Stud.IP and ILIAS in an EU-Funded Project for the Middle East

In autumn 2005 InWEnt (Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung/Capacity Building International gGmbH) on behalf of the EU invited to tender for three web based trainings (WBT). The precondition: either the open-source-platform Stud.IP or ILIAS should be used. The company data-quest decided not to offer the use of either Stud.IP or ILIAS, but both in combination - and won the contract. Several month later, the new learning environment with the combined powers of Stud.IP and ILIAS was ready to serve WBT-participants from all over the world. The following text describes the EU-Project "Efficient Management of Wastewater, its Treatment and Reuse in the Mediterranean Countries" (EMWater), the WBT concept and the experiences with the new Stud.IP-ILIAS-interface.

Curricular Integration of Simulations in Neuroscience - Instructional and Technical Perspectives

In recent years interactive media and tools, like scientific simulations and simulation environments or dynamic data visualizations, became established methods in the neural and cognitive sciences. Hence, university teachers of neural and cognitive sciences are faced with the challenge to integrate these media into the neuroscientific curriculum. Especially simulations and dynamic visualizations offer great opportunities for teachers and learners, since they are both illustrative and explorable. However, simulations bear instructional problems: they are abstract, demand some computer skills and conceptual knowledge about what simulations intend to explain. By following two central questions this article provides an overview on possible approaches to be applied in neuroscience education and opens perspectives for their curricular integration: (i) How can complex scientific media be transformed for educational use in an efficient and (for students on all levels) comprehensible manner and (ii) by what technical infrastructure can this transformation be supported? Exemplified by educational simulations for the neurosciences and their application in courses, answers to these questions are proposed a) by introducing a specific educational simulation approach for the neurosciences b) by introducing an e-learning environment for simulations, and c) by providing examples of curricular integration on different levels which might help academic teachers to integrate newly created or existing interactive educational resources in their courses.

Abstrahierendes Lernen durch aktive Modellbildung: Evaluation eines Prozesses und einer Lernumgebung

Die Fähigkeit zum Lernen durch Abstraktion aus Erfahrungen unterscheidet Experten von Novizen. Wir stellen einen Prozess für individuelles abstrahierendes Lernen und eine diesen Prozess unterstützende Lernumgebung vor. Die Ergebnisse einer Pilotstudie zeigen, dass Lernende unter Nutzung der Lernumgebung aus Fallbeispielen ein abstraktes Modell erstellen und über ihren Prozess reflektieren konnten. Dies fiel ihnen leichter, wenn die Fallbeispiele wenige gemeinsame Oberflächenmerkmale aufwiesen. Im Gegensatz zum intendierten Lernprozess wandten manche Lernende einen anderen Prozess an.

The Role of Relationships in the Professional Formation of Physicians

BACKGROUND: Studies of the professional development of physicians highlight the important effect that the learning environment, or \"hidden curriculum,\" has in shaping student attitudes, behaviors, and values. We conducted this study to better understand the role that relationships have in mediating these effects of the hidden curriculum. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Encouraging adolescents toward mental health careers via website biographies.

This project designed, developed, implemented and is currently evaluating the effectiveness of an interactive, multi-media website designed to encourage adolescents to consider careers in mental health. This Web-based learning environment features biographies of mental health scientists. Evaluation is conducted in a systematic, structured way using cognitive achievement, usability (ease of use), and affective scales (e.g., fun to use) as outcome measures

Putting It All Together

Putting it all together: technology design drivers to move your classroom from your campus to the world This workshop will introduce methodologies available for moving the current “classroom” mindset to a learning environment without boundaries. Participants will explore the design drivers necessary to create the technology supports for transcendent learning environments.

Impacts of a word-picture training on literacy skills in elementary school children and youths with intellectual disabilities

Objective: There is convincing evidence that phonological, orthographic and semantic processes influence children’s ability to learn to read and spell words. So far only a few studies investigated the influence of implicit learning in literacy skills. Children are sensitive to the statistics of their learning environment. By frequent reading they acquire implicit knowledge about the frequency of letter patterns in written words, and they use this knowledge during reading and spelling. Additionally, semantic connections facilitate to storing of words in memory. Thus, the aim of the intervention study was to implement a word-picture training which is based on statistical and semantic learning. Furthermore, we aimed at examining the training effects in reading and spelling in comparison to an auditory-visual matching training and a working memory training program. Participants and Methods: One hundred and thirty-two children aged between 8 and 11 years participated in training in three weekly session of 12 minutes over 8 weeks, and completed other assessments of reading, spelling, working memory and intelligence before and after training. Results: Results revealed in general that the word-picture training and the auditory-visual matching training led to substantial gains in reading and spelling performance in comparison to the working-memory training. Although both children with and without learning difficulties profited in their reading and spelling after the word-picture training, the training program led to differential effects for the two groups. After the word-picture training on the one hand, children with learning difficulties profited more in spelling as children without learning difficulties, on the other hand, children without learning difficulties benefit more in word comprehension. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for frequent reading trainings with semantic connections in order to support the acquisition of literacy skills.

