Researchers at the University of Arizona, led by Teresa Cummins, conducted an exploratory study on the online learning modules, designed to supplement hands-on classes taught by local experts and supported by an overview text, to help users increase their understanding of key concepts in the Arizona Master Watershed Steward program. They also sought to determine whether program participants would use the non-compulsory modules.
Their evaluation revealed that module users increased their understanding of key watershed concepts; participants in the evaluation demonstrated a 30 percent increase in content knowledge following module use. Additionally, 70 percent of participants retained this knowledge through a two-month follow-up test.
A follow-up survey showed that approximately half of the participants returned to the online modules on their own; several of these users returned several times and spent multiple hours per session. Comments from the follow-up survey suggested that the users accessed the site either as they had the time or as they needed the information.
Online usage statistics indicated participants continued to visit the site for many months following the modules’ release and advertisement. Though many visits were very brief (a single pageview; only a couple of seconds), visitors with many returns to the site and/or long visits appeared to be working through the modules.
One participant stated, "My brain can only hold so much information; the modules keep information on-hand." Other participants commented that the modules were "more interesting and interactive" than the text material, and a "very effective tool" and "a great resource to the Master Watershed Steward community."
The Arizona Master Watershed Steward program, sponsored by University of Arizona, prepares adults to serve as volunteers in the conservation of water resources and the protection, restoration, and monitoring of their watersheds. The modules were intended to reinforce concepts covered in classes and further engage participants in the learning process.
One key finding was that the modules were not clearly preferred by users over in-person instruction. One participant stated, "For me, they are just another avenue for learning, a supplement or additional reference. I prefer in person and real hands-on learning." Other participants similarly expressed their desire for hands-on and face-to-face interaction. Several participants noted that the usefulness of in-person lectures—was a function of the presenter.
Overall, the exploratory evaluation indicated that the modules were a welcome supplement to the course and were effective in reinforcing key concepts. Participants retained knowledge for several weeks, although since subjects were self-selected, they may have been self-motivated to pay attention and master the online module materials.
"I am constantly searching for new ways to educate our program’s diverse audiences and reinforce watershed science concepts, " says Candice Rupprecht, state coordinator for the Master Watershed Steward program. "I am excited to know that online learning modules can enhance our program by offering additional independent learning opportunities for our volunteers.
A. learners might make no progress without the online modules
B. learners are conscientious in memorizing the content knowledge
C. learners gained improvement in their study by using the online modules
D. 70 percent of program participants took the follow-up test
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Human relations have commanded people’s attention from early times. The ways of people have been recorded in innumerable myths, folktales, novels, poems, plays, and popular or philosophical essays. Although the full significance of a human relationship may not be directly evident, the complexity of feelings and actions that can be understood at a glance is surprisingly great. For this reason psychology holds a unique position among the sciences.
" Intuitive " knowledge may be remarkably penetrating and can significantly help us understand human behavior whereas in the physical sciences such common sense knowledge is relatively primitive. If we erased all knowledge of scientific physics from our world, not only would we not have cars and television sets, we might even find that the ordinary person was unable to cope with the fundamental mechanical problems of pulleys and levers. On the other hand, if we removed all knowledge of scientific psychology from our world, problems in interpersonal relations might easily be coped with and solved much as before. We would still " know " how to avoid doing something asked of us and how to get someone to agree with us: we would still " know " when someone was angry and when someone was pleased. One could even offer sensible explanations for the " whys " of much of the self’s behavior and feelings. In other words, the ordinary person has a great and profound understanding of the self and of other people which though unformulated or only vaguely conceived, enables one to interact with others in more or less adaptive ways. Kohler in referring to the lack of great discoveries in psychology as compared with physics, accounts for this by saying that " people were acquainted with practically all territories of mental life a long time before the founding of scientific psychology. "
Paradoxically, with all this natural, intuitive, commonsense capacity to grasp human relations, the science of human relations had been one of the last to develop. Different explanations of this paradox have been suggested. One is that science would destroy the vain and pleasing illusions people have about themselves; but we might ask why people have always loved to read pessimistic, debunking writings, from Ecclesiastes to Freud. It has also been proposed that just because we know so much about people intuitively, there has been less incentive for studying them scientifically: why should one develop a theory, carry out systematic observations, or make predictions about the obvious In any case, the field of human relations, with its vast literary documentation but meager scientific treatment, is in great contrast to the field of physics in which there are relatively few nonscientific books.
A. find a satisfactory explanation to the human relations in their books
B. show the growing tendency to ignore scientific explanations of human relations
C. challenge the first analysis on the underdevelopment of the science of human relations
D. prove the unwillingness of people to abandon the pleasing fantasy in their mind
几乎一夜之间,尤其是对非专业的使用者来说,谷歌使网络变得非常有用;现在,他们当中许多人把谷歌看成是互联网的门户。
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