Understanding Of Subject Matter Research Articles

Clinician's Commentary on Farrell et al.(1).

Clinically based anatomy is a foundational science for musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapists. Best practices are based on informed treatment strategies that rely heavily on an extensive and up-to-date knowledge of MSK anatomy. The results of this novel study by Farrell and colleagues,1 which investigated the use of clinical anatomy resources by outpatient physiotherapists, are important in identifying the extent of self-directed learning that is taking place in this area after graduation. The finding that more experienced physiotherapists used resources significantly less frequently than their less experienced colleagues can be interpreted in many ways. Perhaps more experienced physiotherapists do not see a need for further clinical anatomy education and view anatomy as a “textbook science,” to be studied from textbooks rather than from the research literature. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it may be that current clinical literature, including relevant basic science studies, is relatively inaccessible as a result of high subscription rates. Open-access papers are readily available, but obtaining articles from many specialty-specific journals requires access to a library that subscribes to these journals or purchasing or renting articles from the publisher. This can be costly, as students' library privileges are terminated on graduation. Canada, unlike Australia (where Farrell and colleagues practise), does not have a “statewide health department online resource portal,” which may further limit the number of physiotherapists who can access online library resources. Encouraging students to become lifelong learners is an important goal of professional programmes. Farrell and colleagues state that “clinical reasoning demands a thorough understanding of the appropriate clinical subject matter,” but the results of their study suggest that gaining deeper insight into pathology-specific MSK anatomy may not be a high priority for some practitioners. Clinical anatomy is a living and evolving science, and all practitioners should therefore strive to keep abreast of the current literature, with a view to integrating the findings into their clinical practice. Textbooks are useful references, but the research literature provides the key to advance evidence-based practice. I congratulate the authors on their excellent study exploring physiotherapists' behaviour and attitudes toward clinical anatomy. Their findings support the development of better resources with greater accessibility to the physical therapy community, enabling lifelong learning and the integration of research findings into clinical practice.

Popular Science Writing to Support Students’ Learning of Science and Scientific Literacy

In higher natural science education, the scientific report is the prevailing genre of writing. Despite the fact that communicative skills are highly valued in working life, earlier studies have shown deficiencies among science students. In this paper, we highlight the need for varied communication training, in particularly arguing for the possibilities that students’ popular science writing offers. Our study was based on a questionnaire answered by 64 degree project students in biology. The questions focused on the students’ own experiences of writing about their projects for the general public and what contribution the writing made to their learning of science. A vast majority of the students expressed that the writing helped change their perspectives and that they saw their subject and project in a different light. Many of the students described that the popular science writing made it easier for them to put the science content in a context, to better understand the aim of their own work, and the implications of their findings. We discuss the positive effects that popular science writing may have on students’ subject matter understanding and development of scientific literacy. Our concluding remark is that popular science writing is a useful tool for reflection and that it adds significant value to the students’ capacity to change perspectives, understand their subject and develop scientific literacy.

Teaching Ancient Technology using “Hands-On” Learning and Experimental Archaeology

Universities increasingly demand high quality courses that are engaging, develop high level analytical skills and foster deep understanding of key disciplinary subject matter. We describe an approach to teaching ancient technology to undergraduate students that is successful in engaging students through hands-on learning, and develops familiarity with general scientific approaches to building knowledge, while also enabling deeper understanding of core archaeological skills and subject matter, such as artifact analysis and the evolution of technology. There is value in sharing approaches to teaching ancient technology and experimental archaeology and we hope others will find this discussion helpful in developing their own courses or comparing our approach with those which are already on offer.

