Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Problem-Based Educational Games: Connections, Prescriptions, And Assessment, Andrew Walker, Brett E. Shelton

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The overwhelming success of the commercial game market has brought increased attention to emerging work in educational game design. Much of the existing work in educational games a strong similarity to the field of Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which has a rich history of conceptual literature as well as empirical investigations. Despite apparent similarities between the two fields, there has been no formal effort to explore the connections between them. This conceptual paper examines the basic tenants of PBL with an eye toward making prescriptive recommendations for the design and use of problem-based educational games. Examples within existing educational games are …

Unleashing The Usefulness Of Educational Resources Through Mining Of Educational Metadata, Anne R. Diekama, Jennifer A. Bailey, Blythe A. Bennett, Holly Devaul

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

While there is a strong movement to develop new educational resources to bring students to the competencies represented by educational content standards, it is recognized that there are vast repositories of educational resources already developed that are suitable to address those competencies. However, these resources need to be indexed by national and state standards to make them accessible for teachers who are increasingly required to teach to certain educational standards (Diekema and Chen, 2005). In the early 1980s, a perceived a crisis in the American education system encouraged the creation of national standards by professional subject-area organizations such as the …

The Design And Use Of Simulation Computer Games In Education, Brett E. Shelton, David A. Wiley

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This book, edited by Brett Shelton and David Wiley, is a view of models and simulations for education and research.

Table of Contents

1. In Praise of Epistemology - David Shaffer

2. Six Ideas in Search of a Discipline - Richard Van Eck

3. Building Bridges Between Serious Game Design and Instructional Design - Jamie Kirkley, Sonny Kirkley and Jerry Heneghan

4. Layered Design in an Instructional Simulation - Andrew S. Gibbons and Stefan Sommer

5. Designing Educational Games for Activity-Goal Alignment - Brett E. Shelton

6. "The Peripatos Could Not have Looked Like That," and Other Educational Outcomes From …

The Underutilization Of Internet And Communication Technology-Assisted Collaborative Project-Based Learning Among International Educators: A Delphi Study, Barry S. Kramer, Andrew Walker, Jennifer M. Brill

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study explores the barriers associated with teachers implementing Internet and Communication Technology-assisted Collaborative Project-based Learning (ICTCPrjBL) as a classroom teaching methodology with students. We used a Web-based Delphi method to engage experienced educators in anonymous consensus building consisting of three rounds of surveys. The Round 1 analysis yielded 51 barriers. The Round 2 analysis produced descriptive statistics (range, mean, and standard deviation) on the importance of each barrier. The Round 3 analysis confirmed 16 of the 51 (31.4%) barriers as “moderately significant” to “very significant” to implementing ICTCPrjBL. Important contributions of this study include: (a) identification of barriers to …

Pedagogical Agents As Social Models To Influence Learner Attitudes, Yanghee Kim, A. Baylor

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Based on social-cognitive theory, we describe the role of pedagogical agents as “social models.” In several experimental studies we have found that pedagogical agents as social models can effectively persuade and motivate learners. We briefly describe two on-going projects where agents as social models are employed to enhance young women’s motivation and attitudes toward math and engineering.

Text Categorization For Aligning Educational Standards, O. Yilmazel, N. Balasubramanian, S. C. Harwell, J. Bailey, Anne R. Diekama, E. D. Liddy

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Standard alignment (where standards describing similar concepts are correlated) is a necessary task in providing full access to educational resources. Manual alignment is time consuming and expensive. We propose an automatic alignment system, using machine learning techniques utilizing natural language processing. In this paper we discuss our experiments on text categorization for automatic alignment. We explore the role of relevant vocabulary sets in automatic alignment.

