Education Commons^™

Teaching Reproducibility To First Year College Students: Reflections From An Introductory Data Science Course, Brennan L. Bean

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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Modern technology threatens traditional modes of classroom assessment by providing students with automated ways to write essays and take exams. At the same time, modern technology continues to expand the accessibility of computational tools that promise to increase the potential scope and quality of class projects. This paper presents a case study where students are asked to complete a “reproducible” final project in an introductory data science course using the R programming language. A reproducible project is one where an instructor can easily regenerate the results and conclusions from the submitted …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 2, Fall 2023

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Fall 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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The Fall 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to educational adaptation. The first article by C. Farrell describes an adaptation of the interteaching method to the hybrid delivery method. The second article by C. C. Loose and R. Jagielo-Manion describes a study of modules on personalized learning to preservice teachers and its impact on their comfort level and preparation to implement personalized learning in their classrooms. The third article by B. …

Educational Interests And Information-Seeking Behaviors Of Utah Residents, Amanda D. Ali, Lendel K. Narine

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

With a limited body of literature examining residents’ preferences for Extension topic areas, this brief report examined the educational interests of Utah residents. It explores opportunities for future programming based on residents’ preferences for topic areas and their information-seeking behaviors. Data were gathered from Utah residents in May 2021 via an online Qualtrics survey (n = 668). Results showed the topics of highest interest to Utah residents were strengthening family relationships, emergency preparedness, mental health, food storage, and healthy couples’ relationships. Residents’ information-seeking behaviors were somewhat consistent with their interests; residents searched most frequently for information on mental health, strengthening …

A Framework For Teaching Computational Thinking In Primary Schools: A Namibian Case Study, Maria M. Ausiku, Machdel C. Matthee

The African Journal of Information Systems

Several professional development programs have been designed to train in-service teachers on a computational thinking (CT) curriculum, but few researchers have examined how these affect primary school teachers' self-efficacy and knowledge of CT in emerging economies. This study's objective was to create a framework for the professional development of primary school in-service teachers for the teaching of CT (referred to as professional development for primary computational thinking - PD4PCT) to be integrated into teachers' professional development programs. An initial framework was refined after implementing it at a Namibian school with a group of 14 teachers from five different disciplines (social …

Creating An Automatic Lowering Function For Quarter-Scale Tractor Pulling Sled, Sam Wilkins

Honors Theses

As the agricultural industry works to continuously integrate innovative technology and improve production efficiency, improved on-board data acquisition and transmission will be necessary for all agricultural machines. To make this a reality, the utilization of controller area network (CAN) technology will be crucial. Therefore, it is important for all agricultural engineers to have foundational knowledge of CAN bus systems and the standards that govern their use in industry. The UNL quarter-scale tractor team regularly utilizes CAN buses on their tractors and testing equipment. One such testing machine is the team’s pulling sled, which uses CAN messages to transport important information …

Lgbtq Community College Students’ Decreased Sense Of Belonging, Joseph Falco, Michael Sparrow Ed.D.

New York Journal of Student Affairs

LGBTQ students experience a lower sense of belonging at community colleges. The correlation between campus and classroom climate and academic success, campus involvement, identity, level of outness, and well-being for LGBTQ students contributes to their decreased sense of belonging. Non-LGBTQ-affirming and non-inclusive community college campuses and classrooms lead to feelings of fear, invisibility, lack of validation, mental health challenges, and poor academic performance for LGBTQ students. An extensive literature review was conducted to determine the root causes around the decreased sense of belonging for LGBTQ students enrolled at community colleges.  Three themes emerged that explained this decreased sense of belonging: …

A Study Of Computational Thinking Skills And Attitudes Towards Computer Science With Middle School Students, Lorien W. Cafarella

Theses and Dissertations

Many middle school students come to Computer Science (CS) classes without any previous CS instruction or any Computational Thinking (CT) skills that are needed to be successful. To overcome this, many curriculums and programming environments have been used to engage students and to instill a love of CS. Which curriculum should be used to develop CT skills that will also increase positive attitudes towards CS so students will continue in this field of study in higher grades? The purpose of this mixed method action research study was to evaluate how Code.org’s block-based programming curriculum affects middle school CS students’ CT …

The Untapped Potential Of Commuters: Engaging Faculty And Staff To Foster A Commuter-Inclusive Space And Student Interest At The University Of San Diego, Monica Gonzalez Herrera

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The commuter student population faces many challenges in getting involved on campus. Taking an asset-based approach, this study aimed to enhance first-year commuter engagement and support their sense of belonging at a private, faith-based university. By modifying McNiff and Whitehead’s model of reflect-plan-act-exhibit, students were invited to engage in several identity, community, and leadership activities throughout the academic year. Results suggest first-year commuters need role modeling or mentorship that is challenging and supportive, the support of creating a ‘third space’ away from home and school, and the development of authentic and genuine connections among peers and staff. It is recommended …

Student Engagement Through Programming At Four-Year Institutions, Sydney Hartman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively examine the ways in which student engagement is utilized on the Glassboro campus at Rowan University and how it has impacted the overall development of undergraduate students enrolled in the Fall of 2022 and Spring of 2023. Utilizing Qualtrics, a 14-question survey was distributed to all enrolled students starting in December of 2022 and ending in February of 2023. This survey contained questions that surveyed the population demographically and asked how frequent they attend various programs on-campus. The survey data was then analyzed to better understand students’ perceptions of the current programming …

Claw Hand Activity, Admin Stem For Success, Natalie Wilson

STEM for Success Showcase

Activity plan where students practice coding principles by programming the actions of a claw hand

Exploring Different Mediums For Teaching Programming And Cybersecurity In Primary And Secondary Schools, Andrew R. Youngstrom

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Cybersecurity and programming are becoming more and more prominent in today’s world. It is beneficial to begin teaching these topics to students at a younger age. Additionally, we see students in primary and secondary schools struggling to maintain focus in class as attention spans shrink. This paper looks at different drone models to see if any of them could be sufficient solutions to be implemented into primary and secondary schools to teach cybersecurity and programming topics to students. Besides teaching capabilities, drones must also be affordable for institutions and simple enough to construct, configure, and operate so that a teacher …