Our Wild Neighbors (Flyer)

Margaret Renkl is the author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss at Graceland, and At Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South. She is also a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, where her essays appear each Monday. Her work has appeared in Guernica, Literary Hub, Oxford American, River Teeth, and The Sewanee Review, among others. In Late Migrations, she traces (in brief essays) a tender and honest portrait of her complicated parents—her exuberant, creative mother; her steady, supportive father—and of the bittersweet moments that accompany a child\u27s transition to caregiver. Gorgeously illustrated by the author\u27s brother, Billy Renkl, Late Migrations is an assured and memorable debut. Her next book, Graceland, At Last, brings together 60 of Renkl\u27s New York Times columns, which offer a weekly dose of natural beauty, human decency, and persistent hope in a sparkling new collection

Fünf evidenzbasierte Heuristiken für den Einsatz von Video in der universitären Lehrerausbildung

This article provides a research synthesis on the use of video in pre-service teacher education. Common ideas and evidences concerning the use of video in pre-service teacher education are reviewed. Based on the state-of-the-art in using video, five research-based heuristics are derived. Research findings of a number of studies are further used to illustrate the specification of heuristics. Specifically, a set of rules of thumb about when, how, and why to use video is presented to clarify the strengths and limitations of video as a medium to support pre-service teacher learning. (DIPF/Orig.)Der Beitrag liefert eine Forschungssynthese zur Nutzung von Video in der universitären Lehrerausbildung. Die Forschung wird dahingehend zusammengefasst, welche Ideen derzeit verfolgt werden und welche Evidenzen zur Nutzung von Video vorliegen. Basierend auf dem Forschungsstand leiten die Autoren fünf forschungsbasierte Heuristiken zum Einsatz von Video ab. Die Forschungsergebnisse einer Reihe ausgewählter Studien werden genutzt, um die Heuristiken weiter zu spezifizieren. Es werden Erfahrungsregeln vorgestellt, wann, wie und warum Video in der universitären Lehrerbildung eingesetzt werden kann. Die Erfahrungsregeln sollen helfen, Stärken und Schwächen von Video als ein Medium zur Unterstützung des Lernens von Lehramtsstudierenden zu klären. (DIPF/Orig.

Fostering collaborative knowledge construction with visualization tools

This study investigates to what extent collaborative knowledge construction can be fostered by providing students with visualization tools as structural support. Thirty-two students of Educational Psychology took part in the study. The students were subdivided into dyads and asked to solve a case problem of their learning domain under one of two conditions: 1) with content-specific visualization 2) with content-unspecific visualization. Results show that by being provided with a content-specific visualization tool, both the process and the outcome of the cooperative effort improved. More specifically, dyads under that condition referred to more adequate concepts, risked more conflicts, and were more successful in integrating prior knowledge into the collaborative solution. Moreover, those learning partners had a more similar individual learning outcome

Does knowledge help with the identification and control of a complex economics system?

Um Ansatzpunkte für instruktionale Förderungsmaßnahmen abzuleiten, wurde versucht, Probleme der Wissensanwendung bei einer komplexen ökonomischen Problemstellung zu identifizieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurde die Steuerung und Identifikation eines komplexen ökonomischen Systems durch Semiexperten (Mandl, Gruber & Renkl, 1992) und Novizen analysiert. Es wurden 18 Semiexperten (Graduierte Studenten der Wirtschaftswissenschaften) und 17 Novizen (Studenten der Psychologie und Pädagogik) untersucht. Sie explorierten und steuerten ein ökonomisches Planspiel, bei dem eine Fabrik zu leiten und deren Gewinn zu maximieren war. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die Semiexperten Schwierigkeiten hatten, ihre im Vergleich zu den Novizen größere Wissensbasis zu nutzen: (1) Sie leiteten die Fabrik weniger erfolgreich als die Novizen, d.h. sie steuerten das System schlechter. (2) Sie konnten eine Explorationsphase nicht nutzen, um differenziertere und kohärentere mentale Modelle über das ökonomische System (Fabrik und entsprechender Markt) zu konstruieren als die Novizen. Erst nach der Systemsteuerung waren die mentalen Modelle der Semiexperten denjenigen der Novizen überlegen. Aus den Befunden werden pädagogische Schlussfolgerungen für die Förderung von Wissenserwerb und Wissensanwendung in komplexen Problemstellungen gezogen. (DIPF/Orig.)Difficulties of knowledge application in solving a complex economical problem were analyzed in order to get hints for the implementation of effective instructional support. For this purpose, intermediate experts and novices had to identify and control a computer-based economics simulation. Intermediate experts were graduate students of Economics (n = 18), novices were students of Psychology and Education (n = 17). The subjects had to explore a simulated jeans factory and, later on, to maximize the profit (system control). The results show that intermediate experts encountered difficulties in using their extensive knowledge base: (1) They were less successful than novices concerning the profit made in the economics computer simulation. (2) They were not able to use the exploration phase in order to construct more sophisticated and coherent mental models of the system than the novices. Not until the system control phase was finished the intermediates outperformed the novices with respect to the quality of their mental models. Conclusions about the educational consequences of the results are drawn. (DIPF/Orig.

