Education Commons^™

A Historical Perspective Of Employee Engagement: An Emerging Definition, Michael Schuck, Karen Wollard

Michael Schuck

This paper explores the development of employee engagement through a historical perspective lens. Using a structured literature review, seminal works are identified and reviewed. A working definition is proposed.

Dewitt Wallace Library Annual Report 2013-2014, Teresa Fishel, Aaron Albertson, Jacquelyn Betsworth, Dave Collins, Angi Faiks, Katy Gabrio, Virginia Heinrich, Beth Hillemann, Ron Joslin, Jesse Sawyer

Angi Faiks

Summary of library and media services activities for 2013-2014

Leveraging Resources Across Units And Universities To Address Academic Literacies And Research Skills In Ontario Graduate Students, Melanie Mills, Elan Paulson

Melanie Mills

Students' Demand For Diverse Faculty Is A Demand For A Better Education, Tanya Washington

Tanya Monique Washington

No abstract provided.

Equipping Students For Life After School, Geoff Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Identifying and developing the knowledge, skills and attributes required for life and work is an ongoing challenge in school education.

Sharing The Assessment Reform Story, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

A new web-based resource is chronicling the experiences of schools as they undertake assessment reform.

Diving Deeper With Assessment, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

ACER is helping educators to understand and implement assessment practices for positive classroom change and improved learning.

Sedentary Behavior And Related Factors Among Full-Time, University Faculty, Mary Keenan, Anna Greer

Anna E. Greer

Purpose - Sedentary behavior, independent of physical activity, is a risk factor for both morbidity and mortality. Little is known about factors related to sedentary behavior. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between sedentary behavior and the demographic characteristics, perceived physical activity (PA) environment, and PA behaviors of 72 full-Time, university faculty members. Design/methodology/approach - For this cross-sectional study, data were collected online using Survey Monkey®. Findings - Participants spent an average of 473 and 328 minutes/weekend day in sedentary activity. There was a positive correlation between minutes spent in vigorous PA and minutes spent sedentary …

What Students Think And How They Really Perform In Chemistry, Ross Hudson

Dr Ross Hudson

This research was part of a larger study into student performance in senior chemistry with regard to question type and content. This paper examines student perceptions about question type and context and compares these perceptions to actual performance. How students perceive different types of questions and how it influences their self-belief and motivation were the focus of this study. Student responses to different styles or types of questions have been well researched over time. In this study Year 11 chemistry students were quizzed about their preferences to Multiple-Choice questions and Open Response question types and how the presence of each …

Book Review Of Sustainable Knowledge: A Theory Of Interdisciplinarity. December 2015. Journal Of Higher Education Outreach And Engagement 19(4): 219-222., Danielle Lake

Danielle L Lake

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2014, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Eveline Gebhardt, John Ainley

Dr John Ainley

Literacy in information and communication technology (ICT) is critical to students as they progress through schooling and enter a world in which information technology will be ubiquitous. Work, health care, family finances, learning and social interaction will all depend on competence in ICT. To assess progress in this crucial part of student learning, ACARA conducts a National Assessment Program (NAP) aimed at measuring ICT literacy. Every three years since 2005, a sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students from across Australia have been tested to determine their ICT knowledge, understanding and skills and their ability to use ICT creatively, …

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2014, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Eveline Gebhardt, John Ainley

Dr Wolfram Schulz

Literacy in information and communication technology (ICT) is critical to students as they progress through schooling and enter a world in which information technology will be ubiquitous. Work, health care, family finances, learning and social interaction will all depend on competence in ICT. To assess progress in this crucial part of student learning, ACARA conducts a National Assessment Program (NAP) aimed at measuring ICT literacy. Every three years since 2005, a sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students from across Australia have been tested to determine their ICT knowledge, understanding and skills and their ability to use ICT creatively, …

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Years 6 & 10 Report 2014, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Eveline Gebhardt, John Ainley

Julian Fraillon

Literacy in information and communication technology (ICT) is critical to students as they progress through schooling and enter a world in which information technology will be ubiquitous. Work, health care, family finances, learning and social interaction will all depend on competence in ICT. To assess progress in this crucial part of student learning, ACARA conducts a National Assessment Program (NAP) aimed at measuring ICT literacy. Every three years since 2005, a sample of Year 6 and Year 10 students from across Australia have been tested to determine their ICT knowledge, understanding and skills and their ability to use ICT creatively, …

