Instructional Media Design Commons^™

Interaction And Social Learning : Keys In Distance Education, Delmar Hafermann

Graduate Research Papers

While distance learning is now becoming a norm, instructional designers and distance educators alike need to relook at how instruction is occurring in the online environment to ensure interaction is present. This literature review shows how distance learning has evolved through the use of an ever-changing facilitator, namely technology. The review explores interaction and the role it plays in the learning process. Social learning stresses that learners need to interact in order to build their knowledge and since technology-enhanced worlds hinder face-to-face interaction, distance educators and designers can address these shortcomings by designing interactive and collaborative environments. In conclusion, taking …

Linking Opencoursewares And Open Education Resources: Creating An Effective Search And Recommendation System, Brett E. Shelton, J. Duffin, Y. Wang, J. Ball

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

With a growing number of digital libraries and other open education repositories being made available throughout the world, effective search and retrieval tools are necessary to access the desired materials that surpass the effectiveness of traditional, all inclusive search engines. This paper discusses the design and use of Folksemantic, a platform that integrates OpenCourseWare search, Open Educational Resource recommendations, and social network functionality into a single open source project. The paper describes how the system was originally envisioned, its goals for users, and data that provides insight into how it is actually being used. Data sources include website click-through data, …

Knowing And Throwing Mudballs, Hearts, Pies, And Flowers: A Connective Ethnography Of Gaming Practices, Deborah A. Fields, Y. B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Little is known concerning how young players learn to participate in various activities in virtual worlds. We use a new integrative approach called connective ethnography that focuses on how a gaming practice spread across a network of youth at an after school club that simultaneously participated in a virtual world, Whyville.net. To trace youth participation in online and offline social contexts, we draw on multiple sources of information: observations, interviews, videos, online tracking and chat data, and hundreds of hours of play in Whyville ourselves. One gaming practice – the throwing of projectiles and its social uses and nuances – …

Stealing From Grandma Or Generating Knowledge? Constestations And Effects Of Cheating In Whyville, Deborah A. Fields, Y. B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Much research has described the various practices needed of gaining access and participation in multi-user game communities. Cheat sites are a continuation of game communities where players engage in knowledge building about game related challenges. In this paper we analyze the cheat sites created by players for a tween virtual world called Whyville.net, which encourages youth to participate in a range of social activities and play casual science games. Through analysis we created typologies for both the cheats and sites related to science content. Further, a case study of an exemplary cheat site elaborates on how some player generated sites …

Your Second Selves: Avatar Designs And Identity Play, Y. B. Kafai, Deborah A. Fields, M. S. Cook

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Avatars in online games and worlds are seen as players’ key representations in interactions with each other. In this article, we investigate the avatar design and identity play within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 816. One unique feature of Whyville is the players’ ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the expressive resources available for avatar construction, individual tween players’ choices and rationales in creating their avatars, and online postings about avatar …

"Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!" Design And Discussion About Diversity And Race In A Tween Virtual World, Y. B. Kafai, M. S. Cook, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we investigate racial diversity in avatar design and public discussions about race within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 8—16. One unique feature of Whyville is the player’s ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the racial diversity of available resources for avatar construction and online postings about the role of race in avatar design and social interactions in the community. With the growing interest in player-generated content for online …

Weedsin The Flower Garden: An Exploration Of Plagiarism In Graduate Students' Research Proposalsand Its Connection To Enculturation, Esl, And Contextual Factors, Joanna Gilmore, Denise Strickland, Briana Timmerman, Michelle Maher, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Existing literature provides insight into the nature and extent of plagiarism amongst undergraduate students (e.g., Ellery, 2008; Parameswaran & Devi, 2006; Selwyn, 2008). Plagiarism amongst graduate students is relatively unstudied, however, and the existing data are largely based on self-reports. This study investigated the rates and potential causes of plagiarism amongst graduate students in master’s and doctoral programmes in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and science or mathematics education by examining actual research proposals written by graduate students. Results indicate that plagiarism is a prevalent issue at each of the three university sites sampled and across all of the investigated disciplines. …

Adaptations And Continuities In The Use And Design Of Visual Representations In Us Middle School Science Textbooks, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Visual representations are ubiquitous in modern‐day science textbooks and have in recent years become an object of criticism and scrutiny. This article examines the extent to which changes in representations in textbooks published in the USA over the past six decades have invited those critiques. Drawing from a correlational analysis of a corpus of 34 US middle school physical science textbooks, continuities are established with respect to the purposes that most textbook images serve and the numbers of schematic representations that are used. Changes are observed in the overall total number of representations in textbooks and in the proportion of …

