Tort Law, Moral Accountability, and Efficiency: Reflections on the ...
Rather, Torts is about private moral accountability of a wrongdoer to his victim.
Tort law is in crisis, and I am afraid there is no magic solution. ...
www.acton.org/publicat/m_and_m/1999_spr/krauss.html - 41k -
Virtual Learning System Experimental Research
Abstract Format
Abstract
An Abstract is a summary of the important points found in a psychology research report. It should be about 250 words long, and should succinctly summarise the aim, background; design; sample; measures; results and statistical conclusion of your study. Write an Abstract in the past tense, and avoid personal references like 'I'.
Laurita Peraz Arca
AERS 281 – Theory Construction
First Semester, SY 2005-2006
UPLB, College, Laguna
Professor: DR. VIRGILIO VILLANCIOTutorial Commentaries 2 and 3 Combined
THEORIZING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES: IMPROVING OR NOT?
Reading Materials:
1) VAYDA, A. et. Al. 1991. Concepts of Process in Social Science Explanation. Philosophy of the Social Sciences (21) 3:318-331
2) HOLLING, C.S. 1990. Integrating Science for Sustainable Development. In Sustainable Development, Science and Policy. The Conference Report. Oslo, Norway: Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities. Pp359 –370.
The term process being used by most social scientists seems to be very vague. The many different series of events that different social scientists include in a certain process make the meaning of this term unstable. Say if I am to explain a certain process (e.g. globalization) after reading materials regarding it, I will surely end up in chaos because many social scientists use the term process in a loose, unreflective fashion and do not share our concern with underlying issues of methodology and explanation.
Contrary to this assumption of mine, Holling (1990) claims the following:
- Regarding theorizing in 1967, there seemed to be serious gaps in understanding and managing the relationship between people and nature (Holling, C.S. 1990).
- Our knowledge on how to integrate knowledge from the natural sciences in local, regional, and global contexts however began growing in 1970's.
Holling, I think is fantasizing when he said the second statement. Social scientists until now can not bridge the gap between difficulty of understanding interactions across scales in time and space, the yawning chasm between the natural and social sciences and the gaps between knowledge, policy and action for problems that move from regional stages to a global one. In fact, the growing global interdependencies expose the present set of critical gaps that challenge scientific efforts to provide foundations for sustainable development.
Vayda (1991), I suppose, is with me when she said that social scientists and anthropologists are not giving enough weight and explanatory importance to the events and actions which, when linked in some intelligible fashion, constitutes processes.
The Reification Problem
Pondering on this subtopic, the following notions sprouted:
Even when human agency is acknowledged, processes may be reified. Sometimes, this may be a result of an inability to accept fortuitousness or randomness and a corresponding insistence on finding meaning and direction in all events.
Seeing that the patterns we design and try to impose on the world do not obtain, it may be concluded that there must be some other agency which is producing patterns and meaning.
In anthropology, although recent works acknowledge for the most part in the causal relevance of human agency, the language used is, at times, so ambiguous as to leave the readers uncertain whether the authors impute to process an ontological status and intrinsic properties that are neither empirically justified nor theoretically useful.
Wolf (1982 as cited by Vayda, 1991), in recounting diverse aspects of the slave trade and the impact it had on economies of both Europe and Africa, concluded that 'these different configurations' cannot, therefore, be understood as typologically separable states or tribes of people without history.
Wolf's language and style grant certain autonomy and vitality to processes. His vocabulary and style create a sense that the processes have causal powers and a reality in their own right.
Comaroff (1982 as cited by Vayda, 1991) excellently argued against views of local communities as mere products or pawns of external forces, often casts his description on the economic transition in the Barolong area of Botswana in terms of an unfolding of dialectical articulations between the systemic logic of local structures and external forces. Again, here, because of the language that is being used, events seem to be conceptualized as part of a larger process, but we never learn how the component events are linked in a process or the conditions under which they become linked. The mechanism of the dialectical articulation remain a mystery.
Smith's analysis would have been clearer if she had been both explicit and consistent about making events, the linkages among them, and their consequences the objects of their explanations.
The possibility that the connection among a series of actions over a period of time is that they are all deliberate attempts of the actors to carry out a previously formulated program or policy.
Does an Event a Process Make?
I personally answer no because while the events may well be part of such a process, they also may not be.
Why? What makes event different from process?
Vayda answers 'Events are to processes what categories are to structure.'
In addition, the following meanings of processes must also be considered:
- Processes are made up of human actions or of events involving human actions;
- Processual social scientist like Moore (as cited by Vayda, 1991),emphasize the importance of focusing on events to better understand processes;
- The absence of systematic attention to the nature and strength of the linkages among events which are regarded as constituting a process encourages a simple part-whole fallacy that we have found in numerous studies in which alleged processes are put forward as causes of behavioral, social, or biological effects. The fallacy is that of assuming the evidence of any of the events regarded as constituting a process is evidence that the process itself is in operation.
Conclusion
After reading the views of Vayda (1991) and Holling (1990) about how theorizing in social science runs, I therefore suggest the following:
- A new and different anthropology is needed for today's complex and changing world.
- If we are interested in long-term changes, we must do what we can to observe them over the long run;
- A causal explanation of processes, and not merely constitutive one, must be sought with respect to the events themselves, the linkages among the events, and the conditions under which the linkages do or do not obtain.
Laurita Peraz Arca
Kalinisanatpagbabago@yahoo.com
Laurita Peraz Arca
AERS 281 – Theory Construction
First Semester, SY 2005-2006
UPLB, College, Laguna
Professor: DR. VIRGILIO VILLANCIOTutorial Commentary Number 4
TYPES AND NATURE OF RESEARCH ALONG THE EMPIRICIST AND INTERPRETIVE PERSPECTIVES
Reading Materials:
Professor: Professor:
BABBIE, EARL. Units of Analysis. In the Practice of Social Research. 5th Edition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1989, pages 82 – 87 and 103.
PHILILIPS, DENIS. Chapter 4 'The Demise of Positivism." In the Philosophy, science, and social inquiry: Contemporary Methodological Controversies in Social Science and Related Applied Fields of Research. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1987, pages 36 – 45.
