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2015

Other Education

The University of Southern Mississippi

Articles 1 - 14 of 14

Full-Text Articles in Education

Identities And Motives Of Naturalist Development Program Attendees And Their Relation To Professional Careers, Jennifer A. Mraz Dec 2015

Identities And Motives Of Naturalist Development Program Attendees And Their Relation To Professional Careers, Jennifer A. Mraz

Dissertations

In recent years, there has been much concern over the decline of biologists who actually identify themselves to be naturalists, which negatively impacts the field of conservation and the study of biology as a whole. This could result in a decrease in individuals who participate in naturalist-like activities, such as informal environmental education and environmental volunteerism. The purpose of my study was to determine what discourse identities were held by naturalist development program participants, how these discourse identities related to their volunteer motives in environmental settings, and how discourse identity related to professional careers. I defined identity through the lens …

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Digital Justice: An Exploratory Study Of Digital Activism Actions On Twitter, Damien Sánchez Dec 2015

Digital Justice: An Exploratory Study Of Digital Activism Actions On Twitter, Damien Sánchez

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This paper employs learning analytics to determine the relationships between digital activism action categories. Organizing that took place on Twitter in response to the shooting death of Tony Robinson, an African American teenager, was guided by the digital activism typology developed by Penney and Dadas (2014). The results yielded a positive correlation between seeking connections with activists and providing face-to-face updates from protests, which suggests people who seek connections with activists are likely to participate in live protests. Forwarding Information and Facilitating Online Actions were found to be negatively correlated with all other study variables. These findings lead to the …

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Applying Data Mining Methods To Understand User Interactions Within Learning Management Systems: Approaches And Lessons Learned, Ji Eun Lee, Mimi M. Recker, Hongkyu Choi, Won Joon Hong, Nam Ju Kim, Kyumin Lee, Mason Lefler, John Louviere, Andrew Walker Dec 2015

Applying Data Mining Methods To Understand User Interactions Within Learning Management Systems: Approaches And Lessons Learned, Ji Eun Lee, Mimi M. Recker, Hongkyu Choi, Won Joon Hong, Nam Ju Kim, Kyumin Lee, Mason Lefler, John Louviere, Andrew Walker

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This article describes our processes for analyzing and mining the vast records of instructor and student usage data collected by a learning management system (LMS) widely used in higher education, called Canvas. Our data were drawn from over 33,000 courses taught over three years at a mid-sized public Western U.S. university. Our processes were guided by an established data mining framework, called Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD). In particular, we use the KDD framework in guiding our application of several educational data mining (EDM) methods (prediction, clustering, and data visualization) to model student and instructor Canvas usage data, and …

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A Systematic Overview Of Learning Analytics In Higher Education, Lin Zhong Dec 2015

A Systematic Overview Of Learning Analytics In Higher Education, Lin Zhong

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Learning analytics has been an emerging trend in education especially in higher education. This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of learning analytics in higher education through an overview of current research topics of learning analytics in higher education, significant results of previous studies, and implications in future research. Results show that research topics of learning analytics in higher education fall into five categories: learning, teaching, administration, technology development, and digital citizenship. More studies are required in learning prediction and data variety.

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Dimensions Underlying Assistive Technology (At) Practices And Quality Of At Outcomes From The Perspective Of Special Education Professors, Soonhwa Seok, Boaventura Dacosta, Brian Bryant Dec 2015

Dimensions Underlying Assistive Technology (At) Practices And Quality Of At Outcomes From The Perspective Of Special Education Professors, Soonhwa Seok, Boaventura Dacosta, Brian Bryant

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This study validated items for assistive technology (AT) evaluation and, accordingly, identified dimensions underlying AT practices and the quality of AT outcomes from the perspective of professors preparing preservice teachers for careers in special education. The statistical approach of multidimensional scaling was used, in which the proximity of similarity and dissimilarity between items was compared. Participants rated 4,851 comparisons, resulting in a dataset of 19,404 pairwise comparisons (4,851*4). Stress and fit measures showed that the normalized raw stress was .07136, S-stress was .19190, dispersion was .92864, and Tucker’s coefficient of congruence was .96366. These results revealed four underlying dimensions— Dependability …

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Analyzing And Comparing Online Learning Experiences Through Micro-Level Analytics, Sanghoon Park Dec 2015

Analyzing And Comparing Online Learning Experiences Through Micro-Level Analytics, Sanghoon Park

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Learning analytics collects and uses observations of interactions, which allow course instructors to search for the underlying patterns of a student’ learning progress and to accordingly optimize the student’ learning progress at a micro-level. Understanding the online learning experience through the learning analytics approach is essential to inform future pedagogical decisions in online learning design. This paper attempts to define the concept of an online learning experience in three dimensions. In addition, the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is suggested as a supplement to Web log analysis (WLA) to collect data on cognitive involvement and learning emotion as well as to …

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Big Data Ethics In Education: Connecting Practices And Ethical Awareness, Xiaojun Chen, Chen Ying Liu Dec 2015

Big Data Ethics In Education: Connecting Practices And Ethical Awareness, Xiaojun Chen, Chen Ying Liu

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

The purpose of this paper is to discuss big data ethics in education. To achieve this goal, this paper first discusses big data from its origin, and then discusses big data ethics from its philosophical perspectives of cyberethics and the emphasis on privacy issues in using big data in researching and teaching. Cases, policies, and code of conduct regarding big data and privacy are discussed with ethical considerations from data ownership and privacy, as well as instructor and learner responsibilities perspectives. Key privacy preserving data mining techniques are also discussed, and the authors recommend using a hybrid approach to address …

