Education Commons^™

Animated Database Courseware: Using Animations To Extend Conceptual Understanding Of Database Concepts, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes

Faculty and Research Publications

Teaching abstract concepts can be best supported with supplemental instructional materials such as software animations. Visualization and animations have been shown to increase student motivation and help students develop deeper understandings. Through an NSF funded CCLI grant, a set of animations to support the teaching of database concepts is being developed and made freely available. Current modules available cover areas such as database design, interactive SQL, stored procedures and triggers, transactions and database security. In this paper, we provide an overview of the Animated Database Courseware (ADbC) as well as provide examples of how this software might be utilized in …

An Exploratory Overview Of Teaching Computer Game Development, Mario Guimaraes, Meg C. Murray

Faculty and Research Publications

The computer game industry has exploded reaching sales of several billion dollars a year and, consequently, a majority of college students are familiar with the gaming environment. In fact, videogame development has been cited as one way to motivate students to explore the world of Computer Science. However, most videogames are extremely complex computer programs created by a team of developers including programmers and graphic artists and represent thousands of hours of work. Fortunately there are software tools available that provide a way for simple computer games to be created fairly easily using a building block approach. This paper discusses …

Inst5245 - Interactive Multimedia Production, Summer, 2008, Andrew Walker

Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences - OCW

This course uses Flash CS3 (Flash 9)/Actionscript 3.0. You may also be interested in INST 5270, which uses Flash 8/Actionscript 2.0.

This course familiarizes students with Macromedia Flash. Topics to be covered include fundamental programming concepts (variables, variable types, code re-use, commenting code, and basic control structures) in addition to the fundamentals of the flash environment (animation or “tweening”, vector graphics, use of sound and video). Students finishing this course will have at least one completed fully functional Flash project for their portfolios demonstrating a strong knowledge of the tool and a good foundation in the ActionScript language as the …

Teacher As Designer: A Framework For Teacher Analysis Of Mathematical Model-Eliciting Activities, Margret A. Hjalmarson, Heidi Diefes-Dux

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

The study investigated tool development by three middle school mathematics teachers. The tools they designed were intended to support the use of model-eliciting activities (a form of instruction related to problem-based learning) and particularly the students’ presentations of their solutions for the whole class. The study examined the design and purposes for the presentation tools and resulted in a framework for categorizing teachers’ purposes for tools.The framework addressed the unit of analysis for the tools (individual students or groups of students) and the nature of teachers’ purposes for the tools. Design research was used as a theoretical perspective for conducting …

Authentic Field Experiences: The Design Of Complex Web-Based Tasks, Janice A. Herrington, Gwyn J. Brickell

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

For students in todays society the learning environment has been extended to provide a range of educational opportunities from excursion venues such as museums to outdoor settings such as field study centres, often supported with the use of information and communication technologies. Such contexts encourage students to engage and participate in the learning process in developing a range of skills, often associated with problem-based learning, that look at the complex relationship between evidence, ideas and the impacts on society in a range of situations. In this paper we describe the development of a web-based educational program that incorporates current knowledge …

On Providing Engineering Students With Ministry And Culturally-Appropriate Design Experiences In Developing Countries, Lawrence D. Zavodney, Thomas J. Thompson, Ray Hutchison

Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Academic institutions are encouraged to instill "the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context." This paper summarizes the structural, planning, and logistical aspects of offering senior-level capstone and underclass extra-curricular design projects targeted for developing countries. These projects engage the students in year-long design and fabrication, and culminate in taking students to foreign soil for delivery and installation. The necessary infrastructure and culture at the academic institution, relationships with appropriate intermediaries, and the role of a receptive national host that needs engineering services are identified. The goal is to continue an on-going collaborative relationship that takes students …

Educational Handheld Video: Examining Shot Composition, Graphic Design, And Their Impact On Learning, Jason Hutchens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Formal features of video such as shot composition and graphic design can weigh heavily on the success or failure of educational videos. Many studies have assessed the proper use of these techniques given the psychological expectations that viewers have for video programming (Hawkins et al., 2002; Kenny, 2002; Lang, Zhou, Schwardtz, Bolls, & Potter, 2000; McCain, Chilberg, & Wakshlag, 1977; McCain & Repensky, 1972; Miller, 2005; Morris, 1984; Roe, 1998; Schmitt, Anderson, & Collins, 1999; Sherman & Etling, 1991; Tannenbaum & Fosdick, 1960; Wagner, 1953). This study examined formal features within the context of the newly emerging distribution method of …

Model-Centered Instruction, The Design, And The Designer, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii

Faculty Publications

A model of instruction described by Wenger (1987) identifies three elements that are active during instruction: the mental model the instructor wishes to share with the learner, the external experience used to communicate the mental model, and the evolving mental model of the learner. Gibbons (2003a), writing in response to Seel (2003), noted this three-part description as a bridge concept relating learning and instruction. This view has important practical implications for designers of instruction. For example, Gibbons and Rogers (in press) propose that there exists a natural layered architecture within instructional designs that corresponds with instructional functions. Among these layers …

Learning Design: Concepts, Susan J. Bennett, Rob Koper

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

Crucial in any learning process are the activities that learners undertake: reading, thinking, discussing, exploring, problem solving, etc. When learners are passive you cannot expect them to learn much. The primary role of any instructional agent, whether it is a teacher, the learners themselves or a computer, is to stimulate the performance of learning activities that will gradually result in the attainment of the learning objectives. The instructional agent defines the tasks, provides the contexts and resources to perform the tasks, supports the learner during task performance and provides feedback about the results. The learning activities that are needed to …

On Providing Engineering Students With Culturally-Appropriate Design Experiences In Developing Countries, Thomas J. Thompson, Lawrence D. Zavodney

Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Academic institutions are encouraged to instill "the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context." This paper summarizes the structural, planning, and logistical aspects of offering senior-level capstone and underclass extra-curricular design projects targeted for developing countries. These projects engage the students in year-long design and fabrication, and culminate in taking students to foreign soil for delivery and installation. The necessary infrastructure and culture at the academic institution, relationships with appropriate intermediaries, and the role of a receptive national host that needs engineering services are identified. The goal is to continue an on-going collaborative relationship that takes students …