Instructional Media Design Commons^™

“We Were The Teachers, Not The Observers”: Transforming Teacher Preparation Through Placements In A Creative, After-School Program, Nikki Holland, Iris Shepard, Christian Z. Goering

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Teacher preparation at one university shifts pre-service observation to hands-on integration of the arts in an after-school program called Razorback Writers.

Who Cares? Exploring Student Perspectives On Care Ethics, Kelly A. Concannon Mannise

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Care ethics are influenced by conflicts between crafted theories and how students read those theories in practice.

Perfect, Helen Collins Sitler

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Perfectionism can be a form of trauma that composition instructors should be aware of in some high-achieving students.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Jan Buley, S. Rebecca Leigh, Christopher M. Bache, Bette B. Bauer, Rachel Forrester, Laurence Musgrove

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Teaching/Seeing Jesus

Jan Buley - The Realization

S. Rebecca Leigh - Celebrating Ways of Learning

Christopher M. Bache - The Opening Question

Bette B. Bauer - Teaching as a Spiritual Practice

Rachel Forrester - Appalachia Finally in the Spring

Laurence Musgrove - Syllabus

K-5 Library Media Curriculum Map And Standards Crosswalk, Tessa Kateri Watters

All Graduate Projects

The American Library Association (ALA) has published standards of skills students need in the 21st century. Washington state librarians use these standards as a foundation for their curriculum. The Catholic School Librarian Association (CSLA) has adopted these standards to create grade level expectations. Using the standards published by the American Library Association and the Catholic School Librarians, this project is a curriculum map, outlining skills to be taught chronologically throughout the academic year for grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Also included is a crosswalk identifying the local, state, and professional standards for each skill listed on the curriculum map. The …

Re-Seeing Story Through Portal Writing, S. Rebecca Leigh

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Findings suggest that portal writing can be used as an effective tool for helping young students focus and revise their narrative work.

Immersion, Transformation, And The Literature Class, Christina Vischer Bruns

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

“Transitional space” helps teachers understand how a reader’s transformation happens, and why it is valuable.

Effective Knowledge Development In Game-Based Learning Environments: Considering Research In Cognitive Processes And Simulation Design, Amy B. Adcock, Ginger S. Watson, Gary R. Morrison, Lee A. Belfore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Serious games are, at their core, exploratory learning environments designed around the pedagogy and constraints associated with specific knowledge domains. This focus on instructional content is what separates games designed for entertainment from games designed to educate. As instructional designers and educators, the authors want serious game play to provide learners with a deep understanding of the domain, allowing them to use their knowledge in practice to think through multifaceted problems quickly and efficiently. Attention to the design of serious game affordances is essential to facilitating the development of domain knowledge during game play. As such, the authors contend that …

Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Level Of Educational Computer Game Use And Milken Exemplar Teacher Instructional Strategies, Yaela Dahan Marks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the nature and level of educational computer-based game techniques adoption by Milken Educator Award winning teachers in achieving success in their classrooms. The focus of the research is on their level of acceptance of educational computer-based games and the nature of game usage to increase student performance in the classroom. With Davis' (1985) Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1985) as the conceptual framework, the research also examines how teachers' perceptions of educational computer-based games influence their willingness to incorporate these teaching methods in their classroom. The approach utilizes a descriptive survey to develop and evaluate responses from exemplar …

Negotiating The "Relevant" In Culturally Relevant Mathematics, N. Enyedy, J. Danish, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

One approach to promoting successful engagement of underrepresented groups in mathematics classrooms is Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP). However, it has been argued that CRP risks essentializing students or watering down academic content. We report our analysis of a case study of a group of three 6th grade students who took part in a 6-week mathematics curriculum. This curriculum used Geographical Information System (GIS) maps to engage students in designing personally meaningful research projects while learning about measures of central tendency (i.e., learning statistics). The case study was chosen as representative of how students in this urban classroom (47 total) successfully …

Understanding Teacher Users Of A Digital Library Service: A Clustering Approach, Beijie Xu, Mimi Recker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article describes the Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) process and its application in the field of educational data mining (EDM) in the context of a digital library service called the Instructional Architect (IA.usu.edu). In particular, the study reported in this article investigated a certain type of data mining problem, clustering, and used a statistical model, latent class analysis, to group the IA teacher users according to their diverse online behaviors. The use of LCA successfully helped us identify different types of users, ranging from window shoppers, lukewarm users to the most dedicated users, and distinguish the isolated users …

The Uva Bay Game:Complex Systems, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, And Institutional Renewal, J. Plank, David F. Feldon, W. Sherman, J. Elliott

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Research-intensive universities enjoy—or suffer—a paradoxical reputation: They are thought to be dedicated to both cutting-edge research and to the preservation of the canon. They are seen as broad and diverse communities of scholars with a vibrant collective intellectual life, yet also as silos of disciplinary entrenchment. Most significantly, they are thought of as places where the complex problems of our society are studied intensely but from which solutions are rarely forthcoming.

