Virtual worlds, Internet resources, motivation: The results of a research project

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Unravelling mysteries of the great learning divide : barriers to learning : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Adult Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This thesis was motivated by a personal determination to alter my own beliefs about what I, as a learner, was capable of achieving and, in the process, unravel some of the mysteries surrounding students who leave school with low, or no, educational attainment. My own limited school achievements, and subsequent success as an adult learner, have led me to question the appropriateness and relevance of our formal learning and teaching systems, particularly at school, but also in the adult sector. By looking deeply into the human mechanisms of learning and other influential factors I began to understand why my school experience had been so inadequate and gained some insight into why it is that our school learning systems are destined to fail a great number of its students. My investigation aimed to identify why some of us appear to fail to discover our learning potential whilst others around us seem to excel. How is it that so many young people (approximately 40%) leave their schooling without gaining even the most basic skills required to enable them to manage many of the critical applications of living? Is this a reflection of ability, or does this indicate something else? What blocks or barriers have these individuals met/faced? What limitations have been imposed or imagined? How can the educators support the kind of education that enables all children grow into complete and fulfilled adults able to contribute something (positive) to their society? Looking at Adult Learning Theories what strikes me is how these theories seem so perfectly applicable across all learning and teaching situations. They are not 'rocket science', as the saying goes, but perfectly logical and reasonable assumptions about the needs, motivations and goals of the majority of learners. Why are they not more widely employed? Memories of my own secondary school learning suggest that these theories have not been a feature of our formal school systems. Had they been I believe some of us might have achieved different outcomes

Electronic literacy with and attitudes towards the web as a resource for foreign language learning

About the book: This collection of papers aims at being the connecting link between their knowledge base and language as the main tool for achieving their aims and objectives. Internet in LSP and Foreign Language Teaching contains stimulating practical examples to achieve both academic and professional success, and it raises issues of concern in the field of English for Professional and Academic Purposes

Erasmus Language students in a British University – a case study

Students’ assessment of their academic experience is actively sought by Higher Education institutions, as evidenced in the National Student Survey introduced in 2005. Erasmus students, despite their growing numbers, tend to be excluded from these satisfaction surveys, even though they, too, are primary customers of a University. This study aims to present results from bespoke questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a sample of Erasmus students studying languages in a British University. These methods allow us insight into the experience of these students and their assessment as a primary customer, with a focus on language learning and teaching, university facilities and student support. It investigates to what extent these factors influence their levels of satisfaction and what costs of adaptation if any, they encounter. Although excellent levels of satisfaction were found, some costs affect their experience. They relate to difficulties in adapting to a learning methodology based on a low number of hours and independent learning and to a guidance and support system seen as too stifling. The results portray this cohort’s British University as a well-equipped and well-meaning but ultimately overbearing institution, which may indicate that minimising costs can eliminate some sources of dissatisfaction

The influence of motivation and comfort-level on learning to program

This paper documents a study, carried out in the academic year 2004-2005, on the role of motivation and comfort-level in a first year object-oriented programming module. The study found that intrinsic motivation had a strong correlation with programming performance as did self-efficacy for learning and performance, r=0.512, p < 0.01 and r=0.567, p < 0.01 respectively. Aspects of comfort level were found to have significant correlations with performance with an instrument on programming-esteem rendering the most interesting results. A regression model based upon these factors was able to account for 60% of the variance in programming performance results

Learning requirements engineering within an engineering ethos

An interest in educating software developers within an engineering ethos may not align well with the characteristics of the discipline, nor address the underlying concerns of software practitioners. Education for software development needs to focus on creativity, adaptability and the ability to transfer knowledge. A change in the way learning is undertaken in a core Software Engineering unit within a university's engineering program demonstrates one attempt to provide students with a solid foundation in subject matter while at the same time exposing them to these real-world characteristics. It provides students with a process to deal with problems within a metacognitive-rich framework that makes complexity apparent and lets students deal with it adaptively. The results indicate that, while the approach is appropriate, student-learning characteristics need to be investigated further, so that the two aspects of learning may be aligned more closely