Education Commons^™

Research Needs For Technology Education: A U.S. Perspective, Gene Martin, John Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This study was conducted for the purpose of identifying research needs for technology education by generating a rank-ordered list of research topics that the profession's members might wish to explore individually or in collaboration with colleagues and students. The researchers' goal was to provide a concise list of topics that could be used by the profession to better position itself within the greater educational community, not to provide a call for action. The anticipated beneficiaries of this study are researchers who identify themselves as furthering the development of the technology education school subject. Professionals may use the list found in …

Enhancing Classroom Learning Experience By Providing Structures To Microblogging-Based Activities, Tian Luo, Fei Gao

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Microblogging tools such as Twitter have been frequently adopted in educational settings to facilitate learning in recent years. Although the original purpose of microblogging tools is to connect with others in a wide network and instantly share what is happening to them with the rest of the world, educators have vigorously attempted to repurpose the utilization of the tool and integrate it into various educational settings to promote student learning.

The purpose of this study is to examine student learning experience under a set of structured microblogging-based activities and to identify the affordances and constraints of the technology. Students participated …

"You Got To Be Follow-Worthy Or I Will Unfollow You!” Students’ Voices On Twitter Integration Into Classroom Settings, Tian Luo, Teresa Franklin

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This research centers on a case study where Twitter was integrated in an undergraduate level course. Under the instructor’s specific guidance and ongoing feedback, students actively participate in the course both in and outside of classroom. They perceived the incorporation of Twitter into classroom to be highly engaging and contributive to their learning. During the 10 week course, students’ initiatives in developing self-defined codes of conduct for tweeting, creating user groups, and assisting one another to become proficient in using Twitter, demonstrated a high degree of autonomous social learning in both formal and informal learning environments. Not only were they …

Haptics-Augmented Training Software For Undergraduate Engineering Mechanics, Ernur Karadogan, Robert L. Williams, David R. Moore, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This paper presents the development efforts for a set of software activities and tutorials to augment teaching and learning in standard required undergraduate engineering mechanics courses. Using these software activities, students can change parameters, predict answers, compare outcomes, interact with animations, and feel the results. The overall system aims to increase teaching and learning effectiveness by rendering the concepts compelling, fun, and engaging. The problem with current examples and homework problems is that they are flat, static, boring, and non-engaging, which may lead to student attrition and a less than full grasp of fundamental principles. We implement integration of haptics …

Seeing The Clouds: Teacher Librarian As Broker In Collaborative Planning With Teachers, Sue Kimmel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Teachers engaged in sustained collaboration with a teacher librarian were interviewed about the meaning of that collaboration. The findings suggest that the teachers recognized important contributions of the librarian to instructional planning and classroom instruction including knowledge, legwork, and support. In particular, they understood her role as a broker both to resources and to ideas for using those resources in instruction. While these resources were essential, they were not sufficient; they required a knowledgeable peer who also understood their application to the curriculum and what students were expected to learn. They required a librarian.

Analysis Of Engineering Content With Technology Education Programs, Todd D. Fantz, Petros J. Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Focus On Technological Literacy In Higher Education, John M. Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph] Technological literacy continues to be an important construct for learners in all societies.Quite often it is a knowledge area not required of university students unless they are engineering or technology majors. If the mission of design and technology education is literacy for all, this same mission should apply at the university level. An analysis was made of 256 students to determine their attitudes of knowledge gained from a general studies technological literacy course. The course was offered at the 100 level and was designed to expose students to various technologies so they would have a better foundation for …

The Effects Of Tinkerability On Novice Programming Skill Acquisition, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This paper reports on an exploratory study which used a graphical programming environment, Scratch, to facilitate the comprehension of a scripting programming language, ActionScript. Online survey questionnaires were distributed to 34 enrolled students, in a graduate level programming course with a 70% response rate. Findings indicated that Scratch contributed to the understanding of basic programming concepts such as event handling, sequential, and conditional statement but it was less helpful in assisting students’ understanding of more abstract concepts such as variables. This study also suggests that students’ learning style preference and proficiency with programming also make a difference in their perception …

An Exploratory Study Of Students’ Perception Of Their Online Learning Experiences In A Midwestern University, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Online learning programs and online courses have seen a rapid rise in recent years; however, how to improve those online programs to enhance student learning often remains an issue. This study seeks to gain insights into learners’ perceptions of online learning and investigate problems that take place in online learning. 33 students enrolled in online courses offered by a Midwestern university participated in this study. A survey instrument of ten questions targeted three major domains, including course design, instructor facilitation, and social presence. Most students reported positively with course design and instructor facilitation. Interestingly, students demonstrated a relatively ambiguous and …

The Visport Project: Visualization Of Port Logistics, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Ginger S. Watson

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article focuses on the introduction of Visualization in Port Logistics (VisPort) web-based tool project for the visualization of port careers and logistics in the U.S. It outlines the educational objectives of the project including the virtual reality experience associated with port operation, the multimedia environment for the learning of students, and the simulation of port logistics. It mentions that the scientific and technical visualization curriculum offered to students enhances the skills related to scientific and mathematical concepts as well as the experience on graphic techniques.

Identification Of Quality Visual-Based Learning Material For Technology Education, Petros Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph]

In learning environments, the visual elements of courses, lessons, and presentations play an important role in learning. Well-conceived and rendered visuals help any audience understand and retain information (Wileman, 1993).

Determining Return On Investment For Professional Development In Public Education: A Model, Michael F. Kosloski, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Return on investment with respect to employee training is a growing phenomenon in business and industry, as understanding the impact of training on an organization is often not enough. Public educational systems also spend a significant amount of resources on professional development. However, because education is a non-revenue generating industry, rarely do we analyze return on investment in the educational sector. This article examines return on investment for public school teacher training and professional development. While this model was developed for a specific school system and software, the model outlined below may be used by administrators in many non-profit or …

A New Generation Of Goals For Technology Education, John M. Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

[Introduction, First paragraph]

To develop meaningful instructional programs for technology education, goals need to be in place to direct the outcomes of curriculum development and teaching. Goals are program terminal outcomes that focus curriculum writers or teachers who structure content for learners. Goals provide direction so content can be delivered for long-term impact to students who study the subject. They go beyond everyday teaching objectives; they are directed at long-term learning and programmatic outcomes.

Research Supporting Technology Education- Task Force 2.4 Final Report, Philip A. Reed, Jim Carlson, Fred Figliano, Hal Harrison, Hyuksoo Kwon, Johnny Moye, Phyllis Opare, John M. Ritz, Roger Skophammer, John Wells

STEMPS Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) ITEA's Board of Directors convened a task force in 2006 to identify research on technology teaching and learning. The resulting database is designed to help teachers, supervisors, and anyone that needs to show research support for technology education. The research was compiled by the following task force members:

Creation Of A Faculty Task List For Teaching In A Televised Distance Learning Environment, John E. Turner, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to develop a task list from which a self-check readiness evaluation tool could be developed to assist faculty who were unfamiliar with televised distance instruction. The study's results should provide guidance to new faculty in identifying both self-directed and assisted staff development activities in preparation for implementing distance education. A survey of experienced distance learning faculty at a major eastern university was utilized for data collection. Initial survey items came from distance learning literature, as well as interviews and feedback from six faculty members experienced in televised instruction. At the request of the researchers, …