Assessing The Intended Participation Of Young Adolescents As Future Citizens, John Ainley, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon

Julian Fraillon

In many Western countries there is concern about the level of participation of their citizens in civic life and the apparent lack of interest and involvement among young people in public and political life (Curtice & Seyd, 2003). The development of knowledge, understanding, skills, and dispositions that prepare young people to comprehend the world, hold productive employment, and be informed active citizens are among the characteristics that educational systems, schools, and teachers value and attempt to foster. However, countries vary in the status accorded to civic and citizenship education as part of school education and the relative importance of developing …

Strategies For Preserving Maine's Collection In Print, Matthew Revitt

Matthew I Revitt

Adventures In Assessment: Lib100 @ Clemson University, Anne Grant

Anne Grant

See presentation description.

Growing Thinking Christians: An Investigation Of The Outcomes Of Christian Education, Patty Leblanc, Patty Slaughter

Patty LeBlanc

This investigation compared the influence of public and Christian high schools on the spiritual formation and academic achievement of college students. Recent high school graduates who attend a private, liberal arts university in the southeastern United States responded to an online survey and interview questions related to the influence of one's high school experience on spiritual formation and academic achievement. Significant differences were found between high school type and the type of problems faced by students and teachers, students' ability to intelligently defend their faith, and students' perceived ability to function in a diverse world.

Place-Based Design Education: A Pedagogy For Classroom And Community-Based Civic Participation [Book Chapter], J. Mathews, Jeremiah I. Holden

Remi Holden

No abstract provided.

Games, Ethics, And Engagement: Potential Consequences Of Game Design And Gameplay [Book Chapter], S. Sibenthal Adams, Jeremiah I. Holden

Remi Holden

No abstract provided.

Exploring Faculty Decision-Making Processes For Using Instructional Technology In The Classroom: Implications For Policy And Practice, Matthew T. Hora, Jeremiah I. Holden

Remi Holden

Given the primacy of instructional technology in today’s college classroom, it is important to understand how faculty use these tools, especially how they adapt specific tools to meet the unique needs of particular faculty or instructional situations. Instructional designers and policymakers face the challenge of introducing innovations into established patterns of tool use and educational practice. As a result, when interventions are designed and implemented without a working understanding of existing practices and workplace conditions, incompatibilities between the demands of the innovation and the constraints of the local setting may result. Instructional designers need robust accounts of local practice, which …

How Can Teachers Use Video Games To Teach Their Students Mathematics?, Jeremiah I. Holden, C. Williams

Remi Holden

Imagine a veteran mathematics educator eager to refine her practice. Alternatively, what of the first-year teacher confident in her ability to adapt new technologies to communicate, problem-solve, and share information. How might either identify what makes video games and gameplay effective in a mathematics classroom? What are the advantages of game-based learning in contrast to more traditional instructional strategies, and can pitfalls be avoided, successes recognized, and challenges mitigated? We recommend:

• Investigating online resources and communities, including GameDesk's Educade , Common Sense Media's Graphite , MinecraftEdu , and Playful Learning to find teacher-recommended games;
• Playing game demos, envisioning how students' …

Priorities And Pathways For Civic Caucusing: The Michigan Student Caucus, Jeremiah I. Holden, Jeff Stanzler, Michael Fahy, Jeff Kupperman

Remi Holden

No abstract provided.

Gameful Learning As A Way Of Being, Jeremiah I. Holden, Jeff Kupperman, Aviva Dorfman, Tim Saunders, Amanda Pratt, Pagan Mackay

Remi Holden

As a variation on game-based learning, we propose the concept of 'gameful learning' as a framework that encourages improvisation, playfulness, and social interaction, and which takes into account the unique contingencies of individual people and specific content. We describe gameful learning in terms of three elements: attitude, identity, and ignorance. Three cases of gameful learning are examined across diverse learning environments: a fourth grade science class studying matter, a secondary world history class studying the Middle Ages, and an educational technology graduate programme. Cross-case analysis reveals how gameful learning elements relate to attitudes of agency and social necessity, becoming a …

