Strengthening the Practice and Research Foundation of Andragogy Amidst Some Growing Controversy and Resistance to It

Zemke and Zemke believed 30 ideas/concepts/techniques related with adult learning/andragogy can help toward accomplishing the job as adult educators. Tenant analyzed Knowles' popular andragogical assumptions and processes, while Hartree, Jarvis, and the Davenports considered Knowles' andragogy overrated in its contribution. Not to be deterred, Knowles' published his book The Adult Learner (third edition) and Andragogy in Action, a compendium of 36 positive organizational results of andragogy. Brookfield called American andragogy an unproven theory. Taylor offered a very strong and articulate research-based process model for Knowles' andragogical implementation of four phases and four transitions into learning for self-direction in the classroom. Henschke developed an andragogical assessment inventory entitled: Modified Instructional Perspectives Inventory (MIPI), which is Cronbach Alpha validated three times for reliability, including seven factors of which ‘teacher trust of learners' is the strongest factor with 11 elements describing its dimensions. This chapter explores this.

Teleological pitfalls in reading evolutionary trees and ways to avoid them

Despite evolution being the central idea in modern biology, considerable variation exists in its acceptance around the globe, and reports of anti-evolutionist and creationist movements are widespread. Educators need to re-evaluate the approaches used for teaching students about evolution in order to facilitate its understanding and acceptance. A major hurdle in understanding the concepts of evolution is that humans tend to view the world in a teleological way. Learners create obstacles to understanding the concepts of evolution by ascribing purpose or intent-driven actions to animals, processes, or inanimate objects. An indispensable learning tool in the field of evolution is the evolutionary tree, as it is a direct representation of evolutionary hypotheses. The ability to read and understand this form of representation is prerequisite to fully understanding the concepts of evolution. In this work, we present issues faced when attempting to teach students to read evolutionary trees as well as troublesome diagrammatic properties that may foster teleological thinking. Further, we present teaching practices and methods that may be used to avoid the above challenges (from diagrammatic and instructional perspectives). With this work, we aim to raise awareness among educators about the different potential teleological pitfalls in the field of teaching how to read evolutionary trees, and to present different approaches for minimizing teleological reasoning and thinking in evolution education.

Outcomes Based Technique for Measuring Critical Thinking Ability on Computer Science and Engineering Students

Literature clearly indicates that it is possible to develop quantifiable outcomes, such as critical thinking abilities, measure them and communicate student learning achievement of the outcomes, if the instructional and assessment approaches are organized in an effective way. Critical thinking ability of the Computer Science and Engineering students is an active process of skilfully conceptualizing the domain concept, analyzing and evaluating the information. This paper attempts to measure learning outcomes of ‘critical thinking ability’ which might be obtained by the students of Computer Science and Engineering, through two different instructional perspectives namely, i. the traditional linear time-bound instructions and ii. Outcomes Based instructions. The objective of this exercise is to determine whether Outcomes Based Education (OBE) in its instructional principles would be more suitable over the traditional methods in imbibing ‘Critical thinking ability’ as a learning outcome? Is it possible to classify students who prefer OBE methods of instructions? The paper elaborates an experimental study to compare and correlate the results obtained by these two selected instructional principles. The conclusions drawn out of the experimental studies as well as from the survey results will be of immense use to educational researchers of Computer Science and Engineering.

Outcomes Based Technique for Measuring Critical Thinking Ability on Computer Science and Engineering Students

Literature clearly indicates that it is possible to develop quantifiable outcomes, such as critical thinking abilities, measure them and communicate student learning achievement of the outcomes, if the instructional and assessment approaches are organized in an effective way. Critical thinking ability of the Computer Science and Engineering students is an active process of skilfully conceptualizing the domain concept, analyzing and evaluating the information. This paper attempts to measure learning outcomes of ‘critical thinking ability’ which might be obtained by the students of Computer Science and Engineering, through two different instructional perspectives namely, i. the traditional linear time-bound instructions and ii. Outcomes Based instructions. The objective of this exercise is to determine whether Outcomes Based Education (OBE) in its instructional principles would be more suitable over the traditional methods in imbibing ‘Critical thinking ability’ as a learning outcome? Is it possible to classify students who prefer OBE methods of instructions? The paper elaborates an experimental study to compare and correlate the results obtained by these two selected instructional principles. The conclusions drawn out of the experimental studies as well as from the survey results will be of immense use to educational researchers of Computer Science and Engineering.

