Education Commons^™

Technology Integration And Student Learning Motivation, Blake A. Wieking

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if there is a correlation between the use of technology in the seventh grade social studies classroom and the motivation for learning. A combination of technology enriched lessons and traditional textbook and pencil lessons were used over a period of nearly two months. Data was collected through quantitative surveys and qualitative observations and responses from students. Analysis of the data collected suggests that student motivation and joy of learning increases as technology is used in the classroom. Traditional methods of instruction were not recorded as memorable or motivational for most …

Blended Learning: Perspectives From First Time High School Instructors, Tammy Parlier

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand the transitional experiences of first time instructors, teaching a blended learning course at three separate high school sites. Blended learning is defined as inquiry that combines both face-to-face and online modalities (Halverson, Graham, Spring, & Drysdale, 2012). This unique merger between both traditional face-to-face instruction and innovative online learning creates transition and change experiences for instructors as they adapt their practice to satisfy the requirements of the blended learning environment (Guskey, 1986). Data collected through individual interviews, reflective journals, observations, and a culminating focus group interview examined these experiences in …

Education Individualized Through Technology, Rachel M. Leers

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will overview technology in the classroom and the impact as well as the potential that is has individualizing instruction in order to meet the needs of every kind of student. The thesis will consist of thorough research on the subject matter. Technology is a great tool to use for individualizing instruction as it consists of many recourses, it increases communication, increases discussion, has high availability, it is affordable, and consists of a variety of lesson plan ideas to meet the needs of each student. Individualized learning is especially important in the classroom as it increases student achievement, provides …

Flipping The Classroom: Assessment Of Strategies To Promote Student-Centered, Self-Directed Learning In A Dental School Course In Pediatric Dentistry., Brenda S Bohaty, Gloria J. Redford, Cynthia C. Gadbury-Amyot

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The aim of this study was to explore student and course director experiences with the redesign of a traditional lecture-based course into a flipped classroom for teaching didactic content in pediatric dentistry to second-year dental students. The study assessed student satisfaction, extent of student engagement, overall course grades, and course director satisfaction. The students enrolled in a flipped classroom pediatric dentistry course (spring semester 2014; SP14) were asked to complete pre- and post-course questionnaires to assess their perceptions of active learning, knowledge acquisition, and course satisfaction. The process was repeated with the class enrolled in the same course the following …

Reform And The Senior Secondary School, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

Traditional ways of thinking about learning, assessment and educational qualifications are being challenged. Professor Geoff Masters AO discusses the three challenges that a senior secondary school can expect to face.

Online Mathematics Homework Increases Student Achievement, Jeremy Roschelle, Mingyu Feng, Robert F. Murphy, Craig A. Mason

STEM Faculty Scholarship

In a randomized field trial with 2,850 seventh-grade mathematics students, we evaluated whether an educational technology intervention increased mathematics learning. Assigning homework is common yet sometimes controversial. Building on prior research on formative assessment and adaptive teaching, we predicted that combining an online homework tool with teacher training could increase learning. The online tool ASSISTments (a) provides timely feedback and hints to students as they do homework and (b) gives teachers timely, organized information about students’ work. To test this prediction, we analyzed data from 43 schools that participated in a random assignment experiment in Maine, a state that provides …

Infographics On The Brain, Rachel S. Evans

Presentations

Higher Education is often known for a certain type of learning experience in the classroom. Students expect thick books and in many areas of study, the Socratic method, but generally little in the way of visual aids. Students in other areas of study, including K-12, are increasingly benefiting from their educators using infographics in the classroom. The potential uses in higher education range from giving your course syllabus a facelift, to illustrating facts visually, and even to teaching students to create their own infographics as a practice-ready skill. This session will quickly explore why today’s students are drawn to visuals …

Efficacy And Implementation Of Automated Essay Scoring Software In Instruction Of Literacies To High Level Ells, Aaron J. Alvero

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explored the integration of automated essay scoring (AES) software into the writing curriculum for high level ESOL students (levels 3, 4, and 5 on a 1-5 scale) at a high school in Miami, Fl. Issues for Haitian Creole speaking students were also explored. The Spanish and Haitian Creole speaking students were given the option to write notes, outlines, and planning sheets in their L1.

After using AES in the middle of the writing process as a revision assistant tool, 24 students responded to a Likert Scale questionnaire. The students responded positively to the AES based on the results …

Wilderness Restoration: A Case Study Of Two Place-Based Education Programs, Carolyn Ann Albracht

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Research regarding outdoor environmental education programs for youth tends to be quantitative in nature, examining cause-and-effect relationships between program content and participants’ behavior and attitudes. Some researchers have suggested that programs that help foster an affective connection with nature in its participants may have more lasting and greater impact on participants’ pro-environmental behavior and attitudes than those that take a more cognitive approach. In other words, appealing to youth’s emotional sensibilities may go further than only teaching facts and skills about how to be better environmental stewards. In order to study these affective connections and how they might be fostered, …

Infographics On The Brain: Lightning Talk, Rachel S. Evans

Presentations

A 5 minute lightning talk discusses the benefits and potential uses for infographics in libraries.

