Centre for Learning Development Reading Group Database

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Volume 1 Number 1: Summer 1998

Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to teach in higher education. Routledge

Keywords: Teaching, Learning, deep learning, shallow learning.

An inspiring book that covers the main concepts and ideas underlying good teaching, backing this up with a wealth of research data. It starts from the recognition that the current environment is one of over-worked staff. It gives practical suggestions as to how good teaching should occur. The bottom line is that the aim of teaching/learning should be to change the student's view of the world.  The separation between deep and shallow learning is a key underlying principle. It certainly changed my perception of the world (and was interesting, useful, entertaining ...).

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2. Guilty in Whose Eyes? University students' perceptions of cheating and plagarism in academic work and assessment.

The authors have interviewed students to determine their views on cheating and plagarism. The paper includes a large number of statements made by students on the subject. Areas covered include the ethics behind cheating, the hazy nature of plagarism, personal reactions to cheating by others and institutional factors facilitating and discouraging cheating on cheating, The premises started from by students differ from those of academics. The main findings are that  student's views (including those that cheat) have a strong moral basis concerned with friendship and good learning, that plagarism is poorly defined, that factors such as low contact time increase the likelihood of cheating and that the encouragement of group learning is seen as contradictory to the discouragement of plagarism and cheating.

3. Individual Differences in Student Motivation.

Keywords: Motivation, Extrinsic, Intrinsic, Cheating, Modules.

Different groups of students are motivated in different ways: eg age and sex have noticable effects on motivation. The same factors appear to affect the amount of cheating which is far more widespread than most lecturers realise. Motivation significantly affects the likelyhood of cheating. It is also suggested that modularisation/semesterisation has a bad effect on motivation as having twice as many exams frequently forces students into adopting shallow approaches to learning: as the semester passed and exams were looming students switched to surface learning rather than understanding.

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4. Gender and Course Differences in Approaches to Studying in First-year Undergraduate Students.

Keywords: Motivation, Deep, Surface, Acheiving, Age, Gender.

Describes a study on the learning approaches of first year students in induction week, over a range of subject areas. Female and mature students are most likely to favour deep approaches. Young and male students are more likely to favour shallow approaches. Course has an effect. For example, psychology students are more likely to favour deep and achieving approaches. There were no significant interactions between the factors investigated.

5. The effect of stressors on student motivation: a report on work in progress at Sunderland Business School.

Keywords: Motivation, Stress, change, contol, environment.

Some stress is needed for people to work well. Too much and they work badly. This study looked at the stressorson students with respect to change, control and person-environment fit. Key issues were control and fit. A recurring theme was that “staff did not care”. Tutor-student interaction is vital. If it is poor quality, students will be overly stressed and thus demotivated.

6. Layers of motivation: individual orientations and contextual influences.

Keywords: Motivation, learning orientation, independence.

In the 1970s a range of “learning orientations” were identified: vocational, academic, personal and social. These are the collection of purposes which form the personal context for a student’s learning. The orientations are subdivided into intrinsic (interested in content), and extrinsic (means to an end). A more recent study has identified a further orientation of 90s students: independence. It is concerned with issues of self-development as a consequence of coming away to study. This contrasts with the personal orientation concerned with personal development related directly to the course. This could be one reason why students seem less motivated about their courses: that is not the main benefit of going to University that they see.

7. Students’ motivation in Higher Education contexts

Keywords: Motivation, institutions, age, intrinsic, extrinsic.

This study looked at student motivations with respect to institutional setting, comparing the motivations of students from a traditional university (UCL) and a distance learning university (OU). There were clear differences in some areas. In particular, UCL students feel that it is up to staff to motivate them, whereas OU students felt they motivated themselves. OU students seem to be more intrinsically motivated (ie interested in the subject) and the UCL students were extrrinsically motivated (ie interested in getting good grades). A reason for this could be the age difference. OU students were mature. As more mature students are now entering traditional institutions, this raises questions about how these students integrate with younger students in such settings.

8. Silicon Snake Oil, Second Thoughts on the Information Superhighway

Keywords: digital libraries, computer-aided learning, information superhighway

Written by a computer Scientist, this is a popular attack on the use of computer technologies in education by a computer scientist. It cuts through the hype behind online education, virtual libraries etc, making many valid points over claims being made. It has a tendancy to sound a little like a rant at times.

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9. 253 Ideas for your Teaching

Lots of brief and practical suggestions to try out. Covers many kinds of classes from lectures to independent study.

10. 53 Ideas for your Teaching

Lots of practical suggestions to try out to make lectures more effective. Briefly describes theory behind suggestions in many cases.

11. Preparing to Teach

12. Things That Make us Smart

Keywords: digital libraries, reflective thought.

Despite the title this is actually about the interactions between technology and human thoughts. Along the way is discusses electronic libraries and the power different technologies such as books and TV have for encouraging reflective thought. It ultimately depends on how the technology is used: TV for example in normal use encourages experiential thought. However, if given enough time and control for reflection, it can provide an excellent medium for reflective thought. Technology is not neutral. It needs to be used in appropriate ways.

13. Friends in Higher Places

Keywords: Peer-tutoring, student mentors.

Using students to help teach other students is very popular in the US and is now being increasingly tried in the UK. It is seen as a way of coping with larger class sizes and reduced resources. However, it can also be a beneficial way of helping students to develop autonomous study skills and think for themselves. Graduates can also sometimes teach subjects that are fresh in their minds more effectively than academics who are over familiar with the subject. The down side is that students may not have the teaching skills, so even if they do understand the problems of their peers better, they may not be able to teach effectively or may even miseducate. It is therefore important that the students are given training. An alternative is for them not to teach but to "mentor" or "facilitate". Students run tutoring sessions where they do not teach - just chair sessions where the group as a whole solve problems together. Such mentors must be trained how to avoid ending up teaching!

Donaldson, A.J.M., Topping, K.J., Aitchison, R., Campbel,l J.,.McKenzie, J, Wallis, D. (1996) ‘ Promoting Peer Assisted Learning Among Students in Further and Higher Education’ SEDA (The Staff and Educational Development Association) Paper 96.
stlg12.00 http://www.seda.demon.co.uk/

Copyright: Centre for Paired Learning, Department of Psychology, Dundee University. http://www.dundee.ac.uk/psychology/c_p_lear.html

Shelved in Middlesex University Libraries at 371.394 DON

Keywords: Peer Assisted Learning (PAL), Cooperative Learning, Group Work, Tutoring, Monitoring, Peer Assessment, Collaborative Writing, Mentoring, Counselling.

