Education Commons^™

Measuring Community Flood Awareness And Preparedness In The Maitland Area And Lower Hunter Valley, Nsw, Neil Dufty, Amanda Hyde, David Webber, Ingrid Berthold, Elise Armstrong

Neil Dufty

The Hunter River of NSW has a long history of flooding. February 2015 was the sixtieth anniversary of the 1955 Hunter Region flood, the largest flood in the region’s recorded history. In conjunction with the commemoration, the NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES) and the Hunter Local Land Services commissioned consultants Molino Stewart to extend previous social research in Maitland by surveying participants about the status of their own flood awareness and preparedness. The 2015 study and previous social research found that in Maitland flood-prone communities there appears to be a relatively low perception of personal flood risk. On the …

Best Practices For Student Learning Assessment In Smaller-Sized Undergraduate Mass Communication Programs, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

Assessment of student learning in higher education is no longer optional, because the public increasingly expects universities to spend less and produce more. Generating detailed, meaningful assessment is challenging, particularly for smaller-sized mass communication programs with limited resources. Mass communication-focused assessment literature is scarce. This best practices essay reviews other research to illustrate proven examples of ways to assess simply and effectively in undergraduate mass communication programs to achieve maximum faculty support and curriculum improvement.

Video Creation Tools For Language Learning: Lessons Learned, Vickie Marre Karasic, Anu Vedantham

Vickie M Karasic

Video creation tools—from Skype to PowerPoint to iMovie—have become increasingly popular conduits for foreign language teaching and learning. In flipped-classroom and blended-learning models, video enables faculty to move routine language concepts (i.e., grammar and vocabulary) outside the classroom, leaving more in-class time for live engagement with teacher and classmates. This chapter discusses lessons learned and new data collected at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries’ Weigle Information Commons on video’s effectiveness in various language learning contexts. Data collected includes reflections on several years of course observations, interviews with language faculty members, and a campus-wide survey to gauge student perspectives on video’s …

Helping Junior Faculty Achieve Success In Promotion And Tenure, Jon A. Hess

Jonathan A. Hess

Part and parcel of the chair’s job is to prepare junior faculty to achieve success. In academic departments that typically means achieving tenure and promotion to associate professor. In my experience, the success of a junior faculty member has as much to do with what the department and chair do as with the faculty member’s native ability. Junior faculty need to learn what activities are rewarded and what are not, what strategies they may use during their probationary period to develop the evidence needed for a successful tenure case, and how to present their materials in their file—what evidence is …

Building Support For The Introductory Oral Communication Course: Strategies For Widespread And Enduring Support On Campus, Jon A. Hess

Jonathan A. Hess

A strong introductory course is important for many communication departments, for the discipline, and for meeting our obligation to society. This paper utilizes the example of a recent curricular reform that threatened to eliminate a required oral communication course to reflect on strategies departments can use to build widespread and lasting support for the course. The paper reviews the events that led to the challenge and details the department’s response, which offers lessons that may be useful for other institutions. Four lessons include: * Tailoring the introductory course to the institution’s needs and mission * Involvement in university work * …

Making Oral Communication A Successful Part Of The Common Core, Jon A. Hess

Jonathan A. Hess

Adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represents the first time that oral communication has been included in the curriculum requirements for K–12 education in many states. If done well, this change will provide important benefits to students. However, effective implementation will require collaboration among policymakers, educators, and experts in oral communication. As educators work to strengthen primary and secondary education in the United States, many agree that schools need educational standards that are grounded in today’s needs and shared across states. The CCSS have emerged as a potential solution, and the majority of states have adopted these standards. …

Mixed Media Visualization Effect On Student Perceptions And Learning Outcomes, James Birt

James Birt

This paper presents a methodology and pilot study rationale to examine the effect of mixed media visualization on learning outcomes in three dimensional (3D) modeling. The context for this study is a university first year undergraduate interactive media and design course. Meta analytic studies in the use of visualizations show positive improvements in learning outcomes among low and high spatial learners. But often these studies are focused on single media and virtual representations.Many multimedia learning studies do not take into consideration important factors that could influence the appropriate selection of media. This exploratory study aims to address this through the …

Effect Of Mixed Media Visualization On Learner Perceptions And Outcomes, James Birt, Dirk Hovorka

James Birt

This pilot study examines the effect of mixed media visualization on learner perceptions and outcomes in 3D spatial modeling. The context for this study is a university first year undergraduate interactive media and design course. Meta analytic studies in the use of visualizations show positive improvements in learning outcomes among low and high spatial learners. But often these studies are focused on single media and virtual representations. Many multimedia learning studies do not take into consideration important factors that could influence the appropriateselection of media. This exploratory study aims to address this from a learner’s perspective through the evaluation of …

Student Learning In High-Impact Practice Mass Communication Courses, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