Desirable Characteristics Of Learning Companions, Yanghee Kim

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study investigated the desirable characteristics of anthropomorphized learning-companion agents for college students. First, interviews with six undergraduates explored their concepts of desirable learning companions. The interviews yielded agent competency, agent personality, and interaction control. Next, a controlled experiment examined whether learner competency (strong vs. weak) would relate directly to agent competency (high vs. low) and to interaction control (agent-control vs. learner-control). The dependent measures included learners' perceptions of agent functionality, their self-efficacy beliefs in the task, and their learning. The results indicated that academically strong students perceived the high-competent agent higher than the lowcompetent agent and showed higher self-efficacy …

Designing Educational Games For Activity-Goal Alignment, Brett E. Shelton

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

What indeed, can we expect from our newest trend in education, implementing moving pictures and conversations with instruction through simulation games? Lewis Carroll's familiar narratives Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass provide helpful imagery for many of the queries, explorations and assumptions we currently make about this latest Wonderland of academia. So what are the goals for the designers and researchers of educational games, or perhaps more importantly, what should be the goals?

Hitting The Trifecta: A Professional Development Model For Creating, Using And Disseminating Open Education Resources., Sarah Giersch, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, Rena Janke

The Instructional Architect Research Group

This session presents a teacher professional development model developed by the Digital Libraries go to School project. Presenters will discuss the curriculum, which utilizes the Instructional Architect and the National Science Digital Library. Presenters will share preliminary data, lessons learned, and discuss future work including evaluation and scaling.

The Competencies And Characteristics Required Of An Effective Project Manager: A Web-Based Delphi Study, Jennifer M. Brill, M. J. Bishop, Andrew Walker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This study explores the competencies required for a project manager to be effective in the workplace. We used a Web-based Delphi method to lead experienced project managers through an anonymous consensus-building process consisting of two rounds of surveys. The Round I analysis of 147 respondents, all with 20 or more years of project management experience, yielded 117 project management success factors, 78 of which were identified as “trainable” competencies. The Round II analysis confirmed 42 of the 78 competencies (53.8%) as “very important” to “extremely important” to project manager success. Important contributions of this study include: (a) reporting on project …

A Design-Based Research Strategy To Promote Scalability For Educational Innovations, Jody Clarke-Midura, C. Dede, D. J. Ketelhut, B. Nelson, C. Bowman

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article offers insights into how the design of innovations can enhance their “scalability”: the ability to adapt an innovation to effective usage in a wide variety of contexts, including settings where major conditions for success are absent or attenuated. We are implementing the River City MUVE curriculum, a technology-based innovation designed to enhance engagement and learning in middle school science, in a range of educational contexts. Based on our studies of these scaling up activities, we offer examples of design strategies for scalability and describe our plan to develop a “scalability index.”

Perceptions Of The Value Of Problem-Based Learning Among Students With Special Needs And Their Teachers, Brian Robert Belland, P. A. Ertmer, K. D. Simons

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

While problem-based learning (PBL) has been found to be effective with gifted and average students (Hmelo-Silver, 2004), little is known about its impact on students with special needs. This study examines the perceptions of middle-school students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities and of their teachers regarding the value of participating in a PBL unit. The unit focused on the physical accessibility of a low-SES, rural community where the students’ school was located.We used the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to analyze interview data, and used observation data and artifacts to triangulate interview comments. Among the noteworthy findings …

Design-Based Research Strategies For Developing A Scientific Inquiry Curriculum In A Multi-User Virtual Environment, B. Nelson, D. J. Ketelhut, Jody Clarke-Midura, C. Bowman, C. Dede

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This National Science Foundation funded project is studying graphical multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) to investigate whether using this interactive medium in classroom settings can simulate real-world experimentation and can provide students with engaging, meaningful learning experiences that enhance scientific literacy. In the project's River City curriculum, teams of middle school students are asked to collaboratively solve a digital 19th century city's problems with illness, through interaction with digital artifacts, tacit clues, and computer-based 'agents' acting as mentors and colleagues in a virtual community of practice. This article describes the design-based research strategy by which we are currently extending an educational …

Simulating Instructional Roles Through Pedagogical Agents, Amy L. Baylor, Yanghee Kim