78 pages. For staff and students. Covers and defines the different forms of peer assisted learning and advises students on how to put them into operation themselves. Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) is the term used for a range of activities in which people who are learning a common subject help one another. Types of Peer Assisted Learning include Cooperative Learning (types of group work), Peer Tutoring (pairs where one assumes the tutor role and the other the learning role), Peer monitoring  monitoring and providing feedback on the learning process), Peer Assessment (looking at and providing feedback on work produced), Paired collaborative writing (working together on writing), Mentoring and counselling (dealing mainly with the social and emotional aspects of learning).

Topping, K. (Centre for Paired Learning, Department of Psychology, Dundee University.) (August 1996). ‘Effective Peer Tutoring in Further and Higher Education.’ SEDA (The Staff and Educational Development Association) Paper 95
stlg12.00 http://www.seda.demon.co.uk/

Shelved in Middlesex University Libraries at 378.1794 TOP

Keywords: Peer Tutoring.

102 pages. Section 1) The Effectiveness of Peer Tutoring in Higher and Further Education: A typology and review of the literature. Section 2) Organising Peer Tutoring in Higher Education. Contains forty overhead transparency masters for teaching other people. This is specifically about Peer Tutoring, where one person assumes the tutor role and the other the learning role.

Anthony 'Skip' Basiel
http://skip.mdx.ac.uk/DELBERT/mentor_help.htm

Keywords: web-based learning, constructivism, formative evaluation

Peer mentoring  is an element in my web-based tutorial system: DELBERT at: http://skip.mdx.ac.uk/DELBERT/mentor_help.htm
In this 'help feature' the students submit their contact information ( ie -e-mail, telephone...) to a mentor list. In this way each generation can act as a guide to the next group in using the DELBERT Tutorial System.

Domenico Minchella, Richard Mobbs and Helen Pownall.

Electronic Learning Forum Seminar, Wednesday 3 June 1998, Centre for Learning Development

Keywords: computer based assessment, Question Mark, CASTLE, multiple-choice assessment.

This seminar was the first in a series of workshops organised by the Centre for Learning Development under the Electronic Learning Forum.  This session examined two different software tools used in computer based assessment, Question Mark and CASTLE.

Domenico Minchella (School of Computing Science) demonstrated the different kinds of question-and-answer dialogues that can be designed using the Question Mark package (Middlesex University has a site licence for Question Mark).  The question types include simple explanation (no answer required), multiple choice (with single or multiple answer), type in text, type in
value, choose from a range of values.  Question Mark can be seen at: http://www.qmark.com/

The CASTLE (Computer ASsisted Teaching and LEarning) toolkit has been developed with JISC/JTAP funding at the Leicester University, and offers an environment for the development of multiple choice questions without the need for specialist knowledge of HTML.  Richard Mobbs and Helen Pownall gave the background to the project and demonstrated how easy it is to create multiple choice questions with single or multiple solutions.  The toolkit is available free of charge, and there are several demonstration quizzes on the web site using text, graphics and sound within the questions.  The CASTLE web site can be found at: http://www.le.ac.uk/cc/ltg/castle/

While Question Mark and CASTLE offer the opportunity to develop question-and-answer dialogues in easy to use development environments, the underlying design and pedagogical issues must not be overlooked, and are just as crucial whether the tests are online or on paper.

18. Individual differences in Student Cheating

Newstead, S.E., Franklyn-Stokes A., Armstead P. (1996). ‘Individual differences in Student Cheating’ Journal of Educational Psychology vol. 88, no. 2,.

Keywords: cheating, assessment.

This is an extensive and informative survey on cheating done in an English University. It considers different types of cheating
behaviour, the reasons for cheating and, more interestingly, reasons for NOT cheating. It correlates the cheating behaviour with
differences in age, gender, subject area, personal goals and has some tentative results about geographial location. Many of the findings confirm expectations based on anecdotal evidence (eg men cheat more than woman) but, through use of statistical methods, quantify the extent and range of cheating. With a substantial literature review at the start, it provides a good introduction to the issues involved in student cheating.

Terrell, I, (1996) ‘Distant and Deep. A Report on the Collaborative Research and Development of a Distant and Deep Learning Project’ Middlesex University School of Education Research Paper 1

Shelved in Middlesex University Libraries at 378.03 TER

Keywords: Action research, deep learning, distance learning principles, higher cognitive skills, reading and discussing ideas,
reflective thought.

81 pages. This is about using Action Research to redesign a Middlesex University module (EDU1501 "Development and Educational Experience") on distance learning principles. The intention of the research was not just to develop one module, but to provide guidance to help the rest of us adapt and survive in a dramatically changing education system (pp 5-9). Action research is studying a social situation with a view to improving it. The research was initiated and directed by Diane Montgomery and John Whomsley (J.Whomsley@mdx.ac.uk) from within the School of Education, and Pat Pearce, from Library
Services (P.Pearce@mdx.ac.uk) (p.9). The report is called "Distant and Deep" because the intention is to use reflection on what one is doing (arguably involved in using distance learning materials) to encourage deep learning. Deep learning is defined as "an ability in abstract conceptualisation beyond surface learning" (p.28). This is linked in to Diane Montgomery's theories and research on encouraging higher cognitive skills (pp. 26 following and p.80). By distance learning the researchers do not mean students working away from the University, but students in the University having a package of materials to work on themselves "at a distance from the seminar-lectures" (p.25). The objective of the materials designed for this module seems to have been to assist students learning skills of active reading, and discussing the ideas they read about. The report's writing style is very dense (compact), and I did not find the "Conclusions and Recommendations" very helpful in unpacking the contents, but if you think that sharing teaching experiences within Middlesex University is valuable, you will probably find reading the booklet worthwhile. I found the concepts and literature it introduced me to particularly valuable. Perhaps to fully understand the content I would have needed to see the learning package.

2. Learning to Lead in Higher Education

Ramsden, P. (1998). Learning to Lead in Higher Education. Routledge.

Keywords: Teaching, Learning, Leadership, Management.

This book is aimed at Heads of Departments in HE. The cover hypes it with the questions:"What can heads of Departments do to help a demoralised workforce embrace change?", and "How can you transform an average University department into an excellent one?" On the whole this is not mere hype, however - the book makes a good attempt at delivering. It explores the ideas that leading in HE has many similarities to teaching in HE and that management of academics has both similarities and differences to management in other sectors. The thrust of the argument is that University Leaders must foster an enterprise culture (focussing on competence), over collegiate (focussing on academic freedom), bureaucratic (focussing on rules) or corporate (focussing on loyalty). Important aspects of this enterprise culture is its emphasis on continuous personal development, both in the leaders and the led, in a constantly changing world. Heads of Departments need to understand and actively encourage innovative teaching. They also need to lead by example. The practical suggestions that are described are built on a solid foundation of theory both from the business world and the theories of teaching and Learning. For example, one practical suggestion is that managers maintain 2-3 page "Leadership Portfolios" similar in concept to Teaching portfolios.It also builds the theory around the views and experiences of many academics and department Heads. It accepts from the outset the realities of rapid change, increased student numbers and reduced resources that characterise Higher Education at the moment. This makes it much more than an academic work: every Head or prospective Head of a University Department will want to read it!

