Learning Mind Research Articles

The Development of a Globally Accessible Interactive Anatomy Web Atlas

Information gained from cadavers is instrumental and applicable to a range of academic courses in health care programs. Despite being foundational, cadavers do not travel to other learning environments, such as clinical skills or small group learning. Furthermore, students may not have access to labs at irregular hours, or access to a TA when studying individually, thus creating inefficiency in their review. Additionally, it is often challenging for students to use lab time productively, since it is commonly a students first exposure to a specimen or region. This results in time being spent on dissecting techniques as opposed to thorough learning of the specimen. When considering these difficulties faced by students, we asked ourselves how to make the anatomy lab mobile, allowing access to cadaver‐based information anytime, anywhere. To then tackle these barriers we developed an interactive comprehensive e‐atlas. Open access to cadaveric material would promote efficient lab preparation, post‐lab practice, and encourage integration of anatomy in other courses. From our previously developed interactive radiology tool; students found the easy access and interactivity critical to its success. This e‐atlas is populated with clickable photographic imagesand a variety of interactive quizzes and modules. A formative assessment component within this tool increases its utility, giving users the means to control their learning. We want to challenge students to think in different ways, and test them without the help of multiple‐choice options. By asking type‐in questions, we aim to simulate more situational learning (eg. in an OR or on the wards) where questions may be asked on the spot. The use of secondary questions additionally challenges users to think about physiology in the context of anatomy. Student feedback identified when anatomy is synthesized with different pieces of curricula, it adds depth to learning and understanding.The primary objective of the e‐atlas is to develop a mobile and supplemental anatomy tool, encouraging self‐directed study and improved preparation for labs.The e‐atlas was developed by photographing cadaveric specimens and subsequently editing the photos in Adobe Photoshop. After imperfections were removed, color masks were created highlighting structural features. A consistent color code was used for repeated structures, creating a pattern in the learner's mind. Images were coded in html5 for web publication. A list of structures accompanies each image. When a name is clicked, its structure is highlightedon the photo. The landing page of clincalanatomy.ca contains boxes corresponding to chapters in an atlas. Clicking a box takes the user to the central hub of learning resources for that body region. This layout shows the user what is available to them, letting them decide how to best proceed in their learning.Results of the website and interactive e‐atlas are available for use at clinicalanatomy.ca.An interactive e‐atlas gives students flexibility to study anatomy how and when they prefer. The ability to openly access cadaver materials will streamline anatomical learning in fast paced and dense health care programs around the globe.

Rethinking reading instruction for adolescent readers: The 6R’s

As students move their way through primary school into the secondary school years an expectation exists that they can read. Coupled with this expectation are the increasingly complex demands placed on students as readers in disciplinary fields. Further, reading success is crucial for their learning in school and beyond. Efforts to improve secondary students’ reading outcomes have often drawn from approaches to reading literacy based on cognitive theories of reading and not specifically designed for adolescent learners who often have long and complex reading histories. The reading histories for these students are characterised by a resistance to the task, a repeated sense of failure, and a lack of confidence in themselves and those around them. This paper reports on a study of 12 Year 8 students, aged 12–14 years, who participated in a reading program informed by both sociocultural and cognitive theories of reading, designed specifically with these learners in mind. Analysis of pre and post-program data revealed a positive shift in what these readers could do and in how they identified as readers.

Grammaire essentielle du français B1 par Ludivine Glaud, Yves Loiseau, et Élise Merlet