KERLINGER, FRED. Chapter 3 'Constructs, Variables and Definitions' In Foundations of Behavioral Research. 2nd Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973, pages 28 – 46.
BABBIE, EARL. Extract from Chapter 6 'Operationalization.' In the practice of social research. 5th Edition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishig Company, 1989, pages 132 – 136.
ROSENTHAL, ROBERT AND ROSNOW, RALPH. Chapter 7 ' Validity, reliability, and precision.' In essentials of behavioral reseacrh, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984, pages 75 – 81 and 82 – 84.
ODMAN, PJ. 'Hermeneutics.' In educational research, methodology and measurement: an international handbook. Edited by John Keeves. New York: Pergamon Press, 1988, pages 63-69.
Units of Analysis in the Practice of Social Research
The aims of science according to Manheim (1977) as cited by Librero (2003) are description, explanation, and prediction. With these aims, it may be assumed that scientists follow systematized analysis of events. To become systematic in analyzing an event, one must be able to define well the unit of analysis he must use specially if he is going to do a social science research. Babbie (1989) defined units of analysis as those units or things we observe and describe in order to create summary descriptions of such units and to explain the differences among them. These units are the following: 1) individuals, 2) groups, 3) organizations, and 4) social artifacts. The ability to choose the best unit of analysis to use in a social science research is however needed to gain the most concrete and valid outcomes. Otherwise, the so-called ecological fallacy and reductionism might occur. Ecological fallacy deals with something else altogether – drawing conclusions about individuals based solely on the observation of groups. Reductionism on the other hand refers to an overly strict limitation on the kinds of concepts and variables to be considered as causes in explaining a broad range of human behavior.
The use of individuals as units of analysis, in social science research, may not be adequate to bridge the micro and macro levels. By this, I don't mean those properties operating at the individual level are irrelevant for socio-economic development; only that this must link them linked to other structural characteristics of a society.
The Demise of Positivism
The Comtean Positivism says that scientific method which focuses on observable, objectively, deterministic phenomena could be applied to human affairs, including the study of morals (Phillips, 1987). Yes, it may be but I think the degree of certainty to the would-be outcomes of the study is low. Why? Because humans are the most unpredictable and uncontrollable elements of any development process. This was why, I think, this unique nature of humans is considered as the central element in managerial theories of work behavior and Marxist theories of production.
The verifiability principle of meaning among logical positivists on the other hand is supported by the emergence of observational method (observation usually through visual but sometimes also through other senses).
Behaviorists' rejection of inner causes and psychological events is being counteracted by the social scientists today. Look at the way GMA's Garci Case is being studied. Even the thumping of hands on the table and the movement of the eyes are now being considered and used in analyzing the innerself of a person. Social science research is now acting on it.
Empiricism which refers to a broad spectrum of epistemological positions to the effect that either our concepts or our knowledge are wholly or partly based on experience through the senses and introspection. This type, as I observe, succeeds the many types of studies mentioned here. Maybe because peoples' curiosity and search for truth and meanings about concepts and constructs are best satisfied through it.
Constructs, Variables, and Definitions
Before any observation occurs, it is a practical thing that we must first have concepts or constructs to be observed. Otherwise, our observation will be unstructured which means we are going to have a broad overview of a situation. We will thus be prone to waste of time and effort. While if we already have a definite concept or construct to be observed, our time and effort are focused on the things we need to get from observing.
What are constructs, variables, and definitions by the way?
- While constructs are considered as concepts, concepts are not considered as constructs. A concept expresses an abstraction formed by generalization from particulars while a construct has an added meaning of having been deliberately and consciously invented or adopted for a special scientific purpose. In short, a constructed is a highly abstracted concept.
A flower, a chair, a book, and an umbrella are some samples of concept because they can be observed in numerous angles.
Intelligence, beauty, hunger, and anxiety are on the other hand samples of construct. Scientists relate them to other constructs to become measurable. Say intelligence. It must be connected to other constructs like very low, low, high, very high before it becomes measurable.
- Variables and constructs are related to each other. Variable is a property that takes on different values; a symbol to which numerals or values is assigned. Let's say I have intelligence (again) as construct. To make this construct varied, I may assign very high IQ, high IQ, low IQ, very low IQ as my independent variables. Achievements on a certain test by each of these variables now become the dependent variables.
To make the variables easy to grasp, they must be defined either operationally or constitutively. Operational definition assigns meaning to a construct or a variable by specifying the activities or operations necessary to measure it. Say intelligence. I may operationally define it as follows:
INTELLIGENCE. It refers to the individual's achievement from the test which maybe classified as:
It refers to the individual's achievement from the test which maybe classified as:
Very High if he scores 91– 100
High if he scores 81 – 90
Low if he scores 71 – 80
Very Low if he scores 61 - 70
Intervening Variables may creep into the independent variable which will cause the IV's effect on DV. Say I am going to study about the performance of Fourth Year High School Students at Pedro Guevara Memorial National High School. The intervening variables here maybe are sex, age, and economic status. They are called as such because they share to the reasons behind the performance of the respondents.
- Operational definition has two kinds, namely: measured and experimental.
Measured operational definition describes how a variable will be measured while experimental operational definition spells out the details (operations) of the investigator's manipulations of a variable.
- Constitutive definition on the other hand defines a construct with other constructs. The sample I am going to give here is from Kerlinger (1973).
Weight. Heaviness of objects
Heaviness of objects
Attaining hundred percent accuracy of meaning is impossible despite the fact that operationism gives the researcher freedom to manipulate the meaning of a construct. This is the limitation of operationism.
Validity, Reliability and Precision
Human reality is not simple. The margin of error must thus be reduced to make one's research valid. Otherwise, what is the research for? Isn't it for the sake of truth? If in the process, there is already a very large degree of error, pursuing the research I think must not be done anymore.
Validity has many types – internal, external, construct, test, and statistical conclusion.
If x (independent variable) causes y (dependent variable), there is high internal validity.
External validity refers to the generalizability of a relationship beyond the circumstances under which it is observed by the scientists (Cook and Campbell, 1979 as cited by Rosenthal and Rosnow (1984).
Let's assume that we are going to conduct a research on the common jobs among the ....