Chalk, B S. (1996). Computer Organisation and Architecture. Macmillan.

Keywords: resource-based learning, feedback, excercises, answers

This book is aimed at first year computing degree/HND students, and would also be useful to conversion MSc students.

There are text questions throughout, with solutions at the end of each chapter. These are very helpful, but it would be even more useful to see alternative correct answers.  Students may think they have got the wrong answer if their solutions don't agree with the book; sometimes there may be valid alternative solutions, but a student would not know whether such an answer was correct unless it matched the answer supplied.

At other times, students may make a "typical" mistake which could be used to develop understanding; explanations for incorrect answers could also be included. It would be helpful to try to pick out typical wrong answers and explain why they are wrong.  This could also support students who did get a correct answer, but were not confident that their solution was right.

There are also exercises with solutions at the back of the book.  It would be useful if the questions which do have answers in the back of the book could be marked (perhaps with an asterisk) to indicate that solutions are provided.  This would avoid a fruitless search by a student after attempting a question, and also avoid a potential pitfall of questions being set as part of the coursework when the solutions are already provided!

Basiel, A. Web-constructivism Using Javascript
http://skip.mdx.ac.uk/webresources/webconstructivism.htm

Keywords: Javascript, Constructivist Learning Theory, World Wide Web Learning, Environment, Problem-solving Seminar Teaching Strategy
 

This paper illustrates how the Constructivist Learning Theory can be demonstrated through the use of Javascript in a web-based learning environment. The power of stand-alone multimedia applications can now be replicated on the web through many types of plug-ins. However, they are tedious and time consuming to download. Client-side Javascript is the answer this research proposes as a fast, reliable alternative. By embedding Javascript throughout a web-based tutorial system the principles of Constructivism guide the Instructional Environment Designer (IED) in the development of a web-based tutorial system.

Knight, Jonathan (1998)
'School's Out', New Scientist, 26 September 1998, Page 21

Keywords: Tutorial Video Instruction, Video Conferencing, Distance Learning

A problem with distance learning is that students miss out on classroom discussion. Video conferencing is often suggested as the solution. Researchers at Stanford have combined video conferencing with a classroom-based teaching approach: tutorial video instruction (TVI). Students watch a video with the tutor, stopping the tape frequently for discussion and questions. In a trial of 900 students, groups using TVI and a video conferencing version of it scored similar grades. The grades for the group attending traditional lectures were worse. The main lesson therefore is not about distance learning, but that TVI works better than lectures.

Norton, L. (1990)
'Essay-writing: What Really Counts?' Journal of Higher Education 20:411-442
Key words:  Essay-writing, argument, marking

A study carried out at Liverpool University reported that there was a discrepancy between student appoaches to essay writng and tutors' marking stategies.  Students saw content as the most important where tutors were more concerned with argument.

The  paper suggests that some form of explicit instruction in the nature of argument is needed.

Jackson, M. (1991)
'Writing as Learning: Reflections on Developing Student Writing Stategies' in Higher Education Research and Development 10(1)pp.41-52

Keywords: argument, critical, stong & weak strategies

Jackson found that many student writers, particularly first years, think of an essay as a list of what they know about a topic. In addition, words like argument and critical  present problems as they are often misunderstood or misinterpreted.

The author argues that 'strong' strategies should be promoted and that 'weak' stategies should be demoted. Examples of strong strategies are thinking of writing as learning and visualising audience.A weak strategy would be editing but not revising. Jackson stresses that students need to understand that writing is a complex process.

Harrison, M (1983)
'Attitues to error -the irritation factor'  in Norish, J. & Paulo Lopes, L (Eds.) (1983)  Learner language: aspects of error analysis, Working Document Four, Department of ESOL
University of London, Institute of Education.

Keywords: error, linguistic deviance, coherance, tolerance, irritation, global/local errors

Attempts to further understand the language errors of speakers of English as a second language speakers and the degree of tolerance of native speakers. Participants were asked to record the degree of irritaton language errors caused them.Global errors were found to be the most irritating, i.e. those that interfered with organisation, structure, logic coherence etc. However, it would be unwise to extrapolate findings of a study with only 29 participants.

The pedagogical implications of this are that teachers need to become aware of their own attitudes to certain types of errors in order to avoid 'irritation build-up' during the marking of examinations, for example.

Alison Utley (1998), Gender Study shows women are 'driven by fear of failure',
The Times Higher Education Supplement, November 6th, 1998

Keywords: gender, failure, strategic learning, deep learning, surface learning.

A study by Kate Greasley at Derby University suggests that women are more likely than men to adopt strategic approaches to learning due to greater worries about failure. This acts as a barrier to developing deep understanding. They were also more likely than men to adopt surface approaches to learning when given high workloads, and thus be more adversly affected. Departments that encourage such fear of failure or set too great workloads are harming the learning potential of everyone but more so the women.

Clark, R (October, 1998) Authorware, Multimedia, and Instructional Methods
http://www.macromedia.com/support/authorware/attain/how/expert/instruct/

Keywords Multimedia, Instructional Method, Computer-Based Training (CBT), Instructional Architecture, Cognitive Learning, Guided Discovery, Cognitive Apprenticeship.

Dr Ruth Clark, is a recognised specialist in instructional design and technical training.

For anyone developing web based or multimedia learning materials this article is a `must read'. Although the paper deals specifically with Macromedia's new development software Authorware 5 Attain, many of the issues dealt with are fundamental to the design of good on-line teaching materials.

The paper starts by examining the learning process in relation to cognitive psychology (the science of how people process information) and goes on to explain how the principles of instructional design can help you create teaching and training materials that are consistent with the way people learn. The article introduces you to these principles, and suggests (with examples) how you can combine effective instructional design with the power of Authorware to create multimedia teaching and training materials that work, on the job or in the classroom.

If you would like further references or information about on-line learning visit the Lee Valley Centre of Middlesex University ADAPT project website at www.leevalley.co.uk/adapt. This website is created using FLASH. If your web browser does not support Flash then the plug-in can be downloaded from http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/.

Maureen O'Connor (1998) 'In class bigger is very rarely better', The Independent, Education Section, Page 2, Thursday 12 November, 1998.

Keywords: class size, teaching quality.

