William Y. Lan

Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research

This literature review summarizes research on online teaching and learning. It is organized into four topics: course environment, learners’ outcomes, learners’ characteristics, and institutional and administrative factors. The authors found little consistency of terminology, discovered some conclusive guidelines, and identified developing lines of inquiry. The conclusions overall suggest that most of the studies reviewed were descriptive and exploratory, that most online students are nontraditional and Anglo American, and that few universities have written policies, guidelines, or technical support for faculty members or students. Asynchronous communication seemed to facilitate in-depth communication (but not more than in traditional classes), students liked to move at their own pace, learning outcomes appeared to be the same as in traditional courses, and students with prior training in computers were more satisfied with online courses. Continued research is needed to inform learner outcomes, learner characteristics, course environment, and institutional factors related to delivery system variables in order to test learning theories and teaching models inherent in course design.

Aging Successfully: A Four-Factor Model

The study was designed to validate a model for a successful aging process and examine the gender differences in the aging process. Three hundred twelve participants who were 65 or older completed a Taiwan Social Change Survey that measures four factors that define successful aging process: including physical, psychological, social support, and leisure activity. Structural equation modeling analysis shows in addition to the three supporting variables, leisure activities is a significant factor related to successful aging process. The findings of the study verified that the proposed model is well supported by the data and fits well for both female and male populations. The findings of the study also suggest that, for gerontological researchers, leisure activities of old people deserve their attention when helping the old generation age well.

Counselling expectations of international students

International students not only face the normal adjustment problems of young adulthood but also the adjustment to a different culture. A random sample of 100 colleges and universities was contacted. International students enrolled at the institutions completed a questionnaire designed to assess the counselling preferences of international students. Results are discussed in terms of desirable counsellor characteristics and implications for counsellor training. Suggestions are made for facilitating counselling with international students.

The Effects of a Self-Monitoring Process on College Students' Learning in an Introductory Statistics Course

Abstract Sixty-nine graduate students enrolled in a statistics class participated in this study, which investigated the effects of self-monitoring on learning and attitudes toward learning. With protocols designed for this study, subjects in a self-monitoring condition recorded frequency and intensity of their learning activities and rated self-efficacy of solving statistical problems. Subjects in an instructor-monitoring condition evaluated the instruction provided in the class. Subjects in a control condition took the course without any research activity. Scores obtained from class examinations and attitude inventories were the dependent variables. As predicted, the self-monitoring group performed better than did the instructor-monitoring and control groups. No attitude difference was found. Implications for teaching graduate-level statistics are discussed, and future research on self-monitoring is suggested.

The Importance of ADHD Subtype Classification for Educational Applications of DSM-V

Objective: An examination of the academic achievement of children with ADHD by stimulant treatment status must consider this heterogeneity of the disorder. With the dissemination of the final wave of data, the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study presents an opportunity to examine the academic achievement of students with ADHD using a large, community-based, and nationally representative sample over 4 years. Method: In Study 1, the association between stimulant treatment and academic achievement is examined over 4 years. In Study 2, the association between stimulant treatment and academic achievement is examined acknowledging the influence of subtype symptoms of ADHD using growth mixture modeling. Results: Results indicate significant differences in academic achievement according to long-term stimulant treatment status within each subtype symptom class. Conclusion: Research should acknowledge the influence of subtype symptoms when examining outcomes such as academic achievement. The upcoming DSM-V should consider the results as indicating the educational relevance of ADHD subtype classification. (J. of Att. Dis. 2010; 13(6) 573-583)

Physical Activity Related to Depression and Predicted Mortality Risk: Results from the Americans’ Changing Lives Study