Reviews 261 independent learners in mind. Indeed, each lesson allows for the student to selfdiscover the grammar point through observations and reflexing. The grammar rule is then given synthetically, with very simple language, and finally, progressive exercises are set for practice, as well as tests that allow for self-evaluation through corrections provided at the end of the manual. The assets of this manual are the use of the grammar in daily life situations and a communicative intent in the exercises and other activities given. There is a push for grammar used in oral comprehension and production , and consequently what the students learn can be applied in real-life situations. Also included is a nice set of examples linked to contrasting French grammar to that of English and Spanish, so native speakers of these languages can compare and contrast and understand the differences in grammar.Within each chapter are indications about other grammatical topics and how to find them in the manual, and finally, there are conjugation charts and lists of verbs that take prepositions for reference. The book is entirely in French, except for the contrasting grammar section, which is in English and Spanish. The French immersion of the rest of the manual is very valuable, as the students are immersed in the target language from the beginning to the end of a particular grammar point. This also means that, if used in a language classroom, especially at a lower level, students will need some guidance from an instructor, as some nuances in the language may not be evident to the beginning learner. The book is accompanied by a CD with recordings of the dialogues and a selection of the exercises. There are also ten tests that students can take and self-correct, and the book comes with a website: the whole book is available in a digitized form and all the audio is available on that site as well. This manual would be great as a complement for an introductory-level grammar class: it covers the basic topics such as nouns, determiners, adjectives, pronouns, tenses, prepositions, moods, adverbs, types of phrases (interrogation and negation), and complex sentences (indirect speech, for example). However, it is a little too simple in its settings and explanations for an Advanced Grammar class. It allows well for communicative activities, self-assessment and self-improvement, as well as immersion in the target language. Armstrong State University (GA) Dorothée Mertz-Weigel Glaud, Ludivine,Yves Loiseau, et Élise Merlet. Grammaire essentielle du français B1. Paris: Didier, 2015. ISBN 978-2-278-08103-5. Pp. 288 + CD. 20 a. The content is much like what the title suggests, as thirty-seven lessons cover essential grammar points needed when gaining proficiency in French. The volume begins with lessons on nouns and their singular and plural forms, then reviews articles and other determiners. The textbook authors move on to adjectives, pronouns, tenses, moods, adverbs, and prepositions sequentially. For many students these particular topics require practice for mastery, as they are the smaller pieces of the bigger puzzle they are working toward putting together. The remaining lessons address types of phrases and the building of complex sentences. There are bilans for each group of lessons and comparisons of English to French, which is always helpful for those students who are English speakers or proficient in the language. The answers to all exercises, a conjugation table, and a list of verbs that take the preposition à or de round out the volume. Each lesson begins with a contextualized use of the grammar in the form of a dialogue that is available on the accompanying CD. A variety of exercises follow that allow students to practice and hone their use of new information or previously learned concepts in a more sophisticated way. The lessons generally work from known material to examples and exercises with increasingly complex structures. The bilan sections provide additional practice; since students have the answer key, they can self-correct and prepare autonomously. This volume could be a useful text in an intermediate level composition or conversation course where students work independently to prepare the lessons and expand their use of vocabulary and structures . This preparation would be...

Locating mathematics within post-16 vocational education in England

The political importance of mathematics in post-16 education is clear. Far less clear is how mathematics does and should relate to vocational education. Successive mathematics curricula (e.g. core skills, key skills) have been developed in England with vocational learners in mind. Meanwhile, general mathematics qualifications remain largely disconnected from vocational learning. Following a brief historical survey of mathematics within vocational education, the paper presents findings from a nested case study of student groups in three large Further Education colleges in England. The primary unit of analysis herein is student groups learning Functional Mathematics in two vocational areas: construction and hairdressing. We show how approaches to organising teaching, developing connected curricula and classroom pedagogy tend to isolate or integrate mathematics from/with the vocational experience. Integrated approaches are shown to impact positively on student engagement and attitudes to learning mathematics. The paper concludes by discussing the potential impact of academic qualifications displacing vocationally relevant mathematics.

Using script theory to cultivate illness script formation and clinical reasoning in health professions education

Script theory proposes an explanation for how information is stored in and retrieved from the human mind to influence individuals' interpretation of events in the world. Applied to medicine, script theory focuses on knowledge organization as the foundation of clinical reasoning during patient encounters. According to script theory, medical knowledge is bundled into networks called 'illness scripts' that allow physicians to integrate new incoming information with existing knowledge, recognize patterns and irregularities in symptom complexes, identify similarities and differences between disease states, and make predictions about how diseases are likely to unfold. These knowledge networks become updated and refined through experience and learning. The implications of script theory on medical education are profound. Since clinician-teachers cannot simply transfer their customized collections of illness scripts into the minds of learners, they must create opportunities to help learners develop and fine-tune their own sets of scripts. In this essay, we provide a basic sketch of script theory, outline the role that illness scripts play in guiding reasoning during clinical encounters, and propose strategies for aligning teaching practices in the classroom and the clinical setting with the basic principles of script theory.

