Adolescent girls and mathematics: classroom performance, attitudes toward mathematics and perceptions of parental attitudes /

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which gender differences exist in student attitudes toward mathematics and in their performance in mathematics at the Grade Seven and Eight level. The study also questioned how parents influence the attitudes of this grade level of male and female students toward mathematics. Historically, the literature has demonstrated gender differences in the attitudes of students toward mathematics, and in parental support for classroom performance in mathematics. This study was an attempt to examine these differences at one senior public school in the Peel Board of Education. One hundred three Grade Seven and Eight students at a middle school in the Peel Board of Education volunteered to take part in a survey that examined their attitudes toward mathematics, their perceptions of their parents' attitudes toward mathematics and support for good performance in the mathematics classroom, parental expectations for education and future career choices. Gender differences related to performance levels in the mathematics classroom were examined using Pearson contingency analyses. Items from the survey that showed significant differences involved confidence in mathematics and confidence in writing mathematics tests, as well as a belief in the ability to work on mathematics problems. Male students in both the high and low performance groups demonstrated higher levels of confidence than the females in those groups. Female students, however, indicated interest in careers that would require training and knowledge of higher mathematics. Some of the reasons given to explain the gender differences in confidence levels included socialization pressures on females, peer acceptance, and attribution of success. Perceived parental support showed no significant differences across gender groups or performance levels. Possible explanations dealt with the family structure of the participants in the study. Studies that, in the past, have demonstrated gender differences in confidence levels were supported by this study, and discussed in detail. Studies that reported on differences in parental support for student performance, based on the gender of the parent, were not confirmed by this study, and reasons for this were also discussed. The implications for the classroom include: 1) build on the female students' strengths that will allow them to enjoy their experiences in mathematics; 2) stop using the boys as a comparison group; and 3) make students more aware of the need to continue studying mathematics to ensure a wider choice of future careers.

Experiential learning instruments : an examination of the concept of the instrumental approach in experiential learning

Experiential Learning Instruments (ELls) are employed to modify the leamer's apprehension and / or comprehension in experiential learning situations, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of those modalities in the learning process. They involve the learner in reciprocally interactive and determining transactions with his/her environment. Experiential Learning Instruments are used to keep experiential learning a process rather than an object. Their use is aimed at the continual refinement of the learner's knowledge and skill. Learning happens as the leamer's awareness, directed by the use of Ells, comes to experience, monitor and then use experiential feedback from living situations in a way that facilitates knmvledge/skill acquisition, self-correction and refinement. The thesis examined the literature relevant to the establishing of a theoretical experiential learning framework within which ELls can be understood. This framework included the concept that some learnings have intrinsic value-knowledge of necessary information-while others have instrumental value-knowledge of how to learn. The Kolb Learning Cycle and Kolb's six characteristics of experiential learning were used in analyzing three ELls from different fields of learning-saxophone tone production, body building and interpersonal communications. The ELls were examined to determine their learning objectives and how they work using experiential learning situations. It was noted that ELls do not transmit information but assist the learner in attending to and comprehending aspects of personal experience. Their function is to telescope the experiential learning process.

The role of leaders in building organizational learning capacity

In a world in which social, economic, and environmental circumstances are continuously evolving and increasingly complex, leaders face the challenging prospect of navigating their organizations through unpredictable operating conditions. Finding a way to tap into the learning capacity of the people who comprise their organizations may be the answer to adapt and to survive. This qualitative research study explored the role of leaders in building this organizational learning capacity. The literature identified three domains of personal, interpersonal, and organizational capacity for learning in an organizational setting. Interviews with three senior leaders who had successfully built learning capacity in their respective organizations revealed four elements of leader commitment: (a) to the process of building learning capacity, (b) to organizational objectives and results, (c) to personal actions and behaviours, and (d) to the people of the organization. Each of the four elements of leader commitment spans the three domains of learning capacity that can guide leaders as they build organizational learning capacity.

Examining peer-controlled KR schedules during the learning of a movement-timing task as a function of task experience.

Learners can be provided with feedback in the form of knowledge of results (KR), under self-controlled and peer-controlled schedules. Recently, McRae, Hansen, and Patterson (2015), identified that inexperienced peers can provide KR that can facilitate motor skill acquisition. However, it is currently unknown whether previous task experience differentially impacts how peers present learners with KR and whether this KR impacts motor skill acquisition. In the present study, participants were randomly assigned to become inexperienced peer facilitators, learners with an inexperienced peer, learners with self-control who later became experienced peers, learners with an experienced peer, or learners in a control group. During acquisition learners completed a serial-timing task with a goal of 2500ms and returned approximately twenty four hours later for a delayed retention, time transfer, and pattern transfer test. We predicted that during the delayed tests, learners with self-control would outperform all other groups. Furthermore, we predicted that learners who received KR from experienced peers would outperform learners who received KR from inexperienced peers. However, our results indicated that participants who received peer-controlled and self-controlled KR schedules learned the task in an equivalent manner. Thus, our results are novel as they identify that inexperienced peers can provide KR that is as effective as KR provided by experienced peers and KR requested under self-controlled conditions.