A study of a genetics course at Queens University, Belfast, suggests that class size does not affect brighter students but has a bad affect on the weaker students, leading to increased failure rates. The student results on the course were studied over a seven year period during which the course did not significantly change, was taught by the same staff and admissions policy was unchanged. What did change was an increase in students from 68 to 151. Over this time the mean mark fell by over 16% though the number getting over 65% was unchanged.

Increases in numbers have to be matched by changes in teaching methods to overcome the problems. For example getting students into the habit of learning in small self sufficient groups in seminars can, with structure, preparation and guidance, allow a tutor to move between several classes without reducing the amount of learning.  Universities need to design ways to reward lecturers for innovative course development rather than punishing it (eg by giving them extra classes) as effectively happens in many institutions.

Martin Heidegger(1968) What is called Thinking? , tr. J. Glenn GrayNY 1968, part 1, p.15 (originally published as 'Was heisst Denken?',Tuebingen, 1954)

Keywords: teaching, learning, difficulty, listening.

This passage is on my wall as a reminder of what we are about, and also that sometimes we aren't the first to have ever thought about such things. It's Heidegger, from 'What is Called Thinking'

'Teaching is more difficult than learning. We know that; but we rarely think about it. And why is teaching more difficult than learning? Not because the teacher must have a larger store of information, and have it always ready. Teaching is more difficult than learning because what teaching calls for is this: to let learn. The real teacher, in fact, lets nothing else be learned than---learning. His conduct, therefore, often produces the impression that we properly learn nothing from him, if by 'learning' we now suddenly understand merely the procurement of useful information. The teacher is ahead of his apprentices in this alone, that he has still far more to learn than they---he has to learn to let them learn. The teacher must be capable of being more teachable than the apprentices. The teacher is far less assured of his ground than those who learn are of theirs. If the relation between the teacher and the taught is genuine, therefore, there is never a place in it for the authority of the know-it-all or the authoritative sway of the official. It still is an exalted matter, then, to become a teacher---which is something else entirely than becoming a famous professor.'

Those of us involved with what we suppose to be new ways of thinking about teaching and learning in higher education sometimes forget that many of those ideas are far from new. This Heidegger passage reminds us that these approaches have always been part of some thinking, from Socrates on. I was delighted to find something I resonated to so strongly in such an unexpected place. Earlier in the same chapter, he likens the process of learning to that of a cabinet-maker who responds to 'shapes slumbering in the wood'. Later on he talks about the importance of listening, something we all too often realise is difficult for many who suppose that their teaching consists of telling. It's worth a look.

Bloor, M. (1996). 'The English of Computer Science: Linguistic issues and learners' problems' in M. Hewings & T. Dudley Evans (Eds.).(1996). Evaluation and Course Design in EAP. UK: Prentice Hall Macmillan in association with the British Council.

Keywords: vocabulary, computers

This paper reports on international students problems with English when using computer applications. During informal discussion groups, many students reported concerns over general communication (e.g. being able to understand a reply from a member of staff) and the language of Computer Science. Vocabulary difficulties were partly caused by the rapid development of computer 'technology' which has led to rapid 'terminological' growth.

One example of this is the lexis of the' typewriter' versus the 'keyboard' ( e.g. shift, TAB(ular), return). Unlike native speakers of English, many overseas students have no prior knowledge of the language to transfer. A further example could potentially cause problems for native speaker of English. Bloor offers 'dump-cracking' as an example of metaphorical extension, as it could quite easily refer to some form of damage that needs to be dumped. Instead it describes the process of diagnosing faults in programs of system management software. Thus, 'crack' refers to the colloquialism 'solve' in this instance.

The paper goes on to explore a number of potential problem areas ( multiple meanings, spelling etc. ) and proposes some self-study techniques for raising awareness and promoting strategies to cope.

JHF Meyer* (1998) 'Variation and Concepts of Quality in Student Learning' (*School of Eucation, University of Cape Town) Presented at the 3rd Northumbria Assessment Conference, University of Northumbria, September 1998 (to be published).

Keywords: variations in learning, surface learning, deep learning, transformative learning

[Preface: the following synopsis is based more on the author's conference presentation than on the paper distributed after the session.]

Although written in a form of "research-speak" that some may find obfuscating rather than welcoming, this paper reports on research carried out by the author (and colleagues), largely in S.Africa and Australia on professional degree courses (medicine, teaching, engineering), into aspects of variation in individual student learning. Their research reveals that a significant minority of students seem to finish their degree studies while still retaining what is, in effect, a "surface" or "accumulative" approach to, and concept of, "learning". The authors have found that this attitude is one that these students brought with them into higher education; the significance of these findings is that (this minority of) students, and their conception of learning, have not been sufficiently challenged by the "process" factors of the curriculum they have followed, and the assessment to which they have been subjected, to necessitate a change towards a preferable, "deeper" or "transformative" style of learning. This is regrettable in any degree course; with doctors and teachers it is serious! The lessons for curriculum (course) designers should be noted.

Steven G. Krantz, How to Teach Mathematics, a personal perspective, 70 pages, American Mathematical Society, Providence, Rhode Island.

Keywords: Mathematics, lectures, inductive method

As the title suggests this is a personal document full of Krantz's own thoughts and prejudices, however a lot of the points made may be of interest to non-mathematicians. Krantz's personal perspective is that `good teaching requires relatively little effort (when compared with the alternative)', that lectures are still best (after all they have been around for more than 3000 years) and that students learn by themselves through putting in the effort to answer problems.

The main strength of the book is that it includes lots of practical tips for beginners on what to do in general day-to-day teaching as well as in tricky situations. Best bit of advice from the book: Use the inductive method in teaching, i.e. work from simple examples to general principles. (The deductive method is to go from general axioms to examples.)

Knight, P (1998). 'Professional Obsolescence and Continuing Professional Development in Higher Education', Innovations in Education and Training International 35-3 p248-

Keywords: academic staff development, professional obsolescence

The author argues that academic staff development via voluntary staff development courses is doomed to be ineffectual. Ever increasing pressures such as the need to juggle many priorities and increasing workloads reduce both the time to go on such courses and the time for more informal development such as free reading, networking and private reflection. Furthermore staff who have lost the intrinsic motivation for development are unlikely to attend courses. Instead departmental culture is identified as the key factor. It is suggested that continued development of coherent academic programmes provide a good vehicle for inclusive team approaches to development. In this approach, staff development instructors become concerned with design of learning rather than of improving teaching performance.

Race, P. (1998). 'An Education and Training Toolkit for the New Millennium', Innovations in Education and Training International 35-3, p262-271

Keywords: terminology, open learning, group learning, lifelong learning, transferable skills, computer mediated communication.

