Education Commons^™

Makification: Towards A Framework For Leveraging The Maker Movement In Formal Education, Jonathan Cohen, W. Monty Jones, Shaunna Smith, Brendan Calandra

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Maker culture is part of a burgeoning movement in which individuals leverage modern digital technologies to produce and share physical artifacts with a broader community. Certain components of the maker movement, if properly leveraged, hold promise for transforming formal education in a variety of contexts. The authors here work towards a framework for leveraging these components (i.e., creation, iteration, sharing, and autonomy) in support of learning in a variety of formal educational contexts and disciplines.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Using Maker Activities In Formal K-12 Educational Settings: A Multi-Institutional Study, W. Monty Jones, Shaunna Smith, Jonathan Cohen

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This qualitative study examined preservice teachers' beliefs about using maker activities in formal educational settings. Eighty-two preservice and early-career teachers at three different universities in the United States took part in one-time workshops designed to introduce them to various maker tools and activities applicable to K–12 educational environments. Data were collected from 16 focus groups conducted during the workshops in spring 2016. Researchers analyzed the data using the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1991) to better understand the teachers' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control related to making activities, with the ultimate goal of using this information to …

Maker Principles And Technologies In Teacher Education: A National Survey, Jonathan Cohen

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Broadly speaking, the maker movement is characterized by people who engage in the construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of physical artifacts, and who share both the process of making and their physical products with the broader community of makers. There is growing sentiment that elements of the maker movement have the capability of positively impacting student outcomes in K-12 environments. This study reports on the extent to which teacher education programs in the United States have begun to integrate maker principles and technologies, and explores the factors which contribute to their decisions to include or not to include maker elements into …

Using The Interaction Geography Slicer To Visualize New York City Stop & Frisk, Benjamin R. Shapiro, Francis A. Pearman

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper adapts and uses a dynamic visualization environment called the Interaction Geography Slicer (IGS) developed by the 1st author to visualize data about New York City’s Stop & Frisk Program. Findings and discussion focus on how this environment provides new ways to view, interact with and query large-scale data sets over space and through time to support analyses of and public discussion about New York City’s Stop & Frisk Program.

Who Signs Up And Who Stays? Attraction And Retention In An After-School Computer-Supported Program, Maggie Renken, Jonathan Cohen, Tugba Ayer, Brendan Calandra, Aeslya Fuqua

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

We report findings from a study assessing computer-supported curriculum designed to engage low SES, underrepresented minority middle school students enrolled in an afterschool program with collaborative tasks that build 21st century skills, particularly related to digital literacy. Early in the program, we collected survey data from participants and from a sample of after-school attendees who decided not to enroll in our program concerning their goals, feelings toward STEM, and experiences with and access to technology. Over the first 7 weeks of programming, we also have collected attendance records. We report findings relating students’ individual factors at program onset to their …

Training Learners To Self-Explain: Designing Instructions And Examples To Improve Problem Solving, Lauren Margulieux, Briana B. Morrison, Mark Guzdial, Richard Catrambone

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this experiment, we integrated two learning methods – subgoal learning and constructive learning – to explore their interactions and effects on solving computer programming problems. We taught learners to solve problems using worked example and practice problem pairs with one of three kinds of instructional design that either did not highlight the subgoals, described the subgoals, or prompted participants to describe the subgoals for themselves. In addition, we varied the distance of transfer between the worked example and practice problem pairs. We found that instructions that highlighted subgoals improved performance on later problem solving tasks. The groups that performed …

Employing Subgoals In Computer Programming Education, Lauren Margulieux, Richard Catrambone, Mark Guzdial

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The rapid integration of technology into our professional and personal lives has left many education systems ill-equipped to deal with the influx of people seeking computing education. To improve computing education, we are applying techniques that have been developed for other procedural fields. The present study applied such a technique, subgoal labeled worked examples, to explore whether it would improve programming instruction. The first two experiments, conducted in a laboratory, suggest that the intervention improves undergraduate learners’ problem solving performance and affects how learners approach problem solving. A third experiment demonstrates that the intervention has similar, and perhaps stronger, effects …