A Review in Retrospect: American Sign Language Instructional Guide by Todd Czubek (review)

American Sign Language Instructional Guide. Todd Czubek. Self-publication, n.d. For more information, contact the author at Boston University.Part of my decision to leave the classroom and pursue a doctoral degree stems from my work in teaching separate courses in academic American Sign Language and English-language arts at the Texas School for the Deaf from 2009 to 2013- In this role, I worked with students of all language levels, ranging from native fluency in ASL or a strong command of English to minimal fluency in ASL and weak-or no-understanding of English. My experiences were not unique: There are deaf learners in education programs nationwide who have so many different skills but consistently struggle with using language, particularly in the area of higher-order skills such as questioning or critical thinking. While I was at the Texas School for the Deaf, I had the opportunity to receive instructional training using the American Sign Language Instructional Guide (AIG), developed by Todd Czubek of Boston University (Czubek, n.d.). This book review provides a summary of the content of the AIG and its application to working with students as they develop their understanding of language and thinking skills. Some of its uses and benefits will be highlighted, and limitations will be addressed.ScopeThis review may be of benefit to professionals who educate learners who are deaf. It is understood that there is continual evolution in the identification of the type of learner as deaf, Deaf, or hard of hearing. While this review includes learners who identify with each of these labels, it should be noted that those who work in state funded K-12 programs that have a mixed population of day and residential students and employ a bilingual (ASL and English) language of instruction may be interested in considering the AIG as a curriculum guide, or as an instructional resource for teachers of ASL.American Sign Language Instructional GuideThe AIG is a curriculum instruction resource with a wide range of instructional activities that can guide the academic1 ASL teacher's lesson planning. These materials provide the ASL teacher with an understanding of the differences in the structures of ASL and English, and how students can learn to compare these differences through a critical thinking lens. The AIG emphasizes that ASL is a spatial language, whereas English is a linear language. Both systems are represented as equal in value, different and unique in their own purposes. This fundamental understanding of the different structures of ASL and English is also essential to priming the deaf learner's mind for critical thinking. For example, ASL is described as analogous to a New York City skyscraper, in that the skyscraper is built from the ground up, and meanings in ASL are inferred from the ground up. To comprehend ASL, one must understand what signs the hands are producing and connect those signs with physical motions and the accompanying facial expressions, which combine to create an understanding of the expressed concept and contextual inferences. In contrast, the AIG characterizes English as linear, comparing its structure to the landscape of buildings in Santa Fe, NM. Because of local construction regulations, each building is limited to a certain height. Buildings are not as vertical as the skyscrapers in New York City; rather, they are closer to the ground and extend out horizontally. To comprehend English, one must view all of the components both individually and then sequentially, across meaning units.The New York City/Santa Fe model comparison is one of the first lessons I taught my ASL students from the AIG curriculum, facilitating their understanding that both ASL and English are valuable languages, and that each language conveys meaning differently. Once this concept is established, the AIG introduces deeper learning through activities such as Dr. Grammar and Sentence Sense. In Dr. Grammar, students view videotexts2 of ASL sentences and identify the sign that does not fit; they then replace the sign with an appropriate one so that the sentence makes sense. …

An Advanced eLearning Environment Developed for Engineering Learners

Monitoring and evaluating engineering learners through computer-based laboratory exercises is a difficult task, especially under classroom conditions. A complete diagnosis requires the capability to assess both the competence of the learner to use the scientific software and the understanding of the theoretical principles. This monitoring and evaluation needs to be continuous, unobtrusive and personalized in order to be effective. This study presents the results of the pilot application of an eLearning environment developed specifically with engineering learners in mind. As its name suggests, the Learner Diagnosis, Assistance, and Evaluation System based on Artificial Intelligence (StuDiAsE) is an Open Learning Environment that can perform unattended diagnostic, evaluation and feedback tasks based on both quantitative and qualitative parameters. The base architecture of the system, the user interface and its effect on the performance of postgraduate engineering learners are being presented.

