Athitaya Nitchot and Lester Gilbert
Our study aims to focus on the application of knowledge mapping to provide pedagogically-structured learners' competences.
Abstract
Purpose
Our study aims to focus on the application of knowledge mapping to provide pedagogically-structured learners' competences.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted an experiment examined the associations between the pedagogical quality of students’ pedagogically-informed knowledge (PIK) maps, class assignment scores and perceptions of PIK mapping’s uses.
Findings
The results showed that higher assignment scores were significantly predicted by higher quality PIK maps, ratings for PIK mapping were significantly higher than other mappings, and the learners’ experience of PIK mapping led to a significant change of attitude towards mapping as a learning activity and to a positive opinion of the value of PIK mapping in particular. Interestingly, there was no significant relation between learners’ opinion ratings of the uses of PIK mapping in learning and their assignment scores.
Originality/value
Questions remain on the generalizability of the findings, and on the features of a PIK map which are particularly useful to a learner. This study investigated the value of PIK mapping in the context of a practical class on the building of simple DIY (do-it-yourself) holographic projectors; it may be thought that the applied nature of the topic was more suited to the PIK mapping of learner competences and intended learning outcomes than a more theoretic classroom topic on holography. A future study is planned to address this issue.
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Cheri Macleod and Paula Hayden
The learning skills used by students at a technical college to fully participate in their classes were the focus of this investigation. Researchers shadowed two full-time students…
Abstract
The learning skills used by students at a technical college to fully participate in their classes were the focus of this investigation. Researchers shadowed two full-time students for one full day as they each went to their classes in a technical college in Qatar. An observation schedule was used to record what students did in their classes (for example: solve problems, listen to the teacher, ask questions). At the end of the day students were interviewed and asked to comment on the importance of the learning skills that they used, how they built the skills they needed and how to become a better student. It was found that students used a variety of learning skills throughout a typical day and that they had their own ideas about learning. The learning skills the two students used most during their classes were not the same, owing partly to the format of the courses and partly to personal learning approach. The four learning skills students identified as most important were: understand and apply concepts to current work; concentrate and maintain focus; follow written instructions; and ask questions. The information gathered in this investigation can be used to inform students, instructors and course planners about the skills students need to be active participants in their classes and to ensure that educators support the development of required learning skills.
Abstract
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Di Wang, Deborah Richards, Ayse Aysin Bilgin and Chuanfu Chen