A framework to study learning in a complex learning environment

This paper presents a framework for analysing variations in the ways in which students experience learning in complex, computer-supported environments. It involves an application of phenomenography extended to encompass the content of the learning as well as its context. Concepts from activity theory are drawn upon to enlarge the scope of phenomenography. By applying this framework, researchers, as well as course organisers, may gain insights into how courses are experienced by the participants and can thus develop these in a way that will be perceived as improvement by the course participants. Within this predominantly phenomenographic approach, the focus is upon the content of the learning experience, giving the ability to relate learning outcomes to the experience of the learning environment. Hence, insights can be gained that can help to improve learning environments and thereby outcomes. A case study illustrating the kinds of results than can be obtained when using the framework is provided

Interdisciplinarity in Technology Enhanced Learning: An Interview Study

This paper explores the influence of the concept of interdisciplinarity on the work of educational technologists and others involved in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) research. There is a growing recognition of the need for interdisciplinarity in solving complex research problems in many areas of science. Technology-enhanced learning is a relatively young area of research adopting a multidisciplinary approach to investigating the use of technologies for learning. This makes it a field that is worthy of exploration in terms of how the ways of working developed by its practitioners inform our understanding of the challenges of the field as well as its benefits. This paper reporting on work commissioned by the Joint Research Councils’ programme on Technology Enhanced Learning provides a discussion of the growing literature on this topic, and a study of the working practices of academics in TEL research. An interview study of 18 participants was conducted as part of the project. The paper reports on the key findings from the interviews and concludes with some practical suggestions to help participants deal with the challenges posed by interdisciplinary working in TEL research

Effects of the Jigsaw and Teams Game Tournament (TGT) Cooperative Learning on the Learning Motivation and Mathematical Skills of Junior High School Students

This study aims to: 1) describe the effectiveness of the jigsaw and TGT cooperative learning in the learning motivation and mathematical skills of junior high school (JHS) students, and 2) investigate the significant difference in the learning motivation and mathematical skills between the JHS students learning through the jigsaw cooperative learning and those learning through the TGT cooperative learning. This study was a quasi-experimental study using the non-equivalent pretest and posttest group design. This study involved two experimental classes. The research population comprised Year VII students of SMP Pembangunan Piyungan and the research sample consisted of two classes selected from all Year VII groups, with Year VII.A receiving a treatment of the jigsaw cooperative learning and Year VII.B receiving a treatment of the TGT cooperative learning. The instruments consisted of a test, i.e. a mathematical skill test, and a non-test, i.e. a questionnaire of mathematics learning motivation. To investigate the effectiveness of the jigsaw and TGT cooperative learning in the learning motivation and mathematical skills of JHS students, the data were analyzed using the one sample test. To investigate the significant difference in the learning motivation and mathematical skills between the students learning through the jigsaw cooperative learning and those learning through the TGT cooperative learning, the data were analyzed using the T2 Hotelling. To compare the effectiveness of the jigsaw and TGT cooperative learning in the learning motivation and mathematical skills of the students, the data were analyzed using the t-test. The normality was tested using the univariate approach, namely the Kolmogorov Smirnov, the homogeneity using the Box' M test, and the equivalence of the variance-covariance matrix using the Levene's test. The results of the study show that: 1) the jigsaw cooperative learning is effective for the JHS students’ mathematical skills and mathematics learning motivation; 2) the TGT cooperative learning is effective for the JHS students’ mathematical skills and mathematics learning motivation; 3) there is a difference in the effectiveness of the jigsaw and TGT cooperative learning in the JHS students’ mathematical skills and mathematics learning motivation; 4) the jigsaw cooperative learning method is more effective than the TGT cooperative learning method for the JHS students’ mathematics learning motivation; and 5) the jigsaw cooperative learning method is more effective than the TGT cooperative learning method for the JHS students’ mathematical skills. Keyword: Cooperative Learning, Jigsaw, Teams Game Turnament, Learning Motivation, Mathematics Skill

LBC/IRN Archive Teaching and Learning Case Study

The online archive provides lecturers, researchers and students with an extraordinary wealth of audio material covering the period 1973-1996. Precisely how this is best used in a teaching and learning context will probably only emerge after the resource has been used in various schools, colleges and universities. The subjects covered are so diverse that it is hard to know whether, for example, it is the history of Northern Ireland, or changing attitudes to food, which prove to be the most productive subjects. Will it be students of the media, and of course in particular radio , who exploit the archive, or those studying recent British history; political, social and cultural? There are, however, some general points worth making about the archive and how it might be used before looking in a bit more detail at what is available; 1) The archive is important both in terms of content (especially news and current affairs coverage of political, economic, social and cultural events and developments) and for also for production techniques employed (including interviews, vox pops, phone-ins, reportage and rolling news). 2) The online resource lends itself to student centred learning in which the student can explore the archive using the search and key word functions. This will probably work best as a relatively non-prescriptive task which allows the student to wander through the material in their own way (see the examples below). 3)Perhaps the most exciting archive-based student projects will include examples of audio which have been downloaded and then edited and incorporated into a web based report with audio examples, possibly within a multimedia product

Using Cooperative Learning Model to Enhance Academic Performance of Teacher Trainees in Some Selected Topics in Integrated Science at Saint Monica’s College Of Education

The study sought to investigate the effects of using cooperative learning on female teacher trainees of the Colleges of Education in learning some selected topics in Integrated Science. The investigation also sought to determine whether the Cooperative Learning Approach enhances the attitude and motivation of the trainees towards learning of Integrated Science. The study was carried out at the St. Monica’s College of Education in the Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region. In all, 80 teacher trainees consisting of 40 each from control and experimental groups were purposively sampled to participate in the study. The teacher trainees in the experimental group were exposed to the Cooperative Learning Approach and the trainees in the control group were lectured during the period of the study. The results of the study showed that the cooperative learning strategy was very relevant and beneficial in helping the teacher trainees of the St. Monica’s College of Education to improve on their performance in, and attitudes towards, the teaching and learning of Integrated Science. It was therefore recommended among other things that the science teachers should endeavour to integrate cooperative learning into their routine methods of instruction in the teaching and learning of Integrated Science

The relationships between personality, approaches to learning, and academic success in first-year psychology distance education students

[Abstract]: The first aim of this study was to examine the relationships between the big five personality traits and approaches to learning in a sample of first-year psychology distance students. Approaches to learning are the intentions a student has when faced with a learning task. A deep approach reflects an intention to understand the material, a strategic approach reflects an intention to achieve the highest grades possible, and a surface approach reflects an intention to cope with the course requirements by memorising facts. Consistent with previous research of on-campus students, the Intellect trait predicted the deep learning approach; the Conscientiousness trait predicted the strategic learning approach; and the Emotional Stability trait negatively predicted the surface learning approach. The second aim of this study was to investigate whether approaches to learning predict academic success, as measured by grade point average. As expected, the surface learning approach negatively predicted achievement. However, contrary to expectations, neither the deep nor the strategic learning approach predicted academic success. This finding may partly be explained by these first-year distance students undergoing a transition to the expectations and requirements of their flexible learning environments. Further research is warranted to establish whether the deep and strategic learning approaches become more likely to predict academic success in the latter years of study, after distance students have adapted to the flexible delivery methods. To this end, a longitudinal study that tracks the academic performance of these students until they complete their degrees or leave the university is recommended