Education Commons^™

Learner-Centered Design: Is Sage On The Stage Obsolete?, Sheri Stover, Sharon Heilmann, Amelia Hubbard

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Publications

This quantitative research study examined one instructor’s redesign of her introductory Anthropology course (N = 265) from Teacher-Centered (TC) to Learning-Centered (LC) and the resulting impact on her students’ perceptions of Teaching Presence (TP), Social Presence-Interaction(SP-I), Social Presence-Participation (SP-P), Cognitive Presence (CP), and Satisfaction (SAT). Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) survey (Swan et al., 2008) in a face-to-face classroom environment; results indicated that implementing a LC classroom compared to a TC classroom was found to have a significantly positive impact on students’ perceptions of TP (p= .021), SP-I (p< .001), SP-P (p< .001), CP (p= 00 2), and SAT (p= .022). Multiple regression results indicated that TP, SP-I-, and SP-P were able to predict 42% of students’ level of satisfaction score with TP having the highest level of prediction (β=.37). Preliminary evidence suggests that instructors who implement LC teaching methodologies can have a positive impact on TP, SP-I, SP-P, CP, and SAT.

The Learning Loss Effect In Genetics: What Ideas Do Students Retain Or Lose After Instruction?, Amber Todd, William L. Romine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Modern genetics is a relatively new domain, but it is increasingly important for students to have a firm grasp on the content, because genetic technologies are becoming more commonplace. In a previous study, we used the Learning Progression-based Assessment of Modern Genetics to assess high school students’ knowledge of genetics concepts after an intensive inquiry-based genetics instructional period. Given that this type of intensive inquiry-based instruction is unique, we are now investigating how students’ knowledge of genetics changes after instruction (i.e., learning loss effect). Using a six-measure longitudinal design, we found that students retained significant gains in five of the …

Networks Identify Productive Forum Discussions, Adrienne L. Traxler, A. Gavrin, Rebecca Lindell

Physics Faculty Publications

Discussion forums provide a channel for students to engage with peers and course material outside of class, accessible even to commuter and nontraditional populations. Forums can build classroom community and aid learning, but students do not always take up these tools. We use network analysis to compare three semesters of forum logs from an introductory calculus-based physics course. The networks show dense structures of collaboration that differ significantly between semesters, even though aggregate participation statistics remain steady. After characterizing network structure for each semester, we correlate students’ centrality—a numeric measure of network position—with final course grade. Finally, we use a …

Western Bias In Art, Sally A. Struthers

Art and Art History Faculty Publications

Presentation given at the Dayton Art Institute on the Western Bias in Art.

Surviving And Thriving At A University In The United Kingdom, Roxanne S. Duvivier, Gina Oswald, Lindsey Steller, Kate Bumhoffer

Human Services Faculty Publications

While considerable research on college student surviving and thriving has been conducted in the United States, fewer studies exist that examine these phenomenon multinationally. This mixed methods study, conducted at a large multi-campus university in the United Kingdom, examines factors purported to contribute to college student retention and engagement in a British context. Data were collected and analysed in the five theme categories of belonging, student support services, academic engagement, decision-making and resilience. Significant differences were found in student engagement by metropolitan vs. suburban campus, and in levels of engagement in academic and student life by gender.

Item-Level Gender Fairness In The Force And Motion Conceptual Evaluation And The Conceptual Survey Of Electricity And Magnetism, Rachel Henderson, Paul Miller, John Stewart, Adrienne L. Traxler, Rebecca Lindell

Physics Faculty Publications

Gender gaps on the most widely used conceptual inventories created by physics education researchers have been extensively studied. Most of the research exploring the consistent gender gaps has been performed at the student level using the total evaluation score; less research has been performed examining these assessments at the item level and this research has been predominately restricted to the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Many studies have identified subsets of FCI items as unfair to either men or women. An item is fair if men and women of equal ability in conceptual physics score equally on the item. This study …

Big Data And The Commoditization Of Analytics: Engaging First-Year Business Students With Analytics, Amir Hassan Zadeh, Shu Schiller, Kevin Duffy, Jonathan Williams

ISSCM Faculty Publications

The age of data analytics requires "data scientists” across a wide range of business disciplines with deep knowledge of how to manage and analyze vast amounts of data to support decision-making. As a result, new analytical tools are being taught in the Management Information Systems (MIS) or business analytics (BA) programs to foster students’ development of this critical competency. Three waves of analytics tools are considered froman experiential perspective including how to introduce analytics to first-year business students using an advanced data analytics software package with multiple techniques and data flow interface. SAS Enterprise Miner is used to teach technical …

