Education Commons^™

Exploring Student Perceptions Of Flipgrid In Online Courses, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Asynchronous video-based discussions have affordances that can address some of the constraints of asynchronous text-based discussions. However, little research has been conducted on the use of asynchronous video-based discussions in online courses. As a result, the purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate students’ perceptions of using Flipgrid for asynchronous video-based discussions in fully online courses. We used a cross-sectional survey design to survey 79 students who used Flipgrid in a fully online course. Students overall reported that they liked using Flipgrid, it was easy to use, and that it helped improve social presence. In this paper, we will …

Transforming Study Abroad: A Handbook [Book Review], Heidi Fischer

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

In her new handbook, Transforming Study Abroad: A Handbook (2019), Doerr takes the discourse surrounding several education abroad concepts in a new direction. She emphasizes the need for a rigorous theoretical framework throughout the education abroad experience for students to successfully process their experiences while studying abroad. Transforming Study Abroad is a well researched and practical handbook that includes sample questions for students to consider that can be used in various settings, such as in one-on-one meetings with administrators, in small group discussions, or during orientation sessions. Additionally, the book could lend itself as a textbook for a reflection-based education …

The Forgotten Students: Covid-19 Response For Youth And Young Adults Aging Out Of Foster Care, Mauriell H. Amechi

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

[First paragraph]

In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic upended American higher education and shuttered campus doors across the country. As the opening vignette illustrates, many college students reported severe housing and food insecurities as a result. Nevertheless, not all college students experienced COVID-19’s effects and consequences equally. For example, Ivory, a current student enrolled at Concordia University Texas who spent 17 years in foster care, illuminated some of the difficulties she has personally faced in the wake of COVID-19. College students impacted by foster care make up approximately 5% of all undergraduates, and many are struggling to have their basic …

Career Pathways Program Annual Report, 2019-2020, Wie Yusuf

Career Pathways

Career Pathways launched in August 2017 as the university-wide initiative to provide graduate student professional development. It encompasses both the Preparing Future Faculty program and the Preparing Future Professionals Certificates. The Preparing Future Faculty Certificate was an existing program, started in 2007, while the Preparing Future Professionals Certificate was launched in 2017 concurrently with Career Pathways. The Career Pathways program prepares graduate students for successful transition into thriving careers. With the Preparing Future Professionals Certificate, specifically, the emphasize has been on filling the existing gap in career and professional development for master’s students and doctoral students with career plans outside …

Enhancing Teamwork Skills Through An Interdisciplinary Engineering Service Learning Collaboration, Pilar Pazos, Francisco Cima, Jennifer Kidd, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando Ayala, Kristie Gutierrez, Krishnanand Kaipa

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research paper is to explore whether participation in an interdisciplinary collaboration program partnering Preservice Teachers (PST) and Undergraduate Engineering Students (UES) results in an increase in teamwork effectiveness. The interdisciplinary collaboration was designed as a service-learning project within existing undergraduate programs that included the development and delivery of engineering content to a K-12 audience. The collaborations were integrated into existing courses in two colleges, engineering and education. The Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) version of the Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME) was used midway and at the end of the project to evaluate teamwork …

What Do Undergraduate Engineering Students And Preservice Teachers Learn By Collaborating And Teaching Engineering And Coding Through Robotics?, Jennifer Jill Kidd, Krishnanand Kaipa, Samuel J. Jacks, Stacie I. Ringleb, Pilar Pazos, Kristie Gutierrez, Orlando M. Ayala, Lillian Maria De Souza Almeida

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This research paper presents preliminary results of an NSF-supported interdisciplinary collaboration between undergraduate engineering students and preservice teachers. The fields of engineering and elementary education share similar challenges when it comes to preparing undergraduate students for the new demands they will encounter in their profession. Engineering students need interprofessional skills that will help them value and negotiate the contributions of various disciplines while working on problems that require a multidisciplinary approach. Increasingly, the solutions to today's complex problems must integrate knowledge and practices from multiple disciplines and engineers must be able to recognize when expertise from outside their field can …

Design A Class Infusion Project Of Asme Geometric Dimensioning And Tolerancing Standard, Cheng Y. Lin, Hamid Eisazadeh, Alok K. Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper describes the development of a short course of Geometric Dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) for Mechanical Engineering (ME)/Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) students in their freshman/sophomore classes. This class-infusion project was assisted and validated by an ASME Standards and Certification Engineer and was jointly sponsored by the ASME Committee on Engineering Education and the ASME Council on Standards and Certification. To assess the performance of the project, an instrument was developed with multiple-choice problems and survey questions for the students. The results of a field test in a sophomore manufacturing class are presented. The module is available at the ASME …

