Education Commons^™

A Field Study To Promote Undergraduate Student Learning Through Inquiry-Based Research, Thomas G. Henkel, James Paul, Debra T. Bourdeau

Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore methods to promote effective undergraduate student learning through inquiry-based research in the classroom and to determine what the benefits of doing so might be. The study begins by outlining how undergraduate inquiry-based research increases the undergraduate student learning model and then lists steps to accomplish this process. The study outlines two options offered as a workable process to promote faculty and student inquiry-based in-class research. The first option is for undergraduate students to engage in inquiry-based research with the assistance of one-on- one mentoring by the instructor. The second option allows for …

Gaiseing Into The New Guidelines, Robert Carver, Megan Mocko, Jeffrey Witmer, Beverly Wood

Publications

The first GAISE College Report came out in 2005. Over the past ten years our discipline has changed in many ways, including but not limited to what type of data is easily available, the technology that we use, as well as how we teach students. In this presentation we will briefly start with how the new GAISE 2016 guidelines and goals have changed, including the two new emphases of statistical thinking: giving students experience with multivariable thinking and with the investigative process. So how do you start to implement these new ideas? In this presentation, we will demonstrate an activity …

Multivariate Thinking In An Intro Stats Course – Is It Possible?, Beverly Wood

Publications

Many of our students have an intuitive sense that there is more to the story than univariate or bivariate data can tell us. We can acknowledge and encourage that habit of digging deeper by demonstrating some ways to look at additional variables. Simpson’s paradox and side-by-side scatter plots are ways to provide a glimpse of more complex analysis that are accessible to students in an introductory course with or without strong quantitative skills.

Faculty And Student Issues With Group Work: What Is Problematic With College Group Assignments And Why?, Joanne P. Labeouf, John C. Griffith, Donna L. Roberts

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University researchers analyzed 811 (118 faculty and 693 student) comments to determine perceptions of group work in the academic setting. The biggest issue noted by both groups was allocation of grades for group members. Students perceived that all students received the same grade in a group project, regardless of effort. Most faculties did not share that perception, but noted difficulties in assigning group grades as well. Faculty and students described difficulties encountered by students when working on group projects in online or distance learning settings due to limited interaction and time zone differences and/or different work schedules. Faculty …

From Enrollment To Employment: A Dacum Approach To Information Systems And Information Security And Assurance Curriculum Design, Leila Halawi, Wendi M. Kappers, Aaron Glassman

Publications

Issues associated with information security are numerous and diverse. Since the majority of organizational actions rely greatly on information and communication technologies, Information Systems (IS) security is now a main concern for firms, governments, institutes, and society as a whole. As a result, a plethora of graduate programs have been created, covering nearly every aspect of IS security. The authors review the current state of the IS industry presented in the literature, and identify a panel of IS experts in which to explore current job skill needs using a “Developing a Curriculum,” DACUM, process to support curriculum design for two …

From Enrollment To Employment: A Dacum Approach To Information Systems And Information Security And Assurance Curriculum Design, Leila Halawi, Wendi M. Kappers, Aaron Glassman

Publications

Issues associated with information security are numerous and diverse. Since the majority of organizational actions rely greatly on information and communication technologies, Information Systems (IS) security is now a main concern for firms, governments, institutes, and society as a whole. As a result, a plethora of graduate programs have been created, covering nearly every aspect of IS security. The authors review the current state of the IS industry presented in the literature, and identify a panel of IS experts in which to explore current job skill needs using a “Developing a Curriculum,” DACUM, process to support curriculum design for two …

Gaise Into The Future: Updating A Landmark Report For An Increasingly Data-Centric World, Michelle Everson, Paul Velleman, Beverly Wood, John Gabrosek, Megan Mocko, Robert Carver

Publications

Ever since its official endorsement by the American Statistical Association in 2005, the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) College Report has had a profound impact on the teaching of statistics. Now, a decade later, it is important to recognize the changing nature in what and how we teach our introductory statistics students. Changes in technology and assessment practices, just over the past 10 years, have made it possible to do new and exciting things in our courses, in very different ways than were envisioned by the authors of the original GAISE College Report. Further, our world …

Overview Of Penn State Homeland Security Programs And Its Curriculum Enhancement And Evolution Activities, Alexander Siedschlag

Publications

Program mission

• “The intercollege Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security (iMPS-HLS) degree program is designed to prepare professionals and develop leaders for the field of homeland security by providing exceptional graduate education that includes an integrated curriculum, expert faculty, and student interaction.”