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes the design and empirical validation of three distinct pedagogical agent roles (Expert, Motivator, and Mentor) for college students within the MIMIC (Multiple Intelligent Mentors Instructing Collaboratively) agent-based research environment. The pedagogical agent roles were operationalized by image, animation, affect, voice and script, and were developed in Poser 4 and implemented via Microsoft Agent. Two controlled experiments validated the instantiation of the three roles according to learner perception (N=78) and actual impact on motivation and learning (N=71). The results confirmed that the agent roles were not only perceived by the students to reflect their intended purposes but also …

Collaborative Information Filtering: A Review And An Educational Application, Andrew Walker, Mimi Recker, Kimberly Lawless, David A. Wiley

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the literature surrounding an information filtering technique, collaborative information filtering, which supports the discovery of resources in a way that is sensitive to the context of users. Moreover, via statistical clustering techniques, the system supports automated, personalized filtering and recommendation of relevant resources and like-minded users for particular user communities. The paper also describes an educational implementation of this approach, called Altered Vista, and presents results from a 3-month trial use of the system, aimed at evaluating the educational effectiveness and usefulness of the approach.

Exploring A Cognitive Basis For Learning Spatial Relationships With Augmented Reality, Brett E. Shelton, Nicholas R. Hedley

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Augmented reality (AR) is an emergent class of interface that presents compelling possibilities for advancing spatial visualization. We offer a brief overview of AR technology and current research with in the educational realm. AR interfaces appear to provide a unique combination of visual display properties, modes of user manipulation, and interaction with spatial information. Drawing upon aspects of proprioception and sensorimotor function, we discuss how AR may have a unique and powerful link to spatial knowledge acquisition through visuo-motor involvement in the processing of information. We identify key properties of AR interfaces and how they differ from conventional visualization interfaces, …

Supporting ‘Word-Of-Mouth’ Social Networks Through Collaborative Information Filtering, Mimi Recker, Andrew Walker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Altered Vista is an instructional system that supports a form of ‘contextual’ collaborative learning. Its design incorporates an information filtering technique, called collaborative information filtering, which, through computational and statistical means, leverages the work of individuals to benefit a group of users. Altered Vista is designed to provide, upon request, personalized recommendations of Web sites. It can also provide recommendations of like-minded people, thus setting the stage for future collaboration and communication. An empirical study involving in-service and pre-service teachers was conducted using Altered Vista and presents results from an empirical study. The study examined the feasibility and utility of …

Genetics In Practice A Template For Interactive Case Studies, Erin Edwards, Andrew Walker, Kathleen Bergeson, John Louviere, Kris Robinson, J. W. Higgins

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Genetics & Your Practice, began in 1994 as a course for primary health care practitioners to get Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits and to help health care providers learn about the importance of genetic counseling and the fundamental difference between genetic counseling and traditional health care. In a collaborative project between the March of Dimes and Idaho State University Departments of Nursing (ISU) and Continuing Education/Special Programs, the course was converted to an online asynchronous course. Since the course was primarily didactic, ISU approached a team of graduate students at Utah State University’s Department of Instructional Technology (USU) to develop …

A Non-Authoritative Educational Metadata Ontology For Filtering And Recommending Learning Objects, Mimi Recker, David A. Wiley

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Digital libraries populated with learning objects are becoming popular tools in the creation of instructional technologies. Many current efforts to create standard metadata structures that facilitate the discovery and instructional use of learning objects recommend a single, authoritative metadata record per version of the learning object. However, as we argue in this paper, a single metadata record — particularly one with fields that emphasize knowledge management and technology, while evading instructional issues — provides information insufficient to support instructional utilization decisions. To put learning objects to instructional use, users must examine the individual objects, forfeiting the supposed benefits of the …

Harnessing User Communities For Website Location And Evaluation, Tim Beal, Mimi Recker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

The AsiaWeb Project is looking at the problem of accessing quality and relevant information on the Web. It is the product of collaboration between two disciplinary standpoints. Dr Mimi Recker is approaching the problem from a generic, systems viewpoint, seeing the information domain as a case study and Dr Tim Beal has an interest in the computer access and manipulation of information on Japan, and Asia generally. We are taking business information on Asia as the general subject and within this Japan is a priority area. However, it is considered that the techniques developed could be applied to any subject …