Session 4 Analysing Scientific Reports

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Session 4Analysing Scientific Reports

• Reading and appraisal of scientific papers

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How to read a scientific paper

• Strategies- take various amounts of time, use
  rapid strategy at first and only spend time if
  the paper appears to warrant it
• abstract only
• skimming
• scanning
• reading
• what are the objectives?
• what are the methods?
• what are the results?
• what are the conclusions?
• what is the overall message?

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How to evaluate a scientific paper

• External validity
• Authority
• author- qualifications, institution
• publisher
• Currency
• Sources

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How to evaluate a scientific paper from the Web

• External validity
• URL- from recognised institution
• Domain name is .edu or .ac. Country
• Or .org ( plus country if not USA)
• Author- qualifications, institution

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How to evaluate a scientific paper

• Internal validity
• Are the objectives scientifically interesting or
  important ?
• Are the methods appropriate ?
• Are the results well explained,?
• Are the conclusions justified?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
  paper?

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Session 5

• Developmental Issues

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Session 5 Objectives

• By the end of the session participants will be
  able to
• Understand the concept of development
• Dissect and understand an academic article on
  development.
• Communicate the findings of an academic article
  to a mixed audience.

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What is Development?

• The process of progression towards a particular
  existence.
• No single universally accepted definition.
• Usually measured by factors such as
  industrialisation, population growth, education
  levels, urbanisation, infant mortality, income
  distribution, energy consumption etc.

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Development Indices

• Indices are combinations of quantifiable factors
  used in measurement.
• Indices are essential because development cannot
  be measured by any single factor.
• Two basic types of development indices
• 1. Monetary based (eg World Bank)
• 2. Human welfare based (eg HDI)
• According to various definitions the World can be
  divided into more developed countries (MDCs)
  and less developed countries (LDCs).

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Development Issues

• Development includes a huge range of factors
  including wealth, personal rights, intellectual
  freedom etc.
• As these topics are rarely agreed upon, most
  aspects of development can be regarded as
  issues.
• Development issues are usually hotly contested
  as different interest groups have different
  ideas.

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Identifying Development Issues

• Views on the most important development issues
  will vary. Examples may include
• Food supply in Ethiopia.
• Treatment of refugees in Australia.
• Population growth in India.
• Sexual inequality in Saudi Arabia.
• Manufacturing growth in South Korea.
• Rural economic development in Vietnam.

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Rural Economic Development Issues in Vietnam

• Refer to the article by Dinh et al
• What development problems are faced by the
  Vietnamese Rural Economy?
• Why can these problems be regarded as issues?
• What solutions to these problems have been
  attempted by the Vietnamese government?

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Communicating Development Issues

• Dinh et al outlines seven key suggestions
  regarding rural economic development in Vietnam.
  You will be organised into groups and given one
  of the suggestions to investigate. Your tasks
• Read the suggestion carefully.
• Transcribe the issue into simple language.
• Develop a simple strategy for effectively
  communicating the main points to an influential
  but poorly educated local government official.
• Explain why the suggestion is likely to become an
  issue if implementation is attempted.
• Present your strategy to the group.

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Session 6

• Developing learning objectives for multimedia
  materials

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Learning objectives of the session

• By the end of this session participants will be
  able to write learning objectives
• that are suitable for various audiences
• that are suitable for different media

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Writing goals and objectives

• Distinguish between
• instructional goals (yours), and
• learning objectives (knowledge or skill
  participants will have after the instruction)

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Identify what you want to achieve

• Express this as
• broad programme goals
• specific learning objectives
• up to three specific learning objectives for each
  session, section of a WWW training package, or
  training video.

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Learning objectives

• help you to design your instructional programme
• help you decide what to include
• help you decide on content and activities

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Learning objectives should

• use active verbs
• include a measurable outcome
• must be testable and measurable

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Learning objectives

• use phrases such as be able to rather than
  vague terms such as understand
• understanding is hard to assess
• if the learner can demonstrate a skill, they
  presumably have an underlying understanding

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Examples of learning objectives

• After watching this video villagers will be able
  to explain to their family about the benefits of
  vaccination
• By the end of this training session the farmers
  will be able to list the harmful effects of
  allowing animals to drink from the village water
  supply

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Learning objectives for example one

• After watching this video villagers will be able
  to plan activities to clean up their water supply

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Learning objectives for example two

• By the end of this session farmers will be able
  to list harmful effects of overuse of pesticides
• By the end of this session farmers will be able
  to describe the benefits of using biological
  predators to reduce insecticide spraying

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Session 7

• Learning Styles

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What is a learning style?