Convenience matters: A qualitative study on the impact of use of social media and collaboration technologies on learning experience and performance in higher education

Social media and collaboration technologies are viewed as valuable tools for creating a new reality of collaborative learning, particularly in higher education facing millennials growing up with various technologies in their daily lives. Using the example of an undergraduate course taught on-campus, this study examines how millennial students in higher education use social media and other collaboration technologies in their collaborative learning activities to co-create new knowledge through the application of existing knowledge and the sharing of ideas. A semi-structured survey-based qualitative research method is used to reveal the primary decision factors driving students’ technology choice for use in their collaborative learning tasks and to assess the impact of the use of such technologies on their learning experience and performance. The analysis reveals convenience as an important decision factor impacting millennial students’ choice of social media and collaborative technologies to use in their team-based collaborative learning interactions. In particular, the three salient types of convenience emerge that matter to millennial students: convenient to everybody in the team, convenient to access and use, and convenient to collaborate with each other privately within the team. The analysis suggests that the use of social media and collaboration technologies chosen by students in their collaborative learning activities is more likely to result in students with positive collaborative learning experience than otherwise. In addition, a moderately strong correlation (r = 0.425, p< 0.01) is found between students’ learning performance and their perception on the impact of the use of the technologies of their choice on learning experience. Based on the analysis, this study proposes a student-engaged, technology-choice-and-impact framework that captures the relationship between millennial students’ convenience-driven technology choice and its impact on collative learning experience and performance. Further efforts should focus on investigating pedagogic designs that engage students in technology choice for improved collaborative learning experience and performance. The results of this study can inform educators and education technology providers in tailoring their approaches to incorporating technologies with learners in mind, thus turning their engagement into improved learning experience and performance.

Fostering Inclusive Education: Intentionally vs. Spontaneously

Inclusion has become a mainstream value promoted by educators, curriculum designers, and educational policy makers. To achieve an inclusive classroom environment, a variety of learner‐centered curricula and pedagogies are actively implemented and practiced. These educational efforts are made intentionally to improve the external environment for a learner to bring better learning outcomes. However, creating learner‐centered curricula and implementing pedagogies that promote active learning often requires more educational and technological resources as well as specifically trained personnel and thus may not be cost‐effective. Furthermore, external causes become operative through internal causes, or a learner's internal mind setting. If a learner's internal mind setting does not respond/echo actively to the supportive student‐centered, active learning environment or resistant to it, engagement in the learning process may still remain passive in spite of the favorable external learning settings that have been deliberately and cost‐intensively created and provided. In other words, when a learner's internal mind setting is not actively approaching and engaging, the effectiveness of intentionally prepared and implemented approaches may be discounted. Learners may also be spoiled, taking everything they are provided with for granted with no appreciation. In this presentation, we 1) address the rarely‐studied importance of optimizing a learner's internal mind setting, with which an inclusive classroom environment could be achieved spontaneously rather than intentionally; 2) share our personal experience with this approach; and 3) call for discussions and contributions of more techniques and strategies that may induce, trigger, or shape a learner's self‐inclusion mind setting.

Learning-Oriented Assessment: The Proficiency Dimension

The proficiency dimension of the learning-oriented assessment (LOA) framework addresses the specific linguistic and content knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) possessed by L2 learners – it is the substance, or the “what” of teaching and learning. It raises questions such as: What do learners know? What are they expected to know? What do they actually know? (Turner & Purpura, 2015). Proficiency is often conceptualized through theoretical models of L2 ability, such as Lado’s (1961) “Skills-and-Elements” model, Bachman and Palmer’s (1996) model of communicative language ability, and Purpura’s (2004) conceptualization of L2 Proficiency. These proficiency models attempt to identify how KSAs are situated in the minds of learners. In addition to these models, the proficiency dimension also examines the dynamic role of learner proficiency by asking how KSAs change and may be tracked over time.

