Browsing by Subject "Cognitive"
Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item An approach to classifying listening strategies in the Arabic as a foreign language classroom(2016-08) Cunha, Priscilla Mary; Al-Batal, Mahmoud; Potter, RoseThis report sets out to reclassify listening strategies in a way that renders them more transparent to both Arabic language instructors and students, thereby enabling instructors to integrate direct listening strategy instruction into their lesson plans more efficiently. It begins with a review of previous listening strategy research and classifications, commenting on how the existing strategy classifications of “metacognitive,” “cognitive,” and “socio-affective” have fallen short in creating a practical tool for integrating strategy instruction. The report then focuses on the Al-Kitaab Arabic textbook series and an analysis of the strategy instruction presented therein, finding that, while there is a strong strategic base presented in the textbooks, continued strategy development is largely abandoned as the series continues. The report attempts to address the lack of transparency in traditional learning strategy classifications, as well as the relative inconsistency of strategy instruction available in Arabic language course materials, by outlining two tables of listening strategies organized based upon the type of task in which the learner is engaged. The two task types are interpersonal listening and interpretive listening, based upon the definitions of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, and the listening strategies in each table are arranged relatively by proficiency level, ranging from novice to intermediate. The intention of this report is that such a classification will encourage and enable language teachers to integrate strategy instruction that is appropriate for the nature of the type of pedagogic task at hand, thereby rendering language learners better prepared to deal with real-world interpersonal and interpretive listening situations.Item "Christian conversion" as a radical philosophical turn : Lukan literary efforts in describing Paul's "Conversion" in Acts 9, 22, and 26(2015-05) Kim, Jin Young, M.A.; White, L. Michael; Friesen, Steven JThe present report analyzes the three Lukan accounts on Paul's "conversion" in Acts 9:1-31, 22:6-21, and 26:12-17 in consideration of the contemporary literary milieu of the Greek philosophical and Hellenistic Jewish discourses on one's "conversion," i.e., a radical change as discarding his/her former thoughts. Through this analysis, I argue that Luke redescribed Paul’s experience of the risen Christ as a "conversion," and in doing so, constructed the concept of "Christian conversion" as a radical philosophical turn. In his undisputed letters, we find that Paul understood his encounter with the risen Christ as a "calling" within the Hebrew prophetic tradition. On the contrary, Luke stresses the radical rupture between Paul's before and after the revelatory experience by making it an immediate change and adding details such as Saul’s activities as a persecutor and his name change. In recasting Paul's experience as a "conversion," Luke utilized two main literary elements to characterize the nature of his experience as a radical cognitive shift. One is the metaphor of transition from darkness to light, which is applied to Paul in Acts 9 and 22 as he becomes blind after seeing the light and to the gentile conversion in Acts 26 that they should "turn from darkness to light (v.18)." Another is the notion of repentance that Luke applies directly to Paul in Acts 9 and 22 in his baptism and to the gentile conversion in Acts 26. These two motifs are what we often find in the Greek philosophical and Hellenistic Jewish texts discussing one's radical cognitive shift to a new philosophical system or the Jewish monotheism upon the revelation of a true teaching. By applying these motifs to the "conversion" of Saul, Luke identifies Paul's experience and "Christian conversion" as a radical philosophical turn from ignorance to a correct understanding of the messiah and the God. With the Lukan literary and conceptual efforts in Acts, Paul now becomes a paradigmatic "Christian convert" and a philosopher in Acts whose radical cognitive shift can be followed by Jews and gentiles in the Roman world.Item Developmental assessment of motor & cognitive skills(2014-12) Frost, Charles Scott; Jensen, Jody L.ABSTRACT: The C3 Logix system (i-comet technologies, 2013) is a portable evaluation tool on the iPad Air tablet computer that is currently being used as for screening concussion severity in an athlete population. The application employs a neurocognitive exam that is comprised of a battery of tests to evaluate both cognition and motor skills: reaction time, memory, processing time, postural stability, vision, and the vestibulo-ocular reflex. With the exclusion of the concussion screening questionnaire, the C3 Logix program may be an effective, portable tool to study developmental changes in executive function. The Developmental Motor and Cognition Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin has begun a project to 1) create a functional test battery from the C3 Logix system that is portable, simple and reliable in measuring motor development in children. The extant literature contains reports on individual measures of executive function as they change with age. However, the C3 Logix system provides a battery of data on the same individual that may allow for coupling of the executive function data with an assessment of motor skills into a full data collection of multiple measures. The assessment protocol developed in this report will also include functional performance measures to complement the executive function data of the C3 Logix system. The inclusion of functional assessments will yield a tool that is capable of screening for physical readiness to engage in activities that demand greater movement competence. For example, activities of competitive sport require both decision making (executive function) and physical ability for safe and satisfactory execution. The objective of this report is to support this project in three ways: 1) Create an annotated bibliography for background understanding of the tests in the C3 Logix System. 