Enhancing learning through self-explanation

Self-explanation is an effective teaching/learning strategy that has been used in several intelligent tutoring systems in the domains of Mathematics and Physics to facilitate deep learning. Since all these domains are well structured, the instructional material to self-explain can be clearly defined. We are interested in investigating whether self-explanation can be used in an open-ended domain. For this purpose, we enhanced KERMIT, an intelligent tutoring system that teaches conceptual database design. The resulting system, KERMIT-SE, supports self-explanation by engaging students in tutorial dialogues when their solutions are erroneous. We plan to conduct an evaluation in July 2002, to test the hypothesis that students will learn better with KERMIT-SE than without self-explanation

Transformative learning and international students negotiating higher education

This chapter aims to explore the theory of transformative learning as a possible&nbsp;explanation for the changes international students make in their journey to&nbsp;negotiate higher education. The chapter is derived from a doctoral study that&nbsp;involved international Chinese and Vietnamese students\u27 adaptation to Australian&nbsp;higher education academic practices (Tran 2007). Within this chapter, transformative learning is viewed as a changing process in which international students&nbsp;construct reality through revisiting their existing assumptions and moving towards&nbsp;life-changing developments in their personal and professional perspectives&nbsp;(Cranton 2002; Mezirow 2000). It will be argued in this chapter that international&nbsp;students\u27 process of negotiating higher education is a dynamic interplay between&nbsp;challenges and transformative power. Cross-border intercultural experiences are&nbsp;intimately linked to opportunities for self-transformation, and the challenging&nbsp;experiences that international students go through indeed foster the conditions&nbsp;for professional development and life-enhancing changes to take place. Given the&nbsp;current lack of theoretical and empirical research on the transformative power of&nbsp;international students, there is a critical need for more research on the transformative characteristics of international students and how best to capitalize on&nbsp;their potential. In this chapter, I draw on excerpts from two rounds of interviews&nbsp;with individual international students to illustrate the specific ways in which&nbsp;international students have the capacity to transform their own learning and&nbsp;develop life-enhancing skills. The discussion shows that they experience evolution&nbsp;in professional outlook, attitudes and personal qualities through the process of&nbsp;critical self-reflection and adaptation to disciplinary demands in higher education.&nbsp;The chapter also highlights the contradictions regarding the discursive practices&nbsp;within the current context of international education export.</span

An investigation of the conditions under which procedural content enhances conceptual self-explanations in mathematics

The present study was an attempt to understand the nature of young children's self-explanation in the domain of procedural and conceptual knowledge in mathematics. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between task demands on three outcome variables: (a) quantity of self-explanation, (b) quality of self-explanation (procedural and conceptual), and (c) conceptual knowledge, or an understanding in mathematics of the concepts central to each task. Three different self-explanation tasks were developed for the present study. Each task was based on one of the following theoretical assumptions about the generation of self-explanation: (a) learning through discovery (Self-Explanation Task 1), (b) direct instruction (Self-Explanation Task 2), and (c) effect of surprise (cognitive conflict; Self-Explanation Task 3). Prior knowledge in mathematics was investigated as a possible moderating variable in the analyses. Thirty second-grade students were interviewed four times. In the first interview, the Number Knowledge Test (NKT) was individually administered to participants to measure their prior knowledge of counting, number, and quantity. In the second, third, and fourth interviews, one of the three self-explanation tasks was administered. A near transfer task was administered at the end of each self-explanation task to measure the knowledge of the concepts central to each. The data revealed that the task based on direct instruction produced the highest number of self-explanations compared to each of the other two tasks, regardless of prior knowledge. In addition, a significant interaction was found between task type and prior knowledge on the generation of conceptual self-explanations. Specifically, low prior knowledge students generated higher quality self-explanation (i.e., conceptual self-explanations) on the task based on discovery learning, whereas high prior knowledge students produced better quality self-explanations on the task based on surprise. No such interaction was found for procedural self-explanations, but the data revealed that the task based on direct instruction produced a higher number of procedural self-explanations compared to either of the other two tasks. Finally, the results indicated that there was a significant correlation between task type and conceptual knowledge, with evidence suggesting that the task based on surprise was more effective than the task based on direct instruction in enhancing conceptual understanding of key mathematical principles. A number of implications for the classroom are discussed, not least of which includes the importance of maintaining a prominent place in the mathematics curriculum for procedural instructio

The Enhancement of Mathematical Communication and Self Regulated Learning of Senior High School Students Through PQ4R Strategy Accompanied by Refutation Text Reading

This study is experiment research with control group pretest-posttest design and aimed to examine the influence of PQ4R strategy and Refutation Text, school level, and student’s mathematical early knowledge toward achievement and enhancement of student’s mathematical communication ability and Self Regulated Learning. Subject of study as much as 241 students of class X from three Public Senior High School from high, medium, and low school level. Research instrument consist of one set of student’s mathematical communication, and one set of student’s Self Regulated Learning scale. Data analysis use Kosmogorov-Smirnov Test (Test-Z), Level Test, Test-t, one-way and two-way ANOVA, Post Hoc Test (Scheffe) and also Chi-Square Test. Study found that learning with PR4R strategy accompanied by Refutation Text Reading give consistent influence compared with conventional learning as viewed as a whole, based on school level and also mathematical early knowledge. In addition, study also found: (1) there is no interaction between learning (PQ4R) accompanied by Refutation Text reading and conventional and school level toward (a) student’s mathematical communication and (b) student’s Self Regulated Learning; (2) there is no significant interaction between learning and student’s mathematical early knowledge toward (a) student’s mathematical communication ability and (b) student’s Self Regulated Learning; and (3) there is association between student’s mathematical communication ability and student’s Self Regulated Learning. Keywords: PQ4R, Refutation Text, Mathematical Communication, and Self Regulated Learning