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 …

Office Of Stem Education Annual Report 2015-2016, Uno Office Of Stem Education

Student Learning

During 2015-2016 the Office of STEM (OSTEM) Education at UNO has continued to move aggressively forward in undertaking and leading STEM Learning projects, many of which collaborate closely with several other UNO colleges and other formal and informal educational institutions. Also continuing into 2016, OSTEM is steadily transitioning to becoming more of a focused departmental organization, while the UNO STEM Leadership Team takes over more of the campus-wide STEM Priority efforts.

This report describes the TED STEM successes, ongoing efforts and challenges this last year with a direct focus on the TED and COE context, and only lightly touches on …

Stem Community Chairs Progress Updates Spring 2016, Uno Stem Leadership Team

Student Learning

The following is a brief update of the activities and efforts being undertaken by UNO’s Dr. George and Sally Haddix Community Chair of STEM Education as being held by Dr. Neal Grandgenett. The goal of this position is:

Position Goal: To organize, lead and inspire collaborative STEM initiatives at UNO, that cross colleges and disciplines, and that aggressively position UNO to be a true national leader in interdisciplinary STEM programs. (Curriculum, Capacity, Collaboration)

Relating Administrators’ Training In Technology Integration And Their Attitudes Toward Technology In Southeastern Virginia Schools, Abbie Martin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the study was to determine if there is a relationship between amount of training administrators receive in technology integration and their attitudes toward technology. Previous research has revealed a relationship between teachers’ attitudes (Shiue, 2007; Shoffner, 2009), training (Adcock, 2008; Donnell, 2009; Lei, 2009; Sadik, 2008), and actual usage of computers. However, a gap in the research exists around the role and influence of administrators’ training and attitudes on the integration technology. A quantitative correlational research design was employed to investigate three hypotheses: the relationship between training and attitude, age and attitude, and years of administrative experience …

Special Education Teachers’ Lived Experiences In The Implementation Of The Ipad As An Instructional Tool For Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Takisha Epps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

he purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of 11 special education teachers, who implemented iPads as an instructional tool for elementary students with intellectual disabilities. This study was conducted in a North Carolina school district. The theories, which guided this study were Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory and Piaget’s (1954) cognitive development theory. Within the study, one central question and three sub-questions were used to guide the study. The research questions focused on special education teachers’ experiences, as they implemented the iPad as an instructional tool for students with intellectual disabilities. To address these questions …

Collaborative Online Instruction: A Care Ethics Perspective, Colette Rabin, Grinell Smith

Faculty Publications

Isolation is often a problem in online courses. In this qualitative study, we used care ethics perspectives to design the social organization of an online course to foster the development of robust collaborative professional relationships. Redesign focused on two areas. First, we centered all assignments on complex real-world problems. Second, we used dialogic instructor-assisted self-assessment. We found that students built professional relationships through dialogue, and simultaneously produced high-quality work. The significance of this work lies in its potential to help other instructors address the challenge of helping teachers adopt collaboration as a professional disposition.

Improve Student Achievement Through The Smart Board, Jeremy Ervin

Education Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

Are You A Connected Educator?, Jeremy Ervin

Education Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

Create A Blended Learning Environment, Jeremy Ervin

Education Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

Being A Lead Learner With Ict Literacy, Jeremy Ervin

Education Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Open Hub: How Libraries Facilitate Oer, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Presentations Series

An examination of the role of libraries in the support of Open Educational Resources at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Collaborative Action Research For Middle Grades Improvement, John Matthew Downes, Penny A. Bishop, Meredith Swallow, Mark William Olofson, Susan Hennessey

Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education Publications

Technology’s rapid evolution applies constant pressure to educational organizations, suggesting a need to continually re-envision schools for the digital age. Yet educators often struggle to understand the growing chasm between students’ out-of-school and in-school technology lives. This gap is particularly noticeable during the middle grades years, when home technology use increases dramatically. The purpose of this research was to examine the experiences of teachers and students engaged in collaborative action research for middle school improvement in technology-rich settings. We begin by outlining our theoretical framework, emphasizing Fletcher’s Ladder of Student Involvement. We then describe our case-study design and methods. Findings …

On The Transformative Growth Of The Uoit Automotive Centre Of Excellence (Ace) From Industry Research To Collaborative Industry/Academic Research And Experiential Learning, Ramiro Liscano, Don Toporowski, John Komar, Gary Elfstrom

Partnerships

The Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology is a research and development facility that offers chambers and technology for thermal management and aerodynamics including structural durability and life-cycle testing. Facilities include one of the largest and most sophisticated climatic wind tunnels (CWT) on the planet. ACE is a university-owned and operated research and development facility that commenced operations in 2011. Its original mandate was focused on the research and engineering development of automotive systems with an emphasis on Industry partnerships. Over the years ACE has diversified its market sectors and increased its community …

