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Learning Goals (learning + goal)
Selected AbstractsINTEGRATING ERRORS INTO THE TRAINING PROCESS: THE FUNCTION OF ERROR MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTIONS AND THE ROLE OF GOAL ORIENTATIONPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2003DOERTE HEIMBECK Error management training explicitly allows participants to make errors. We examined the effects of error management instructions ("rules of thumb" designed to reduce the negative emotional effects of errors), goal orientation (learning goal, prove goal, and avoidance goal orientations) and attribute x treatment interactions on performance. A randomized experiment with 87 participants consisting of 3 training procedures for learning to work with a computer program was conducted: (a) error training with error management instructions, (b) error training without error management instructions; and (c) a group that was prevented from making errors. Results showed that short-and medium-term performance (near and far transfer) was superior for participants of the error training that included error management instructions, compared with the two other training conditions. Thus, error management instructions were crucial for the high performance effects of error training. Prove and avoidance goal orientation interacted with training conditions. [source] Purification and characterization of Taq polymerase: A 9-week biochemistry laboratory project for undergraduate studentsBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 1 2010Robert M. Bellin Abstract We have developed a 9-week undergraduate laboratory series focused on the purification and characterization of Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase (Taq). Our aim was to provide undergraduate biochemistry students with a full-semester continuing project simulating a research-like experience, while having each week's procedure focus on a single learning goal. The laboratory series has been taught for the past 7 years, and survey-based assessment of the effectiveness of the laboratory series was completed during the 2006 and 2007 fall semesters. Statistical analysis of the survey results demonstrate that the laboratory series is very effective in teaching students the theory and practice of protein purification and analysis while also demonstrating positive results in more broad areas of scientific skill and knowledge. Amongst the findings, the largest reported increases in knowledge were related to students' understanding of how patent law relates to laboratory science, a topic of great importance to modern researchers that is readily discussed in relation to Taq polymerase. Overall, this laboratory series proves to be a very effective component in the curricula of undergraduate biology and chemistry majors and may be an appropriate laboratory experience for undergraduates. [source] Self-Assessment of Speaking Skills and Participation in a Foreign Language ClassFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 1 2009Diane De Saint Léger French; relevant to all languages Abstract: This article investigates the ways in which learners' perception of themselves as second language (L2) speakers evolved over a 12-week period. Thirty-two students of the advanced French stream in a tertiary institution participated in this semester-long study. Students self-assessed their speaking skills and their level of participation in French oral tasks in weeks 4, 6, and 12, and set learning goals accordingly. Self-perception evolved in a positive fashion over time, particularly in relation to fluency, vocabulary, and overall confidence in speaking in the L2. In addition, individual goal-setting encouraged learners to take increased responsibility toward their own learning, although increased awareness did not necessarily lead to concrete actions to modify learning behavior. To conclude, this study highlights the potential pedagogical benefits of self-assessment at both the cognitive and affective levels. [source] Enhancing learning ecology on the InternetJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2001C.K. Looi Abstract Recent notions view learning as participation in a learning environment or community where learners work together and support each other as they use information resources and tools to pursue their learning goals and solve problems. A broader meaning is to extend the idea of the learning environment to the overall setting in which learning communities come into existence, evolve, fade away, regenerate or transform. The advent of the Internet has brought about a powerful medium for creating and supporting such a notion of the learning ecology. Through the image of biological ecologies with their diversity, complex dynamics, and opportunistic niches for growth, learning problems and solutions on the Internet are explored and ways to enhance the ecology are suggested. [source] The relative effects and equity of inquiry-based and commonplace science teaching on students' knowledge, reasoning, and argumentationJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 3 2010Christopher D. Wilson Abstract We conducted a laboratory-based randomized control study to examine the effectiveness of inquiry-based instruction. We also disaggregated the data by student demographic variables to examine if inquiry can provide equitable opportunities to learn. Fifty-eight students aged 14,16 years old were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups of students were taught toward the same learning goals by the same teacher, with one group being taught from inquiry-based materials organized around the BSCS 5E Instructional Model, and the other from materials organized around commonplace teaching strategies as defined by national teacher survey data. Students in the inquiry-based group reached significantly higher levels of achievement than students experiencing commonplace instruction. This effect was consistent across a range of learning goals (knowledge, reasoning, and argumentation) and time frames (immediately following the instruction and 4 weeks later). The commonplace science instruction resulted in a detectable achievement gap by race, whereas the inquiry-based materials instruction did not. We discuss the implications of these findings for the body of evidence on the effectiveness of teaching science as inquiry; the role of instructional models and curriculum materials in science teaching; addressing achievement gaps; and the competing demands of reform and accountability. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:276,301, 2010 [source] Portfolios as a learning tool in obstetrics and gynaecology undergraduate trainingMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 12 2001Kirsti Lonka Context We developed a structured portfolio for medical students to use during their obstetrics and gynaecology undergraduate training. The main objective was to support the learning process of the students. We also wanted feedback information to enhance teaching. Methods The study population consisted of 91 medical students who completed the portfolio during their training course. The portfolio consisted of a 28-page A5-size booklet. The students entered all the clinical procedures they had performed and all the deliveries they had attended. After each group session, they answered questions about what they had learned and evaluated the performance of the teacher. They also indicated their general evaluation of the course and the portfolio itself. The teachers listed the 13 most important skills to be learned during the course. The students were asked to evaluate their own development on a scale of 0,5 before and after the course. A content analysis was performed on all the texts the students produced, and all quantitative variables were coded. Results The amount of text written in the portfolio correlated (P < 0·001, F -value 4·2) with success in the final exam. In addition to acting as a logbook, use of the portfolio enhanced the learning process during the course. Students' attitudes towards the portfolio were mainly positive. Students appreciated the departmental interest in their learning process. Conclusion Portfolios support the personal and professional development of medical students. A portfolio clarifies the learning goals and helps students to monitor how these goals are achieved. A portfolio encourages constant self-reflection. [source] Exploring the perceived effect of an undergraduate multiprofessional educational interventionMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2000Article first published online: 25 DEC 200 Context Improved teamwork and greater collaboration between professions are important factors in effective health care. These goals may be achieved by including interprofessional learning in the undergraduate medical curriculum. The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Liverpool organized a pilot two-day multiprofessional course involving all the health care related disciplines. Objective The present study examined the perceived effect of the multiprofessional course on the work practice of these newly qualified health care professionals. Method The views of former students who took part in the pilot course were collected using a semi-structured interview schedule and analysed using a qualitative data analysis software package QSR NU*DIST. Results Two main themes emerged. These centred around role knowledge and interprofessional attitudes. Data indicated that participants perceived the course to have increased their knowledge of the other professions and that this effect had persisted. Reported benefits to their working practice included facilitating appropriate referrals, increasing professional empathy and awareness of other professionals' skills, raising confidence and heightening awareness of the holistic nature of patient treatment. Participants reported forming negative attitudes towards other professions during their undergraduate education. They believed these had been partly encouraged by course tutors. The pilot course was perceived to have had had little effect on these attitudes. Changes occurred once the newly qualified professionals started work. Conclusions The results support the idea that interprofessional educational interventions must be tailored to specific learning goals to be implemented successfully, and that interprofessional education should be prolonged and widespread to have a real impact. [source] New Modes of Productivity for Student LearningNEW DIRECTIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, Issue 121 2003Barbara E. Walvoord Productivity strategies such as delegating instruction to computers, minimizing redundant course taking, and the like may not work. To enhance the productivity of today's students, this chapter recommends that institutions take five steps: delineate learning goals, assess student performance, understand how to achieve learning with the particular student population, consider options for increasing productivity, and ensure institutionwide support. [source] More significant and intentional learning in the economics classroomNEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 119 2009Laurence Miners By using Fink's taxonomy to shape new learning goals and creating new learning and assessment activities, two teachers succeeded in raising students' awareness of the value of their courses and enabled them to become more reflective learners in the process. [source] Instructional Design and Powerful LearningPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001Gordon Rowland ABSTRACT Skillfully executed, instructional design can result in effective and efficient means to meet learning goals. However, more powerful learning experiences seem to go beyond effectiveness, efficiency, appeal, and even predetermined goals. This study sought to identify the key features of instructional design, to determine the nature of powerful learning experiences, and to explore how the two might relate. A survey of experts and a series of interviews with adult learners revealed overlap in some areas, for example, in the perceived importance of active engagement in authentic situations, and clear differences in others, most significantly the importance placed by learners on continual face-to-face personal interaction with a mentor/expert teacher. Speculations are offered on what similar results from additional studies might imply with regard to design actions and choices, and questions for further research are posed. [source] Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an InterventionCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2007Lisa S. Blackwell Two studies explored the role of implicit theories of intelligence in adolescents' mathematics achievement. In Study 1 with 373 7th graders, the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) predicted an upward trajectory in grades over the two years of junior high school, while a belief that intelligence is fixed (entity theory) predicted a flat trajectory. A mediational model including learning goals, positive beliefs about effort, and causal attributions and strategies was tested. In Study 2, an intervention teaching an incremental theory to 7th graders (N=48) promoted positive change in classroom motivation, compared with a control group (N=43). Simultaneously, students in the control group displayed a continuing downward trajectory in grades, while this decline was reversed for students in the experimental group. [source] | |||||||||||||