Gender Fairness Within The Force Concept Inventory, Adrienne L. Traxler, Rachel Henderson, John Stewart, Gay Stewart, Alexis Papak, Rebecca Lindell

Physics Faculty Publications

Research on the test structure of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) has largely ignored gender, and research on FCI gender effects (often reported as “gender gaps”) has seldom interrogated the structure of the test. These rarely crossed streams of research leave open the possibility that the FCI may not be structurally valid across genders, particularly since many reported results come from calculus-based courses where 75% or more of the students are men. We examine the FCI considering both psychometrics and gender disaggregation (while acknowledging this as a binary simplification), and find several problematic questions whose removal decreases the apparent gender …

Exploring The Gender Gap In The Conceptual Survey Of Electricity And Magnetism, Rachel Henderson, Gay Stewart, John Stewart, Lynnette Michaluk, Adrienne L. Traxler

Physics Faculty Publications

The “gender gap” on various physics conceptual evaluations has been extensively studied. Men’s average pretest scores on the Force Concept Inventory and Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation are 13% higher than women’s, and post-test scores are on average 12% higher than women’s. This study analyzed the gender differences within the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) in which the gender gap has been less well studied and is less consistent. In the current study, data collected from 1407 students (77% men, 23% women) in a calculus-based physics course over ten semesters showed that male students outperformed female students on …

Panel: Teaching And Research Directions For Business And Mis Programs, Keng L. Siau, Stacie Petter, Shu Schiller, Jacquelyn Ulmer

ISSCM Faculty Publications

The topic of this panel is “Teaching and Research Directions for Business and MIS Programs”. Higher education in the US is transforming and evolving rapidly. Declining state budget for public schools means that tuition fees may have to be correspondingly increase. The state funding is down by around 40% compared to fiscal 1980. In fact, it is headed for zero! The cost of higher education has surged more than 500% since 1985. Rising costs of higher education means Americans owe nearly $1.3 trillion in student loan debt. The average class of 2016 graduate has about $37k in student loan debt, …

Panel: Teaching To Increase Diversity And Equity In Stem, Helen H. Hu, Douglas Blank, Albert Chan, Travis E. Doom

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

TIDES (Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in STEM) is a three-year initiative to transform colleges and universities by changing what STEM faculty, especially CS instructors, are doing in the classroom to encourage the success of their students, particularly those that have been traditionally underrepresented in computer science.Each of the twenty projects selected proposed new inter-disciplinary curricula and adopted culturally sensitive pedagogies, with an eye towards departmental and institutional change. The four panelists will each speak about their TIDES projects, which all involved educating faculty about cultural competency. Three of the panelists infused introductory CS courses with applications from other …

Coursenetworking And Community: Linking Online Discussion Networks And Course Success, Adrienne L. Traxler, Andrew Gavrin, Rebecca Lindell

Physics Faculty Publications

Large introductory science courses are isolating for many students, and reducing this isolation is an important factor for student retention in college. Active learning courses often build community among students as an explicit goal, but many commuter or non-traditional students have limited on-campus time. Online discussion forums provide one tool for engaging students with each other outside of class time. This study uses social network analysis with forum data from an introductory physics course to examine students' positions in the class discussion network and link it to their final course grades. We find that, contrary to expectations, there is no …

Non-Traditional Students' Conceptual Scores And Network Centrality In Scale-Up Classrooms, Emily N. Sandt, Adrienne L. Traxler

Physics Faculty Publications

As classrooms transition from traditional to cooperative learning environments, questions about the details of these environments effectiveness are posed. Does this model equally benefit all students? How do nontraditional (NT) students' gains in conceptual knowledge compare to those of traditional (Trad) students in these classrooms? Do NT students' social differences (i.e. age, employment status, family life, etc.) affect the amount of learning they do in the course or their tendency to form collaborative ties with other students? In three sections of SCALE-UP introductory calculus-based physics, we collected social network survey data about student connections and used the Force Concept Inventory …

Librarians In The Midst: Improving Student Research Through Collaborative Instruction, Mandy Shannon, Vaughn Shannon

University Libraries' Staff Publications

We test whether and how well the presence of an embedded librarian improves the quality of student research. Students in introductory-level courses tend to have very low levels of research skills and experience. Though faculty are frustrated by this lack of skills, both students and faculty tend to have only a peripheral knowledge of the role librarians can play in helping develop their research skills. Studies suggest that embedding librarians into course instruction is the preferred method for improving students’ research skills, yet the political science teaching and learning literature rarely addresses this issue, or focus on single class experiences, …

