Constructing Collaborative Success for Network Learning: The Story of the Discovery Community Self-Assessment Tool

· Despite conversations about the importance of community collaboration, foundations continue to struggle with how to best frame and support collaborative success. · Existing tools to assess collaboration may not fit with either a foundation’s values or a specific program strategy. · From a foundation perspective, developing a community self-assessment tool reinforced the idea that collaborative functioning is crucial and deserves attention. · This article shares a story of the development and initial use of the Discovery Community Self-Assessment Tool as a process of social construction critical to collective action and a possible indicator of network learning

The Impact of Collaborative Writing Lessons on Individual Attitudes and Specific Writing Skills of Mainstream High School Students in the English Classroom

The impact of specific collaborative writing skill lessons on individual writing skills and attitudes of mainstream students in two Chaska High School English classrooms was the focus of this study. Students in the control class and the experimental class studied the same literary selections and skills; however, the process of the writing skill lessons was different. The experimental class received additional instruction in the collaborative process by learning group roles, writing collaboratively, and evaluating progress after each group skill lesson. In order to assess the impact of collaboration in the experimental class, a pretest and posttest were administered to both the control and experimental class at the beginning of the quarter and at the end of the quarter. Two readers from the English department and the author holistically scored the pretests and posttests. The experimental class written posttest scores did not significantly differ from those of the control class written posttest scores. Therefore, the collaborative writing process did not appear to have a significant impact on individual student writing skills. An attitudinal survey was administered to both classes in the middle of the quarter and at the end of the quarter; the responses were categorized and tabulated into positive, negative, and neutral remarks. The experimental class attitudinal survey responses were not significantly different from those of the control class. However, the fact that the writing skills of students in both the experimental class and the control class improved was an important finding in this study

Innovative instruction: learning in blended human anatomy education

Despite the robust literature surrounding the benefits of blended learning including improved student learning and positive student perceptions of learning (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; O\u27Flaherty & Phillips, 2015), simply rearranging the structure of activities or incorporating technology does not ensure a more meaningful learning experience (Duffy & McDonald, 2008; Gopal et al., 2006). There exists a danger of educators attempting the translation of blended learning without thoroughly understanding how it works (Ash, 2012). Considering the definition of blended learning as the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary F2F and online approaches and technologies Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p. 148), achieving meaningful learning the blended classroom requires intentional design, mindful collaboration, and complete integration between the F2F experience and asynchronous online technology. Therefore, this study aimed to understand how anatomy faculty create meaningful learning spaces within their blended anatomy course. By conducting formal research that is focused on understanding the experiences of anatomy faculty in their blended learning course through the theoretical framework of community of inquiry, collaborative learning, and discovery learning, this study informs current and future undergraduate anatomy education by providing insight into how learning happens within this space

Grid-based semantic integration of heterogeneous data resources: Implementation on a HealthGrid

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University.The semantic integration of geographically distributed and heterogeneous data resources still remains a key challenge in Grid infrastructures. Today's mainstream Grid technologies hold the promise to meet this challenge in a systematic manner, making data applications more scalable and manageable. The thesis conducts a thorough investigation of the problem, the state of the art, and the related technologies, and proposes an Architecture for Semantic Integration of Data Sources (ASIDS) addressing the semantic heterogeneity issue. It defines a simple mechanism for the interoperability of heterogeneous data sources in order to extract or discover information regardless of their different semantics. The constituent technologies of this architecture include Globus Toolkit (GT4) and OGSA-DAI (Open Grid Service Architecture Data Integration and Access) alongside other web services technologies such as XML (Extensive Markup Language). To show this, the ASIDS architecture was implemented and tested in a realistic setting by building an exemplar application prototype on a HealthGrid (pilot implementation). The study followed an empirical research methodology and was informed by extensive literature surveys and a critical analysis of the relevant technologies and their synergies. The two literature reviews, together with the analysis of the technology background, have provided a good overview of the current Grid and HealthGrid landscape, produced some valuable taxonomies, explored new paths by integrating technologies, and more importantly illuminated the problem and guided the research process towards a promising solution. Yet the primary contribution of this research is an approach that uses contemporary Grid technologies for integrating heterogeneous data resources that have semantically different. data fields (attributes). It has been practically demonstrated (using a prototype HealthGrid) that discovery in semantically integrated distributed data sources can be feasible by using mainstream Grid technologies, which have been shown to have some Significant advantages over non-Grid based approaches