Education and Information Technologies
Official Journal of the IFIP Technical Committee on Education
Volume 5 Number 4 December 2000
Contents
Papers
WATSON, D.
Editorial
SELWOOD, I., MIKROPOULOS, T., and WHITELOCK, D.
Guest Editorial
LAPOINTE, J. and ROBERT, J.
Using VR for Efficient Training of Forestry Machine Operators
GABRIELLI, S., ROGERS, Y., and SCAIFE, M.
Young Children’s Spatial Representations Developed through Exploration of a Desktop
Virtual Reality Scene.
KAUFMANN, H., SCHMALSTIEG, D., and WAGNER, M.
Construct3D: A Virtual Reality Application for Mathematics and Geometry Education
WHITELOCK, D., ROMANO, D., JELFS, A., and BRNA, P.
Perfect Presence : What Does this Mean for the Design of Virtual Learning Environments ?
DIPLAS, C. and PINTELAS, P
Design of Interactivity in Virtual Reality Applications with Emphasis on Educational
Software using Formal Interaction Specification.
KAMEAS, A., MIKROPOULOS, T., KATSIKIS, A., ESMVALOTIS, A., and PINTELAS, P
EIKON: Teaching a High-School Technology Course with the Aid of Virtual Reality
ANTONIETTI, A., RASI, C., IMPERIO, E., and SACCO, M.
The Representation of Virtual Reality in Education
CROSIER, J., COBB, S., and WILSON, R.
Experimental Comparison of Virtual Reality with Traditional Teaching Methods for Teaching Radioactivity
SANCHEZ, A., BARREIRO, J., and MAOJO, V.
Design of Virtual Reality Systems for Education: A Cognitive Approach
Volume 5 Index
Editorial
DERYN WATSON
This special issue of the Journal focuses on Virtual Reality. It bas been collated by lan Selwood, Tassos Mikropoulos and Denise Vhitelock, who in their guest editorial refer to the fact that Virtual Reality (VR) is fundamentally about a computer based environment, although neither researchers nor designers are yet agreed on a general term for their systems. Common alternative terms include artificial reality, cyberspace, telepresence and virtual reality. All have the significant characteristics of freedom. of navigation and interaction; in essence VR systerns attempt to offer an extension of our normal experiences through freedom of task performance. Most would consider that as a relatively new field of technologies, such systems provide promising potential tools for the educational process.
Selwood, Mikropoulos and Whitelock present a framework of important reasons cited for developing VR systems in education which recur in these papers. They stress the importance for experiential learning; they put flesh on the oft misused use of the word 'virtuality'. Indeed, they state the attraction here for designers and researchers alike is the potential to exploit the intellectual, social and emotional processes of the student. They have collected together papers which reflect the spectrum of current research which include issues of cognitive load, interface design, student perceptions, instructional strategies and real application environments.
The papers collectively make a convincing case for the vibrancy of the current research underway in this field. They point to on-going agendas for further studies of design and usage, and the parallel development of theoretical frameworks for evaluation. I would like to thank the guest editors, Ian Selwood, Tassos Mikropoulos and Denise Whitelock, and the authors for producing such a thoughtful and interesting special issue for the Journal. I am convinced that it will further debate on this particular aspect of the ongoing relationship between systems design and learning. It is the fourth of the series of special issues on key topics, following those on Information Technology and Educational Management (1997: 2(4)), Human Computer Interaction and Educational Tools: theory into practice (1998: 3(3/)), and Evaluation (1999: 4(3)).
Guest Editorial
IAN SELWOOD*
School of Education, Universty of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2T,T UK
E-mail: I.D.Selwood@bham.ac.uk * Corresponding author
TASSOS MIKROPOULOS
Department of Primary Education, University of Ioannina, Greece
E-mail: amikrop@cc.uoi.gr
DENISE WHITELOCK
Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
E-mail : d.m.whitelock@open.ac.uk
Virtual Reality (VR) can be described as a multi-sensory highly interactive computer based environment, where the user becomes an active participant in a virtually real world. Freedom of navigation and interaction are essential for a computer environment to be characterised as a VR environment (virtual environment, VE) and in a sense the Virtual Reality system offers an extension of our normal experiences allowing as many degrees of freedom as possible to perform a given task.
VR systems are generally classified according to the types of technology employed to implernent the systern and range from simulators and emulators, telepresence systems, CAVE systems, fully immersive systems, augmented systems and desktop VR systems. Depending on the level of the user’s participation and interaction with the virtual environment, VR applications are also subdivided into passive, explorative or interactive environments. Unfortunately researchers and designers alike do not agree about the final generic term given to their systems and use a number of different terms for their working virtual reality systems. The most common include artificial reality, cyberspace, telepresence and virtual reality. We believe that the terrn virtual reality is the most general and covers the whole field and this description will be used in this issue to embrace all kinds of systems and applications.
Research on virtual reality suggests that it has the potential to become a powerful tool for education (Winn, 1993; Pantelidis, 1993) based on its main characteristics. These suggestions are based upon the system employing the users viewpoint and supporting free navigation as well as the facility for the user to manipulate the virtual environment in real time.
A VR system shows and exploits pedagogical principles (Bricken, 1990). Passive learning is transformed into active with the experiential education provided from virtual environments. In a virtual environment the scale, information density, interaction and response, the time and the degree of user participation, can be defined and altered.
The usefulness of VR in education can be seen if we separate the technological aspects from the conceptual orientation, since the technology is changing quickly with more sophisticated features being available for users at an ever decreasing cost. The whole point of researching into the use of VR in education is not that it has attractive bells and whistles but can exploit the intellectual, social and emotional processes of the student.
Virtual learning environments allow the students to exercise different facets of their repertoire of cognitive skills, which is not a facility encouraged by the symbolic interaction with ordinary computer systems. At the same time, collaboration and socialisation of students can be developed, with the participation of many users in the same virtual environment (Stuart & Thomas, 1991) and more multi-user systems are being developed.
The most important reasons cited for developing VR in education are (Pantelidis, 1993; Mikropoulos et al, 1997) :
• Explore things and places that without alterations of scale in size, time and distances, could not otherwise be effectively examined.