Media And Youth Identity In Pakistan: Global-Local Dynamics And Disjuncture, Al-Karim Datoo

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The paper critically analyzes the engagement of a group of Pakistani urban youth with global cultural flows through media, and their responses to those flows. The discussion mainly centres around an analysis of a re-make of a drama-skit performed by a group of Pakistani urban high school youth during their school’s annual function which could be regarded as a kind of satire providing a cultural critique on the way cultural globalization, through media (especially cultural production through Indian Bollywood film/soap media-industry), is influencing urban Pakistani youth's perception of 'local' values, norms and identities. For the analysis, the paper draws upon …

E-Quality: Using Dimensional Index Values Towards Improving Classification Accuracy, Prashanth Devaram

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

E-quality is a process through which inspection of the process and quality of the part produced is done online resulting in the improvement of the process and reduction in the amount of time consumed for the overall process. Automated quality control involves using a methodology to classify the parts based on the dimensions of the features on a part. However, achieving 100% classification accuracy is not an easy task, especially in area of quality control where small differences in dimensions result in part fall into a different category. In this study, a novel approach for modifying the data before being …

A Needs Assessment Of The Knowledge, Skills And Use Of Finance Competencies By Human Performance Technology Practitioners, Ann Tai Chow

Wayne State University Dissertations

A comprehensive needs assessment method was used in this empirical and evidence base research. The design, development and implementation of this study focused on answering two overarching questions: (1) What finance knowledge do HPT practitioners possess? and (2) How do HPT practitioners use their finance knowledge and skills in their work? An online survey was administered to obtain answers directly from practicing HPT professionals. Sixty seven HPT practitioners participated in the online survey. Every question in the survey, except the demographic and the three open ended questions, sought two levels of answers: Current State (What) and Future Importance (How) of …

The Effects Of Instructor-Learner Interactions On Learner Satisfaction In Online Masters Courses, Angelene Carol Mclaren

Wayne State University Dissertations

THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTOR-LEARNER INTERACTIONS ON LEARNER

SATISFACTION IN ONLINE MASTERS COURSES

by

ANGELENE C. MCLAREN

May 2010

Advisor: Dr. Monica Tracey

Major: Instructional Technology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the extent instructor-learner interaction types affected learner satisfaction in online, semester-long Masters courses. This research study lent itself to several questions: To what extent do instructor-learner interaction types affect learner satisfaction in online Masters courses; To what extent does instructional immediacy affect learner satisfaction in online Masters courses; To what extent does instructor availability affect learner satisfaction in online Masters courses; To …

The Influence Of Transfer System Factors And Training Elapsed Time On Transfer In A Healthcare Organization, Beverly Jo Mihalko

Wayne State University Dissertations

Organizations and other sponsors of training face increasing pressure to demonstrate the value or impact of their training programs on individual and organizational performance. A critical element in the validation of training effectiveness is the permanent transfer of learned knowledge, skills, and behaviors to the workplace. The generalization of learned material to the job and maintenance of trained skills, are greatly influenced by training design, trainee characteristics, and work environmental factors. Using a multidimensional approach to identify all factors that promote or inhibit transfer could provide performance technologists and instructional designers with the insight necessary to design and develop strategic …

A Case Study On The Integration Of Internet Technology With Mathematics And Science Content For Teachers, Pilar Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study analyzed electronic discourse in an online mathematics/science education graduate course. The intention was: a) to identify the teacher's attitudes towards using internet resources, b) to motivate teachers to integrate the use of technology and c) to study how in-service and pre-service teachers find, access, and use technology resources.

The main activities in the class were for teachers to read chapters from textbooks, post personal reflections on the chapter, search and critically assess the companion websites and read classmates' reflections. Teachers also completed Thematic Units consisting of several technology-enhanced mathematical and science integrated lesson plans.

The teachers' success was …

Grounded Theory Approach To Understanding Student Perceptions Of Asynchronous High School Learning Environments, Paige N. Morabito

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the development of cyber high schools over the last 10 years has increased, no data are reported in the literature regarding the factors that have contributed to the increased enrollment or student perceptions of success. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory describing why students currently enrolled in an online high school program chose an asynchronous setting and their subsequent perceptions of success. Critical pedagogy, as a basis of transformational experiences through education, served as the conceptual framework. An attitudinal survey, provided as a limited data set by the high school, was used to …