The Elements of Instruction: A Framework for the Age of Emerging Technologies
... Our emerging framework includes 11 primary technology trends categories. In addition to describing this framework, specific social justice instructional activities in utilizing Molenda and Subramony's (2021) communication configurations, as well as elements of the Cone of Experience described by Dale (1969), are proposed. ...
... With the goals of considering Hoban and Dale's respective efforts with a 21 st century social justice lens (Bradshaw, 2018), we developed an initial framework of possible instructional technologies and their potential use for designing educational experiences that can impact key social justice issues. To construct this framework, we conducted an analysis of LD trends during the last eleven years (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020) and then categorized these trends using Molenda and Subramony's (2021) Communication Configurations and Methods. These trends have been organized into an initial structure and we provide examples of how these trends may be used for education on social justice issues (e.g., climate change) in order to contribute to the aforementioned ID toolbox. ...
... Gibson (1966) originally coined the term affordances to refer to properties of an entity which demonstrate to the user how to interact with that entity. In instructional design, affordances can be conceptualized as the opportunities that educational media or activities present for interaction or usage (Norman, 2013 To supplement our taxonomy of affordances, we then turned to Molenda and Subramony's (2021) book. With their "broad, eclectic view" of learning, Molenda and Subramony define "instructed learning as human learning that is mediated symbolically in planned interactions between facilitators and learners" (p. ...
... With the goals of considering Hoban and Dale's respective efforts with a 21 century social justice lens (Bradshaw, 2018), we developed an initial framework of possible instructional technologies and their potential use for designing educational experiences that can impact key social justice issues. To construct this framework, we conducted an analysis of LD trends during the last eleven years (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020) and then categorized these trends using Molenda and Subramony's (2021) Communication Configurations and Methods. These trends have been organized into an initial structure and we provide examples of how these trends may be used for education on social justice issues (e.g., climate change) in order to contribute to the aforementioned ID toolbox. ...
... ). We then provided specific examples of how that affordance of the technology trend may be leveraged to address a social justice issue.First, we consulted two main sources to establish a useful taxonomy of the different types of learning experiences activities, learners process "new verbal or visual information," during Discussion types of activities, learners perform in "mental processing of new information," and during Study activities learners "contemplate" verbal or visual information at one's own pace(Molenda & Subramony, 2021, p. 305).Molenda and Subramony (2021) noted that Demonstration activities exclusively are dependent on an "instructor's selection of content, gathering of sources and materials, and choice of time and place of delivery" (p. 173). ...
With the overarching goal of understanding the full scope of recent technology trends, this position paper developed an initial framework of possible instructional technologies and their potential impact on social justice issues. To construct this framework, an analysis of technology trends during the last 11 years was conducted. Our emerging framework includes 11 primary technology trends categories. In addition to describing this framework, specific social justice instructional activities in utilizing Molenda and Subramony’s (2021) communication configurations, as well as elements of the Cone of Experience described by Dale (1969), are proposed.
... This study's conceptual framework involves an intricate web of relationships between the Short Video Technique's independent variable (IV) and dependent variables (DVs), encompassing Soccer Skills, Learning Motivation, and Learning Engagement (Molenda & Subramony, 2020). Embedded within the unique educational landscape of Jiangxi Province, China, this framework provides a structured visual representation of the interplay between these variables. ...
This conceptual study delves into the intricate dynamics surrounding the impact of short video techniques on male students' soccer education in Jiangxi Province, China. This research utilises a complete framework to investigate the interaction between many factors, including the independent variable of short video approaches and the dependent variables of soccer skills, learning motivation, and learning engagement. The conceptual framework visually illustrates the potential pathways through which short video techniques may influence male soccer education experiences. The paradigm considers the mediating functions of learning motivation and engagement while also considering moderating and contextual elements within the specific educational environment of Jiangxi Province. This study contributes to theoretical discourse by bridging innovative pedagogical methods with practical applications in soccer education. Insights from this study have implications for educators, policymakers, and future empirical research. By embracing the potential of short video techniques, educators can enhance soccer skills while nurturing intrinsic motivation and engagement. The significance of this study lies in its ability to guide educational practices and stimulate empirical investigations to validate hypothesised relationships. As male students navigate the realm of soccer education, this paper offers a valuable compass that enriches their learning journey in Jiangxi Province and beyond.