Facilitating flexible problem solving: A cognitive load perspective

The development of flexible, transferable problem-solving skills is an important aim of contemporary educational systems. Since processing limitations of our mind represent a major factor influencing any meaningful learning, the acquisition of flexible problem-solving skills needs to be based on known characteristics of our cognitive architecture in order to be effective and efficient. This paper takes a closer look at the processes involved in the acquisition of flexible problem-solving skills within a cognitive load framework. It concludes that (1) cognitive load theory can benefit from putting more emphasis on generalized knowledge structures; (2

Improving Lifelong Learning by Fostering Students' Learning Strategies at University

The foundation of how students usually learn is laid early in their academic lives. However, many or even most students do not primarily rely on those learning strategies that are most favorable from a scientific point of view. To change students' learning behavior when they start their university education, we developed a computer-based adaptive learning environment to train favorable learning strategies and change students' habits using them. This learning environment pursues three main goals: acquiring declarative and conditional knowledge about learning strategies, consolidating that knowledge, and applying these learning strategies in practice. In this report, we describe four experimental studies conducted to optimize this learning environment (n = 336). With those studies, we improved the learning environment with respect to how motivating it is, investigated an efficient way to consolidate knowledge, and explored how to facilitate the formation of effective implementation intentions for applying learning strategies and changing learning habits. Our strategy-training module is implemented in the curriculum for freshman students at the Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg (Germany). Around 120 students take part in our program every year. An open version of this training intervention is freely available to everyone

Peer assessment as collaborative learning

Peer assessment is an important component of a more participatory culture of learning. The articles collected in this special issue constitute a representative kaleidoscope of current research on peer assessment. In this commentary, we argue that research on peer assessment is currently in a stage of adolescence, grappling with the developmental tasks of identity formation and affiliation. Identity formation may be achieved by efforts towards a shared terminology and joint theory building, whereas affiliation may be reached by a more systematic consideration of research in related fields. To reach identity formation and affiliation, preliminary ideas for a cognitively toned, process-related model of peer assessment and links to related research fields, especially to research on collaborative learning, are presented

Learning-by-Teaching Without Audience Presence or Interaction: When and Why Does it Work?

Teaching the contents of study materials by providing explanations to fellow students can be a beneficial instructional activity. A learning-by-teaching effect can also occur when students provide explanations to a real, remote, or even fictitious audience that cannot be interacted with. It is unclear, however, which underlying mechanisms drive learning by non-interactive teaching effects and why several recent studies did not replicate this effect. This literature review aims to shed light on when and why learning by non-interactive teaching works. First, we review the empirical literature to comment on the different mechanisms that have been proposed to explain why learning by non-interactive teaching may be effective. Second, we discuss the available evidence regarding potential boundary conditions of the non-interactive teaching effect. We then synthesize the available empirical evidence on processes and boundary conditions to provide a preliminary theoretical model of when and why non-interactive teaching is effective. Finally, based on our model of learning by non-interactive teaching, we outline several promising directions for future research and recommendations for educational practice

Online help-seeking in communities of practice

Interactive online help systems are considered to be a fruitful supplement to traditional IT helpdesks, which are often overloaded. They often comprise user-generated FAQ collections playing the role of technology-based conceptual artifacts. Two main questions arise: how the conceptual artifacts should be used, and which factors influence their acceptance in a community of practice (CoP). Firstly, this paper offers a theoretical frame and a usage scenario for technology-based conceptual artifacts against the theoretical background of the academic help-seeking and CoP approach. Each of the two approaches is extensively covered by psychological and educational research literature, however their combination is not yet sufficiently investigated. Secondly, the paper proposes a research model explaining the acceptance of conceptual artifacts. The model includes users’ expectations towards the artifact, perceived social influence and users’ roles in the CoP as predictors of artifact use intention and actual usage. A correlational study conducted in an academic software users’ CoP and involving structural equations modeling validates the model, suggesting thus a research line that is worth further pursuing. For educational practice, the study suggests three ways of supporting knowledge sharing in CoPs, i.e. use of technology-based conceptual artifacts, roles and division of labor, and purposeful communication in CoPs