Contemplative Education Approaches to Teaching Teacher Preparation Program

The purpose of this research was to developing instructions for Teacher Preparation Program in Khon Kaen University. The main intention is to make the learner's mind more aware of the human condition and to improve program objectives and learning through contemplative approaches. The 4 courses target in the first semester of 2012 academic year were students in Art Education Program and Teaching Japanese Program; Aesthetic Education,Art for Special-Needs Children, Introduction to Educational Philosophy and Ethics for Profession Teaching. The study was involving qualitative method, contemplative education approaches were used through mindfulness, deep listening, storytelling, sharing experiences together with dialogue, world café technique, drawing and reflection journaling. The results from reflective papers, observation and focus group were analyzed by content analysis. The research findings found that the contemplative teaching can support the development of attention, insight, emotional self- regulation, empathy, compassion for self and others and action in order to encourage and transform self-learning, deepens learning and builds inner strengths and skills. Through these approaches they were learning to reduce stress, enhance and improve classroom climates, and were helping students to calm their bodies and minds, focus their attention, and even open their hearts by exchange of learning ideas. The contemplative education approach is enabled students to recognize and properly tend to behavioural patterns and enabled students to process facts which led to contemplation and ultimately to wisdom.

Process Without Purpose

Process Without Purpose

Supporting older adults in using technology for lifelong learning

In the past, many technological initiatives have failed to engage adult learners in any significant way in part due to the lack of technological initiatives that build on people's existing interests but also because of an insufficient focus on designing co-operative technologies that can be used effortlessly. In this paper we provide our experiences of the use of Wizard of Oz (WOz) studies in order to develop a technological tool to support older adults' use of the Internet for learning, where we aimed to achieve a more learner centred approach to design. Wizard of Oz simulation is a research method common in Human-Computer Interface (HCI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and other human factors/computer usability research where researchers conceal themselves from research participants and use communications technology to pretend that a prototype or incomplete computer-based conversational system is fully functioning. The purpose of a WOz simulation is usually to investigate and inform the development of a technology that has yet to be developed, or to learn more about how people interact with the system in order to improve the design. In this paper we outline the understandings we developed using this technique, highlighting the methodological and conceptual value of using this approach. Based on conducting Wizard of Oz simulations with 20 older adults with a diverse range of educational backgrounds and technological expertise we ask: what are the methodological benefits and challenges of using Wizard of Oz simulations in studies of learning and the Internet? In this paper, we argue that the use of Wizard of Oz approach could be a valuable method to employ for a wider range of research that examines networked learning in formal or informal settings. This is particularly the case as one (unanticipated) effect of the study was how the use of this technique developed our understandings of the everyday experiences older adults have with computers and the Internet when trying to learn new things. In addition we argue that the use of this method is important in the current context where a common criticism of technologies that are designed to support learning tend not to be fit for purpose, as they have either been developed initially for commercial uses or developed without a strong understanding of the learner in mind.

An Ideal Medical Teacher

Science is knowledge and it needs to be dispersed and disseminated in order to translate into an improved quality of life for the local, regional and global community. The responsibility of conveying and decoding the language of medical science into the minds of learners falls upon the shoulders of medical educators. They are the ones who pave the way in the making of our future physicians and surgeons. The functions of medical teachers extend far beyond the mere imparting of theoretical, stereotype bookish concepts or developing the routine protocol of clinical skills. Their duties include the framing of personal and professional growth among medical students, while developing among them, a sense of responsibility for themselves and the community and instilling within the medical learners, the requisite ethical standards for fulfilling the Hippocrates Oath of physicians. The expectations from the 21 st century teacher of medicine are often too many and unrealistic, but they constantly strive towards fulfilling their roles. This article pays a tribute to all such persona along with highlighting some of their unique characteristics

Anxiety and Attitude Of Secondary School Students Towards Foreign Language Learning

Multiple methodologies are being used for teaching and learning of foreign language. In countries where English is taught as a foreign language, learners suffer various levels of being anxious and develop a specific attitude towards English. The paper examined foreign language anxiety of 10th grade students and their attitude towards foreign language learning. Sample of the study was 360 male and 360 female students of 10th grade students of public sector secondary schools from six districts of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Level of anxiety and level of attitude were determined through percentage. t-test was used to find out difference between boys and girls of 10th grade. Relationship of anxiety with attitude of the students was determined though Pearson product moment coefficient. Results showed significant differences between boys and girls in foreign language anxiety and attitude towards foreign language learning. There was significant negative correlation between foreign language anxiety and students’ attitude towards foreign language learning. Girls showed less anxiety in English language class and had more positive attitude towards English. Similarly, rural students had high anxiety in English and had less positive attitude towards English. It was suggested that training might be given to English language teachers on modern pedagogical patterns. English language Curriculum might be redesigned keeping the context of the learners in mind.