... By examining the potential synergistic effects of these factors, this study seeks to uncover whether the relationship between short video techniques and soccer skills is influenced by the levels of motivation and engagement experienced by students. This study's conceptual framework involves an intricate web of relationships between the Short Video Technique's independent variable (IV) and dependent variables (DVs), encompassing Soccer Skills, Learning Motivation, and Learning Engagement [15]. Embedded within the unique educational landscape of Jiangxi Province, China, this framework provides a structured visual representation of the interplay between these variables. ...
This conceptual study delves into the intricate dynamics surrounding the impact of short video techniques on male students' soccer education in Jiangxi Province, China. This research utilises a complete framework to investigate the interaction between many factors, including the independent variable of short video approaches and the dependent variables of soccer skills, learning motivation, and learning engagement. The conceptual framework visually illustrates the potential pathways through which short video techniques may influence male soccer education experiences. The paradigm considers the mediating functions of learning motivation and engagement while also considering moderating and contextual elements within the specific educational environment of Jiangxi Province. This study contributes to theoretical discourse by bridging innovative pedagogical methods with practical applications in soccer education. Insights from this study have implications for educators, policymakers, and future empirical research. By embracing the potential of short video techniques, educators can enhance soccer skills while nurturing intrinsic motivation and engagement. The significance of this study lies in its ability to guide educational practices and stimulate empirical investigations to validate hypothesised relationships. As male students navigate the realm of soccer education, this paper offers a valuable compass that enriches their learning journey in Jiangxi Province and beyond.
... Molenda and Subramony (2021) offer a more technical definition of instructional method as "a generalized pattern of activities that affords learners the opportunity to exercise the cognitive and/or motor and emotional processes necessary to achieve some learning objective." (p. ...
Since 1983, the Instructional Theory Framework (ITF) (and its subsequent improvements) has guided instructional designers and researchers in designing and developing useful learner experiences (LX). For the past 40 years, the ITF was laser-focused on the selection of instructional methods, downplaying delivery methods (media) and management methods. The instructional design field continues to produce immature and confounded research-to-prove studies that do not provide guidance that is useful to practitioners. For more useful guidance, we suggest that researchers should embrace research-to-improve for studying immature methods and media, and research-to-prove for studying mature methods and media. In this paper, we discuss problems associated with proving versus improving, situational deficiencies, and confounding; we present a new version of the ITF that embraces media; and we then answer four key questions about (1) kinds of media knowledge, (2) forms of media knowledge, (3) research methods that deliver the knowledge, and (4) suggestions for editors and reviewers to embrace new media knowledge.
Elaborating on a keynote presentation prepared to be delivered at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) 2021 Summer Research Symposium, this chapter speaks from the periphery—i.e., the views expressed herein do not conform with mainstream views within our field—to explicate a perspective regarding scholarship and practice within the field of educational communications and technology (ECT) which has been developed and evolved by its author—henceforth referred to within this Chapter in the first person singular—over a quarter century of navigating said field as an immigrant, non-Western, non-Christian, openly gay scholar-practitioner of color. This perspective spans and represents a gamut of diverse professional experiences within a field that has historically been rooted in Western ethnocentrism and heteronormative patriarchy.
