based feedback. The success of this innovation has not yet been established due in part to the widely varied tools, implementation strategies and research approaches. Using a conceptual framework of experience, trajectories and reifications in workplace learning, we aimed to explore trainer and trainee experiences and perceptions of the learning value of WBAs. Trainers and trainees who had used at least one WBA in the previous year were invited to participate in semistructured interviews for this phenomenological study. We used a template analysis method to explore and compare the experiences of the two groups, using the emergent themes to develop an understanding of the impact of these experiences on perceptions of learning value. Nine trainers and eight trainees participated in the study. Common themes emerged among the two groups around issues of responsibility and engagement along with (mis)understandings of the purpose of the individual tools. Trainer-specific themes emerged related to the concurrent implementation of a new e-portfolio and perceptions of increased workload. Trainees associated WBA with a training structure support value but could not translate experiences into learning values. WBAs provide trainees with a justified reason to approach trainers for feedback. WBAs, however, are not being reified as the formative assessments originally intended. A culture change may be required to change the focus of WBA research and reconceptualise this set of tools and methods as a workplace learning practice . Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Linking Individual Learning Styles to Approach-Avoidance Motivational Traits and Computational Aspects of Reinforcement Learning

PubMed Central

Carl Aberg, Kristoffer; Doell, Kimberly C.; Schwartz, Sophie

2016-01-01

Learning how to gain rewards (approach learning) and avoid punishments (avoidance learning) is fundamental for everyday life. While individual differences in approach and avoidance learning styles have been related to genetics and aging, the contribution of personality factors, such as traits, remains undetermined. Moreover, little is known about the computational mechanisms mediating differences in learning styles. Here, we used a probabilistic selection task with positive and negative feedbacks, in combination with computational modelling, to show that individuals displaying better approach (vs. avoidance) learning scored higher on measures of approach (vs. avoidance) trait motivation, but, paradoxically, also displayed reduced learning speed following positive (vs. negative) outcomes. These data suggest that learning different types of information depend on associated reward values and internal motivational drives, possibly determined by personality traits. PMID:27851807

The problem with outcomes-based curricula in medical education: insights from educational theory.

PubMed

Rees, Charlotte E

2004-06-01

Educators across the world are charged with the responsibility of producing core learning outcomes for medical curricula. However, much educational theory exists which deliberates the value of learning outcomes in education. This paper aims to discuss the problems surrounding outcomes-based curricula in medical education, using insights from educational theory. The paper begins with a discussion of the traditions, values and ideologies of medical curricula. It continues by analysing the issue of control within the curriculum and argues that curriculum designers and teachers control product-orientated curricula, leading to student disempowerment. The paper debates outcomes-based curricula from an ideological perspective and argues that learning outcomes cannot specify exactly what is to be achieved as a result of learning. The paper argues that medical schools should adopt a model for co-operative control of the curriculum, thus empowering learners. The paper also suggests that medical educators should determine the value of precise learning outcomes before blindly adopting an outcomes-based model.

Two spatiotemporally distinct value systems shape reward-based learning in the human brain.

PubMed

Fouragnan, Elsa; Retzler, Chris; Mullinger, Karen; Philiastides, Marios G

2015-09-08

Avoiding repeated mistakes and learning to reinforce rewarding decisions is critical for human survival and adaptive actions. Yet, the neural underpinnings of the value systems that encode different decision-outcomes remain elusive. Here coupling single-trial electroencephalography with simultaneously acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging, we uncover the spatiotemporal dynamics of two separate but interacting value systems encoding decision-outcomes. Consistent with a role in regulating alertness and switching behaviours, an early system is activated only by negative outcomes and engages arousal-related and motor-preparatory brain structures. Consistent with a role in reward-based learning, a later system differentially suppresses or activates regions of the human reward network in response to negative and positive outcomes, respectively. Following negative outcomes, the early system interacts and downregulates the late system, through a thalamic interaction with the ventral striatum. Critically, the strength of this coupling predicts participants' switching behaviour and avoidance learning, directly implicating the thalamostriatal pathway in reward-based learning.

Overcoming Learning Aversion in Evaluating and Managing Uncertain Risks.

PubMed

Cox, Louis Anthony Tony

2015-10-01

Decision biases can distort cost-benefit evaluations of uncertain risks, leading to risk management policy decisions with predictably high retrospective regret. We argue that well-documented decision biases encourage learning aversion, or predictably suboptimal learning and premature decision making in the face of high uncertainty about the costs, risks, and benefits of proposed changes. Biases such as narrow framing, overconfidence, confirmation bias, optimism bias, ambiguity aversion, and hyperbolic discounting of the immediate costs and delayed benefits of learning, contribute to deficient individual and group learning, avoidance of information seeking, underestimation of the value of further information, and hence needlessly inaccurate risk-cost-benefit estimates and suboptimal risk management decisions. In practice, such biases can create predictable regret in selection of potential risk-reducing regulations. Low-regret learning strategies based on computational reinforcement learning models can potentially overcome some of these suboptimal decision processes by replacing aversion to uncertain probabilities with actions calculated to balance exploration (deliberate experimentation and uncertainty reduction) and exploitation (taking actions to maximize the sum of expected immediate reward, expected discounted future reward, and value of information). We discuss the proposed framework for understanding and overcoming learning aversion and for implementing low-regret learning strategies using regulation of air pollutants with uncertain health effects as an example. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Learning in professionally 'distant' contexts: opportunities and challenges.

PubMed

Mausz, Justin; Tavares, Walter

2017-08-01

The changing nature of healthcare education and delivery is such that clinicians will increasingly find themselves practicing in contexts that are physically and/or conceptually different from the settings in which they were trained, a practice that conflicts on some level with socio-cultural theories of learning that emphasize learning in context. Our objective was therefore to explore learning in 'professionally distant' contexts. Using paramedic education, where portions of training occur in hospital settings despite preparing students for out-of-hospital work, fifty-three informants (11 current students, 13 recent graduates, 16 paramedic program faculty and 13 program coordinators/directors) took part in five semi-structured focus groups. Participants reflected on the value and role of hospital placements in paramedic student development. All sessions were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. In this context six educational advantages and two challenges were identified when using professionally distant learning environments. Learning could still be associated with features such as (a) engagement through "authenticity", (b) technical skill development, (c) interpersonal skill development, (d) psychological resilience, (e) healthcare system knowledge and (f) scaffolding. Variability in learning and misalignment with learning goals were identified as potential threats. Learning environments that are professionally distant from eventual practice settings may prove meaningful by providing learners with foundational and preparatory learning experiences for competencies that may be transferrable. This suggests that where learning occurs may be less important than how the experience contributes to the learner's development and the meaning or value he/she derives from it.

Iyengar Yoga for Motherhood: Teaching Transformation in a Nonformal Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tate, Amy

2016-01-01

This chapter looks at ways in which pregnant women adopt the practices of Iyengar yoga, its value as a mode of transformative learning within a nonformal learning space, and the culture of body maintenance that drives practitioners.

Is Immersion of Any Value? Whether, and to What Extent, Game Immersion Experience during Serious Gaming Affects Science Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Meng-Tzu; Lin, Yu-Wen; She, Hsiao-Ching; Kuo, Po-Chih

2017-01-01

Many studies have shown the positive impact of serious gaming on learning outcomes, but few have explored the relationships between game immersion and science learning. Accordingly, this study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of learning by playing, as well as the dynamic process of game immersion experiences, and to further identify…

Content and Language Integrated Learning with Technologies: A Global Online Training Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cinganotto, Letizia

2016-01-01

The focus of this report is the link between CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning), and in particular, the added value technologies can bring to the learning/teaching of a foreign language and to the delivery of subject content through a foreign language. An example of a free online global…

The Effect of Teaching Methods and Learning Style on Learning Program Design in Web-Based Education Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hung, Yen-Chu

2012-01-01

The instructional value of web-based education systems has been an important area of research in information systems education. This study investigates the effect of various teaching methods on program design learning for students with specific learning styles in web-based education systems. The study takes first-year Computer Science and…

The Impacts of Team Learning on the Development of a Learning Organisation: A Cultural Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Chao-Hua; Su, Kun-Shan

2015-01-01

Generalisability of a learning organisation (LO) for cross-cultural applications is doubtful. Some cultural values may be opposed to the nature in a LO which calls for voluntary participation in learning activities by all employees. The study reveals a dynamic analysis of a LO with the sense of the difficulties organisations typically face and how…

Learner Cultures and Corporate Cultural Differences in E-Learning Behaviors in the IT Business

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swierczek, Fredric William; Bechter, Clemens; Chankiew, Jeerawan

2012-01-01

Corporate cultural values have a major influence on learning. For learning to be effective it must be adapted to the cultural context in which it takes place. E-learning neither eliminates cultural differences nor is it culture free. This study focuses on two major Indian IT companies with different Corporate Cultures sharing the same expected…

Eighth-Graders as Role Models: A Service-Learning Art Collaboration for Social and Emotional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutzel, Karen; Russell, Robert; Gross, Julia

2010-01-01

In a recent article, Russell and Hutzel, two of the authors of this article, proposed a framework for teaching social and emotional learning (SEL) in art education through collaborative service-learning. As defined in that article, SEL is a "process through which children and adults develop the skills, attitudes, and values necessary to…

Embedding Learning How to Learn in School Policy: The Challenge for Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swaffield, Sue; MacBeath, John

2006-01-01

Achieving lasting and deep-seated change in schools through the embedding of a new set of practices with associated values is a familiar goal. This paper draws upon interviews with school coordinators and head teachers participating in the Learning How to Learn Project to explore the nature of embedding and the related challenges for leadership.…

Use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) in Reflection on Learning and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ranson, Sonya L.; Boothby, John; Mazmanian, Paul E.; Alvanzo, Anika

2007-01-01

Introduction: As the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) grows, the value of reflection of learning and practice draws increased attention from policymakers and evaluators. To learn more about the use of PDAs in practice and learning, the present study describes use of (1) PDAs in patient care and (2) a PDA version of the Virginia Board of…

The Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning on Pupils with Learning Difficulties Regarding Academic Performance, Group Work and Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Filippatou, Diamanto; Kaldi, Stavroula

2010-01-01

This study focuses upon the effectiveness of project-based learning on primary school pupils with learning difficulties regarding their academic performance and attitudes towards self efficacy, task value, group work and teaching methods applied. The present study is a part of a larger one that included six Greek fourth-grade primary school…

Supporting Reflective Practices in Social Change Processes with the Dynamic Learning Agenda: An Example of Learning about the Process towards Disability Inclusive Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Veen, Saskia C.; de Wildt-Liesveld, Renée; Bunders, Joske F. G.; Regeer, Barbara J.

2014-01-01

Change processes are increasingly seen as the solution to entrenched (social) problems. However, change is difficult to realise while dealing with multiple actors, values, and approaches. (Inter)organisational learning is seen as a way to facilitate reflective practices in social change that support emergent changes, vicarious learning, and…

Organisational Learning Approaches to School Leadership and Management: Teachers' Values and Perceptions of Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedder, David; MacBeath, John

2008-01-01

In this article, we report results of a survey of 1,397 teachers in 26 primary and 17 secondary schools in England as part of the Learning How to Learn project. We consider how school self-evaluation can be understood within an organisational learning frame. Factor analysis of teachers' responses helped us identify 4 dimensions of organisational…

Reflective Practicum in Higher Education: The Influence of the Learning Environment on the Quality of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruno, Andreina; Dell'Aversana, Giuseppina

2018-01-01

Sustaining students in becoming reflective practitioners is considered as a valued outcome of higher education. The paper aims to evaluate the impact of the learning environment conditions inspired by Schön's theory of reflective practicum, by discussing a case study of a master's degree class. The learning environment was designed to sustain…

The Valued People Project: users' views on learning disability nursing.

PubMed

Gates, Bob

A well-educated and trained workforce is undoubtedly crucial to the development of quality care for people with learning disabilities. Notwithstanding this, and unsure as to the need to continue to commission educational programmes for one part of this workforce-pre-registration learning disability nursing-South Central Strategic Health Authority commissioned the Valued People Project to undertake a detailed strategic review of educational commissioning, along with a review of the specialist learning disability health workforce more generally. This project has recently been completed, and provides a unique evidence-based expert evaluation of the future strategic direction of education commissioning and leadership for workforce issues in specialist learning disability services, as well as the wider NHS workforce. This is the first in a series of articles that reports on one aspect of the project: the focus group work undertaken with parents and relatives of people with learning disabilities, and people with learning disabilities themselves, as to the need and type of health workforce needed to support them in the future. The article concludes by identifying the key messages of importance from parents and people with learning disabilities concerning the future specialist and wider NHS workforce.

Policy improvement by a model-free Dyna architecture.

PubMed

Hwang, Kao-Shing; Lo, Chia-Yue

2013-05-01

The objective of this paper is to accelerate the process of policy improvement in reinforcement learning. The proposed Dyna-style system combines two learning schemes, one of which utilizes a temporal difference method for direct learning; the other uses relative values for indirect learning in planning between two successive direct learning cycles. Instead of establishing a complicated world model, the approach introduces a simple predictor of average rewards to actor-critic architecture in the simulation (planning) mode. The relative value of a state, defined as the accumulated differences between immediate reward and average reward, is used to steer the improvement process in the right direction. The proposed learning scheme is applied to control a pendulum system for tracking a desired trajectory to demonstrate its adaptability and robustness. Through reinforcement signals from the environment, the system takes the appropriate action to drive an unknown dynamic to track desired outputs in few learning cycles. Comparisons are made between the proposed model-free method, a connectionist adaptive heuristic critic, and an advanced method of Dyna-Q learning in the experiments of labyrinth exploration. The proposed method outperforms its counterparts in terms of elapsed time and convergence rate.

Collaborative learning in pre-clinical dental hygiene education.

PubMed

Mueller-Joseph, Laura J; Nappo-Dattoma, Luisa

2013-04-01

Dental hygiene education continues to move beyond mastery of content material and skill development to learning concepts that promote critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of collaborative learning and determine the growth in intellectual development of 54 first-year dental hygiene students. The control group used traditional pre-clinical teaching and the experimental group used collaborative pedagogy for instrument introduction. All students were subjected to a post-test evaluating their ability to apply the principles of instrumentation. Intellectual development was determined using pre- and post-tests based on the Perry Scheme of Intellectual Development. Student attitudes were assessed using daily Classroom Assessment Activities and an end-of-semester departmental course evaluation. Findings indicated no significant difference between collaborative learning and traditional learning in achieving pre-clinical competence as evidenced by the students' ability to apply the principles of instrumentation. Advancement in intellectual development did not differ significantly between groups. Value added benefits of a collaborative learning environment as identified by the evaluation of student attitudes included decreased student reliance on authority, recognition of peers as legitimate sources of learning and increased self-confidence. A significant difference in student responses to daily classroom assessments was evident on the 5 days a collaborative learning environment was employed. Dental hygiene students involved in a pre-clinical collaborative learning environment are more responsible for their own learning and tend to have a more positive attitude toward the subject matter. Future studies evaluating collaborative learning in clinical dental hygiene education need to investigate the cost/benefit ratio of the value added outcomes of collaborative learning.

Student perceptions of independent versus facilitated small group learning approaches to compressed medical anatomy education.

PubMed

Whelan, Alexander; Leddy, John J; Mindra, Sean; Matthew Hughes, J D; El-Bialy, Safaa; Ramnanan, Christopher J

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare student perceptions regarding two, small group learning approaches to compressed (46.5 prosection-based laboratory hours), integrated anatomy education at the University of Ottawa medical program. In the facilitated active learning (FAL) approach, tutors engage students and are expected to enable and balance both active learning and progression through laboratory objectives. In contrast, the emphasized independent learning (EIL) approach stresses elements from the "flipped classroom" educational model: prelaboratory preparation, independent laboratory learning, and limited tutor involvement. Quantitative (Likert-style questions) and qualitative data (independent thematic analysis of open-ended commentary) from a survey of students who had completed the preclerkship curriculum identified strengths from the EIL (promoting student collaboration and communication) and FAL (successful progression through objectives) approaches. However, EIL led to student frustration related to a lack of direction and impaired completion of objectives, whereas active learning opportunities in FAL were highly variable and dependent on tutor teaching style. A "hidden curriculum" was also identified, where students (particularly EIL and clerkship students) commonly compared their compressed anatomy education or their anatomy learning environment with other approaches. Finally, while both groups highly regarded the efficiency of prosection-based learning and expressed value for cadaveric-based learning, student commentary noted that the lack of grade value dedicated to anatomy assessment limited student accountability. This study revealed critical insights into small group learning in compressed anatomy education, including the need to balance student active learning opportunities with appropriate direction and feedback (including assessment). © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Distinct prediction errors in mesostriatal circuits of the human brain mediate learning about the values of both states and actions: evidence from high-resolution fMRI

PubMed Central

Pauli, Wolfgang M.; Larsen, Tobias; Tyszka, J. Michael; O’Doherty, John P.