Aligning Game Activity With Educational Goals: Following A Constrained Design Approach To Instructional Computer Games, Brett E. Shelton, Jon Scoresby

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

We discuss the design, creation and implementation of an instructional game for use in a high school poetry class following a commitment to an educational game design principle of alignment. We studied groups of instructional designers and an interactive fiction computer game they built. The game was implemented in a 9th grade English classroom to see if the designed alignments were realized in the classroom. Results from observations and collected design artifacts suggest the alignment theory created extra challenges and rewards for the game designers. They encountered tensions between creating an exciting game-like atmosphere with inventive programming techniques while …

Using Ipad2 To Assess Students' Live Performances And Actively Engage Students With Tutor And Peer Feedback, Julia Wren, Alistair B. Campbell, John Heyworth, Christine Lovering

Research outputs 2011

Assessing student live performances can be challenging because markers need to make quick and often complex judgements about the learning while at the same time record information and watch the performance. This is further challenged where multiple markers are involved and moderation between markers is required. Maintaining fairness and validity throughout the assessment process can consequently become a significant issue. Moderation of assessment can cause a delay in the turnaround time for student feedback because markers need to meet and review. In addition, the ‘busy type of work’ associated with compiling and sorting individual marks and distributing them to students, …

Managing Large E-Learning Development Initiatives: Lessons Learnt From The Australian Flexible Learning Toolbox Project, Mark Mcmahon

Research outputs 2011

This paper reports on a research consultancy undertaken for the Flexible Learning Framework in reviewing management processes undertaken as part of Series 13 of Flexible Learning Toolboxes. Toolboxes are e-learning products that cover multiple Units of Competency in National Training Packages. In the 13th iteration of the project a number of initiatives were implemented designed to support the development of 7 Toolboxes. The research explores the role of documentation and communication processes and their impact on the development experiences of key stakeholders such as the designers, developers and managers of the products. Findings identified a number of important factors with …

Exploring The Use Of Audio-Visual Feedback Within 3d Virtual Environments To Provide Complex Sensory Cues For Scenario-Based Learning, Michael Garrett, Mark Mcmahon

Research outputs 2011

The continuous quest for ever increasing fidelity in 3D virtual worlds is running parallel to the emergence and adoption of low-cost technologies to implement such environments. In education and training, complex simulations can now be implemented on standard desktop technologies. However, such tools lack the means to represent multisensory data beyond audio-visual feedback. This paper reports on a study that involved the design, development and implementation of a 3D learning environment for underground mine evacuation. The requirements of the environment are discussed in terms of the sensory information that needs to be conveyed and techniques are described to achieve this …

The Natives Are Restless: Meeting The Diversity And Needs Of Millennial Students In A Large Undergraduate Unit, Mark Mcmahon, Joo Jung

Research outputs 2011

Today’s students are referred to as ‘digital natives’. But what does it mean to be digitally native? How does the digital nativeness affect the way student learn and we teach? This paper examines the key characteristics of Millennial students, and outlines teaching and learning strategies. A modular structure was implemented in first year undergraduate unit to trial the new strategies. Challenges and successes of the trial are described.

Enhancing Nutritional Learning Outcomes Within A Simulation And Pervasive Game-Based Strategy [Conference Paper], Mark Mcmahon, Shane Henderson

Research outputs 2011

Games are often seen as a means of enhancing motivation in learning. Despite the rhetoric, however, games that provide quality experiences for learners are hard to find. One reasoning is the focus on the game medium without a clear understanding of the strategy behind it. This paper outlines a game designed to raise primary school-aged children’s awareness of nutritional issues using simulation and pervasive gaming strategies. Nute implements ubiquitous mobile technology and QR Code scanning to allow players to engage in virtual shopping. The effects of their dietary choices are manifest in a simulated character, Nute, who has similar dietary …

Exploring The Nature Of Immersion In Games To Enhance Educational Engagement, Mark Mcmahon, Shane Henderson

Research outputs 2011

Student engagement is often considered one of the most important determinants of successful learning. An often cited argument for games in learning is their value to be ‘immersive’. Beyond the rhetoric however, a model needs to be developed of immersion to identify the cognitive and affective factors involved and to tie it into existing theories relating to flow and narratology. This paper presents a model of immersion and details findings based upon the development and implementation of a range of levels in a 3D ‘first person shooter’ game which were evaluated according to criteria for immersion. A range of potential …

Managing Multidisciplinary Student Design Teams, Martin Masek, Joo Jung, Barnard Clarkson

Research outputs 2011

The management of multidisciplinary student teams is a challenge. In this paper we describe our experience in running a shared assessment across several units. Four multidisciplinary teams were formed, and success was mixed, with one team splitting into two along discipline lines and all experiencing communication issues. The main management challenges that arose were based around difficulty in communication and the understanding of the other disciplines requirements. We outline the process we used to construct the shared assessment, and provide some insight in how the student groups dealt with issues that arose.