Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences

PDF

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Theses/Dissertations

Exploratory learning

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Understanding The Evolution Of Enforcement Systems In Resource Dilemmas, Devin M. Flener May 2023

Understanding The Evolution Of Enforcement Systems In Resource Dilemmas, Devin M. Flener

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

The effective management of resources on Earth is a pressing global social dilemma. An alternative solution to the traditional managing methods of these common pool resources is communal self-management facilitated through principles of restorative justice and developed through exploratory learning. We examined how communication, restorative justice techniques, and opportunity for exploratory learning impacted groups’ ability to develop a strong conceptual understanding of enforcement as well as an enforcement system in order to maintain an effective conservation strategy. Participants (N=288) were randomly assigned to 72 four-person groups in six separate conditions. Each group played nine rounds of a computer-simulated foraging task …


Does Using Clicker Questions Before Instruction Improve Students' Conceptual Understanding., Edward "Walker" Goshorn May 2023

Does Using Clicker Questions Before Instruction Improve Students' Conceptual Understanding., Edward "Walker" Goshorn

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Active learning can be incorporated into STEM classrooms in multiple ways. With exploratory learning, students explore a novel activity before learning the concepts or procedures. With personal response devices (e.g., clickers), students respond to real-time questions posed during lecture. The current studies examined whether, and how, clicker questions can be used as exploratory learning, to improve students’ conceptual understanding and engagement over traditional instruction. Biology professors integrated clicker questions into a lecture, and either closed the clicker poll prior to (Restricted Clicker Experiment, N = 164) or after (Extended Clicker Experiment, N = 188) giving feedback to the class. Undergraduate …


Aha! Examining Insight In Exploratory Learning Versus Traditional Instruction., Olivia Kaiser Dec 2022

Aha! Examining Insight In Exploratory Learning Versus Traditional Instruction., Olivia Kaiser

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

In undergraduate classrooms, students are typically first taught the concepts and procedures for solving problems, then practice. With exploratory learning methods, students explore novel problems and generate original solutions before receiving instruction, which benefits conceptual understanding and future learning. The current study examined whether students who explore before instruction experience greater insight moments, and whether insight leads to better learning. Prior research demonstrates that individuals remember problem solutions better if they experience a sudden moment of solution clarity (Aha! Experience). Participants (N = 83) were randomly assigned to instruct-first or explore-first conditions and taught three types of magic tricks …