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This paper presents a goal-based scenario approach to teaching introductory database concepts to undergraduates using two different scaffolding methods. One method, termed "worked-out examples," attempts to reduce extraneous cognitive load by requiring students to complete increasingly complex missing parts of worked out examples. The other method, termed "progressive practice," attempts to reduce intrinsic cognitive load by requiring students to complete increasingly more complex scenarios, beginning with a simple example and culminating in an alternative form of the target scenario. Classroom results with these methods have been positive, and are discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

Vocational education by its nature has a need for delivery methods that place a strong focus on the relationship between school and work and seeks to deliver instruction in a manner that bridges the two as seamlessly as possible. This paper presents a curriculum and constructivist-based instructional delivery approach, designed to emphasize a strong school-work relationship, for a four-year degree in Web Development developed for a vocational training institution. The instructional outcomes for such a program are distinctly different from traditional software engineering and other computer-specific programs and require a different approach to curriculum development and instructional delivery, which focuses on the unique needs of vocational students. At the same time, such programs should strive to emulate the best practices, educational values, and, to the extent possible, the curriculum of traditional programs. The educational program presented here employs a spiral sequencing of course material, presented using the constructivist approach of goal-based scenarios, in order to emphasize the applied, skill-building nature of vocational instruction. Many authors have discussed the benefits of a constructivist approach to vocational education (i.e. Brown, 1998), while others have called for its increased use in computer science related education (i.e. Connolly & Begg, 2006). The current program adheres as closely as possible, given its vocational mission, to the latest recommendations and guidelines concerning four-year degree programs in software engineering from the ACM/IEEE Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

The children's gambling task (CGT [Kerr, A., & Zelazo, P. D. (2004). Development of "Hot" executive function: The children's gambling task. "Brain and Cognition," 55, 148-157]) involves integrating information about losses and gains to maximize winnings when selecting cards from two decks. Both cognitive complexity and control (CCC) theory and relational complexity (RC) theory attribute younger children's difficulty to task complexity. In CCC theory, identification of the advantageous deck requires formulation of a higher-order rule so that gains and losses can be considered in contradistinction. According to RC theory, it entails processing the ternary relation linking three variables (deck, magnitude of gain, magnitude of loss). We designed two less complex binary-relational versions in which either loss or gain varied across decks, with the other held constant. The three closely matched versions were administered to 3-5-year-olds. Consistent with complexity explanations, children in all age groups selected cards from the advantageous deck in the binary-relational versions, but only 5-year-olds did so on the ternary-relational CGT.