Teaching The Foundations Of Data Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Daniel Asamoah, Derek Doran, Shu Z. Schiller

ISSCM Faculty Publications

The astronomical growth of data has necessitated the need for educating well-qualified data scientists to derive deep insights from large and complex data sets generated by organizations. In this paper, we present our interdisciplinary approach and experiences in teaching a Data Science course, the first of its kind offered at the Wright State University. Two faculty members from the Management Information Systems (MIS) and Computer Science (CS) departments designed and co-taught the course with perspectives from their previous research and teaching experiences. Students in the class had mix backgrounds with mainly MIS and CS majors. Students' learning outcomes and post …

Student Perceptions Of Completing A Research Methods Course, Michael Kiener, Gina Oswald, Mya Vaughn, Katherine Kline, Bob Bertolino

Human Services Faculty Publications

In rehabilitation counselor education there is a large emphasis directed toward students becoming reflective practitioners. However, minimal research is conducted in rehabilitation counseling on evidence based pedagogy to ensure students become effective and reflective practitioners. This study investigated the experiences of students enrolled in a research methods course and examined how instruction influenced (or did not) research value and utility. The findings suggest students moved from being outsiders of research, to research apprentices. Pedagogical suggestions are made to increase the value and utility of research in everyday practice.

Enriching Gender In Per: A Binary Past And A Complex Future, Adrienne L. Traxler, Ximena C. Cid, Jennifer Blue, Ramón Barthelemy

Physics Faculty Publications

In this article, we draw on previous reports from physics, science education, and women's studies to propose a more nuanced treatment of gender in physics education research (PER). A growing body of PER examines gender differences in participation, performance, and attitudes toward physics. We have three critiques of this work: (1) it does not question whether the achievements of men are the most appropriate standard, (2) individual experiences and student identities are undervalued, and (3) the binary model of gender is not questioned. Driven by these critiques, we propose a conception of gender that is more up-to-date with other fields …

Does Interprofessional Education Change Student Attitudes About Interprofessional Learning And Patient Safety?, Deborah Poling, Dawn Labarbera, Mary Kiersma

Nursing Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION The Fort Wayne Area Interprofessional Education Consortium (FWAIPEC) evaluated the outcomes of its educational initiative with a pre and post assessment utilizing the Readiness for Interprofessional Education tool (RIPLS). The seminar series was designed as a longitudinal team building experience to foster competency toward interprofessional collaborative practice.

METHODS Participants from pharmacy, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, nurse educator, nurse executive, medical and family practice residency programs were surveyed as part of the curriculum assessment.

RESULTS Primarily reflecting the required attendance of the pharmacy and physician assistant students, 122 participants completed both assessments (89.7% response rate). Wilcoxon signed rank tests were …

Development And Evaluation Of A Model For Secondary Evolution Educators’ Professional Development Needs, William L. Romine, Ellen Barnett, Patricia J. Friedrichsen, Aaron J. Sickel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Professional development (PD) efforts have improved acceptance and pedagogical practice related to the theory of evolution in high school biology teachers. However, these teachers express need for more PD related to evolution. It therefore becomes necessary to understand teachers’ PD needs prior to structuring PD efforts.

Methods

We formulated and validated a model to explain secondary teachers’ PD needs using data from a survey of 276 secondary biology teachers who reported teaching evolution.

Results

In addition to reliable subscales, we found that obstacles to teaching evolution, school and community support for evolution instruction, confidence in evolution instruction, and prior …

Building A Community Of Inquiry And Analytical Skills In An Online History Course, Sheri Stover, Sean Pollock

History Faculty Publications

The purpose of this case study was to assess a history instructor’s attempt to redesign an introductory history survey course. Traditionally, it has been taught in a face-to-face environment within the university’s core curriculum program. It was redesigned as a synchronous online course that provided students with opportunities to work collaboratively to build a community of inquiry and to develop the analytical skills needed to understand course materials and compete in the 21st -century workforce. Students were required to attend daily 100-minute web conferencing sessions consisting of mini-lectures, polling questions and discussions in large and small groups (i.e., “breakout rooms”). …

Extending Positive Class Results Across Multiple Instructors And Multiple Classes Of Modeling Instruction, Eric Brewe, Adrienne L. Traxler, Jorge De La Garza, Laird H. Kramer

Physics Faculty Publications

We report on a multiyear study of student attitudes measured with the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey in calculus-based introductory physics taught with the Modeling Instruction curriculum. We find that five of six instructors and eight of nine sections using Modeling Instruction showed significantly improved attitudes from pre- to postcourse. Cohen’s d effect sizes range from 0.08 to 0.95 for individual instructors. The average effect was d = 0.45, with a 95% confidence interval of (0.26–0.64). These results build on previously published results showing positive shifts in attitudes from Modeling Instruction classes. We interpret these data in light …

Adjunct Faculty Certification 101: Introduction To Teaching And Learning, Kent Zimmerman, Sally A. Struthers

Art and Art History Faculty Publications

More than 200 adjunct faculty at Sinclair Community College have completed the Adjunct Faculty Certification Program. Join this overview of the curriculum and the peer review requirements of the program.

