Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

The Role Of Heads Of Departments In Enhancing The Quality Of Education In Secondary Schools In Tanzania, Perpetua J. Urio

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Heads of department are perceived as instructional leaders. This paper is based on a study that aimed to find out how heads of departments in Tanzanian secondary schools deal with their tasks in enhancing the quality of education, and the support accorded to them by the school administrative system in the performance of their duties. The study was conducted in Arusha and Coast regions, comprising a sample of 72 respondents from eight secondary schools. Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and documentary review. Data collected were subjected to content analysis and numerical data were summarized into tables. Findings revealed that, …

Tablets As Powerful Tools For University Research: Teaching The Relevant Skills, Robin Canuel, Chad Crichton, Maria Savova

Library Staff Publications and Research

The increasing popularity of tablet computers in recent years is beginning to transform the way that library users, and in particular postsecondary students and faculty, find and engage with digital content. In response to these changes, university librarians are tailoring information literacy instruction to highlight the advantages of these technologies to their constituencies and to ensure that their users understand the myriad issues involved in effectively leveraging these advantages to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their research. Chapter 6 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 48, no. 8) “Rethinking Reference and Instruction with Tablets” examines the creation of university library …

Gendered Socialization With An Embodied Agent: Creating A Social And Affable Mathematics Learning Environment For Middle-Grade Females, Yanghee Kim, Jae Hoon Lim

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed-methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred and twenty 9th-graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47% female; 51% Caucasian and 49% Latino). The results revealed that learner gender was a significant factor in the learners’ evaluations of their agent (η2 = .07), the learners’ task-specific attitudes (η2 = .05), and their task-specific self-efficacy (η2 = .06). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 22 students selected from the experiment participants. The interviews …

Navigating Life As An Avatar: The Shifting Identities-In-Practice Of A Girl Player In A Tween Virtual World, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this chapter we study how one girl learned to participate in what was for her a new setting of play – a virtual world called Whyville.net with an emphasis on science education, populated by over a million young people ages eight to sixteen. Girls in particular have become prominent players in virtual worlds, a trend counter to many early observations that documented the absence of girls and women in gaming and technology at large (e.g., Cassell & Jenkins, 1998). The study of virtual worlds as play spaces then allows us to continue a conversation about gender and gaming to …

Facebook As An Instructional Tool In The Secondary Classroom: A Case Study, Stephanie Hunter-Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to describe how social media networks impact secondary students when utilized as an instructional tool . The problem this study seeks to address is exploring the roles that social media play in the lives of high school students and the experiences they encounter by utilizing these networks academically and socially. A case study approach was utilized to evaluate the impact of technology integration via social media networks in a secondary English classroom. The focus of the study was to determine the academic and social impact the social media network, more specifically Facebook, has on …

The Effect Of Enhanced Visualization Instruction On First Grade Students' Scores On The North Carolina Standard Course Assessment, Amber Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Visualization was once thought to be an important skill for professions only related to engineering, but due to the realization of concurrent design and the fast pace of technology, it is now desirable in other professions as well. The importance of learning basic knowledge of geometrical concepts has a greater impact than it did prior to the 21st century. This study's purpose was to test the effect of enhanced visualization instruction on the visualization skills measured by the North Carolina standard course test for first grade students. This quasi-experimental study was conducted using the non-randomized subjects, non-equivalent control group design. …

What Value Does Service Learning Have On Introductory Engineering Students' Motivation And Abet Program Outcomes?, Carol Sevier, Seung Youn Chyung, Janet Callahan, Cheryl Schrader

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using a service learning (SL) method on influencing introductory engineering students' motivation and ABET program outcomes, compared to the effectiveness of using a conventional, non-service-learning (NSL) method. The sample used in the study was 214 students enrolled in an Introduction to Engineering course at a medium-size university in the northwestern region of the U.S. during the fall semester of 2009 and the spring semester of 2010. Sixty-nine students completed SL projects while 145 students completed NSL projects. Both SL and NSL projects were team-based. Using the ARCS model as a …

Project Overview And Research Findings, Kimberly Cassidy, Jennifer L. Spohrer

Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference

Provost Kim Cassidy and Jennifer Spohrer give an overview of the blended learning study funded by the Next Generation Learning Challenges Wave I grant. They explain the origins of the project, introduce some of the blended courses developed to date, and mechanisms for measuring their impact. They will also present preliminary findings from the research done on fall-semester courses and discuss opportunities and support available for faculty at partner institutions who want to develop and teach blended courses in AY2012-2013 as part of the project.

