Educational Methods Commons^™

Using Wikis To Support Peer Assessment Activities In Higher Education, Yanyan Sun, Teresa Franklin, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This study explored the effectiveness of using wikis as an environment to support peer-assessment in higher education settings. The participants of this study were nineteen per-serviced teachers who enrolled in an undergraduate course on the application of instructional technologies in classroom. In the study, the participants created their personal wiki pages within a course wiki and formed groups of three or four. Five peer-assessment activities were assigned, in which the participants uploaded their class projects to their wiki pages and went to their group member’s pages to provide feedback. The participants were expected to evaluate other’s projects in terms of …

The Silent Lesson, John Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

One day during my second semester as a part-time seminary teacher, a student named Mindy came into class and asked, “Brother Hilton, are we going to do a silent lesson this year?” When I told her that I had never heard of a silent lesson, she said, “Brother Kirkham just taught a silent lesson, and I heard it was really awesome. You should ask him how to do it.” Wanting to be a good seminary teacher, I approached Brother Kirkham and asked him to teach me about silent lessons. He obliged, and I began regularly using them in a variety …

The Effects Of Group Size On Student Learning, Student Contributions, \Mental Effort, And Group Outcomes For Middle-Aged Adults Working In An Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Environment, Gary Lee Roemmich

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Group work has become increasingly important within adult education as educators strive to present students with problems and processes that they encounter in their professional lives. In many work environments, individuals are expected to function as a part of a team to solve complex problems. Consequently, there has been a shift towards teaching students how to solve problems as part of a group rather than individually. An important question becomes "What size group maximizes students learning?" This study compared student learning, student participation levels, and mental effort for middle-aged, professional students in large (six students) and small groups (three students) …

Service Learning Reflection Journal For Kids: Tools And Activities To Help You With Your Service Learning Project From Beginning To End, Margaret Sass

Scholarly Publishing Services e-Books

Service Learning, a subset of service engagement, is a course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs; use knowledge and skills directly related to a course or discipline; and reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility.

This handbook in the Purdue University Learning and Service Engagement Series (PULSE) provides a guide for reflections and critical thought for young students engaged in Service Learning courses. …

Self-Development Reflection Journal For Students, Margaret Sass

Scholarly Publishing Services e-Books

This handbook provides a guide for reflections and critical thought for students engaged in their freshman year of college. As they experience these new sites and feelings, they will be reflecting through questions regarding how they react and feel about the events around them. Some questions will also be related to the logistics of their activities. Through the engagement of this book, freshman students will be able to reflect upon their experiences their freshman year and gain a broader understanding of the world around them.

The handbook contains a range of self-assessment tools designed to be used as follows:

• Complete …

Working To Define Data Curated Geospatial Services On A Research Campus, A Purdue University Libraries Example, Benjamin D. Branch, Nicole Kong, Michael Fosmire, Antti M. Rousi

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

As Data Curation is becoming a necessity of data science and library science, Purdue University Libraries has been a leader in data curation profiles research. Such research can be defined as a data stewardship protocol similar to a multiple use case analysis. In this this example, The Purdue University Libraries Geographical Information Systems (GIS) department has engaged in a data curation profiles assessment of the campus to baseline and qualify sustainable geospatial data services.

Professional Development Reflection Journal For Travel Abroad, Margaret Sass

Scholarly Publishing Services e-Books

This handbook provides a guide for reflections and critical thought for professionals traveling abroad. As you experience a new foreign country, you will be reflecting through questions regarding how you react and feel about the culture and events around you. Some questions will also be related to the logistics of your activities. This handbook provides an opportunity for you to understand your own personal cultural path throughout your traveling experience, to examine what you are learning about the country you are visiting and about yourself. You have now entered a new world of opportunity. Take advantage of this academic expedition …

Evolving: Using Science Fiction To Engage Students In Evolutionary Theory, Chad Rohrbacher

Publications

Evolutionary biology is not well-understood by a majority of the population. Many misperceptions and misconceptions exist as well as outright resistance to the theory. Various teaching and learning strategies have been tried in an attempt to involve students in exploring the theory, with mixed results. The use of science fiction to engage students in this area has been sparse, and virtually no quantitative assessment of learning with the method has been done. Using Origins, an anthology based on evolution, we created an interdisciplinary teacher’s resource manual that will be offered free to teachers. This paper examines some of the difficulties …

Assessing Servant Leadership In Athletic Training Clinical Education, Cheree N. Sauer

