Volume 10, Number 1 1999
Contents
Jan Herrington and R. Oliver 3
Orazio Miglino, Henrik Hautop Lund, and Maurizio Cardaci 25
Martin Berz, Béla Erdélyi, and Jens Hoefkens 49
Gail E. Fitzgerald, Bryce L. Allen, and Thomas C. Reeves 59
Lester Gilbert 67
Shu Ching Yang 87
Abstracts
Using Situated Learning and Multimedia to Investigate Higher-Order Thinking
Jan Herrington and R. Oliver
Edith Cowan University Western Australia, 6010j.herrington@cowan.edu.au
This paper describes a qualitative study into students’ use of higher-orderthinking as they use an interactive multimedia program based on a situated learningframework. The analysis of types of talk used by students as they worked with the programclearly shows that the majority of their thinking was higher order, as defined by Resnick(1987) and other theorists. Social, procedural and lower-order talk was less evident butpresent in their talk in reduced proportions. These findings suggest that a multimediaprogram based on a situated learning approach can provide a learning environment capableof supporting and maintaining substantial levels of higher-order thinking.
Robotics as an Educational Tool
Orazio Miglino
Institute of Psychology Insitute of Psychology, National Research Council University of Naples, Italy Viale Marx 15, 00145 Rome, Italyorazio@caio.irmkant.rm.cnr.it http://gracco.irmkant.rm.cnr.it/orazio
Henrik Hautop Lund LEGO Lab, InterMedia, Aarhus University, Denmark Ny Munkegade, 8000, Aarhus, Denmarkhhl@daimi.aau.dk, http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~hhl/
Maurizio Cardaci Cognitive Science Group Department of Psychology, University of Palermo 90133 Palermo, Italymailto:cardaci@mbox.unipa.it cardaci@mbox.unipa.it
This paper explores a new educational application of Piaget’s theories ofcognitive development, that is, the use, as a teaching tool, of physical robots conceivedas artificial organisms. By using simple assembly kits, students at all levels are able toproject and construct real robots that simulate the behaviors of animals. The process ofconstructing real robots helps students to understand concepts about complex dynamicsystems—in particular how global behavior can emerge from local dynamics. This isdone through a construction process. In order to obtain a given behavior students modifyboth the “mind” and the body of artificial organisms. The construction ofpopulations of artificial organisms helps the students to realize the difference betweenobserving behavior at the individual (microscopic) level and at the population(macroscopic) level. The development of a population of robots with a given behavior is anevolutionary process. The selective reproduction of a population of robots is a powerfultool for teaching the Darwinian theory of evolution: experiments using artificial—asopposed to biological—organisms make it possible to rapidly observe the results ofselection, reproduction and mutation. The paper reviews a number of educational projectsusing real robots. It is shown that the use of intelligent systems to enlarge our view ofbiological reality could become an integral part of curricula in science, technology,psychology, and biology.
Experiences With Interactive Remote Graduate Instruction in Beam Physics
Martin Berz, Béla Erdélyi, and Jens Hoefkens
Department of Physics and Astronomy and National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory Michigan State University East Lansing MI 48824, USAberz@pa.msu.edu
erdelyib@pilot.msu.edu
hoefkens@pilot.msu.edu
An Internet-based course in Beam Physics that is being offered by the Department ofPhysics and Astronomy at Michigan State University (MSU) is described. This course is partof the MSU Virtual University Degree program in Beam Physics (VUBeam, 1998), and had about100 registered participants at approximately 25 different sites all over the world at itsdebut. For the purposes of this course we are using Integrated Digital Data Service(ISDN)-based and Internet-based videoconferencing tools, Internet-based transmission ofaudio and video recordings of the lectures, an interactive Internet-based homework systemwith on-line grading, and we provide the participants with downloadable lecture notes in avariety of formats.
Beam Physics as a more recent subfield of physics is concerned with the behavior ofparticle beams in particle accelerators. Because accelerator laboratories are usually notdirectly connected to university environments, the proper training of beam physicists atthese sites often occurs less naturally than in other fields. The availability ofvideoconferencing and other Internet-based tools offers students and employees an optionof increasing or refreshing their knowledge of Beam Physics. This approach provides anefficient and inexpensive mechanism to learn in a systematic fashion and offers theopportunity to earn university credit and even degrees without leaving the workplace.
A Scholarly Review Process for Interactive Learning and Information SystemProducts
Gail E. Fitzgerald and Bryce L. Allen
School of Information Science and Learning Technologies 351 and 217 Townsend Hall University of Missouri—Columbia Columbia, MO 65211 USAspedfitz@showme.missouri.edu
isbryce@showme.missouri.edu
Thomas C. Reeves
Department of Instructional Technology 604 Aderhold Hall, University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-7144 USAtreeves@coe.uga.edu
This article describes a new scholarly review process for courseware and otherinteractive learning and information system products. The purpose of the review process isto provide a mechanism to support faculty in the creative scholarship of designing anddeveloping interactive products, evaluating their quality, disseminating results, andproviding opportunities for the professional community to view and discuss their work. Thearticle describes the review processes and provides information for submitting appropriateproducts.
Some Valuable Lessons From the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme inthe UK
Lester Gilbert
Department of Mathematics and Information Technology Canterbury Christ Church College, North Holmes Road Canterbury, Kent United Kingdom CT1 1QUl.gilbert@cant.ac.uk
This paper considers some lessons for teaching and learning technology (TLT) in UKHigher Education (HE), relevant to HE lecturers concerned with the development oftechnology-based teaching, and informed by the official evaluation report of the Teachingand Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) (HEFCE, 1996a). The paper analyses the TLTPevaluation report, and draws two conclusions. First, UK HE TLT developers do not generallyappreciate the necessity for instructional systems engineering (ISE) expertise. Second,even where the need for ISE expertise is appreciated, these developers generally do notrecognise that they have neither this expertise nor the particular expertise required forcomputer-aided instruction. The paper then offers a commentary on these conclusions,informed by personal experience in both commerce and academia, followed by a considerationof the viability criteria for TLT projects in HE, and ends by asserting that there islittle justification for such projects in UK HE at present.
Divulging Intertextual Processes in the Problem-Solving of Hypermedia
Shu Ching Yang
Graduate Institute of Education National Sun Yat Sen University 70 Lien-hai Rd. Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C. 804finasc@ccunix.ccu.edu.tw
Although intertextuality is currently receiving a great deal of attention amongresearchers, the phenomenon of intertextuality as part of a synthesized discourse hasseldom been investigated among those who learn content domain through the use of ahypermedia database. Therefore, in order to better understand how learners approachintertextual linking as they are provided with this new technology, the study investigatesthe learners’ intertextual processes in their problem solving while using hypermedia.The verbal protocol and observation approaches are the principle methods used to addressthe issues related to this study. Understanding novice learners’ intertextualprocesses and examining how a hypermedia system affects their intertextual learning isaccomplished by observing their synthesized discourse in six cases using Perseus, a Greekculture database. The categorization scheme is established to explore the dimensions amonglearners’ intertextual processes in a hypermedia learning environment. Several themesemerged which are distilled from the learners’ protocol data, and they are identifiedand discussed. Drawing from the study, the conclusions are set out; they highlight someimplications for designers and outline suggestions for the direction of future work.