Development and testing of the Clinical Post-Conference Learning Environment Survey

Clinical postconference is an integral component of the required laboratory hours in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing education. Empirical evidence supporting the educational benefits of this activity are nearly nonexistent. This article describes the development and psychometric testing of a self-report instrument designed to measure clinical postconference learning environments as perceived by undergraduate nursing students and faculty. The Clinical Post-Conference Learning Environment Survey (CPCLES) consists of 54 items and has been tested with more than 500 participants in three schools of nursing in the Midwest. Based on theoretical support and comprehensive review of the literature, six components of the learning environment are measured in two forms of the instrument; an actual scale and an importance scale. Content validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability are discussed. Using the CPCLES, perceptions of undergraduate nursing students and faculty were measured. Significant differences between the actual components of the learning environment and the correlated ratings of the importance of these components were found. Faculty perceived a significantly greater amount of teacher support, task orientation, and innovation in the postconference learning environment than did undergraduate students. No differences were noted between faculty and students regarding the importance of the learning environment components. This study presents findings with the use of the first instrument developed to measure clinical postconference learning environments. The congruence and discrepancy among and between learning groups' perceptions carry implications for educational practices in this setting. Subseqent investigations using this tool may be able to link the perceived learning environment to valued cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning outcomes.     

Spatially distributed instructions improve learning outcomes and efficiency.

Learning requires applying limited working memory and attentional resources to intrinsic, germane, and extraneous aspects of the learning task. To reduce the especially undesirable extraneous load aspects of learning environments, cognitive load theorists suggest that spatially integrated learning materials should be used instead of spatially separated materials, thereby reducing the split-attention effect (Sweller & Chandler, 1994). Recent work, however, has suggested a new distinction between two common formats of spatially separated displays: spatially distributed versus spatially stacked (Jang & Schunn, 2010). Moreover, a distinction between instructions and learning task materials has rarely been made. Across two studies with 106 college students (56 in Study 1 and 50 in Study 2), we compared spatially distributed (multiple sources of information are placed side by side) versus spatially stacked (only one at the top is visible) instructions, without changing the learning task materials, on both task performance and learning. With materials more typical of practice, Study 1 showed that the distributed-display instructions led learners to more efficient learning; learners finished the task faster and scored higher in the overall learning test. With materials more tightly controlled for spatial format per se, Study 2 replicated the effect and found that the benefit of the distributed instructions appeared to be associated with changes in cognitive load. Implications for educational practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance-approach goals: Good for what, for whom, under what circumstances, and at what cost?

Some researchers have called for a reconceptualization of goal theory that acknowledges the positive effects or performance-approach goals. The authors of the present article review studies that indicate that performance-approach goals are associated with adaptive patterns of learning but note that, in other studies, these goals have been unrelated or negatively related to the same outcomes. There is a need to consider for whom and under what circumstances performance goals are good. There is some evidence that performance-approach goals are more facilitative for boys than for girls, for older students than for younger students, in competitive learning environments, and if mastery goals are also espoused. The authors describe the cost of performance-approach goals in terms of the use of avoidance strategies, cheating, and reluctance to cooperate with peers. They conclude that the suggested reconceptualization of goal theory is not warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increased interestingness of extraneous details in a multimedia science presentation leads to decreased learning.

In Experiment 1, students received an illustrated booklet, PowerPoint presentation, or narrated animation that explained 6 steps in how a cold virus infects the human body. The material included 6 high-interest details mainly about the role of viruses in sex or death (high group) or 6 low-interest details consisting of facts and health tips about viruses (low group). The low group outperformed the high group across all 3 media on a subsequent test of problem-solving transfer (d = .80) but not retention (d = .05). In Experiment 2, students who studied a PowerPoint lesson explaining the steps in how digestion works performed better on a problem-solving transfer test if the lesson contained 7 low-interest details rather than 7 high-interest details (d = .86), but the groups did not differ on retention (d = .26). In both experiments, as the interestingness of details was increased, student understanding decreased (as measured by transfer). Results are consistent with a cognitive theory of multimedia learning, in which highly interesting details sap processing capacity away from deeper cognitive processing of the core material during learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities.

We used structural equation analysis to test the validity of a goal mediational model for conceptualizing the influence of individual and situational variables on students' cognitive engagement in science activities. Fifth- and sixth-grade students (N?=?275) from 10 classrooms completed a set of questionnaires designed to assess their goal orientations and their use of high-level or effort-minimizing learning strategies while completing six different science activities. Results indicate that students who placed greater emphasis on task-mastery goals reported more active cognitive engagement. In contrast, students oriented toward gaining social recognition, pleasing the teacher, or avoiding work reported a lower level of cognitive engagement. The relative strength of these goals was related to differences in students' intrinsic motivation and attitudes toward science. Our analyses also suggested that these variables exerted a greater influence in small-group than in whole-class activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Further Neglected Psychoeducational Problem: Comment.

