Educational Technology Commons^™

Teachers' Perceptions And Readiness For Ai Integration In Under-Resourced K-12 Classrooms, Valerie Riggs

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explores how educators from under-resourced schools, who participated in an AI Summer Research Institute hosted by a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), perceive the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in their classrooms. Using both quantitative data from post-survey responses and qualitative reflections from virtual interviews, the study examines how teachers anticipate AI will influence their teaching strategies and student engagement, and what long-term benefits or concerns they associate with AI integration. The findings indicate that while teachers are optimistic about AI's potential to enhance engagement and personalization learning, they also express uncertainty regarding its long-term impact and …

Preparing The Next Generation Of Health Education Teachers For The Ethical Use Of Ai, Melissa J. Haithcox-Dennis, Reeshemah Johnson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article examines how health education teacher preparation programs can prepare future educators to use artificial intelligence (AI) in responsible and effective ways. It begins with a brief overview of the use of AI in education, considering the growing impact of generative AI technologies on teaching and learning. The article outlines international and national standards that govern the application of AI in education, addressing key ethical concerns, including the dissemination of inaccurate health information, violations of student privacy, bias, and inequitable access to AI tools. The article emphasizes the importance of ethical decision-making and professional responsibility when integrating AI into …

Using Machine Learning Methods To Evaluate Undergraduates’ Executive Function In The Context Of Game-Based Measurement, Ming Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traditional performance-based measurements have faced criticism due to their potential to induce test fatigue and their limited ecological validity. In contrast, game-based assessments have demonstrated the capacity to engage participants effectively in tests and enhance ecological validity by replicating real-world scenarios. Nevertheless, conventional statistical approaches may prove insufficient in capturing the intricate, non-linear associations between participants' gaming performance and their cognitive capabilities. Leveraging the potential of machine learning (ML) techniques, which can model complex problems, offers a promising avenue for estimating students' performance in video games. This dissertation aims to explore various ML methods for the validation of three game-based …

Teaching And Technology: "You Can't Just Do The Same Thing Online", Sakina Laksimi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how faculty at the City University of New York navigated the abrupt transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing how pedagogy is shaped by technological, institutional, and social conditions. Drawing on twenty-two interviews with twelve faculty across eight disciplines, I use a grounded theory approach to analyze how instructors adapted courses, reimagined assessment, and sustained connection with students amid crisis. Three overlapping pedagogical orientations emerged: improvisational, relational, and design-based teaching. These approaches highlight how faculty balanced responsiveness, care, and intentional course design in environments mediated by digital platforms and marked by inequity. The study situates …

Bridging The Gap: Harnessing Emerging Technology To Narrow The Academic Achievement Gaps Of Minority Students, Dionne Williams, Terence Vinson, Kristi Young, Danielle Williams, James R. Mixon

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

The academic achievement gap of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students has historically lagged as it relates to Caucasian students. This work defines academic achievement as standardized test scores, graduation rates, and college completion rates. The persistent educational disparities faced by minority students remain a significant challenge for school systems. The integration of technology offers a promising solution to help narrow these academic achievement gaps and provide equitable learning opportunities. Technology offers educators the ability to utilize self-paced instructional programming, ensuring that the educational needs and deficiencies of minority students are addressed. This work explores how innovative technological tools, ranging …

Online Learning, Disability, And The Use Of Ai: Lessons From A South African University, Megan Abrahams, Peter Weimann

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

This study explores the online learning experiences of students with disabilities (SWDs) at a South African university during the pandemic, investigating how institutional policy and AI-supported tools can address their challenges. Phase one used an interpretive qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews with SWDs to identify key barriers, including inconsistent faculty practices, limited accessibility and emotional isolation. The findings highlight systemic gaps in digital support and the absence of inclusive pedagogical frameworks. Phase two expanded the analysis through a review of documents, focusing on university policies and the potential role of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), in promoting equitable access. …

Harnessing Digital Innovation To Assist Civil Society: Implementing A Large-Scale Service-Learning Project In Information Systems Education, Fazlyn Petersen

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Universities must actively engage with civil society to reduce inequalities and foster meaningful partnerships. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of a service-learning pilot project conducted in two large Information Systems courses involving over 250 students. Students collaborated in groups with local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) to apply their theoretical knowledge to solve real-world problems. Data was collected via an online survey containing open-ended reflection questions, yielding 331 quotations from 289 respondents. This data was analysed using a deductive thematic analysis. The study found that students most frequently reported developing seven out of nine graduate …

Toward Secure And Inclusive Educational Metaverse: Insights For African Countries, Nkosikhona T. Msweli