2017-01-01

Prediction-error signals consistent with formal models of “reinforcement learning” (RL) have repeatedly been found within dopaminergic nuclei of the midbrain and dopaminoceptive areas of the striatum. However, the precise form of the RL algorithms implemented in the human brain is not yet well determined. Here, we created a novel paradigm optimized to dissociate the subtypes of reward-prediction errors that function as the key computational signatures of two distinct classes of RL models—namely, “actor/critic” models and action-value-learning models (e.g., the Q-learning model). The state-value-prediction error (SVPE), which is independent of actions, is a hallmark of the actor/critic architecture, whereas the action-value-prediction error (AVPE) is the distinguishing feature of action-value-learning algorithms. To test for the presence of these prediction-error signals in the brain, we scanned human participants with a high-resolution functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol optimized to enable measurement of neural activity in the dopaminergic midbrain as well as the striatal areas to which it projects. In keeping with the actor/critic model, the SVPE signal was detected in the substantia nigra. The SVPE was also clearly present in both the ventral striatum and the dorsal striatum. However, alongside these purely state-value-based computations we also found evidence for AVPE signals throughout the striatum. These high-resolution fMRI findings suggest that model-free aspects of reward learning in humans can be explained algorithmically with RL in terms of an actor/critic mechanism operating in parallel with a system for more direct action-value learning. PMID:29049406

The involvement of model-based but not model-free learning signals during observational reward learning in the absence of choice.

PubMed

Dunne, Simon; D'Souza, Arun; O'Doherty, John P

2016-06-01

A major open question is whether computational strategies thought to be used during experiential learning, specifically model-based and model-free reinforcement learning, also support observational learning. Furthermore, the question of how observational learning occurs when observers must learn about the value of options from observing outcomes in the absence of choice has not been addressed. In the present study we used a multi-armed bandit task that encouraged human participants to employ both experiential and observational learning while they underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We found evidence for the presence of model-based learning signals during both observational and experiential learning in the intraparietal sulcus. However, unlike during experiential learning, model-free learning signals in the ventral striatum were not detectable during this form of observational learning. These results provide insight into the flexibility of the model-based learning system, implicating this system in learning during observation as well as from direct experience, and further suggest that the model-free reinforcement learning system may be less flexible with regard to its involvement in observational learning. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Problem- and case-based learning in science: an introduction to distinctions, values, and outcomes.

PubMed

Allchin, Douglas

2013-01-01

Case-based learning and problem-based learning have demonstrated great promise in reforming science education. Yet an instructor, in newly considering this suite of interrelated pedagogical strategies, faces a number of important instructional choices. Different features and their related values and learning outcomes are profiled here, including: the level of student autonomy; instructional focus on content, skills development, or nature-of-science understanding; the role of history, or known outcomes; scope, clarity, and authenticity of problems provided to students; extent of collaboration; complexity, in terms of number of interpretive perspectives; and, perhaps most importantly, the role of applying versus generating knowledge.

Problem- and Case-Based Learning in Science: An Introduction to Distinctions, Values, and Outcomes

PubMed Central

Allchin, Douglas

2013-01-01

Case-based learning and problem-based learning have demonstrated great promise in reforming science education. Yet an instructor, in newly considering this suite of interrelated pedagogical strategies, faces a number of important instructional choices. Different features and their related values and learning outcomes are profiled here, including: the level of student autonomy; instructional focus on content, skills development, or nature-of-science understanding; the role of history, or known outcomes; scope, clarity, and authenticity of problems provided to students; extent of collaboration; complexity, in terms of number of interpretive perspectives; and, perhaps most importantly, the role of applying versus generating knowledge. PMID:24006385

Neuromorphic learning of continuous-valued mappings in the presence of noise: Application to real-time adaptive control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Troudet, Terry; Merrill, Walter C.

1989-01-01

The ability of feed-forward neural net architectures to learn continuous-valued mappings in the presence of noise is demonstrated in relation to parameter identification and real-time adaptive control applications. Factors and parameters influencing the learning performance of such nets in the presence of noise are identified. Their effects are discussed through a computer simulation of the Back-Error-Propagation algorithm by taking the example of the cart-pole system controlled by a nonlinear control law. Adequate sampling of the state space is found to be essential for canceling the effect of the statistical fluctuations and allowing learning to take place.

Learning from Fables: Moral Values in Three Selected English Stories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrar, Mukhlash

2016-01-01

Fable is not just a fun story, but it certainly has the moral lesson(s) inside of the storyline. This research tries to portray ethical value(s) in three selected English fable stories as well as to let the readers know that they can learn something from the fables. With this study, the researcher also correlated the value(s) to real life and…

Training of Students’ Critical Thinking Skills through the implementation of a Modified Free Inquiry Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadi, S. A.; Susantini, E.; Agustini, R.

2018-01-01

This research aimed at training students’ critical thinking skills through the implementation of a modified free inquiry learning model. The subjects of this research were 21 students of Mathematics Semester II. Using One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design, the data were analyzed descriptively using N-gain indicator. The results indicate that the modified free inquiry learning model was effective to train students’ critical thinking skills. The increase in the students’ critical thinking skills viewed from the value of N-Gain has a range of values with the categories of medium and high with a score between 0,25-0,95. Overall, the change in N-Gain score of each student and each indicator of critical thinking skills is as increasing with a moderate category. The increase of N-Gain value is resulted from the fact that the students were directly involved in organizing their learning process. These criteria indicate that the modified free inquiry learning model can be used to train students’ critical thinking skills on photosynthesis and cellular respiration materials. The results of this research are expected to be nationally implemented to familiarize students with andragogy learning style which places the students as the subjects of learning.

Intelligent Diagnosis Method for Rotating Machinery Using Dictionary Learning and Singular Value Decomposition.

PubMed

Han, Te; Jiang, Dongxiang; Zhang, Xiaochen; Sun, Yankui

2017-03-27

Rotating machinery is widely used in industrial applications. With the trend towards more precise and more critical operating conditions, mechanical failures may easily occur. Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis (CMFD) technology is an effective tool to enhance the reliability and security of rotating machinery. In this paper, an intelligent fault diagnosis method based on dictionary learning and singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. First, the dictionary learning scheme is capable of generating an adaptive dictionary whose atoms reveal the underlying structure of raw signals. Essentially, dictionary learning is employed as an adaptive feature extraction method regardless of any prior knowledge. Second, the singular value sequence of learned dictionary matrix is served to extract feature vector. Generally, since the vector is of high dimensionality, a simple and practical principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to reduce dimensionality. Finally, the K -nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm is adopted for identification and classification of fault patterns automatically. Two experimental case studies are investigated to corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed method in intelligent diagnosis of rotating machinery faults. The comparison analysis validates that the dictionary learning-based matrix construction approach outperforms the mode decomposition-based methods in terms of capacity and adaptability for feature extraction.

Statistical Mechanical Analysis of Online Learning with Weight Normalization in Single Layer Perceptron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Yuki; Karakida, Ryo; Okada, Masato; Amari, Shun-ichi

2017-04-01

Weight normalization, a newly proposed optimization method for neural networks by Salimans and Kingma (2016), decomposes the weight vector of a neural network into a radial length and a direction vector, and the decomposed parameters follow their steepest descent update. They reported that learning with the weight normalization achieves better converging speed in several tasks including image recognition and reinforcement learning than learning with the conventional parameterization. However, it remains theoretically uncovered how the weight normalization improves the converging speed. In this study, we applied a statistical mechanical technique to analyze on-line learning in single layer linear and nonlinear perceptrons with weight normalization. By deriving order parameters of the learning dynamics, we confirmed quantitatively that weight normalization realizes fast converging speed by automatically tuning the effective learning rate, regardless of the nonlinearity of the neural network. This property is realized when the initial value of the radial length is near the global minimum; therefore, our theory suggests that it is important to choose the initial value of the radial length appropriately when using weight normalization.

Combining lived experience with the facilitation of enquiry-based learning: a 'trigger' for transformative learning.

PubMed

Stacey, G; Oxley, R; Aubeeluck, A

2015-09-01

What is known on the subject The values underpinning recovery-orientated practice are recited in the literature and influential in the content of mental health nurse education internationally. However, scepticism exists regarding the degree to which students' assimilate the principles of recovery into their practice due to the troublesome and challenging nature of learning at a transformational level, also known as threshold concept learning. Evaluation suggests that this combination of educational approaches positively influences students' prior understandings, beliefs and values in relation to the prospect for people with significant mental health problems to recover. The components of threshold concepts are useful as a deductive framework for the evaluation of educational initiatives which attempt to initiate transformative learning. While this forum clearly holds significant potential for student development, support and preparation is needed for both the student and the facilitator in order to enable the possibility of learning which influences attitudes, beliefs and practice. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential for combining lived experience of mental distress with the facilitation of enquiry-based learning (EBL) to act as a trigger for transformative learning in the context of promoting the understanding of mental health 'recovery' in nurse education.The values underpinning recovery-orientated practice are recited in the literature and influential in mental health nurse education internationally. However, scepticism exists regarding the degree to which students assimilate into their practice. An open-ended was distributed to a cohort of pre-registration nursing students receiving the co-facilitated EBL (n = 112). Data demonstrated how the specific attributes of this educational approach were identified by students as impacting positively on ill-informed preconceptions, understanding of complex theory and their future practice. Results were considered in light of the identification of 'recovery' as a 'threshold concept' and offered evidence to support the value of this specific educational forum in the promotion of learning which is transformative, integrative, bounded and at times troublesome. Support and significant preparation is needed for both the student and the facilitator in order to enable the possibility of transformatory learning. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Biological Basis for Generative Learning in Technology-and-Science Part I: A Theory of Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaverien, Lynette; Cosgrove, Mark

1999-01-01

Describes a theory of learning in which the brain is seen as a Darwinian machine. Argues that the generative heuristic underlying Darwinism offers considerable value for technology and science education. Contains 33 references. (Author/WRM)

Personalizing Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNair, Ellen L.

2017-01-01

The creation and identification of high-yield practices for empowering students to think, wonder, and own their learning is a high priority for school librarians who value instructional leadership. Future-ready librarians are working to create flexible learning environments in which their students design solutions, consider possibilities, and…

Overcoming Resistance to New Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, William; Kusuma-Powell, Ochan

2015-01-01

There are two types of challenges that adults face in their professional learning: technical and adaptive. Technical challenges simply require informational learning while adaptive challenges require transformational learning, which requires us to rethink our deeply held values, beliefs, assumptions, and even our professional identity. Adaptive…

Accelerating Learning By Neural Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toomarian, Nikzad; Barhen, Jacob

1992-01-01

Electronic neural networks made to learn faster by use of terminal teacher forcing. Method of supervised learning involves addition of teacher forcing functions to excitations fed as inputs to output neurons. Initially, teacher forcing functions are strong enough to force outputs to desired values; subsequently, these functions decay with time. When learning successfully completed, terminal teacher forcing vanishes, and dynamics or neural network become equivalent to those of conventional neural network. Simulated neural network with terminal teacher forcing learned to produce close approximation of circular trajectory in 400 iterations.

Expectancy-Value and Cognitive Process Outcomes in Mathematics Learning: A Structural Equation Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phan, Huy P.

2014-01-01

Existing research has yielded evidence to indicate that the expectancy-value theoretical model predicts students' learning in various achievement contexts. Achievement values and self-efficacy expectations, for example, have been found to exert positive effects on cognitive process and academic achievement outcomes. We tested a conceptual model…

Whole-Number Place-Value Understanding of Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thouless, Helen R.

2014-01-01

Place-value is an essential concept that is foundational for understanding our number system and for developing procedures for multidigit operations, but there has been limited research into the place-value understanding of students with learning disabilities. This research is a two-part mixed-methods study that links basic research to…

Early Years Teachers' Epistemic Beliefs and Beliefs about Children's Moral Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, S.; Brownlee, J.; Whiteford, C.; Cobb-Moore, C.; Johansson, E.; Ailwood, J.; Boulton-Lewis, G.

2012-01-01

There is strong political and social interest in values education both internationally and across Australia. Investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society; however, little is known about early years teachers' beliefs about moral values teaching and learning. The aim of the…

The Interpersonal Values of Parents of Normal and Learning Disabled Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miletic, Anne

1986-01-01

L. Gordon's Survey of Interpersonal Values was used to compare 136 parents of normal and learning disabled children. Fathers of LD boys scored higher on Independence and Leadership and lower on Conformity and Support. Mothers of LD boys favored authoritative attitudes; same-sexed experimental mothers valued conformity and sources of emotional and…

The Misattribution of Summers in Teacher Value-Added

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atteberry, Allison

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the extent to which spring-to-spring testing timelines bias teacher value-added as a result of conflating summer and school-year learning. Using a unique dataset that contains both fall and spring standardized test scores, the author examines the patterns in school-year versus summer learning. She estimates value-added…

What Attitudes and Values Are Incorporated Into Self as Part of Professional Identity Construction When Becoming a Surgeon?

PubMed

Cope, Alexandra; Bezemer, Jeff; Mavroveli, Stella; Kneebone, Roger

2017-04-01

To make explicit the attitudes and values of a community of surgeons, with the aim of understanding professional identity construction within a specific group of residents. Using a grounded theory method, the authors collected data from 16 postgraduate surgeons through interviews. They complemented these initial interview data with ethnographic observations and additional descriptive interviews to explore the attitudes and values learned by surgeons during residency training (2010-2013). The participants were attending surgeons and residents in a general surgical training program in a university teaching hospital in the United Kingdom. Participating surgeons described learning personal values or attitudes that they regarded as core to "becoming a surgeon" and key to professional identity construction. They described learning to be a perfectionist, to be accountable, and to self-manage and be resilient. They discussed learning to be self-critical, sometimes with the unintended consequence of seeming neurotic. They described learning effective teamwork as well as learning to take initiative and be innovative, which enabled them to demonstrate leadership and drive actions and agendas forward within the health care organization where they worked. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to systematically explore the learning of professional identity amongst postgraduate surgeons. The study contributes to the literature on professional identity construction within medical education. The authors conclude that the demise of the apprenticeship model and the rise of duty hours limitations may affect not only the acquisition of technical skills but, more important, the construction of surgeon professional identity.

The "proactive" model of learning: Integrative framework for model-free and model-based reinforcement learning utilizing the associative learning-based proactive brain concept.

PubMed

Zsuga, Judit; Biro, Klara; Papp, Csaba; Tajti, Gabor; Gesztelyi, Rudolf

2016-02-01

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a powerful concept underlying forms of associative learning governed by the use of a scalar reward signal, with learning taking place if expectations are violated. RL may be assessed using model-based and model-free approaches. Model-based reinforcement learning involves the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The model-free system involves the pedunculopontine-tegmental nucleus (PPTgN), the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the ventral striatum (VS). Based on the functional connectivity of VS, model-free and model based RL systems center on the VS that by integrating model-free signals (received as reward prediction error) and model-based reward related input computes value. Using the concept of reinforcement learning agent we propose that the VS serves as the value function component of the RL agent. Regarding the model utilized for model-based computations we turned to the proactive brain concept, which offers an ubiquitous function for the default network based on its great functional overlap with contextual associative areas. Hence, by means of the default network the brain continuously organizes its environment into context frames enabling the formulation of analogy-based association that are turned into predictions of what to expect. The OFC integrates reward-related information into context frames upon computing reward expectation by compiling stimulus-reward and context-reward information offered by the amygdala and hippocampus, respectively. Furthermore we suggest that the integration of model-based expectations regarding reward into the value signal is further supported by the efferent of the OFC that reach structures canonical for model-free learning (e.g., the PPTgN, VTA, and VS). (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

E-Learning Development Process for Operating System Course in Vocational School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuna, J. R.; Manoppo, C. T. M.; Kaparang, D. R.; Mewengkang, A.

2018-02-01

This development research aims to produce learning media in the form of E- Learning media using Edmodo which is interesting, efficient and effective on the subjects of operating system for students of class X TKJ in SMKN 3 Manado. The development model used was developed by S. Thiagarajan et al., Often known as the Four-D model, but this research only uses (define, design, and develop). Trial of the product is done twice (limited and wide). The experimental design used was the before-after experimental design. Data collection techniques used are interview techniques, questionnaires, and tests. The analytical technique used in this development research is descriptive qualitative. These include analysis of attractiveness test, efficiency and effectiveness of E-Learning media using Edmodo. The media attractiveness test was measured using a student response questionnaire. Media efficiency test was obtained through interviews of researchers with operating system subjects teachers and students of class X TKJ 1 at SMKN 3 Manado. While the media effectiveness test obtained from student learning outcomes before and after applying E-Learning media using Edomodo. Then tested by paired sample t test formula. After the media was piloted on the subject of trials (limited and broad), and the results show that E-Learning media using Edmodo is interesting, efficient and effective. It is shown on average student response score of 88.15% with very interesting interpretation. While the average value of student learning outcomes increased from 76.33 to 82.93. The results of differential test (paired sample t-test) the value of t = 11 217 ≥ ttable = 2,045 with significant value = 0.000 <α = 0.050 showing the media E -Learning using Edmodo is effective.