Comments on an article by Pressey (see record 1965-16322-001) offering suggestions on how to approach the dilemma of continuous extension of educational training. Pressey's suggestions for a more rapid acquisition of factual data should be implemented as a first level of education. After the students have acquired the facts in the ways suggested by Pressey, those students who lack imagination and creativity still need classroom interaction with challenging instructors. Otherwise, the students will be no different from the teaching machines from which they have learned. A combination of automation in teaching, learning without teaching, and verbal interaction might thus lead to both shorter and better education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multimedia Learning in an Interactive Self-Explaining Environment: What Works in the Design of Agent-Based Microworlds?

Students learned about electric motors by asking questions and receiving answers from an on-screen pedagogical agent named Dr. Phyz who stood next to an on-screen drawing of an electric motor. Students performed better on a problem-solving transfer test when Dr. Phyz's explanations were presented as narration rather than on-screen text (Experiment 1), when students were able to ask questions and receive answers interactively rather than receive the same information as a noninteractive multimedia message (Experiments 2a and 2b), and when students were given a prequestion to guide their self-explanations during learning (Experiment 3). Deleting Dr. Phyz's image from the screen had no significant effect on problem-solving transfer performance (Experiment 4). The results are consistent with a cognitive theory of multimedia learning and yield principles for the design of interactive multimedia learning environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When less is more: Meaningful learning from visual and verbal summaries of science textbook lessons.

In a series of 3 experiments, college students who read a summary that contained a sequence of short captions with simple illustrations depicting the main steps in the process of lightning recalled these steps and solved transfer problems as well as or better than students who received the full text along with the summary or the full text alone. In Experiment 2, taking away the illustrations or the captions eliminated the effectiveness of the summary. In Experiment 3, adding text to the summary reduced its effectiveness. Implications for a cognitive theory of multimedia learning are discussed; implications for instructional design pertain to the need for conciseness, coherence, and coordination in presenting scientific explanations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigating preservice teachers' professional growth in self-regulated learning environments.

Educational reforms have suggested that the ability to self-regulate learning is essential for teachers' professional growth during their entire career as well as for their ability to promote these processes among students. This study observed teachers' professional growth along 3 dimensions: self-regulated learning (SRL) in pedagogical context, pedagogical knowledge, and perceptions of teaching and learning. The authors examined 194 preservice teachers' professional growth in 4 learning environments: e-learning (EL) and face-to-face (F2F) learning, either supported by SRL (EL + SRL; F2F + SRL) or unsupported by SRL (EL; F2F). SRL support was based on the IMPROVE metacognitive self-questioning method (B. Kramarski & Z. R. Mevarech, 2003). Mixed quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that preservice teachers in both supported SRL conditions outperformed their unsupported peers on all professional growth measures. Moreover, EL + SRL teachers exhibited the highest SRL ability (cognition, metacognition, motivation), pedagogical knowledge (designing a learning unit), and student-centered learning perceptions (self-construction of knowledge). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring Knowledge to Optimize Cognitive Load Factors During Instruction.

The expertise reversal effect occurs when a learning procedure that is effective for novices becomes ineffective for more knowledgeable learners. The authors consider how to match instructional presentations to levels of learner knowledge. Experiments 1-2 were designed to develop a schema-based rapid method of measuring learners' knowledge in a specific area. Experimental data using algebra and geometry materials for students in Grades 9-10 indicated a highly significant correlation (up to .92) between performance on the rapid measure and traditional measures of knowledge, with test times reduced by factors of 4.9 and 2.5, respectively. Experiments 3-4 used this method to monitor learners' cognitive performance to determine which instructional design should be used for given levels of expertise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of cognitive load associated with discovery learning and worked examples.

This article reports experimental work comparing exploration and worked-examples practice in learning to use a database program. Exploration practice is based on discovery learning principles, whereas worked-examples practice arose from the development of cognitive load theory. Exploration practice was expected to place a considerable load on working memory, whereas a heavy use of worked examples was hypothesized to lead to more effective processing by reducing extraneous mental load. Students with no previous domain familiarity with databases were found to substantially benefit from worked examples in comparison to exploration. However, if students had previous familiarity with the database domain, the type of practice made no significant difference to their learning because the exploration students were able to draw on existing, well-developed domain schemas to guide their exploration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Looking beyond the boundaries: Time to put landmarks back on the cognitive map?