If you are drowning under a sea of educational terminology, this paper will clear a way through some of the fog (to mix metaphors). The objective of the paper is to suggest that the range of terms are best thought of as a toolkit of educational practices that should be used together to help learners to learn. Similar concepts are grouped together, and for each group explanations are focused on the questions: What is it? How does it work? Who should it help? Where does it fit into the overall picture? How might we expect it to develop? The explanations are both brief and clear, making this a useful overview paper for novices.

Ruth Hubbard(1998) 53 Interesting Ways to Teach Mathematics Technical and Educational Services Limited

Keywords: Mathematics, teaching, course design, study skills

Another in the famous series, this time focusing on teaching mathematics, and covering Designing courses, Giving Lectures, Conducting tutorial classes, Using Exercises, Developing Study Skills and Assessing Learning. The best bit of advice is No23 on page 69, `No Hands', this can be summarised in the following. When a student comes to you for help with a problem don't write out the solution and ask `Do you understand?'. Explain the solution and let the student write it out in detail in front of you. In my own experience this takes longer but you do discover if the student understands.

Ed. Ken Houston (no relation), Innovations in Mathematics Teaching, Seda Paper 87, Staff and Educational Development Association.

Keywords: Mathematics, innovation, problem-based teaching

The book contains 18 case studies of innovations in teaching mathematics. Most of the studies are concerned with applied maths rather than pure maths, this may be due to the interests of the editor but may be a sign that there is not enough innovation in pure maths. Each study begins with a tick list of the `Characteristics of the teaching and learning strategies', `Problems tackled' and `Transferable skill and competences developed'.

Best studies: `Presenting a lecture course as a sequence of problems' by Bob Burn, and `Concept questions in mechanics' by Ted Graham and John Berry. Both are well worth a look.

Chris O'Hagan, 'How To ... Get an Encore - Video it' The Higher, 29 January 1999.

Keywords: Video lectures, interaction

Chris O'Hagan acknowledges the arguments for and against lectures. He comments that video techniques are widely used for training in industry, and that recommending students to watch a video is akin to suggesting a text book or other resource.

While a lack of interaction is sometimes seen as a minus point as regards video lectures, O'Hagan notes that some students feel a video is "more interactive" than a live lecture, as students can rewind and replay (and presumably fast forward familiar material). This means that the student can study the material at a personal pace, rather than as a member of a group, each of whom may have different requirements.

The problem of answering student questions has been handled by research students responding after a video has been shown, or by encouraging small group discussion. Supplementary material can also be provided.

Delivering Innovative Video Education Resources to Students Everywhere (DIVERSE) is a TLTP3 project involving Bolton Institute, Cheltenham and Gloucester College, and Wolverhampton and Derby Universities. The project embraces the production of resources for career development, learning to learn, biology, business studies and psychology. It is planned to explore student use of the video system so that presentation and interview skills can be enhanced.

Self Improvers Get on the Web,The Higher 29 January 1999.

Keywords: student writing, word processing

The Higher reported that students at Dundee University are being encouraged to use material on the Dundee intranet to develop their study skills. A pilot project is underway on effective writing.

This made me wonder...

Are writing skills different in some way if they are supported by IT? Students have complained about (hand)writing in examinations as they are used to word processing essays, reports, etc. When it is possible to cut and paste, insert material from other files and so on, quickly and easily, are these skills different in some way from writing on paper, marking additions, changes and inserts by hand? Does it make you think differently if you are writing something down on paper, or typing in a word processor, or even using a "brainstorming package"?

David Hicks & Richard Slaughter (eds.), Futures Education: World Yearbook of Education , 1998. xii, 292pp. Kogan Page.

Keywords: futures education, capability.

"The key question for all educators has to be - if all education is for the future then when and where is the future explored within education?" (Hicks, p2).

The premise of this book is that social and political structures, education not least, tend to live as "slaves to the past and the present" (Jones, p232), but that maintenance of the status quo is not a viable option for long-term survival, while "the continued attempt to move toward a challenging future on the basis of short-term thinking, drift, fatalism and denial cannot but end in disaster on an unprecedented scale" (Slaughter, p52). A sustainable future must be actively worked for - and "envisioning" or imagining that future is the first step towards its creation. Which is where education comes in, since it is by educating students towards that future (their future) that it may be shaped. For "Futurists explore not only possible and probable futures, but also preferable futures" (Bell, p22) and "Since our students are supposed to be preparing now to live in this future context, it is a matter of utmost urgency to provide them with all possible means" (Slaughter, p48) if we are to "empower students of all ages to transform visions into actions - to realise those futures they imagine" (Jones, p231).

Futures Education, comprising a collection of 20 articles by contributors from a range of discipline and professional backgrounds, from Australia, North America and Europe (UK), sets out a rationale for exploring alternative futures within education and provides examples of good practice. As such, it offers a useful and thought-provoking introduction for the newcomer to the field. It is organised in three Sections: the Foundations of Futures Education establishes the basis of futures studies and indicates the need for a futures-oriented curriculum; the Practice of Futures Education provides case studies of such curricula at all stages from childhood education through to undergraduate and postgraduate courses (five examples of the latter), and examples of impact on students; and Educating for a Sustainable Future, as its name implies, focuses on practical responses to the "need to educate for a more just and sustainable future". Within this broad scope, particular articles address specific themes including the nature of change, necessary global economic and social reconceptualisations, non-western and feminist perspectives, student attitudes and responses, and the place of environmental and "green" issues within the curriculum of, and for, the future.

Futures Education cannot be described as a handbook on how to introduce futures studies into the curriculum (although the case studies do provide valuable leads, particularly at university level); rather, its value is in the case it makes for the necessity of there being some attention to futures thinking within curricula as we approach the new millennium, and beyond. What comes through is the potential of futures studies to help shape attitude development, even emotional development, in students as much as to deliver content knowledge and thinking skills. In this it has links with notions of capability: the capacity and inclination to be innovative and proactive rather than simply reactive, and to be aware of one's place, and responsibility, in the world at all levels of engagement.

As Bell (p24) observes, "Imagining the future is how people make their way in the world". As this book shows, it is also how the world comes to be shaped. As such it should be of interest to all educators working to help prepare students for "capable" futures.

Peter Clinch. Teaching Legal Research, National Centre for Legal Education, University of Warwick, Guidance Notes Series (http://www.law.warwick.ac.uk/ncle/html/pubs.html).

Keywords: Plagarism, citation, cut and paste.

pp45/46 of "Teaching Legal Research" by NCLE contain some useful information about plagiarism and collaboration.

1 Ensuring students can cite properly can help to reduce (unintentional) plagiarism. Bruce Grant of Newcastle University Law School has "created a number of pages on the University's internet site which carry this type of information":

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nuls/lectures.legwrit/

2 Lisa Hinchliffe has compiled "Cut-and-Paste Plagiarism: Preventing, Detecting and Tracking Online Plagiarism":

http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~janicke/plagiary.htm

AND

http://rideau.carleton.ca/~gsenecha/guide

Exe Certificate, The Higher, 29 January 1999.