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"The purpose of this study was to examine 1) if students felt servant leadership was present within the Approved Clinical Instructors (ACI's) of the programs surveyed; and 2) if those students who perceived their ACI's to be servant leaders also had more student satisfaction, and greater student success. Based on the literature search conducted, there was little to no research found on servant leadership in athletic training clinical education, especially from the athletic training students' perspective. Responses were obtained from 11 of the 27 Athletic Training Education Programs that were randomly selected for participation. Bivariate correlations were run on the …

Batman Meets Gagne: Analyzing Commercial Video Game Instruction Through The Lens Of Instructional Design, Susan E. Copp, Rebecca L. Fisher, Tian Luo, Seann Dikkers

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This paper will examine how Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction (1992) may appear, perhaps inadvertently, within commercial games that guide the user from novice to expert player. By employing a qualitative artifact analysis methodology, we examine a popular action adventure video game to determine if game designers encourage players to build game expertise by employing similar events to Gagne’s instructional design model. We demonstrate that our artifact of analysis does consistently employ Gagne’s events, though often in a manner unique to a digitally mediated space. We conclude that an experiential game setting has the potential to be a platform for …

Web 2.0 For Language Learning: Benefits And Challenges For Educators, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This literature review study explores 44 empirical research studies that report on the integration of Web 2.0 tools into language learning and evaluate the actual impact of using those Web 2.0 tools in language learning. In particular, this review aims to identify the specific Web 2.0 tools integrated in the educational settings, theoretical underpinnings that are commonly used to frame the research, methodologies and data analysis techniques that scholars employ to analyze their research data, the benefits and challenges scholars spotted in their research findings, the pedagogical implications in using Web 2.0 for language learning and future research directions that …

Examining Student Participation In Three Learning Activities Supported By Social Annotation Tools, Tian Luo, Fei Gao, Kathryn S. Hoff

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Social annotation (SA) allows learners to highlight and comment on Web pages and share annotations with each other online. Despite its potential in promoting collaborative learning, examining how to integrate it into educational settings has not been fully studied. The purpose of the study is to examine student participation in three different SA-based online activities: (1) peer review, (2) annotated discussion, and (3) collaborative reading. Students participated in all three SA-based activities and took a survey at the end reporting the effectiveness of these activities. The analysis of students’ annotations and their survey responses suggested that although participants perceived the …

Teachers' Perceptions And Satisfaction With Pbis In A Southeast Georgia School District, Deidra C. Martin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In today’s educational system, an important concern is student behavior. Problem behaviors can affect students’ academic learning as well as teachers’ instructional time. Many programs and approaches are available to improve student behavior in schools. One school-wide program known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is designed to help schools create and sustain effective behavioral supports for students. PBIS is a national framework schools can use to help them design and implement behavioral practices for students. It involves all the faculty, staff, and students in a school system. Teachers are important stakeholders in implementing PBIS. If they do not …

Review And Evaluation Of Reliability Generalization Research, Alexandra Marie Henchy

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Reliability Generalization (RG) is a meta-analytic method that examines the sources of measurement error variance for scores for multiple studies that use a certain instrument or group of instruments that measure the same construct (Vacha-Haase, Henson, & Caruso, 2002). Researchers have been conducting RG studies for over 10 years since it was first discussed by Vacha-Haase (1998). Henson and Thompson (2002) noted that, as RG is not a monolithic technique; researchers can conduct RG studies in a variety of ways and include diverse variables in their analyses. Differing recommendations exist in regards to how researchers should retrieve, code, and analyze …

Stability Of Academic Performance Across Science Subjects Among Chinese Students, Meng Fan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

With data describing 110,520 eighth grade students from 592 junior high (middle) schools in China, a three-level hierarchical linear model was developed in this study to create a multivariate multilevel environment to examine (a) the effects of student-level and school-level variables on science achievement in four subject areas (science inquiry skills, biology, earth science, and physics) and (b) the consistency or stability of academic achievement across the four subject areas among students and among schools. Results indicated that (a) student characteristics, including gender, parental SES, time spent in learning, and the type of family separation, were related to high academic …

The Case To Accredit Homeland Security Programs: Why Outcomes-Based Accreditation Makes Sense, James D. Ramsay

Security Studies & International Affairs - Daytona Beach

The following essay lays out an argument for program level accreditation in academic homeland security (HS) programs. Admittedly, neither the practice nor the educational components of the HS discipline are standardized. Indeed, a recent analysis by the Congressional Research Service indicates that there remain several operational definitions of HS in practice. Regardless, this paper provides rationale which argues that after roughly eight years, academic HS has developed enough to be able to identify and support a distinct set of student learning outcomes— knowledge, skills and attitudes—that can both characterize and define the discipline.