An Analysis Of Factors Impacting K-12 Technology-Infused Design, Wesley A. Waddle

Dissertations

Public education in the 21st Century can be characterized as being in a period of unparalleled change, including the adoption of Common Core State Standards, increased public accountability, and renewed emphasis on the educational needs of every student. Simultaneously, as public education seeks to address these demands, the digital divide between traditional classroom instruction and learning needs of 21st Century students continues to grow, despite considerable fiscal investments in educational technology.

This study examined two questions: What teacher-related factors positively impact the level of technology-infused lesson design? and To what degree does the use of an instructional framework to guide …

The Impact Of Multimedia And Redundancy On The Efficiency Of History Presentations, Adam Leach

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The use of educational technology to create classroom presentations is already commonplace in American history classes. Therefore, this study focuses on how multimedia presentations can promote efficient instruction specifically, can the employment of the multimedia and redundancy principles (Mayer, 2009) improve the efficiency of student learning in high school history. The goal is to identify methods of multimedia presentation design that maximize the efficiency of instruction, as a gap in literature exists when referencing the performance of adolescents in a public high school and in the study of history. Keeping the focus on efficient learning, this study uses a quasi-experimental …

The Effects Of Technology Instruction On The Academic Achievement Of Fifth Grade Students, Karen Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A digital native is an individual born between 1981 and 2001, and children born after 2001 are called millennials. Educators are expected to meet the needs of today's technologically savvy students. Some researchers assert that an academic `moral panic' is taking place that lacks the empirical and theoretical knowledge to support the claims that education needs to change to meet the needs of digital natives and millennials. The problem is that considering that the majority of students today are digital natives are educators meeting the learning needs of their students. This research study focused on the use of instructional technology …

Designing For Problem-Based Learning: A Comparative Study Of Technology Professional Development, Lei Ye, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Linda Sellers, Heather Leary

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Despite of much focus on professional development aimed specifically at developing teachers' technology integration skills, rigorous studies of effective PD (professional development) are lacking. Evidence is also lacking on how these skills can best be integrated with pedagogical and content knowledge to improve student learning. The purpose of this article is to present two "design-oriented" TTPD (technology-related teacher professional development) designs and investigate the designs' impact on teachers. In one TTPD (tech-only), teachers learned technology skills to create activities using online learning resources. In the other (tech+PBL), teachers learned to create PBL (problem-based learning) activities using online resources. All teachers …

Teachers And Hand-Held Graphing Technology: An Examination Of Concerns, Edward Helton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this nonexperimental causal-comparative study was to examine the concerns of teachers in reference to the graphing calculator, as measured by the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) and compare the results to a combination of levels of concerns between groups. The study participants were high school teachers of mathematics in Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee (n = 128). This study utilized a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to determine the effect of two independent variables, formal training and experience teaching with a graphing calculator, on seven dependent variables, teachers' Stages of Concern (stages 0-6). Also, a one-way …

School Change: Adolescents Transitioning From Conventional Schooling To Home-Based Online Education, Harvey Klamm

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This hermeneutic phenomenological research explored the lived experiences of six recently graduated adolescents to extrapolate the valued essence of their transitional encounters in changing from conventional school to home-based online schooling. The homeschool research shifted the emphasis from the outcome-based academic achievement studies prevalent during the past 20 years to a focus on internal and external factors impacting student learning within this technological instructional process. Findings produced from analysis and interpretation of reflective adolescent lived experiences revealed rich truth regarding the internal emotions, environmental adaptations, academic ramifications, and social adaptations encountered when changing from conventional schooling to home-based online school. …

Examining The Reuse Of Open Textbooks, John Hilton Iii, Niel Lutz, David Wiley

Entrepreneurship Faculty Research

An important element of open educational resources (OER) is the permission to use the materials in new ways, including revising and remixing them. Prior research has shown that the revision and remix rates for OER are relatively low. In this study we examined the extent to which the openly licensed Flat World Knowledge textbooks were being revised and remixed. We found that the levels of revision and remix were similar to those of other OER collections. We discuss the possible significance and implication of these findings.