Web2.0, knowledge sharing and privacy in E-learning

Quand le E-learning a émergé il ya 20 ans, cela consistait simplement en un texte affiché sur un écran d'ordinateur, comme un livre. Avec les changements et les progrès dans la technologie, le E-learning a parcouru un long chemin, maintenant offrant un matériel éducatif personnalisé, interactif et riche en contenu. Aujourd'hui, le E-learning se transforme de nouveau. En effet, avec la prolifération des systèmes d'apprentissage électronique et des outils d'édition de contenu éducatif, ainsi que les normes établies, c’est devenu plus facile de partager et de réutiliser le contenu d'apprentissage. En outre, avec le passage à des méthodes d'enseignement centrées sur l'apprenant, en plus de l'effet des techniques et technologies Web2.0, les apprenants ne sont plus seulement les récipiendaires du contenu d'apprentissage, mais peuvent jouer un rôle plus actif dans l'enrichissement de ce contenu. Par ailleurs, avec la quantité d'informations que les systèmes E-learning peuvent accumuler sur les apprenants, et l'impact que cela peut avoir sur leur vie privée, des préoccupations sont soulevées afin de protéger la vie privée des apprenants. Au meilleur de nos connaissances, il n'existe pas de solutions existantes qui prennent en charge les différents problèmes soulevés par ces changements. Dans ce travail, nous abordons ces questions en présentant Cadmus, SHAREK, et le E-learning préservant la vie privée. Plus précisément, Cadmus est une plateforme web, conforme au standard IMS QTI, offrant un cadre et des outils adéquats pour permettre à des tuteurs de créer et partager des questions de tests et des examens. Plus précisément, Cadmus fournit des modules telles que EQRS (Exam Question Recommender System) pour aider les tuteurs à localiser des questions appropriées pour leur examens, ICE (Identification of Conflits in Exams) pour aider à résoudre les conflits entre les questions contenu dans un même examen, et le Topic Tree, conçu pour aider les tuteurs à mieux organiser leurs questions d'examen et à assurer facilement la couverture des différent sujets contenus dans les examens. D'autre part, SHAREK (Sharing REsources and Knowledge) fournit un cadre pour pouvoir profiter du meilleur des deux mondes : la solidité des systèmes E-learning et la flexibilité de PLE (Personal Learning Environment) tout en permettant aux apprenants d'enrichir le contenu d'apprentissage, et les aider à localiser nouvelles ressources d'apprentissage. Plus précisément, SHAREK combine un système recommandation multicritères, ainsi que des techniques et des technologies Web2.0, tels que le RSS et le web social, pour promouvoir de nouvelles ressources d'apprentissage et aider les apprenants à localiser du contenu adapté. Finalement, afin de répondre aux divers besoins de la vie privée dans le E-learning, nous proposons un cadre avec quatre niveaux de vie privée, ainsi que quatre niveaux de traçabilité. De plus, nous présentons ACES (Anonymous Credentials for E-learning Systems), un ensemble de protocoles, basés sur des techniques cryptographiques bien établies, afin d'aider les apprenants à atteindre leur niveau de vie privée désiré.

The Personal tutorial guidance sessions in the framework of the teaching-learning field of the Bologna process: University of Minho (first cycle) courses students’ perceptions

The Bologna Process defends the adoption of a higher education in teaching-learning methodologies that – in contraposition to the previous model based on the transmission of knowledge, which for being essentially theoretical, gives the student a passive role in the knowledge construction process – allows a (pro) active, autonomous and practical learning, where the student acquires and develops his competences. The personal tutorial guidance sessions are included in the teaching contact hours. This abstract presents a study about the University of Minho (first cycle) Courses Students’ perceptions of the personal tutorial guidance sessions’ relevance in the scope of the learning-teaching process, so as to confirm if the implementation/implantation of the commonly called tutorial (type) education, as an approach to an active, autonomous and practical learning, is sensed by the learners themselves