Structural brain changes related to bilingualism: does immersion make a difference?

Abstract Within the field of neuroscientific research on second language learning, considerable attention has been devoted to functional and recently also structural changes related to second language acquisition. The present literature review summarizes studies that investigated structural changes related to bilingualism. Furthermore, as recent evidence has suggested that native-like exposure to a second language (i.e., a naturalistic learning setting or immersion) considerably impacts second language learning, all findings are reflected with respect to the learning environment. Aggregating the existing evidence, we conclude that structural changes in left inferior frontal and inferior parietal regions have been observed in studies on cortical gray matter changes, while the anterior parts of the corpus callosum have been repeatedly found to reflect bilingualism in studies on white matter (WM) connectivity. Regarding the learning environment, no cortical alterations can be attributed specifically to naturalistic or classroom learning. With regard to WM changes, one might tentatively propose that changes in IFOF and SLF are possibly more prominently observed in studies investigating bilinguals with a naturalistic learning experience. However, future studies are needed to replicate and strengthen the existing evidence and to directly test the impact of naturalistic exposure on structural brain plasticity.

Impacts of a word-picture training on reading in youth with mixed intellectual disabilities. A waiting-list control group comparison

Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) often struggle with learning how to read. Reading difficulties seem to be the most common secondary condition of ID. Only one in five children with mild or moderate ID achieves even minimal literacy skills. However, literacy education for children and adolescents with ID has been largely overlooked by researchers and educators. While there is little research on reading of children with ID, many training studies have been conducted with other populations with reading difficulties. The most common approach of acquiring literacy skills consists of sophisticated programs that train phonological skills and auditory perception. Only few studies investigated the influence of implicit learning on literacy skills. Implicit learning processes seem to be largely independent of age and IQ. Children are sensitive to the statistics of their learning environment. By frequent word reading they acquire implicit knowledge about the frequency of single letters and letter patterns in written words. Additionally, semantic connections not only improve the word understanding, but also facilitate storage of words in memory. Advances in communication technology have introduced new possibilities for remediating literacy skills. Computers can provide training material in attractive ways, for example through animations and immediate feedback .These opportunities can scaffold and support attention processes central to learning. Thus, the aim of this intervention study was to develop and implement a computer based word-picture training, which is based on statistical and semantic learning, and to examine the training effects on reading, spelling and attention in children and adolescents (9-16 years) diagnosed with mental retardation (general IQ  74). Fifty children participated in four to five weekly training sessions of 15-20 minutes over 4 weeks, and completed assessments of attention, reading, spelling, short-term memory and fluid intelligence before and after training. After a first assessment (T1), the entire sample was divided in a training group (group A) and a waiting control group (group B). After 4 weeks of training with group A, a second assessment (T2) was administered with both training groups. Afterwards, group B was trained for 4 weeks, before a last assessment (T3) was carried out in both groups. Overall, the results showed that the word-picture training led to substantial gains on word decoding and attention for both training groups. These effects were preserved six weeks later (group A). There was also a clear tendency of improvement in spelling after training for both groups, although the effect did not reach significance. These findings highlight the fact that an implicit statistical learning training in a playful way by motivating computer programs can not only promote reading development, but also attention in children with intellectual disabilities.

Supporting Whole-Class Collaborative Inquiry in a Secondary Mathematics Classroom

Recent mathematics education reform efforts call for the instantiation of mathematics classroom environments where students have opportunities to reason and construct their understandings as part of a community of learners. Despite some successes, traditional models of instruction still dominate the educational landscape. This limited success can be attributed, in part, to an underdeveloped understanding of the roles teachers must enact to successfully organize and participate in collaborative classroom practices. Towards this end, an in-depth longitudinal case study of a collaborative high school mathematics classroom was undertaken guided by the following two questions: What roles do these collaborative practices require of teacher and students? How does the community’s capacity to engage in collaborative practices develop over time? The analyses produced two conceptual models: one of the teacher’s role, along with specific instructional strategies the teacher used to organize a collaborative learning environment, and the second of the process by which the class’s capacity to participate in collaborative inquiry practices developed over time.

Online Format vs. Live Mode of Instruction: Do Human Capital Differences or Differences in Returns to Human Capital Explain the Differences in Outcomes?

