Physics educators may or may not be interested in a recent essay "Can
Distance and Classroom Learning Be Increased?" [Hake (2008)] in the
"International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning"
<http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/> that was prompted by
discussion list responses to the provocatively titled post "Distance
Learning: Is There Any?" [Hake (2007)]. The abstract reads:
******************************************
Professor Scott Overmyer of Baker College, in a discussion list post,
raised four points bearing on a question of interest to those
involved in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): "Can
Distance and Classroom Learning Be Increased?" My answer: "YES" -
judging from the fact that pre/post testing in courses in Newtonian
mechanics has demonstrated an approximately two-standard-deviation
superiority in average normalized gains <g> for classroom
"interactive engagement" methods over "traditional" classroom
methods. Similarly, pre/post testing might demonstrate a substantive
superiority over traditional classroom teaching for both classroom
and distance education that recognize recent advances in cognitive
science and emphasize learning rather than teaching. But such
demonstration probably cannot be achieved if scholars of teaching and
learning continue to rely on low-resolution gauges of students'
learning.
******************************************
REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2007. "Distance Learning: Is There Any?" online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0708&L=pod&O=D&P=10532>.
Post of 9-12 August to AERA-A, AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-J, AERA-L,
ASSESS, Biopi-L, Biolab (rejected), Chemed-L, EdResMeth, EvalTalk,
IFETS, ITForum (rejected), Math-Teach, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, POD, RUME,
STLHE-L, TIPS, and WBTOLL-L.
Hake, R.R. 2008. "Can Distance and Classroom Learning Be Increased?"
IJ-SoTL 2(1): January; online at
<http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v2n1/essays_about_sotl/hake/index.htm>."
The "International Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning"
(IJ-SoTL) <http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/> is an open,
peer-reviewed, international electronic journal containing articles,
essays, and discussions about the scholarship of teaching and
learning (SoTL) and its applications in higher/tertiary education
today.