Improving Problem Solving With Subgoal Labels In Expository Text And Worked Examples, Lauren Margulieux, Richard Catrambone

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In highly procedural problem solving, procedures are typically taught with context-independent expository text that conceptually describes a procedure and context-dependent worked examples that concretely demonstrate a procedure. Subgoal labels have been used in worked examples to improve problem solving performance. The effect of subgoal labels in expository text, however, has not been explored. The present study examined the efficacy of subgoal labeled expository text and worked examples for programming education. The results show that learners who received subgoal labels in both the text and example are able to solve novel problems better than those who did not. In addition, subgoal …

Learning Loops: A Replication Study Illuminates Impact Of Hs Courses, Briana B. Morrison, Adrienne Decker, Lauren Margulieux

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

A recent study about the effectiveness of subgoal labeling in an introductory computer science programming course both supported previous research and produced some puzzling results. In this study, we replicate the experiment with a different student population to determine if the results are repeatable. We also gave the experimental task to students in a follow-on course to explore if they had indeed mastered the programming concept. We found that the previous puzzling results were repeated. In addition, for the novice programmers, we found a statistically significant difference in performance based on whether the student had previous programming courses in high …

A Taxonomy To Define Courses That Mix Face-To-Face And Online Learning, Lauren Margulieux, W. Michael Mccracken, Richard Catrambone

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The efficacy of courses that mix face-to-face and online instruction, such as blended, hybrid, flipped, and inverted courses, is contested in the literature. Some studies find that they improved learning outcomes and some do not. We argue that these unreliable results are due to inconsistent definitions of these courses. To address this problem, we propose the Mixed Instructional eXperience (MIX) taxonomy to define hybrid, blended, flipped, and inverted based on two dimensions. To test the usefulness of the taxonomy to organize the literature, we reclassified research using the taxonomy. The analysis of the literature after reclassification revealed themes that illuminate …

Using Subgoal Learning And Self-Explanation To Improve Programming Education, Lauren Margulieux, Richard Catrambone

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The present study explored passive, active, and constructive methods of learning problem solving procedures. Using subgoal learning, which has promoted retention and transfer in procedural domains, the study compared the efficacy of different methods for learning a programming procedure. The results suggest that constructive methods produced better problem solving performance than passive or active methods. The amount of instructional support that learners received in the three different constructive interventions also affected performance. Learners performed best when they either received hints about the subgoals of the procedure or received feedback on the subgoal labels that they constructed, but not when they …

Interaction Of Instructional Material Order And Subgoal Labels On Learning In Programming, Laura M. Schaeffer, Lauren Margulieux, Richard Catrambone

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Subgoal labeled expository instructions and worked examples have been shown to positively impact student learning and performance in computer science education. This study examined whether problem solving performance differed based on the order of expository instructions and worked examples and the presence of subgoal labels within the instructions. Participants were 132 undergraduate college students. A significant interaction showed that when learners were presented with the worked example followed by the expository instructions containing subgoal labels, the learner was better at outlining the procedure for creating an application. However, the manipulations did not affect novel problem solving performance or explanations of …

High School English Language Arts, Jonathan Cohen, Marshall A. George, Dana Riddle

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Subgoals, Context, And Worked Examples In Learning Computing Problem Solving, Briana B. Morrison, Lauren Margulieux, Mark Guzdial

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Recent empirical results suggest that the instructional material used to teach computing may actually overload students' cognitive abilities. Better designed materials may enhance learning by reducing unnecessary load. Subgoal labels have been shown to be effective at reducing the cognitive load during problem solving in both mathematics and science. Until now, subgoal labels have been given to students to learn passively. We report on a study to determine if giving learners subgoal labels is more or less effective than asking learners to generate subgoal labels within an introductory CS programming task. The answers are mixed and depend on other features …

Mixing In-Class And Online Learning: Content Meta-Analysis Of Outcomes For Hybrid, Blended, And Flipped Courses, Lauren Margulieux

