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Enhancing students' agency in learning anatomy vocabulary with a formative intervention design
Abstract
One of the major challenges for health science students is the rapid acquisition of a new vocabulary in anatomy comprising several hundred new words. Research has shown that vocabulary learning can be improved when students are directed to vocabulary strategies. This paper reported a study with a formative intervention design inspired by Vygotsky's method of double stimulation. In this design, the students were put in a structured situation that invited them to identify the challenges in learning anatomy and then provided them with active guidance and a range of anatomy vocabulary learning strategies that scaffolded them to work out a solution to the challenge and develop their individualized anatomy learning resources. The data were collected from surveys, pre and postquiz results, and group discussion transcripts. The results revealed students perceived one of the main challenges in learning anatomy was learning, memorizing, and remembering many new words. A key finding in our study was that the formative intervention enhanced students' agency in creating resources for learning anatomy vocabulary. In addition, the development of their understanding showed a recursive form: from concrete experiences to abstract concepts and then to concrete new practices.
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Visuospatial skills are considered important attributes when learning anatomy and there is evidence suggesting that this ability can be improved with training techniques including drawing. The Mental Rotations Test (MRT) has been routinely used to assess visuospatial ability. This study aimed to introduce students to drawing as a learning strategy for anatomy. Undergraduate speech science anatomy students took part in a drawing tutorial (n = 92), completed an MRT test, pre‐ and post‐tutorial tests, and surveys regarding their use and attitudes toward drawing as a study tool. The impact on their examination performance was then assessed. Regardless of MRT score or attitude to drawing, students who participated in the drawing tutorial demonstrated immediate improvement in post‐tutorial test scores. Students in the drawing group performed better in most anatomy components of the examination, but the result did not reach statistical significance. There was only a positive correlation between MRT score and one type of anatomy question (non‐image‐based) and speech physics questions (r = 0.315, p = 0.002). The unexpected finding may relate to the MRT which assesses spatial rather than object visualization skills. Students who liked drawing also performed significantly better in word‐based and speech physics questions. It is likely that the style of identification question did not require the mental manipulation ability assessed in the MRT. This study demonstrated that students with lower MRT scores are not outperformed in all aspects of anatomy assessment. The study highlights the importance of a more nuanced understanding of visuospatial skills required in anatomy.
The purpose of this study was to focus primarily upon the Vocabulary Learning Strategies and investigate their effects on comprehension, awareness and language competence of ESL undergraduate learners in Karachi, Pakistan. Today's learners in the classroom are more diverse in a number of areas, including linguistic, culture, location, and socioeconomics. This increasing variety inside the classroom highlights the demand for a transition toward education that is more learner-centred and supported by more resources. A system of education that is centred on the learner requires teachers to make use of their expertise and the available resources in order to determine how individual students learn best and then encourage them to actively engage with the appropriate vocabulary learning strategies in the diverse cultural classrooms. The current study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey design and utilized a quantitative research method. The data was processed to derive the facts and figures from the responses of undergraduate respondents. In consideration of vocabulary learning methodologies, data analysis for vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary acquisition was accomplished. The researchers examined the demographics and the questionnaire responses from (n=350), 193 (55.1%) males and 157 (44.9%) females undergraduate ESL/EFL learners using Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences. Results showed that majority of the learners agreed that vocabulary can be enhanced through different but appropriate intensive reading strategies like; words of their interest, reading story books, repeating lesson through rhyming words, repetition of new words and words while listening to colleagues and others, most of the learners rated high scores to intensive reading strategies. In order to gradually improve the learners' language proficiency, comprehension, and expression for practical application in daily life, English vocabulary must be taught taking into account their unique needs and cultural background. The study also showed that undergraduate ESL/EFL learners require support with lexical knowledge for vocabulary learning through a variety of ways. English language is utilized in every aspect of life, so it is essential to provide ESL learners with appropriate lexical knowledge for excellent language competence.
Studies using captioned videos have shown benefits for incidental vocabulary learning. However, little research has considered learner-related factors in this type of learning by viewing captioned videos. The present study aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of watching a documentary TV program on incidental vocabulary learning and assessing to what extent this learning is influenced by learner-related factors (i.e., L2 proficiency level and language aptitude). Eighty-two Chinese-speaking EFL learners were divided into two groups: one that watched a video with captions and another that watched a video without captions. Measures included four dimensions of vocabulary knowledge (i.e., recognition and recall of word form and meaning); L2 proficiency level and language aptitude were controlled as covariates. MANCOVA results demonstrated that viewing a documentary video affected incidental vocabulary learning to varying degrees in terms of recognizing and recalling word form and meaning. The caption group made considerably more significant vocabulary learning gains than the group not exposed to captions. The examined learner-related variables also significantly influenced incidental vocabulary learning gains when viewing captioned videos. However, L2 proficiency level was not a significant predictor of word meaning recall and recognition. These findings provide pedagogical implications for using captioned videos to enhance incidental vocabulary learning.
The transition from secondary to tertiary education can be challenging, as students must adapt to independent learning. For students in the allied health and nursing disciplines, this transition may coincide with compulsory first‐year courses in anatomy, which are traditionally difficult to master. Students' agency—their capacity to make intentional choices to alter the path of their learning—may play a role in their successful completion of first‐year anatomy courses. This study aimed to develop a measure for agency and to determine whether agency is associated with academic achievement. First‐year students (n = 131) completed open‐ended questions measuring each aspect of agency. Student responses were quantified using rubrics and then combined to create an overall agency score. Three factors of agency were determined: action, metacognition, and self‐efficacy. Students with higher agency scores were significantly more likely to have higher academic achievement in anatomy compared to students with lower agency scores. The relationship between agency and academic achievement was strongest for action. These results suggest that encouraging students to be active participants in their learning may help them to achieve at university.