The origins and evolution of instructional technology and instructional design are treated in this chapter as separate concepts, although having intertwined histories. As with other technologies, their origins can be traced to the scientific discoveries on which they are based. Early in the twentieth century, new discoveries in optics and electricity stimulated educators to the adoption of technological innovations such as projected still pictures, motion pictures, and audio recording. Individuals and, later, groups of affiliated professionals promoted enriching learning by adding visual and, later, audiovisual resources where verbal presentations previously dominated. As radio broadcasting grew in the 1930s and then television in the 1950s, these mass media were perceived as ways to reach audiences, in and out of school, with educative audiovisual programs. In the 1960s, the wave of interest in teaching machines incorporating behaviorist psychological technology engendered a shift in identity from audiovisual technologies to all technologies, including psychological ones. As computers became ubiquitous in the 1990s, they became the dominant delivery system, due to their interactive capabilities. With the global spread of the World Wide Web after 1995, networked computers took on communication functions as well as storage and processing functions, giving new momentum to distance education. Meanwhile, research during and after World War II prompted a technology of planning – systems analysis. In the 1960s, educators adapted the systems approach to instructional planning, starting the development of instructional systems design (ISD). Since the 1980s, ISD has been the reigning paradigm for instructional design, while instructional design has become the central activity of instructional technology professionals.
This chapter considers social constructivism as an educational theory for the development of multimedia content to assist primary-care providers, particularly those in HIV clinics and other clinicians, and support staff involved in the care of patients with substance use disorders in better understanding the intake processes at the Methadone clinics. Main aspects of social constructivism with its focus on the collaborative and generative learning and the importance of a cultural and social context are elaborated within the framework of the multimedia design. A series of four videos were developed that feature interviews with patients who describe their experience on Methadone. In addition, medical providers and medical staff describe the intake procedures for Methadone. Also discussed is the instructional design process and the Bergman and Moore instructional design model that informed the design.
Scholars in educational technology, along with scholars of pedagogy overall, have labored under the handicap of lacking a common conceptual framework of the whole process of instruction, a framework that should include the major factors that influence successful academic achievement. After a review of the literature on conceptual frameworks, the authors propose a framework for instructed learning that is based on an eclectic view of learning theories and evidence derived from meta-analyses of factors associated with academic achievement. The framework proposes that three factors—Aptitude, Effort, and Instruction—are proximal causes of instructed learning; that three factors—Learner’s Psychological Traits, Learner’s Psychological State, and Facilitator—are first-level distal influences; and that four other factors—Peer Influences, Home and Family Influences, Social Media, and Mass Media—are more remotely influential. All these factors operate within environments—Classroom, School, and Sociocultural—that affect all the factors.
University success, which includes enrolment in and achievement at university, as well as quality of the university, have all been linked to later earnings, health and wellbeing. However, little is known about the causes and correlates of differences in university-level outcomes. Capitalizing on both quantitative and molecular genetic data, we perform the first genetically sensitive investigation of university success with a UK-representative sample of 3,000 genotyped individuals and 3,000 twin pairs. Twin analyses indicate substantial additive genetic influence on university entrance exam achievement (57%), university enrolment (51%), university quality (57%) and university achievement (46%). We find that environmental effects tend to be non-shared, although the shared environment is substantial for university enrolment. Furthermore, using multivariate twin analysis, we show moderate to high genetic correlations between university success variables (0.27–0.76). Analyses using DNA alone also support genetic influence on university success. Indeed, a genome-wide polygenic score, derived from a 2016 genome-wide association study of years of education, predicts up to 5% of the variance in each university success variable. These findings suggest young adults select and modify their educational experiences in part based on their genetic propensities and highlight the potential for DNA-based predictions of real-world outcomes, which will continue to increase in predictive power.
This article describes a practical approach to diagnosing and solving some of the motivation problems encountered in educational settings using the evidence-based Belief-Expectancy-Control (BEC) Framework. We think of this framework as a “learning engineering” approach, because it integrates and applies a wide array of research results and clinical experience by teachers and instructional designers to guide the solution of a practical problem at scale.