Constructing an understanding of mind : the development of children's social understanding within social interaction

Theories of children's developing understanding of mind tend to emphasize either individualistic processes of theory formation, maturation, or introspection, or the process of enculturation. However, such theories must be able to account for the accumulating evidence of the role of social interaction in the development of social understanding. We propose an alternative account, according to which the development of children's social understanding occurs within triadic interaction involving the child's experience of the world as well as communicative interaction with others about their experience and beliefs (Chapman 1991; 1999). It is through such triadic interaction that children gradually construct knowledge of the world as well as knowledge of other people. We contend that the extent and nature of the social interaction children experience will influence the development of children's social understanding. Increased opportunity to engage in cooperative social interaction and exposure to talk about mental states should facilitate the development of social understanding. We review evidence suggesting that children's understanding of mind develops gradually in the context of social interaction. Therefore, we need a theory of development in this area that accords a fundamental role to social interaction, yet does not assume that children simply adopt socially available knowledge but rather that children construct an understanding of mind within social interaction

Preparing ESL undergraduates for freshman composition through cooperative learning, collaborative writing, and portfolio grading: a course design rationale and case study

This thesis describes and examines an experimental ESL composition course that featured cooperative learning and collaborative writing , a course that also involved thematic sequencing of assignments and portfolio grading of students\u27 individual writing. The course was a revised version of Iowa State University\u27s English 101C (Advanced Composition for Non-Native Speakers of English), with the revisions directed toward the attainment of the official course goal of preparing ESL students for the Iowa State First Year Composition Program. The changes in the course enabled 101C students to write assignments modeled on ISU freshman composition assignments--particularly academic and argumentative writing assignments

Video-based collaborative learning:evidence for a pedagogical model

The educational potential of video is a long-lasting, multi-faceted topic, and the affordances of technological advancement have recently revitalized this discussion. However, teachers are still far from competently integrating or becoming accustomed to video-based pedagogy, especially in combination with collaborative pedagogy. To provide teachers and teacher educators with sound principles for implementing video-supported collaborative learning (VSCL), this symposium fosters a teacher experiment, a cross-over analysis on a pedagogical model for effective VSCL, and student feedback in relation with VSCL. The experiment shows students’ growing lexical richness and cohesion by working peer feedback on student’s video recorded teaching practice. The cross-over analysis shows the evidence for the VSCL-pedagogical model based on data from many other experiments in the European ViSuAL-project. The same holds for the student-feedback analysis. In this symposium we interact about practical experiences in relation with the effective principles of the developed pedagogical model and the experiences of the students

What is the evidence of the impact of microfinance on the well-being of poor people?

The concept of microcredit was first introduced in Bangladesh by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Professor Yunus started Grameen Bank (GB) more than 30 years ago with the aim of reducing poverty by providing small loans to the country’s rural poor (Yunus 1999). Microcredit has evolved over the years and does not only provide credit to the poor, but also now spans a myriad of other services including savings, insurance, remittances and non-financial services such as financial literacy training and skills development programmes; microcredit is now referred to as microfinance (Armendáriz de Aghion and Morduch 2005, 2010). A key feature of microfinance has been the targeting of women on the grounds that, compared to men, they perform better as clients of microfinance institutions and that their participation has more desirable development outcomes (Pitt and Khandker 1998). Despite the apparent success and popularity of microfinance, no clear evidence yet exists that microfinance programmes have positive impacts (Armendáriz de Aghion and Morduch 2005, 2010; and many others). There have been four major reviews examining impacts of microfinance (Sebstad and Chen, 1996; Gaile and Foster 1996, Goldberg 2005, Odell 2010, see also Orso 2011). These reviews concluded that, while anecdotes and other inspiring stories (such as Todd 1996) purported to show that microfinance can make a real difference in the lives of those served, rigorous quantitative evidence on the nature, magnitude and balance of microfinance impact is still scarce and inconclusive (Armendáriz de Aghion and Morduch 2005, 2010). Overall, it is widely acknowledged that no well-known study robustly shows any strong impacts of microfinance (Armendáriz de Aghion and Morduch 2005, p199-230). Because of the growth of the microfinance industry and the attention the sector has received from policy makers, donors and private investors in recent years, existing microfinance impact evaluations need to be re-investigated; the robustness of claims that microfinance successfully alleviates poverty and empowers women must be scrutinised more carefully. Hence, this review revisits the evidence of microfinance evaluations focusing on the technical challenges of conducting rigorous microfinance impact evaluations

