Conflict and metacognitive control: the mismatch-monitoring hypothesis of how others' knowledge states affect recall

Information about others' success in remembering is frequently available. For example, students taking an exam may assess its difficulty by monitoring when others turn in their exams. In two experiments, we investigated how rememberers use this information to guide recall. Participants studied paired associates, some semantically related (and thus easier to retrieve) and some unrelated (and thus harder). During a subsequent cued recall test, participants viewed fictive information about an opponent's accuracy on each item. In Experiment 1, participants responded to each cue once before seeing the opponent's performance and once afterwards. Participants reconsidered their responses least often when the opponent's accuracy matched the item difficulty (easy items the opponent recalled, hard items the opponent forgot) and most often when the opponent's accuracy and the item difficulty mismatched. When participants responded only after seeing the opponent's performance (Experiment 2), the same mismatch conditions that led to reconsideration even produced superior recall. These results suggest that rememberers monitor whether others' knowledge states accord or conflict with their own experience, and that this information shifts how they interrogate their memory and what they recall.     

Reflective writing: I wouldn’t start from here – examining a professional development initiative to enhance the scholarly activity of English HE in FE lecturers

This paper explores the nature of reflective writing through the experience of the researchers in running a series of writing workshops with a group of higher education practitioners working in a UK further education college. The focus here is on reflective writing, which was chosen to start the sequence of workshops, as it was perceived as a form of writing with which the participants would be familiar, given its role in the education and development of teachers within the sector. Our assumption was that this familiarity would facilitate the writing process and participants would readily respond by engaging in reflective writing. However, in practice this proved not to be the case, despite being introduced to a variety of different forms of writing over a series of workshops, it took the participants longer than we expected to begin to write. This led us to question our assumptions about the starting point for the writing workshops and what they might achieve. The paper draws on field notes made during the writing initiative and data gathered through focus groups and interviews with the participants, as well as extracts of their writing to examine their experiences. Different conceptualisations of reflective writing are identified and their implications are explored in relation to the participants’ engagement with writing and their experience of professional development.     

Power,participation and partnerships: reflections on the co-creation of knowledge

Narrative writing was used to critically reflect on the reasons for the success and failure of two research partnerships: one between the authors and a community group, the other between the authors and academic colleagues. The reflections relate to a vignette constructed on the experiences of the authors and somewhat fictionalised, but brought together to highlight the contrasts, whereby one research partnership was successful in producing outcomes while the other was not. An analysis of these reflections was informed by Wenger’s Communities of Practice framework. This helped draw out issues around power and participation as fundamental for successful research partnerships, particularly multidisciplinary partnerships, intent on the co-creation of knowledge. Such issues related to recognising partnerships and the underlying assumptions when these partnerships cross boundaries include transparent communication, power and decision-making processes, critical self-awareness, and negotiated meaning and identity.     

Trust in business alliances between mainstream and emerging companies in South Africa

This study explored perceived trust between mainstream and emerging business partner entities in South Africa. A purposive sample of 25 managers from mainstream companies (n = 7) and emerging companies (n = 18) participated in the study. The managers Q-sorted trust-related items with follow-up interviews. The Q-sort data were subjected to factor analysis to reveal clustered perceptions about trust in business partnerships. Interview data were thematically analysed to place the findings from the factor structure analysis into context. The results indicate both mainstream and emerging business partners shared six conceptions or ways of perceiving trust: sincerity-trust, values-trust, duped-trust, vigilance-trust, deceit-trust, and propensity to trust alliances. Integrity seemed to be more salient in the emerging companies. The sincerity-, values-, duped-, and vigilance-trust were manifestations of perceptions of partner integrity, revealing the centrality of honesty in defining trust in business partnerships.     