The impact of the medical curricular reform on anatomy education has been inconclusive. A pervasive perception is that graduates do not possess a sufficient level of anatomical knowledge for safe medical practice; however, the reason is less well‐studied. This qualitative study investigated the perceived challenges in learning anatomy, possible explanations, and ways to overcome these challenges. Unlike previous work, it explored the perceptions of multiple stakeholders in anatomy learning. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted and the transcripts were analyzed by a grounded theory approach. Three main themes emerged from the data: (1) visualization of structures, (2) body of information, and (3) issues with curriculum design. The decreasing time spent in anatomy laboratories forced students to rely on alternative resources to learn anatomy but they lacked the opportunities to apply to human specimens, which impeded the “near” transfer of learning. The lack of clinical integration failed to facilitate the “far” transfer of learning. Learners also struggled to cope with the large amount of surface knowledge, which was pre‐requisite to successful deep and transfer of learning. It was theorized that the perceived decline in anatomical knowledge was derived from this combination of insufficient surface knowledge and impeded “near” transfer resulting in impeded deep and “far” transfer of learning. Moving forward, anatomy learning should still be cadaveric‐based coupled with complementary technological innovations that demonstrate “hidden” structures. A constant review of anatomical disciplinary knowledge with incremental integration of clinical contexts should also be adopted in medical curricula which could promote deep and far transfer of learning.
Abstract
Within Vygotskyan studies, double stimulation is foundational for agency development and to explain how individuals deliberately change their events. This study seeks to operationalise and apply a three-level analysis of double stimulation in a change laboratory with teachers. The macro level deals with the societal problem and the collective solution found to tackle it. An intermediate level meanwhile, looks at the change laboratory as a methodology able to boost expansive learning through chains of first and second stimuli. Finally, the micro level analyses the participants’ interactions during the sessions and traces the terms connected to the first and second stimulus.
Purpose
This study seeks to operationalise and apply a three-level analysis of double stimulation in a change laboratory with teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
Within qualitative inquiry, this change laboratory intervention was conducted as case study, by way of an intensive analysis of an individual unit.
Findings
The macro level deals with the societal problem and the collective solution found to tackle it. An intermediate level looks at the change laboratory as a methodology able to boost expansive learning through chains of first and second stimuli. The micro level analyses the participants’ interactions during the sessions and traces the terms connected to the first and second stimulus.
Originality
Vygotsky’s method of double stimulation is crucial to develop one’s agency and to explain how individuals deliberately influence events. Yet the literature is fragmented and made of brief accounts, and this paper for the first time inspects double stimulation on different levels within a change laboratory intervention with teachers.
Objectives
Brain imaging is particularly difficult to learn and to teach. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of teaching brain imaging through drawing method in medical faculty students.Methods
We conducted a prospective, interventional, randomized, single-blind study in third-year voluntary medical students between December 2016 and June 2019. Eighty medical students received a theoretical training on brain imaging interpretation and were subsequently randomized into two groups (“teaching through drawing” and “standard teaching”). An initial evaluation was carried out to assess the students’ basic level. Three teaching and training sessions were spread over 2 months in each group. One month after the third teaching session, students were evaluated by an examiner who was blind to the student’s group. The same comprehensive evaluation grid has been used for the initial and final students’ evaluations to give an objective score out of 20 points. Students’ scores were compared between groups using the t test and effect sizes were measured using Cohen’s d.ResultsStudents’ mean age was 21.1 years old. In total, 61.3% were female. Regarding initial evaluation, scores did not differ significantly between both groups (10.1 ± 2.0 versus 9.9 ± 1.9, p = 0.65), thus confirming the homogeneity of the students’ basic level. The scores obtained from the final evaluation were significantly higher for the “teaching through drawing” students than for the “standard teaching” students (14.7 ± 2.7 vs 13.2 ± 2.0, p = 0.009, Cohen’s d = 0.62).Conclusions
This study provides class II evidence that the method of drawing alone can improve brain imaging comprehension and analysis in medical faculty students.Key Points• The method of drawing can improve brain imaging analysis in medical faculty students.• A large majority of students were satisfied by the method of brain imaging teaching through drawing.
Science courses containing English‐language terminology are a common implement in “English as a foreign language” (EFL) countries across the globe. In many of these countries, licensing examinations place added significance on terminology competence by requiring health science graduates to demonstrate mastery of English‐language anatomy terms. In recent years, a wealth of research has shown active learning can offer many benefits over lecture‐based, didactic approaches. Despite this work, very little has been done to test the potential of active learning in improving medical terminology performance. The present study explores this potential in two human gross anatomy lecture courses in South Korea, collecting performance and survey data from 399 undergraduates over a period of four years. Jigsaws, retrieval practice, and regular cumulative quizzing were used to mitigate three learning challenges specific to the study context: high vocabulary volume, low feelings of control over learning, and difficulties with exam preparation. The results show the reforms significantly improved both performance and learning attitudes, with students overwhelmingly favoring the use of new methods over lecture when taught using a mixture of both. Given that science learning often resembles the process of learning a foreign language, this study offers broad potential for improving terminology competence across disciplines, even for non‐EFL students.
