Instructional Media Design Commons^™

Effective Knowledge Development In Game-Based Learning Environments: Considering Research In Cognitive Processes And Simulation Design, Amy B. Adcock, Ginger S. Watson, Gary R. Morrison, Lee A. Belfore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Serious games are, at their core, exploratory learning environments designed around the pedagogy and constraints associated with specific knowledge domains. This focus on instructional content is what separates games designed for entertainment from games designed to educate. As instructional designers and educators, the authors want serious game play to provide learners with a deep understanding of the domain, allowing them to use their knowledge in practice to think through multifaceted problems quickly and efficiently. Attention to the design of serious game affordances is essential to facilitating the development of domain knowledge during game play. As such, the authors contend that …

Negotiating The "Relevant" In Culturally Relevant Mathematics, N. Enyedy, J. Danish, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

One approach to promoting successful engagement of underrepresented groups in mathematics classrooms is Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP). However, it has been argued that CRP risks essentializing students or watering down academic content. We report our analysis of a case study of a group of three 6th grade students who took part in a 6-week mathematics curriculum. This curriculum used Geographical Information System (GIS) maps to engage students in designing personally meaningful research projects while learning about measures of central tendency (i.e., learning statistics). The case study was chosen as representative of how students in this urban classroom (47 total) successfully …

Understanding Teacher Users Of A Digital Library Service: A Clustering Approach, Beijie Xu, Mimi Recker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article describes the Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) process and its application in the field of educational data mining (EDM) in the context of a digital library service called the Instructional Architect (IA.usu.edu). In particular, the study reported in this article investigated a certain type of data mining problem, clustering, and used a statistical model, latent class analysis, to group the IA teacher users according to their diverse online behaviors. The use of LCA successfully helped us identify different types of users, ranging from window shoppers, lukewarm users to the most dedicated users, and distinguish the isolated users …

The Uva Bay Game:Complex Systems, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, And Institutional Renewal, J. Plank, David F. Feldon, W. Sherman, J. Elliott

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Research-intensive universities enjoy—or suffer—a paradoxical reputation: They are thought to be dedicated to both cutting-edge research and to the preservation of the canon. They are seen as broad and diverse communities of scholars with a vibrant collective intellectual life, yet also as silos of disciplinary entrenchment. Most significantly, they are thought of as places where the complex problems of our society are studied intensely but from which solutions are rarely forthcoming.

Play Education Video Games On Their Terms, Wendi M. Kappers

Publications

It is imperative when utilizing educational video games in K-12 classrooms that student preferences with regard to game play, purpose, and design be considered in order to maximize game play efficiency for learning. As Web 2.0 content infiltrates our educational medium, student customization is key. This manuscript intends to share customization requests gleaned during an 18-week experimental study examining educational video game effects upon 7th graders enrolled in Mathematics and Mathematics 2 courses.

The Influence Of Schwartz's Values On Teachers' Internet Usage: A Quantitative Study Of Cross Cultural Differences Between European Nations, Meghana Aleti

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the Impact of human values on teacher Internet usage at individual levels across various nations. Schwartz's higher order values: Openness to Change, Conservation, Self-Enhancement, and Self-Transcendence are used as value variables. Teachers' are categorized as primary education, secondary education or college level. College teachers showed heavy Internet use when compared to secondary and primary teachers. Conservation higher order value was most significant among college teachers. Openness to Change and Self-Enhancement values are positively correlated with heavy Internet use among various nations. This study should be of interest to education and policy makers interested in comparison of Internet …

Students' Perceptions Of A Mobile Application For College Course Management Systems, Roopa Mathur

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Higher education administrators need data on student perceptions to support their decision making regarding mobile learning (m-learning) applications. There is a lack of research addressing students' perceptions of mobile applications for course management systems (CMS). The findings of this study may help administrators understand students' perceptions of a CMS m-learning application, Blackboard Mobile Learn (BML). This m-learning application is available on mobile devices, such as the iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry smartphones. The purpose of this quantitative survey study was to explore the linear relationship between the independent variables of students' perceptions of usefulness and students' perceptions of …

The Shift In Coaching Dynamics During Long-Term Business Coaching Relationships, Axel Meierhoefer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The focus of this dissertation was on the changes in long-term external business coaching relationships (defined as more than 4 months). The current study intended to answer two questions: (a) how does the relationship between a coach and a coachee change in long-term coaching engagements? and (b) how do these changes impact the coaching process dynamics and results? The phenomenon that was discovered through this research is called the shift moment. It exemplifies the transition from skill or problem oriented issues, which often represent the original cause of the coaching relationship, to the holistic transformation of the coachee. A qualitative …