Work-In-Progress: Augmented Reality System For Vehicle Health Diagnostics And Maintenance, Yuzhong Shen, Anthony W. Dean, Rafael Landaeta

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper discusses undergraduate research to develop an augmented reality (AR) system for diagnostics and maintenance of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) employed by U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. The JLTV’s diagnostic information will be accessed by attaching a Bluetooth adaptor (Ford Reference Vehicle Interface) to JLTV’s On-board diagnostics (OBD) system. The proposed AR system will be developed for mobile devices (Android and iOS tablets and phones) and it communicates with the JLTV’s OBD via Bluetooth. The AR application will contain a simplistic user interface that reads diagnostic data from the JLTV, shows vehicle sensors, and allows users …

The First Year Of An Undergraduate Service Learning Partnership To Enhance Engineering Education And Elementary Pre-Service Teacher Education, Stacie I. Ringleb, Jennifer Kidd, Pilar Pazos, Kristie Gutierrez, Orlando Ayala, Krishnanand Kaipa

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This IUSE project was designed to address three major challenges faced by undergraduate engineering students (UES) and pre-service teachers (PSTs): 1) retention for UESs after the first year, and continued engagement when they reach more difficult concepts, 2) to prepare PSTs to teach engineering, which is a requirement in the Next Generation Science Standards as well as many state level standards of learning, and 3) to prepare both groups of students to communicate and collaborate in a multi-disciplinary context, which is a necessary skill in their future places of work. This project was implemented in three pairs of classes: 1) …

Advising The Online Student: A Breakout Of Advising Frequency, Preferences, And Satisfaction Of Online Students, Maeghen Macdonald, Brittani Wyskocil Garcia

University Administration Publications

This breakout study reviews the findings of a 2017 study of Penn State University's World Campus undergraduate online students. The study surveyed students to report demographic, academic, preferences, and satisfaction information and sought to develop relationships between these variables by their levels of academic success. This breakout study focuses on the findings related to three of the study's variables: academic advising frequency, interaction preference, and satisfaction of undergraduate online students.

S-Stem Becoming Engaged Engineering Scholars (Bees): Insights From Year 1, Sura Alqudah, Elizabeth Litzler, Joseph Arthur Brobst, Jill Davishahl, Andrew G. Klein

Office of Research Faculty & Staff Publications

The Becoming Engaged Engineering Scholars (BEES) is an NSF S-STEM project that responds to the challenges in recruiting and retaining academically talented, low-income students from diverse backgrounds into undergraduate engineering programs. The new, ABET-accredited engineering programs at Western Washington University (WWU) have faced unique challenges in recruitment and retention, particularly in the first two years for pre-engineering students. Building on the success of prior S-STEM awards in other disciplines at WWU, the proposed program provides a systematic sequence of academic, social, and career support services specifically designed to enhance the success of engineering students during these first two years of …

New Possibilities For Field Experiences: Learning In Practice In A University Writing Center, Michelle Fowler-Amato

English Faculty Publications

In this article, I discuss an initiative to support preservice and practicing English language arts teachers in their growth as teachers of writers through a field experience in a university writing center. In addition, I highlight how I modified these plans when our campus transitioned to online teaching and learning in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Demonstrating how teachers grew, despite the challenges we faced, I argue the importance of teacher educators considering new possibilities for field-based teaching learning, particularly during a time in which preservice teachers may have limited access to learning in practice in K-12 schools.

A Framework To Support Interdisciplinary Engagement With Learning Analytics, Stephanie J. Blackmon, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Learning analytics can provide an excellent opportunity for instructors to get an in-depth understanding of students’ learning experiences in a course. However, certain technological challenges, namely limited availability of learning analytics data because of learning management system restrictions, can make accessing this data seem impossible at some institutions. Furthermore, even in cases where instructors have access to a range of student data, there may not be organized efforts to support students across various courses and university experiences. In the current chapter, the authors discuss the issue of learning analytics access and ways to leverage learning analytics data between instructors, and …

Introduction: The Politics, Praxis, And Performativity Of Teacher Neutrality, Daniel P. Richards

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Full Disclosure / Now What?, Daniel P. Richards

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Technology Fatigue Of Faculty In Higher Education, Colleen Halupa, Doris U. Bolliger

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The study investigated technology fatigue in instructors employed at three universities located in the United States. Instructors at three private institutions of higher learning located in two states were invited to complete an online survey that was developed by the researchers. Technology fatigue was operationalized as technology-use related stress (technostress) and frequent change in technology (change fatigue). A total of 171 valid responses were received from participants during a four-week period. Results show that they experienced moderate levels of technology fatigue. No statistically significant differences in responses were found based on the two types of learning environments (campus-based and online). …