The development of English teaching and learning is also influenced by rapid changes in technology as we enter the industry of 4.0. Education and teaching-related field areas such as pedagogy, teaching media, the courses, etc. are the subjects which have been impacted by technology. Meanwhile, the lack of motivation is one of the obstacles that students faced. In this research, the researcher used one online-gamification tool called 'Kahoot!' in a senior high school to promote their engagement and motivation. The case study and questionnaire were used for the method of data collection. The data collection process was conducted for two months on campus. The meaningful gamification concept was applied through Kahoot! at the end of the meeting, and the last session they answered the questionnaires. Thirty-five students participated in this study, and the result of the study showed students’ responses which are discussed under two main topics; Students’ engagement and motivation, and learning outcomes.
Applied memory research in the field of cognitive and educational psychology has generated a large body of data to support the use of spacing and testing to promote long-term or durable memory. Despite the consensus of this scientific community, most learners, including radiology residents, do not utilize these tools for learning new information. We present a discussion of these parallel and synergistic learning techniques and their incorporation into a software platform, called Spaced Radiology, which we created for teaching radiology residents. Specifically, this software uses these evidence-based strategies to teach pediatric radiology through a flashcard deck system.
In this study, we examined the effects of E-flashcards and paper flashcards on Chinese vocabulary learning and learning attitudes among students learning Chinese as a foreign language. One hundred fourth and fifth grade English-speaking students participated in two groups, E-flashcards (n = 50) and paper flashcards (n = 50), to learn 20 new Chinese words. E-flashcards (or digital flashcards through students’ iPads) incorporate multimedia resources with comprehensive visual, verbal, and audio inputs while the paper flashcards provide only visual and verbal inputs. Results revealed that students who used E-flashcards statistically outperformed those who used paper flashcards on immediate post-tests of Chinese word reading and listening, as well as on 1-week delayed listening test. In addition, students who used E-flashcards demonstrated more positive learning attitudes toward Chinese word learning than those who used paper flashcards. Such findings support the audio application of multimedia on Chinese word recognition among novice Chinese language learners as an effective pedagogical approach. Instructional implications are discussed.
This study investigated the hypothesis that academic vocabulary instruction infused with morphological analysis of bound Latin roots-such as analysis of the relation between innovative and its bound root, nov (meaning “new”)-will enhance word learning outcomes for English Learner (EL) adolescents. Latinate words with bound roots comprise a majority of general academic vocabulary words in English and are ubiquitous in texts across content areas. However, the effect of instruction in this area of morphology is unclear. Theory suggests that morphological knowledge is a critical component of lexical representations, binding a word’s phonological, orthographic and semantic features. We hypothesized that instruction in bound Latin roots would (a) produce stronger outcomes for learning academic words by strengthening semantic and orthographic representations, and (b) equip students with morphological analysis skills to problem-solve new words. Employing a within-subjects design, 84 EL students participated in both of two counterbalanced conditions: vocabulary intervention without roots (comparison) and vocabulary intervention with roots (treatment). Effects on learning meanings of academic words were similar across conditions. However, the “with roots” condition showed large treatment effects for morphological problem-solving of unfamiliar words, and also suggested positive treatment effects on lexical access, lending partial support to our hypothesis that instruction about bound Latin roots contributes to EL adolescents’ academic vocabulary learning.
Research indicates that student learning of science, student attitudes toward science, and their motivation to learn science and pursue science-related careers is related to classroom instruction. This study examined anatomy and physiology (A&P) classes in a south Texas high school where 97 percent of students are Hispanic bilingual learners. Classes were assigned to control or treatment groups, with the treatment group receiving instruction designed to help students develop a deeper understanding of anatomy vocabulary related to brain structures by making connections to these words in everyday life as well as to their understanding of Spanish. Main effects between group and test scores were significant, with the control group reporting higher test scores than the treatment group. We attribute this finding to a bleed-over of the treatment group instructional design to the control group. In addition, significant differences in mean and median scores were observed with respect to intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. The statistically significant increases in learning for both groups suggests the activity-, problem-, and project-based (APB) curriculum has the potential to be an effective type of instruction, especially for bilingual learners. © 2017 National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved.
The article examines formative interventions as we understand them in cultural-historical activity theory, and reflects upon key differences between this intervention research tradition and design-based research as it is conceived in the learning sciences tradition. Three projects, including two Change Laboratories (CL), are analyzed with the help of conceptual lenses derived from basic epistemological principles for intervention research in activity theory. In all three interventions, learners expansively transformed the object of their activity. The CL cases, however, show that this learning process included productive deviations from the researchers’ instructional intentions, leading to significant outcomes, both practical and theoretical, that were not anticipated by the interventionists. Together, these cases illustrate that an activity-theoretical formative intervention approach differs from design based research in the following ways: 1) formative interventions are based on design done by the learners; 2) the collective design effort is seen as part of an expansive learning process, including participatory analyses and implementation phases; 3) rather than aiming at transferable and scalable solutions, formative interventions aim at generative solutions developing over lengthy periods of time in both the researched activities and in the research community.
While a science of design (and theory of learning) is certainly useful in design-based research, a participatory design research framework presents an opening for learning scientists to rethink design and learning as processes. Grounded in the autoethnographic investigation of a grassroots organization's design of a local campaign, the author traces the successive transformations of design artifacts, delineating a narrative character to design within grassroots spaces. One major lesson is that centering the question of participation is not just about including historically marginalized peoples at the core of design; it has the potential to “desettle” projects at a fundamental level, challenging dominant epistemologies that inform the practices of learning scientists, and thus transforming the field in ways that have yet to be systematically explored. More broadly, this study highlights the need for future research on design practices as they take form within understudied spaces, such as grassroots organizations.