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Over the past 15 years, courses that mix face-to-face and online instructional methods, such as blended, hybrid, and flipped courses, have gained both supporters and skeptics in higher education. Studies that compare mixed courses to face-to-face or online courses have conflicting results: some find improved learning outcomes and some find no significant differences. We contend that these conflicting results are due to inconsistent or vague definitions of hybrid, blended, and flipped. To address this problem, we use the definitions from a recently proposed taxonomy to reclassify studies in the literature. After reclassification, analysis of this literature reveals two main themes …

Educators’ Perceptions Of A Maker-Based Learning Experience, Jonathan Cohen, Julia Huprich, W. Monty Jones, Shaunna Smith

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine a cohort of educators’ perspectives of a semester-long, maker-based university course.

Design/methodology/approach - This qualitative study utilized participants’ weekly and end-of-semester written reflections to illustrate participants’ perceptions of a semester-long university course focused on the role of maker principles and technologies in a variety of educational contexts.

Findings - Participants’ perceptions of learning following the semester-long maker experience viewed learning as a more collaborative experience, and noted the benefits of a classroom community that arose from the collaboration.

Originality/value - This study adds empirical research to the literature base on …

Improving Programming Instruction With Subgoal Labeled Instructional Text, Lauren Margulieux, Richard Catrambone

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, problem solving tends to be highly procedural, and these procedures are typically taught with general instructional text and specific worked examples. Subgoal labels have been used in worked examples to help learners understand the procedure being demonstrated and improve problem solving performance. The effect of subgoal labels in instructional text, however, has not been explored. The present study examined the efficacy of subgoal labeled instructional text and worked examples for programming education. The results show that learners who received subgoal labels in both the text and example are able to solve novel …

Subgoal Labeled Worked Examples Improve K-12 Teacher Performance In Computer Programming Training, Lauren Margulieux, Richard Catrambone, Mark Guzdial

Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Technology has become integrated into many facets of our lives. Due to the rapid onset of this integration, many current K-12 teachers do not have the skills required to supply the sudden demand for technical training. This deficit, in turn, has created a demand for professional development programs that allow working teachers to learn computer science so that they might become qualified to teach this increasingly important field. Subgoal labeled worked examples have been found to improve the performance of learners in highly procedural domains. The present study tested subgoal labeled worked examples in an online learning program for teachers. …

Teaching Mathematics For Social Justice: Conversations With Educators – A Symposium, David W. Stinson, Anita A. Wager

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

Using Marilyn Frankenstein’s germinal 1983 article “Critical Mathematics Education: An Application of Paulo Freire’s Epistemology” and Ole Skovsmose’s 1985 germinal article “Mathematics Education Versus Critical Education” as credible “start points”, critical mathematics or more broadly, social justice mathematics, is marking three decades of empowering yet uncertain possibilities. Nonetheless, there are two recurring questions: What is it? and What does it “look like”? Drawing on the collective stories (and wisdom) of critical mathematics educators, this symposium aims to offer some open, non-definitive answers to these two questions.

An English Only Fountain: A Response To Tamsin Meaney’S Critique Of English Privilege In Mathematics Education Research, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this brief written reaction to Tamsin Meaney’s essay “The Privileging of English in Mathematics Education Research, Just a Necessary Evil?”, the author’s explicit purpose is to provoke an emotional response to Meaney’s plenary address with the juxtaposition of two visuals: (1) Table 1 – a list of English Only mathematics education conferences; (2) Figure 1 – a picture of a Whites Only water fountain. While intentionally aiming for an emotional response, however, it is important to note that the author is not suggesting that the injustices of Jim Crow and Apartheid were (are) one in the same nor that …

“I Hate History”: A Study Of Student Engagement In Community College Undergraduate History Courses, Katherine A. Perrotta, Chara H. Bohan