Patterns Of Interaction And Mathematical Thinking Of High School Students In Classroom Environments That Include Use Of Java-Based, Curriculum-Embedded Software, Karen L. Fonkert

Dissertations

This study analyzes the nature of student interaction and discourse in an environment that includes the use of Java-based, curriculum-embedded mathematical software. The software CPMP-Tools was designed as part of the development of the second edition of the Core-Plus Mathematics curriculum. The use of the software on laptop computers in small groups of students, and in whole-class interactive lessons with a single computer at the front of the classroom was explored. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and selected items from the students’ regular assessments. During the observations, classroom discussion was audio-taped and videotaped, and field notes were taken. The …

Student Success And Time Management In College Algebra, Steven Wallace, Mary Wolfe, June Jones, Gaston Brouwer

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019) (Archived)

The panel will illustrate how the students’ completion of the instructional system ALEKS objectives correlates with student success and retention rates. The panel will also discuss the influence of factors such as time management on success and the promotion of good study practices for students using computer-based learning systems.

Identification Of Perceived 21st Century Graphic Design Skills, Content Knowledge, And Tools Needed In An Effective University-Level Graphic Design Program, Amanda W. Bridges

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify 21st century skills, content knowledge, and tools needed in an effective university-level graphic design program. Inconsistencies in the graphic design curriculum, fueled by the increasingly large number of programs and concentrations and the inability to track graduates, were some of the issues that led to a need for this study.

This study was an expansion of a previous 2006 study conducted by Shyang-Yuh Wang, which took place in Kansas and Missouri. This current study used a modified Delphi Technique in which perceptions from university-level graphic design educators and industry professionals from North …

Physical Activity Data Use By Technoathletes: Examples Of Collection, Inscription, And Identification, Victor R. Lee, Joel Drake

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The proliferation of physical activity data monitoring devices had led to an increase in technoathletes—individuals who combine athletic training and performance with the collection and evaluation of personally-relevant data in an effort to better understand their own abilities. We interviewed 20 technoathletes who were actively involved within either cycling or running communities. Qualitative vignettes of technoathletic engagement with data and the practice of data logging, in specific, are discussed and illustrated. Individual relationships that technoathletes have with their data are also examined. Through the examples, we highlight some commonalities in the data that were obtained and how various athletes …

In Pursuit Of Consensus: Disagreement And Legitimization During Small Group Argumentation, Leema K. Berland, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In recent years, an emphasis on scientific argumentation in classrooms has brought into focus collaborative consensus-building as an instructional strategy. In these situations, students with differing and competing arguments are asked to work with one another in order to establish a shared perspective. However, the literature suggests that consensus-building can be challenging for students because their interpretations of the argumentative task and context may not enable their productive engagement with counter-arguments and evidence. In this paper, our goal is to explore the ways in which interactions of students support or inhibit their consensus-building. To that end, we examine and describe …

Collaborative Agency In Youth Online And Offline Creative Production In Scratch, Y. B. Kafai, Deborah A. Fields, R. Roque, W. Q. Burke, A. Monroy-Hernandez

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Few studies have focused on how youth develop agency to organize and participate in online unstructured creative collaborations. This paper describes and analyzes how youth programmers organized collaborative groups in response to a programming “Collab Challenge” in the Scratch Online Community and in an accompanying workshop with high school students. The analyses focused on modalities of online collaborations, determined the breadth of online participation, and examined local teens’ awareness of the online community. The discussion addresses youth’s collaborative agency in these new networked contexts, studied the role that online social awareness plays in completing tasks and makes recommendations for the …

Prompting Self-Monitoring Of Learning In Self-Paced Computer Based Training: The Effect On Self-Regulation And Learning, Christopher J. Coburn

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of prompting students to monitor their use of learning strategies and comprehension while completing self-paced, work-related training in a computer-based learning environment. Study participants included 94 enlisted military volunteers, randomly assigned to one of three groups in the spring of 2012. Changes in strategy use and comprehension were evaluated within and between groups receiving either immediate, delayed or no prompts using multiple methods of measurement, both during and after training. Prompts asked participants to rate their level of agreement to statements regarding their strategy use and comprehension of lesson content. …

Integrating Physical Activity Data Technologies Into Elementary School Classrooms, Victor R. Lee, Jonathan M. Thomas