This commentary focuses on the ways the set of articles in this issue, taken together, engage an important and much needed conversation in design-based approaches to inquiry: that is, what does it mean to do work in and with nondominant communities? Drawing on cultural historical activity theory, decolonizing methodologies, and indigenous perspectives, these articles seek to advance participatory design research as a means to foreground the development of socially just systems with equitable forms of teaching and learning. Specifically, the “social change making” projects exemplified reflect a generational and hybrid shift in design approaches, incorporating political and innovative dimensions of other methods with shared aims. A notable focus of participatory design research is that design and interventions are understood and addressed as part of everyday activity. In this way, change making projects are conceptualized from within the practices and commitments, and histories of communities. These new sensibilities about working with nondominant communities necessarily involve rethinking and explicitly redesigning the research and participants. subject positions across all aspects of the intervention. Finally, these emergent participatory design research projects argue that issues of race, equity, and inequality are neither sufficiently theorized or addressed by other theoretical approaches, including cultural activity theoretical approaches.
Participatory design-based research continues to expand and challenge the “researcher” and “researched” paradigm by incorporating teachers, administrators, community members, and youth throughout the research process. Yet, greater clarity is needed about the racial and political dimensions of these collaborative research projects. In this article, we focus on how race and power mediate relationships between researchers and communities in ways that significantly shape the process of research. Using the notion of politicized trust as a conceptual lens, we reflect on two distinct participatory design projects to explore how political and racial solidarity was established, contested, and negotiated throughout the course of the design process. Ultimately, this article argues that making visible how race and power mediate relationships in design research is critical for engaging in ethical and sociopolitically conscious relationships with community partners and developing theoretical and practical knowledge about the repertoires of practice, tasks, and sociocultural competencies demanded of university researchers.
The research reported sought to develop a framework for systematically analysing classroom dialogue for application across a range of educational settings. The paper outlines the development and refinement of a coding scheme that attempts to represent and operationalise commonalities amongst some key theorists in the field concerning productive forms of educational dialogue. The team has tested it using video recordings from classroom settings in the UK and Mexico, across age phases, subject areas, and different interactional contexts including whole class, group and paired work. Our Scheme for Educational Dialogue Analysis (SEDA) is situated within a sociocultural paradigm, and draws on Hymes' Ethnography of Communication to highlight the importance of context. We examined how such a tool could be used in practice. We found that concentrating on the ‘communicative act’ to explore dialogue between participants was an appropriate level of granularity, while clustering the 33 resulting codes according to function of the acts helped to highlight dialogic sequences within lessons. We report on the application of the scheme in two different learning contexts and reflect on its fitness for purpose, including perceived limitations. Development of specialised sub-schemes and a version for teachers is underway.
In recent decades, recruiting foreign professors (FPs) has become a noticeable trend at South Korean higher education institutions (HEIs) as they attempt to internationalize. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the question of what is actually happening in classrooms as a result of this rapid influx of FPs and the associated proliferation of English-only courses. The aim of this study is to understand internationalization’s real impacts on teaching and learning by examining professor-student interactions and instructional practices in a so-called “internationalized” university course (i.e., an English-speaking Canadian professor’s computer architecture course for domestic Korean students). I adopt the theoretical lens of sustainability framed within an ecological perspective and focus on languages and cultures in the HEI context, while resisting market-based HEI internationalization driven by economic considerations. This study finds that Prof. Dave’s course was characterized by linguistic and cultural reciprocity and equitable relations among the participants, revealing its vast potential for sustainable internationalization. Further, the course acknowledged and empowered various funds of student knowledge, including content knowledge, English capability, and Korean capability, which led to fun and effective learning. Although this successful symbiosis suggests a promising future for sustainable internationalization in Korean HEIs, I also highlight the pressing need for institution-level programs or services to assist both FPs and domestic students in FP courses.
An exploration of the literature has shown that fun and enjoyment are often discussed in relation to the learning of children and older adults and are rarely mentioned in relation to the learning of adults. This paper explores the role that fun and enjoyment plays in adult learning programs and the impact that this has on an adults learning. The focus is on data gathered in 2012 from interviews with adult learners and their teachers in Victoria, Australia. These conversations found that both groups could identify the fun and enjoyment in their adult learning experience. The findings have been analysed firstly as an overall experience, with adult learners talking more freely about fun and enjoyment and teachers talking about engagement, social relationships and safety. Learners identified a number of elements that are part of their experience of fun and enjoyment: the activities they undertake, the process established by the teachers, interacting with others, humour, achievement, their emotions and well-being and personal benefits. Both adult learners and their teachers also believed that fun and enjoyment impacted on adults learning and they were able to articulate the role that fun and enjoyment plays in adult learning programs. Firstly both having fun and experiencing enjoyment were perceived by both learners and teachers as a motivator to attend classes and learn the knowledge and skills. Secondly fun and enjoyment were considered a mechanism that encouraged concentration by learners and helped in the absorption of learning. Finally having fun and experiencing enjoyment were identified as a proven way to build a socially connected learning environment. The research indicates that a greater focus on the affective domain of adults learning experience, in particular fun and enjoyment could prove to be as beneficial and important as it is currently considered in children's learning. A different approach to the design of adult learning experiences and methods that incorporates greater use of fun may mean that more adults are encouraged and motivated to participate in learning with enthusiasm for the journey and optimism for the outcomes.