This paper proposes a historical analysis of the connection and differences between the Harvard case method in medical education and business education and the original problem-based learning method of McMaster University as it was developed in the late 1960s. The article focuses on the pedagogy of Harvard Medical School in 1900, Harvard Business School in 1920 and McMaster University in 1969, giving an account of how the respective approaches of these institutions became entangled yet divergent. Using data from archive materials and oral history accounts, a history of the pedagogical connection between Harvard and McMaster is drawn focusing on the use of cases versus problems. The paper concludes by arguing that specific innovations in PBL compared with the case method justify considering them as separate educational methods rather than more of the same. Keywords: case method, problem-based learning, harvard
On average, students attending selective schools outperform their non-selective counterparts in national exams. These differences are often attributed to value added by the school, as well as factors schools use to select pupils, including ability, achievement and, in cases where schools charge tuition fees or are located in affluent areas, socioeconomic status. However, the possible role of DNA differences between students of different schools types has not yet been considered. We used a UK-representative sample of 4814 genotyped students to investigate exam performance at age 16 and genetic differences between students in three school types: state-funded, non-selective schools (‘non-selective’), state-funded, selective schools (‘grammar’) and private schools, which are selective (‘private’). We created a genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) derived from a genome-wide association study of years of education (EduYears). We found substantial mean genetic differences between students of different school types: students in non- selective schools had lower EduYears GPS compared to those in grammar (d = 0.41) and private schools (d = 0.37). Three times as many students in the top EduYears GPS decile went to a selective school compared to the bottom decile. These results were mirrored in the exam differences between school types. However, once we controlled for factors involved in pupil selection, there were no significant genetic differences between school types, and the variance in exam scores at age 16 explained by school type dropped from 7% to <1%. These results show that genetic and exam differences between school types are primarily due to the heritable characteristics involved in pupil admission.
The human brain network is modular--comprised of communities of tightly interconnected nodes. This network contains local hubs, which have many connections within their own communities, and connector hubs, which have connections diversely distributed across communities. A mechanistic understanding of these hubs and how they support cognition has not been demonstrated. Here, we leveraged individual differences in hub connectivity and cognition. We show that a model of hub connectivity accurately predicts the cognitive performance of 476 individuals in four distinct tasks. Moreover, there is a general optimal network structure for cognitive performance--individuals with diversely connected hubs and consequent modular brain networks exhibit increased cognitive performance, regardless of the task. Critically, we find evidence consistent with a mechanistic model in which connector hubs tune the connectivity of their neighbors to be more modular while allowing for task appropriate information integration across communities, which increases global modularity and cognitive performance.
Modern technologies such as YouTube afford unprecedented access to the skilled performances of other people. Six experiments (N = 2,225) reveal that repeatedly watching others can foster an illusion of skill acquisition. The more people merely watch others perform (without actually practicing themselves), the more they nonetheless believe they could perform the skill, too (Experiment 1). However, people’s actual abilities—from throwing darts and doing the moonwalk to playing an online game—do not improve after merely watching others, despite predictions to the contrary (Experiments 2–4). What do viewers see that makes them think they are learning? We found that extensive viewing allows people to track what steps to take (Experiment 5) but not how those steps feel when taking them. Accordingly, experiencing a “taste” of performing attenuates the illusion: Watching others juggle but then holding the pins oneself tempers perceived change in one’s own ability (Experiment 6). These findings highlight unforeseen problems for self-assessment when watching other people.
This report gives a brief introduction to the Virtual Simulation Teaching Centre of Fujian Medical University School of Stomatology (VSFMUSS), China. As one of the best dental simulation laboratories in China, the VSFMUSS aims to train dental students and clinicians to be professionals who are able to provide optimal oral health care by giving them the best virtual patient care experience possible in a nonclinical setting. The features, achievements and future directions of the VSFMUSS are addressed. Moreover, the role of the VSFMUSS was evaluated and discussed based on the students' and faculties' perceptions, rate of employment after graduation, and so on.
This chapter seeks to establish a common understanding of the terms "emerging technologies" and "emerging practices" as a step toward more meaningful conversations and inquiry.