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Determining The Academic Achievement Of English Language Learners (Ells) By Using Additional Measures Of Growth, Adriana Maria Marin Aug 2015

Determining The Academic Achievement Of English Language Learners (Ells) By Using Additional Measures Of Growth, Adriana Maria Marin

Dissertations

Accountability measures employed in the country to determine the academic achievement of all the student population rely solely on the results obtained on the standardized tests. Such measures have often placed English language learners’ (ELLs) at risk of academic failure despite the fact that research on second language acquisition (SLA) has stated the complexity involved in the learning/acquisition process of a target language. Scholars have also discussed the influence accountability measures and the issues with the validity of the tests implemented to assess ELLs may have on such results. Therefore, in an effort to obtain a more comprehensive idea of …

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Naturalists’ Perspectives On The Use Of Mobile Technology During A Nature Hike, Aubin Marishka Radzewicz St. Clair Aug 2015

Naturalists’ Perspectives On The Use Of Mobile Technology During A Nature Hike, Aubin Marishka Radzewicz St. Clair

Master's Theses

Naturalists act as our link between scientific knowledge and the public’s understanding of natural history and conservation efforts. In order for them to succeed, they need access to reference materials as well as up-to-date information (Mankin, Warner, & Anderson, 1999). Incorporating mobile technology (i.e. tablets) into naturalists’ endeavors in natural history and environmental education can be used as supportive and educational tools. My project investigated how newly trained naturalists used tablet technology while leading groups of children on nature hikes. I investigated naturalists’ views on the use of mobile technology as a tool during the hikes. My research was guided …

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You’Ve Got Mail: Student Preferences Of Instructor Communication In Online Courses In An Age Of Advancing Technologies, Ching-Wen Chang, Beth Hurst, Annice Mclean Jun 2015

You’Ve Got Mail: Student Preferences Of Instructor Communication In Online Courses In An Age Of Advancing Technologies, Ching-Wen Chang, Beth Hurst, Annice Mclean

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

The purpose of this study was to determine students' current preferred ways to receive course communication from their online instructors. In a time when technology is changing daily, and a time when young people are often the most up-to-date with that new technology, students’ preferences for how they receive online course communication is apt to change often too. In order to determine students’ current preferences, a survey was administered two semesters to both graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in an at least online course at a university in the Midwest. Survey results indicated that 97% of the students …

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Factors Influencing Instructors’ Attitudes Toward Technology Integration, Molefe Mookana Motshegwe, Tshepo Batane Jun 2015

Factors Influencing Instructors’ Attitudes Toward Technology Integration, Molefe Mookana Motshegwe, Tshepo Batane

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Attending professional development (PD) on teaching online is becoming popular for teachers in today’s K-12 online education. Due to the unique characteristics of the online instructional environments, surveys become the most feasible approach to evaluate the effectiveness of PD programs. However, there is no validated, open-access instrument available to satisfy the needs. Purpose of this study is to conduct construct validity, content validity, concurrent validity, and reliability tests on an open-access instrument for K–12 PD for online teaching. With the exception of a few items that have minor issues on content and construct validity, results show …

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The Validation Of An Instrument For Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Professional Development Program On Teaching Online, Jui-Long Hung, Dazhi Yang Jun 2015

The Validation Of An Instrument For Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Professional Development Program On Teaching Online, Jui-Long Hung, Dazhi Yang

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Attending professional development (PD) on teaching online is becoming popular for teachers in today’s K-12 online education. Due to the unique characteristics of the online instructional environments, surveys become the most feasible approach to evaluate the effectiveness of PD programs. However, there is no validated, open-access instrument available to satisfy the needs. Purpose of this study is to conduct construct validity, content validity, concurrent validity, and reliability tests on an open-access instrument for K–12 PD for online teaching. With the exception of a few items that have minor issues on content and construct validity, results show …

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Factors Associated With Electronic Portfolio Adoption Among Pre-Service Teachers, Lin Zhong, Taralynn Hartsell Jun 2015

Factors Associated With Electronic Portfolio Adoption Among Pre-Service Teachers, Lin Zhong, Taralynn Hartsell

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This qualitative study investigates factors that affect pre-service teachers’ electronic portfolio adoption process. Data is collected through in-depth interviews and document analysis. Factors affecting pre-service teachers’ adoption of electronic portfolio include school requirements, social pressures, time constraints, previous experiences, family consciousness, and personality. Findings suggest that successful electronic portfolio implementation rely on consideration of both external and internal aspects such as time, motivation, interaction, and technological skills.

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Relationships Of Parental Homeschooling Approaches Including Technology Integration, Letitia Annette Walters May 2015

Relationships Of Parental Homeschooling Approaches Including Technology Integration, Letitia Annette Walters

Dissertations

This study examined the factors influencing parental selection of homeschooling approaches for their children and the utilization of technology integrated. Factors explored were parental motivators for selecting homeschooling approaches, parental reasons for choosing to homeschooling, technology device usage, and instructional technology integration. The population consisted of parents with at least one year or more of experience in teaching homeschooling and the primary educator being involved in answering the survey. Participants in this study responded to items from a researcher-adapted questionnaire using. The majority of the participants were from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky. A Bachelor's degree was reported as the highest …

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