This quantitative study examines current practice and challenges of Chinese–English bilingual education in Chinese tertiary institutions and presents a case study of a bilingual course by investigating learners' attitudes toward this educational and language policy. Using a convenience sampling strategy with an instrument modified from a nation-wide survey on bilingual education, this study involves 153 undergraduate science majors from a university located southeast of China. Results indicate that students held positive attitudes toward bilingual instruction and believed that such a model will not threaten the status of Chinese language and culture; and such an attitude significantly predicted students’ academic achievement whereas the level of English proficiency did not. Further, female students outscored their male counterparts in the final examination. Finally, the positive relationship between years of learning English and attitudes toward bilingualism corroborates with the current literature that earlier exposure results in additive bilingualism. We recommend future studies be conducted to identify the threshold for a minimal level of English skills commensurate with distribution of language of instruction so that college students can benefit from bilingual education. In conclusion, despite challenges, Chinese–English bilingual education is still expected to be a legitimate and eventually rewarding educational practice that fits the socio-political environment of developing China.
Extraneous overload occurs when essential cognitive processing (required to understand the essential material in a multimedia message) and extraneous cognitive processing (required to process extraneous material or to overcome confusing layout in a multimedia message) exceed the learner’s cognitive capacity. Five multimedia design methods intended to minimize extraneous overload are based on the coherence, signaling, redundancy, spa- tial contiguity, and temporal contiguity principles. The coherence principle is that people learn more deeply from a multimedia message when extraneous material is excluded rather than included. This principle was supported in 23 out of 23 experimental tests, yielding a median effect size of 0.86. The sig- naling principle is that people learn more deeply from a multimedia message when cues are added that highlight the organization of the essential mate- rial. This principle was supported in 24 out of 28 experimental tests, yielding a median effect size of 0.41. The redundancy principle is that people learn more deeply from graphics and narration than from graphics, narration, and on-screen text. This principle was supported in 16 out of 16 experimental tests, yielding a median effect size of 0.86. The spatial contiguity principle is that people learn more deeply from a multimedia message when correspond- ing words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen. This principle was supported in 22 out of 22 experi- mental tests, yielding a median effect size of 1.10. The temporal contiguity principle is that people learn more deeply from a multimedia message when corresponding animation and narration are presented simultaneously rather than successively. This principle was supported in 9 out of 9 experimental tests, yielding a median effect size of 1.22.
The purpose of the present paper is to examine the socio-cultural foundations of technology-mediated collaborative learning. Toward that end, we discuss the role of artifacts in knowledge-creating inquiry, relying on the theoretical ideas of Carl Bereiter, Merlin Donald, Pierre Rabardel, Keith Sawyer and L. S. Vygotsky. We argue that epistemic mediation triggers expanded inquiry and plays a crucial role in knowledge creation; such mediation involves using CSCL technologies to create epistemic artifacts for crystallizing cognitive processes, re-mediating subsequent activity, and building an evolving body of knowledge. Productive integration of CSCL technologies as instruments of learning and instruction is a developmental process: it requires iterative efforts across extended periods of time. Going through such a process of instrumental genesis requires transforming a cognitive-cultural operating system of activity, thus ‘reformatting’ the brain and the mind. Because of the required profound personal and social transformations, one sees that innovative knowledge-building practices emerge, socially, through extended expansive-learning cycles.
In this article, we study the relationships between culturally existing general strategy concepts and a small ICT firm's specific strategic challenge in its management team's search for a new strategy concept. We will apply three theoretical ideas of cultural historical activity theory: 1) the idea of double stimulation, which we relate to the relationship of culturally evolved artifacts and the problem situation at hand in the processes of problem solving and agency building, 2) the dialectical interplay between the process and the product of generalizing, and 3) the difference between empirical and theoretical generalizations, which is related to the quality and explanatory power of concepts. The analysis shows that the use of empirical generalizations as intellectual tools in strategic planning and the lack of first hand observational and experiential data about the clients' problems hampered the management team's attempt to find a new strategy to avoid a future crisis for the business.
The present study aims to conduct a comprehensive investigation of flashcard software for learning vocabulary in a second language. Nine flashcard programs were analysed using 17 criteria derived from previous studies on flashcard learning as well as paired-associate learning. Results suggest that in general, most programs have been developed in a way that maximises vocabulary learning. For instance, seven of the nine programs allow flashcard creation, offer multilingual support and allow learners to add contexts, audios or images to flashcards. Furthermore, eight programs provide various types of exercises, and nine programs support scheduling. At the same time, the present study has also shown that existing flashcard programs have some room for improvement. More specifically, most programs are limited in their ability to support data entry, increase retrieval effort and promote generative use of target words. When individual programs are compared, iKnow! seems to be the best program among those investigated. It offers the most comprehensive support for data entry, automatically generates distractors for multiple-choice exercises and increases retrieval effort by systematically introducing various types of exercises. The variations among the programs in their design suggest that there do not exist commonly accepted guidelines for how flashcard software should be designed.
Theorizing agency is crucial to intervening in social, economic, political, and environmental crises. This paper examines three approaches to agency within cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT): transformative activist stance (Stetsenko), transformative agency by double stimulation (Sannino), and relational agency (Edwards). All three uphold CHAT’s rebellious gist, where our actions are shaped by circumstances but where the possibility of transcending those circumstances always remains. However, the paper finds important differences despite common foundations and apparent similarities in relation to dialectics, mediation, motives, and practice. Bringing these distinctions into relief highlights what each framework offers and nuances that hold them helpfully apart.
Vocabulary is now well recognized as an important focus in language teaching and learning. Now in its third edition, this book provides an engaging, authoritative guide to the teaching and learning of vocabulary in another language. It contains descriptions of numerous vocabulary learning strategies, which are supported by reference to experimental research, case studies, and teaching experience. It also describes what vocabulary learners need to know to be effective language users. This new edition has been updated to incorporate the wealth of research that has come out of the past decade. It also includes a new chapter on out of-classroom learning, which explores the effect of the Internet and electronic resources on learning. This vital resource for all vocabulary researchers shows that by taking a systematic approach to vocabulary learning, teachers can make the best use of class time and help learners get the best return for their learning effort.