How Faculty Attitudes And Expectations Toward Student Nationality Affect Writing Assessment, Peggy Lindsey, Deborah J. Crusan

English Language and Literatures Faculty Publications

Earlier research on assessment suggests that even when Native English Speaker (NSE) and Non-Native English Speaker (NNES) writers make similar errors, faculty tend to assess the NNES writers more harshly. Studies indicate that evaluators may be particularly severe when grading NNES writers holistically. In an effort to provide more recent data on how faculty perceive student writers based on their nationalities, researchers at two medium-sized Midwestern universities surveyed and conducted interviews with faculty to determine if such discrepancies continue to exist between assessments of international and American writers, to identify what preconceptions faculty may have regarding international writers, and to …

Art History In The Virtual Classroom: Developing A Visually Engaging Online Learning Experience, Kelly Joslin, Sally A. Struthers

Art and Art History Faculty Publications

Moving from the traditional classroom to the online environment presents faculty who wish to develop online Art History courses with unique instructional design challenges.

What steps should be taken to ensure a visually rich and engaging learning experience for students?

This session examines the development of ART 235, History of Photography as an online course and features the results of the faculty developers’ collaborative work with the college’s Web Development Team.

Engineering Mathematics Education At Wright State University: Uncorking The First Year Bottleneck, Nathan W. Klingbeil, Kuldip S. Rattan, Michael L. Raymer, David B. Reynolds, Richard Mercer

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Work In Progress: The Wsu Model For Engineering Mathematics Education, Nathan W. Klingbeil, Richard Mercer, Kuldip S. Rattan, Michael L. Raymer, David B. Reynolds

Kno.e.sis Publications

This paper summarizes progress to date on the WSU model for engineering mathematics education, an NSF funded curriculum reform initiative at Wright State University. The WSU model seeks to increase student retention, motivation and success in engineering through application-driven, just-in-time engineering math instruction. The WSU approach involves the development of a novel freshman-level engineering mathematics course EGR 101, as well as a large-scale restructuring of the engineering curriculum. By removing traditional math prerequisites and moving core engineering courses earlier in the program, the WSU model shifts the traditional emphasis on math prerequisite requirements to an emphasis on engineering motivation for …

Making Work Visible, David Seitz

English Language and Literatures Faculty Publications

The instrumentalist motives of the working-class students are reconsidered. The local situations of these students suggest that we cannot assume what these students motives for instrumentalist behaviors might be, for instance some might emphasize the role of their families in shaping work values while others might emphasize peers and neighborhood influences.

Hard Lessons Learned Since The First Generation Of Critical Pedagogy, David Seitz

English Language and Literatures Faculty Publications

Review of the following books: (1) Collision Course: Conflict, Negotiation, and Learning in College Composition by Russel K. Durst, (2) Mutuality in the Rhetoric and Composition Classroom by David Wallace and Helen Rothschild Ewald, and (3) Teaching Composition as a Social Process by Bruce McComiskey.

A Proposed Undergraduate Bioinformatics Curriculum For Computer Scientists, Travis E. Doom, Michael L. Raymer, Dan E. Krane, Oscar Garcia

Kno.e.sis Publications

Bioinformatics is a new and rapidly evolving discipline that has emerged from the fields of experimental molecular biology and biochemistry, and from the the artificial intelligence, database, and algorithms disciplines of computer science. Largely because of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of bioinformatics research, academia has been slow to respond to strong industry and government demands for trained scientists to develop and apply novel bioinformatics techniques to the rapidly-growing, freely-available repositories of genetic and proteomic data. While some institutions are responding to this demand by establishing graduate programs in bioinformatics, the entrance barriers for these programs are high, largely due to …

Oh, What A Tangled Web: Three Designs For Web-Based Courses, Sally A. Struthers, Ned Young

Art and Art History Faculty Publications

The presenters have created three Web-based courses in three different formats; the Business of Art (a cross-disciplinary course in management and art) the history of photography, and principles of management. Each course is demonstrated and the creation processes are explored with the participants.