Background/Context
Historical studies examine aspects of African American education in and out of school in detail (Woodson 1915, 1933, Bullock 1970, Anderson 1988, Morris 1982, Rachal 1986, Rose 1964, Webber 1978, Williams 2005). Scholars of African American literacy have noted ways that education intersects other arenas such as religion and expressive culture (Cornelius 1991, Gundaker 1998).
Objective
Most of the papers in this volume focus on contemporary ethnographic research that explores processes of “education” outside of schooling which are hidden by the dominance of “schooling” and “learning” as paradigms for what education “is.”
Population
However, African Americans under enslavement often had to hide educational practices, especially those relating to literacy, under threat of violence. Thus the stakes of education were high indeed with much to teach about the “hidden processes of deliberate change” (Varenne, this volume) that are the subject of this special issue.
Research Design
This paper examines three interrelated kinds of activity from a historical anthropological perspective: 1) invisible or seemingly extraneous aspects of schooling and efforts to orchestrate school-like activities; 2) hidden and not so hidden literacy acquisition; and 3) expressive practices with educational dimensions for participants that remained largely invisible to outsiders.
Conclusions
“Hidden education” in the Quarter involved a double language that addressed both the world as it “is” and the world as it could or should be; the world that outsiders control and the one that insiders are continually educating each other to make. Thus, it seems the enslaved have contributed a more complex theory of education than that which informs much of today's schooling. Similarly, they have left a legacy of valuable educative skills that schools today often undervalue.
This study uses district-level data for the academic year 2007-2008 in order to determine if teacher merit pay has any effect on student graduation rates and drop-out rates. Using data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and the American Community Surveys, the results of this study suggest that merit pay is not positively related to student academic attainment. Factors that have an effect on academic attainment include region of residence, racial composition of student body, educational attainment of district residents, and median family income. This study is important because it is the first to use a national set of district-level data, and its findings are consistent with some of the research in this area in that it finds that merit pay has no positive and significant effects on academic attainment.
Social media provide new means and opportunities for learning that are consistent with major tenets of both social and cognitive constructivism, and extend the process of learning and meaning construction to more diverse communities and universally accessible shared activities that are jointly and concurrently engaged in by both peers and experts.
Spoken language is, arguably, the primary means by which teachers teach and students learn. Much of the literature on language in classrooms has focused on discussion that is seen as both a method of instruction and a curricular outcome. While much of the research on discussion has focused on K-12 classrooms, there is also a body of research examining the efficacy of discussion in postsecondary settings. This article provides a review of this literature in order to consider the effect of discussion on student learning in college and university classrooms, the prevalence of discussion in postsecondary settings, and the quality of discussion in these settings. In general, the results of research on the efficacy of discussion in postsecondary settings are mixed. More seriously, researchers have not been explicit about the meaning of discussion and much of what is called discussion in this body of research is merely recitation with minimal levels of student participation. Although the research on discussion in college and university classrooms is inconclusive, some implications can be drawn from this review of the research including the need for future researchers to clearly define what they mean by “discussion.”.
Disputes about the impact of instructional guidance during teaching have been ongoing for more than a half-century. On one side of this argument are thosewho believe that all people—novices and experts
alike—learn best when provided with instruction that contains
unguided or partly guided segments. This is generally defined
as instruction in which learners, rather than being presented
with all essential information and asked to practice using it, must
discover or construct some or all of the essential information for
themselves. On the other side are those who believe that ideal
learning environments for experts and novices differ: while
experts often thrive without much guidance, nearly everyone
else thrives when provided with full, explicit instructional guid-
ance (and should not be asked to discover any essential content
or skills). Our goal in this article is to put an end to this debate. Decades of research clearly demonstrate that for novices (comprising virtually all students), direct, explicit instruction is more effective and more efficient than partial guidance. So, when teaching new content and skills to novices, teachers are more effective when they provide explicit guidance accompanied by practice and feedback, not when they require students to discover many aspects of what they must learn. As we will discuss, this does not mean direct, expository instruction all day every day. Small group and independent problems and projects can be effective—not as vehicles for making discoveries, but as a means of practicing recently learned content and skills
The 28th volume of the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook describes current developments and trends in the field of instructional technology. Prominent themes for this volume include e-learning, collaboration, the standards reform movement, and a critical look at the field in its historical context. The audience for the Yearbook consists of media and technology professionals in schools, higher education, and business contexts, including instructional technology faculty, school library media specialists, curriculum leaders, business training professionals, and instructional designers. The Educational Media and Technology Yearbook has become a standard reference in many libraries and professional collections.