Generally, program level academic accreditation requires a …

What Role Does Humor In The Higher Education Classroom Play In Student-Perceived Instructor Effectiveness?, Stephen Paul Halula

Dissertations (1934 -)

ABSTRACT

WHAT ROLE DOES HUMOR IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION CLASSROOM PLAY IN STUDENT-PERCEIVED INSTRUCTOR EFFECTIVENESS?

Stephen Paul Halula

Marquette University. 2013

Everyone has had college instructors who they thought were excellent and those who were not. In pondering what attributes might have made the difference between these groups, the idea of "humor" came to mind, setting the researcher on course to study the research question "What role does humor in the higher education classroom play in student-perceived instructor effectiveness?"

A qualitative approach to acquiring data was chosen. An entry-level history class led by a college instructor at a major Midwestern …

Collaboration As An Essential Tool In Information Literacy Education 9-16: Context, Qualities And Implications, Samantha Godbey

Library Faculty Research

The proliferation of electronic content and the development of new technologies are causing fundamental changes to the processes of reading and research, leaving many librarians curious and concerned about the future of the profession. In the midst of this transitional period, contemporary school librarians continue to face the challenges of limited funding and high expectations. Education and library funding continues to be cut, yet school librarians are tasked with coordinating efforts to educate children in information literacy so that they are educated consumers of information. Information literacy, the ability to “recognize when information is needed and have the ability to …

Forced To Learn: Community-Based Correctional Education, Ron Mottern, C. Amelia Davis, Mary F. Ziegler

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Community-based correctional education has received scant attention in adult literacy research yet mandatory education is a growing part of the legal system and is fueled by research that suggests a link between correctional education and lower rates of recidivism. Growth in alternative to prison programs affects local ABE and GED programs. Adults who attend community-based correctional programs as a condition of their probation or parole face many challenges. The purpose of this existential-phenomenological study was to understand the experience of those adults. Findings describe students’ experiences of being forced to attend a GED program. Opening a space for these stories …

Implementing A Reggio Emilia Inspired Approach In A Mainstream Western Australian Context: The Impact On Early Childhood Teachers' Professional Role, Claire Hall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Reggio Emilia, an approach to early childhood that was developed in a Northern Italian city of the same name, is highly regarded as acknowledged by educators and researchers world-wide (Gandini, 1993). The Reggio Emilia philosophy is distinguished by the presentation of an image of children as being strong, rich and powerful learners (Hendricks, 2004; Millikan, 2003). This approach is marked as being adopted and adapted to suit particular cultural and educational settings. These situation sensitive approaches are noted as being Reggio Emilia inspired.

This qualitative case study investigated how the professional role of four early childhood teachers was impacted by …

Capillarity: A Theory Of Mlearning And Its Application In Emerging Markets, David Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The theory of capillarity is an organic metaphor invoked to explore the role of network communications as a vehicle for education in a healthy society. Capillarity is offered as a theory in two parts: a mechanism for distribution and a method for engagement. Capillarity seeks to build an architecture that reflects radical humanism's emphasis on access and inclusion as a vehicle for classical humanism's emphasis on the individual expansion of potential and consciousness. The technical instrument whereby this program of humanist education may be deployed is mLearning

Examining The Role Of Facilitated Conflict On Student Learning Outcomes In A Diversity Education Course, Sabrina N. Ross

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Building on the Piagetian concept of disequilibrium (i.e., cognitive conflict) and empirical research documenting relationships between cognitive conflict and transformative learning, this article explores the influence of facilitated conflict (i.e., intentional efforts by the instructor to help students reflect on and work through the intergroup conflict they experienced in the course) on the learning outcomes of female students enrolled in an exploratory diversity education course. Various forms of student writing including free-writing exercises and reflective papers were used in addition to two survey response questions to identify sources of cognitive conflict and assess student learning outcomes. Findings revealed that strategies …

Can Education Improve The Environment? Applying The Pressure-State-Response Environmental Indicator Framework To Environmental Education Program Outcomes, Brian Johnson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which environmental education (EE) programs are contributing to environmental quality (EQ) improvement. The research applied the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) environmental indicator framework to the reported outcomes of 103 EE programs in order to 1) determine the extent to which existing EE programs are reporting EQ improvement outcomes; and 2) examine the extent to which these programs are impacting indicators in the three areas of the PSR framework. The study consisted of three research phases: evaluation synthesis, semi-structured interviews, and multiple-case study. The study found that 42 of 103 programs (41%) …