Since the proposal of Tolman (1948) that mammals form maplike representations of familiar environments, cognitive map theory has been at the core of debates on the fundamental mechanisms of animal learning and memory. Traditional formulations of cognitive map theory emphasize relations between landmarks and between landmarks and goal locations as the basis of the map. More recently, several models of spatial coding have taken the boundaries of an environment as the basis of the cognitive map, with landmark relations being processed through alternative, operant learning mechanisms. In this review, the evidence for this proposed dichotomy is analyzed. It is suggested that 2 factors repeatedly confound efforts to compare spatial coding based on landmark arrays, formed by 2 or more landmarks, and that based on the boundaries of an environment. The factors are the perceived stability of the landmark arrays and their placement relative to the larger environment. Although the effects of landmark stability and of placement on spatial navigation have been studied extensively, the implications of this work for debates concerning the role of boundaries in cognitive map formation have not been fully realized. It is argued that when these 2 factors are equated between landmark arrays and bounded environments, current evidence supports a commonality of spatial coding mechanism rather than a dichotomy. The analysis places further doubt on the existence of a dedicated geometric module for reorientation and is consistent with models of navigation containing mapping and operant learning components, both taking as input local views (Sheynikhovich et al., 2009). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of NGF/PC12 cell system for screening tubulin inhibitors

This article provides a context for understanding and using cognitive strategy instruction to improve students' performance in mathematics. The theoretical and research base for strategy instruction is reviewed, and characteristics of students who have difficulties in mathematics are discussed from a developmental perspective. Then, a practical illustration of cognitive strategy instruction used to assess the teach mathematical problem solving to middle school students with learning disabilities is presented.     

Experimenting to bootstrap self-regulated learning.

Modern theories of cognitive and constructive learning portray students as agents who set and pursue goals. More effective students select among cognitive tactics they use to approach goals and learn from false starts and setbacks. These students self-regulate not merely performance but also how they learn. How do students develop forms for self-regulating learning? The author suggests they experiment thereby bootstrapping newer forms of self-regulated learning from prior forms. Experimenting is an arduous way to build knowledge and it is subject to at least 3 obstacles that may be especially troublesome for young students: obtaining sufficient practice with appropriate feedback, remembering how learning was enacted, and reasoning about factors that affect learning. The author examines these issues and suggests needs for future research that investigates how students develop forms of complex goal-directed cognition that guide learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aiding subgoal learning: Effects on transfer.

Students often memorize a set of steps from examples in domains such as probability and physics, without learning what subgoals those steps achieve. A result of this sort of learning can be that these students fail to solve novel problems that do not permit exactly the same set of steps even though the old goal structure is maintained. Three experiments demonstrated that both labeling and visually isolating a set of steps in examples independently help students learn a subgoal and be more likely to solve novel problems that involve that subgoal but require different steps to achieve it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring Differences in Students' Copy-and-Paste Decision Making and Processing: A Mixed-Methods Study.

This mixed-methods study examined cognitive correlates and learning outcomes related to the use of copy and paste (CP). Quantitative results indicated that college students whose CP capability was restricted to a small amount of text as they entered information into a matrix-like tool recalled more facts, recognized more concepts, and inferred more relationships among information from text than students for whom copying and pasting into the matrix was unrestricted. Then, 24 interviews revealed depth of processing and decision-making differences that may account for the discrepancies in learning between the restricted and unrestricted groups. This study suggests that both individuals' differing habits and experimentally induced variations in CP note-taking approaches may have significant differential consequences for cognitive processes and for learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, academic self-concept, and achievement: How the learning environment moderates the dynamics of self-concept.

The authors examine the directionality of effects between global self-esteem, domain-specific academic self-concepts, and academic achievement. Special emphasis is placed on learning environments as potential moderators of the direction of these effects. According to the meritocracy principle presented here, so-called bottom-up effects (i.e., self-esteem is influenced by academic self-concept) are more pronounced in meritocratic learning environments than in ego-protective learning environments. This hypothesis was examined using a three-wave cross-lagged panel design with a large sample of 7th graders from East and West Germany, a total of 5,648 students who were tested shortly after German reunification. Reciprocal effects were found between self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. In conformance with the meritocracy principle, support for bottom-up effects was stronger in the meritocratic learning environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological assessment of older adults.

Older adults experience a diverse range of cognitive, emotional, and social problems for which psychological assessment may be beneficial. This article describes sequential steps in geropsychological assessment and reviews some of the procedures that can be used for making a differential diagnosis, establishing a baseline for longitudinal follow-up, or planning for interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The PBC domain contains a MEINOX domain: coevolution of Hox and TALE homeobox genes?

The diagnosis of inadequacy of the respiratory apparatus conditioning function (RACFI) necessitates carrying out an appreciable volume of calculations to determine observable and required values for its parameters, together with drawing up a concluding statement according to the existing RACFI classification. The above rapid method permits the 2.5-fold cut in man-power to be streamlined into research on respiratory heat-exchange in patients with cardiopulmonary disorders. The suggested method is recommended for use in therapeutic, pulmonological, cardiological departments and functional-diagnosis units in hospitals.     

Distributed Education and the Role of Online Learning in Training Professional Psychologists.

Distributed learning and its allied concept, distance education, have the potential to move graduate training beyond the physical classroom, providing "anytime" and "anyplace" educational opportunities to new groups of learners as well as to students in traditional campus-based programs. It is argued that the focus on online learning activities found in distributed learning institutions is most compatible with a model of pedagogy that emphasizes, among other things, asynchronous small group discussions, collaborative problem solving, reflective inquiry, competency-based outcomes, and the facilitator role of the instructor. The article concludes with suggestions for and challenges regarding the application of computer-based learning tools to the training of clinical psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)