Exploring spiritual value in earth science concept through learning using chain till unanswered questions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johan, Henny; Suhandi, Andi; Samsudin, Ahmad; Ratna Wulan, Ana

2017-08-01

Now days, the youth's moral decline is an urgent problem in our country. Natural science especially earth and space science learning is potential to insert spirituality value in its learning activities. The aim of this study is to explore concept of planet earth to embed spirituality attitude through earth science learning. Interactive conceptual learning model using chain till unanswered questions (CTUQ) with help visualizations was implemented in this study. 23 pre-service physics teacher in Bengkulu, Indonesia participated in this study. A sixth indicator of spiritual aspect about awareness of divinity were used to identify the shifted of students' spirituality. Quasi experimental research design had been utilized to implement the learning model. The data were collected using a questionnaire in pretest and posttest. Open ended question was given at post-test only. Questionnaire was analyzed quantitative while open ended question was analyzed qualitatively. The results show that after implementation student's spiritual shifted to be more awareness of divinity. Students' response at scale 10 increased been 97.8% from 87.5% of total responses. Based on analysis of open ended question known that the shifted was influenced by spiritual value inserted in concepts, CTUQ, and media visualization used to show unobservable earth phenomenon during learning activities. It can be concluded that earth science concepts can be explored to embed spiritual aspect.

Improving patient care through work-based learning.

PubMed

Chapman, Linda

To record post-registration community nurses' perceptions of the impact of work-based learning on the quality of patient care. Ten nurses were interviewed. Each interviewee, who had successfully completed work-based learning programmes, was asked to describe their impact on the quality of patient care. The participants valued work-based learning. Four themes emerged where work-based learning contributed to improving the quality of care: increased health promotion, increased access to services, increased patient choice and reduced risk of infection. The relevance of studies and distance learning materials were perceived to be the main aspects that influenced changes in practice. The study provides insight into how work-based learning helped staff develop practice. It highlights that time for learning and mentoring are paramount for changes in practice to occur through work-based learning. Further studies are required to establish the best structure and style of distance learning materials needed to meet the needs of post-registration community nurses.

Fostering the development of effective person-centered healthcare communication skills: an interprofessional shared learning model.

PubMed

Cavanaugh, James T; Konrad, Shelley Cohen

2012-01-01

To describe the implementation of an interprofessional shared learning model designed to promote the development of person-centered healthcare communication skills. Master of social work (MSW) and doctor of physical therapy (DPT) degree students. The model used evidence-based principles of effective healthcare communication and shared learning methods; it was aligned with student learning outcomes contained in MSW and DPT curricula. Students engaged in 3 learning sessions over 2 days. Sessions involved interactive reflective learning, simulated role-modeling with peer assessment, and context-specific practice of communication skills. The perspective of patients/clients was included in each learning activity. Activities were evaluated through narrative feedback. Students valued opportunities to learn directly from each other and from healthcare consumers. Important insights and directions for future interprofessional learning experiences were gleaned from model implementation. The interprofessional shared learning model shows promise as an effective method for developing person-centered communication skills.

The Pedagogical Value of the Lecture Method: The Case of a Non-Formal Education Programme in Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Addae, David; Quan-Baffour, Kofi

2018-01-01

Adult learning rests on the foundation of learner experience and involvement in the teaching and learning process. The methods employed in facilitating adult learning have to a large extent sought to place the learner at the centre of the entire teaching and learning encounter. The lecture method is one of the many methods used to facilitate…

The Drive to Strive: An Assistant Principal Reflects on a Career Built on Constant Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osabutey-Aguedje, Tameka

2015-01-01

At different stages of her career, the author has experienced, supported, and facilitated professional learning efforts. As an assistant principal, she finds that she has learned something of value at each stage. In this article, as the author reflects on her career, she realizes that it is important to learn and grow rather than just try to…

The Value of Writing-to-Learn when Using Question Prompts to Support Web-Based Learning in Ill-Structured Domains

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papadopoulos, Pantelis M.; Demetriadis, Stavros N.; Stamelos, Ioannis G.; Tsoukalas, Ioannis A.

2011-01-01

This study investigates the effectiveness of two variants of a prompting strategy that guides students to focus on important issues when learning in an ill-structured domain. Students in three groups studied individually Software Project Management (SPM) cases for a week, using a web-based learning environment designed especially for this purpose.…

Influence of Psychosocial Classroom Environment on Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Velayutham, Sunitadevi; Aldridge, Jill M.

2013-01-01

The primary aim of this study was two-fold: 1) to identify salient psychosocial features of the classroom environment that influence students' motivation and self-regulation in science learning; and 2) to examine the effect of the motivational constructs of learning goal orientation, science task value and self-efficacy in science learning on…

An analysis of value function learning with piecewise linear control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tutsoy, Onder; Brown, Martin

2016-05-01

Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms attempt to learn optimal control actions by iteratively estimating a long-term measure of system performance, the so-called value function. For example, RL algorithms have been applied to walking robots to examine the connection between robot motion and the brain, which is known as embodied cognition. In this paper, RL algorithms are analysed using an exemplar test problem. A closed form solution for the value function is calculated and this is represented in terms of a set of basis functions and parameters, which is used to investigate parameter convergence. The value function expression is shown to have a polynomial form where the polynomial terms depend on the plant's parameters and the value function's discount factor. It is shown that the temporal difference error introduces a null space for the differenced higher order basis associated with the effects of controller switching (saturated to linear control or terminating an experiment) apart from the time of the switch. This leads to slow convergence in the relevant subspace. It is also shown that badly conditioned learning problems can occur, and this is a function of the value function discount factor and the controller switching points. Finally, a comparison is performed between the residual gradient and TD(0) learning algorithms, and it is shown that the former has a faster rate of convergence for this test problem.

Using Tests as Learning Opportunities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foos, Paul W.; Fisher, Ronald P.

1988-01-01

A study involving 105 undergraduates assessed the value of testing as a means of increasing, rather than simply monitoring, learning. Results indicate that fill-in-the-blank and items requiring student inferences were more effective, respectively, than multiple-choice tests and verbatim items in furthering student learning. (TJH)

Learning from Community: Agenda for Citizenship Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghosh, Sujay

2015-01-01

Citizenship is about individual's membership in the socio-political community. Education for citizenship conceives issues such as quality education, learning society and inclusion. Educational thinking in India has long valued community as a learning resource. With empirical experiences drawn from the programme of "Ecology and Natural…

Professional Learning Experiences and Administrator Practice: Is There a Connection?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bickmore, Dana L.

2012-01-01

This study identified the formal and informal professional learning experiences in which school administrators engaged and the relationship between these professional learning experiences and administrator practice. The researcher developed an instrument that solicited school administrators' engagement and perceived value of formal and informal…

A Reflection on Reflection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Pat

2002-01-01

Reflects on the articles in this themed issue on reflective practice. Notes that these teacher/authors have been influenced by prior learning, past experience, feelings, attitudes, values, the school constraints on the learning environment, and their own assumptions about teaching. Describes how teachers have formed a learning community to…

Overcoming Learned Helplessness in Community College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, John E.; Mink, Oscar G.

1982-01-01

Reviews research on the effects of repeated experiences of helplessness and on locus of control. Identifies conditions necessary for overcoming learned helplessness; i.e., the potential for learning to occur; consistent reinforcement; relevant, valued reinforcers; and favorable psychological situation. Recommends eight ways for teachers to…

[Relationships between motivational regulation strategies, motivational factors, and learning behaviors outside the classroom].

PubMed

Umemoto, Takatoyo; Tanaka, Kenshiro

2017-04-01

This study examined the relationships among motivational regulation strategies, motivational factors, and learning behaviors outside the classroom. There are three subtypes of motivational regulation strategies: autonomous regulation strategies, cooperative strategies, and performance-focused strategies. Motivational factors included in the investigation were self-efficacy and task value, while behavioral and emotional engagement and study time were selected as learning behaviors outside the classroom. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 322 undergraduates from two universities. Multiple regression analysis revealed the use of autonomous regulation strategies, and that task value was positively correlated with engagement and study time. Moreover, self-efficacy positively predicted study time. In contrast, the use of performance strategies negatively predicted engagement. The use of cooperative strategies did not predict learning behaviors. These results indicate that motivation, as well as the regulation of motivation, were important for learning outside the classroom. The effects of regulation of motivation and motivation on learning outside the classroom are discussed in light of the current findings.

Embedding Entrepreneurial Thinking into Fluids-related Courses: Small Changes Lead to Positive Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carnasciali, Maria-Isabel

2017-11-01

Many fluid dynamics instructors have embraced student-centered learning pedagogies (Active & Collaborative Learning (ACL) and Problem/Project Based Learning (PBL)) to promote learning and increase student engagement. A growing effort in engineering education calls to equip students with entrepreneurial skills needed to drive innovation. The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) defines entrepreneurial mindset based on three key attributes: curiosity, connections, and creating value. Elements of ACL and PBL have been used to embed Entrepreneurial Thinking concepts into two fluids-related subjects: 1) an introductory thermal-fluid systems course, and 2) thermo-fluids laboratory. Assessment of students' work reveal an improvement in student learning. Course Evaluations and Surveys indicate an increased perceived-value of course content. Training and development made possible through funding from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network and the Bucknall Excellence in Teaching Award.

High Reward Makes Items Easier to Remember, but Harder to Bind to a New Temporal Context

PubMed Central

Madan, Christopher R.; Fujiwara, Esther; Gerson, Bridgette C.; Caplan, Jeremy B.

2012-01-01

Learning through reward is central to adaptive behavior. Indeed, items are remembered better if they are experienced while participants expect a reward, and people can deliberately prioritize memory for high- over low-valued items. Do memory advantages for high-valued items only emerge after deliberate prioritization in encoding? Or, do reward-based memory enhancements also apply to unrewarded memory tests and to implicit memory? First, we tested for a high-value memory advantage in unrewarded implicit- and explicit-tests (Experiment 1). Participants first learned high or low-reward values of 36 words, followed by unrewarded lexical decision and free-recall tests. High-value words were judged faster in lexical decision, and more often recalled in free recall. These two memory advantages for high-value words were negatively correlated suggesting at least two mechanisms by which reward value can influence later item-memorability. The ease with which the values were originally acquired explained the negative correlation: people who learned values earlier showed reward effects in implicit memory whereas people who learned values later showed reward effects in explicit memory. We then asked whether a high-value advantage would persist if trained items were linked to a new context (Experiments 2a and 2b). Following the same value training as in Experiment 1, participants learned lists composed of previously trained words mixed with new words, each followed by free recall. Thus, participants had to retrieve words only from the most recent list, irrespective of their values. High- and low-value words were recalled equally, but low-value words were recalled earlier than high-value words and high-value words were more often intruded (proactive interference). Thus, the high-value advantage holds for implicit- and explicit-memory, but comes with a side effect: High-value items are more difficult to relearn in a new context. Similar to emotional arousal, reward value can both enhance and impair memory. PMID:22969711

Learning accurate and concise naïve Bayes classifiers from attribute value taxonomies and data

PubMed Central

Kang, D.-K.; Silvescu, A.; Honavar, V.

2009-01-01

In many application domains, there is a need for learning algorithms that can effectively exploit attribute value taxonomies (AVT)—hierarchical groupings of attribute values—to learn compact, comprehensible and accurate classifiers from data—including data that are partially specified. This paper describes AVT-NBL, a natural generalization of the naïve Bayes learner (NBL), for learning classifiers from AVT and data. Our experimental results show that AVT-NBL is able to generate classifiers that are substantially more compact and more accurate than those produced by NBL on a broad range of data sets with different percentages of partially specified values. We also show that AVT-NBL is more efficient in its use of training data: AVT-NBL produces classifiers that outperform those produced by NBL using substantially fewer training examples. PMID:20351793

Adaptive model training system and method

DOEpatents

Bickford, Randall L; Palnitkar, Rahul M; Lee, Vo

2014-04-15

An adaptive model training system and method for filtering asset operating data values acquired from a monitored asset for selectively choosing asset operating data values that meet at least one predefined criterion of good data quality while rejecting asset operating data values that fail to meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality; and recalibrating a previously trained or calibrated model having a learned scope of normal operation of the asset by utilizing the asset operating data values that meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality for adjusting the learned scope of normal operation of the asset for defining a recalibrated model having the adjusted learned scope of normal operation of the asset.

Adaptive model training system and method

DOEpatents

Bickford, Randall L; Palnitkar, Rahul M

2014-11-18

An adaptive model training system and method for filtering asset operating data values acquired from a monitored asset for selectively choosing asset operating data values that meet at least one predefined criterion of good data quality while rejecting asset operating data values that fail to meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality; and recalibrating a previously trained or calibrated model having a learned scope of normal operation of the asset by utilizing the asset operating data values that meet at least the one predefined criterion of good data quality for adjusting the learned scope of normal operation of the asset for defining a recalibrated model having the adjusted learned scope of normal operation of the asset.

Evaluating Liberal Learning: Doubts and Explorations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Thomas F.

1982-01-01

In current evaluation practice, the implicit philosophy of value, appraisal, and action is seen as a form of Benthamite utilitarianism. A domain of value called "educational worth" is described. Ways of detecting the presence of educational worth in liberal learning programs are identified. (MLW)

Interactive mobile learning: a pilot study of a new approach for sport science and medical undergraduate students.

PubMed

Bruce-Low, S S; Burnet, S; Arber, K; Price, D; Webster, L; Stopforth, M

2013-12-01

Mobile learning has increasingly become interwoven into the fabric of learning and teaching in the United Kingdom higher education sector, and as technological issues become addressed, this phenomena has accelerated. The aim of the study was to examine whether learning using a mobile learning device (Samsung NC10 Netbook) loaded with interactive exercises promoted learning compared with a traditional library exercise. Using a randomized trial, 55 students from an undergraduate sports science course (n = 28) and medical course (n = 27) volunteered to participate in this study. A mixed-model design ANOVA was used to examine the percent change in test score after a 3-wk intervention. Results showed that there was a significant difference between the two courses (P < 0.001), methods (P = 0.01), and trials (P < 0.001). The findings suggested that both methods augmented student knowledge and understanding in sports science and medical students. The sports science group demonstrated proportionally greater increases in test performance when exposed to the mobile interactive intervention compared with the traditional library approach. Qualitative data suggest an increased level of engagement with the Netbooks due to the stimulating interactive content. In conclusion, the Netbooks were an effective additional learning tool, significantly enhancing knowledge and understanding in students. Further research should ensure that participants are assessed for preferred learning styles, the subjective task value of expectancy value, and readiness for mobile learning to ascertain if this has an effect on the potential for using mobile learning and interactivity.

Assessment of Learning Style in a Sample of Saudi Medical Students

PubMed Central

BuAli, Waleed Hamad Al; Muhaidab, Nouria Saab Al

2013-01-01

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: NONE DECLARED Background By knowing the different students’ learning styles, teachers can plan their instruction carefully in ways that are capitalized on student preferences. The current research is done to determine specific learning styles of students. Method This cross sectional study was conducted in Al Ahsa College of Medicine from 2011 to 2012. A sample of 518 students completed a questionnaire based on Kolb inventory (LSI 2) to determine their learning style. A spreadsheet was prepared to compute all the information to get the cumulative scores of learning abilities and identify the learning styles. Results The mean values of the learning abilities; active experimentation (AE), reflective observation (RO), abstract conceptualizing (AC) or concrete experience (CE) for male students were 35, 28, 30 and 26 respectively while they were 31, 30, 31 and 29 respectively for female students. There were significant difference between male and female students regarding the mean values of AE-RO (6.7 vs 1.5) and AC-CE (4.1 vs 2.1). This indicated that the style of male students were more convergent and accommodating than those of female students. The female had more assimilating and divergent styles. Conclusion Learning style in Saudi medical students showed difference between males and females in the early college years. Most male students had convergent and accommodating learning styles, while the female dominant learning styles were divergent and assimilating. Planning and implementation of instruction need to consider these findings. PMID:24058248

Struggling to be self-directed: residents' paradoxical beliefs about learning.