Why Would They Try? Motivation And Motivating In Low-Stakes Information Skills Testing, Jeanne M. Brown, Carrie A. Gaxiola

Library Faculty Research

In 2008 the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) University Libraries piloted the Educational Testing Service’s standardised test of information, communication, and technology (ICT) skills (iSkills) in spring and autumn 2008. In the course of administering the test we explored motivational strategies, a critical component in low-stakes, low-personal-consequences testing. Motivational strategies included providing feedback on test performance, highlighting the value of the test for the individual student, and appealing to the student’s willingness to improve the overall performance of the institution. We addressed ways to motivate students in order to enhance their level of participation in and performance …

The Best Test Of Ph.D. Studentsuccess: Response, David F. Feldon, Briana Crotwell Timmerman, Michelle Maher

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Newquist suggests that students' publications are important predictors of post-degree research effectiveness, due in part to the importance of collaboration in innovative research. We agree that publication record is important and helpful, but the collaborative aspects of writing render publications a noisy metric by which to assess individual growth on specific skills (1). The variable time lags between the execution of an experiment, analysis of its data, and publication of findings [e.g., (2)] further limit the ability to identify direct relationships between experiences in a doctoral program and scholarly growth. Doctoral education's overarching goal is to develop competent researchers capable …

New Trends In Automatic Assessment: Ontology Matching, Maria Mitina, Patricia Magee, John Cardiff

Conference Papers

Instant individual feedback represents a result of assessment which allows for considerable improvements in both teaching and learning. In this paper we present the application of ontology matching techniques in automatic correction of students’ answers for SQL tests, which will provide teachers with instant feedback to facilitate manual correction and marking and which they can pass to the students. Students experience many problems learning SQL due to the necessity to memorise database schemas, unclear feedback from the database engine on the execution of the query, etc. The program environment utilising the described approach is designed to solve the abovementioned problems …

Integrating Information Literacy Instruction In An Upper-Division Writing-Intensive Class, Ellen K. Wilson, Jeffrey M. Blankenship

The Southeastern Librarian

Writing-intensive courses are a required component of undergraduate education at the University of South Alabama, but often the courses are designed to test students’ writing skills, rather than to teach the research and writing process. In the fall of 2008, an instruction librarian and an assistant professor in political science collaborated to redesign one writing intensive course, Public Administration (PSC 401), in an attempt to address this dilemma. This project was born out of frustration – frustration on the part of the professor about the generally poor quality of writing and research skills by students in the course the previous …

Faculty Success: Developing A Research And Publication Agenda, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Anyone associated with higher education will acknowledge that tenure track faculty have to perform a fantastic balancing act. Compared to an administrative or line role in an organization, higher education faculty have tremendous autonomy and freedom. However, they face competing demands of many different (and good) opportunities, and for them the stakes are always high. Help is here! This article introduces a powerful strategy for staying on track in the research strand of this competitive journey.

The Academic Library’S Role In Fostering Digital Citizenship, Brad Matthies

Presentations

This presentation discusses Butler University Library’s efforts to introduce various campus constituents to Digital Citizenship. The primary platform featured in this presentation is the Butler University Library Digital Commons, a product by Berkeley Electronic Press. Discussed is how the presenter used this product to get digital immigrants excited about a Web 2.0 technology. Also discussed is marketing strategies for promoting similar Web 2.0 technologies to digital immigrants in higher education, and how such endeavors can also serve to transform the academic librarian’s role in the 21st Century.

Note: This presentation contains accompanying video interviews.

Why Magic Bullets Don't Work, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

We always tell our students that there are no shortcuts, that important ideas are nuanced, and that recognizing subtle distinctions is an essential critical-thinking skill. Mastery of a discipline, we know, requires careful study and necessarily slow, evolutionary changes in perspective. Then we look around for the latest promising trend in teaching and jump in with both feet, expecting it to transform our students, our courses, and our outcomes. Alternatively, we sniff disdainfully at the current educational fad and proudly stand by the instructional traditions of our disciplines or institutions, secure in our knowledge that the “tried and true” has …

Learning To Speak Through Writing: The Case For Microblogging In The Language Classroom, Pilar Munday

Languages Faculty Publications

The case for microblogging with Twitter in the Foreign Language Classroom. Examples from a Spanish course.