Online MCQ Assessment Anxiety Amongst 1st Year Psychology Students

First year undergraduate students studying psychology online with the University of the Highlands and Islands experienced anxiety while taking the first of two online multiple choice question (MCQ) assessments. The literature reveals that test anxiety, computer anxiety and technostress have been recognised as issues for some time. As a distributed University that relies heavily on online technology, these issues are potentially significant for UHI and other higher education institutions utilising online learning platforms. Feedback from students after the first MCQ assessment revealed that test anxiety, computer anxiety and technostress were all experienced in some form during the deployment of the assessment. Consequentially, steps were taken to mitigate against these reported issues. Detailed technical advice and guidance was issued ahead of the second online MCQ assessment. End of module feedback from students indicated that anxiety-related issues were reduced by the advice issued to them. For subsequent cohorts of students, formative assessments and detailed technical advice and guidance were issued. MCQ tests were reduced from two to one. An examination of assessment pass rates and feedback for this second cohort of students indicated that the use of a formative assessment and detailed technical advice and guidance deployed prior to the summative assessment were effective at ameliorating against online test anxiety. There are a number of factors that might interact in a complex way to affect student performance in an online MCQ test setting. It is important that wherever possible, we deploy assessments that are a valid test of students’ knowledge and understanding of subject material rather than their ability to deal with situations that engender anxiety and stress.

Subjective Point of View of a Student on Ways of Subject Matter Structure Creation by the Teacher

Authors in this contribution focus on issue of subject matter structure creation by the teacher as an important psycho-didactic domain of education process and how does a student perceive this structure. The aim of the teacher is not only to impart the knowledge to students but also to show them and teach them possible ways of how to understand the subject matter better and how to get to the fundamentals of it. Based on the structure of subject matter created by the teacher a student creates cognitive frames which become basis for his further learning. We pay attention to definition of epistemology of subject matter structure, questions of psycho-didactic approach to teaching, creating structure of subject matter and how does the teacher work with the text. Empirical part of the contribution investigates teachers' preferences of subject matter structure and statistically describes subjective perception of level of understanding of the subject matter by a student influenced by the particular subject matter structure realized by the teacher.

Beginning Science Teachers’ Use of Tools to Learn Ambitious Instruction

A lack of coherence about norms for instruction between preparation contexts often results in tensions for beginners about learning to teach. I wondered if planning tools created in a university setting, designed to support ambitious instruction, could act as boundary objects to help novices bring ambitious teaching into classrooms. As such, I examined how three participants used the tools to plan for ambitious instruction in ways that changed their own understanding of subject matter and pedagogy. Their mentor teachers, however, prompted the novices to use the tools and teach in ways that were inconsistent with the participants’ planning. I found that the tools prompted the novices to try out pieces of ambitious instruction, yet the tools alone do not encourage coherence or communication between beginning and mentor teachers.

HUBUNGAN ANTARA MOTIVASI DAN AKTIVITAS BELAJAR SISWA TERHADAP HASIL BELAJAR KOGNITIF SISWA DENGAN PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN KOOPERATIF TIPE STUDENT TEAMS ACHIEVEMENT DIVISION PADA KONSEP EKOSISTEM

One of the very important process in education is a learning process. The success of the learning process is necessary to motivate the student to be able to encourage their learning activities. STAD cooperative learning is a learning model that trains students to work together in a small group and help each other in solving problems, thus the gain mastery of subject matter understanding. STAD cooperative learning model is not much different from the usual lesson by the teacher. Teachers still contribute in the learning process so that not just released and expected students still easy to adaptable. The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between motivation and student learning activities with the implementation of STAD. This study used quasi-experimental research method. The population of this study was all first grade students in Model Islamic State Junior High School (MTsN) of Banda Aceh amounting to 39 students chosen from 11 classrooms. Samples were collected by using random sampling technique. Instruments of this study were cognitive learning outcomes test, student motivation questionnaire, and student learning activity observation sheet. Data were analyzed by multiple correlation test at significant level of 0.05. The results of the analysis of research data shows the value of R = 0.56 with P 0.00 (< 0.05) then Ho is rejected and Ha accepted. It can be concluded that there was a significant relationship on student motivation and learning activity toward student cognitive learning outcomes by the implementation of STAD. In order to improve the cognitive learning outcomes,motivation and learning activities optimally it is expected that biology teachers implemented STAD than can actively involve the students in learning process.