How did Civil War soldiers endure the brutal and unpredictable existence of army life? This question is at the heart of Peter S. Carmichael’s sweeping study of men at war. Digging deeply into soldier letters, Carmichael focuses not on what soldiers thought, but rather on how they thought. He resists the idea that there was “a common” experience but looks into their own words to find shared threads in soldiers’ experiences.
This forum highlights research that literacy teachers, students, and others can explore, use, or adapt as they provide literacy instruction and develop related programs and research agendas.
The cautionary history of correspondence schools and early federal attempts to regulate distance education
By tracking longitudinally a sample of American children (n = 1,097), this study examined the extent to which enrollment in private schools between kindergarten and ninth grade was related to students’ academic, social, psychological, and attainment outcomes at age 15. Results from this investigation revealed that in unadjusted models, children with a history of enrollment in private schools performed better on nearly all outcomes assessed in adolescence. However, by simply controlling for the sociodemographic characteristics that selected children and families into these schools, all of the advantages of private school education were eliminated. There was also no evidence to suggest that low-income children or children enrolled in urban schools benefited more from private school enrollment.
Updated version of her famous essay "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack."
The debate over the origins of individual differences in expertise has raged on for over a century in psychology. The “nature” view holds that expertise reflects “innate talent”—that is, genetically-determined abilities. The “nurture” view counters that if talent even exists, its effects on ultimate performance are negligible. While no scientist takes seriously a strict nature view of expertise, the nurture view has gained tremendous popularity over the past several decades. Most prominently, while explicitly rejecting any important role for innate ability (“talent”), some authors have argued that what distinguishes expert performers from normal adults is lifelong engagement in deliberate practice. Here, we argue that despite its popularity, this view is inadequate to account for the evidence concerning the origins of expertise that has accumulated since the view was first proposed. More generally, we argue that the nature vs. nurture debate in research on expertise is over—or certainly should be, as it has been in other areas of psychological research for decades. We describe a multifactorial model for research on the nature and nurture of expertise, which we believe will provide a progressive direction for future research on expertise.
Offers step-by-step directions and examples of content and language objectives for all ideas and activities. Provides use-tomorrow ideas and activities for implementing the eight components of the SIOP® Model. Includes 12 sample lesson plans that illustrate how a particular activity can be effective for all students, and all of these sample lessons are adapted for both elementary and secondary students. Features classroom-ready content and language objectives for all relevant activities. --From publisher's description.
The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender gives a thorough overview of all of the normative - and many of the less common - sexualities, genders and relationship forms including: Asexuality; Bisexuality; BDSM; Gay; Heterosexuality; Kink; Lesbian; Further sexualities; Trans sexualities; Cisgender; Intersex; Further genders; Non-binary gender; Monogamies; and Open Non-Monogamies. The Handbook also considers psychological areas such as Clinical psychology; Counselling psychology; Qualitative research; Quantitative research; and Sex therapy as they relate to sexuality and gender as well as intersectional areas such as: Ageing; Ethnicity; Class; Disability; Health Psychology; and Religion. Contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in this area combine cutting edge research with considerations on both clinical practice and academic study of sexuality and gender for psychologists from student to professor; and from any discipline interested in these ubiquitous aspects of humanity.