• Develop participatory environments and activities that can only exist as computergenerated worlds (things and places with altered qualities).
• Teaching using the real thing is impossible, dangerous and inconvenient.
• Mistakes made by the learner using the real thing could be harmful to the environment.
• Interacting with a model is as motivating or more motivating than interacting with a realthing.
• Interact with real or virtual beings in realistic or non-realistic ways.
• Experience of creating a simulated environment or model is important to the learning objective.
• Visualisation, manipulation and rearrangement of information are needed, so as tobecome more easily understood.
Virtual reality as a relative new field of technologies is a promising tool for the educational process and is included amongst the computer assisted learning/instruction (CAL/I) systems. Researchers from various fields work towards that direction. Psychologists are looking for applications with the minimum cognitive load. Computer scientists search for the transparent interface trying to make the student-system, interaction friendlier and man oriented; and for software tools for applications development. Pedagogues and educationalists seek instructional strategies and assessment methods, and use VR to develop educational applications in a variety of disciplines from science to humanities and social studies.
This special edition of Education and Information Technologies is a collection of papers covering the spectrum, of education and discusses many pertinent issues with respect to current research in the field of VR in education. Lapointe and Robert’s work, in Using VR for efficient training of forestry machine operators, illustrates how sophisticated training systems have moved on from using very specialised equipment, such as those found for training airline pilots, to providing desktop systems that sustain the efficient training of forestry machine operators. Thus demonstrating that the basic principles of fully immersive 3D training systems can be transferred successfully to desktops and hence increasing student accessibility.
One of the proposed advantages of VR systems is the increased spatial awareness it can offer to users and it is encouraging to find in Gabrielli, Rogers and Scaife paper, Young children’s spatial representations developed through exploration of a desktop VR scene, that the use of 3D virtual worlds can support children’s developing spatial abilities. An appreciation of spatial awareness can also assist certain types of problem solving activities especially in the field of mathematics. Kaufmann, Schmalstieg and Wagner, Construct3D; a VR application for mathematics and geometry education, have employed a more sophisticated VR system with a stereoscopic head mounted display to augment students' problem solving. An advantage of this system is that the VR environment allows an integration of the virtual world and the real world.
Whitelock, Romano, Jelfs and Brna’s paper, Perfect Presence: what does this mean for the design of virtual learning environments?, suggests that increasing a user’s sense of presence in the Virtual World does not necessarily lead to an increase in user’s conceptual understanding. This finding suggests that a range of conceptual tools are required in order to help the user to access a deeper level or 'theory world' of understanding. This paper moves the argument forward for an evaluation framework for VR systems with the development of Whitelock’s Cube for single users into Brna’s Hypercube for a multi-user system. Diplas and Pintelas, in Design of interactivity in VR applications with emphasis on educational software using formal interaction specification, suggest how the sort of pedagogical tools suggested by Whitelock et al. can be designed and implemented with a description of the Virtual Multi Flow Graph (Virtual-MFG) formal model and Interaction specific Worldspace software architecture for the design of EIKON. This system is an integrated educational environment used to support high school students following a range of technology courses. The work of Kameas, Mikropoulos, Katsikis and Emvalotis dovetails nicely with that of Diplas and Pintelas as this former group of researchers have evaluated the EIKON system with 19 high school teachers. One of the encouraging findings from this work reported in EIKON: teaching a high school technology course with the aid of VR, was the lack of navigational problems found by the users when a clear site map is included.
All this research suggests VR has spread to a number of different teaching domains and that expectations are running high among the researchers in this field. However, do their expectations match those of their students? This extremely pertinent question has been addressed in their paper, The representation of VR in education, by Antonietti, Rasi, Imperio and Sacco. Their study which investigated students' beliefs about the educational impact of VR illustrates that undergraduates recognised the benefits identified by researchers. This is an interesting finding as it illustrates undergraduate students are open to the potential benefits that these systems can bring to their future education. However, the question of how learning with VR differs from the more traditional forms of teaching remains. Crosier, Cobb and Wilson, in Experimental comparison of VR with traditional teaching methods for teaching radioactivity compared the teaching of radioactivity with a VR system to that of more traditional methods and have shown that designing experiments to test this question is much more difficult than it would first appear especially with respect to the finding of equivalent control groups. Hence the jury is still out on this issue.
The papers in this issue have presented findings from a number of different subject domains but the pedagogical issues underlying the design of these complex systems across subject areas needs addressing. Sanchez, Barreiro and Maojo’s paper, Design of VR systems for education : a cognitive approach is a first step towards providing a framework for the design of VR systems for education which stresses the role of metaphor in teaching and learning.
This Special Issue has provided some insight into the issues under current investigation by researchers in the field of VR in education and illustrates a need for sorne longitudinal studies of usage of these systems in real classrooms, together with some theoretical frameworks for both the design and evaluation of Virtual Worlds for conceptual learning.
References
Bricken, W (1990). Learning in Virtual Reality. Report No. HITL-M-90-5. Univ. of Washington.
Mikropoulos T. A., Chalkidis A., Katsikis A., Kossivaki Ph. (1997). Virtual realities in environmental education: the project LAKE. Education and Information Technologies 2, 131-142.
Pantelidis, V. S. (1993). Virtual Reality in the Classroom. Educational Technology, 23, 23-27.
Stuart, R. and Thomas, J. C. (1991). The Implications of Education in Cyberspace. Multimedia Review, Summer, 17-27.
Winn, W (1993). A Conceptual Basis for Educational Applications of Virtual Reality. Available at ftp.u.washington.edu,/public/VirtuaI Reality/, August.
Program Concentrations
Cognition and Information Processing Cognitive Neuroscience Mathematical Behavioral Science Perception and Action
Cognition and Information Processing -- Attention, Memory, Information Processing, Learning and Skill Acquisition, Language
Faculty: Batchelder, Berg, D'Zmura, Dosher, Falmagne, Indow, Iverson, Hickok, Huntley-Fenner, Kean, Luce, Mann, Narens, Saberi, Sperling, Srinivasan, Watt, and Wright.
Affiliated Faculty: Granger, Lynch, McGaugh, Pazzani and Weinberger.