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

Many instructors seek to improve student engagement, but determining how to achieve student engagement can be complex and complicated. The authors sought to explore how the implementation of active-learning strategies in undergraduate history courses at a metropolitan community college using graphic organizers and group discussion impacted student engagement. Surveys were distributed to students in five undergraduate history courses in order to elicit student perspectives on how active-learning strategies improved student engagement. The survey data revealed that some active-learning strategies improved student engagement, whereas others did not. The authors report that a combination of implementing lecture and active-learning strategies was effective …

Reaching Across The Color Line: Margaret Mitchell And Benjamin Mays, An Uncommon Friendship, Jearl Nix, Chara Haeussler Bohan

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

The authors examine how the Margaret Mitchell - Benjamin Mays relationship displays the courage of two individuals who reached across a line of hatred and mistrust to bridge a gap between black and white citizens of Atlanta, GA.

Conversations About Privilege And Oppression In Mathematics Education, David W. Stinson, Joi A. Spencer

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, the authors frame the purpose and outline the contents of the JUME special issue “Privilege and Oppression in the Mathematics Preparation of Teacher Educators” (the title of a 3-day conference held in Battle Creek, Michigan). As part of the “thoughtful action” called for throughout the conference, the intention of the special issue is to invite all mathematics educators (and others) into conversations about systems of privilege and oppression.

On Being A Hardliner On Issues Of Race And Culture In Mathematics Education Research, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, the author provides a revised written version of his remarks delivered at the 35th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Chicago, IL, November 15, 2013; the remarks were in response to Professor Na’ilah Suad Nasir’s (2013) plenary address “Why Should Mathematics Educators Care about Race and Culture?”

Diversity In Methodology: Different Possibilities For Data Collection, Analysis, And Representation, David W. Stinson, Erika C. Bullock

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

Mathematics education research over the past half century can be understood as operating in four distinct yet overlapping and simultaneously operating historical moments: the process–product moment (1970s–), the interpretivist–constructivist moment (1980s–), the social-turn moment (mid 1980s–), and the sociopolitical-turn moment (2000s–). Each moment embraces unique theoretical perspectives as it critiques or rejects others. Moreover, because methodology is inextricably linked to theory, each moment calls forth unique methodological perspectives. Using exemplars of research articles from each moment, the authors illustrate how each moment provides different possibilities for data collection, analysis, and representation.

Nineteenth Century Rosa Parks? Assessing Elizabeth Jennings' Legacy As A Teacher And Civil Rights Pioneer In Antebellum America, Katherine A. Perrotta, Chara Haeussler Bohan

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

Elizabeth Jennings should be recognized as more than a "Rosa Parks" figure in Antebellum New York City history. Both Jennings' and Parks' experiences with segregation on public transportation are similar, but they are not the same. Jennings' ejection from a New York streetcar was not deliberately planned, nor did her removal from the streetcar lead to mass protests or boycotts in New York City or throughout the country. Similarly though, as many African Americans endured violence during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Elizabeth Jennings also survived the New York City Draft Riots in 1863. Overall, both …

Mathematics Educators And The “Math Wars”: Who Controls The Discourse?, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, the author expresses support of a colleague, Professor Jo Boaler of Stanford University, in her actions of going public with the harassment that she has experienced through professional and personal attacks by James Milgram of Stanford University and Wayne Bishop of California State University, Los Angeles.

On The Brilliance Of Black Children: A Response To A Clarion Call, Erika Bullock, Maisie Gholson, Nathan Alexander

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

In this editorial, three dotoral students in Mathematics Education reflect on their experiences as conference organizers and co-editors of the Proceedings of the 2010 Philadelphia and 2011 Atlanta Bejamin Banneker Associaton Conferences.

Beyond The Numbers: A Benjamin Banneker Association Conference Series, Jacqueline Leonard, Erica R. Davila, David W. Stinson

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

The authors discuss how the "white male math myth" can be effectively debunked by conferences such as the Benjamin Banneker Association Beyond the Numbers conference series, which focus on urban mathematical education and highlight the achievements of black children.

The New Encyclopedia Of Southern Culture: Education (Review), Chara H. Bohan

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Faculty Publications

Review of: The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Education. Edited by Clarence L. Mohr. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011.