Student Experiences of the Adolescent Diversion Project: A Community-Based Exemplar in the Pedagogy of Service-Learning

Service-learning partnerships between universities and surrounding communities striving to create systems-level change must consider an emphasis in critical community service; a community centered paradigm where students are taught to work with communities to better understand contexts surrounding a social problem, as opposed to merely volunteering to provide a service to a community. The Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP), which has been operating for over 30 years, demonstrates critical community service through the type of relationship built between students and the local community. This article describes: a qualitative study with ADP students, the historical context of ADP, what and how students learned through their involvement in ADP, and reframes the work of this project as a form of service-learning pedagogy. Inductive content analysis was employed to identify underlying themes across participants related to their personal experiences of ADP and its impact in their lives. Findings were compared with service-learning outcomes and other quantitative studies conducted with past ADP cohorts from the literature. Consistent with past studies, ADP students become more negative toward social systems involved with their youth. This finding may explain an increase in feelings of political commitment following involvement in ADP. Consistent with service-learning outcomes, results demonstrate that ADP should be further documented as not only an effective community-based program but also as an exemplar in the pedagogy of service-learning. This study highlights why service-learning opportunities for students are not just one way to teach students, they are opportunities to bridge relationships within communities, bring life to theoretical concepts, and build the foundations necessary for educated citizens that will one day take lead roles in our society.     

Understanding Student Complaints in the Service Learning Pedagogy

This study draws upon student evaluations across 3 years of service learning (SL) courses at a large, urban, faith-based university identifying issues of greatest concern to students. Analysis of qualitative responses revealed perspectives on the limits, pitfalls, and barriers to successful SL student work in the community replicated over the 3 year timeframe. Over 2,200 written responses were coded and tested for reliability for each of 3 years. The top three comments SL students were most likely to express included: (1) concern about their placement in the community, for example, that sites were not prepared or that further goal-setting, communication and training by the university was necessary; (2) that the university’s choice of sites may have been ill considered; and, (3) that there were problems with time and scheduling. Ongoing assessment of students’ perspectives on their placement experience identifies practices that can enhance their learning and contributions toward building stronger communities.     

让自适应测验更知人善选——基于推荐系统的选题策略

基于推荐系统中协同过滤推荐的思想, 提出两种可以利用已有答题者数据的CAT选题策略：直接基于答题者推荐(DEBR)和间接基于答题者推荐(IEBR)。通过两个模拟研究, 在不同题库和不同长度的测验中, 比较了两种推荐选题策略与两种传统选题策略(FMI和BAS)在测量精度和对题目曝光率控制上的表现, 以及影响推荐选题策略表现的因素。结果发现：两种推荐选题策略对题目曝光率的控制优于两种传统选题策略, 测量精度不亚于BAS方法, 其中DEBR侧重选题精度, IEBR对题目曝光率控制最好。已有答题者数据的特点和质量是影响推荐选题策略表现的主要因素。     

合作学习认知研究综述

到20世纪末期,合作学习研究转向对其认知过程的分析,当前的研究将合作学习过程分成了两个阶段。第一阶段是个体知识建构阶段,在该阶段中,合作性理解监控过程是对心理模型的比较过程。第二阶段是合作性联合结构阶段,该阶段的研究主要集中在精制、商讨、冲突三个方面,这些研究对教学干预提供了重要的理论借鉴。     

Developing networks in disempowered communities: Experiencing hardships while focusing on opportunities

This study aims to present an evaluation and the process steps of a community‐based initiative (CBI) consisting of a group of organizations that work to enhance the lives of boys and men of colour. Using a participatory research model, the researchers collaborated with 14 community stakeholders to develop the questions during two data collection periods and reviewed the reports for accuracy. The findings were separated into two broad categories. The perceived challenges included a lack of clear goals and measurements of success, an absence of leadership and direction, and a shortage of resources. The successes included passion of partners, increased collaboration, and increasing and maintaining social capital within the community. The lessons learned from both data collection periods helped this CBI broaden its reach and collaboration efforts. Overall, this study provides suggestions to other CBIs as they embark on making changes in their own communities.