Writing The Rainbow: Facilitating Undergraduate Teacher Candidates’ Lgbtqia+ Allyship Through Multimodal Writing, Judith Dunkerly-Bean, Julia Morris, Valerie Taylor

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This yearlong qualitative descriptive case study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of education faculty with pre-service elementary teacher candidates sought to disrupt heteronormativity and to increase candidates’ awareness and preparedness for inclusivity with future LGBTQIA+ elementary students. Central to our findings was that in researching and authoring multimodal texts addressing topics and concerns faced by the LGBTQIA+ community for their future classrooms, there was a shift in the perceptions and preparedness of the candidates toward working with children identifying as LGBTQIA+. However, we also encountered resistance and/or apathy that led us to develop an analytical framework for disrupting teacher candidate …

Was It Worth It? Using Student Loans To Finance A College Degree, William L. Nuckols, Kim E. Bullington, Dennis E. Gregory

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This qualitative study explores the perceptions of value added to the lives of graduates who borrowed money to fund their college educations. Through the lens of cognitive dissonance theory, five themes emerged. Overall, the study participants agreed that the ability to take on student loans to fund their education was worth it, but on the other hand feel overburdened with the cost of paying back their loans. This paper also provides a foundation for future research and identifies public policy shortcomings and suggests solutions.

Combined Cognitive-Motivational Modules Delivered Via An Lms Increase Undergraduate Biology Grades, Jennifer Cromley, Tony Perez, Avi Kaplan, Ting Dai, Kyle Mara, Michael J. Balsai

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Students’ success in undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses requires effective studying behavior, but also the motivation to enact it. Promoting students’ achievement in STEM has commonly focused on either study strategies (cognitive) or motivational interventions; we hypothesized that combinations of these would be more effective. Using a learning management system (LMS) for delivery, we iteratively developed and tested the effect of different combinations of one of the four cognition-focused with one of the three motivation-focused intervention modules. Participants were 3,092 undergraduate introductory biology students tested in 10 studies at three universities over 4 years. They were randomly …

Guiding Students To Success: A Systematic Review Of Research On Guided Notes As An Instructional Strategy From 2009-2019, Bryan Biggers, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Guided notes were introduced decades ago, but there is still debate over their efficacy in improving student outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine peer-reviewed research on guided notes for adult learners in general populations since 2009, understanding the effects of guided notes on student learning, the knowledge and content areas supported by guided notes, and the impact of modality. Results of the 22 included studies indicate that students perceive guided notes in a positive light, and guided notes improve results in certain knowledge domains especially with complex content. However, modality does not influence the efficacy of guided …

Pre-Service School Librarians' Perceptions Of Research Librarians' Perceptions Of Research Pedagogy: An Exploratory Study, Jeffrey Discala, Elizabeth A. Burns, Sue C. Kimmel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This article is an exploratory study of graduate-level instruction on research designs and methods for pre-service school librarians (PSSLs). Using a focus group of one cohort of PSSLs, we examine students' perceptions of understanding research methods, course content and delivery, and self-reported application of new knowledge from a sequence of two graduate research courses in a Master's degree program. Findings indicate increased appreciation and understanding of the research process among participants and the ability to integrate the research findings of others into their own practice, while also indicating little or no confidence in their own abilities to conduct research in …

Opportunities In Manufacturing Of Advanced Materials For Second Career-Seeking Students, Oleksandr Kravchenko, Konstantin Cigularov, Tancy J. Vandecar-Burdin

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Many non-traditional students face similar challenges including lack of institutional support network, challenges to connecting with other students on campus, which may negatively affect degree persistence rates. The lack of financial support has been acknowledged nationwide as a barrier for STEM students including second-career seeking (SCS) students. The term career is defined as an occupation or course, which relates to a range of aspects of an individual’s life, learning and work and is undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress. We target academically talented SCS students at Old Dominion University (ODU) with demonstrated …

Understanding The Demands And Resources For Academic Success Of Second-Career Undergraduate Engineering Students As Compared To Traditional Undergraduate And Graduate Engineering Students, Oleksandr Kravchenko, Konstantin Cigularov, Phillip J. Dillulio

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Environmental and personal demands and resources can significantly affect the academic success and degree persistence rates of engineering students. The present study adopted a demands and resources conceptual framework to identify and compare the most critical demands and resources, both internal and external, for academic success and well-being of traditional and second career undergraduate students, as well as graduate engineering students. Participants in the current study were 342 engineering students, who completed an anonymous, online survey with 57 items for a 17.1% response rate. They were predominantly white (63.4%) and male (73.4%), with an average age of 25.85 years old …