The Pedagogy of Poverty: Instructional and Technological Challenges

Poverty is discussed here from pedagogical and therefore instructional perspectives. It is analyzed in novel ways, seeing charities as environments wherein adult learning occurs. Charities are shown as overlooked “adult learning institutions” that “instruct” the poor by conveying to them (indirectly through the type of aid offered and the conditions for obtaining aid) by using three ideologies of poverty: ontological, epistemological, and axiological. Ideology 1 presents poverty as an ontological (tangible) matter of limited (real or digital) resources—some of the tangibly poor have access to the Internet (to unlimited digital resources), being digitally nonpoor but tangibly poor. Ideology 2 portrays poverty as an epistemological (cognitive) issue of limited abilities—some poor people (with access to the Internet and therefore to unlimited, free-of-charge learning opportunities) have exploited these opportunities to gain skills. Ideology 3 paints poverty as an axiological (value-based) lack of valuing poverty—although some poor people have positive attitudes towards poverty, their access to the Internet (to the lifestyle of the wealthy) has made them reconsider their attitudes. Being influenced by these ideologies, the poor perceive poverty (a) as limited resources and therefore as external to them, thereby feeling disempowered; (b) as limited skills and thus as internal to them, therefore feeling empowered; or (c) as a positive value and accordingly take no action. Previous works discuss the potential of adult learning to break the cycle of poverty, whereas this article demonstrates that adult learning can encourage individuals to remain poor and value their status of being poor.

Perspectivas sobre o uso das diretrizes de desenho instrucional para a simulação na saúde: revisão da literatura

AIMS: This article had two main objectives: to present a brief summary of introductory cognitive concepts on learning and instruction for simulation, including instructional design guidelines; and provide an overview of the current available evidence on the instructional perspectives on healthcare simulation training effectiveness, in particular with regards to simulation formats, fidelity and simulation site.METHODS: We searched for articles at MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, ERIC, LILACS and SciELO databases, using the keywords "instructional design guidelines", "healthcare simulation", "simulation training", "simulation effectiveness", "complex learning", and "transfer of learning". No specific beginning date of publication was specified and last date of search was September 19th 2017. All articles in English and Portuguese were considered for inclusion with no specific exclusion criteria. A few articles were purposefully selected in search of introductory concepts on learning and instruction.RESULTS: Our search retrieved 3196 articles in the different databases. After preliminary title, abstract and content analysis, we selected 56 articles. Additionally, nine traditional articles and one book were included to present the best available evidence, reviews, reflections and critiques on simulation instructional perspectives, resulting in 66 references consulted in detail for this review.CONCLUSIONS: Simulation offers the opportunity for active learning for health professionals by providing a complex learning environment with integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes. With potential impact on the different levels of learning, behavior and results, special attention should be given to the instructional format of the simulation. Among the instructional design guidelines, authenticity stands out as one of the elements of fundamental relevance for learning. Other instructional elements, such as increasing complexity, proper training location, debriefing, self-assessment opportunity, and other forms of assessment, also have positive influence and should be used in planning different simulation instructional designs.

Developing Students' English Language Skills and Cultural Awareness by Means of Food Topics

The chapter tackles the topic of food in teaching English as a second language from different instructional perspectives, which include an integrated approach to skill-development, vocabulary acquisition as well as to American and British culture and civilization. The major purpose is to suggest various classroom activities based on topics related to food that can be used by ESL teachers in their classes. Consequently, the focus is on the strategies conducing to the development of receptive and productive language skills, practice of lexical items and enhancement of cultural awareness. Various theoretical elements regarding the teaching process lie at the basis of practical activities proposed by the chapter.