The Mooc: Rhetoric, Political Economy And The Value Of Technological Citizenship, Tanner Mirrlees, Shahid Alvi

Teaching and Learning in a Digital Context

This paper offers a critical political-economy of the promise and disappointment of the for- profit Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in higher education. Our goal is to encourage awareness, dialogue, and reflexivity about the gap between the rhetoric and reality of the MOOC in higher education and to highlight and interrogate the persuasive and profit power interests served by “the rhetoric of the MOOC.” To this end, the first section outlines our critical approach and defines some key concepts: “the rhetoric of technology,” “the political- economy of edu-tech” and “the public sphere.” The second section highlights the MOOC’s rhetorical promises …

Examining Student And Educator Use Of Digital Technology In An Online World, Wendy Barber, Maurice Digiuseppe, Roland Van Oostveen, Todd Blayone, Jaymie Koroluk

Teaching and Learning in a Digital Context

Over the past thirty years, institutions of higher learning across the world have increasingly embraced digital technology for teaching and learning. Many institutions have begun to offer mobile, hybrid, and online courses and programs for enhanced relevance and accessibility. Universities and colleges employ digital technology through learning management systems for maintaining and processing educational information/records, offering blended/hybrid learning using asynchronous online student/instructor interaction and collaboration, and web conferencing software for synchronous and asynchronous virtual classroom functionality. Thus, it is critical for us to gain a better understanding the nature of these technological changes and the factors affecting the online realities …

The Evolution Of A Stakeholder Model For Dit As It Enters A Merger Of Three Institutes Of Technology In Terms Of Policy Definition And Control Of Implementation, Deborah Brennan

System and Institutional Design and Transformation

As the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) prepares to amalgamate with the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) and Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT) in advance of becoming a technical university, we present a comparison of stakeholder research from 2008 and 2016, questioning how DIT might become better able to respond to the radically changing environment it faces. Using the McNay Model and Fourth Generation Evaluation, we consider the views of two groups of DIT stakeholders on the best model for change. In both years, it was felt that the entrepreneurial university model from the USA was unlikely to be successful, …

Curriculum Re-Definitions And Transformations: Spinning On New Axes Within The Technological University, David Irwin

Outcomes in Higher Education

Within a technological university there is an understanding of the kind of education students should possess on graduation. A primary consideration in such an institution is the requirement to "transmit knowledge and universal values and, at the same time, to contribute to the cultural, economic and social development of the local societies that they serve and that support them". This paper explores how a curriculum can be (re)shaped in a technological university context to address this requirement. This paper develops and examines a possible pathway to progress the establishment of a portfolio of academic programmes within the context of establishing …

Mr. Brown Can Moo(Ve)...Can You? (Make Our Organization Viable Electronically), Stephanie Mccabe

Center for Innovative Leadership Development Summer Seminar Presentations

This session will provide participants with an understanding of the importance of curriculum leaders who are willing to innovate through technology for the future of their organ-zations. Using the work of Michael Fullan, Eric Schlesinger, and James Spillane, among others, we will inquire into the uses of social media (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), Web 2.0 apps (i.e. podcasts, VoiceThreads, Animoto, Padlet, Edmodo), as well as collaborative online tools (i.e. Google Drive, Dropbox, blogging platforms). We will explore how these tools not only help leaders disseminate important information for our particular communities, as well as stay up-to-date with research, but also …

“Think Bigger About Science”: Using Twitter For Learning In The Middle Grades, Ryan Liss Becker, Penny Bishop

Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education Publications

This article examines the use of Twitter as a learning tool in a middle grades science classroom. Relevant research, the direct experience of the teacher leading this unique initiative, and the invaluable perspectives of his middle level students are included to inform interested stakeholders. Following a discussion of open versus closed digital environments, a rationale for why open forms of social media, like Twitter, can be appropriate for middle grades students is explored. The ways in which one author integrates Twitter into his teaching is then described before student outcomes are explained, including the voices and perspectives of students themselves. …

Cultural Relativism, Emergent Technology And Aboriginal Health Discourse, Kishan A. Kariippanon

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The incorporation of mobile phones and social media by Indigenous youth (Senior and Chenhall, 2016; Carlson, Farelli, Frazer & Brothwick, 2015; Kral, 2014) has prompted a migration of online engagement and social marketing interventions in health promotion programs according to Brusse, Gardner, MacAulley & Dowden (2014). According to Kral (2014 p. 4) “the rapid development of new information and communication technologies, an increase in affordable, small mobile technologies” including research by Taylor (2012) on the increase in Telstra’s Internet enabled ‘Next G’ connections over the vast remote regions in the Northern Territory of Australia, has created “an explosion of new …