How to encourage intrinsic motivation in the clinical teaching environment?: a systematic review from the self-determination theory

Purpose: Internalization of students’ motivation towards an intrinsic form is associated with increased interest, commitment, learning, and satisfaction with education. Self-Determination theory postulates that intrinsic motivation and autonomous forms of self-regulation are the desired type of motivation; as they have been associated with deep learning, better performance and well-being. It claims three basic psychological needs have to be satisfied in order to achieve intrinsic motivation. These are the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. This study aims to provide a review on how these basic psychological needs are encouraged in undergraduate students so they can be transferred to the clinical teaching environment. Methods: Electronic searches were performed across four databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and ERIC), relevant journals, and retrieved bibliography of selected articles. In total, searches produced 4,869 references, from which 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: Main themes were coded in three categories: The support of autonomy, competence and relatedness. The research-based evidence appears to be of reasonable quality, and indicates that teachers should work to satisfy students’ basic psychological needs to foster internalization of self-regulation. Our findings suggest that teachers should interact with students in a more ‘human centred’ teaching style, as these actions predict motivational internalization. Several themes emerged from different contexts and further investigation should expand them. Conclusion: This review identified actions that clinical teachers could implement in their daily work to support students’ self-determination. Autonomy supportive teaching in health professions educations would benefit students and may actually result in more effective health care delivery

Efficacy of Online Training for Improving Camp Staff Competency

Preparing competent staff is a critical issue within the camp community. This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of an online course for improving staff competency in camp healthcare practices among college-aged camp staff and a comparison group (N = 55). We hypothesized that working in camp would increase competency test scores due to opportunities for staff to experientially apply knowledge learned online. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyse the cross-level effects of a between-individuals factor (assignment to experimental or comparison group) and within-individual effects of time (pre-test, post-test #1, and post-test #2) on online course test scores. At post-test #2, the difference in average test scores between groups was ~30 points, with the treatment group scoring lower on average than the comparison group. Factors that may have influenced these findings are explored, including fatigue and the limited durability of online learning. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed

Life satisfaction and self-efficacy in patients affected by a first stroke living in Kuwait: A two-phase study

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2012 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.Life satisfaction and self-efficacy are important aspects of stroke rehabilitation. Previous research focuses on Western stroke survivors, neglecting the stroke experience in the Middle East. This research was conducted in Kuwait and entailed both quantitative and qualitative phases to obtain a more comprehensive, clinically relevant understanding of self-efficacy and life satisfaction during stroke rehabilitation in this culture. The aims were to: 1) investigate the relationships between self-efficacy and life satisfaction in female patients affected by stroke (Phase 1); and 2) explore health professionals' views regarding the importance of self-efficacy and possible strategies for enhancing self-efficacy during rehabilitation, through semi-structured interviews (Phase 2). Significant correlations were found between patients' general self-efficacy, and psychosocial adaptation self-efficacy following stroke. Self-efficacy (both general and psychosocial adaptation) showed significant correlations with life satisfaction post-stroke. Health professionals (more than half of whom were physiotherapists) recognised the importance of self-efficacy within stroke rehabilitation and identified five main ways to increase self-efficacy during stroke rehabilitation. These were to: 1) motivate and encourage patients; 2) provide more education about stroke and rehabilitation; 3) identify change; 4) offer a high-quality environment and therapy; and 5) set goals. In conclusion, psychosocial self-efficacy was identified as having a stronger relationship to life satisfaction compared with general self-efficacy within this sample of Kuwaiti female patients. Health professionals suggested various strategies for enhancing self-efficacy and thereby life satisfaction post-stroke during the rehabilitation process in Kuwait. Despite the collectivist culture of Kuwait, the findings indicate that the patient's own confidence and sense of responsibility for progress may be relevant to rehabilitation

Arts across the curriculum: enhancing pupil learning, the pupil perspective

Paper presented to the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Annual Conference, held at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

The Role of Relapse Prevention and Goal Setting in Training Transfer Enhancement

This article reviews the effect of two post-training transfer interventions (relapse prevention [RP] and goal setting [GS]) on trainees’ ability to apply skills gained in a training context to the workplace. Through a review of post-training transfer interventions literature, the article identifies a number of key issues that remain unresolved or underexplored, for example, the inconsistent results on the impact of RP on transfer of training, the lack of agreement on which GS types are more efficient to improve transfer performance, the lack of clarity about the distinction between RP and GS, and the underlying process through which these two post-training transfer interventions influence transfer of training. We offer some recommendations to overcome these problems and also provide guidance for future research on transfer of training