This study aimed to measure medical students’ perceptions of the anatomy education environment and determine its association with their learning approaches. First- and second-year undergraduate medical students (N = 234) completed the Anatomy Education Environment Measurement Inventory and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students. Results revealed that the students’ perceptions of all the factors in the anatomy education environment were positive except for two areas—the anatomy learning resources and quality of histology learning facilities. The majority of students in the first year (62.3%) and second year (43.7%) adopted a deep learning approach. There was no significant association between most of the factors in the anatomy education environment and the students’ learning approaches, except for the students’ intrinsic interest in learning anatomy factor (p = 0.032). The anatomy education environment was positive for the medical students, and there was a prevalence of a deep learning approach among them. However, most of the factors in the anatomy education environment did not influence the students’ learning approach. Given that the students’ learning approach is a multifactorial construct, investigating the relationship between these two variables in longitudinal time points would provide better insight into the association between the anatomy educational climate and students’ learning approaches.
Purpose: The Human Anatomy and Physiology (HAP) course is required of all allied health majors. Students need to earn a grade of “C” or better, and many students find this class academically challenging. This study investigated allied health students’ perceptions of what makes the undergraduate class difficult. Methods: A 28-question survey targeted 403 students enrolled in three HAP sections taught by the same instructor. Results: Students returned 279 surveys (68% return rate). Qualitative and quantitative data supported a three factor model in making this class difficult: discipline, student, and teaching related factors. Students consider that discipline factors are more important than student and teaching factors. Conclusions and Recommendations: Results suggest that instructors can help students by paying more attention to diagrams and graphs, engaging students by using active methods of learning, and identifying students who consider this class “extremely” difficult.
PurposeSelf-efficacy, academic motivation, and self-regulation have been identified as important factors contributing to students’ learning success in general education. In the field of medical education, however, few studies have examined these variables or their interrelationships as predictors of undergraduate medical students’ learning outcomes, especially in the context of flipped learning.Methods
Using structural equation modeling (SEM), this study explored the impact of self-efficacy on 146 first- and second-year medical students’ academic achievement in a flipped-learning environment, and whether such impact (if any) was mediated by academic motivation and self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies.ResultsOn average, students scored highest on self-efficacy (mean = 5 out of a possible 7), followed by intrinsic motivation (mean = 4.59), resource-management strategies (mean = 4.48), metacognitive strategies (mean = 4.46), extrinsic motivation (mean = 4.24), and cognitive strategies (mean = 4.17). Our SEM results suggest that, while there was a direct effect of self-efficacy on learning outcomes, academic motivation and SRL strategies did not mediate it.Conclusions
By unpacking the structural relationships among self-efficacy, academic motivation, SRL strategies, and learning outcomes, this study provides evidence-based support for the importance of promoting students’ self-efficacy in undergraduate medical flipped-learning environments. Strategies for increasing students’ self-efficacy are also discussed.
Growing research suggests that digital flashcards may facilitate students' technical vocabulary learning efforts. The primary purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effect of digital flashcards (DFs) and wordlists on learning technical vocabulary as well as to explore stu-dents' perceptions regarding the use of DFs. Using convenience sampling method, the study was conducted with a total of 57 undergraduate pharmacy students. Data were collected using a pre-treatment survey, two technical vocabulary tests, and a post-treatment survey. The results indicated that (1) the students learned more technical vocabulary through DFs; (2) their perceptions about the use of DFs to study technical vocabulary were positive; (3) their perceptions of the usefulness of the Quizlet app was a predictor of their success in DF condition; and (4) practicing through digital apps positively predicted their intention to use the Quizlet application. Based on the findings, we concluded that teacher-prepared DFs result in better technical vocabulary learning.
Recent literature emphasizes the importance of viewing teachers as agents in knowledge-building practice. This study aimed to develop preservice language teachers’ epistemic agency in creating their language teaching resources through a double stimulation design using video-based learning modules. The study was conducted in a secondary language teacher education program in an Australian university. The first phase of the design presented a problem in language teaching, such as how to create resources for teaching Chinese characters, as the first stimulus. The second stimuli included a short video-clip containing an experienced teachers’ teaching demonstration as a resolution to the problem, group discussions, and discussion worksheets, which supported the participants to develop their own resolution to the problem in their lesson plans for teaching Chinese. The data included an initial survey results, audio-recorded group discussions, discussion worksheets, and assignment analysis. Based on the conflict of motives revealed in the initial survey, the dialogic analysis of the group discussion and content analysis of the assignment revealed the development of their epistemic agency in forming and transforming the object of learning. The findings revealed that the double stimulation design and collaborative discussions enhanced preservice teachers’ epistemic agency in creating new ideas and language teaching resources.
Theories of agency are often borrowed from psychology and sociology; truly educational theories of agency are rare – theories that not only classify and measure dimensions of agency but enable us to understand how its formation can be pedagogically facilitated. Based on Sannino’s recent work on transformative agency by double stimulation (TADS), a truly educational approach to agency is gaining traction. In double stimulation, a person or group faces a paralysing conflict of motives (first stimulus) which is resolved by identifying a meaningful artefact that is turned into a sign (second stimulus). Today’s critical learning challenges typically do not have obvious or ‘correct’ solutions. They require a pedagogy that allows learners to face conflicts and construct artefacts to help break out of their paralysis. The paradigm of double stimulation, as explored in the articles in this issue, offers as tarting point for a pedagogy of agentive actions and expanding possibilities.