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

The rapid growth of immersive learning platforms has introduced critical identity security challenges. This study presents a bibliometric analysis of over 200 publications (2005–2025) on AI and security issues in virtual educational environments, using Scopus as the primary source. Findings reveal a surge in research after 2022, with China, the U.S., and India as leading contributors, while African representation remains limited. Key concerns include cross-platform vulnerabilities, deepfake threats, and challenges in implementing blockchain-based identity verification. The study also highlights algorithmic bias and ethical issues in identity authentication, emphasizing the need for inclusive, transparent AI systems. The paper provides insights to …

Gratifications That Contribute To Compulsive Youtube Use Among University Students, Mkhululi Tshepo Ncube, Zweithini Mabhena, Wallace Chigona

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

This study investigated the gratifications contributing to compulsive YouTube use among university students. Compulsive YouTube use, marked by an inability to regulate consumption despite negative impacts to the user, is analysed through the Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&G) and Compulsive Internet Use (CIU). Specifically, the study examined how different gratifications—such as emotional support, habitual viewing, and escapism—drive compulsive use patterns. A cross-sectional survey strategy was employed, collecting data from 175 university students through structured online questionnaires. The study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the relationships between the identified gratifications and compulsive usage behaviour. The findings …

An Early Review Of Generative Language Models In Automated Writing Evaluation: Advancements, Challenges, And Future Directions For Automated Essay Scoring And Feedback Generation, Yue Huang, Corey Palermo, Ruitao Liu, Yong He

Chinese/English Journal of Educational Measurement and Evaluation | 教育测量与评估双语期刊

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) has long supported assessment and instruction, yet existing systems struggle to capture deeper rhetorical and pedagogical aspects of student writing. Recent advances in generative language models (GLMs) such as GPT and Llama present new opportunities, but their effectiveness remains uncertain. This review synthesizes 29 studies on automated essay scoring and 14 on automated writing feedback generation, examining how GLMs are applied through prompting, fine-tuning, and adaptation. Findings show GLMs can approximate human scoring and deliver richer, rubric-aligned feedback, but fairness, validity, and ethical issues remain largely unaddressed. We conclude that GLMs hold promise to enhance AWE, …

Educational Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Doctor Of Health Sciences Programs, G. Zipp, Christina B. Gunther, Douglas Kuperman, Jill Moore, Lori Rainchuso

Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) has gained increased attention in higher education with the identification of several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats regarding its utility. The aim of this study was to ascertain how doctoral programs in health sciences utilize AI as academicians and instructors.

Methods: An electronic survey was distributed to all Association of Doctoral Programs in Health Science (ADPHS) members on the mailing list (n=51), with n=19 (37.3%) voluntarily responding.

Results: The findings revealed both enthusiasm and caution regarding the use of AI in doctoral health sciences education, reflecting similar broader trends identified in the literature. Despite institutional …

Retention Of Evidence-Based Practice Skills And The Association Between Beliefs, Behaviors, And Workplace Culture, Angela M. Lis, Lauren Snowdon

Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education

Introduction: Guidelines for teaching evidence-based practice (EBP) in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curricula have been published. There is limited evidence on the role of workplace culture in retaining these skills in entry-level clinical practice. This study evaluated the retention of self-perceived EBP skills, and the association of EBP beliefs and behaviors with cultural readiness once graduates join the workforce.

Methods: Two cohorts of DPT students completed a baseline questionnaire at graduation and a 12-month follow-up. Participants’ beliefs about EBP, implementation behaviors, and the organizational culture to support EBP were assessed using short versions of the EBP beliefs, implementation, …

Impact Of Retrieval Augmented Generation And Large Language Model Complexity On Undergraduate Exams Created And Taken By Ai Agents, Erick S. Tyndall, Colleen Gayheart, Alexandre Some, Joseph Genz, Torrey J. Wagner, Brent T. Langhals

Faculty Publications

The capabilities of large language models (LLMs) have advanced to the point where entire textbooks can be queried using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), enabling AI to integrate external, up-to-date information into its responses. This study evaluates the ability of two OpenAI models, GPT-3.5 Turbo and GPT-4 Turbo, to create and answer exam questions based on an undergraduate textbook. 14 exams were created with four true-false, four multiple-choice, and two short-answer questions derived from an open-source Pacific Studies textbook. Model performance was evaluated with and without access to the source material using text-similarity metrics such as ROUGE-1, cosine similarity, and word embeddings. …