Using Field Studies To Meet The Next Generation Science Standards, Amy Brown

Masters Theses

New science standards, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), recently have been released which require students to use modeling and other process skills and cross-cutting concepts to show understanding of core concepts. Understanding by design approach was used to develop an ecology curriculum in line with the NGSS framework, using field studies to involve students in real science. A schoolyard habitat area on Neoga School District property was used for the field studies. Students were assessed with pre- and post-tests, traditional classroom grades on labs and projects and the Modified ATSI and Children's Science Curiosity Scale. All students showed significant …

Systems Simulation Using Promodel: An Online Teaching Method, Gustavo Sioni Bosoli

Masters Theses

This study was designed with the purpose to create an online method to deploy the concepts and practical knowledge necessary for the course System Simulation {TEC 5523) offered by Eastern Illinois University. The course is currently offered on a hybrid format, with part of it being ministered in the classroom and the remaining on the online environment. This research focused on creating a set of multimedia and step-by-step lessons aimed to substitute the part of the course that demands the students to be present in the classroom. These lessons were developed based on exercises from the textbook currently used for …

Lecciones Quijotescas De La Vida: Teoría Y Práctica - Quixotic Life Lessons: Theory And Practice, Julia Kennedy

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study focuses on the life lessons in Don Quijote de la Mancha, written by Miguel de Cervantes in 1605 (First Part) and 1615 (Second Part). Literary classics can be applicable in current situations to teach valuable life lessons to people in any culture, society, and at any age. The goal was to first analyze and later modify certain episodes in the novel to teach several important, age-appropriate values to children: friendship, acceptance, gender equality, and knowing oneself. Short fables were written about each value using characters and episodes from the novel. During February, using the fables as a central …

Brigance Transition Skills Inventory, Jonna L. Bobzien

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

[Introduction] The BRIGANCE Transition Skills Inventory (TSI) is one of the assessment tools within the BRIGANCE family of assessment instruments. The TSI is a compilation of two previously published assessments, the Employability Skills Inventory and the Life Skills Inventory, and involves significant content additions and updates. The TSI consists of a series of more than 100 criterion-referenced assessments targeting skills necessary for students with special needs as they begin post-secondary transition preparations (Curriculum Associates, 2010). The TSI measures skills and transition service needs in four key areas: Academic Skills (e.g., speaking, writing, math), Post-Secondary Opportunities (e.g., interests, communication, technology), Independent …

An Examination Of Middle School Counselors' Comfort With Technology, Patricia Christina Roddy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the differences in comfort with technology in middle school counselors in South Carolina. The researcher’s goal was to determine the effects of years of experience, technology training, gender, and age on middle school counselors’ comfort with technology.

After a review of literature, it was determined that this study was warranted to determine middle school counselors’ comfort with technology. As technology progresses, it is critical that school counselors are appropriately trained to utilize technology in their work. Their comfort levels with technology should be as strong as their ability to use a …

Increasing The Cultural Competence Of Assessment Professionals Via Online Training, Jennifer L. Schroeder, Maximino Plata, Harry Fullwood, Melanie Price, Jennifer Dyer

Faculty Publications

The preponderance of literature suggests that culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners demonstrate unexpected underachievement in academic areas, mainly due to educators’ inability to differentiate between students’ cultural attributes rather than demonstrable cognitive dysfunction. Thirty assessment practitioners participated in a study to investigate the effectiveness of teaching cultural information and culturally-relevant assessment practices via an online teaching platform. The Munroe Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE) and short-answer tests were used to obtain participants’ pre- and post- training attitudes and knowledge regarding cultural diversity. Results indicated that online training improved attitudes toward multicultural issues in education. A number of suggestions for …

The Effectiveness Of Distance Education In A Small Rural High School: A Phenomenological Case Study, Roger Dunnick

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The effectiveness of distance education in a small rural high school: A phenomenological case study (under the direction of Judy Shoemaker, School of Education, Liberty University, March, 2011).

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify the predominant format, benefits and challenges of distance education at the target school as perceived by multiple groups of stakeholders. Important in identifying the above categories were gaining an understanding of the reasons behind participant perceptions as well as the reasons for the current format of distance education at the target school. Additionally, the stakeholders were queried as to their beliefs as to …