Between 2000 and 2013, over 8,000 students studied the module Reading Classical Latin at the Open University, the United Kingdom’s largest distance education provider. But while many learners attained high grades, a significant proportion withdrew from study or failed the module. In 2015, the original module was replaced with a completely new course, Classical Latin: The Language of Ancient Rome . This article details the innovative ways in which new technology and pedagogical theory from Modern Foreign Language (MFL) learning were drawn on by the team designing this new module, resulting in a learning experience which gives greater emphasis to elements such as spoken Latin, the intrinsic pleasure of reading, and cultural context. The (largely positive) effects of these pedagogical changes on student success and satisfaction are subsequently analysed using a rich mix of qualitative and quantitative data. Finally, the authors reflect on lessons learned and the possibilities for future research and enhancement.
In this paper we examine two systematic observation methods intended to be used by pre-service and in-service teachers to help increase their awareness of children's participation in productive classroom dialogue. We identify the affordances of these methods for supporting teachers’ reflective practice, focusing in this case on students’ equitable participation in science groupwork activities. This involves the use of Teacher-SEDA (T-SEDA), a sub-scheme of SEDA (Cam-UNAM Scheme for Educational Dialogue Analysis), which was empirically trialled by a mixed group of researchers and teachers, using video-recordings from primary science classrooms in the UK and Mexico. The T-SEDA trials reported in this paper compare a ‘simulated live’ approach based on time-sampling techniques, with a ‘follow-up analysis’ approach, which uses audio-recordings and transcripts. The findings suggest that using either technique regularly can aid teachers in noticing classroom events and adjusting teaching accordingly. The ‘live’ coding approach appears to be the more practical method that teachers could use to audit the development of classroom equitable participation. However, the follow-up analysis emerged as a more informative approach, shedding light on more ambiguous cases of relative participation.
Cambridge Core - ELT Applied Linguistics - Learning Vocabulary in Another Language - by I. S. P. Nation
The Anatomy Learning Experiences Questionnaire (ALEQ) was designed by Smith and Mathias to explore students' perceptions and experiences of learning anatomy. In this study, the psychometric properties of a slightly altered 34-item ALEQ (ALEQ-34) were evaluated, and correlations with learning outcomes investigated, by surveying first- and second-year undergraduate medical students; 181 usable responses were obtained (75% response rate). Psychometric analysis demonstrated overall good reliability (Cronbach's alpha of 0.85). Exploratory factor analysis yielded a 27-item, three-factor solution (ALEQ-27, Cronbach's alpha of 0.86), described as: (Factor 1) (Reversed) challenges in learning anatomy, (Factor 2) Applications and importance of anatomy, and (Factor 3) Learning in the dissection laboratory. Second-year students had somewhat greater challenges and less positive attitudes in learning anatomy than first-year students. Females reported slightly greater challenges and less confidence in learning anatomy than males. Total scores on summative gross anatomy examination questions correlated with ALEQ-27, Pearson's r = 0.222 and 0.271, in years 1 and 2, respectively, and with Factor 1, r = 0.479 and 0.317 (all statistically significant). Factor 1 also had similar correlations across different question types (multiple choice; short answer or essay; cadaveric; and anatomical models, bones, or radiological images). In a retrospective analysis, Factor 1 predicted poor end-of-semester anatomy examination results in year 1 with a sensitivity of 88% and positive predictive value of 33%. Further development of ALEQ-27 may enable deeper understanding of students' learning of anatomy, and its ten-item Factor 1 may be a useful screening tool to identify at-risk students. Anat Sci Educ. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.
This article critiques the usefulness of double stimulation, a key concept in Vygotskian analyses of human development, with leaders in early childhood services in Australia. A series of formative interventions was conducted to identify and address systemic tensions that were confounding leaders’ attempts to realise a central object of activity in their work: the development of their staff in order to enhance children’s learning. An example of double stimulation is drawn from workshop comments and interviews with one of the participating leaders. The article elaborates on a tension identified between explicit cultural expectations of professionalism and an implicit division of labour that position leaders as having the primary responsibility for solving problems of practice. The article concludes by reflecting on the usefulness of double stimulation in fostering sustainable leadership practices in early childhood education.
Effortful retrieval produces greater long-term recall of information when compared to studying (i.e., reading), as do learning sessions that are distributed (i.e., spaced apart) when compared to those that are massed together. Although the retrieval and distributed practice effects are well-established in the cognitive science literature, no studies have examined their additive effect with regard to learning anatomy information. The aim of this study was to determine how the benefits of retrieval practice vary with massed versus distributed learning. Participants used the following strategies to learn sets of skeletal muscle anatomy: (1) studying on three different days over a seven day period (SSSS7,2,0), (2) studying and retrieving on three different days over a seven day period (SRSR7,2,0), (3) studying on two different days over a two day period (SSSSSS2,0), (4) studying and retrieving on two separate days over a two day period (SRSRSR2,0), and (5) studying and retrieving on one day (SRx60). All strategies consisted of 12 learning phases and lasted exactly 24 minutes. Muscle information retention was assessed via free recall and using repeated measures ANOVAs. A week after learning, the recall scores were 24.72 ± 3.12, 33.88 ± 3.48, 15.51 ± 2.48, 20.72 ± 2.94, and 12.86 ± 2.05 for the SSSS7,2,0, SRSR7,2,0, SSSSSS2,0, STSTST2,0, and SRx60 strategies, respectively. In conclusion, the distributed strategies produced significantly better recall than the massed strategies, the retrieval-based strategies produced significantly better recall than the studying strategies, and the combination of distributed and retrieval practice generated the greatest recall of anatomy information. Anat Sci Educ. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.
