Levels of processing effects on learning from texts with maps

Two studies are reported in which high school students were forced to process a text containing a geographical map. In Study 1, 86 students read the materials under one of four different conditions in which levels of processing of the text and accompanying map were varied: Question Mapcue (the materials contained adjunct questions and cues to inspect the provided map); Question Map (the materials contained adjunct questions but no cues to inspect the provided map); Question (the material contained adjunct questions and no map was provided); and Text (the materials contained no adjunct questions and no map was provided). A number of recognition and recall tests showed no significant differences among the conditions. A map task showed superior performance on recalling information related to the events in the text by Question Mapcue students of high reading ability. Study 2, with 94 students, employed a deeper directed or forced processing condition in which students were required to actually draw on the map itself, the Mapdraw condition (an extension of the Question Mapcue condition in Study 1). The two other conditions were Question Mapcue (as in Study 1) and, as control, Question Map (as for Study 1). Results from recognition and recall testing showed positive effects for drawing on the map, but only if accompanied by high reading ability. Implications for independent student learning are discussed

Lectures

The purpose of this chapter is to help new academics to be aware of their approach when planning lectures, in order to maximise their students' opportunities to learn from lectures. The chapter outlines a set of principles, based on research literature on lecturing, instructional design and learning theory, to guide new academics in their planning of lectures. It covers the purpose and structure oflectures as well as ways to facilitate student learning from lectures

Bringing a ‘Local’ Voice to a ‘Universal’ Discourse: School Leadership Preparation and Development in Kenya

In this paper we demonstrate, through content analysis of university-based programmes and onemanagement institute, the construction of ‘leadership’ in the particular context of Kenya. The study paidattention to how the particularities of the locale are infused with universal discourses to develop an indigenousconceptualisation of ‘leadership’. In the particular context of Kenya, school leadership is similar to the universalconstruction of leadership – with an emphasis on instructional leadership, the management of resources andchange occasioned by rapid reforms in the education sector – but there are some context-specific differences.School leadership is also about negotiating between competing cultural and political interests, especially inrelation to access, equity and equality. School leaders need to manage internal conflict in the school as well asexternal ethnic conflict. Leadership is also about implementing government initiated reforms that called forflexibility and innovation not only in the use of scarce resources, but also in identifying less traditional sourcesof funding. These unique roles have implications for leadership preparation and development

An academic life : a handbook for new academics

An Academic Life assists in the process of orienting new academics to the nature of academic life, particularly greater accountability in all aspects of academic life, growth in the numbers of academic staff, and increasing demands and expectations from the growing student population

Engaging university learning: the experiences of students entering university via recognition of prior industrial experience

In this study, the academic experiences of 33 male students from an industrial background were investigated as they completed a two-year education degree. The purpose of the study was to investigate the quality of student adjustment to an academic environment following extensive industrial training and experience. Students completed a series of questionnaires relating to learning as well as a series of open-ended questions relating to academic and social adjustment. Data indicated that while students had developed a positive learning profile, a continued belief in the structural simplicity of knowledge appeared to have a significant diminishing effect on the quality of adjustment and on the quality of learning outcomes. Open-ended responses revealed patterns of academic adjustment consistent with the restricted understanding of the nature of university learning. Implications of these data for both recognition of prior learning (RPL) entry and ongoing support are broached

Aligning intellectual development with curriculum, instruction and assessment

University curriculum is complex and abstract - indeed, it becomes increasingly more complex and abstract as students progress through their degree programs. Third year is, or should be, more abstract and complex than first year. What kinds of intellectual demands typify academic learning, and how do these change over time? In understanding these demands, we are better able to align both our curricula and our teaching to the needs of our students at different stages of their learning

Individual differences that affect the quality of learning in doctoral candidates