• Information processing habits which represent the
  learner's typical modes of perceiving, thinking,
  remembering, and problem solving.
• There are many different approaches and theories
  about learning styles. Many of them are
  contradictory.
• Today four different learning styles will be
  outlined together with suggested learning
  strategies.

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1 Visual/Verbal Learning Style

• People who learn primarily this way benefit from
• Written and language formats.
• Outlines and bullet points
• Textbooks and notes
• Studying alone
• Picturing information in the mind

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Activities for the Visual/Verbal Learner

• Visual Aids
• Black/white boards
• Powerpoints
• Text based presentations
• Summaries
• Textbooks and notes
• Online environments

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2. Visual Nonverbal Learning Style

• People who learn primarily this way benefit from
• Pictures and designs
• Film, video, maps and charts.
• Art and being creative
• Studying alone

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Activities for the Visual/Nonverbal Learner

• Picture formats
• Film, video, maps and diagrams
• Artistic and design
• Graphics based online environments

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3. Tactile/Kinethetic Learning Style

• People who learn primarily this way benefit from
• Hands-on activities
• Manipulation of materials to create new
  information.
• Being physically active in the learning
  environment.
• Field work

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Strategies for the Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner

• Lab settings
• Demonstrations
• Hands-on learning
• Fieldwork
• 3-D graphics
• Online interaction

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4. Auditory/Verbal Learning Style

• People who learn primarily this way benefit
  from
• Listening and participation in discussion
• Audio
• Remembering how information was explained
• Listening/speaker exchange

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Strategies for the Auditory/Verbal Learner

• Listening to lectures
• Participating in group discussion
• Audio tape activities
• Listening/speaking
• Streaming video and computer conferencing

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Implications of learning styles

• Modes of teaching and explanation should be
  varied.
• A range of activities is required to meet
  objectives.
• Some people will benefit more form particular
  activities than others

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Kolbs Learning Cycle (1984)

• Represents the process by which individuals,
  teams, and organizations attend to and understand
  their experiences, and consequently modify their
  behaviours.
• The LC is based on the idea that the more often
  we reflect on a task, the more often we have the
  opportunity to modify and refine our efforts.
• The advantage of the LC is that it enables an
  individual, team or organization to learn from
  experience and thereby improve performance.

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Kolbs Learning Cycle (1984)
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1. Experiencing

• Initial step
• Immersing oneself in the "doing" of a task is
  simply carries out the task assigned.
• Reflection is not usually a component

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2. Reflection

• The stepping back from task involvement and
  reviewing what has been done and experienced.
• Involves the skills of attending, noticing
  differences, and applying terms.
• Personal philosophy (values, attitudes, values,
  beliefs) is important.
• Vocabulary is also influential, since without
  words, it is difficult to verbalise and discuss
  ones perceptions.

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3. Conceptualisation

• Interpreting the events that have been noticed
  and understanding the relationships among them.
• Theory may be helpful as a template for framing
  and explaining events.
• Personal philosophy again influences the
  interpretive range a person is willing to
  entertain.

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4. Planning

• Planning enables taking the new understanding
  and translates it into predictions about what is
  likely to happen next or what actions should be
  taken to refine the way the task is handled.

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Types of Learning Activities Summary

• Notetaking
• Performing role plays
• Video production
• Creating web pages
• Group brainstorming
• Seminar preparation
• Art/photography creation
• Audio production
• Literature searching
• Reading

• Web searching
• Cartoon creation
• Essay writing
• Flow diagram creation
• Creating maps or charts
• Debates
• Poster making
• Summarising
• Interviewing
• Questionnaire

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Devising Learning Activities

• Activity
• With reference to the learning objectives that
  you formulated earlier today, devise 4 different
  learning activities suitable for the variety of
  learning styles.