Keywords: distance learning, web-based learning, internet

The Higher reported that Exeter University has launched a number of courses available by study over the internet, either for a qualification or for pleasure (or both, perhaps?). Courses range from archaeology to foreign languages.

The Open University has been offering distance learning courses for many years. Now that many institutions are starting to offer courses by distance learning, or on the web, what makes a student choose one "supplier" rather than another? What are the implications for course development, assessment, etc? What happens to "the student experience", and how can this be evaluated?

Maxine Alterio, 'Using Formalised Storytelling as a Professional Development Tool', Presented at the SEDA/SRHE Research and Practice in Educational Development(s): exploring the links Conference, April 1999, Grantham, UK.

Also reported in: Maxine Alterio and Jennifer Currie, 'Tell your Side of the Story'. The Times Higher Education Supplement, pp 30-31, April 16 1999.

Keywords: reflection, storytelling, professional development.

The ability to reflect on ones practice is seen as a key feature of many professions. This is especially so for lecturers and forms part of the criteria for obtaining an accredited Higher Education teaching qualification. This research project looks at the idea of encouraging reflection using "storytelling". The participants were asked to "tell a personal story" to the listener of an event that had changed the way they did their job, or of something that happened to them in their job that they will always remember. This was "formalised" in that a transcript of the story was made available to the person to reflect on, and was later discussed in group sessions.

Taking part in the study not only encouraged the participants to reflect but also gave them personal insight and resulted in them changing their practice. Telling stories to other people, at least informally, comes naturally to us, and may appear less artificial than being asked to "reflect". Being given a transcript of the story told was felt to be very useful by the participants. Tandem Peer Observation of teaching is increasingly being used in Higher Education. Tandem Peer Story telling within the same groups would appear to be complementary.

B Jackson (1999) Mapreaders to Mapmakers, Workshop given to the School of Computing, Middlesex University, Trent Park, June 1999.

Keywords: perceptions of learning, approach to learning, quality.

This workshop was about the need for the HE Sector to undergo a paradigm switch. A wide variety of replicated research suggests that we must move from seeing the lecturer's role as being concerned with instruction to it being concerned with facilitating learning.

Ultimately our aim is to improve the quality of student learning. What can affect this? Research shows that one key factor is the student's approach to learning (rote learning versus aiming to understand). The other key factor is their perception of what learning itself is (absorbing facts at one extreme, comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge at the other). The approach students take to learning is affected by the actual learning context they find themselves in (including the teaching). For example, if workloads are high, students switch to shallow approaches to learning. This is the point where we as teachers come in. The learning context depends on our own perception of what learning is. Our perception manifests itself in the way we design courses. Thus, if our own perception of our role moves from giving instruction to facilitating learning then we will change the way we design courses appropriately. This will change the way the students perceive their role, leading them to adopt deep approaches to studying. The ultimate result will be an improvement in the quality of learning.

Karen Hinett, Caroline Maughan, Barbara lee and Keith Stanton (1999), "Managing Change in Assessment and Learning in Legal Education" The Law Teacher, 33 p 135.

Keywords: autonomous learning, self-assessment, portfolios, action learning

This article reports 3 case studies arising out of the HEFC initiative Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning. In addition to the 3 law groups whose work is reported in this article, 3 sociology departments were involved. The work is relevant not only to law, though the lawyer's tradition of handing down a received body of knowledge from tutor to student, made the exercise particularly significant in law. The institutions involved were Bristol, UWE and Southampton Institute. While the exercises carried out were not identical they all had the objective of providing support to first year students to encourage independent learning. None of the experiments was entirely successful, in part because they did not give students what they wanted ie a quick route to the immediate assessment, in part because they were a bolt on to programmes delivered in the conventional manner, and partly because there was a big staff development need. Broadly the exercises involved staff in developing student group work and student self-assessment and they involved seminar type group meetings. One group had an Action Learning Set but found they needed a more definite agenda. The 2nd and 3rd intended that students produce portfolios, but students rejected this; they had used portfolios at school and not found them useful in getting into university. This raised questions as to the purpose of portfolios: whether they were to aid learning and encourage reflection, or whether they were in the nature of a CV for future use.

Useful outcomes from the exercises were staff/student links were improved. Staff got a better idea of where students were coming from and students learned better what the University expected of them. A valuable technique was to use the final 10 minutes of the seminar to get students to write up what they had learned in the seminar: this was then collected in and evaluated by the lecturer.

Liz Ormond and Alan Percy, Emotional aspects of learning Middlesex Internal Staff Development Course, Tottenham, 29/6/99.

Keywords: emotions, self, reflection.

I went to a staff development session on emotional aspects of learning this week (I recommend it, but then I'm interested in this anyway), and it re-inforced my view of the importance of emotion and the investment of 'self' in learning (and teaching). I think it is a widely neglected subject. I have a quote from Atkin 'a person does not gather learnings as possessions but rather becomes a new person' which I think is very true, but only if one integrates 'the learnings' -by this do I mean reflects on them?? Accelerating the 'becoming a new person' bit, as we try to do in HE, is quite exciting/painful/challenging.

Zimmer Bob (1995) 'The Empathy Templates: A way to support collaborative learning'. In Lockwood, Fred (ed) Open and Distance Learning Today London, Routledge.

Keywords: Empathy Templates, collaborative learning.

The Empathy Templates offer a way for people to lead each other through the collaborative learning cycle. Based on the Rogerian factors of inviting open disclosure, warm affirmation and empathic comprehension they were developed specifically for use in computer-supported collaborative learning. However I can see that they would be just as useful in face to face learning situations where small groups of students are working together on case-studies or problem solving activities since they

• model and support the collaborative learning cycle
• directly dissolve competitive opposition by keeping everyone's views, feelings and needs together

For each participant, the right hand side of the circle relates to the feelings of others while the left-hand side deals with their own concerns. The Rogerian factors are shown in bold and each is followed by an invitation which it implicilty makes for the other participant to reply using another of the factors.

The participants always remain on opposite sides of the circle and can begin anywhere along it. The pattern of interchange is indicated by the arrows at the centre - the cross-over signifies a changeover from one speaker to another. The beauty of it is, as Zimmer states, that people can lead each other round this circle when some may have forgotten it, or may not know how it goes, or may not even know that it exists. In the second half of the chapter Zimmer discusses the findings of his research into its effectiveness. His conclusions based on this are as follows:

• The collaboration was remarkably polite and peaceful overall, and it produced substantial documents of high quality in each of the three topic areas of the course
• 37 participants as a group were strongly committed to collaborative learning, as shown by the high density of support elements in their conference messages overall
• the 37 participants regarded the Empathy Templates as effective aids for Collaborative Learning.