The Duality of Teachers as Learners Through Influences of Self-regulation in Pedagogical Competencies: A Case Study

The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe the elements of self-regulated learning utilized by K-12 teachers navigating the process of improving instructional pedagogy and self-efficacy in a rural school district. The guiding theory of this study was Bandura’s social cognitive theory of self-regulation, as it addresses the connection of self-directedness in goal attainment actions, motivation, and efficacy in learners. A multiple case study of twelve K-12 teachers in a rural school district was used to showcase the individuals’ lenses of self-regulatory practices. Open-ended interviews focused on the patterns and experiences with self-regulation each educator exhibits while designing, modifying, and evaluating personal performance and efficacy. Participant observations and documented materials generated throughout the lesson delivery and reconstruction process were correlated with interview responses through categorical aggregation in process and value coding. Organizing participant responses into common self-regulatory domains such as goal setting, motivation, pedagogical modification, self-assessment, and efficacy can expose patterns of common strengths in self-regulatory practices for professional success, theming significant trends in successful domains of self-regulation to improve professional competencies in education

Designing Activities for Collaboration at Classroom Scale Using Shared Technology

Although researchers, teachers and policy makers broadly agree on the benefits of collaborative learning, there appears to be less clarity regarding how effective collaboration can be realised at classroom scale. Research in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), simulation-based learning and related fields has produced a considerable range of applications that aim to support collaboration in classrooms. Grounded in well-established theories of how humans learn, many such applications have shown promising results within the context of small research studies. However, most of those research-driven applications never matured beyond the prototype stage and few are available today as products that schools can easily use and adopt. Many systems lack flexibility or require too much time, hardware, technical skills or other resources to be effectively implemented. Furthermore, teachers can be overwhelmed by managing large groups of students engaged in complex, computer-supported tasks. This thesis investigates how forms of whole-classroom activity can be supported by combining shareable technologies with simulation, team play and orchestration. New designs are explored to help large groups engage and discuss at multiple scales (from pairs and small groups to the entire classroom) in ways that effectively include each student and use the teacher's limited resources efficiently. Moreover, this research aims to devise and validate a conceptual framework that can guide future design, orchestration and evaluation of such activities. Three in-situ studies were conducted to address these goals. The first study involved the design of a climate change simulation to support a professional training course. Iterative design and video analysis resulted in the formulation of the Collaborative Learning Orchestration for Verbal Engagement and Reflection (CLOVER) framework. This framework comprises a suite of conceptual tools and recommendations that aim to help designers and teachers create, orchestrate and evaluate decision-based simulations for whole-classroom use. Two follow-up studies were conducted to validate the usability and usefulness of CLOVER. One of them aimed to replicate the previous findings in a similar context and resulted in the design of a sustainable, whole-classroom simulation for students to discuss finance decisions. The other used CLOVER to expand an existing desktop application (a~language comprehension task for children) to classroom scale. In sum, the three studies provide substantial empirical evidence, suggesting that CLOVER-based applications can effectively reconcile learning needs (collaboration) and technological affordances (shareable devices) with the inherent benefits and constraints of teacher-driven, co-located environments. Furthermore, the findings contribute to a better understanding of what it means to design for sustainability in this context