Lecturing and other face-to-face teaching – too much or too little? An assessment based on student feedback and fail rates

Institutes of higher learning are tending to reduce the amount of face-to-face teaching that they offer, and particularly through the traditional pedagogical method of lecturing. There is ongoing debate about the educational value of lectures as a teaching approach, in terms of both whether they facilitate understanding of subject material and whether they augment the student educational experience. In this study, student evaluation of teaching scores plus academic outcome (percentage of students who fail) was assessed for 236 course units offered by a science faculty at an Australian university over the course of one year. These measures were related to the degree to which lectures and other face-to-face teaching were used in these units, controlling for factors such as class size, school and year level. An information-theoretic model selection approach was employed to identify the best models and predictors of student assessments and fail rates. All the top models of student feedback included a measure reflecting amount of face-to-face teaching, with the evaluation of quality of teaching being higher in units with higher proportions of lectures. However, these models explained only 12–20% of the variation in student evaluation scores, suggesting that many other factors come into play. By contrast, units with fewer lectures have lower failure rates. These results suggest that moving away from lectures and face-to-face teaching may not harm, and indeed may improve the number of students who pass the subject, but that this may be incurred at the expense of greater dissatisfaction in students' learning experience.

Implementing a disciplinary-literacy curriculum for US history: learning from expert middle school teachers in diverse classrooms

In recent years, educators in the USA have emphasized disciplinary literacy as an essential path forward in cultivating adolescents’ understanding of subject matter in tandem with literacy practices. Yet, this agenda poses challenges to teachers who have been tasked with its implementation. Here, we examine two expert US history teachers’ efforts to implement curriculum that integrates reading, writing and thinking in history with academically diverse eighth graders. We conduct qualitative analyses of teacher observations and interviews as well as student work. This analysis provides insight into several issues that emerge in efforts to teach disciplinary literacy in history classrooms: the nuances of teachers’ use of curriculum materials created by people other than themselves, teachers’ appropriation and adaptation of curriculum materials and teachers’ understanding of curriculum materials and disciplinary literacy goals. We find that teachers’ knowledge of the discipline and attention to students’ ideas allowed them to skillfully adapt the curriculum to better meet students’ needs and push students’ thinking. Orienting teachers toward disciplinary learning, ensuring a foundational understanding of their discipline and providing teachers with tools to teach disciplinary literacy are important steps to help students meet the demands of the disciplinary literacy agenda.

Assessing Students’ Acceptance of Case Method in Software Engineering Education – A Survey

Abstract Case Method (CM) is a teaching technique that uses real cases as a tool for delivering a particular subject. Software Engineering (SE) is a discipline that concerns the principles, methods and tools for developing and improving software. SE education therefore tends to be too theoretical. To impose realism where the students can be exposed to real scenarios and learn to apply those theories through discovery, CM is seen as necessary for SE education. This paper presents a survey conducted to a set of students who employed CM in learning SE. The objective of the survey was to assess the degree of acceptance among SE students on the usage of CM. The participants were Undergraduates and Masters that comprise local, international and matured students. The data were analysed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and qualitatively through content analysis. The results indicate that CM can be useful for SE education. The participants accepted CM because it improves the understanding of subject matter, enhances interpersonal skills and provides meaningful learning experience. Nonetheless, CM is seen as effective only when certain conditions are met. The results can be used by SE educators to enhance teaching and learning in future.

MOKINIŲ OPTIKOS ŽINIŲ ĮVALDYMO YPATUMAI: 10 KLASĖS FIZIKOS UŽDAVINIŲ SPRENDIMŲ ANALIZĖ

Following the renewed general programs of Lithuanian secondary education i.e., by adjusting the content and teaching/learning goals of each subject, not only knowledge, but also their applications, real problems solving and reasoning have emphasized in the teaching process. Therefore, not only the conveyance of subject matter knowledge, but also teaching students to think and understand is particularly important. In order to assess the student's level of uptake of knowledge and its application, it is necessary to identify the process of thinking and understanding of subject matter, to capture errors and incorrect thinking. When the causes of errors are known, it is possible to define what knowledge or skills are missing. This article deals with the typical errors that have made when solving problems from the light phenomena. These are subject errors caused by a lack of knowledge or wrong under-standing of material, errors caused by gaps of application abilities and inattention errors. Mastering peculiarities of students' knowledge of light phenomena was studied by analysis of problems solutions. For this purpose, the 1747 problems solving of students' of young physi-cists school “Foton” of Siauliai University were analyzed. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of problems solutions showed that the prob-lems of light phenomena for students of young physicists school “Foton” were moderately difficult (0.65). It can be argued that students are well mastered this physics course and are able to apply their knowledge in specific situations. The study revealed a typical subject, skills and inattention errors that were done not only in the "Photon" problems solving, but also dur-ing the lesson or the control work, doing homework, participation in the Olympiad and so on. There are some tips on how to avoid those mistakes. Key words: light phenomena, problem solution, typical error.