Background
Correspondence schools abounded in early 20th-century America. Several hundred for-profit vendors drew the vast majority of the annual enrollments, which peaked at one half million in the mid-1920s. Dozens of well-known universities created home study departments to expand their “extension” work. The handful of good studies of the origins of distance education falls short of what we need to understand this popular alternative to traditional schooling.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study
In 1930, Abraham Flexner ridiculed home study at Columbia, and, to a lesser extent, Wisconsin and Chicago. His denunciation of the mercenary spirit of home study reverberates in contemporary discussions of the entrepreneurial aspirations of American universities. This article places the business practices of home study at Columbia and Wisconsin alongside the work of proprietary schools to see if Flexner's criticisms were accurate.
Research Design
The article compares the advertising, sales, and collection practices of Columbia, Wisconsin, and the for-profit outfits in the 1920s and 1930s. The archival sources for Columbia and Wisconsin include annual reports, financial statements, letters to and from the directors of home study, and other documents. For the private schools, the verbatim transcripts of the annual meetings of their trade association are especially valuable.
Conclusions
Flexner's critique is misleading. Columbia avoided the excesses that swelled the income and marred the reputations of many for-profit schools. Wisconsin did even more to distance itself from the proprietary firms. The article ends with ruminations on the options available to universities when they undertake work in a field dominated by the private sector.
AutoTutor helps students learn by holding a conversation in natural language. AutoTutor is adaptive to the learners’ actions, verbal contributions, and in some systems their emotions. Many of AutoTutor’s conversation patterns simulate human tutoring, but other patterns implement ideal pedagogies that open the door to computer tutors eclipsing human tutors in learning gains. Indeed, current versions of AutoTutor yield learning gains on par with novice and expert human tutors. This article selectively highlights the status of AutoTutor’s dialogue moves, learning gains, implementation challenges, differences between human and ideal tutors, and some of the systems that evolved from AutoTutor. Current and future AutoTutor projects are investigating three-party conversations, called trialogues, where two agents (such as a tutor and student) interact with the human learner.
This chapter addresses issues faculty should consider when exploring the possible use of social media in instruction with today's learners.
Mnemonic devices have been considered by some psychologists to represent a form of “unnatural learning” (Jenkins, 1971, 1974; Neisser, 1976, pp. 141–142). In response to these objections, it will be argued here that the study of mnemonic devices is fundamental to our understanding of human learning and the operation of human memory. In fact, the notion of mental cues, so pervasive in the implementation of mnemonic techniques, plays an important role in the operation of memory schemas. The value of comparing mnemonic devices and memory schemas has been mentioned before (Battig & Bellezza, 1979; Bellezza, 1983a, 1986a) but has not been discussed in detail. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the similarities between these two knowledge structures and also to note some of their differences. In fact, instead of considering a mnemonic device as an unnatural and complicated form of learning, the proposal is made that a mnemonic device operates much like a memory schema. Many contemporary theories of memory consider memory schemas as important memory structures that automatically support natural learning. It is proposed here that mnemonic devices are simpler than memory schemas but seem complicated because the learner is very much aware of their operation.
Computer simulations exist on a multidimensional continuum with other educational technologies including static animations, serious games, and virtual worlds. The act of defining simulations is context dependent. In our context of science education, we define simulations as algorithmic, dynamic, often simplified models of real-world or hypothetical phenomenon that contain features that not only allow but promote the exploration of ideas, manipulation of parameters, observation of events, and testing of questions. The origin and components of this definition are described in further detail with emphasis on simulations’ algorithmic, dynamic, and simple features. Defined as models, simulations can be computational or conceptual in nature and may reflect hypothetical or real events; such distinctions are addressed. Examples of programs that demonstrate the features of simulations emphasized in our definition are introduced throughout the current chapter.
The auditory system is stunning in its capacity for change: a single neuron can modulate its tuning in minutes. Here we articulate a conceptual framework to understand the biology of auditory learning where an animal must engage cognitive, sensorimotor, and reward systems to spark neural remodeling. Central to our framework is a consideration of the auditory system as an integrated whole that interacts with other circuits to guide and refine life in sound. Despite our emphasis on the auditory system, these principles may apply across the nervous system. Understanding neuroplastic changes in both normal and impaired sensory systems guides strategies to improve everyday communication.