PubMed

Nothnagle, Melissa; Anandarajah, Gowri; Goldman, Roberta E; Reis, Shmuel

2011-12-01

Self-directed learning (SDL) skills serve as the basis for physician lifelong learning; however, residency training does not typically emphasize SDL skills. To understand residents' needs regarding SDL curricula, the authors used qualitative methods to examine the residency learning culture and residents' views of SDL. The authors conducted individual, in-depth, semistructured interviews with all 13 final-year residents at the Brown University Family Medicine Residency Program. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Using an iterative individual and group process, four researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of the transcripts, identifying major themes and higher-order interpretations. Major themes included resident beliefs about learning, the learning culture in residency, and developmental progress in learning. Four paradoxes emerged in the analysis: (1) Residents understand and value the concept of SDL, but they engage in limited goal setting and reflection and report lack of skills to manage their own learning, particularly in the clinical setting. (2) Despite being immersed in what aims to be a learner-centered culture, many residents still value traditional, teacher-centered approaches. (3) Residents recognize patient care as the most powerful stimulus for SDL, but they often perceive patient care and learning as competing priorities. (4) Residents desire external guidance for SDL. Graduating residents lacked confidence in their SDL skills and their ability to manage their learning, especially in clinical settings. Fostering SDL skills during residency will likely require training and guidance for SDL as well as changes in the structure and culture of residency.

No Trade-Off between Learning Speed and Associative Flexibility in Bumblebees: A Reversal Learning Test with Multiple Colonies

PubMed Central

Raine, Nigel E.; Chittka, Lars

2012-01-01

Potential trade-offs between learning speed and memory-related performance could be important factors in the evolution of learning. Here, we test whether rapid learning interferes with the acquisition of new information using a reversal learning paradigm. Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) were trained to associate yellow with a floral reward. Subsequently the association between colour and reward was reversed, meaning bees then had to learn to visit blue flowers. We demonstrate that individuals that were fast to learn yellow as a predictor of reward were also quick to reverse this association. Furthermore, overnight memory retention tests suggest that faster learning individuals are also better at retaining previously learned information. There is also an effect of relatedness: colonies whose workers were fast to learn the association between yellow and reward also reversed this association rapidly. These results are inconsistent with a trade-off between learning speed and the reversal of a previously made association. On the contrary, they suggest that differences in learning performance and cognitive (behavioural) flexibility could reflect more general differences in colony learning ability. Hence, this study provides additional evidence to support the idea that rapid learning and behavioural flexibility have adaptive value. PMID:23028779

Identifying Social Learning in Animal Populations: A New ‘Option-Bias’ Method

PubMed Central

Kendal, Rachel L.; Kendal, Jeremy R.; Hoppitt, Will; Laland, Kevin N.

2009-01-01

Background Studies of natural animal populations reveal widespread evidence for the diffusion of novel behaviour patterns, and for intra- and inter-population variation in behaviour. However, claims that these are manifestations of animal ‘culture’ remain controversial because alternative explanations to social learning remain difficult to refute. This inability to identify social learning in social settings has also contributed to the failure to test evolutionary hypotheses concerning the social learning strategies that animals deploy. Methodology/Principal Findings We present a solution to this problem, in the form of a new means of identifying social learning in animal populations. The method is based on the well-established premise of social learning research, that - when ecological and genetic differences are accounted for - social learning will generate greater homogeneity in behaviour between animals than expected in its absence. Our procedure compares the observed level of homogeneity to a sampling distribution generated utilizing randomization and other procedures, allowing claims of social learning to be evaluated according to consensual standards. We illustrate the method on data from groups of monkeys provided with novel two-option extractive foraging tasks, demonstrating that social learning can indeed be distinguished from unlearned processes and asocial learning, and revealing that the monkeys only employed social learning for the more difficult tasks. The method is further validated against published datasets and through simulation, and exhibits higher statistical power than conventional inferential statistics. Conclusions/Significance The method is potentially a significant technological development, which could prove of considerable value in assessing the validity of claims for culturally transmitted behaviour in animal groups. It will also be of value in enabling investigation of the social learning strategies deployed in captive and natural animal populations. PMID:19657389

Approaches to learning for the ANZCA Final Examination and validation of the revised Study Process Questionnaire in specialist medical training.

PubMed

Weller, J M; Henning, M; Civil, N; Lavery, L; Boyd, M J; Jolly, B

2013-09-01

When evaluating assessments, the impact on learning is often overlooked. Approaches to learning can be deep, surface and strategic. To provide insights into exam quality, we investigated the learning approaches taken by trainees preparing for the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Final Exam. The revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) was modified and validated for this context and was administered to ANZCA advanced trainees. Additional questions were asked about perceived value for anaesthetic practice, study time and approaches to learning for each exam component. Overall, 236 of 690 trainees responded (34%). Responses indicated both deep and surface approaches to learning with a clear preponderance of deep approaches. The anaesthetic viva was valued most highly and the multiple choice question component the least. Despite this, respondents spent the most time studying for the multiple choice questions. The traditionally low short answer questions pass rate could not be explained by limited study time, perceived lack of value or study approaches. Written responses suggested that preparation for multiple choice questions was characterised by a surface approach, with rote memorisation of past questions. Minimal reference was made to the ANZCA syllabus as a guide for learning. These findings indicate that, although trainees found the exam generally relevant to practice and adopted predominantly deep learning approaches, there was considerable variation between the four components. These results provide data with which to review the existing ANZCA Final Exam and comparative data for future studies of the revisions to the ANZCA curriculum and exam process.

Teacher's Guide: Social Studies, 10.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Cortland, NY.

This teacher's guide, part of a sequential K-12 series, provides objectives and learning activities for social studies students in grade 10. Five major sections focus on learning, inquiry, and discussion skills, concepts, and values and moral reasoning. Learning skills stress listening, speaking, viewing, reading, writing, map, and statistical…

Go outside to Learn: The Value of Outdoor Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randall, Robin R.

2012-01-01

Outdoors opens up endless possibilities. Every place and space people experience offers an opportunity to learn. Accepted educational research first theorized by social scientist and author, Howard Gardner, shows that learners have nine multiple intelligences--visual, logical, intrapersonal, musical, body-kinesthetic, linguistic, interpersonal,…

Computers and Cooperative Learning. Tech Use Guide: Using Computer Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council for Exceptional Children, Reston, VA. Center for Special Education Technology.

This guide focuses on the use of computers and cooperative learning techniques in classrooms that include students with disabilities. The guide outlines the characteristics of cooperative learning such as goal interdependence, individual accountability, and heterogeneous groups, emphasizing the value of each group member. Several cooperative…

The Impact of Students' Exploration Strategies on Discovery Learning Using Computer-Based Simulations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalgarno, Barney; Kennedy, Gregor; Bennett, Sue

2014-01-01

Discovery-based learning designs incorporating active exploration are common within instructional software. However, researchers have highlighted empirical evidence showing that "pure" discovery learning is of limited value and strategies which reduce complexity and provide guidance to learners are important if potential learning…

[IDEAS For Equitable Computer Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schubert, Jane G.; And Others

Designed to assist educators in improving computer learning opportunities for students, this packet of materials presents practical strategies that address 12 barriers to equitable instruction: (1) lack of encouragement for females and minority students to use computers; (2) potential value of computer learning more apparent to males than females;…

Community Learning and Social Capital: "Just Having a Little Chat."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Ian; Harrison, Lesley

1998-01-01

Analysis of communicative interactions of community residents using interviews, diaries, and tape recordings revealed how learning may occur incidentally in social organizations, chance meetings, and other community interactions. Such community learning serves to transmit skills, knowledge, and values. Community groups provide pathways to skilled…

Associations of teacher credibility and teacher affinity with learning outcomes in health classrooms

PubMed Central

Anderman, Eric M.; O’Connell, Ann A.

2011-01-01

In the present study (N = 633), we examine the role of teacher credibility and teacher affinity in classrooms. We explore the relations among these two characteristics and student gains in knowledge and valuing of learning about HIV and pregnancy prevention across high school classrooms. Results marshaled support for the notion that teacher characteristics are associated with classroom-level gains in learning outcomes. Above and beyond student-level predictors, teacher credibility (aggregated to the classroom level) was positively related to increases in knowledge across classrooms, whereas aggregated teacher affinity was positively related to an increased valuing of learning about HIV and pregnancy prevention across classrooms. Future directions and implications for practice are discussed. PMID:24876800

Not that Different in Theory: Discussing the Control-Value Theory of Emotions in Online Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniels, Lia M.; Stupnisky, Robert H.

2012-01-01

This commentary investigates the extent to which the control-value theory of emotions (Pekrun, 2006) is applicable in online learning environments. Four empirical studies in this special issue of "The Internet and Higher Education" explicitly used the control-value theory as their theoretical framework and several others have components of the…

Student Motivation for Learning in Ghana: Relationships with Caregivers' Values toward Education, Attendance, and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCoy, Dana Charles; Wolf, Sharon; Godfrey, Erin B.

2014-01-01

This study examined the role that Ghanaian caregivers' values toward education play in shaping students' intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation for learning, and the ways these values and motivational orientations predict school attendance and achievement. Study participants included 88 students (M?=?11.63 years; 48% female) from two primary…

What's the Difference? A Model for Measuring the Value Added by Higher Education in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coates, Hamish

2009-01-01

Measures of student learning are playing an increasingly significant role in determining the quality and productivity of higher education. This paper evaluates approaches for estimating the value added by university education, and proposes a methodology for use by institutions and systems. The paper argues that value-added measures of learning are…

Teachers' Self-Concept and Valuing of Learning: Relations with Teaching Approaches and Beliefs about Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeung, Alexander S.; Craven, Rhonda G.; Kaur, Gurvinder

2014-01-01

One's self-concept and value perceptions can significantly influence one's behaviours and beliefs. Australian teachers from urban and rural areas of the state of New South Wales were asked to respond to survey items on two predictors (teacher self-concept, valuing of learning) and three outcomes. Confirmatory factor analysis established the five…

Minority Languages Learned Informally: The Social Construction of Language Skills through the Discourse of Ontario Employers. NALL Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldberg, Michelle; Corson, David

Many immigrants, refugees, and aboriginal Canadians learn their own languages in the normal, informal way. These minority languages learned informally are not valued as a skill that yields returns in the labor market in the same way the official languages or formally learned languages do. What counts as a skill in a society, in a given point in…

The Effects of Prestige and Identification Factors on Attitude Restructuring and Learning from Sound Films. Rapid Mass Learning. Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kishler, John P.

An experiment was conducted to study the effect that audience attitude toward, and identification with the main character of a film has on learning from the film. Two hypotheses were formulated. 1) People for whom the occupational role of the main character has a high prestige value will learn more factual information from the film and also change…

Integration of Experience API Into CDET’s E-Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

based on customers ’ actual usage on a transaction basis. Value-based Penetration Pricing • Market segments where buyers have high price...they need to accomplish the course learning objectives (see Figure 6). This method allows each student to customize their own learning experiences ... EXPERIENCE API INTO CDET’S E- LEARNING by Clayton C. MacAloney June 2016 Thesis Advisor: Man-Tak Shing Co-Advisor: Arijit Das THIS PAGE

Learning Needs of Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure in Singapore: A Descriptive Correlational Study.

PubMed

Ong, Shu-Fen; Foong, Pamela Pei-Mei; Seah, Juanna Shen-Hwei; Elangovan, Lavanya; Wang, Wenru

2017-11-28

Understanding the learning needs of patients with heart failure (HF) is important in reducing the incidence of HF-related hospital readmissions. Sociocultural differences are known to influence patient learning needs. However, most HF learning needs studies have been conducted on Western populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the learning needs of hospitalized patients with HF in Singapore. A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational design was adopted using a questionnaire survey that included the Heart Failure Learning Needs Inventory and sociodemographic and clinical datasheets. A convenience sample of 97 patients with HF was recruited from an acute hospital in Singapore. Findings revealed that education topics relating to signs and symptoms, risk factors, general HF information, and medications were perceived by participants as the most important. Contrastingly, education topics relating to diet, activity, and psychological factors were poorly valued. The only significant demographic factor that was correlated to the patients' learning needs was monthly household income, which correlated to education on HF risk factors and general HF information. This study supports the necessity of carefully prioritizing patient education topics in line with patient learning needs. Furthermore, education should be culturally sensitive and take into account the unique values, needs, and situations of patients.

Training future health providers to care for the underserved: a pilot interprofessional experience.

PubMed

Hasnain, Memoona; Koronkowski, Michael J; Kondratowicz, Diane M; Goliak, Kristen L

2012-01-01

Interprofessional teamwork is essential for effective delivery of health care to all patients, particularly the vulnerable and underserved. This brief communication describes a pilot interprofessional learning experience designed to introduce medicine and pharmacy students to critical health issues affecting at-risk, vulnerable patients and helping students learn the value of functioning effectively in interprofessional teams. With reflective practice as an overarching principle, readings, writing assignments, a community-based immersion experience, discussion seminars, and presentations were organized to cultivate students' insights into key issues impacting the health and well-being of vulnerable patients. A written program evaluation form was used to gather students' feedback about this learning experience. Participating students evaluated this learning experience positively. Both quantitative and qualitative input indicated the usefulness of this learning experience in stimulating learners' thinking and helping them learn to work collaboratively with peers from another discipline to understand and address health issues for at-risk, vulnerable patients within their community. This pilot educational activity helped medicine and pharmacy students learn the value of functioning effectively in interprofessional teams. Given the importance of interprofessional teamwork and the increasing need to respond to the health needs of underserved populations, integrating interprofessional learning experiences in health professions training is highly relevant, feasible, and critically needed.

Facilitating interpersonal interaction and learning online: linking theory and practice.

PubMed

Sargeant, Joan; Curran, Vernon; Allen, Michael; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra; Ho, Kendall

2006-01-01

An earlier study of physicians' perceptions of interactive online learning showed that these were shaped both by program design and quality and the quality and quantity of interpersonal interaction. We explore instructor roles in enhancing online learning through interpersonal interaction and the learning theories that inform these. This was a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews. Using purposive sampling, 50 physicians were recruited based on their experience with interactive online CME and face-to-face CME. Qualitative thematic and interpretive analysis was used. Two facilitation roles appeared key: creating a comfortable learning environment and enhancing the educational value of electronic discussions. Comfort developed gradually, and specific interventions like facilitating introductions and sharing experiences in a friendly, informative manner were helpful. As in facilitating effective small-group learning, instructors' thoughtful use of techniques that facilitated constructive interaction based on learner's needs and practice demands contributed to the educational value of interpersonal interactions. Facilitators require enhanced skills to engage learners in meaningful interaction and to overcome the transactional distance of online learning. The use of learning theories, including behavioral, cognitive, social, humanistic, and constructivist, can strengthen the educational design and facilitation of online programs. Preparation for online facilitation should include instruction in the roles and techniques required and the theories that inform them.

Are Partnership Boards Really Valuing People?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riddington, Carol; Mansell, Jim; Beadle-Brown, Julie

2008-01-01

Observations were conducted in three county councils to find out whether the government's ambition to develop Learning Disability Partnership Boards (as expressed in the White Paper "Valuing people") are being realized. All the partnerships practiced various inclusive activities in order to involve people with learning disabilities in…

Value and Pricing of MOOCs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Rose M.; Passmore, David L.

2016-01-01

Reviewed in this article is the potential for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to transform higher education delivery, accessibility, and costs. Next, five major value propositions for MOOCs are considered (headhunting, certification, face-to-face learning, personalized learning, integration with services external to the MOOC, marketing). Then,…

Intercultural Internet-Based Learning: Know Your Audience and What They Value

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bentley, Joanne P. H.; Tinney, Mari Vawn; Chia, Bing Howe

2004-01-01

As the internet-based learning (IBL) market becomes increasingly global, understanding differing educational values and cultural expectations could provide an important competitive edge for providers (universities, publishing houses, and corporate training entities). How each of person determines "good" or "quality" instruction…

Through the looking glass: how reflective learning influences the development of young faculty members.

PubMed

Higgins, Stacy; Bernstein, Lisa; Manning, Kimberly; Schneider, Jason; Kho, Anna; Brownfield, Erica; Branch, William T

2011-01-01

Faculty development is needed that will influence clinical teachers to better enable them to transmit humanistic values to their learners and colleagues. We sought to understand the processes whereby reflective learning influenced professional growth in a convenience sample of young faculty members. We analyzed appreciative inquiry narratives written over 4 years using the constant comparative method to identify major underlying themes and develop hypotheses concerning how reflective learning influenced participants in the faculty development program. Six of the participants and the facilitator were participant observers in the qualitative analysis. Group support, validation, and cohesion led to adoption of common values that informed the professional development of the participants over 4 years of the study. Common values influenced the group members as they progressed in their careers. Faculty development programs that focus on humanism and reflective learning can facilitate the growth of young faculty members by influencing their values and attitudes at crucial phases of their careers.