The Department of Cognitive Sciences has faculty with research interests covering a broad range of topics in the area of cognition and information processing. Special areas of emphasis include: attention, memory, learning and skill acquisition, information processing, and language Most of the faculty in Cognitive Sciences are actively involved in both theoretical and experimental research in these areas.
Attention
Research in attention deals with quantifying the selective processing of perceptions and actions. For instance, visual attention research emphasizes the study of selective processing of spatial locations, objects, stimulus attributes, and the relation of attention to visual motion perception. Similar issues are studied in auditory recognition, where attention may focus on different auditory cues. Current faculty research programs investigate: which kinds of features are available preattentively; the neural mechanisms of attentional modulation of perception and action using human brain imaging; quantitative models of how attention is focused, distributed, and switched among sensory stimuli; how well different forms of attention can be entrained and how long attention can be maintained.Memory
The ability to learn and remember are fundamental cognitive capacities. Current faculty research programs in memory investigate: the mechanisms of forgetting in different memory domains; metamemory, including the feeling of knowing and judgements of familiarity; assessment of deficits in Alzheimer's disease and aphasia; speed and accuracy of retrieval and its relation to encoding; quantitative models of memory including models of storage and retrieval, of priming, of source discrimination, and of the form of forgetting; the relation of short-term memory function to reading; very short-term visual memory; neural mechanisms of short- and long-term memory using human brain imaging.Information Processing
Information processing analyses of the performance of cognitive tasks trace the sequence of mental operations and their products (information). Current faculty research programs in information processing investigate: the ways that speed is traded for accuracy in both retrieval from memory and in the production of aimed movements; quantitative models that characterize how distributions of response times are related to characteristics of component processes; new measures of the sensitivity and bias of decisions; variability in cognitive parameters.Learning and Skill Acquisition
Research on learning and skill acquisition brings together many elements of memory, attention, and information processing. Current faculty research programs in learning and skill acquisition investigate: the development of reading ability; motor learning and generalization in normal subjects and clinical populations; mathematical models of classical learning theory such as Markov processes; the mapping of knowledge spaces to provide a principled basis for computer aided instruction.Language
Current faculty research programs in language investigate: the development of language abilities; real-time processing of linguistic stimuli; the structure of the breakdown of linguistic capacities following brain damage; learning of concepts in language; the relationship between language perception and production; the interaction between linguistic capacities and aspects of memory.Cognitive Neuroscience -- Experimental, Theoretical Faculty: Batchelder, Chubb, Hickok, Huntley-Fenner, Kean, Mann, Saberi, Sperling, Srinivasan, and Wright
Affiliated Faculty: Granger, Lynch, McGaugh, Shankle, and Weinberger
A major research goal of the Department of Cognitive Sciences is to characterize the architecture and computational properties of human cognitive systems. Because models of cognitive systems must ultimately make contact with models of neural systems, many cognitive scientists have turned to neuroscience, both as an additional source of information in formulating and refining cognitive theories, and also to investigate the nature of the mind/brain relation itself. The biological foundation of perceptual, motor, and higher cognitive capacities is an area of interest to Cognitive Sciences faculty and affiliated faculty from the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, the College of Medicine, and the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.
Experimental
Current faculty research programs use a wide range of methods include neuroimaging (fMRI and PET), electrophysiology (EEG and MEG), and clinical populations (neuropsychology). Three EEG systems are set up in Cognitive Sciences and a research-dedicated 4 Tesla MRI system has recently been installed on campus. Access to clinical populations is facilitated by research affiliations with area hospitals and clinics and through the Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic and Research Center at UCI. Related research units include The Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, The Irvine Hearing and Speech Sciences Research Unit, and The Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia. Current faculty research programs investigate: binocular rivalry and visual consciousness; cortical dynamics in visual feature integration; sensorimotor integration; frontal lobe development and executive function; attention; memory; learning; language.Theoretical
Computational and mathematical modeling of neural processes complements experimental research in the department. Current faculty research programs include modeling: the conversion of 2-dimensional images stimulating the retina into a 3-dimensional percept; how vision tunes itself to detect the characteristic structures in its environment; supraretinal sensor classes, for instance, neural arrays for sensing motion, stereo disparity, and texture; "cognitive microprocesses" in the brain; visual processes of light adaptation, flicker sensitivity, contrast detection, and stereopsis; binaural interaction; dynamics in large-scale cortical networks.Mathematical Behavioral Science -- Quantitative Modeling, Measurement, Decision and Choice Faculty: Batchelder, Cicerone, Dosher, D'Zmura, Falmagne, Hoffman, Indow, Iverson, Luce, Narens, Sperling, Srinivasan, Wright, and Yellott.
Affiliated Faculty: Bennett
UCI is an internationally recognized center for research on mathematical models in the behavioral and social sciences. Through the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences (IMBS), a Ph.D. program in Mathematical Behavioral Sciences is offered for students who are particularly strong in mathematics, and an M.A. program is offered for those who wish to minor in this area to complement another program concentration. A substantial fraction of the Cognitive Sciences faculty are involved in this program and mathematical behavioral science is an emphasis within the doctoral program in Psychology.
Quantitative Modeling
This area involves primarily the development of new probabilistic models of data structures. Current faculty research programs investigate: multinomial models, designed as an alternative to ANOVA for analyzing data from many classes of cognitive experiments; knowledge spaces, designed to obtain a better understanding of the degree to which students have mastered a branch of knowledge such as algebra or geometry; mathematical models in perception, including research on the geometric nature of color space and computational models of visual motion perception and attention; multinomial processing tree models including discrete state information processing models for experimental paradigms in cognitive psychology, especially in the area of human memory.Measurement
Measurement refers, in practice, to two related activities. One is the development of methods, including those noted under Quantitative Modeling, for organizing data according to some numerical or geometric model. The other topic concerns qualitative conditions on data that allow them to be represented in some numerical or geometric structure. The methods of representational measurement are, primarily, those of abstract algebra. Current faculty research programs investigate: cultural consensus theory, an information pooling model for aggregating responses from informants.Decision and Choice
The area of individual decision making is studied by several disciplines including psychology, management science, and economics. The primary mathematical methods are special cases of the quantitative and measurement methods, and these are tested empirically in both laboratory experiments and observational studies. Exemplary topics include the stochastic evolution of preferences.Perception and Action -- Vision, Audition, Action, and Virtual Reality Faculty: Berg, Braunstein, Cicerone, Dosher, D'Zmura, Falmagne, Hickok, Hoffman, Indow, Iverson, Luce, Mann, Saberi, Sperling, Srinivasan, Wright, and Yellott.
