Terry Mayes

Vicarious learning from dialogue and discourse: A controlled comparison.

This study examined learning in the domain of sentence parsing and syntax tree-diagram construction. The aim of the study was to assess whether subjects could learn ‘vicariously’ from recordings of interactions between a previous student and a tutor.Four intervention conditions and a control condition were compared. Subjects in a ‘dialogue’ group (DL) read printed tutorial notes and subsequently ‘vicariously’ viewed dynamic (animated) recordings of tree diagrams being constructed by a previous student in the presence of a tutor.The discourse (DI) condition was similar except that subjects viewed recordings of tree diagrams being constructed by a tutor who concurrently verbalised instructional discourse.In a third condition (DO), subjects viewed tree-diagram construction animation clips which were not annotated with either dialogue or discourse. In a linear text (LT) condition, subjects were given only printed tutorial notes. A control (CO) condition involved pre and post testing without any intervention.Results indicated that the dialogue condition was as effective as the discourse condition. This provides support for contention that ‘re-usable’ dialogue is a useful resource for the vicarious learner. Another finding was that un-annotated animated diagrams were surprisingly effective. Several reasons for their effectiveness are suggested from the literature on instructional animations.

Vicarious Learning from Dialogue and Discourse.

This study examined learning in the domain of sentence parsing and syntax treediagram construction. The aim of the study was to assess whether subjects could learn ‘vicariously’ from recordings of interactions between a previous student and a tutor.Four intervention conditions and a control condition were compared. Subjects in a ‘dialogue’ group (DL) read printed tutorial notes and subsequently ‘vicariously” viewed dynamic (animated) recordings of tree diagrams being constructed by a previous student in the presence of a tutor.The discourse (DI) condition was similar except that subjects viewed recordings of tree diagrams being constructed by a tutor who concurrently verbalised instructional discourse.In a third condition (DO), subjects viewed tree-diagram construction animation clips which were not annotated with either dialogue or discourse. In a linear text (LT) condition, subjects were given only printed tutorial notes. A control (CO) condition involved pre and post testing without any intervention.Results indicated that the dialogue condition was as effective as the discourse condition. This provides support for contention that ‘re-usable’ dialogue is a useful resource for the vicarious learner. Another finding was that un-annotated animated diagrams were surprisingly effective. Several reasons for their effectiveness are suggested from the literature on instructional animations.

Expanding Our Understanding of the Learning Cultures in Community-Based Further Education.

This paper presents arguments for distinctive features of the learning cultures present within community‐based further education. It draws on an analysis of qualitative data generated through interviews with staff and learners in two community learning centres (CLCs) attached to two of Scotlands Further Education (FE) colleges. The following features are identified: the permeable boundaries of CLCs; the complex roles of teaching staff and the ‘horizontality’ of the relationships with learners; the centrality of the role played by non‐teaching staff; the tensions created by balancing formality and informality associated with the impact of the wider field of FE; and the extent to which CLCs can be come a comfort zone for learners, and make transition difficult. In the analysis of these empirical observations the concept of ‘learning relationships’ has been influential. We have also drawn on Bourdieus concepts of ‘habitus’, and ‘field’, in understanding the dispositions and practices of the staff and learners.

Can New Technology Remove Barriers to Work-Based Learning?.

In this paper Fiona Reeve, Jim Gallacher and Terry Mayes of Glasgow Caledonian University, bring together two current themes in higher education, work‐based learning and the use of new technology in teaching and learning. The paper begins to explore their interaction by examining the ways in which new technology can help to overcome some of the barriers which exist to work‐based learning. To begin this analysis a general model of a WWW‐based learning resource is described which has relevance for a range of open learning contexts. A central aspect of this model is the use of communication technologies to promote the creation of learning dialogues. The way in which this general model might be applied to work‐based learning is then examined. Having suggested that such a model has much to offer work‐based learning, some of the constraints which might be encountered on implementation are then identified. Finally, the authors conclude that it is in promoting more and better forms of communication that new techn...