Redesign online courses with student expectations: a case study with a new infrastructure

Interest and enrollment in web-based or online distance programs continues to grow in Turkey. We are no longer in the first wave of online course development. The courses being taught at Ankara University's Distance Learning Program need to be redesigned. Because they were not developed with the learner in mind to meet students’ expectations when the program first started. Ankara University's Center for Distance Learning is dealing with the improvement of online course quality now. We are looking for concrete methods to make our courses work. We need to focus on techniques to increase engagement and participation. In this sense, we conducted a survey study to collect data from our online distance education students to find out the expectations to be able to design the online courses effectively.

Do lectures truly kindle learning process?

Didactic lectures in Medical Education take a sizeable portion of teaching in the pre- and paraclinical years. Most of the time the lectures become the source of dispensing information rather than kindling the curiosity of the learner's mind. Medical Education being a continual learning process lectures and lecturers must instil in the minds of the students that teaching is learning Educational institution is a place where they learn how to learn and understand that medical research is a living process. (Published: 8 February 2010) Citation: Libyan J Med 2010, 5: 4878 - DOI: 10.3402/ljm.v5i0.4878

Reframing narrative cases for ill-structured contexts: The design with learners in mind

This study reviews theories supporting the construction of student knowledge and found they rely upon theoretical operations with few pragmatic applications. A new paradigm of learning needs to emerge which focuses on how students actually construct their own knowledge, based on reconstructing current/past knowledge or experience, and their interpretation of the world. Such a paradigm implies ways that would enable educators to facilitate students’ problem solving, and gears to help students construct hypotheses, select and transform information, and finally make decisions. Implications for designing effective narrative cases for ill-structured problem solving are discussed.

Lessons learned about integrating a medical school curriculum: perceptions of students, faculty and curriculum leaders

Recent educational reform in US medical schools has created integrated curricular structures. This study investigated how stakeholders in a newly integrated curriculum - students, course directors and curriculum leaders - define integration and perceive its successes and challenges during its first year. We conducted interviews with curriculum reform leaders, course directors and first year medical students. Interview transcripts were analysed for themes, which were compared within and across stakeholder groups. Three curriculum leaders, four Year 1 course directors and six Year 1 medical students were interviewed. Fifteen students participated in a group interview. Four major themes emerged: interdisciplinary teaching; interdisciplinary faculty collaboration; building curricular links, and sequencing and framing curricular content. Cross-group analysis revealed participant agreement that an integrated curriculum required interdisciplinary teaching, clinical application and careful oversight. Differences among groups were also identified. Faculty (course directors and curriculum leaders) discussed faculty collaboration and the challenges of faculty buy-in and course implementation. Students highlighted the impact of integration on their learning and the challenges of sequencing and scaffolding content. Both students and course directors focused on course monitoring and conceptual links for student learning. Integrating a curriculum is a complex process. It is differentially understood and experienced by students and faculty, and can refer to instructional method, content, faculty work or synthesis of knowledge in the minds of learners. It can occur at different rates and some subjects are integrated more easily than others. We point to some specific considerations as medical schools embark on curriculum reform.

To What Extent Should Human/Environment Interactions Be Included in Science Education?

Research and education about the Earth and environment can be considered as a cascade of information flows, from the Earth, into sensors, then to data, then to insights in the minds of scientists, curriculum materials, teachers, and finally to insights in the minds of learners. In at least some cases, the insights in the minds of learners feed back to the Earth as learners send a message to the Earth in the form of modifications to their actions and decisions. This paper asks: To what extent does, or should, science education seek to change how individual human beings and human society interact with the Earth and environment? We explore this question by examining the outcomes of 49 separate deliberative processes, the state science education standards. We find that there is serious disagreement across the nation as to whether science classes should consider human/environment interactions at all. There is more support for teaching about how human society impacts the environment than for teaching about how the environment impacts humans and human society. In most states, there is minimal or no support, in the standards, for teaching about how individuals can and do impact the environment.