Affiliated Faculty: Bennett
Research and graduate training in perception and action is a major focus of the Cognitive Sciences faculty. The Department is internationally recognized as a leading center for quantitative research on perception. The Department's Perception and Action faculty and graduate students meet weekly for bag lunches and a seminar. These weekly meetings bring together not only departmental faculty but also faculty and students with related interests from a variety of campus units including Engineering, Information and Computer Science, Mathematics, and Neurobiology and Behavior.
Vision
Research in vision encompasses a wide range of areas. Current faculty research programs investigate: the mechanisms of contrast gain control in color vision; the density and packing arrangements of chromatically distinct cone types using psychophysics; the geometrical structure of color space; quantitative analysis of object color perception; the recovery of structure from motion; mechanisms for recovering 3D structure from dynamic 2D displays; mechanisms of attention in detecting color targets; metacontrast; texture perception; visual attention; binocular rivalry and visual consciousness; perceptual organization; three independent systems of visual motion perception and their relationship to the processes of attention and form perception.Audition
Current faculty research programs in audition include: empirical studies of complex tone discrimination; speech perception; formal modeling of auditory threshold phenomena; formal analysis of psychophysical measurement and scaling; motion perception, models of binaural cross-correlation; Head-related Transfer Functions that produce perceptual externalization of headphone-delivered sounds used in virtual-reality systems.Action
Research on action involves a quantitative analysis of the cognitive mechanisms necessary to learn and carry out skilled movements. Current faculty research addresses the central questions of motor-program representation and generalizability. These issues are studied using handwriting, rhythmic performance, aimed hand movements, and bimanual movements. The pursuit of these basic research questions has also led to several applied research projects involving clinical populations (patients with Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, and focal dystonia of the hand) and handwriting pedagogy.Virtual Reality
An exciting new research method in perception and actions involves using controlled environments by means of immersive virtual-reality. The Center for Virtual Reality conducts scientific research on human behavior in virtual environments and develops applications that use virtual environments as their medium. The center plays a unique role on Campus by linking scientists, engineers, physicians and artists. Current faculty research programs using virtual reality investigate: navigation in 4D virtual environments; the use of visual feedback to guide movements; shape or color perception and global illumination.
Vision and Strategy for Flexible and Distance Learning
at the University of Auckland
Printable Version [pdf]
Preamble
Vision for flexible and distance learning
Strategy and generic criteria for measuring performance
The relationship between teaching, learning and technology
Examples of the three sub-strategies
Design and development of asynchronous learning resources
Experimental research into educational technology applications
Conclusion
1. Preamble
The University of Auckland is well positioned - both nationally and internationally - to play a leadership role in the
successful implementation of existing best practice for flexible and distance learning. Furthermore, the University has a
unique opportunity to build on its potential to join global developments in new pedagogy now possible through advances in
digital communication technologies. The University of Auckland can ensure that solutions for the future are appropriate for
promoting university values and providing education at the university-level that is relevant to the needs of the emerging
global knowledge economy, first within New Zealand and then internationally.
The University of Auckland's potential to achieve these ideals is made possible by its respected brand, research capacity and
the advantage of not having to overcome the legacy of dated distance education practices associated with correspondence
education. The Centre for Flexible and Distance Learning's (CFDL) strategy is designed to maintain the balance between
ensuring that existing practices of flexible and distance learning are sustainable and that the implementation of new
learning practices is aligned with the rapidly changing environment.
The documentation for flexible and distance learning at the University of Auckland is divided into two documents:
Vision and strategy for flexible and distance learning;
Policy and process guidelines for flexible and distance learning.
This document defines the vision for flexible and distance learning and describes how the strategy will be achieved through
the following modes of learning:
Technology-enhanced campus-based teaching;
Design, development and delivery of asynchronous learning;
Experimental research in educational technology.
Details of CFDL support for University projects are covered in the policy and process guidelines document.
2. Vision for flexible and distance learning
The University of Auckland will strive to become a university leader in technology-mediated learning, first within New
Zealand and then internationally. It will develop organisational knowledge and capability to implement technology-mediated
learning rather than focusing on the development of specific technologies.
This vision requires the University to focus on three distinct areas:
Implementing best practice aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of learning from its campus-based teaching through the smart
implementation of technology;
Promoting learning through asynchronous learning materials designed for both campus-based and distance learning applications;
Innovating new learning approaches through well-founded research adopting a prototyping approach prior to rollout at the
enterprise level.
The University of Auckland will focus on building organisational knowledge and capability in the soft skills required in the
design and development of elearning solutions for now and the future. This is the cornerstone of the University of Auckland
strategy because the hard technologies will change in the medium term. This investment in soft skills development will enable
the University to sustain a leadership position, irrespective of the dominant technologies of the day.
3. Strategy and generic criteria for measuring performance
The strategy for elearning at the University of Auckland is underpinned by the philosophy of flexible learning. On the one
hand, flexible learning aims to promote increased access to campus-based learning and increased access through limited
distance learning applications. On the other hand, flexible learning strives to increase student choice and enhance the
quality learning experience.
Drawing on the University's research-led teaching philosophy, the University of Auckland will play a leadership role in the
evolution of technology-mediated learning in the university sector by:
promoting sustainable and cost-effective implementation of technology-enhanced, campus-based teaching;
adding value to learning through the design, development and delivery of high quality asynchronous learning resources that
can be used in both campus-based and distance learning situations;
promoting experimental research into multimodal learning, first locally, then nationally and finally internationally; and
implementing the management and administration processes that are necessary to support the three strategies above.
These activities will enable the University to establish strategic advantage on both the cost leadership and differentiation
dimensions of a sustainable technology strategy for elearning.
