Figure Facts: Encouraging Undergraduates to Take a Data-Centered Approach to Reading Primary Literature     

Jennifer E. Round  A. Malcolm Campbell 《CBE life sciences education》2013,12(1):39-46

The ability to interpret experimental data is essential to understanding and participating in the process of scientific discovery. Reading primary research articles can be a frustrating experience for undergraduate biology students because they have very little experience interpreting data. To enhance their data interpretation skills, students used a template called “Figure Facts” to assist them with primary literature–based reading assignments in an advanced cellular neuroscience course. The Figure Facts template encourages students to adopt a data-centric approach, rather than a text-based approach, to understand research articles. Specifically, Figure Facts requires students to focus on the experimental data presented in each figure and identify specific conclusions that may be drawn from those results. Students who used Figure Facts for one semester increased the amount of time they spent examining figures in a primary research article, and regular exposure to primary literature was associated with improved student performance on a data interpretation skills test. Students reported decreased frustration associated with interpreting data figures, and their opinions of the Figure Facts template were overwhelmingly positive. In this paper, we present Figure Facts for others to adopt and adapt, with reflection on its implementation and effectiveness in improving undergraduate science education.  相似文献   

Misconceptions Are “So Yesterday!”     

April Cordero Maskiewicz  Jennifer Evarts Lineback 《CBE life sciences education》2013,12(3):352-356

At the close of the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research conference in July 2012, one of the organizers made the comment: “Misconceptions are so yesterday.” Within the community of learning sciences, misconceptions are yesterday''s news, because the term has been aligned with eradication and/or replacement of conceptions, and our knowledge about how people learn has progressed past this idea. This essay provides an overview of the discussion within the learning sciences community surrounding the term “misconceptions” and how the education community''s thinking has evolved with respect to students’ conceptions. Using examples of students’ incorrect ideas about evolution and ecology, we show that students’ naïve ideas can provide the resources from which to build scientific understanding. We conclude by advocating that biology education researchers use one or more appropriate alternatives in place of the term misconception whenever possible.  相似文献   

Learning in higher education – how cognitive and learning styles matter     

Carol Evans  Eva Cools  Zarina M. Charlesworth 《Teaching in Higher Education》2013,18(4):467-478

The cognitive and learning styles research domain is a highly complex one which has recently been the focus of rigour–relevance debates (Coffield et al. 2004; Evans and Sadler-Smith 2006; Rayner 2006). There is considerable support for the existence and value of style as a construct (Sternberg 1996) even though further work is needed to evidence greater impact on practice. This paper shares the work and experiences of one international research community – the European Learning Styles Information Network (ELSIN) and its attempts to advance understanding of the theory and application of cognitive and learning styles in higher education and other contexts. In so doing it highlights the principles around the development, collation and integration of research as exemplified by the ELSIN experience and considered by other research domains in higher education. Future directions for cognitive and learning styles research within the context of higher education are outlined along with the role of ELSIN in highlighting and leading on these.  相似文献   

‘Experiencing the Theory': Constructivism in a pre-service teacher preparation program     

Lorraine Evans 《Teachers and Teaching》2013,19(2):183-205

In two Bachelor of Education courses, students experienced social constructivist principles for teaching Elementary Language Arts. In the first course, they were introduced to the theory upon which curricula, methods, and strategies are based. Implications for instruction were explored through discussion of readings and participation in child-centered activities, later examined from the points of view of the learner and of the theory. In the second course, the seminar group pursued advanced questions about social constructivist theories, methods, and strategies. Students kept informal written responses to readings; shared reactions, ideas, and questions; suggested readings and approaches; and summarized their understanding in final papers. Students evaluated both experiences as being exceptionally useful to their own understanding of instruction. Four pedagogical points are worth consideration. First, despite differences in their undergraduate disciplines, all students demonstrated that they could contribute to their peers' construction of knowledge or meaning making of the concepts and theories examined. Second, the sequence of the two courses seemed to be important for establishing a base of understanding and inquiry for the seminar group. Third, students used metacognitive analysis of their experiences in order to examine their own learning, to investigate learning in general, and to inquire into the use of this understanding in their teaching. Fourth, students' excitement, as expressed in their evaluations, suggests that they began to construct a notion of what a teacher can be, of the obligation that a teacher has to continuous professional development, and of the need to inquire about their own practice.  相似文献   

Talking about Homelessness: A teaching and research initiative in East London     

Jennifer Harding 《Teaching in Higher Education》2013,18(1):81-95

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Viewing student behavior through the lenses of culture and globalization: two narratives from a US college writing class     

Jennifer A. Mott-Smith 《Teaching in Higher Education》2013,18(3):249-259

Globalization is bringing about profound changes in the university writing class in Western English-speaking universities, notably due to the influx of international students. This article narrates the experiences of a US writing teacher working with Chinese international students. It presents two incidents in which misunderstandings occurred, one involving textual re-use and the other, writing tests. The narratives demonstrate that, in order to understand student behavior, it is important for teachers to understand both the global context within which international students operate and their cultures of learning. The argument rests on the premise that, through personal engagement with students, teachers can engage in transformative internationalization, a type of internationalization that involves synergistic changes in both teachers and students.  相似文献   

Editor’s overview: outcomes and benefits of mentoring     

Shinhee Jeong  Jennifer Boswell  Elisabeth Pugliese 《Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning》2013,21(4):355-357

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Editor’s overview: exploring mentoring relationships of various populations     

Shinhee Jeong  Beverly J. Irby  Elisabeth Pugliese  Jennifer Boswell  Kimberly Kappler Hewitt 《Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning》2013,21(5):477-481

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Editorial Overview: Supplying the Demand for Professional Development     

Jennifer Boswell  Beverly J. Irby 《Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning》2013,21(4):269-272

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Critical Thinking in Preservice Teachers: A Rubric for Evaluating Argumentation and Statistical Reasoning     

Helena P. Osana  Jennifer R. Seymour 《Educational Research and Evaluation》2013,19(4-6):473-498

The authors implemented a cognitive apprenticeship learning community (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) in a class of preservice teachers at the University of Missouri - Columbia to enhance their argumentation and critical thinking skills about complex, educational problems. A detailed rubric based on the literature in argumentation and scientific reasoning was developed to evaluate the students' performance before and after the intervention. The rubric was designed to measure students' (a) conceptions and use of evidence, (b) notions about research and its applicability in evaluating complex social problems, and (c) ability to consider alternative perspectives. This article describes the intervention, the theoretical underpinnings of the rubric, and the use of the rubric in measuring the development of critical thinking in a group of preservice teachers. Strengths and weaknesses of the rubric are outlined and avenues for future research are discussed.  相似文献