JADE based Virtual Checker to Avoid Plagiarism in MOOC's

MOOC's (Massive open online classes) have ushered in a new era of learning overcoming the boundaries of time and geography to provide high quality education to masses who cannot afford university education. The major drawback however is that although they have best tried to capture classroom environment but facets such as teacher-student interaction and the usefulness of assignments as a source for enhanced understanding of subject matter have not been captured. Also it has led to plagiarism, which not only is a serious hazard but is also staining the otherwise excellent image the MOOC's could have had. In this paper we propose a JADE based multi-agent system(MAS) as an effective step to solve the problem of plagiarism. The system has considered 2 types of plagiarism namely local and internet-based plagiarism. This will be used to filter out the students caught in plagiarism and students who come out clean will then have their solutions checked by using LEXICAL ANALYSIS to determine the styling and subjected to tests as well as code- checker to check for logical and syntactical correctness.

Concept Maps as Expressions of Teachers’ Meaning–Making while Beginning to Teach Semiconductors

The challenge of teaching new subject matter is a familiar one for most teachers. This paper investigates the content knowledge gains made by seven teachers as they learn to teach the topic of semiconductors through a process of self-study. ‘Semiconductors’ is a new topic in the curriculum which looks at the sub-microscopic properties of materials used in electronics and is important because of its applications in modern technology. We present a phenomenographic analysis of 21 concept maps produced by seven teachers at various stages of their self-study project. Four categories of description emerged in the analysis, viz. no meaning, orientation to understanding of subject matter (SMK), a pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) context focus, and a PCK strategy focus. The last category proved to be the most interesting as it suggested that the teacher saw the learning of SMK and learning to teach the SMK as a single process. This finding was considered as important in understanding how teachers learn new SMK for teaching. We found that experienced teachers make sense of their new SMK in different ways. There is a variation of orientation in their learning and sense-making. The data also showed progression of teachers’ understanding of the topic through the self-study process. The findings suggest that learning SMK for the purposes of teaching is different to learning for fulfilling the requirements of a study programme.

Students' Experiences and Perceptions of In-Depth Approaches in Teaching and Understanding Subject Matter

Students' experiences and perceptions of good teaching and understanding in literature and physics during one school year were investigated through in-depth interviews with students in eight Greek high school classes in the first, second and third grade. The pedagogical quality of in-depth teaching and understanding of subject matter, as described by the students, was investigated. Students' feelings of joy, pleasure and personal meaning in the teaching and learning situation were also in focus in the research. The investigation brought out three main types of approaches to subject matter in classroom teaching and learning: a logical/analytical approach, a holistic/reflective approach and an existential approach. These three approaches were common to teaching and understanding of literature and physics, with some variation in specific meaning within and between subjects. They also varied in presence and meaning between grades and students.

THE POWER OF GAMES TO LEARN MATHEMATICS: AN OVERVIEW

The central principle of Realistic Mathematics Education is that the learning of mathematics needs to be laid on meaningful situation; either meaningful problems or activities. Many researches found that activities of game playing are meaningful to students and can be effective tools for enhancing learning and understanding of complex subject matter. Consequently, this article focuses on the benefit of games to support the learning of mathematics and the role of teacher in conducting game-based learning.Keywords : Realistic Mathematics Education, game-based learning, the role of teacher

The Retrospective Pre–Post: A Practical Method to Evaluate Learning from an Educational Program

