Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Spring 2024 Introduction, Jason Olsen

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here.

An introduction to the Spring 2024 issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence.

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 8, Issue 1, Spring 2024

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2024 issue (Volume 8, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Spring 2024 issue presents research and commentary on trends and best practices in higher education, with a focus on public policy implications for literacy instruction, adjusting instructional programs to Generation Z learning preferences in English courses, and increasing students' critical thinking and self-reported ability through an interrupted case study approach.

Elementary Science Essential Elements Curriculum Map & Progress Monitoring With Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies, Tasha Jenkins

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Little research has explored the field of science instruction tailored to students with significant disabilities. However, research studies have begun to emerge that suggest, with specific instructional strategies, these students can be successful in learning science curriculum. This project evaluated literature to find evidence-based instructional strategies for teaching science to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Six strategies were consistently found across multiple studies. The six strategies include (1) time delay, (2) systematic instruction, (3) multiple exemplar training, (4) task analysis, (5) graphic organizers, and (6) guided inquiry-based learning. These strategies were shared with a team of nine special education teachers …

Evaluating The Intersection Of Continuous Growth And Assessment In The Field Of English As A Second Language, Madison Johnson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This teaching portfolio contains a compilation of the author’s personal teaching experiences and research interests while in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU). The sections of this portfolio highlight collaboration with current USU professors in the field of teaching English as a second language and the author’s personal experiences working in a second-grade elementary school classroom as well as teaching English in a community education setting. Much of the mentioned research focuses on the subfield of second language assessment. This is an area of interest to the author as an area for personal …

Second Language Acquisition In The Era Of Technology And Artificial Intelligence: Exploring New Frontiers, Mimoun Akhiat

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This portfolio is the capstone project of the Master of Second Language Teaching program. It offers perspectives and insights into major themes of importance to the writer. It begins with a general introduction pertaining to the writer’s education and teaching background, his goals for joining the program and an overall reflection of this experience. Following this is the writer’s teaching philosophy comprised of a description of professional environment and a teaching philosophy statement centered on the principles of multimodality, authenticity, and collaboration. The second section of this portfolio is entitled hands-on teaching experience where the writer presents and reflects on …

Workflow And Best Practices Of Planting Design In Virtual Reality, Becca L. Springer

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this study is to develop a technical workflow and deliver an instructional module for teaching planting design in Virtual Reality (VR). The developed workflow and instructional model will be presented to students enrolled at Utah State University in the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP) Department. The first objective of this thesis project is to explore and create a successful workflow of basic planting design principles and apply them in virtual reality with the use of new technology. The virtual reality and planting design software that were explored were Twinmotion, VR Sketch, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Land FX, Gravity …

Evaluating An Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math/Computational Thinking Professional Development Program For Elementary Level Paraprofessional Educators, Aubrey A. Rogowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

For my dissertation, I looked at a training program one Utah school district used to teach paraprofessional educators science, technology, engineering, math, and computational thinking. Specifically, the program taught them about what computational thinking is and how they could use it when teaching science, technology, engineering, and math to students from kindergarten to sixth grade. While reviewing this program, I evaluated 1) The experiences the paraprofessionals had with the program, 2) Whether the paraprofessionals understood computational thinking, and 3) Whether the program prepared them to teach computational thinking to K-6 students.

I worked with eight paraprofessionals who participated in this …

Effects Of Design Thinking Instructional Strategies On Design Skill Acquisition: A Meta-Analysis, Sarah M. Urquhart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In today's educational landscape, design thinking has emerged as a vital skill for the 21st century, becoming ingrained in curricula from kindergarten through post-secondary education. However, despite its widespread integration, there exists a notable absence of quantitative evidence supporting effective instructional approaches for fostering cognitive design skills. Various initiatives have aimed to explore how individuals acquire cognitive design competencies and to catalog instructional methods that facilitate this process. Nevertheless, existing quantitative research on the topic is fragmented across diverse fields and lacks a cohesive synthesis. This study endeavors to fill this gap through a meta-analysis focusing on two primary objectives …

The Dynamic Interplay Of Self-Regulated Learning, Academic Emotions, And Cognitive Load Theory In Student Learning, Shaf Ahmed

Student Research Symposium

The Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the dynamic interaction between SRL, academic emotions, and CLT to address a significant gap in educational research, focusing on their collective impact on student learning.
• Examine the complex, bidirectional relationships among academic emotions, SRL, and CLT, considering their changes over time and across different educational contexts.
• Advance understanding of student engagement and learning outcomes by merging theoretical insights with practical strategies for educators, aiming for a comprehensive approach.
• Develop targeted educational interventions by offering a holistic perspective that integrates key psychological and cognitive factors, tailored to meet the needs of students in diverse settings. …

Coding And Math In Elementary School: Relationships Among Mathematical, Spatial, And Computational Thinking, Anahita Ashineh

Student Research Symposium

Research shows that spatial thinking (ST) is foundational to mathematics learning¹ and computational thinking (CT) and can help students learn math more deeply². Few studies look at how students use ST, CT, and math knowledge (MK) concurrently. This project is working with teachers to co-design integrated CT, ST, and MK lessons to study how students use ST, CT, and MK and how their knowledge develops over time.