I was so taken by this paper, that I integrated the ideas into my key skills sessions for first-year undergraduates

The paper is actually talking about how staff developers can help H.E. staff solve problems. However it applies just as well to student problems especially related to group work which many find demotivating due to "the other person not pulling their weight". It gives a way of analysing the root of problems by looking at the beliefs about the problem held by yourself and others. Find the correct belief in a "discounting" grid. Problem-solving involves finding ways to move the belief to a more constructive one , that is, to the bottom right of the grid. Example beliefs are "there isn't problem", "there are no options", "I can't make the options work ". This approach does not solve the problem on its own, but it helps ensure you are solving the right problem and not just the symptoms of it, and are doing so from a positive state of mind.

Martin Scott (1998) 'Listening Skills', in More Time, Less Stress, pp 106-111 Century.

Keywords: Listening, Communication, Key Skills.

The section in this book that struck the greatest chord was on listening skills. The point is made that, though neglected, listening skills are fundamental to good communication. However, we often only listen for a few seconds before starting to concentrate on what we will say next, and start to listen for the pause that will give us our chance. A Japanese saying sums it up

Advice is given as to how listening skills can be improved. Active listening involves not just hearing but actually helping the speaker to speak, for example by proving that you are listening. This is precisely a skill needed by teachers. It is all too easy to slip back into lecturing mode rather than keeping quiet and actively encouraging the students to talk. Active listening is also a key skill that our students must acquire, and they will learn most effectively themselves if they can both contribute and listen to the contributions of others.

Paul Curzon (p.curzon@mdx.ac.uk) October, 1999.

Mary Warnock, The Uses of Philosophy, Blackwell, 1993, pp. 148-159

Key words: education, skills, power, imagination

It was one of those serendipitous moments when I was running my hand idly across a library shelf and, picking out whatever I landed on, found passages that resonated with many things I'd just been thinking. In a chapter entitled 'Education for Pleasure', in The Uses of Philosophy, Mary Warnock makes two (timely for us) points that I thought worth passing on to the Reading Group. From the starting point of a discussion of the pleasure we take in power, she explains her understanding of power as 'crucially the ability to control, understand, and act on our environment, whatever that may be, to order it and not be overwhelmed by it. To be powerful in this sense is the same as to be free'. Extending this notion to our current live local issue, she maintains that 'the very best and the most satisfying form of teaching is the teaching of skills; and the reason for this satisfaction is that in teaching a child a new language, for example, or giving him the techniques to solve a particular kind of problem, we are giving him a new power, and making him, every moment, a more properly free person. Even if the acquisition of this power may be a slow, and even a painful, business, it is worth it if we can confidently say, 'You will enjoy being able to do this when you can.'

But even more I subscribe to her argument that another related source of pleasure (which is also powerful) is the pleasure of the imagination. It is also a matter of freedom, to be able to think about what is not the case. The most important duty is not to inhibit the imagination. 'the first and most crucial of all commandments for schools and for teachers: Thou shalt not bore; thou shalt not turn off.' We need to encourage both kinds of pleasure, that of power and that of the imagination; this, she maintains, is a positive and serious goal.

Judith Harding (j.harding@mdx.ac.uk) October, 1999.

Bob Holmes (1999) Beyond Words, New Scientist No 2194, 10 July, pp32-37

Keywords: Argument, Key Skills, Visual Language.

This article is about visual language - using pictures rather than words to communicate. Graphical presentations of information are widely used as a way of helping people to assimilate data (look at an aircraft flight deck for example). When people are presented with a mix of text with images, they recall details no better than if presented with just one or just the other. However, with combined text and graphics, people have been found to be able to *apply* the knowledge obtained more effectively. This ties in with the view in education that multiple modes of delivery should be provided, though the justification for this that I have heard is that different students work in different ways.

The central and most interesting example given in the article is of "argument maps". These are a graphical representation of an argument. All the points made about a given question, together with rebuttals, counter-rebuttals and so on are presented in a graphical way. Each point is written in a box. Each box is linked to rebuttals of its point by one sort of arrow, and to supporting evidence by another sort of arrow. For example, a small part of the map on the question "Can computers think?" consists of the box with the point that "brains are just computers" (with a fuller summary of the point). This is linked to the disputing point of Searle that "nothing is intrinsically a digital computer". On the other hand, it is supported by the claim that "once the laws of physics are determined we will be able to simulate the brain on a computer". This is disputed by Penrose whose point is disputed by...

It occurs to me that in the higher education context such maps could serve a variety of uses. Most obviously, they could be a useful tool to help students understand the depths of complex academic arguments. They could help students appreciate that few questions have simple black or white answers. Finally and perhaps most importantly they could help in the development of general argumentation skills. They would be a valuable tool in helping students understand what is expected of them in respect to looking at both sides of an argument could help with summarising skills and could be a tool to help them organise information they had gathered.

Paul Curzon (p.curzon@mdx.ac.uk) November, 1999.

P. Wilkins et al (1999) 'Collaborative inquiry as a teaching and learning strategy in a university setting: processes within an experiential group - the group story.' Psychology Teaching Review, Vil 8 (1) March 1999

Keywords: experiential learning, group work

The title is longer than my comment on it! Collaborative enquiry - a research technique based on Roger's 'client centred therapy', was used as a method of learning about group processes - 10 3rd year undergraduates in psychology took part in an 'experiential group' instead of teaching and seminar groups. The EXPERIENCE lead to the students having 'a deeper knowledge of group process than any previous students'. Proves the chinese proverb 'do and I understand'.

Dr Pauline Armsby (Pauline5@mdx.ac.uk) November, 1999.

Sternberg, J. (1999) 'A comparison among 3 models for teaching psychology', Psychology Teaching Review, Vil 8 (1) March 1999

Keywords: critical thinking, creative thinking.

This paper compares a memory based model, a critical thinking based model and a 'triarchic' model. The latter involves instruction that emphasises critical analytical thinking but also creative and practical thinking. All are based on Sternbergs triarchic theory of intelligence. Example of an activity using a triarchic model: Invent a test to measure common sense. This activity would stretch the imagination while helping learn essential concepts. He finds the triarchic methods best because instruction is compatible with a variety of preferred ways of learning and therefore students 'can capitalise on their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses'.

Dr Pauline Armsby (Pauline5@mdx.ac.uk) November, 1999.

P.Race, ed (1999) 2000 Tips for Lecturers, Kogan Page.

Keywords: learning objectives, ALL !