Adaption of Courses and Learning Environment to the User Context in dotLRN

The explosive growth of Internet during the last years has been reflected in the ever-increasing amount of the diversity and heterogeneity of user preferences, types and features of devices and access networks. Usually the heterogeneity in the context of the users which request Web contents is not taken into account by the servers that deliver them implying that these contents will not always suit their needs. In the particular case of e-learning platforms this issue is especially critical due to the fact that it puts at stake the knowledge acquired by their users. In the following paper we present a system that aims to provide the dotLRN e-learning platform with the capability to adapt to its users context. By integrating dotLRN with a multi-agent hypermedia system, online courses being undertaken by students as well as their learning environment are adapted in real time

Strategy clusters and sources of knowledge in French L2 listening comprehension

This article reports on an exploratory investigation into the listening strategies of lower-intermediate learners of French as an L2, including the sources of knowledge they employed in order to comprehend spoken French. Data from 14 learners were analysed to investigate whether employment of strategies in general and sources of knowledge in particular varied according to the underlying linguistic knowledge of the student. While low linguistic knowledge learners were less likely to deploy effectively certain strategies or strategy clusters, high linguistic knowledge levels were not always associated with effective strategy use. Similarly, while there was an association between linguistic knowledge and learners’ ability to draw on more than one source of knowledge in a facilitative manner, there was also evidence that learners tended to over-rely on linguistic knowledge where other sources, such as world knowledge, would have proved facilitative. We conclude by arguing for a fresh approach to listening pedagogy and research, including strategy instruction, bottom-up skill development and a consideration of the role of linguistic knowledge in strategy use.

Innovative use of vodcast (Video-Podcast) to enrich learning experience in structures laboratory

Students may have difficulty in understanding some of the complex concepts which they have been taught in the general areas of science and engineering. Whilst practical work such as a laboratory based examination of the performance of structures has an important role in knowledge construction this does have some limitations. Blended learning supports different learning styles, hence further benefits knowledge building. This research involves an empirical study of how vodcasts (video-podcasts) can be used to enrich learning experience in the structural properties of materials laboratory of an undergraduate course. Students were given the opportunity of downloading and viewing the vodcasts on the theory before and after the experimental work. It is the choice of the students when (before or after, before and after) and how many times they would like to view the vodcasts. In blended learning, the combination of face-to-face teaching, vodcasts, printed materials, practical experiments, writing reports and instructors’ feedbacks benefits different learning styles of the learners. For the preparation of the practical, the students were informed about the availability of the vodcasts prior to the practical session. After the practical work, students submitted an individual laboratory report for the assessment of the structures laboratory. The data collection consisted of a questionnaire completed by the students, follow-up semi-structured interviews and the practical reports submitted by them for assessment. The results from the questionnaire were analysed quantitatively, whilst the data from the assessment reports were analysed qualitatively. The analysis shows that most of the students who have not fully grasped the theory after the practical, managed to gain the required knowledge by viewing the vodcasts. According to their feedbacks, the students felt that they have control over how to use the material and to view it as many times as they wish. Some students who have understood the theory may choose to view it once or not at all. Their understanding was demonstrated by their explanations in their reports, and was illustrated by the approach they took to explicate the results of their experimental work. The research findings are valuable to instructors who design, develop and deliver different types of blended learning, and are beneficial to learners who try different blended approaches. Recommendations were made on the role of the innovative application of vodcasts in the knowledge construction for structures laboratory and to guide future work in this area of research.

Blended learning approach to include the innovative use of vodcasts (video-podcasts) to enrich students learning experience in structures laboratory

Students may have difficulty in understanding some of the complex concepts which they have been taught in the general areas of science and engineering. Whilst practical work such as a laboratory based examination of the performance of structures has an important role in knowledge construction this does have some limitations. Blended learning supports different learning styles, hence further benefits knowledge building. This research involves the empirical studies of how an innovative use of vodcasts (video-podcasts) can enrich learning experience in the structural properties of materials laboratory of an undergraduate course. Students were given the opportunity of downloading and viewing the vodcasts on the theory before and after the experimental work. It is the choice of the students when (before or after, before and after) and how many times they would like to view the vodcasts. In blended learning, the combination of face-to-face teaching, vodcasts, printed materials, practical experiments, writing reports and instructors’ feedbacks benefits different learning styles of the learners. For the preparation of the practical laboratory work, the students were informed about the availability of the vodcasts prior to the practical session. After the practical work, students submit an individual laboratory report for the assessment of the structures laboratory. The data collection consists of a questionnaire completed by the students, and the practical reports submitted by them for assessment. The results from the questionnaire were analysed quantitatively, whilst the data from the assessment reports were analysed qualitatively. The analysis shows that students who have not fully grasped the theory after the practical were successful in gaining the required knowledge by viewing the vodcasts. Some students who have understood the theory may choose to view it once or not at all. Their understanding was demonstrated by the quality of their explanations in their reports. This is illustrated by the approach they took to explicate the results of their experimental work, for example, they can explain how to calculate the Young’s Modulus properly and provided the correct value for it. The research findings are valuable to instructors who design, develop and deliver different types of blended learning, and beneficial to learners who try different blended approaches. Recommendations were made on the role of the innovative application of vodcasts in the knowledge construction for structures laboratory and to guide future work in this area of research.