Toward Developing An Academic Discipline, Tim Brady, Alan J. Stolzer

Publications

It is not often in the life of an academic or of an academic institution that circumstances coalesce to bring about a new academic discipline. But it happened recently, thus a review of the circumstances may be of interest and potentially instructive. Disciplines are typically characterized as a field of study at institutions of higher learning; they have a definable body of knowledge, scholars who contribute to that body of knowledge, teachers who teach in the field, a community of people who identify with the field, a refereed journal, are often associated with a professional practice and, in many cases, …

Implementing The Common Core’S Promise Of Bringing Statistical Curricula Into Line With Recommendations Of Nctm, Maa, & Gaise, Beverly Wood, Carl Clark

Publications

We plan to make a case for the necessity of GAISE-aligned college courses in order to prepare future teachers to teach in Common Core K-12 classrooms. Beginning with an overview of the parallel evolutions of Cobb/MAA suggestions - GAISE recommendations for teaching and NCTM process standards - Common Core mathematical practices, we will emphasize that we should be modeling what researchers continually conclude are best practices for teaching/learning across the K-16 continuum. We will provide some examples to illustrate classroom tasks that satisfy both GAISE and Common Core and hope to generate some discussion of other activities already used by …

Instituting Large Scale Change At A Research Intensive University: A Case Study, Robert Drake, James Crawford, Chad Rohrbacher

Publications

This paper uses Bolman and Deal’s four analytic frames to examine the difficulty of instituting large-scale change at one research-intensive university. In this case, the partially successful attempt to implement a new curriculum for undergraduates at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is explored. The authors theorize that if an institution is to attempt a far-reaching, innovative transformation, it must have consistent leadership and the commitment of middle managers. Otherwise well-crafted plans are doomed to meet resistance.

Gaise In Discipline-Specific Courses, Beverly Wood

Publications

While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses designed for students in a specific major, providing explicit evidence for this assumption.

The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College Report’s Goals for Students and Recommendations for Teaching are used as a framework for a qualitative study …

Students' Perceptions Of Student Evaluation Of Teaching (Set) Process, Ale J. Hejase, Rana S. Al Kaakour, Leila A. Halawi, Hussin J. Hejase

Publications

Researchers have mixed views about Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) as means to evaluate teaching where some agreed and others viewed SET as being biased. This study aims to measure students’ perceptions of the effectiveness and appropriateness of the evaluation process in Lebanon. A survey questionnaire was administered to students from five Lebanese universities. Findings revealed that students were positive and perceived the evaluation process as effective and appropriate to evaluate teaching. Students identified students’ perceptions, instructors’ behavior, and course characteristics as variables that may impact the process. Results and implications were discussed for future research.

Developing A Homeland Security Curriculum: A Case Study In Outcomes-Based Education Using The Delphi Method, Daniel Cutrer

Publications

The field of homeland security is a nascent discipline, and as such does not have a national accreditation body to promulgate a standardized, outcomes-based curriculum for future homeland security professionals seeking university degrees. This qualitative study was designed to identify a set of program-level, learning-based outcomes for an undergraduate degree in homeland security. The research project used a case study methodology to examine and validate the results of earlier studies on homeland security (HS) curriculum development. A consensus-driven, iterative Delphi technique was used to survey a purposive, convenience sample of homeland security experts to ascertain their ideas on what elements …

The Gaise College Report: The American Statistical Association Meets Sound Pedagogy In Central Virginia, Beverly Wood

Publications

Research in undergraduate statistics education often centers on the introductory course required for a large percentage of college students. While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses in various academic departments to provide explicit evidence for this assumption. The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College …

Disparities In Weather Education Across Professional Flight Baccalaureate Degree Programs, Thomas A. Guinn, Krista M. Rader, Thomas A. Guinn

Publications

The required meteorology coursework for 22 accredited professional flight baccalaureate degree programs was examined and compared. Significant differences were noted in both the number of required meteorology courses as well as the number of required meteorology credit hours. While all programs required at least one three-credit meteorology course, not all programs required an aviation-specific meteorology course. In addition to the required number of meteorology courses and credit hours, topics within the aviation-specific meteorology courses were also examined. The study showed the topics of “flight hazards” and “aviation weather reports and charts” were identified most frequently in course descriptions, followed third …

Large Scale Quality Engineering In Distance Learning Programs, Rita "Rene" Herron, Cinda Holsombach-Ebner, Alice Shomate, Kimberly Szathmary

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide serves more than 36,000 online students across the globe, many of whom are military and other non-traditional students, offering 34 undergraduate, graduate, and professional education/workforce certificate programs, presented both online and via blended delivery modes. The centralized model of online course production and management produces and maintains more than 200 high quality turnkey-style courses, including several award winners. Faculty members in partnership with an instructional design production team design worldwide courses, working together to ensure course goals and learning objectives are achieved. The more than 800 geographically dispersed faculty members are monitored and coached throughout …

Models Of Interdisciplinary Research And Service Learning At Hope College, Aaron A. Best, Matthew Dejongh, Amanda J. Barton, Jeff R. Brown, Christopher C. Barney

Publications

"Children love to explore the world around them. In doing so they are not aware of disciplinary boundaries or even of disciplines. They move freely from watching ants (biology) to building structures (engineering) to counting rocks (mathematics and geology) to seeing what things dissolve in water (chemistry). Only as they go to school do they learn that humans divide up the way we learn about the universe and start to think within disciplinary boundaries. In doing so, those children, who are now us, lose the ability to think broadly and use the insights of various ways of thinking to solve …