Success and failure in formal mathematics education has been used to legitimize stratification. We describe participatory design research as a methodology for systemic repair. The analysis describes epistemic authority—exercising the right or the power to know—as a form of agency in processes of mathematical problem solving and learning. We asked: What will aid families in advocating for their children's math learning, particularly when they expressed concern about their ability to do so? Participatory design research provided a collaborative and iterative method to work with people who shape math learning: parents, children, teachers, community organizers, researchers, curriculum developers, and mathematicians. Data from four years of participant observation involved the design, facilitation, and dissemination of workshops and take-home materials and family case studies. As participating families claimed epistemic authority, institutional barriers became more visible. This tension maps where participatory design methodology can evolve to address systemic change.
Innovative educational strategies can provide variety and enhance student learning while addressing complex logistical and financial issues facing modern anatomy education. Observe-Reflect-Draw-Edit-Repeat (ORDER), a novel cyclical artistic process, has been designed based on cognitivist and constructivist learning theories, and on processes of critical observation, reflection and drawing in anatomy learning. ORDER was initially investigated in the context of a compulsory first year surface anatomy practical (ORDER-SAP) at a United Kingdom medical school in which a cross-over trial with pre-post anatomy knowledge testing was utilized and student perceptions were identified. Despite positive perceptions of ORDER-SAP, medical student (n = 154) pre-post knowledge test scores were significantly greater (P < 0.001) with standard anatomy learning methods (3.26, SD = ±2.25) than with ORDER-SAP (2.17, ±2.30). Based on these findings, ORDER was modified and evaluated in the context of an optional self-directed gross anatomy online interactive tutorial (ORDER-IT) for participating first year medical students (n = 55). Student performance was significantly greater (P < 0.001) with ORDER-IT (2.71 ± 2.17) when compared to a control tutorial (1.31 ± 2.03). Performances of students with visual and artistic preferences when using ORDER were not significantly different (P > 0.05) to those students without these characteristics. These findings will be of value to anatomy instructors seeking to engage students from diverse learning backgrounds in a research-led, innovative, time and cost-effective learning method, in the context of contrasting learning environments. Anat Sci Educ. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.
Repetition is common in language use. Similarly, having students repeat is a common practice in language teaching. After surveying some of the better known contributions of repetition to language learning, I propose an innovative role for repetition from the perspective of complexity theory. I argue that we should not think of repetition as exact replication, but rather we should think of it as iteration that generates variation. Thus, what results from iteration is a mutable state. Iteration is one way that we create options in how to make meaning, position ourselves in the world as we want, understand the differences which we encounter in others, and adapt to a changing context.
While contemporary literature understands double stimulation primarily as a method to study specific mental functions with the help of two types of stimuli, this article points at two under-researched aspects of double stimulation based on a close reading of classic texts by Vygotsky and his colleagues. First, double stimulation, besides being a method, is a principle of volition which distinctively characterizes all higher mental functions. Second, double stimulation comprises conflictual aspects, in particular conflicts of motives. Together with the two types of stimuli, conflicts of motives constitute the core of a strategic setup that human beings establish to intentionally affect their behavior and the world around them. A model based on these interpretations is constructed. The model may enrich our understanding of double stimulation and open up interesting new avenues for further research.
The paper reports a study of a narrative-based Dynamic Assessment (BA) procedure developed in the USA that is used in the UK with children with developmental language disabilities. Three monolingual English children with language disabilities are assessed by a speech/language pathologist/therapist who is learning to work with OA in collaboration with the researcher in the study. Quantitative evidence of language structures indicates that the children learn to talk more after two intervention sessions. Evidence from the mediations of the children's language learning capabilities throws diagnostic light on the nature of their needs. A critique is offered of the assessment tool, and conclusions are drawn about the implications of BA for differentiating language-learning potential in language disabilities, with suggestions for further study.
Changes and transformations in organisations are traditionally initiated by the management. This approach does not, however, encourage the agency of all the members in an organisation to engage in cooperative development of the activity. This paper presents an analysis of the development of participants’ transformative agency in a Change Laboratory (CL) intervention. In a CL, the participants analyse conflicts and disturbances in their local activity and search for ways to transform current work practices. In the analysis, we identified six types of expressions of transformative agency which evolved over the course of the laboratory sessions and across the topical contents of those sessions. Furthermore, we examined to what extent the expressions of agency produced by the participants reflected individual and collective agency. Our key argument based on the research findings is that transformative agency goes beyond the individual and the situational here-and-now actions. It is produced and maintained in collective change efforts and evolves over time.
Medical education requires student comprehension of both technical (scientific/medical) and non-technical (general) vocabulary. Our experience with "English as a second language" (ESL) Arab students suggested they often have problems comprehending scientific statements because of weaknesses in their understanding of non-scientific vocabulary. This study aimed to determine whether ESL students have difficulties with general vocabulary that could hinder their understanding of scientific/medical texts.
A survey containing English text was given to ESL students in the premedical years of an English-medium medical school in an Arabic country. The survey consisted of sample questions from the Medical College Admission Test (USA). Students were instructed to identify all unknown words in the text.
ESL students commenced premedical studies with substantial deficiencies in English vocabulary. Students from English-medium secondary schools had a selective deficiency in scientific/medical terminology which disappeared with time. Students from Arabic-medium secondary schools had equal difficulty with general and scientific/medical vocabulary. Deficiencies in both areas diminished with time but remained even after three years of English-medium higher education.
Typically, when teaching technical subjects to ESL students, attention is focused on subject-unique vocabulary and associated modifiers. This study highlights that ESL students also face difficulties with the general vocabulary used to construct statements employing technical words. Such students would benefit from increases in general vocabulary knowledge.