This study examined the association between three types of physical activities (PA) and depression, and the relationship between PA and later mortality. Previous studies rarely assessed these associations in one single study in randomly selected population samples. Few studies have assessed these relations by adjusting the covariate of friend-relative care. Participants consisted of 624 noninstitutionalized elders (mean age = 77.35) from the Americans’ Changing Lives Longitudinal Study. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Logistic regression estimated the risk of depression as a function of the three individual PA (gardening, walking, and sport). A separate set of analyses predicted the risk of mortality (six years later) as a function of PA. Each 1-standard-unit increase on the physical inactivity scale significantly predicted adjusted 29%, 30%, and 33% increased risk of depression for gardening, walking, and sport, respectively; and each unit also predicted 48% and 72% increased risk of mortality, for gardening and walking, respectively. Active exercise was not able to predict mortality (p = .42). The study concluded that elders with less PA had a higher chance of getting depression. Unlike gardening and walking, rigorous exercise did not significantly predict mortality. This indicated that extra care is needed for elders when they engage in intense exercise. The relationships of social support from friends and relatives with depression and mortality were also discussed.

Self-Regulation across Time of First-Generation Online Learners.

Self-regulatory skills have been associated with positive outcomes for learners. In the current study, we examined the self-regulatory skills of students who are firstgeneration online learners over the course of their first semester of online instruction. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the online selfregulatory skills of learners changed across time as associated with being immersed in their first online learning environment. The results of the current study indicate no significant differences in the online self-regulatory skills of learners across time. Results suggest that environmental factors such as being immersed in an online learning environment for the first time is not, in and of itself, associated with the development of self-regulatory skills of online learners. We conclude that the design of online courses needs to consider ways of developing self-regulatory skills as these skills are not automatically developed with students’ online learning experiences.

Effects of Practicing Self-Monitoring of Mathematical Problem-Solving Heuristics on Impulsive and Reflective College Students' Heuristics Knowledge and Problem-Solving Ability.

Abstract The authors designed a step-by-step self-monitoring method to help impulsive students overcome their unwillingness to self-monitor. They predicted (a) that self-monitoring in general would help student learning of the heuristics of solving mathematical problems, (b) that self-monitoring would be more helpful for the impulsive students than for the reflective students, and (c) that step-by-step self-monitoring would be more helpful for the impulsive students than an external reminder that provided cues for general self-monitoring. The first 2 predictions were supported by the results of the study. As for the 3rd prediction, general self-monitoring was found to be more beneficial than step-by-step self-monitoring for the impulsive students. The findings are discussed in terms of competition for cognitive resources between learning and self-monitoring.

Differences Between Learning Disability Subtypes Classified Using the Revised Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery

This study examined the characteristics of students with specific learning disabilities in either reading and spelling or arithmetic. Based on scores obtained using the revised Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery, students with a marked weakness in arithmetic relative to reading and spelling were designated as Group A. Group R-S showed the opposite pattern. Each group included 30 participants ranging in age from 7 to 16 years, with a mean age of 10 years. The boy-to-girl ratios were 16:14 and 19:11 in Group A and Group R-S, respectively. Comparisons using measures from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) indicated that Group A was weaker in nonverbal skills than Group R-S, despite equivalent overall IQ scores between the two groups. Group R-S showed a within-group strength in nonverbal versus verbal skills. Group A students were more likely than Group R-S students to have counseling provided as part of their Individualized Education Program, suggesting greater socioemotional difficulty among Group A students. The present study supports the connection between nonverbal skills and socioemotional functioning noted by previous researchers, and generalizes findings from earlier studies to more current test editions.

Academic Risk-Taking: Developmental and Cross-Cultural Observations

AbstractTwo field observation studies conducted with American and Chinese students, aged 8 to 11, were used to examine developmental and cultural patterns in academic risk-taking (i.e., student selection of academic achievement tasks varying in difficulty) and to formulate hypotheses pertinent to this phenomenon. Data led to the following tentative conclusions: (a) Sex differences in academic risk-taking and failure tolerance are trivial. (b) Failure tolerance decreases with development. (c) Academic risk-taking is low relative to the theoretically optimum risk level of .50. (d) Developmental patterns in academic risk-taking vary with situational factors. (e) Academic risk-taking varies with content. (f) Academic risk-taking tends to be higher for American students than for Chinese students and higher for Chinese students from industrial settings in contrast to government-employment settings. Three hypotheses were formulated to explain the field observations: the variable payoff hypothesis, the accuracy-d...