The symbiotic roles of empirical experimentation and thought experimentation in the learning of physics

This study was an attempt to identify the epistemological roots of knowledge when students carry out hands-on experiments in physics. We found that, within the context of designing a solution to a stated problem, subjects constructed and ran thought experiments intertwined within the processes of conducting physical experiments. We show that the process of alternating between these two modes- empirically experimenting and experimenting in thought- leads towards a convergence on scientifically acceptable concepts. We call this process mutual projection. In the process of mutual projection, external representations were generated. Objects in the physical environment were represented in an imaginary world and these representations were associated with processes in the physical world. It is through this coupling that constituents of both the imaginary world and the physical world gain meaning. We further show that the external representations are rooted in sensory interaction and constitute a semi-symbolic pictorial communication system, a sort of primitive 'language', which is developed as the practical work continues. The constituents of this pictorial communication system are used in the thought experiments taking place in association with the empirical experimentation. The results of this study provide a model of physics learning during hands-on experimentation.

Effects of divided attention and speeded responding on implicit and explicit retrieval of artificial grammar knowledge

The artificial grammar (AG) learning literature (see, e.g., Mathews et al., 1989; Reber, 1967) has relied heavily on a single measure of implicitly acquired knowledge. Recent work comparing this measure (string classification) with a more indirect measure in which participants make liking ratings of novel stimuli (e.g., Manza & Bornstein, 1995; Newell & Bright, 2001) has shown that string classification (which we argue can be thought of as an explicit, rather than an implicit, measure of memory) gives rise to more explicit knowledge of the grammatical structure in learning strings and is more resilient to changes in surface features and processing between encoding and retrieval. We report data from two experiments that extend these findings. In Experiment 1, we showed that a divided attention manipulation (at retrieval) interfered with explicit retrieval of AG knowledge but did not interfere with implicit retrieval. In Experiment 2, we showed that forcing participants to respond within a very tight deadline resulted in the same asymmetric interference pattern between the tasks. In both experiments, we also showed that the type of information being retrieved influenced whether interference was observed. The results are discussed in terms of the relatively automatic nature of implicit retrieval and also with respect to the differences between analytic and nonanalytic processing (Whittlesea Price, 2001).

Evolving features-algorithms knowledge map to support NIDS data intelligence and learning loop architecting – a generalised approach to NIDS pattern feature space knowledge processing

This paper describes a proposed new approach to the Computer Network Security Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) application domain knowledge processing focused on a topic map technology-enabled representation of features of the threat pattern space as well as the knowledge of situated efficacy of alternative candidate algorithms for pattern recognition within the NIDS domain. Thus an integrative knowledge representation framework for virtualisation, data intelligence and learning loop architecting in the NIDS domain is described together with specific aspects of its deployment.

Articulation of information requirements for personalised knowledge and construction

The quality of information provision influences considerably knowledge construction driven by individual users’ needs. In the design of information systems for e-learning, personal information requirements should be incorporated to determine a selection of suitable learning content, instructive sequencing for learning content, and effective presentation of learning content. This is considered as an important part of instructional design for a personalised information package. The current research reveals that there is a lack of means by which individual users’ information requirements can be effectively incorporated to support personal knowledge construction. This paper presents a method which enables an articulation of users’ requirements based on the rooted learning theories and requirements engineering paradigms. The user’s information requirements can be systematically encapsulated in a user profile (i.e. user requirements space), and further transformed onto instructional design specifications (i.e. information space). These two spaces allow the discovering of information requirements patterns for self-maintaining and self-adapting personalisation that enhance experience in the knowledge construction process.

Review of monitoring tools for e-learning platforms

The advancement of e-learning technologies has made it viable for developments in education and technology to be combined in order to fulfil educational needs worldwide. E-learning consists of informal learning approaches and emerging technologies to support the delivery of learning skills, materials, collaboration and knowledge sharing. E-learning is a holistic approach that covers a wide range of courses, technologies and infrastructures to provide an effective learning environment. The Learning Management System (LMS) is the core of the entire e-learning process along with technology, content, and services. This paper investigates the role of model-driven personalisation support modalities in providing enhanced levels of learning and trusted assimilation in an e-learning delivery context. We present an analysis of the impact of an integrated learning path that an e-learning system may employ to track activities and evaluate the performance of learners.