Effective Strategies K–12 School Leaders Can Use To Improve Technology Integration In Classrooms, Shamila Ahmed Hashim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the rapid rise in demand for effective technology integration in K-12 classrooms, particularly in nonpublic schools, strong leadership is crucial. The absence of effective strategies can hinder student learning outcomes, posing a significant challenge for educators who are striving to improve academic success. This qualitative research project included a pragmatic inquiry design was to explore the strategies that some K–12 school leaders apply to improve classroom technology integration and enhance student learning outcomes. Grounded in the technology integration matrix framework, the study involved a purposive sample of five school leaders from nonpublic K-12 institutions in Maryland. Data were collected …

Computer-Automated Systems And Methods For Using Language Models To Generate Text Based On Reading Errors, Scott Sosso, Siyu Chen, Ciara Figliuolo, Jack Mostow, Marlies Goes

AFIT Patents

A computer-implemented system and method generate personalized text based on statistics derived from input received from a user representing the user's attempts to decode graphemes into phonemes. Such statistics may be measured and recorded at the grapheme-phoneme level, and may include substitutions, insertions, deletions, and correct utterances of phonemes by the user when reading text. A language model may be trained based on characteristics of the user, such as the user's age and/or reading grade level, and the personalized text may be generated after such training of the language model. Generating the personalized text may include generating a text creation …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Digital Citizenship In A Local U.S. Public Middle School, Rebekah A. Watson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was that although there are computer science standards requiring teachers to integrate digital citizenship skills to practice safe and ethical behaviors, local U.S. public middle school teachers were struggling to develop students’ digital citizenship skills. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore local rural public middle school teachers’ perceptions of building students’ digital citizenship skills, and to identify the training and supports teachers need to improve performance in this area. Ribble’s theory of digital citizenship was used for the conceptual framework. For this basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews were conducted with nine …

Exploring Artificial Intelligence Powered Audio Transcription Tools For Extension Workplace Efficiency, Joshua T. Campbell

Journal of Extension

Artificial intelligence is a rapidly advancing technology that has implications for nearly every workplace sector, including Cooperative Extension. While many of the uses and implications of artificial intelligence are not yet known, there are clear opportunities for Extension professionals to utilize artificial intelligence tools to increase their workplace efficiency. Extension professionals should be aware of the potential risks of this technology but should not shy away from utilizing it in their work. This article explores the use of audio transcription tools powered by artificial intelligence to aid in workplace efficiency for Extension professionals.

Transforming Text To Images: Prompt Engineering Principles For Generative Ai Use In Extension, Paul Hill, Xue A. Dong, Aubree L. Miller

Journal of Extension

Generative AI (GenAI) systems facilitate the creation of visual images by utilizing extensive datasets to interpret text-based instructions. Effective prompt engineering is essential for optimizing the output of AI-generated images. This article examines various GenAI systems and their functionalities, explores text-to-image prompt engineering principles and their application in Extension work, aiming to enhance the effectiveness of visual content creation with respect to educational materials, data visualization, and promotional content. The article also provides guidance and examples to assist Extension professionals in leveraging GenAI for improved communication and engagement. Recommendations include crafting detailed prompts and continuously refining them for desired results, …

Effects Of A Wellness Program On Perceived Stress And Occupational Balance With Occupational Therapy Students, Sean M. Brim, Kristian Llaca, Arlenys Loffredo, Jacqueline Achon, Marcia Hamilton

Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education

Abstract

Occupational therapy (OT) students often experience elevated stress and burnout due to the demanding nature of their academic programs, which can negatively affect their occupational balance and overall well-being. Promoting student wellness is essential to supporting both academic success and mental health. This quantitative pilot study examined the effects of a wellness program on perceived stress and occupational balance among graduate OT students in Southern Florida. Participants attended one of four structured sessions—Prioritization, Organization Strategies, Mindfulness Training, or Yoga—and completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ) before and after each session. Data was collected from …

Developing Cross-Cultural Competence And Media Literacy Through Multi-Modal Instruction And Projects, Michelle Verbitskaya, Alla Kourova, Irina Pidberejna

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

We explore the integration of Media Literacy in the 2-year Russian language STARTALK program, “How Words Shape People: Understanding Business Russian Through Proverbs.” Given the current geopolitical climate, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine, fostering critical engagement with media has become more essential than ever. By encouraging students to interact with multimedia resources—including animated videos, podcasts, news articles, and the Russian National Corpora—the curriculum aims to enhance both language and media literacy skills. Media Literacy’s Five Key Framework is applied to guide students in analyzing media critically while producing academic projects and cultural responses. We present a curriculum that fosters …