Goal: To empirically develop, test, and refine a CT learning trajectory for elementary students (grades 1-2) that integrates ST & MK.

Emotions In Human-Human And Human-Ai Collaboration: Insights For Collaborative Design, Saríah López-Fierro

Student Research Symposium

Emotions are important to collaboration. They influence intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics (van Kleef et. al., 2022). Both positive and negative emotions impact individuals' behaviors and the effectiveness of group interactions (Caballero et al., 2021).

Few studies have examined emotions in human-AI collaboration. Our work explores emotions in collaboration with a Generative AI tool (OpenAI's GPT-4) in design writing contexts.

Negotiating Inherent Asymmetries Of Co-Design: A Case Of Integrative Elementary Mathematics And Computer Science Instruction, Victor R. Lee, Stephanie Robillard, Mimi Recker, Jody Clarke-Midura, Jessica Shumway

Publications

Collaborative design, or “co-design”, is a term that has gained popularity in educational research and design communities, including those working with K-12 educators. While more groups are identifying with and pursuing co-design, much remains to be understood about how to structure the work within given different constraints, circumstances, and resources available to different parties. We propose understanding co-design as having inherent asymmetries and that structuring co-design work patterns involves negotiation of those asymmetries. Through a case of an elementary computer science and math integration research-practice partnership, we share ways that those asymmetries are both intentionally softened and leveraged at different …

35. Using Generative Ai To Perform Stacked Evaluations Of Educational Documents: Provoking Students To Think On Successively Higher Levels, Susan Codone

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

This chapter describes the use of ChatGPT in a graduate class assignment and explores how Al can scaffold student work to promote successively higher levels of thinking. The assignment asked students to compose a "stacked evaluation" of school district technology plans, which included a rubric generated by ChatGPT, evaluation data generated by ChatGPT using the rubric criteria, and the students' evaluation of both the technology plan and of the ChatGPT evaluation. Student deliverables were more thorough than in previous semesters and included clear demarcation of Al-generated text and original writing. Because students asked ChatGPT to act in the persona of …

26. Working Alongside, Not Against, Ai Writing Tools In The Composition Classroom: A Dialectical Retrospective, Daniel Frank, Jennifer K. Johnson

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

This article presents a dialectical retrospective on thoughtfully integrating Generate AI tools such as ChatGPT into composition classrooms. Drawing on their experiences and research, the authors outline key principles for using AI as a supplemental aid rather than a replacement for student writing, promoting academic integrity, and fostering critical perspectives on the technology's capabilities and limitations. They share experimental classroom activities and assignments that engage students in hands-on exploration and reflection on their AI-assisted writing processes. Student responses reveal nuanced engagement with the tools to support rather than shortcut learning. The authors argue that attempting to simply prohibit AI use …

23. Cake-Making Analogy For Setting Generative Ai Guidelines/Ethics, Maha Bali

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

This is a lesson plan that offers metaphor as an innovative approach to teaching about the ethical use of generative Al. The cake-making analogy equates different ways of acquiring a cake (baking from scratch, using a readymade mix from a box, buying from a bakery or buying preserved cake from a supermarket) with varying degrees of reliance on Al as a shortcut for tasks or assignments. The lesson invites participants (who may be students or teachers) to critically consider the implications of each mode, examining factors such as quality, time, cost, and personal investment. This analogy is then applied to …

7. Automated Aid Or Offloading Close Reading? Student Perspectives Of Ai Reading Assistants, Marc Watkins

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

Generative Al technologies offer new opportunities for enhancing student learning that go beyond chatbot interfaces like ChatGPT. This chapter presents reflections from a small study about the possible benefits and challenges posed by integrating Al-powered reading assistants in first-year writing courses. Careful integration of these tools suggests potential benefits that do not simply generate text on students' behalf. For example, reading assistants like Explainpaper and SciSpace are powered by large language models like OpenAl's GPT and can help students augment reading. This application of generative technology could aid non-native speakers, students with disabilities, and those struggling with reading comprehension. However, …

6. More Is Less?: Using Generative Ai For Idea Generation And Diversification In Early Writing Processes, Franziska Tsufim, Lainie Pomerleau

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

As writing teachers, we are strong proponents of process writing. At the same time, we are aware that early process work, especially in a group setting, can be time consuming and anxiety-inducing. Students may also self-censor when sharing work with peers especially if they are not confident in their ideas. Drawing on the process of nominal, electronic brainstorming, we created two different prompts that allowed students to incorporate generative Al into their idea generation process. This first activity improves the efficiency of individual idea generation, while the second exercise helps increase student confidence in their ideas in collaborative brainstorming situations. …

28. Creating Constitutions With Chatgpt, Julia M. Gossard

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

This chapter explores how students used ChatGPT to construct constitutions in a course on the history of the Age of Revolutions. Student responses, the product, and instructor implications and critiques are included.