What is epistemic value in free energy models of learning and acting? A bounded rationality perspective.

PubMed

Ortega, Pedro A; Braun, Daniel A

2015-01-01

Free energy models of learning and acting do not only care about utility or extrinsic value, but also about intrinsic value, that is, the information value stemming from probability distributions that represent beliefs or strategies. While these intrinsic values can be interpreted as epistemic values or exploration bonuses under certain conditions, the framework of bounded rationality offers a complementary interpretation in terms of information-processing costs that we discuss here.

Model-Based and Model-Free Pavlovian Reward Learning: Revaluation, Revision and Revelation

PubMed Central

Dayan, Peter; Berridge, Kent C.

2014-01-01

Evidence supports at least two methods for learning about reward and punishment and making predictions for guiding actions. One method, called model-free, progressively acquires cached estimates of the long-run values of circumstances and actions from retrospective experience. The other method, called model-based, uses representations of the environment, expectations and prospective calculations to make cognitive predictions of future value. Extensive attention has been paid to both methods in computational analyses of instrumental learning. By contrast, although a full computational analysis has been lacking, Pavlovian learning and prediction has typically been presumed to be solely model-free. Here, we revise that presumption and review compelling evidence from Pavlovian revaluation experiments showing that Pavlovian predictions can involve their own form of model-based evaluation. In model-based Pavlovian evaluation, prevailing states of the body and brain influence value computations, and thereby produce powerful incentive motivations that can sometimes be quite new. We consider the consequences of this revised Pavlovian view for the computational landscape of prediction, response and choice. We also revisit differences between Pavlovian and instrumental learning in the control of incentive motivation. PMID:24647659

Social and monetary reward learning engage overlapping neural substrates.

PubMed

Lin, Alice; Adolphs, Ralph; Rangel, Antonio

2012-03-01

Learning to make choices that yield rewarding outcomes requires the computation of three distinct signals: stimulus values that are used to guide choices at the time of decision making, experienced utility signals that are used to evaluate the outcomes of those decisions and prediction errors that are used to update the values assigned to stimuli during reward learning. Here we investigated whether monetary and social rewards involve overlapping neural substrates during these computations. Subjects engaged in two probabilistic reward learning tasks that were identical except that rewards were either social (pictures of smiling or angry people) or monetary (gaining or losing money). We found substantial overlap between the two types of rewards for all components of the learning process: a common area of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) correlated with stimulus value at the time of choice and another common area of vmPFC correlated with reward magnitude and common areas in the striatum correlated with prediction errors. Taken together, the findings support the hypothesis that shared anatomical substrates are involved in the computation of both monetary and social rewards. © The Author (2011). Published by Oxford University Press.

Model-based and model-free Pavlovian reward learning: revaluation, revision, and revelation.

PubMed

Dayan, Peter; Berridge, Kent C

2014-06-01

Evidence supports at least two methods for learning about reward and punishment and making predictions for guiding actions. One method, called model-free, progressively acquires cached estimates of the long-run values of circumstances and actions from retrospective experience. The other method, called model-based, uses representations of the environment, expectations, and prospective calculations to make cognitive predictions of future value. Extensive attention has been paid to both methods in computational analyses of instrumental learning. By contrast, although a full computational analysis has been lacking, Pavlovian learning and prediction has typically been presumed to be solely model-free. Here, we revise that presumption and review compelling evidence from Pavlovian revaluation experiments showing that Pavlovian predictions can involve their own form of model-based evaluation. In model-based Pavlovian evaluation, prevailing states of the body and brain influence value computations, and thereby produce powerful incentive motivations that can sometimes be quite new. We consider the consequences of this revised Pavlovian view for the computational landscape of prediction, response, and choice. We also revisit differences between Pavlovian and instrumental learning in the control of incentive motivation.

Involving users with learning difficulties in health improvement: lessons from inclusive learning disability research.

PubMed

Walmsley, Jan

2004-03-01

In this paper the author considers the lessons to be drawn from what is termed "inclusive" learning disability research for user involvement around health improvement. Inclusive learning disability research refers to research where people with learning difficulties (intellectual disability) are involved as active participants, as opposed to passive subjects. There is by now a considerable body of such research, developed over the past 25 years. From the review, the author draws attention to areas which can inform practice in involvement of users in a way that adds value.

Learning fuzzy information in a hybrid connectionist, symbolic model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Romaniuk, Steve G.; Hall, Lawrence O.

1993-01-01

An instance-based learning system is presented. SC-net is a fuzzy hybrid connectionist, symbolic learning system. It remembers some examples and makes groups of examples into exemplars. All real-valued attributes are represented as fuzzy sets. The network representation and learning method is described. To illustrate this approach to learning in fuzzy domains, an example of segmenting magnetic resonance images of the brain is discussed. Clearly, the boundaries between human tissues are ill-defined or fuzzy. Example fuzzy rules for recognition are generated. Segmentations are presented that provide results that radiologists find useful.

Effective e-learning in surgical education: the core values underpinning effective e-learning environments and how these may be enhanced for future surgical education.

PubMed

Bamford, R; Coulston, J

2016-01-01

e-learning is a valuable tool that has a number of advantages for Surgical Oncology training and education. The rapidly evolving nature of, and limited clinical exposure to oncological practice creates challenges for surgical trainees to stay up to date and engaged. Online learning can be accessed anywhere at any time and allows trainees to develop, apply and be assessed on their learning. To be effective, it must be educationally sound and embrace technology to enhance learners' experience.

New perspectives on health professions students' e-learning: Looking through the lens of the "visitor and resident" model.

PubMed

Druce, Maralyn; Howden, Stella

2017-07-01

The growth of e-learning in health professional education reflects expansion of personal use of online resources. Understanding the user perspective in a fast-changing digital world is essential to maintain the currency of our approach. Mixed methods were used to investigate a cohort of postgraduate, e-learning healthcare students' perspectives on their use of online resources for personal and/or professional roles, via questionnaire and student-constructed diagrams, capturing use of online resources (underpinned by White's model of "resident" and "visitor" online engagement). Semistructured interviews explored the use and value of resources afforded via the online environment. The 45 study participants described a range of prior experiences with online resources in personal and professional capacities, but overall students tended to use online "tools" ("visitor" mode) rather than highly collaborative networks ("resident" mode). In relation to e-learning, the dominant interview theme was valuing knowledge transfer from the tutor and using "visitor" behaviors to maximize knowledge acquisition. Peer-learning opportunities were less valued and barriers to collaborative "resident" modes were identified. These findings help to inform e-learning course design to promote engagement. The results enable recommendations for use of the "Visitor and Residents" model and for planning activities that learners might utilize effectively.

How glitter relates to gold: similarity-dependent reward prediction errors in the human striatum.

PubMed

Kahnt, Thorsten; Park, Soyoung Q; Burke, Christopher J; Tobler, Philippe N

2012-11-14

Optimal choices benefit from previous learning. However, it is not clear how previously learned stimuli influence behavior to novel but similar stimuli. One possibility is to generalize based on the similarity between learned and current stimuli. Here, we use neuroscientific methods and a novel computational model to inform the question of how stimulus generalization is implemented in the human brain. Behavioral responses during an intradimensional discrimination task showed similarity-dependent generalization. Moreover, a peak shift occurred, i.e., the peak of the behavioral generalization gradient was displaced from the rewarded conditioned stimulus in the direction away from the unrewarded conditioned stimulus. To account for the behavioral responses, we designed a similarity-based reinforcement learning model wherein prediction errors generalize across similar stimuli and update their value. We show that this model predicts a similarity-dependent neural generalization gradient in the striatum as well as changes in responding during extinction. Moreover, across subjects, the width of generalization was negatively correlated with functional connectivity between the striatum and the hippocampus. This result suggests that hippocampus-striatal connections contribute to stimulus-specific value updating by controlling the width of generalization. In summary, our results shed light onto the neurobiology of a fundamental, similarity-dependent learning principle that allows learning the value of stimuli that have never been encountered.

Intelligent Diagnosis Method for Rotating Machinery Using Dictionary Learning and Singular Value Decomposition

PubMed Central

Han, Te; Jiang, Dongxiang; Zhang, Xiaochen; Sun, Yankui

2017-01-01

Rotating machinery is widely used in industrial applications. With the trend towards more precise and more critical operating conditions, mechanical failures may easily occur. Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis (CMFD) technology is an effective tool to enhance the reliability and security of rotating machinery. In this paper, an intelligent fault diagnosis method based on dictionary learning and singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. First, the dictionary learning scheme is capable of generating an adaptive dictionary whose atoms reveal the underlying structure of raw signals. Essentially, dictionary learning is employed as an adaptive feature extraction method regardless of any prior knowledge. Second, the singular value sequence of learned dictionary matrix is served to extract feature vector. Generally, since the vector is of high dimensionality, a simple and practical principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to reduce dimensionality. Finally, the K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm is adopted for identification and classification of fault patterns automatically. Two experimental case studies are investigated to corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed method in intelligent diagnosis of rotating machinery faults. The comparison analysis validates that the dictionary learning-based matrix construction approach outperforms the mode decomposition-based methods in terms of capacity and adaptability for feature extraction. PMID:28346385

Mortality risk prediction in burn injury: Comparison of logistic regression with machine learning approaches.

PubMed

Stylianou, Neophytos; Akbarov, Artur; Kontopantelis, Evangelos; Buchan, Iain; Dunn, Ken W

2015-08-01

Predicting mortality from burn injury has traditionally employed logistic regression models. Alternative machine learning methods have been introduced in some areas of clinical prediction as the necessary software and computational facilities have become accessible. Here we compare logistic regression and machine learning predictions of mortality from burn. An established logistic mortality model was compared to machine learning methods (artificial neural network, support vector machine, random forests and naïve Bayes) using a population-based (England & Wales) case-cohort registry. Predictive evaluation used: area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; sensitivity; specificity; positive predictive value and Youden's index. All methods had comparable discriminatory abilities, similar sensitivities, specificities and positive predictive values. Although some machine learning methods performed marginally better than logistic regression the differences were seldom statistically significant and clinically insubstantial. Random forests were marginally better for high positive predictive value and reasonable sensitivity. Neural networks yielded slightly better prediction overall. Logistic regression gives an optimal mix of performance and interpretability. The established logistic regression model of burn mortality performs well against more complex alternatives. Clinical prediction with a small set of strong, stable, independent predictors is unlikely to gain much from machine learning outside specialist research contexts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Explorations in Statistics: the Bootstrap

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curran-Everett, Douglas

2009-01-01

Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This fourth installment of Explorations in Statistics explores the bootstrap. The bootstrap gives us an empirical approach to estimate the theoretical variability among possible values of a sample statistic such as the…

Explorations in Statistics: Confidence Intervals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curran-Everett, Douglas

2009-01-01

Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This third installment of "Explorations in Statistics" investigates confidence intervals. A confidence interval is a range that we expect, with some level of confidence, to include the true value of a population parameter…

DreamBox Learning. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2013

2013-01-01

"DreamBox Learning" is a supplemental online mathematics program that provides adaptive instruction for students in grades K-5 and focuses on number and operations, place value, and number sense. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identified one study of "DreamBox Learning" that both falls within the scope of the Elementary…

Dream Box Learning. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2013

2013-01-01

"DreamBox Learning" is a supplemental online mathematics program that provides adaptive instruction for students in grades K-5 and focuses on number and operations, place value, and number sense. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) identified one study of "DreamBox Learning" that both falls within the scope of the Elementary…

A Values Approach to Business Education in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radbourne, Jeniifer

2006-01-01

This paper investigates the learning behaviour, learning environment and learning outcomes of Hong Kong Chinese students enrolled on an Australian university's Bachelor of Business degree course taught by visiting Australian lecturers in Hong Kong. The Chinese students are task-focused and passive learners. They do not demonstrate creative…

Sustaining Excellence in Experienced Principals? Critique of a Professional Learning Community Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piggot-Irvine, Eileen

2006-01-01

Independent reviewer evaluations of the Ministry of Education (MoE) funded Principal Professional Learning Community (PPLC) programme for experienced principals in New Zealand (NZ) suggest a highly valued and strongly supportive programme. My own critique of the programme, against criteria for "strong" professional learning communities…

Breaking down the LMS Walls

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hotrum, Michael

2005-01-01

The traditional packaging of electronic learning--the learning management system (LMS)--is progressively being regarded as a hindrance to effective online learning. Its design, functionality, complexity, price, and value are being questioned. A new generation of Web-based tools and approaches is evolving that are better suited to meet the need for…

Valuing the Place of Young People with Learning Disabilities in the Arts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goddard, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Methodologies of embodied learning, radical pedagogies and applied drama offer a lens through which to investigate the empowerment of young people with learning disabilities in Northern Ireland, thus counteracting more traditional, disempowering methods. According to Helen Nicholson, the "participatory, dialogic and dialectic qualities as…

Formative Assessment: Assessment Is for Self-Regulated Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Ian

2012-01-01

The article draws from 199 sources on assessment, learning, and motivation to present a detailed decomposition of the values, theories, and goals of formative assessment. This article will discuss the extent to which formative feedback actualizes and reinforces self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies among students. Theoreticians agree that SRL…

Identifying Learning Preferences in Vocational Education and Training Classroom Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Peter J.

2006-01-01

This research was designed to assess whether teachers and trainers of vocational learners noted and valued differences in individual learning preferences and, if so, how those differences were observed in natural classroom, workshop or other formal learning settings. Data were collected from six vocational education and training (VET) learning…

Evaluation of the Implementation of Professional Learning Communities and the Impact on Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bostic, Cristi M.

2013-01-01

This dissertation evaluated the implementation of professional learning communities in a large suburban school district in North Carolina. The presence of shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application, shared personal practice, supportive conditions for relationships, and supportive conditions for…

In Practice: Harvard Houses--The Value of the Tutorial System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Suzy; Johnson, Laura; Boes, Lisa

2012-01-01

In recent years, many institutions have developed residential living-learning communities that aim to involve faculty in promoting peer-to-peer learning and furthering students' scholarly interests in a residential setting. A special type of living-learning community--the residential college--has been embraced by many: Harvard University; the…

The Role of Posters in Teacher Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osa, Justina O.; Musser, Linda R.

2004-01-01

Posters abound in education libraries as decorative objects yet few libraries realize the educational potential of the poster. Posters are colorful, attractive learning media which can enhance the learning environment. This paper describes the value of posters in the educational setting, offers suggestions on selecting posters for learning, and…

A Review of Research on Mobile Learning in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baran, Evrim

2014-01-01

Mobile devices have become attractive learning devices for education. While the majority of the existing research has focused primarily on the value of mobile learning for students, researchers have recently started exploring its potentials within teacher development. The present qualitative synthesis of quantitative and qualitative research aimed…

Assessing the Value of Action Learning for Social Enterprises and Charities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Sue; Smith, Laurie

2017-01-01

In this paper we evaluate action learning for leaders of social enterprises and charities. Based on ethnographic research including participant observation, facilitator reflective diary notes and in-depth, qualitative interviews with participants of two action learning sets undertaken over eight months, analysed using Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat…

Invitational Learning for Counseling and Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purkey, William W.; And Others

This monograph describes the theory and practice of the invitational learning model as it applies to school counseling and development. Invitational learning is a paradigm for personal and professional functioning, and for organizational restructuring, based on four values regarding the nature of people and their potential and the nature of…

Investigating the Value of Personalization in a Mobile Learning System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalloo, Vani; Mohan, Permanand

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the potential benefits of personalization in a mobile learning environment for high school students learning mathematics. Personalization was expected to benefit the students in two main ways. These are improving their performance in mathematics and making navigation of the application easier. Personalization was…

Characterising Work-Based Learning as a Triadic Learning Endeavour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalrymple, Roger; Kemp, Chris; Smith, Patrick

2014-01-01

With work-based learning (WBL) forming an increasingly prevalent dimension of modern higher education practice, conceptual models of the pedagogies underpinning WBL are increasingly emerging. There is broadening recognition of the need to capture and represent the values and presuppositions underlying WBL in order to support facilitators and…

Women and Consciousness in the "Learning Organization": Emancipation or Exploitation?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mojab, Shahrzad; Gorman, Rachel

2003-01-01

Marxist-feminist analysis of the learning organization concept demonstrates that , instead of being emancipatory, it can function as a way to extract surplus value from labor and to maintain social control. Pressures on feminist-oriented nonprofit organizations to adopt the learning organization concept could erode consciousness raising and…

Culturally Sensitive Best Practices for Sex Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Santiago, Verenice; Hund, Alycia M.

