In post-secondary introductory courses there is a knowledge base that must be learned before proceeding to advance study. One method to learn such fundamental material has been the mastery paradigm (Bloom, 1956). Using this approach, students learn a particular knowledge unit until they achieve a predetermined accuracy criterion, for example, 90% correct, on a post-learning test. Lindsley (1972) broadened the definition of mastery learning to include response rate (i.e., responses per minute) and called it ‘fluency’. The response rate has not generally been considered in the traditional demonstration of mastery within the academic setting. Empirical research to date has focused solely on the effects of either approach without any direct comparisons. There was only one published report comparing the effects between the two approaches (Kelly, 1996). In the present study, two single-subject experiments were conducted using a computer program called Think Fast to deliver factual information covering introductory behavioral psychology concepts. In Experiment 1, a within-subject design was used to control the number of learning trials, instructional set, and the experimental presentation sequence (n = 9). This design consisted of multiple learning units and instructions. Group, subgroup and individual descriptive analyses revealed that posttest achievement was higher for items learned to both Accuracy and Speed than Accuracy. In analyzing the change in retention from immediate recall to scores obtained after a 30-day absence, learning was more resistant to extinction for concepts that had previously been learned to Accuracy and Speed rather than Reading or Accuracy. Furthermore, retention decreases were examined statistically and there was one significant result in Session 1 and two in Session 2. In Session 1, under the Accuracy condition, subjects recalled 25.5% fewer items after a 30-day absence, t(8) = 5.33, p < .01. A decrease of 12.2% for posttest items learned under the Accuracy and Speed condition was not significant, t(8) = 2.05, p > .05. In Session 2, significantly fewer (Recall 2) posttest items were remembered after a 30-day absence for both experimental conditions, t(8) = 5.08, p < .01 (Accuracy) and t(8) = 3.82, p < .01 (Accuracy and Speed). All other group retention comparisons were not statistically significant. In Experiment 2, a between-subject design was used to replicate the effects of Experiment 1, but this time each subject received only one set of instructions (n = 6). The effects of this simplified research design resulted in no significant differences between learning to both Accuracy and Speed in comparison to Accuracy. Other factors that affected learning included subjects' baseline ability and the extent of their interest in the study. These factors determined whether or not subjects followed the learning instructions and, to varying degrees, affected their subsequent posttest performance. The study concluded with educational implications and suggestions for further research. / Graduate

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand physics Learning Assistants’ (LAs) views on reflective teaching, expertise in teaching, and LA program teaching experience and to determine if views predicted level of reflection evident in writing. Interviews were conducted in Phase One, Q methodology was used in Phase Two, and level of reflection in participants’ writing was assessed using a rubric based on Hatton and Smith’s (1995) “Criteria for the Recognition of Evidence for Different Types of Reflective Writing” in Phase Three. Interview analysis revealed varying perspectives on content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and experience in relation to expertise in teaching. Participants revealed that they engaged in reflection on their teaching, believed reflection helps teachers improve, and found peer reflection beneficial. Participants believed teaching experience in the LA program provided preparation for teaching, but that more preparation was needed to teach. Three typologies emerged in Phase Two. Type One LAs found participation in the LA program rewarding and believed expertise in teaching does not require expertise in content or pedagogy, but it develops over time from reflection. Type Two LAs valued reflection, but not writing reflections, felt the LA program teaching experience helped them decide on non-teaching careers and helped them confront gaps in their physics knowledge. Type Three LAs valued reflection, believed expertise in content and pedagogy are necessary for expert teaching, and felt LA program teaching experience increased their likelihood of becoming teachers, but did not prepare them for teaching. Writing assignments submitted in Phase Three were categorized as 19% descriptive writing, 60% descriptive reflections, and 21% dialogic reflections. No assignments were categorized as critical reflection. Using ordinal logistic regression, typologies that emerged in Phase Two were not found to be predictors for the level of reflection evident in the writing assignments. In conclusion, viewpoints of physics LAs were revealed, typologies among them were discovered, and their writing gave evidence of their ability to reflect on teaching. These findings may benefit faculty and staff in the LA program by helping them better understand the views of physics LAs and how to assess their various forms of reflection.

No description available.