This chapter addresses issues relating to quality learning in the specific context of doctoral study. As the elite level of formal education, doctoral study places a high level of expectation on candidates to contribute in an important and original way to the field of study. This expectation imposes a high metacognitive load on students, in appropriately conceptualising the task, and in managing the intellectual, affective, and contingency demands that accompany its enactment. We suggest that the regulatory control behaviours of doctoral candidates may best be explained by reference to a broader conception of metacognitive knowledge than has traditionally been employed. We conclude that the sources of regulatory activity are multi-dimensional, and describe them in terms of an active multidimensional epistemic metacognitive framework that establishes the parameters of subsequent regulatory activity. This chapter is about the capacity of PhD students to manage the metacognitive demands associated with the successful completion of the degree. The PhD has historically represented the highest level of tertiary study and, presumably, the highest quality of learning outcome. Although considerable variation exists in the structure of doctoral programs internationally, the intellectual outcome implied by the degree is common across all structures (Denicolo, 2003; Powell & Green, 2003 Powell & McCaulay, 2002.) The context of the present chapter is the Australian PhD. The PhD in Australia is completed as a single research project, formally submitted as a thesis of 80,000-100,000 words. Assessment is by external examination of the thesis. There are not usually compulsory coursework components associated with the degree. The doctorate in Australia has experienced significant growth over the past decade. The Australian government, for example, reported a 4.1 per cent increase in PhD enrolments between 2008 and 2009 (DEEWR, 2010). Given the intellectual expectations associated with completion of a PhD, the increasing numbers enrolling in the degree have given rise to issues of potential attrition and/or problems in candidature (Bourke, Holbrook, Lovat, & Farley, 2004; Colebatch, 2002). With the broadening of the candidature base, there are possibilities of significant increase in the array of individual differences within the cohort. Such variation, we suggest, would affect the likelihood of problematic candidature and the potential for attrition from the degree. Cantwell (2004) reported a comment by a university tutor that students who had entered her class via a mature-aged enabling programme seemed to 'get it: that they appeared to have some sense of what the intellectual demands of tertiary study were about, and of what they needed to do to meet those demands (Cantwell, Archer & Bourke, 2001; Cantwell, 2007). The comment provides a useful introduction to the problem of quality learning in doctoral candidature. The notion of 'getting it' encapsulates a fundamental attribute of any successful educational experience, and particularly of the doctoral experience. Knowing what 'it' is that one should get, and knowing what the act of 'getting' requires appear to us to be central to understanding how the intellectual demands of doctoral candidature are perceived and managed, and through this, of understanding the underlying attributes of the individual candidate that enable the mastery of these demands to occur. In this chapter, we consider some of the individual differences that potentially influence the quality of learning in doctoral students. Consistent with our thematic notion of 'getting it: we structure the chapter around two central issues: defining the quality of learning associated with doctoral study, and defining those within-candidate factors that we see as underlying the candidate's capacity to attain and maintain that level of quality in learning. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of an epistemic model of metacognition that postulates both a multi-layered nature of individual metacognitive knowledge, and the potential interplay of the cognitive and affective sub-domains in explaining metacognitive decision making among doctoral candidates

Identifying individual differences among doctoral candidates: a framework for understanding problematic candidature

Understanding how candidates cope with the demands of PhD candidature is important for institutions, supervisors and candidates. Individual differences in affective and metacognitive disposition were explored in 263 PhD candidates from two Australian universities. Several questionnaires relating to affective and metacognitive beliefs were completed and analysed using one-factor congeneric modelling. A total of 20 scale scores were entered into a two-step cluster analysis which identified two distinct individual profiles relating to both affective and metacognitive management by the PhD candidates. A Principal Component factor analysis of the scales was then used to identify an underlying three-factor dimensionality of doctoral metacognition. The significance of these findings for the supervision and management of candidature is emphasised

Older Women, Deeper Learning, and Greater Satisfaction at University: Age and Gender Predict University Students' Learning Approach and Degree Satisfaction

The present study explored the interactive effect of age and gender in predicting surface and deep learning approaches. It also investigated how these variables related to degree satisfaction. Participants were 983 undergraduate students at a large public Australian university. They completed a research survey either online or on paper. Consistent with previous research, age was a positive predictor of both surface and deep learning. However, gender moderated this age effect in the case of deep learning: Age predicted deep learning more strongly among women and not among men. Furthermore, age positively predicted degree satisfaction among women but not among men, and deep learning mediated this moderation effect. Hence, older female students showed the greatest deep learning in the present sample, and this effect explained their greater satisfaction with their degree. The implications of these findings for pedagogical practices and institutional policy are considere