College and university high-impact practice (HIP) courses involve students in intensive values-focused learning inside and/ or outside of the traditional classroom environment. Much research has documented that participation in HIPs increases student retention and graduation rates. At the same time, the nontraditional learning structure of an HIP course can complicate a thorough assessment of student learning. Anecdotal evidence reflects strong involvement in HIPs by mass communication programs, although communication efforts in this regard are not as well documented in the literature as efforts in other fields. This essay briefly defines HIPs and presents an appropriate theory that would guide HIPs …

J. Wesley Baker, J. Wesley Baker

J. Wesley Baker, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Bringing Organizations Back In: Perspectives On Service-Learning, Community Partnership And Democratic Thinking In A Voter Engagement Project, Jennifer Jackman, Tiffany Gayle Chenault, Joy Winkler

Tiffany Chenault

International Computer And Information Literacy Study: Assessment Framework, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley

Julian Fraillon

The purpose of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013 (ICILS 2013) is to investigate, in a range of countries, the ways in which young people are developing computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. To achieve this aim, the study will assess student achievement through an authentic computer-based assessment of CIL administered to students in their eighth year of schooling. It will also collect and report on analyses of data about student use of computers and other digital devices as well as students’ attitudes toward the use of computers and …

International Computer And Information Literacy Study: Assessment Framework, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley

Julian Fraillon

The purpose of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013 (ICILS 2013) is to investigate, in a range of countries, the ways in which young people are developing computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. To achieve this aim, the study will assess student achievement through an authentic computer-based assessment of CIL administered to students in their eighth year of schooling. It will also collect and report on analyses of data about student use of computers and other digital devices as well as students’ attitudes toward the use of computers and …

International Computer And Information Literacy Study: Assessment Framework, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

The purpose of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013 (ICILS 2013) is to investigate, in a range of countries, the ways in which young people are developing computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. To achieve this aim, the study will assess student achievement through an authentic computer-based assessment of CIL administered to students in their eighth year of schooling. It will also collect and report on analyses of data about student use of computers and other digital devices as well as students’ attitudes toward the use of computers and …

International Computer And Information Literacy Study: Assessment Framework, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, John Ainley

Dr Wolfram Schulz

The purpose of the International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2013 (ICILS 2013) is to investigate, in a range of countries, the ways in which young people are developing computer and information literacy (CIL) to support their capacity to participate in the digital age. To achieve this aim, the study will assess student achievement through an authentic computer-based assessment of CIL administered to students in their eighth year of schooling. It will also collect and report on analyses of data about student use of computers and other digital devices as well as students’ attitudes toward the use of computers and …

Free-Choice Family Learning: A Literature Review For The National Park Service, Colleen M. Bourque, Ana K. Houseal, Kate M. Welsh, Matthew Wenger

Ana K Houseal

Learning in national parks often occurs in the context of family groups. Understanding the motivations, needs, and outcomes of family groups is critical to engaging a substantial portion of the National Park Service (NPS) audience. This literature review was prompted by an NPS initiative to improve lifelong learning. It explores research about the nature of family learning, factors that influence it, and recommendations for enhancing it. This review uses Falk and Dierking’s (2000) Contextual Model of Learning as a framework for understanding personal, sociocultural, and physical factors that contribute to family learning outcomes in free-choice settings. Recommendations for improving family …

A Writing Center Collaboration With A Hybrid Introduction To Public Speaking Course, Michael G. Strawser

Michael G Strawser

No abstract provided.

Design And Delivery: Embracing Instructor Responsibility In The Online Communication Course, Michael G. Strawser, Marjorie M. Buckner, Renee Kaufmann

Michael G Strawser

This manuscript describes the important of providing communication course instructors with training focused on cultivating instructor responsibility. Instructor ownership of creating and delivering pedagogically sound courses in an online learning environment is an important but often overlooked concept in online course design. Ultimately, courses should incorporate sound assessment and instructors should be committed to continued refinement o f online learning pedagogy. This essay offers relevant principles for assessing online communication courses and creating assignments that encourage experiential learning and engage the 21s' century learner.

Cost-Oriented Agile Innovation For Mechatronics Management In Less Developed Regions, Edmond Hajrizi, Muzafer Shala, Valmir Hoxha, Larry Stapleton

Edmond Hajrizi

The Social Scholar: Re-Interpreting Scholarship In The Shifting University, Christine Greenhow, Ben Gleason

Benjamin Gleason

How We Teach Core News Values In The Digital Age, Debbie Owens

Debbie Owens

Social Media, Higher Education, And Community Colleges: A Research Synthesis And Implications For The Study Of Two-Year Institutions, Charles H.F. Davis Iii, Regina Deil-Amen, Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, Manuel González Canché

Charles H.F. Davis III

The boundaries between on-line and “real-world” communities are rapidly deteriorating, particularly for the generation of young people whose lives are pervaded by social media. For this generation, social media exchanges are a primary means of communication, social engagement, information seek- ing, and possibly, a central component of their identity and community-building. Given these realities, postsecondary educators should begin to seriously explore the potential to intentionally and strategi- cally harness the power of these revolutionary transformations in technology use to better serve the needs of students to enhance their success. Therefore, this review of books, academic journals, higher education news, research …