Program evaluation remains a critical but underutilized step in medical education. This study compared traditional and retrospective pre-post self-assessment methods to objective learning measures to assess which correlated better to actual learning. Forty-seven medical students participated in a 4-hour pediatric resuscitation course. They completed pre and post self-assessments on pediatric resuscitation and two distracter topics. Postcourse, students also retrospectively rated their understanding as it was precourse (the "retrospective pre" instrument). Changes in traditional and retrospective pre- to postcourse self-assessment measures were compared to an objectives-based multiple-choice exam. The traditional pre to post self-assessment means showed an increase from 1.9 of 5 to 3.7 of 5 (p < 0.001); the retrospective pre to post scores also increased from 1.9 of 5 to 3.7 of 5 (p < 0.001). Although the group means were the same, individual participants demonstrated a response shift by either increasing or decreasing their traditional pre to retrospective pre scores. Scores on the 22-item objective multiple choice test also increased, from a median score of 13.0 to 18.0 (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between the change in self-assessments and objective measures as demonstrated by a Spearman correlation of -0.02 and -0.13 for the traditional and retrospective pre-post methods, respectively. Students reported fewer changes on the two distracters using the retrospective pre-post versus the traditional method (11 vs. 29). Students were able to accurately identify, but not quantify, learning using either traditional or retrospective pre-post "self-assessment" measures. Retrospective pre-post self-assessment was more accurate in excluding perceived change in understanding of subject matter that was not taught.

DUAL MODE IN-SERVICE TRAINING AS AN ALTERNATIVE MODEL FOR TEACHERS PROFESSIONAL (PD) IN INDONESIA

To improve the quality of education, the Indonesian government has been launching a number of teachers’ professional development (PD) programs. These, however, brought little impact on the improvement of teaching practice and students’ achievement. This paper reports a two-year research project on a dual mode in-service training program that combines a classical in-service training and training via internet. The first year focused on identifying teachers’ professional needs while the second year focused on the development of training packages and tried out the training model. The study reveals that science teachers need training both on subject matter and pedagogy. In addition to the traditional face to face workshop, they also expect online training via internet since it allows them to have flexibility in accessing the materials as well as consultation with experts. This study suggests that participation in dual mode teachers PD improve teachers’ understanding of subject matter and pedagogy. Key words: dual mode; in-service training; professional development; science teacher

Scholarship of Teaching and Teachers' Understanding of Subject Matter

When college teachers’ experience of teaching and their experience of the subject matter they are teaching are analysed in terms of parts and wholes, an underlying relational structure is found. Where the teachers’ subject matter focus is on wholes (or wholes made up of parts), their teaching approaches are more strongly related to high quality student learning. When the subject matter focus is more on parts (or parts making up wholes) teacher-focused transmission approaches to teaching are more likely. If the scholarship of teaching involves making more visible what teachers do to make learning possible (so that it may become the subject of public discourse and assessment) then an awareness of the relations between subject matter understanding and learning becomes a part of the scholarship of teaching. This essay presents an overview of the research that leads to these conclusions.

The epistemological role of language use in children’s explanations of physical phenomena

The article investigates the interplay between the meaning given to certain key expressions and pupils’ understanding of science subject matter, in a qualitative study of learning.The intentional-expressive approach to the epistemological role of language use served as a theoretical frame, within the wider context of phenomenographic research on learning. Data were collected using a particular dialogue structure. Micro-process analysis was employed to examine the data. Two descriptive categories emerged: 1) Exploring the function of meaning, and 2) Inventory of meaning. Pupils who explored the function of meaning related their explanations, both to other expressions, and to their personal understanding of the physical problem. Pupils who made inventories of meaning mostly directed attention towards expressions as words. Emphasis was on correct reproduction of scientific terminology. Inventory of meaning was most common in the dialogues with the fourteen-year-olds, while exploring the function of meaning dominated in dialogues with the ten-year-olds.

The Social Side of School: Why Teachers Need Social Psychology

Teaching and learning are fundamentally social enterprises. In attempting to understand, explain, and predict social behavior, social psychologists have amassed scores of empirically grounded, fundamental principles. Yet, many such principles have yet to be applied to classrooms despite the social nature of these settings. This article illustrates how infusing novel concepts from social psychology into teachers’ repertoires holds untapped potential to improve their pedagogy, ability to motivate students, and capacity to enrich students’ understanding of subject matter. This article first examines three domains of social psychology—social cognition, influence/persuasion, and interpersonal relations—and illustrates how applications of principles from each domain could benefit classrooms. Next, two exemplars are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of past interventions that are rooted in social psychological principles. Finally, pathways through which teacher educators can introduce new social psychological concepts and applications to teachers are explored.