2012-01-01

Learning about sexuality is a lifelong process that begins in childhood and continues through the lifespan. Through family and peer interactions and media sources, youth learn about sexuality and relationships, and develop their own values. The learning process and trajectory, however, may differ among youth from diverse cultures. In fact,…

Knowing English Grammar--An Important Aid in Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cleary, Colin

2004-01-01

This article discusses a small-scale study that explored students', teachers', and university lecturers' beliefs about the value of studying English grammar in foreign and second language learning. A major debate in second language acquisition literature has been concerned with experiential (implicit) learning as opposed to analytical (explicit)…

Understanding How the Arts Can Enhance Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magsamen, Susan H.; Battro, Antonio M.

2011-01-01

Understanding how the arts can enhance learning has long been discussed and debated among educators, students, parents, artists, art historians, and philosophers. Many anecdotal examples reference the value and benefits of the arts in a range of fields and learning domains. Emerging methodologies in the brain sciences have added new perspectives…

Student Perceptions of Active Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lumpkin, Angela; Achen, Rebecca M.; Dodd, Regan K.

2015-01-01

A paradigm shift from lecture-based courses to interactive classes punctuated with engaging, student-centered learning activities has begun to characterize the work of some teachers in higher education. Convinced through the literature of the values of using active learning strategies, we assessed through an action research project in five college…

A Sense of Achievement: Outcomes of Adult Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Pablo; Howard, Ursula; Reisenberger, Anna

1997-01-01

This report, which is an outgrowth of the Further Education Development Agency's (FEDA's) Learning Outcomes study, explores ways of identifying, recording, and valuing adult learners' goals and achievements in learning opportunities that are not designed to lead to qualifications. The following topics are discussed in the report's six chapters:…

Robert's Rules for Optimal Learning: Model Development, Field Testing, Implications!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGinty, Robert L.

The value of accelerated learning techniques developed by the national organization for Suggestive Accelerated Learning Techniques (SALT) was tested in a study using Administrative Policy students taking the capstone course in the Eastern Washington University School of Business. Educators have linked the brain and how it functions to various…

Intentional Vocabulary Learning Using Digital Flashcards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hung, Hsiu-Ting

2015-01-01

As an attempt to follow through on the claims made by proponents of intentional vocabulary learning, the present study set out to examine whether and how digital flashcards can be incorporated into a university course to promote the vocabulary learning of English language learners. The overall research findings underscore the value of learning…

Enhancing Teacher Education Students' Generic Skills through Problem-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray-Harvey, Rosalind; Curtis, David D.; Cattley, Georgina; Slee, Phillip T.

2005-01-01

Claims made for the value of problem-based learning (PBL) as an effective method for professional education programmes draw on constructivist principles of teaching and learning to achieve essential content knowledge, higher order thinking skills, and a team approach to problem-solving through the interdisciplinary, student-directed study of…

Talking about Service-Learning: Product or Process? Reciprocity or Solidarity?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clifford, Joan

2017-01-01

Through an exploration of values of the neoliberal university and critical service-learning, this article explores how associating service-learning with products and relationships based on reciprocity negatively impacts its connection to social justice. By emphasizing the constructs of process and solidarity, instead of products and reciprocity,…

Why Choose Online Learning: Relationship of Existing Factors and Chronobiology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luo, Yi; Pan, Rui; Choi, Jea H.; Mellish, Linda; Strobel, Johannes

2011-01-01

Existing research on choice of online learning utilized factors such as perceived level of control, independence, and satisfaction, yet the relationship among these factors is under-researched. Due to the value of "learning anytime," biological factors underlying "choice of time" might provide additional insights. This article…

Face-to-Face Collaborative Learning Supported by Mobile Phones

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Echeverria, Alejandro; Nussbaum, Miguel; Calderon, Juan Felipe; Bravo, Claudio; Infante, Cristian; Vasquez, Andrea

2011-01-01

The use of handheld computers in educational contexts has increased considerably in recent years and their value as a teaching tool has been confirmed by many positive experiences, particular within collaborative learning systems (Mobile Computer Supported Collaborative Learning [MCSCL]). The cost of the devices has hindered widespread use in…

Assessment for Learning: A Catalyst for Student Self-Regulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawe, Eleanor; Dixon, Helen

2017-01-01

The development of students as lifelong, self-regulating learners is a valued outcome of higher education. To this end, the current project investigated how students in an undergraduate course experienced and responded to a teaching-learning environment where they were expected to take responsibility for their learning. The pedagogic environment…

Diversity Within Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, James A.; Cookson, Peter; Gay, Geneva; Hawley, Willis D.; Irvine, Jacqueline Jordan; Nieto, Sonia; Schofield, Janet Ward; Stephen, Walter G.

2001-01-01

Discusses 12 essential principles to help schools teach democratic values in a multicultural society. Derived from findings of the Multicultural Education Consensus Panel to review and synthesize research on diversity, principles are organized into five categories: Teacher learning; student learning; intergroup relations; school governance,…

Timepiece: Extending and Enhancing Learning Time.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Lorin W., Ed.; Walberg, Herbert J., Ed.

This publication offers suggestions for making more productive use of time, a scarce and valued educational resource. The chapter authors, authorities on the use of educational time, write about how to extend and enhance learning time within and outside schools. In "Productive Use of Time," Herbert Walberg describes how learning time can be…

The Educational and Economic Value of Online Learning for Museums

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crow, William B.; Din, Herminia

2010-01-01

Given the increasingly interactive, dynamic, and cost-effective online learning platforms that are available, as well as studies that demonstrate the efficacy of online and blended learning, museums should consider how these new formats may complement their existing educational programs. Besides offering new possibilities for education, online…

Diagnostic and Remedial Learning Strategy Based on Conceptual Graphs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jong, BinShyan; Lin, TsongWuu; Wu, YuLung; Chan, Teyi

2004-01-01

Numerous scholars have applied conceptual graphs for explanatory purposes. This study devised the Remedial-Instruction Decisive path (RID path) algorithm for diagnosing individual student learning situation. This study focuses on conceptual graphs. According to the concepts learned by students and the weight values of relations among these…

Conception of Learning and Motivation of Spanish Psychology Undergraduates in Different Academic Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rabanaque, Samuel; Martinez-Fernandez, J. Reinaldo

2009-01-01

Three conceptions of learning (rote, interpretative and constructive), and two aspects of motivation (level and value of motivation) were identified in 258 Spanish psychology undergraduates classified in three different academic levels (initial, intermediate and final course). Results about conceptions of learning showed final-course students are…

Affective Domain and Student Learning in the Geosciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McConnell, David A.; van Der Hoeven Kraft, Katrien J.

2011-01-01

Decades of science education research have provided us with a variety of tools to deal with the cognitive processes behind our students' learning. However, we have placed much less attention on student "affect," the feelings, attitudes, emotions, and values that can encourage or discourage the adoption of effective learning behaviors.…

Supporting the "Collaborative" Part of Wiki-Mediated Collaborative Learning Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larusson, Johann Ari

2010-01-01

Prior research has highlighted the educational benefit of enabling students to participate in collaborative learning activities. Developing technology that extends the physical boundaries of the classroom and enables students to engage in meaningful collaborative learning activities outside class time can be of significant value. For any…

Diverse strategy-learning styles promote cooperation in evolutionary spatial prisoner's dilemma game

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Run-Ran; Jia, Chun-Xiao; Rong, Zhihai

2015-11-01

Observational learning and practice learning are two important learning styles and play important roles in our information acquisition. In this paper, we study a spacial evolutionary prisoner's dilemma game, where players can choose the observational learning rule or the practice learning rule when updating their strategies. In the proposed model, we use a parameter p controlling the preference of players choosing the observational learning rule, and found that there exists an optimal value of p leading to the highest cooperation level, which indicates that the cooperation can be promoted by these two learning rules collaboratively and one single learning rule is not favor the promotion of cooperation. By analysing the dynamical behavior of the system, we find that the observational learning rule can make the players residing on cooperative clusters more easily realize the bad sequence of mutual defection. However, a too high observational learning probability suppresses the players to form compact cooperative clusters. Our results highlight the importance of a strategy-updating rule, more importantly, the observational learning rule in the evolutionary cooperation.

Nurturing Relationships And Honouring Responsibilities: A Pacific Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thaman, Konai Helu

2008-07-01

This essay contributes a Pacific Islands perspective to the global discussion of "Living Together: Education and Intercultural Dialogue". Through poetry and prose, this essay traces the impact of the Tongan concept of vaa (values/valued relationships) on learning and language. By invoking UNESCO's mandate to build peace through education, the concept of vaa is shown to be a key to promoting peace. The challenges and prospects of nurturing peace through international cooperation in education are discussed with examples drawn from the Pacific. Specifically, Tonga's social and linguistic histories provide avenues for interpreting Pacific educational ideals in relation to Western concepts of knowing and learning. Reflection on cultural literacy in the Pacific context raises deeper questions about the role of educators when working interculturally. Lessons to be learned include the oft-quoted maxim that educators must first learn about their own culture before learning about others', and before imposing their own pedagogies and curricula on others' education systems.

Deal or No Deal: using games to improve student learning, retention and decision-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chow, Alan F.; Woodford, Kelly C.; Maes, Jeanne

2011-03-01

Student understanding and retention can be enhanced and improved by providing alternative learning activities and environments. Education theory recognizes the value of incorporating alternative activities (games, exercises and simulations) to stimulate student interest in the educational environment, enhance transfer of knowledge and improve learned retention with meaningful repetition. In this case study, we investigate using an online version of the television game show, 'Deal or No Deal', to enhance student understanding and retention by playing the game to learn expected value in an introductory statistics course, and to foster development of critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in the modern business environment. Enhancing the thinking process of problem solving using repetitive games should also improve a student's ability to follow non-mathematical problem-solving processes, which should improve the overall ability to process information and make logical decisions. Learning and retention are measured to evaluate the success of the students' performance.

E-learning: controlling costs and increasing value.

PubMed

Walsh, Kieran

2015-04-01

E-learning now accounts for a substantial proportion of medical education provision. This progress has required significant investment and this investment has in turn come under increasing scrutiny so that the costs of e-learning may be controlled and its returns maximised. There are multiple methods by which the costs of e-learning can be controlled and its returns maximised. This short paper reviews some of those methods that are likely to be most effective and that are likely to save costs without compromising quality. Methods might include accessing free or low-cost resources from elsewhere; create short learning resources that will work on multiple devices; using open source platforms to host content; using in-house faculty to create content; sharing resources between institutions; and promoting resources to ensure high usage. Whatever methods are used to control costs or increase value, it is most important to evaluate the impact of these methods.

Cost-Sensitive Local Binary Feature Learning for Facial Age Estimation.

PubMed

Lu, Jiwen; Liong, Venice Erin; Zhou, Jie

2015-12-01

In this paper, we propose a cost-sensitive local binary feature learning (CS-LBFL) method for facial age estimation. Unlike the conventional facial age estimation methods that employ hand-crafted descriptors or holistically learned descriptors for feature representation, our CS-LBFL method learns discriminative local features directly from raw pixels for face representation. Motivated by the fact that facial age estimation is a cost-sensitive computer vision problem and local binary features are more robust to illumination and expression variations than holistic features, we learn a series of hashing functions to project raw pixel values extracted from face patches into low-dimensional binary codes, where binary codes with similar chronological ages are projected as close as possible, and those with dissimilar chronological ages are projected as far as possible. Then, we pool and encode these local binary codes within each face image as a real-valued histogram feature for face representation. Moreover, we propose a cost-sensitive local binary multi-feature learning method to jointly learn multiple sets of hashing functions using face patches extracted from different scales to exploit complementary information. Our methods achieve competitive performance on four widely used face aging data sets.

Evaluation of the learning experiences afforded through multipractice learning in primary care: a project in the development of a multiprofessional learning organisation.

PubMed

Layzell, Sarah

2012-11-01

This mixed methods study used questionnaires and focus groups to evaluate a multiprofessional learning environment in which undergraduate pharmacy students were attached to general practices to learn alongside general practice specialist trainees (GPSTRs). All 27 of the first cohort of third-year undergraduate pharmacists elected to take part in the study. Mean Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) scores showed little change between pre- and post-attachment questionnaires in the four domains: competency and autonomy; perceived need for cooperation; perception of actual cooperation and understanding of others' values. Individual paired tests showed an increase in understanding the values of others, which did not achieve statistical significance. The questionnaires further identified issues of trainee pharmacists' perceived low status, and feeling undervalued. Focus groups increased understanding of the perceptions and identified what the trainees saw as the unique learning experiences of their attachements: opportunities to practice their professional roles; to explore professional boundaries; and to achieve a better understanding of the organisation of primary care. However, full participation in interprofessional learning was limited by the interactions of powerplay between doctors and other team members and the perceived differences in professional standing.

Effects of Intrinsic Motivation on Feedback Processing During Learning

PubMed Central

DePasque, Samantha; Tricomi, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Learning commonly requires feedback about the consequences of one’s actions, which can drive learners to modify their behavior. Motivation may determine how sensitive an individual might be to such feedback, particularly in educational contexts where some students value academic achievement more than others. Thus, motivation for a task might influence the value placed on performance feedback and how effectively it is used to improve learning. To investigate the interplay between intrinsic motivation and feedback processing, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during feedback-based learning before and after a novel manipulation based on motivational interviewing, a technique for enhancing treatment motivation in mental health settings. Because of its role in the reinforcement learning system, the striatum is situated to play a significant role in the modulation of learning based on motivation. Consistent with this idea, motivation levels during the task were associated with sensitivity to positive versus negative feedback in the striatum. Additionally, heightened motivation following a brief motivational interview was associated with increases in feedback sensitivity in the left medial temporal lobe. Our results suggest that motivation modulates neural responses to performance-related feedback, and furthermore that changes in motivation facilitates processing in areas that support learning and memory. PMID:26112370

Consensus-based distributed cooperative learning from closed-loop neural control systems.

PubMed

Chen, Weisheng; Hua, Shaoyong; Zhang, Huaguang

2015-02-01

In this paper, the neural tracking problem is addressed for a group of uncertain nonlinear systems where the system structures are identical but the reference signals are different. This paper focuses on studying the learning capability of neural networks (NNs) during the control process. First, we propose a novel control scheme called distributed cooperative learning (DCL) control scheme, by establishing the communication topology among adaptive laws of NN weights to share their learned knowledge online. It is further proved that if the communication topology is undirected and connected, all estimated weights of NNs can converge to small neighborhoods around their optimal values over a domain consisting of the union of all state orbits. Second, as a corollary it is shown that the conclusion on the deterministic learning still holds in the decentralized adaptive neural control scheme where, however, the estimated weights of NNs just converge to small neighborhoods of the optimal values along their own state orbits. Thus, the learned controllers obtained by DCL scheme have the better generalization capability than ones obtained by decentralized learning method. A simulation example is provided to verify the effectiveness and advantages of the control schemes proposed in this paper.

Negative symptoms in schizophrenia result from a failure to represent the expected value of rewards: Behavioral and computational modeling evidence

PubMed Central

Gold, James M.; Waltz, James A.; Matveeva, Tatyana M.; Kasanova, Zuzana; Strauss, Gregory P.; Herbener, Ellen S.; Collins, Anne G.E.; Frank, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Context Negative symptoms are a core feature of schizophrenia, but their pathophysiology remains unclear. Objective Negative symptoms are defined by the absence of normal function. However, there must be a productive mechanism that leads to this absence. Here, we test a reinforcement learning account suggesting that negative symptoms result from a failure to represent the expected value of rewards coupled with preserved loss avoidance learning. Design Subjects performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning paradigm involving stimulus pairs in which choices resulted in either reward or avoidance of loss. Following training, subjects indicated their valuation of the stimuli in a transfer task. Computational modeling was used to distinguish between alternative accounts of the data. Setting A tertiary care research outpatient clinic. Patients A total of 47 clinically stable patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 28 healthy volunteers participated. Patients were divided into high and low negative symptom groups. Main Outcome measures 1) The number of choices leading to reward or loss avoidance and 2) performance in the transfer phase. Quantitative fits from three different models were examined. Results High negative symptom patients demonstrated impaired learning from rewards but intact loss avoidance learning, and failed to distinguish rewarding stimuli from loss-avoiding stimuli in the transfer phase. Model fits revealed that high negative symptom patients were better characterized by an “actor-critic” model, learning stimulus-response associations, whereas controls and low negative symptom patients incorporated expected value of their actions (“Q-learning”) into the selection process. Conclusions Negative symptoms are associated with a specific reinforcement learning abnormality: High negative symptoms patients do not represent the expected value of rewards when making decisions but learn to avoid punishments through the use of prediction errors. This computational framework offers the potential to understand negative symptoms at a mechanistic level. PMID:22310503

Alterations in choice behavior by manipulations of world model.