2) Consult with the literature to devise procedures for administration of three function performance tests that challenge the individual’s performance capability beyond basic fundamental motor competency, and 3) complement the description of the selected functional performance tests with video demonstrations.Item Evaluating the cognitive process of students participating in a service-learning experience while enrolled in a collegiate social problems class(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Pracht, Dale WayneThis study evaluated the cognitive process of students participating in a 20-hour service-learning experience while enrolled in a collegiate Social Problems course. This study examined student attitudes about social problems and their ability to affect change and examined relationships between demographic variables, student attitudes, and their stages of cognitive process. The population was all students who were enrolled in a Social Problems course during the Fall 2005 semester. Of the 77 students enrolled in the course, 48 completed both the pre-test and post-test questionnaire and 64 completed the service-learning journals and papers. The researcher used a mixed method research design. The quantitative study used a pre-test and post-test questionnaire to evaluate changes in attitude towards service learning. The qualitative study evaluated journal entries and papers using the Constant Comparative Method of Qualitative Analysis to assess stages of cognitive development. The major findings of the study were: 1) Students progressed through six stages of cognitive development - Shock, Guilt, Normalization, Cultural Sensitivity, Engagement, and Empowerment, however no student experienced all stages; 2) Three new stages were discovered - Guilt, Cultural Sensitivity, and Empowerment; 3) All students who had not volunteered before experienced Shock; 4) Shock occurred for some students who had previously volunteered; 5) Students experiencing Guilt were primarily White and from families with parental incomes greater than $75,000 a year; 7) A majority of students experienced Empowerment; 8) Most students volunteering more than 10 hours a month experienced Empowerment; 9) All People of Color experienced Empowerment; 10) Results from pre-test and post-test questionnaires did not indicate a significant change in attitudes towards service-learning as a result of participating in the service-learning experience. Educators should: 1) Be prepared to assist students as they experience multiple stages of the cognitive process during their service-learning experiences; 2) Give instruction in reflective journaling, provide students with guided journal questions, and monitor stages of the cognitive process; 3) Incorporate service-learning into curriculum to enhance cognitive learning and empower students; 4) Replicate with a more diverse population and larger sample size.Item Multimedia learning: Cognitive individual differences and display design techniques predict transfer learning with multimedia learning modules(2005-05) Stalcup, Katherine A. A.; Maki, William S.; DeLucia, Patricia R.; Reich, Darcy A.; Bleckley, M. Kathryn; Durso, Francis T.Psychologists and engineers continue to debate the efficacy of technology interfaces and merit of information display approaches. In the wake of the information explosion and rapidly progressing technology, Mayer (2001) formulated a theory that focused on human cognition, rather than technology capacity and features. Mayer and colleagues have developed a simple model, the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, suggesting that certain combinations of multimedia optimize learning, in terms of retention and transfer. The present dissertation suggests that the conclusions are premature and a much more complex set of individual differences and display design principles must be evaluated. Further, the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning is vulnerable in terms of its simplistic view of information processing and working memory. For instance, when previous research tested individual difference attributes, such as spatial ability and prior knowledge, performance was evaluated only in the animation and narration condition, representing one of his three initial experimental conditions (Mayer, 2001). The present research offers a rigorous comparative analysis of the multimedia conditions. In addition, variables such as working memory, multimedia comprehension skill, and fluid intelligence are measured and isolated, so that the multimedia combination effect on transfer learning can be evaluated beyond these cognitive abilities. By measuring the effect of cognitive individual differences and display design manipulations on transfer test performance, the current research offers a broader approach to testing the impact of multimedia combinations on transfer test performance. The present research concludes that while cognitive primitives contribute to learning transfer in a multimedia lesson, display design manipulations involving text location and the absence of motion remove the effects reported in previous research. Ultimately, there is no “magic bullet” combination of multimedia (animation and narration). Rather, key design principles coupled with the influence of cognitive individual differences must be investigated further before prescriptive guidelines for educational multimedia can be proffered. Likewise, the predictive validity of cognitive primitives, such as fluid intelligence, may redirect interest back to fundamental individual differences, as indicators of learning differences with or without the effect of technology.Item Teacher immediacy and learning mathematics: Effects on students with divergent mathematical aptitudes(2009-05) McCluskey, Ryan Q.; Dwyer, Jerry F.; Stevens, TaraThe primary goal of this study was to determine relationships between teacher nonverbal immediacy and student learning in mathematics courses, with an emphasis on mathematical aptitude as a moderating variable. It was found that nonverbal immediacy was positively correlated with students' affective and perceived cognitive learning; furthermore, the correlations were strongest for students with medium mathematical aptitude. Teacher nonverbal immediacy was also positively correlated with student affect for the instructor; however, the differences in the strength of the correlations for each aptitude group were minimal.Item Using cognitive and metacognitive prompts and public disclosure to foster changes in task value, motivation to self-regulate, and achievement(2011-12) Stano, Nancy Kathleen; Borich, Gary; Weinstein, Claire EllenFacilitating a classroom culture of openness has been positively linked with student outcomes, including task value, motivation, and achievement. The proposed study investigates the impact manipulating classroom culture by disclosing student responses to cognitive and metacognitive prompts during lectures has on the above student outcomes. Using a series of two-way ANOVAs, students in five sections (control, prompting only, paper and pencil response, anonymous CRS responses and public disclosure of CRS responses) will be compared on each of these dependent variables at pre-test and at post-test to examine the effect of the public disclosure condition within a classroom. Participants in the public disclosure condition are expected to have the largest increase in task value, motivation to self-regulate, and to have the highest academic achievement scores. A natural outgrowth of the proposed study is the development of an intervention focused on increasing student task value and motivation within classrooms. Therefore, this report also includes an evaluation plan, outlining the essential program components, a logic model for this program, and the proposed method in which the reported outcomes will be measured.