Implementation of this strategy will be evaluated by the extent that the University succeeds in reducing cost, improving
quality and increasing access to learning through the application of technology in learning. Consequently the University must
manage the dynamic interaction among:
Reducing cost by, for example, the implementation of a predictive costing approach during the expression of interest phase in
order to improve planning and decision-making around flexible and distance learning at the University. Thus, CFDL will foster
organisational research and reflection on the pedagogical productivity of educational technology applications;
Enhancing the quality of learning by, for instance, adopting tried and tested methods from global best practice in
implementing a course-team approach for the design and development of asynchronous learning resources;
Increasing access to university teaching through flexible learning and carefully selected distance learning programmes.
Leadership through differentiation in flexible and distance learning requires the University to promote and support
organisational research into the potential that the advances in digital communication technologies provide for new ways of
learning. The University must recognise that this research is experimental and will not be rolled-out as a component of the
University's enterprise systems until trials are completed.
4. The relationship between teaching, learning and technology
The University of Auckland strategy is founded on the process and functions of teaching and learning. Two reasons underpin
this decision:
First, the theory and practice of teaching and learning should drive technology futures in an educational institution thus
avoiding the situation where technology determines decision-making at the expense of the learning experience;
Second, it is more sensible to found strategy that builds organisational capability in the soft skills (required in the
design, development and delivery of technology-mediated learning) rather than in specific hard technologies (like current
web-technologies or specific virtual learning environments) because in the medium-term the hard technologies will continue to
evolve and change at an accelerating pace.
The University of Auckland aspires to ensure good linkages between theory and practice, recognising that organisational
experience in e-learning will continue to grow. Adopting teaching and learning as the point of departure means that the
University's flexible and distance learning strategies are classified according to the functions of teaching.
The functions of teaching refer to the three functions that must be present in all teaching-learning systems:
Presentation of the learning content, including facilitated learning experiences that aim to promote autonomous discovery
learning;
Planned forms of interaction incorporating student-content interaction; student-lecturer interaction (or student-tutor
interaction) and student-student interaction. Successful teaching systems should plan for all three forms of interaction
listed. Interaction can be achieved by using both synchronous and asynchronous methods of communication, with the
understanding that the design of quality learning interactions will differ depending on the method selected;
Assessment of learning including assessment designed to improve the quality of learning and assessment designed to fulfil the
University's core function associated with the credentialisation of knowledge.
The functions of teaching can be achieved through face-to-face teaching situations, with or without the support of
technology, as well as planned distance learning situations. In addition, the functions of teaching can be mediated in part
or entirety through a range of different technologies, and are not necessarily limited to the online learning environment.
The interaction among flexible and distance learning, face-to-face pedagogy, and digital communication technologies within a
mixed-mode delivery system is best managed using the three identified sub-strategies. Examples and explanations of this
typology are provided in the following section.
4.1 Examples of the three sub-strategies
The University of Auckland identifies three modalities for flexible and distance learning. Each modality is an important
component of the University's elearning strategy. Each mode is aimed at increasing access and learner choice. The resource
allocation among the three modalities will be managed dynamically, according to stakeholder needs including: the student
population; society and economy; the values and traditions of the University as an institution; and contemporary advances in
digital technologies.
This section provides an overview and supporting commentary on the differences between the three modes and respective
sub-strategies. A matrix depicting the relationships between the three sub-strategies and the following continua is provided
in Figure 1:
The functions of teaching, namely the extent to which some or all of the functions of teaching described above are supported
by communication technologies; and
The pedagogy innovation axis that distinguishes between tried-and-tested teaching and the innovation of new approaches in
education.
Sub-strategy 1 and sub-strategy 2 are cost leadership strategies where the smart implementation of technology is designed to
reduce cost, improve quality and increase access. Sub-strategy 3 is a differentiation strategy where the University of
Auckland will establish leadership in elearning through innovation.
In prioritising the allocation of CFDL resources among Faculty projects, sub-strategy 1 is deemed core practice of academic
departments. However CFDL in conjunction with CPD provides a consulting and professional development service to promote best
practice in this area. Sub-strategy 2 is the main focus of CFDL’s course-team development work and is considered core
business of the Centre. Sustainable innovation must be properly trialled before mainstream implementation, consequently
sub-strategy 3 is managed by CFDL as experimental research on carefully selected projects and prioritised accordingly.
Resources developed under sub-strategy 2 can be used to support and enhance campus-based teaching, as indicated by the arrow
in the figure below. In addition, asynchronous learning resources can be used to support varying degrees of distance learning
within courses.
Sub-strategy 1 Technology-enhanced campus-based learning
Drawing on tried-and-tested pedagogy derived from local New Zealand experience and global best practice of technology
supported learning, this sub-strategy strives to enhance the effectiveness of existing campus-based teaching. Sub-strategy 1
assumes that the technology is used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching. Examples of sub-strategy 1 include:
The design and implementation of course web sites that provide information on the curriculum, lecturing staff, and
course-specific administrative arrangements;
Uploading lecture notes for remote online access;
Uploading PowerPoint slides for remote online access;
Enabling online, asynchronous discussion forums for specific assignments or for general course discussions;
Providing electronic calendars to support the effective administration of the semester's teaching programme;
Facilitating electronic access to previous years' examination papers;
Using technology to support administrative functions associated with managing classes, for example, electronic class lists
and managing grades;
Opportunities for technology-enhanced assessment, for example, electronic submission of assignments and online assessment;
Designing and developing a video as supporting media for the classroom;
Effective use of the electern;
Using technology to distribute face-to-face lectures to remote sites.
In this sub-strategy individual lecturers are seen to be the providers of teaching by the student. Consequently the relevant
academic is primarily responsible for the learning quality. CFDL, CPD, CECIL developers and the Library will provide ongoing
advice and support for academic departments regarding best practice associated with using technology to support campus-based
teaching.
Sub-strategy 2 Design and development of asynchronous learning resources
Drawing on best practice, sub-strategy 2 involves the design and development of learning resources that are intended for use
in asynchronous learning situations. That is, the teaching-learning transaction is mediated irrespective of time and place
constraints - in other words anywhere and anytime. Asynchronous learning resources can be used to support campus-based
teaching but have the advantage that they can also be used in distance learning applications.