PubMed

Green, C S; Benson, C; Kersten, D; Schrater, P

2010-09-14

How to compute initially unknown reward values makes up one of the key problems in reinforcement learning theory, with two basic approaches being used. Model-free algorithms rely on the accumulation of substantial amounts of experience to compute the value of actions, whereas in model-based learning, the agent seeks to learn the generative process for outcomes from which the value of actions can be predicted. Here we show that (i) "probability matching"-a consistent example of suboptimal choice behavior seen in humans-occurs in an optimal Bayesian model-based learner using a max decision rule that is initialized with ecologically plausible, but incorrect beliefs about the generative process for outcomes and (ii) human behavior can be strongly and predictably altered by the presence of cues suggestive of various generative processes, despite statistically identical outcome generation. These results suggest human decision making is rational and model based and not consistent with model-free learning.

Alterations in choice behavior by manipulations of world model

PubMed Central

Green, C. S.; Benson, C.; Kersten, D.; Schrater, P.

2010-01-01

How to compute initially unknown reward values makes up one of the key problems in reinforcement learning theory, with two basic approaches being used. Model-free algorithms rely on the accumulation of substantial amounts of experience to compute the value of actions, whereas in model-based learning, the agent seeks to learn the generative process for outcomes from which the value of actions can be predicted. Here we show that (i) “probability matching”—a consistent example of suboptimal choice behavior seen in humans—occurs in an optimal Bayesian model-based learner using a max decision rule that is initialized with ecologically plausible, but incorrect beliefs about the generative process for outcomes and (ii) human behavior can be strongly and predictably altered by the presence of cues suggestive of various generative processes, despite statistically identical outcome generation. These results suggest human decision making is rational and model based and not consistent with model-free learning. PMID:20805507

Lessons learned from process incident databases and the process safety incident database (PSID) approach sponsored by the Center for Chemical Process Safety.

PubMed

Sepeda, Adrian L

2006-03-17

Learning from the experiences of others has long been recognized as a valued and relatively painless process. In the world of process safety, this learning method is an essential tool since industry has neither the time and resources nor the willingness to experience an incident before taking corrective or preventative steps. This paper examines the need for and value of process safety incident databases that collect incidents of high learning value and structure them so that needed information can be easily and quickly extracted. It also explores how they might be used to prevent incidents by increasing awareness and by being a tool for conducting PHAs and incident investigations. The paper then discusses how the CCPS PSID meets those requirements, how PSID is structured and managed, and its attributes and features.

Macaque monkeys can learn token values from human models through vicarious reward.

PubMed

Bevacqua, Sara; Cerasti, Erika; Falcone, Rossella; Cervelloni, Milena; Brunamonti, Emiliano; Ferraina, Stefano; Genovesio, Aldo

2013-01-01

Monkeys can learn the symbolic meaning of tokens, and exchange them to get a reward. Monkeys can also learn the symbolic value of a token by observing conspecifics but it is not clear if they can learn passively by observing other actors, e.g., humans. To answer this question, we tested two monkeys in a token exchange paradigm in three experiments. Monkeys learned token values through observation of human models exchanging them. We used, after a phase of object familiarization, different sets of tokens. One token of each set was rewarded with a bit of apple. Other tokens had zero value (neutral tokens). Each token was presented only in one set. During the observation phase, monkeys watched the human model exchange tokens and watched them consume rewards (vicarious rewards). In the test phase, the monkeys were asked to exchange one of the tokens for food reward. Sets of three tokens were used in the first experiment and sets of two tokens were used in the second and third experiments. The valuable token was presented with different probabilities in the observation phase during the first and second experiments in which the monkeys exchanged the valuable token more frequently than any of the neutral tokens. The third experiments examined the effect of unequal probabilities. Our results support the view that monkeys can learn from non-conspecific actors through vicarious reward, even a symbolic task like the token-exchange task.

The Dopamine Prediction Error: Contributions to Associative Models of Reward Learning

PubMed Central

Nasser, Helen M.; Calu, Donna J.; Schoenbaum, Geoffrey; Sharpe, Melissa J.

2017-01-01

Phasic activity of midbrain dopamine neurons is currently thought to encapsulate the prediction-error signal described in Sutton and Barto’s (1981) model-free reinforcement learning algorithm. This phasic signal is thought to contain information about the quantitative value of reward, which transfers to the reward-predictive cue after learning. This is argued to endow the reward-predictive cue with the value inherent in the reward, motivating behavior toward cues signaling the presence of reward. Yet theoretical and empirical research has implicated prediction-error signaling in learning that extends far beyond a transfer of quantitative value to a reward-predictive cue. Here, we review the research which demonstrates the complexity of how dopaminergic prediction errors facilitate learning. After briefly discussing the literature demonstrating that phasic dopaminergic signals can act in the manner described by Sutton and Barto (1981), we consider how these signals may also influence attentional processing across multiple attentional systems in distinct brain circuits. Then, we discuss how prediction errors encode and promote the development of context-specific associations between cues and rewards. Finally, we consider recent evidence that shows dopaminergic activity contains information about causal relationships between cues and rewards that reflect information garnered from rich associative models of the world that can be adapted in the absence of direct experience. In discussing this research we hope to support the expansion of how dopaminergic prediction errors are thought to contribute to the learning process beyond the traditional concept of transferring quantitative value. PMID:28275359

Necessary Contributions of Human Frontal Lobe Subregions to Reward Learning in a Dynamic, Multidimensional Environment.

PubMed

Vaidya, Avinash R; Fellows, Lesley K

2016-09-21

Real-world decisions are typically made between options that vary along multiple dimensions, requiring prioritization of the important dimensions to support optimal choice. Learning in this setting depends on attributing decision outcomes to the dimensions with predictive relevance rather than to dimensions that are irrelevant and nonpredictive. This attribution problem is computationally challenging, and likely requires an interplay between selective attention and reward learning. Both these processes have been separately linked to the prefrontal cortex, but little is known about how they combine to support learning the reward value of multidimensional stimuli. Here, we examined the necessary contributions of frontal lobe subregions in attributing feedback to relevant and irrelevant dimensions on a trial-by-trial basis in humans. Patients with focal frontal lobe damage completed a demanding reward learning task where options varied on three dimensions, only one of which predicted reward. Participants with left lateral frontal lobe damage attributed rewards to irrelevant dimensions, rather than the relevant dimension. Damage to the ventromedial frontal lobe also impaired learning about the relevant dimension, but did not increase reward attribution to irrelevant dimensions. The results argue for distinct roles for these two regions in learning the value of multidimensional decision options under dynamic conditions, with the lateral frontal lobe required for selecting the relevant dimension to associate with reward, and the ventromedial frontal lobe required to learn the reward association itself. The real world is complex and multidimensional; how do we attribute rewards to predictive features when surrounded by competing cues? Here, we tested the critical involvement of human frontal lobe subregions in a probabilistic, multidimensional learning environment, asking whether focal lesions affected trial-by-trial attribution of feedback to relevant and irrelevant dimensions. The left lateral frontal lobe was required for filtering option dimensions to allow appropriate feedback attribution, while the ventromedial frontal lobe was necessary for learning the value of features in the relevant dimension. These findings argue that selective attention and associative learning processes mediated by anatomically distinct frontal lobe subregions are both critical for adaptive choice in more complex, ecologically valid settings. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/369843-16$15.00/0.

Predicting psychosis across diagnostic boundaries: Behavioral and computational modeling evidence for impaired reinforcement learning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with a history of psychosis.

PubMed

Strauss, Gregory P; Thaler, Nicholas S; Matveeva, Tatyana M; Vogel, Sally J; Sutton, Griffin P; Lee, Bern G; Allen, Daniel N

2015-08-01

There is increasing evidence that schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share a number of cognitive, neurobiological, and genetic markers. Shared features may be most prevalent among SZ and BD with a history of psychosis. This study extended this literature by examining reinforcement learning (RL) performance in individuals with SZ (n = 29), BD with a history of psychosis (BD+; n = 24), BD without a history of psychosis (BD-; n = 23), and healthy controls (HC; n = 24). RL was assessed through a probabilistic stimulus selection task with acquisition and test phases. Computational modeling evaluated competing accounts of the data. Each participant's trial-by-trial decision-making behavior was fit to 3 computational models of RL: (a) a standard actor-critic model simulating pure basal ganglia-dependent learning, (b) a pure Q-learning model simulating action selection as a function of learned expected reward value, and (c) a hybrid model where an actor-critic is "augmented" by a Q-learning component, meant to capture the top-down influence of orbitofrontal cortex value representations on the striatum. The SZ group demonstrated greater reinforcement learning impairments at acquisition and test phases than the BD+, BD-, and HC groups. The BD+ and BD- groups displayed comparable performance at acquisition and test phases. Collapsing across diagnostic categories, greater severity of current psychosis was associated with poorer acquisition of the most rewarding stimuli as well as poor go/no-go learning at test. Model fits revealed that reinforcement learning in SZ was best characterized by a pure actor-critic model where learning is driven by prediction error signaling alone. In contrast, BD-, BD+, and HC were best fit by a hybrid model where prediction errors are influenced by top-down expected value representations that guide decision making. These findings suggest that abnormalities in the reward system are more prominent in SZ than BD; however, current psychotic symptoms may be associated with reinforcement learning deficits regardless of a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) diagnosis. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

An Obligation to Endure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laird, Susan

2013-01-01

Educational foundations scholars promote often the value of pre-service teachers' learning about school and society, yet how often do they consider likely comparable value in pre-service professors' learning about university and society? Could neglect of such graduate education for the professoriate have contributed to this educational…

Education Criteria for Performance Excellence, 2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Society for Quality, Milwaukee, WI.

The criteria described in this document are the basis for organizational self-assessments, for making awards, and for giving feedback to applicants. They are built upon the following values and concepts: visionary leadership; learning-centered education; organizational and personal learning; valuing faculty, staff, and partners; agility; focus on…

On Valuing Peers: Theories of Learning and Intercultural Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cajander, Asa; Daniels, Mats; McDermott, Roger

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the links between the "contributing student pedagogy" and other forms of peer-mediated learning models, e.g. "open-ended group projects" and "communities of practice." We find that a fundamental concern in each of these models is the attribution of "value"; specifically, recognition…

Value Development Underlies the Benefits of Parents’ Involvement in Children’s Learning: A Longitudinal Investigation in the United States and China

PubMed Central

Cheung, Cecilia Sin-Sze; Pomerantz, Eva M.

2014-01-01

This research examined whether the benefits of parents’ involvement in children’s learning are due in part to value development among children. Four times over the seventh and eighth grades, 825 American and Chinese children (mean age = 12.73 years) reported on their parents’ involvement in their learning and their perceptions of the value their parents place on school achievement as well as the value they themselves place on it. Children’s academic functioning was assessed via children’s reports and school records. Value development partially explained the effects of parents’ involvement on children’s academic functioning in the United States and China. For example, the more children reported their parents as involved, the more they perceived them as placing value on achievement six months later; such perceptions in turn predicted the subsequent value children placed on achievement, which foreshadowed enhanced grades. PMID:25937669

Performance Assessment Tools for Distance Learning and Simulation: Knowledge, Models and Tools to Improve the Effectiveness of Naval Distance Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

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Learning in Adolescence. The Andover Review: A Journal for Secondary Education, Spring 1978. [Special Issue]. [And] Learning in Adolescence II. The Andover Review: A Journal for Secondary Education, Fall 1978. [Special Issue].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, William H., Ed.

The document comprises two issues of a journal devoted to learning and adolescence. Each issue contains articles which were contributed by participants in a conference on learning and adolescence held at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, in 1977. Articles in the Spring issue deal with formation of adolescents' values, observations of…

Service learning, social justice, and campus health.

PubMed

Ottenritter, Nan W

2004-01-01

Healthy campuses are critical so that students can learn and actively participate in shaping and maintaining a strong educational environment. This Viewpoint describes the commonalities between service learning, social justice, campus health, and the goals of Healthy Campus 2010, which was developed from the larger Healthy People 2010 objectives proposed by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The values, methods, and intended results of service learning are closely related to effective health promotion and disease prevention. Service learning focuses on personal and civic responsibility, thus providing students with opportunities for enhancing individual and community health. Service learning also espouses social justice and provides a vehicle for students to learn about, reflect on, and address health disparities. The author cites research concerning the effect of service learning on students in institutions of higher education and their social justice-related behaviors.

Predicting reading and mathematics from neural activity for feedback learning.

PubMed

Peters, Sabine; Van der Meulen, Mara; Zanolie, Kiki; Crone, Eveline A

2017-01-01

Although many studies use feedback learning paradigms to study the process of learning in laboratory settings, little is known about their relevance for real-world learning settings such as school. In a large developmental sample (N = 228, 8-25 years), we investigated whether performance and neural activity during a feedback learning task predicted reading and mathematics performance 2 years later. The results indicated that feedback learning performance predicted both reading and mathematics performance. Activity during feedback learning in left superior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) predicted reading performance, whereas activity in presupplementary motor area/anterior cingulate cortex (pre-SMA/ACC) predicted mathematical performance. Moreover, left superior DLPFC and pre-SMA/ACC activity predicted unique variance in reading and mathematics ability over behavioral testing of feedback learning performance alone. These results provide valuable insights into the relationship between laboratory-based learning tasks and learning in school settings, and the value of neural assessments for prediction of school performance over behavioral testing alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

An Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Classroom Activity Designed to Teach the Value of Lifelong Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boburka, Reneé R.; Wesp, Richard K.; Eshun, Sussie; Drago, Anthony L.

2014-01-01

Many agree that educational systems should instill in students the value of lifelong learning (LLL), but few have suggested how to accomplish that or how to measure the effectiveness of those curricular initiatives. We developed a technique intended to strengthen students' beliefs about the value of LLL and piloted use of a recently developed…

The Value of Using ICT in the Education of School Students with Learning Difficulties

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adam, Tas; Tatnall, Arthur

2017-01-01

This article argues that whatever the 2015 OECD report says about the value of ICT in relation to PISA results, our research has shown that using ICT in the education of students with Learning Difficulties has great value in interesting, enthusing and inspiring these students, so leading to better educational outcomes. The term "Learning…

Is the P-Value Really Dead? Assessing Inference Learning Outcomes for Social Science Students in an Introductory Statistics Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane-Getaz, Sharon

2017-01-01

In reaction to misuses and misinterpretations of p-values and confidence intervals, a social science journal editor banned p-values from its pages. This study aimed to show that education could address misuse and abuse. This study examines inference-related learning outcomes for social science students in an introductory course supplemented with…

The Influence of Islamic Moral Values on the Students' Behavior in Aceh

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuriman; Fauzan

2017-01-01

This study shows the influence and relationship of Islamic moral values to the students' behavior in Aceh Province. Learning Objects are the moral values of Islam achieved in learning in high school and vocational institutions that are assumed to affect the students' behavior. The quantitative methods used in this study and was running by SPSS…

Becoming a Learning Organization: The Espoused Values of Police Managers from Two Norwegian Districts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Filstad, Cathrine; Gottschalk, Petter

2011-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which espoused values among police managers in the Norwegian police force are compatible with those of a learning organization. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was developed and administered to police managers in two police districts in Norway. A set of values was…

Exploring the Educational Value of Clinical Vignettes from the Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting in the Internal Medicine Clerkship

PubMed Central

Wofford, James L; Singh, Sonal

2006-01-01

INTRODUCTION Whether the clinical vignettes presented at the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) annual meeting could be of educational value to third year students in the Internal Medicine clerkship has not been studied. OBJECTIVE To explore the relevance and learning value of clinical vignettes from the SGIM national meeting in the Internal Medicine clerkship. SETTING Third year Ambulatory Internal Medicine clerkship at one academic medical center (academic year 2005 to 2006). METHODS Students were introduced to the clinical vignette and oriented to the database of clinical vignettes available through the SGIM annual meeting website. Students then reviewed 5 to 10 clinical vignettes using a worksheet, and rated the learning value of each vignette using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = least, 5 = greatest). A single investigator evaluated congruence of the vignette with the Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine (CDIM)-SGIM curriculum to assess relevance. MAIN RESULTS A total of 42 students evaluated 371 clinical vignettes from the 2004 and 2005 meetings. The clinical vignettes were curriculum-congruent in 42.6% (n = 175), and clearly incongruent in 40.4% (n = 164). The mean rating for learning value was 3.8 (±1.0) (5 signifying greatest learning value). Curriculum-congruent vignettes had a higher mean learning value compared with curriculum-incongruent vignettes (4.0 vs 3.6, Student's t-test, P =.017). CONCLUSION The clinical vignettes presented at the national SGIM meeting offer clinical content that is relevant and of some educational value for third year clerkship students. Based on this pilot study, the educational value and strategies for their use in the clinical clerkships deserve further study. PMID:17026730

Learning styles of postgraduate and undergraduate medical students.