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes an iteration of a design-based research project that involved integrating commercial physical activity data (PAD) sensors, such as heart rate monitors and pedometers, as technologies that could be used in two fifth-grade classrooms. Design-based research involves the development, implementation and study of new learning interventions in real-world contexts with the goal of elaborating principles or guidelines relevant to the design of new technologies and learning experiences. The current project involved the implementation of PAD technology-supported learning activities in two fifth-grade classrooms where students pursued investigations related to the distances that they walk, the relationship between heights and …

The Influence Of Peer Tutors And Technology-Actuated Reading Instruction Process On Third-Grade Students' Self-Perceptions As Readers: A Multiple Case Study, Brenda Shill Daw

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Driven by Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory (1986), my study investigated the self-perceptions and interactions of seven underperforming, third-grade readers while using Technology-Actuated Reading Instruction (TARI). Partnered with same-age peer tutors, readers used digital tools to listen to, read/record, and playback oral reading passages. They practiced, peer- or self-edited, and selected their best reading products as part of the iterative process. As reading is a complex cognitive skill (Reinking, 2005), TARI incorporated higher cognitive learning activities via a synthesis of Gagné's (1985) nine conditions of learning and the Four-Component Instructional Design Model (van Merriënboer & Kester, 2005).

Much of the current …

Case Studies Of At-Risk Middle Grades Students And Literacy Applications Including Technology, Francine Falk-Rose, Principal Investigator

Cornerstone 1 Reports : Expansion and Enhancements of the Thinkfinity Platform

No abstract provided.

Rfid Classroom Management System, Andrew W. Wright

Master's Theses

Professors who manage large classes are unrealistically expected to grade each student fairly and accurately.  Even with all of the technological advancements that have occurred in the past thirty years, very little progress has been made in classroom management, and as a result, professors are not equipped with enough tools to successfully manage large class sizes.  Because radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is making its way into student issued identification cards, there is an opportunity to use it as a tool to aid professors in the classroom.  The focus of this paper is to discover the most effective system that …

Learning Middle School Mathematics Through Student Designed And Constructed Video Games, Camille M. Mccue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mathematics achievement is an area in which American precollege students are faltering. Emerging research suggests that making mathematics instruction relevant and applicable in the lives of youth may impact math achievement, especially when it capitalizes on high-interest technologies such as video games.

Employing a quasi-experimental and descriptive approach, this study examined the mathematics (i.e., numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and probability) that middle school students employed during their design and construction of video games. First, it examined the mathematics content learned by 19 sixth and seventh graders during their analysis, synthesis, and programming of three video game projects over …

Using Mixed-Reality Technology To Teach Techniques For Administering Local Anesthesia, Kami M. Hanson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The ability to perform local anesthesia on dental patients is an important clinical skill for a dental hygienist. When learning this procedure in an academic situation, students often practice on their peers to build their skills. There are multiple reasons why the peer practice is not ideal; consequently, educators have sought the means to simulate the practice of local anesthetic procedures without endangering others. Mixed-reality technologies offer a potential solution to the simulated procedure problem. The purpose of this research was to determine if students could learn the techniques for providing local anesthesia using a mixed-reality system that allows them …

Modeling Teacher Ratings Of Online Resources: A Human-Machine Approach To Quality, Mimi Recker, Heather Leary, Andrew Walker, Anne R. Diekama, Philipp Wetzler, Tamara Sumner, James Martin

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In education, the scalable deployment of media-rich online resources supports peer production in ways that promise to radically transform teaching and learning (CRA, 2005; Pea et al., 2008). Online educational repositories such as the Digital Library for Earth Systems Education (DLESE.org) and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL.org) collect and curate online learning resources created for a wide range of educational audiences and subject areas (McArthur & Zia, 2008). Through a simple, web-based authoring tool, called the Instructional Architect (IA.usu.edu) teachers locate and share educational resources and activities in an IA project. These IA projects can then be viewed, copied, …

Collaborative Strategic Board Games As A Site For Distributed Computational Thinking, Matthew Berland, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper examines the idea that contemporary strategic board games represent an informal, interactional context in which complex computational thinking takes place. When games are collaborative – that is, a game requires that players work in joint pursuit of a shared goal – the computational thinking is easily observed as distributed across several participants. This raises the possibility that a focus on such board games are profitable for those who wish to understand computational thinking and learning in situ. This paper introduces a coding scheme, applies it to the recorded discourse of three groups of game players, and provides qualitative …