Our paper asks the question: Does mode of instruction format (live or online format) effect test scores in the principles of macroeconomics classes? Our data are from several sections of principles of macroeconomics, some in live format, some in online format, and all taught by the same instructor. We find that test scores for the online format, when corrected for sample selection bias, are four points higher than for the live format, and the difference is statistically significant. One possible explanation for this is that there was slightly higher human capital in the classes that had the online format. A Oaxaca decomposition of this difference in grades was conducted to see how much was due to human capital and how much was due to the differences in the rates of return to human capital. This analysis reveals that 25% of the difference was due to the higher human capital with the remaining 75% due to differences in the returns to human capital. It is possible that for the relatively older student with the appropriate online learning skill set, and with schedule constrains created by family and job, the online format provides them with a more productive learning environment than does the alternative traditional live class format. Also, because our data are limited to the student s academic transcript, we recommend future research include data on learning style characteristics, and the constraints formed by family and job choices.

Aprendiendo matemática con Bradford : Propuesta metodológica de enseñanza de uso de los elementos básicos de la matemática en Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información [ByCI]

Se propone una estrategia pedagógica para la introducción de temas no propios, en este caso matemáticos, en las Escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de Ia Información (ByCI) a partir de un ejemplo centrado en un tema propio, su extensión a otros temas propios y la articulación del conjunto, con el objeto de alcanzar el máximo de "dilución" del tema matemático en temáticas pertinentes de ByCI. La propuesta se centra en la creación de un ambiente de aprendizaje a partir de las zonas de desarrollo próximo del estudiante. Se tratará de mostrar que discutiendo temas propios con enfoque cuantitativo, como la distribución de la literatura científica a partir de un modelo didáctico del difundido artículo de Bradford de 1934 se logra aprender, desde la ByCI, con el máximo de naturalidad y el mínimo de trauma psicológico, un conjunto de temas matemáticos elementales pero fundamentales para la mayoría de los Estudios Métricos de la Información. Se completa con propuestas de manejo del tema en las Escuelas, dirigidas a estudiantes, graduados, investigadores y docentes

Aprendiendo matemática con Bradford : Propuesta metodológica de enseñanza de uso de los elementos básicos de la matemática en Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información [ByCI]

Se propone una estrategia pedagógica para la introducción de temas no propios, en este caso matemáticos, en las Escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de Ia Información (ByCI) a partir de un ejemplo centrado en un tema propio, su extensión a otros temas propios y la articulación del conjunto, con el objeto de alcanzar el máximo de "dilución" del tema matemático en temáticas pertinentes de ByCI. La propuesta se centra en la creación de un ambiente de aprendizaje a partir de las zonas de desarrollo próximo del estudiante. Se tratará de mostrar que discutiendo temas propios con enfoque cuantitativo, como la distribución de la literatura científica a partir de un modelo didáctico del difundido artículo de Bradford de 1934 se logra aprender, desde la ByCI, con el máximo de naturalidad y el mínimo de trauma psicológico, un conjunto de temas matemáticos elementales pero fundamentales para la mayoría de los Estudios Métricos de la Información. Se completa con propuestas de manejo del tema en las Escuelas, dirigidas a estudiantes, graduados, investigadores y docentes

Aprendiendo matemática con Bradford : Propuesta metodológica de enseñanza de uso de los elementos básicos de la matemática en Bibliotecología y Ciencia de la Información [ByCI]

Se propone una estrategia pedagógica para la introducción de temas no propios, en este caso matemáticos, en las Escuelas de Bibliotecología y Ciencia de Ia Información (ByCI) a partir de un ejemplo centrado en un tema propio, su extensión a otros temas propios y la articulación del conjunto, con el objeto de alcanzar el máximo de "dilución" del tema matemático en temáticas pertinentes de ByCI. La propuesta se centra en la creación de un ambiente de aprendizaje a partir de las zonas de desarrollo próximo del estudiante. Se tratará de mostrar que discutiendo temas propios con enfoque cuantitativo, como la distribución de la literatura científica a partir de un modelo didáctico del difundido artículo de Bradford de 1934 se logra aprender, desde la ByCI, con el máximo de naturalidad y el mínimo de trauma psicológico, un conjunto de temas matemáticos elementales pero fundamentales para la mayoría de los Estudios Métricos de la Información. Se completa con propuestas de manejo del tema en las Escuelas, dirigidas a estudiantes, graduados, investigadores y docentes

Transformation of a Woodworking and Furniture Industrial District in Kampala, Uganda: Dichotomous Development of SME Cluster and Large Firm Sector

Clustering small manufacturers are believed to attain various types of collective efficiency. A woodworking and furniture SME district in Uganda has created a learning environment for artisans to start up their own workshops. In the district workers can access various managerial information including business skills and input materials easily than outside. Hence it attracted new entrants to follow and district growth continued. On contrary large firms are locating separately and dispersedly from SME district and have a negative image to SME. This dichotomy has been created partly through spatial division of two sectors and partly through policy favouritism toward large firms.