PubMed

Shukr, Irfan; Zainab, Roop; Rana, Mowadat H

2013-01-01

To compare learning styles of undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Observational, comparative study. Department of Medical Education, Army Medical College, NUST, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, during February and March 2012. A total of 170 students were divided into two equal groups of undergraduate students of Army Medical College, and postgraduate students of Armed Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute, Rawalpindi. Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) was used to assess and categorize the participants into Honey and Mumford classification of learning styles. The responses of each student ranging from 'very strong,' 'strong', 'moderate', and 'low' preference towards activist, theorist, reflector and pragmatist learning styles were compiled. The two groups were compared using SPSS version 17, using Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test. A p-value of $lt; 0.05 was considered significant. Preferences for all four learning styles were present in both groups. The results reveal an overall statistically significant difference in the 'very strong' preference in learning styles between the two study groups (p=0.002). Among the undergraduate students, 45% had a very strong preference for being an activist, whereas in postgraduate students, 38% had very strong preference for reflector, and 35% for theorist. This was statistically significant for activist, and reflector, and attained a p-value of < 0.001, for activist, and of 0.018 for reflector. The most uncommon 'very strong', and 'strong preference' for learning style was pragmatist in both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Diversity of learning styles at undergraduate and postgraduate level of medical education calls for multiplicity of instructional and assessment modalities to match them. The learning styles amongst the undergraduate medical students are different from the postgraduates. The postgraduates commonly have the reflector learning style while the undergraduates are predominantly activists and theorists.

Patients with Parkinson's disease learn to control complex systems-an indication for intact implicit cognitive skill learning.

PubMed

Witt, Karsten; Daniels, Christine; Daniel, Victoria; Schmitt-Eliassen, Julia; Volkmann, Jens; Deuschl, Günther

2006-01-01

Implicit memory and learning mechanisms are composed of multiple processes and systems. Previous studies demonstrated a basal ganglia involvement in purely cognitive tasks that form stimulus response habits by reinforcement learning such as implicit classification learning. We will test the basal ganglia influence on two cognitive implicit tasks previously described by Berry and Broadbent, the sugar production task and the personal interaction task. Furthermore, we will investigate the relationship between certain aspects of an executive dysfunction and implicit learning. To this end, we have tested 22 Parkinsonian patients and 22 age-matched controls on two implicit cognitive tasks, in which participants learned to control a complex system. They interacted with the system by choosing an input value and obtaining an output that was related in a complex manner to the input. The objective was to reach and maintain a specific target value across trials (dynamic system learning). The two tasks followed the same underlying complex rule but had different surface appearances. Subsequently, participants performed an executive test battery including the Stroop test, verbal fluency and the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST). The results demonstrate intact implicit learning in patients, despite an executive dysfunction in the Parkinsonian group. They lead to the conclusion that the basal ganglia system affected in Parkinson's disease does not contribute to the implicit acquisition of a new cognitive skill. Furthermore, the Parkinsonian patients were able to reach a specific goal in an implicit learning context despite impaired goal directed behaviour in the WCST, a classic test of executive functions. These results demonstrate a functional independence of implicit cognitive skill learning and certain aspects of executive functions.

An analysis of mathematical connection ability based on student learning style on visualization auditory kinesthetic (VAK) learning model with self-assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apipah, S.; Kartono; Isnarto

2018-03-01

This research aims to analyze the quality of VAK learning with self-assessment toward the ability of mathematical connection performed by students and to analyze students’ mathematical connection ability based on learning styles in VAK learning model with self-assessment. This research applies mixed method type with concurrent embedded design. The subject of this research consists of VIII grade students from State Junior High School 9 Semarang who apply visual learning style, auditory learning style, and kinesthetic learning style. The data of learning style is collected by using questionnaires, the data of mathematical connection ability is collected by performing tests, and the data of self-assessment is collected by using assessment sheets. The quality of learning is qualitatively valued from planning stage, realization stage, and valuation stage. The result of mathematical connection ability test is analyzed quantitatively by mean test, conducting completeness test, mean differentiation test, and mean proportional differentiation test. The result of the research shows that VAK learning model results in well-qualified learning regarded from qualitative and quantitative sides. Students with visual learning style perform the highest mathematical connection ability, students with kinesthetic learning style perform average mathematical connection ability, and students with auditory learning style perform the lowest mathematical connection ability.

Self-paced model learning for robust visual tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wenhui; Gu, Jason; Ma, Xin; Li, Yibin

2017-01-01

In visual tracking, learning a robust and efficient appearance model is a challenging task. Model learning determines both the strategy and the frequency of model updating, which contains many details that could affect the tracking results. Self-paced learning (SPL) has recently been attracting considerable interest in the fields of machine learning and computer vision. SPL is inspired by the learning principle underlying the cognitive process of humans, whose learning process is generally from easier samples to more complex aspects of a task. We propose a tracking method that integrates the learning paradigm of SPL into visual tracking, so reliable samples can be automatically selected for model learning. In contrast to many existing model learning strategies in visual tracking, we discover the missing link between sample selection and model learning, which are combined into a single objective function in our approach. Sample weights and model parameters can be learned by minimizing this single objective function. Additionally, to solve the real-valued learning weight of samples, an error-tolerant self-paced function that considers the characteristics of visual tracking is proposed. We demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our tracker on a recent tracking benchmark data set with 50 video sequences.

Learning a commonsense moral theory.

PubMed

Kleiman-Weiner, Max; Saxe, Rebecca; Tenenbaum, Joshua B

2017-10-01

We introduce a computational framework for understanding the structure and dynamics of moral learning, with a focus on how people learn to trade off the interests and welfare of different individuals in their social groups and the larger society. We posit a minimal set of cognitive capacities that together can solve this learning problem: (1) an abstract and recursive utility calculus to quantitatively represent welfare trade-offs; (2) hierarchical Bayesian inference to understand the actions and judgments of others; and (3) meta-values for learning by value alignment both externally to the values of others and internally to make moral theories consistent with one's own attachments and feelings. Our model explains how children can build from sparse noisy observations of how a small set of individuals make moral decisions to a broad moral competence, able to support an infinite range of judgments and decisions that generalizes even to people they have never met and situations they have not been in or observed. It also provides insight into the causes and dynamics of moral change across time, including cases when moral change can be rapidly progressive, changing values significantly in just a few generations, and cases when it is likely to move more slowly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Associations between Verbal Learning Slope and Neuroimaging Markers across the Cognitive Aging Spectrum.

PubMed

Gifford, Katherine A; Phillips, Jeffrey S; Samuels, Lauren R; Lane, Elizabeth M; Bell, Susan P; Liu, Dandan; Hohman, Timothy J; Romano, Raymond R; Fritzsche, Laura R; Lu, Zengqi; Jefferson, Angela L

2015-07-01

A symptom of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a flat learning profile. Learning slope calculation methods vary, and the optimal method for capturing neuroanatomical changes associated with MCI and early AD pathology is unclear. This study cross-sectionally compared four different learning slope measures from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (simple slope, regression-based slope, two-slope method, peak slope) to structural neuroimaging markers of early AD neurodegeneration (hippocampal volume, cortical thickness in parahippocampal gyrus, precuneus, and lateral prefrontal cortex) across the cognitive aging spectrum [normal control (NC); (n=198; age=76±5), MCI (n=370; age=75±7), and AD (n=171; age=76±7)] in ADNI. Within diagnostic group, general linear models related slope methods individually to neuroimaging variables, adjusting for age, sex, education, and APOE4 status. Among MCI, better learning performance on simple slope, regression-based slope, and late slope (Trial 2-5) from the two-slope method related to larger parahippocampal thickness (all p-values<.01) and hippocampal volume (p<.01). Better regression-based slope (p<.01) and late slope (p<.01) were related to larger ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in MCI. No significant associations emerged between any slope and neuroimaging variables for NC (p-values ≥.05) or AD (p-values ≥.02). Better learning performances related to larger medial temporal lobe (i.e., hippocampal volume, parahippocampal gyrus thickness) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in MCI only. Regression-based and late slope were most highly correlated with neuroimaging markers and explained more variance above and beyond other common memory indices, such as total learning. Simple slope may offer an acceptable alternative given its ease of calculation.

Generalization of value in reinforcement learning by humans.

PubMed

Wimmer, G Elliott; Daw, Nathaniel D; Shohamy, Daphna

2012-04-01

Research in decision-making has focused on the role of dopamine and its striatal targets in guiding choices via learned stimulus-reward or stimulus-response associations, behavior that is well described by reinforcement learning theories. However, basic reinforcement learning is relatively limited in scope and does not explain how learning about stimulus regularities or relations may guide decision-making. A candidate mechanism for this type of learning comes from the domain of memory, which has highlighted a role for the hippocampus in learning of stimulus-stimulus relations, typically dissociated from the role of the striatum in stimulus-response learning. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and computational model-based analyses to examine the joint contributions of these mechanisms to reinforcement learning. Humans performed a reinforcement learning task with added relational structure, modeled after tasks used to isolate hippocampal contributions to memory. On each trial participants chose one of four options, but the reward probabilities for pairs of options were correlated across trials. This (uninstructed) relationship between pairs of options potentially enabled an observer to learn about option values based on experience with the other options and to generalize across them. We observed blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity related to learning in the striatum and also in the hippocampus. By comparing a basic reinforcement learning model to one augmented to allow feedback to generalize between correlated options, we tested whether choice behavior and BOLD activity were influenced by the opportunity to generalize across correlated options. Although such generalization goes beyond standard computational accounts of reinforcement learning and striatal BOLD, both choices and striatal BOLD activity were better explained by the augmented model. Consistent with the hypothesized role for the hippocampus in this generalization, functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and hippocampus was modulated, across participants, by the ability of the augmented model to capture participants' choice. Our results thus point toward an interactive model in which striatal reinforcement learning systems may employ relational representations typically associated with the hippocampus. © 2012 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2012 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Multi-Attribute Sequential Search

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bearden, J. Neil; Connolly, Terry

2007-01-01

This article describes empirical and theoretical results from two multi-attribute sequential search tasks. In both tasks, the DM sequentially encounters options described by two attributes and must pay to learn the values of the attributes. In the "continuous" version of the task the DM learns the precise numerical value of an attribute when she…

USE OF NEW AUDIO-VISUAL TECHNIQUES TO TEACH MENTALLY-RETARDED CHILDREN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ROSS, DOROTHEA M.

DEPENDENCY LEARNING, THE ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONAL INTERRELATIONSHIP VALUES, WAS STUDIED AS A TECHNIQUE FOR FOSTERING AUDIOVISUAL ACADEMIC LEARNING AMONG 54 YOUNG, EDUCABLE MENTAL RETARDATES. SOME OF THESE SUBJECTS WERE TAUGHT TO VALUE SIMULATED DEPENDENCY MODELS. THESE MODELS WERE CONSISTENTLY PAIRED WITH SUCH REWARDING STIMULI AS…

Calibrated Peer Review for Computer-Assisted Learning of Biological Research Competencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clase, Kari L.; Gundlach, Ellen; Pelaez, Nancy J.

2010-01-01

Recently, both science and technology faculty have been recognizing biological research competencies that are valued but rarely assessed. Some of these valued learning outcomes include scientific methods and thinking, critical assessment of primary papers, quantitative reasoning, communication, and putting biological research into a historical and…

Enriching Inclusive Learning: African Americans in Historic Costume

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratute, Ashley; Marcketti, Sara B.

2009-01-01

Educating students to embrace diversity and value all people is a core value of educators in family and consumer sciences (FCS). For instructors in FCS, integrating the contributions of African Americans--particularly in textiles and clothing--can be an inclusive learning opportunity. The authors compiled resources on African Americans and…

Associations between Student Achievement and Student Learning: Implications for Value-Added School Accountability Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ready, Douglas David

2013-01-01

Accountability systems that measure student learning rather than student achievement have the potential to more accurately evaluate school quality. However, one methodological concern has remained surprisingly absent from discussions of value-added modeling. Standardized assessments that exhibit either positive or negative correlations between…

Investigating Pedagogical Value of Wiki Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hazari, Sunil; North, Alexa; Moreland, Deborah

2009-01-01

This exploratory study investigates the potential of Wiki technology as a tool for teaching and learning. Wikis are a component of Web 2.0 technology tools that provide collaborative features and active learning opportunities in a web-based environment. This research study sought to empirically determine the pedagogical value of using Wiki…

Exploring deliberate practice in medicine: how do physicians learn in the workplace?

PubMed

van de Wiel, Margje W J; Van den Bossche, Piet; Janssen, Sandra; Jossberger, Helen

2011-03-01

Medical professionals need to keep on learning as part of their everyday work to deliver high-quality health care. Although the importance of physicians' learning is widely recognized, few studies have investigated how they learn in the workplace. Based on insights from deliberate practice research, this study examined the activities physicians engage in during their work that might further their professional development. As deliberate practice requires a focused effort to improve performance, the study also examined the goals underlying this behaviour. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 internal medicine physicians: 19 residents, 18 internists working at a university hospital, and 13 working at a non-university hospital. The results showed that learning in medical practice was very much embedded in clinical work. Most relevant learning activities were directly related to patient care rather than motivated by competence improvement goals. Advice and feedback were sought when necessary to provide this care. Performance standards were tied to patients' conditions. The patients encountered and the discussions with colleagues about patients were valued most for professional development, while teaching and updating activities were also valued in this respect. In conclusion, physicians' learning is largely guided by practical experience rather than deliberately sought. When professionals interact in diagnosing and treating patients to achieve high-quality care, their experiences contribute to expertise development. However, much could be gained from managing learning opportunities more explicitly. We offer suggestions for increasing the focus on learning in medical practice and further research.

The Design of Effective Case Study-Related Learning Strategies Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuttall, Alice E.

The development of case study training materials for an experimental research strategy is described, and the effects of such training are discussed. The theoretical foundation for learning strategies training was a social-cognitive/expectancy value model of college learning and teaching. In a posttest-only 2-group design, 54 students in an…

Groupwork with Learning Disabilities: Creative Drama. A Winslow Practical Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chesner, Anna

This British book discusses the value of creative drama for people with learning disabilities, offers some basic principles of working with people with learning disabilities, and describes a variety of approaches to drama. An introduction discusses the optimal size of a creative drama group, the kind of work space needed, equipment, membership,…

How Knowledge Management Adds Critical Value to e-Learning Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alrawi, Khalid; Alrawi, Ahmed; Alrawi, Waleed

2012-01-01

Media is the combination of text, images, animations, digital library, which is now a standard part of most computer applications. Education media can be a great tool to improve teaching and learning. A growing number of educational institutions (EI) are developing a new learning culture, as they realize that getting an institution's learning…

Pushing Boundaries: Introduction to the Global Service-Learning Special Section

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartman, Eric; Kiely, Richard

2014-01-01

In this introduction to the "Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning's" Special Section: "Global Service-Learning" (GSL), Hartman and Kiely describe how they each came to the field of GSL, some of its emphases and values that drew them to and sustain their commitment with this work, discuss some highlights of what GSL…

An Applied Learning Experience Field Research and Reporting at the 2012 National Party Conventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Carolyn S.; Azriel, Joshua N.; DeWit, Jeff; Swint, Kerwin

2014-01-01

Scholarship in teaching and learning demonstrates how academic understanding may be best achieved, and values of civic engagement best inculcated, when class materials are delivered within a experiential context. The goal for instructors, therefore, is to develop pedagogic techniques and teaching platforms that enhance learning by doing by…

Teacher Education in Informal Settings: A Key Element of Teacher Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Jan; Maynard, Sally

2014-01-01

A significant amount of research supports the value of learning outside the classroom for creating effective learning opportunities, and for the social, cultural and emotional benefits it presents. Although there is a movement in place in the United Kingdom to integrate learning outside the classroom into classroom practice, many pre-service…

Project-Based Learning in Primary Schools: Effects on Pupils' Learning and Attitudes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaldi, Stavroula; Filippatou, Diamanto; Govaris, Christos

2011-01-01

This study focuses upon the effectiveness of project-based learning on primary school pupils regarding their content knowledge and attitudes towards self-efficacy, task value, group work, teaching methods applied and peers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. A cross-curricular project was implemented within the curriculum area of environmental…

Learning Opportunities beyond the School. 2nd Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hatcher, Barbara, Ed.; Beck, Shirley S., Ed.

The fact that much of learning occurs beyond school walls points to the need for a holistic approach to education. Such an approach involves planned cooperative links between family and the formal and informal learning environments that exist in the community. This monograph advocates such a holistic approach, discussing not only the value of…