Exploring The Role Of Instructional Technology In Course Planning And Classroom Teaching: Implications For Pedagogical Reform, Matthew T. Hora, Jeremiah I. Holden

Remi Holden

Instructional technology plays a key role in many teaching reform efforts at the postsecondary level, yet evidence suggests that faculty adopt these technology-based innovations in a slow and inconsistent fashion. A key to improving these efforts is to understand local practice and use these insights to design more locally attuned interventions. This exploratory study draws on systems-of-practice theory from distributed cognition research to provide a framework for producing comprehensive accounts of technology use. This account includes three components: (a) awareness of the local resource base for instructional technology, (b) decision-making processes regarding tool use, and (c) actual classroom use of …

Fostering Preservice Teachers' "Nature Of Science" Understandings In A Physics Course, Ehsan Kattoula, Geeta Verma, Lisa Martin-Hansen

Geeta Verma

In this paper, the authors examine an algebra-based physics course designed for preservice teachers and explore how the course integrated two pedagogical strategies to bridge the gap between inquiry-learning experiences and the teachers' nature of science (NOS) understandings. The results of this research show that the explicit, reflective process allowed participants to examine their NOS understandings, which thereby fostered changes in their understanding.

Examining The Mediation Of Power In A Collaborative Community: Engaging In Informal Science As Authentic Practice, Anton Puvirajah, Geeta Verma, Horace Webb

Geeta Verma

Focusing on the interplay of context and language, this study examined a group of high school students and their mentors’ use of language during a robotics competition. This informal setting allowed us to gain insights into the mediation and manifestation of power within the group. Using critical discourse analysis of competition transcripts and interviews we found that both students and mentors felt a sense of ownership and community leading to symmetry in power amongst them. The shift in power led to greater student ownership and agency and created a space for authentic and meaningful science learning. The context of the …

Enacting Acts Of Authentication In A Robotics Competition: An Interpretivist Study, Geeta Verma, Anton Puvirajah, Horace Webb

Geeta Verma

While the science classroom primarily remains a site for knowledge acquisition through teacher directed experiences, other sites exist outside of the classroom that allow for student generation of scientific knowledge. These sites provide opportunities for linguistic and social interactions to play a powerful role in situating students' science learning experiences. Augmenting students' formal school science experiences with informal experiences outside of the classroom enables them to intersect their personal knowledge with canonical disciplinary knowledge. This allows for conditions of practice that are more relevant to the students. In this study we introduce the notion of acts of authentication to examine …

Embracing Learner’S Ideas About Diffusion And Osmosis: A Coupled-Inquiry Approach, Ryan Sweeney, Lisa Martin-Hansen, Geeta Verma, John Dunkhase

Geeta Verma

Learning about osmosis and diffusion is often a challenging task for middle school students. Here the authors present a lesson that was converted from a “cookbook” lab (McLaughlin and Thompson 2007) into a more inquiry-oriented lab that uses inquiry teaching strategies and hands-on investigations to teach middle-grade students about osmosis and diffusion.

Emerging Issues And Trends In International Curriculum Discourse: Theoretical, Philosophical, And Pedagogical Positions, Issaou Gado, Geeta Verma

Geeta Verma

Internationalization of curriculum discourse (ICD), one of the most important issues in the curriculum field, can mean different things to different scholars. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe curriculum scholars' perception of the internationalization of curriculum discourse and investigate emerging issues and trends. Participants were eight curriculum scholars selected from Africa, Europe, and the United States of America. Data were collected through e-mail conversations and interviews. The findings showed that ICD might not only bring opportunities to collaborate, openness to diversity, inclusion of multiple voices, expansions of knowledge, and collaboration on various projects, but also concerns …

Wind Solvers: A Conventional Wind Vane Activity Becomes An Opportunity For Problem Solving, Ryan Sweeney, Geeta Verma, Lisa Martin-Hansen

Geeta Verma

Weather happens all around us every day. Students can take for granted the different elements of the weather that they experience. Measuring real weather provides a nice opportunity for data collection and problem solving when students work to create a procedure before they gather data. It is also a powerful way to get students to notice the weather. As we collaboratively created a unit on weather and taught it in a fourth-grade classroom, we took the common activity of having students construct a wind vane a step further. In this lesson, the data collection process is changed from a "cookbook …