19. Wrestling With A.I., Catherine J. Denial

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

Generative AI has been sold to us at speed, promising quick resolutions to writing problems for students and demanding nimble responses from faculty. This essay suggests that instead of surrendering to a manufactured sense of urgency we take the time to fully grapple with the meaning of generative AI, and to respond to its challenges. By thinking through the ethical dimensions of AI in the classroom, and by gradually changing our assessment practices, we place humans back at the center of our common educational experiences.

Part Iii: Section 3: Race And Indigenous Studies, Beth Buyserie, Travis N. Thurston

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

No abstract provided.

4. Developing Media And Information Literacy Through Dialogues About Ai, Rosa Thornley, Dory Rosenberg

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

Inviting students to dialogue about Artificial Intelligence (Al) can help to develop media and information literacy. Instead of establishing restrictive policies, we present a method for instructor-facilitated dialogues to teach students to analyze, evaluate, and interact with generative language models. This recursive inquiry process causes students to critically think about the spectrum of AI capabilities and limitations. Practicing this inquiry habit over time directs students towards intuitively questioning the Al which leads them to govern their own choices when they become rhetorically aware of emerging technologies and how it will affect their own research and writing. For instructors in higher …

1. Navigating The New Frontier Of Generative Ai In Peer Review And Academic Writing, Chris Mayer

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

This chapter provides an overview of the current landscape and implications of Generative Al (GenAl) in higher education, particularly focusing on its role in academic writing and peer review. The emergence of GenAl tools such as ChatGPT is a transformative development in education, with widespread adoption at unprecedented speed. Large Language Models such as ChatGPT offer great potential for enhancing education and academic writing but also raise serious ethical concerns and tensions including access and usability, the perpetuation of Standard Academic English, and issues of linguistic justice. There is also the need for new approaches and pedagogies for how to …

14. Indigenous Futures In Generative Artificial Intelligence: The Paradox Of Participation, Rogelio E. Cardona-Rivera, J. Kaleo Alladin, Breanne K. Litts, Melissa Tehee

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

As we work toward expanding and diversifying accurate representations of Indigenous peoples in classrooms, we must also consider the role of Native people in the construction of these technologies. Indigenous communities face the following paradox in the Generative Al space: in wanting to be represented by the Generative Al by sharing data representations their ways of knowing and being, they lose the agency to exert their rhetorical, technological, and data sovereignty over whatever is shared into the Generative Al system. Alternatively, not participating in the Generative Al space continues to perpetuate Western-centric biases and systemic racism built into the existing …

Title Page/Book Information, Beth Buyserie, Travis N. Thurston

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Beth Buyserie, Travis N. Thurston

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

No abstract provided.

Contributors, Beth Buyserie, Travis N. Thurston

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

No abstract provided.

34. "Language Weaves Its Tapestry": Crafting Found Poetry Using Ai Tools, Ruth Li

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

In this chapter, I offer a pedagogical approach to teaching creative writing in the era of Al technologies. I share an activity that engages students in crafting found poetry using Al tools such as ChatGPT. Found poems are collage-like assemblages drawn from other sources such as newspaper or magazine articles. By immersing students in crafting found poems using Al, I inspire creative experimentation with Al-generated texts. Even as writing processes become automated and writing styles standardized, I posit that this found poem activity nurtures students' careful attunement to the materiality of language, to its shape and texture as words unfold …

33. Chatgpt Assistance In Creating Chemistry Practice Problems: Pitfalls, Positives, And Possibilities, Michael A. Christiansen

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

ChatGPT, a relatively new Large Language Model (LLM) artificial intelligence (Al) chatbot, has gained significant attention as the most downloaded software app, accruing over 100 million users within two months of its release. This software can generate quick, articulate responses to virtually any textual query. Many educators are concerned about its potential for enabling student cheating. However, it currently suffers significant limitations in solving chemistry problems-documented through peer-reviewed articles and from the author's experience suggesting that chemistry students will perform far better, on average, by studying than by relying on ChatGPT. This is particularly true of math-centric problems, which the …

32. Using Generative Ai In The Music History Classroom, Reba Wissner

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

Generative Al affords students and college teaching both challenges and opportunities, though faculty mainly focus on the challenges, as most discussion centers on assignment modification to prevent plagiarism and concentrate on text-generating Al. However, there is an entire world of Al tools that are not text limited that can be used to create non-text-based outputs and can be used for information recall and transferability of student knowledge; these tools are well-suited to the arts. One discipline in which these tools can be used is music; specifically, music history. Al generation tools not specifically created for music, such as chatbots, can …

Part Vi: Section 6: Disciplinary Approaches, Beth Buyserie, Travis N. Thurston

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

No abstract provided.