Resources developed for sub-strategy 2 can range, for example, from the design, development and delivery of one hour of
student learning in support of a campus-based course to a full distance learning offering. However, as the ratio of
asynchronous learning to face-to-face teaching increases in a specific course, increasingly more functions of teaching will
need to be mediated through technology. Therefore, in the case of a distance learning course, all the functions of teaching
are mediated by technology. The time-space separation associated with a distance learning course requires that all the
teaching functions must be mediated by the design of the learning package in advance of the actual learning event.
Sub-strategy 2 differs from sub-strategy 1, because the learning resources are designed for asynchronous teaching situations.
Asynchronous learning resources do not replace the academic but are designed to mediate teaching and learning over time and
place in a pedagogically effective and cost-sustainable way. Asynchronous learning materials are designed and developed in
advance of the learning event whereas solutions designed for sub-strategy 1 can be adapted in accordance with the progress of
the course on a lecture-for-lecture basis.
Sub-strategy 2 is a value-addition strategy, because these learning resources can easily be migrated to support campus-based
teaching situations without adaptation.
Sub-strategy 2 will support three types of flexible and distance learning projects at the University:
Projects where the main objective is to reduce the costs of campus-based learning without compromising quality, or to add
value to existing programmes/courses through the implementation of technology-mediated learning;
Projects involving the substitution, without compromising quality, of face-to-face instruction by technology-based
independent learning;
Projects involving the design, development and delivery of distance learning courses.
Resource allocation between the different classifications above is directed by the University's strategy for cost leadership.
This will be managed dynamically at the faculty level through submissions by individual faculties to the annual expression of
interest process. CFDL will provide advice during the initial planning phase on effective teaching methods and cost
implications of different design alternatives. Once the annual development projects have been selected according to the
University approved processes, CFDL will provide ongoing project management support and support for learning design and
multimedia design for asynchronous learning resources. (Specific details are provided in the policy and process guidelines
document).
The use of project teams is the de facto international standard for the design and development of quality learning materials.
Project teams will draw on the expertise from academic departments, CFDL, CPD, ITSS and the library. The course-team brings
together the know-how of academic content experts, learning designers, academic developers, multimedia experts and Library
specialists as required for individual projects.
Sub-strategy 3 Experimental research into educational technology applications
Sub-strategy 3 strives to ensure that the University of Auckland can establish and maintain a leadership role in the
evolution of new education methods now possible because of the advances and convergence of digital technologies.
This is a strategic imperative for the University because new approaches to teaching hold immense potential for the quality
of the University learning experience for its students. However, international developments in new learning methods also
highlight a risk that global competitors may establish market share in the New Zealand education market through leadership
and innovation in this area. The University of Auckland must prepare itself strategically to lead instead of follow the
developments of new learning methods that advances in technology allow.
This sub-strategy focuses on sustainable innovation based on well-founded inter-disciplinary research. It is designed to draw
on the University's research-led philosophy and will promote strategic advantage in technology-mediated learning. This is not
tried-and-tested pedagogy, therefore it is necessary to adopt an experimental approach where new approaches are properly
trialled prior to rollout at the enterprise level. In this way the University will ensure scalability and sustainability of
new methods of teaching.
Recent technological developments and our growing understanding of human learning empower universities to find teaching
solutions that were not possible a few years before. Contemporary advances in digital communication technologies, combined
with the convergence among computing, telecommunications and the cognitive sciences, now facilitate systems-design of
learning resources that will increasingly become independent of storage technologies, logic engines, carrier and player
technologies. This will enable the design and development of learning systems capable of learner-driven customisation that is
scalable and sustainable from a cost perspective. For example, a digital learning resource stored in an object repository can
be delivered in more than one mode (for instance, visual and auditory) simultaneously, depending on learner-driven
preferences, irrespective of a predetermined carrier and player technology. Therefore, irrespective of whether a learner
prefers to learn in the classroom, in front of a computer terminal, portable access device, traditional text-based media or
any customised combination thereof, it is now technically possible to incorporate pedagogy that is designed to deliver
multiple modes of presentation, simultaneously in a cost-effective way.
Moreover the technologies of rapid application design and object-oriented development will increasingly enable the
development of intelligent tutoring systems capable of just-in-time learning design solutions driven by student needs. These
technological advances transcend the time-space dimensions that bound traditional university teaching. It is imperative that
the University of Auckland prepares itself strategically for these futures.
Examples of contemporary technologies and research focuses that could contribute to the realisation of sub-strategy 3
include:
The growing research focus in the international community on reusable learning objects;
How digital communication technologies can increasingly utilise recent findings in brain research regarding the pedagogical
effectiveness of multimodal presentation formats;
The pedagogical applications of desktop virtual reality objects;
The maturity of developments in Education Modelling Languages that draw on the technological distinction between content and
form;
Early experimentation with intelligent learning design systems aimed at learner-driven customisation;
Standards generating bodies working towards de facto meta-data standards for classifying digital learning resources, for
example, IEEE, IMS and SCORM;
Industry successes founded on the business model of mass customisation, for instance Dell Computer Corporation, that has
redefined the supplier-vendor-customer chain through customised supply, or Motorola's manufacturing systems that can produce
customised pagers in lot sizes as small as one.
The strategic challenge for the University of Auckland is to ensure that our organisation has the ability in terms of its
professional skills, systems and processes to reap the benefits from new teaching and new learning methods.
CFDL will create a conceptual and physical space where academic research in this domain can interface with operational
innovation research with the view to building organisational capability for new ways of learning.
5. Conclusion
The high-level vision and strategy articulated in this document directs the implementation priorities for the Centre for
Flexible and Distance Learning at the University of Auckland. It is a strategy that is designed to provide cost leadership
through the implementation of tried-and-tested elearning methods but at the same time empowers the University to lead through
sustainable innovation of new learning solutions.
1. While an online discussion forum could be synchronous (as in an online chat forum) if the moderator and student are online
at the same time, it is typically designed to be used as an asynchronous communication technology.
2. The time-space separation of teaching and learning can facilitate greater freedom of choice for the learner regarding the
pace of learning. However, in a highly structured learning design, for instance in the case of regular submission dates for
compulsory assignments, learners will have less freedom regarding the pace of learning.
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