[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

[No abstract available] / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

[No abstract available] / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This study was conducted to investigate how teachers present concepts and use examples in the natural setting of the classroom. A conceptual framework which afforded bases for the generation of questions as well as general rationale was found within the concept acquisition research literature (Bourne & Guy, 1968; Carnine, 1980; Houtz, Moore & Davis, 1973; Hovland & Weiss, 1953; Klausmeier & Feldman, 1975; Tennyson & Park, 1980; Tennyson & Rothen, 1977; Tennyson, Steve, & Boutwell, 1975; Williams & Carnine, 1981). Within the developing research tradition, diverse instructional strategies had evolved within a context of highly specific, carefully controlled experimental laboratory investigations. Prescriptions based on the results of these research initiatives were being directed toward classroom practitioners (Engelmann & Carnine, 1982). The extent to which instructional design strategies emerging from the empirical activity could be transplanted from the artificial context of the laboratory to the unpredictable and complex environment of the classroom was a question which guided this inquiry. The focus of this descriptive study became an exploration of the verbal behavior of teachers in the classroom during the act of teaching, examining how concepts and supporting examples were being presented. A naturalistic, descriptive mode of inquiry was adopted during the study. The observational technique was utilized, and a "sign system" was constructed to isolate and quantify the behaviors of interest. Based on the literature, as well as trends discerned during two pilot studies, a number of questions relating to concept teaching in the natural setting were generated and explored in data from sixty different teaching lessons (N=8). These lessons reflected varying subject matters and students of varying chronological ages. The questions were formulated in reference to teachers' use of concept definitions, positive and negative examples, concrete as opposed to abstract examples, as well as the extent to which teachers asked students to generalize to new, different positive and negative examples. Frequencies associated with these verbal behaviors were reported. As well, the role which students were playing during concept teaching was examined. The results of this exploratory investigation suggest that areas of complementarity exist between the respective perspectives assumed by researchers and teachers, particularly in relation to use of definitions and positive examples during concept presentations. At the same time, the naturally occurring behaviors of the teachers in this sample were devoid of certain strategies judged essential by instructional designers, in particular use of negative examples during concept teaching sequences. Across the teachers, subject matters, and grade levels represented in this study, approximately one-half of the examples presented in relation to concepts were conceptualized and contributed by students. This pattern emerged during an instructional routine which Duffy (1983) terms the "turn taking model", where classroom interaction is characterized by the teacher asking a question, the student responding, and the teacher reinforcing or correcting. Because instructional designers' prescriptions for example presentation during concept teaching rely heavily on strict control over content and sequence issues, the question is raised whether instructional design models for concept teaching are feasible within the natural setting in general, given the constraints that may be imposed by adoption of turn taking procedures. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Ideas from philosophy, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and teacher education are molded into a description of exceptional teaching. Especially important for establishing a model of exceptional teaching is Habermas's (1970) theory of knowledge-constitutive interests. Specifically, Habermas's three knowledgeconstitutive interests (technical, practical, and emancipatory) are expected to define wisdom in teaching. By adopting technical, practical, and emancipatory knowledge as the basis for a model of exceptional teaching this study will extend some current descriptions of exceptional teaching (i.e., Berliner, 1986) that define exceptional teaching as expertise. Evidence for this conclusion stems from the results of a principal components analysis on respondents' ratings of descriptors of "wise" teaching, as compared to the results from a principal components analysis on respondents' ratings of descriptors of "expert" teaching. Wise teaching seems to involve all three of Habermas's ways of knowing, whereas, "expert" teaching involves practical and especially technical ways of knowing. Therefore, the difference between "wise" and "expert" teaching seems to be in what Habermas has called emancipatory knowing. A second set of findings supports the above findings by showing that teachers hypothesized to be closer to the prototype of a wise teacher (department heads) utilize their "wisdom" in response to two general questions about education; whereas, a sample of teachers who were not department heads and a sample of student teachers do not utilize these three ways of knowing to the same extent. The difference between the three samples of teachers was primarily in the use of emancipatory knowledge by the department heads. In a third set of findings a teacher hypothesized to be "wise" was observed to determine whether or not Habermas's three ways of knowing were evident in her teaching practice. This was found to be the case. The general conclusion from the present study is that a comprehensive description of exceptional teaching seems to be possible based upon people's everyday conceptions of what it means to be a "wise" teacher. Thus, an empirical model is provided for future research on exceptional teaching. This empirical model seems to best fit into a developmental framework based on constructivism because the essence of constructivist descriptions of exceptional teachers (e.g., Arlin, 1993; Lee, 1993; Prawat 1992) correspond closely with the present description of exceptional teachers. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

An appealing notion is that the emotions make a significant contribution to a flourishing life. The self-regarding emotions of self-respect, self-esteem, and pride are undeniably things of great value; Aristotle proposed that a justified sense of honor was the crown of the virtues. Many public schools actively incorporate self-esteem initiatives in their curricula in the belief that positive self-evaluations enhance learning and good citizenship. One can maintain without contradiction that the self-regarding emotions with negative properties detract from a happy life. Various attempts have been made to suggest that shame, humiliation, guilt, and remorse are intrinsically bad. Many proponents from within the two leading moral education approaches—the cognitive developmentalists and the traditionalists—subscribe to this view. According to these theorists, the aforementioned emotions are viewed as counter-productive and unmotivational. I examine their positions and find them flawed. This dissertation proposes that moral shame can be conditionally good. To justify this claim requires a plausible account of what an emotion is, the formulation of a clear and precise definition of moral shame, an explication of how shame differs from other emotions of self-assessment, and an argument that shame has moral significance. Following that, the two leading educational theories of moral development will be examined to assess how they value and accommodate the emotions of self-assessment. Interviews are conducted with principals, teachers, students, law enforcement and district court personnel, members of the clergy, and social workers to support the claim that a sense of shame contributes to moral progress. In that this view might be overlooked in many of the current moral education programs, I conclude the study with suggestions for the necessary curriculum reform.