All academics ought to have this in their toilet (put it on your Christmas list now). It consists of 260 pages of short, well explained, bullet-pointed tips on every aspect conceivable of an academic's job. Whatever task you are working on at the moment, there *will* be a set of tips for doing it effectively. The book is probably best as a resource to dip into. It is well-organised so appropriate tips are easy to find. For example, I was writing learning objectives when I bought the book. It has 3 pages of tips on the subject. As a result I rewrote them. They used to be of the form "The student will understand ..." One tip points out that it is better to avoid the word "student" replacing it with "You" to make it more personal. Another tip suggests avoiding "will understand" replacing it with wording that indicates to the student how they will know they have achieved the objective. The result: "You will be able to explain ..." Do you have any more tips that will improve them further?

Paul Curzon (p.curzon@mdx.ac.uk) December, 1999.

John Locke(1997) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Penguin Classics,1997, pp.9-10

keywords: learning styles, explanation, theories of learning

I was cheered to find in John Locke's Epistle to the Reader which precedes 'An Essay Concerning Human Understanding' this 17th century anticipation of our recognition of varying approaches to learning and the theories of learning styles which have become part of the cannon of learning and teaching discussion (perhaps sometimes with a certain lack of subtlety and too ready a tendency to label unilaterally):

...I have taken some pains to make plain and familiar to their thoughts some truths, which established prejudice, or the abstractness of the ideas themselves, might render difficult. Some objects had need be turned on every side; and when the notion is new, as I confess some of these are to me or out of the ordinary road, as I suspect they will appear to others, 'tis not one simple view of it, that will gain it admittance into every understanding, or fix it there with a clear and lasting impression. There are few, I believe, who have not observed in themselves or others, that what in one way of proposing was very obscure, another way of expressing it, has made very clear and intelligible; though afterward the mind found little difference in the phrases, and wondered why one failed to be understoood more than the other. But everything does not hit alike upon every man's imagination. We have our understanding no less different, than our palates; and he that thinks the same truth shall be equally relished by everyone in the same dress, may as well hope to feast everyone with the same sort of cookery: the meat may be the same, and the nourishment good, yet everyone not be able to receive it with that seasoning; and it must be dressed another way, if you will have it go down with some,even of strong constitutions.'

Later in the same passage, he defends his attempt to explain his ideas simply (in words that might appropriately hang above every lecturer's desk) '...I think it necessary to make what I have to say, as easy and intelligible to all sorts of readers, as I can. And I had much rather the speculative and quick-sighted should complain of my being in some parts tedious, than that anyone, not accustomed to abstract speculations, or prepossessed with different notions, should mistake, or not comprehend my meaning.'

Judith Harding (j.harding@mdx.ac.uk) December, 1999.

J. Hartley(1998) Learning and Studying: A research perspective Lonson:Routledge.

keywords: learning, psychology, research

This is not study skills and how to write an essay but a "review of up to date psychological research on the field of learning and studying". It gives a compact account of research literature used to back claims about learning and teaching. Useful for teachers and students alike.

Pauline Armsby(P.Armsby@mdx.ac.uk) November, 1999.

Steven Pinker (1997) How the Mind Works, Penguin.

Keywords: constructivism, numeracy, computational theory of mind

This is an excellent lay introduction to evolutionary psychology and the theory that the human mind "is just a computer". It is of obvious interest to anyone interested in teaching as understanding of the abilities and limitations of the human mind is a factor in the best approaches to teaching. Even if you believe there is something more to the mind than just a computer you will find the wide-ranging research that is described fascinating.

One small section that I found really interesting was on our natural inability to be numerate (page 341/342). There are some aspects of mathematics that we do relatively naturally - the maths matches our natural intuition - such as small numbers and relations such as bigger and smaller. For others our minds evolved with rules that sometimes coincide with those of mathematics but sometimes diverge. Many examples are discussed. For example, probability often fails to match our intuition. If you tossed a coin Heads 5 times in a row then "the next one is more likely to be Tails". Wrong! However, it rained the last 5 days in a row so "tomorrow its more likely to be dry". Quite possibly. Our intuition for probability cannot cope with independent events but instead is tailored to the kind of events that match the environment in which we evolved. The result is our intuitions often lead us astray with Mathematics. Pinker argues that this means constructivism is a bad approach to teaching mathematics (and presumably mathematically-based science) and suggests the use of constructivism in North America explains why students there are comparatively poor at mathematics. Constructivism works by students actively investigating topics and so constructing their own knowledge using social interaction to argue over the meaning of concepts. However such an approach combined with minds evolved to hold incorrect intuition leads to mis-learning: "we are due a Tails". A feature of mathematics is that it is "ruthlessly cummulative". You have to understand the previous topic to do the next one "all the way back to counting to 10". This means such misunderstanding early on can prevent the understanding of everything from then on.

Paul Curzon (p.curzon@mdx.ac.uk) March, 2000.

Steven Pinker (1999) Words and Rules: the ingredients of language, Weidenfeld & Nicholson.

Middlesex library classmark 401.9 PIN (Enfield)

Keywords: constructivism, language, computational theory of mind

Interestingly, I have just finished reading Pinker's Words and Rules. It's equally good and proposes some interesting ideas on how we process language. It examines the mind as computer idea in much more detail actually discussing the work of Rumelhart and Maclelland of feed forward neural network fame. He shows how associative learning may not be as good as simple rules for producing correct answers. This fits with the idea of constructive learning being detrimental in some cases - we may be better off giving students rules when there are rules as that way they are able to produce correct answer immediately when there are such things as correct answers. Constructivism may be better where the emphasis is on memorisation and association through "family resemblances". There is also the problem with constructivism in that there is good evidence for natural categories (Rosch) and we should begin by setting the framework to encourage the formation of such categories - why get students to work hard to reproduce the centuries of civilisation if the result is that they can no longer communicate to each other or to us?

These are just a few rough thoughts based on the book and I strongly recommend anyone with an interest in language and cognition from whatever perspective to read this book.

Paul Cairns (paul39@mdx.ac.uk) March, 2000.

Psychologist 13(4) April 2000

Keywords: lectures, motivation

Sander et al (in press- Studies in HE) finds 395 students enrolled at 3 universities who were asked: -how they hoped to be taught -how they expected to be taught and -how they would least like to be taught said they generally expected to be taught in the way they least preferred (formal lecture). Asked why, they responded 'because that's the way it is at University'. Preferred teaching style was a more interactive model with questions and discussion.

Jacobs, P and S. Newstead (in press -BJ of Ed.Psych) find that students tended to become less interested in their work as they progressed through their degree. The conclusion is therefore that HE has little effect on students' motives and attitudes.

Pauline Armsby(P.Armsby@mdx.ac.uk) April, 2000.