Dlo To Go: Fostering Instructional Use Of New Media, Sandra G. Yee, Nardina N. Mein, Joshua Neds-Fox, Jonathan Mcglone

Library Scholarly Publications

In partnership with Michigan cultural institutions, and state and national funding agencies including the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Library of Michigan, the Wayne State University Library System's New Media & Information Technology unit has been a pioneer developer of digital library collections, including the Virtual Motor City, Digital Dress, and Herman Miller Collections. These collections are accessed thousands of times per month. However, technological barriers and an ad-hoc knowledge base result in hit-and-miss use in online instruction by both faculty and students. This problem is not unique to Wayne State: nationally, it has resulted in widespread …

Student Perceptions Of Digital Textbooks In A College Nursing Program, Alan D. Eno

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

The purpose of this research was to study the use of digital textbooks in a small liberal arts college. The research was a mixed methods descriptive study using a pre and post survey to determine student perceptions of the technology. Findings indicated that students needed training in the installation and use of digital textbooks. Findings also indicated the need for further research into what students understand about using digital textbooks. Recommendations are for the college to institute training sessions to teach students how to use the digital textbooks.

A Collaborative Approach To Building A Student Information And Technology Literacy Program, Kenetha Stanton, Julianne Miranda

Center for Academic Technology (CAT) - Presentations

This is a brief overview of the Information Commons program at Butler University presented during an EDUCAUSE Midwest Lightning Round. The Information Commons is professional development program jointly sponsored by The Center for Academic Technology (formerly Instructional Technology) and the Butler Libraries for student staff that provides information and technology literacy support to Butler students through scheduled desk hours and peer-to-peer training and consulting.

Designing Successful Online Courses - Part 2, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Once again, our major goal is to provide faculty with consistent guidance through the many instructional decisions and design steps they need to pursue in this process. This process is a fantastic opportunity to craft a virtual learning space in which people can engaging in learning beyond the constraints of time and space.

Five Strategies For Successful Writing Of Reports And Essays, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Many people cannot get started with their literary projects because they do not know where to start. In this brief article, I share insight from years of teaching students and professionals of all ages how to prepare professional work.

Revelations Of Adaptive Technology Hiding In Your Operating System, Kathleen P. King

Department of Leadership, Policy, and Lifelong Learning

Pre-publication version of a chapter about the assistive technology tools and resources available for free in Windows OS and Mac OS. Introducing higher education faculty to free resources, features and programs which they can recommend to their students or perhaps use for themselves (for instance for fading eyesight or hearing). In addition, the chapter briefly shares strategies and examples of how they might be used.

The book will have an entire chapter dedicated to assistive technology as well. This is a popularized assistive technology chapter for generalist, NON special education, faculty to become acquainted with readily available and free resources. …

Improving Electronic Reserve Services: A Collaborative Effort, Xiaohua (Cindy) Li, David Demers

Librarian Publications

To improve the efficiency of Ryan-Matura Library's electronic reserve (e-reserve) service, the staff of the library and the Office of Instructional Technology at Sacred Heart University codeveloped and implemented a system that streamlined the request and delivery of e-reserves for faculty and students. This system utilizes the institution's integrated course/content management system (Blackboard) along with a custom-built Web application that facilitates the request, retrieval, digitization, and delivery of e-reserve materials directly to students within their Blackboard courses.

Linking Opencoursewares And Open Education Resources: Creating An Effective Search And Recommendation System, Brett E. Shelton, J. Duffin, Y. Wang, J. Ball

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

With a growing number of digital libraries and other open education repositories being made available throughout the world, effective search and retrieval tools are necessary to access the desired materials that surpass the effectiveness of traditional, all inclusive search engines. This paper discusses the design and use of Folksemantic, a platform that integrates OpenCourseWare search, Open Educational Resource recommendations, and social network functionality into a single open source project. The paper describes how the system was originally envisioned, its goals for users, and data that provides insight into how it is actually being used. Data sources include website click-through data, …

Knowing And Throwing Mudballs, Hearts, Pies, And Flowers: A Connective Ethnography Of Gaming Practices, Deborah A. Fields, Y. B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Little is known concerning how young players learn to participate in various activities in virtual worlds. We use a new integrative approach called connective ethnography that focuses on how a gaming practice spread across a network of youth at an after school club that simultaneously participated in a virtual world, Whyville.net. To trace youth participation in online and offline social contexts, we draw on multiple sources of information: observations, interviews, videos, online tracking and chat data, and hundreds of hours of play in Whyville ourselves. One gaming practice – the throwing of projectiles and its social uses and nuances – …

Stealing From Grandma Or Generating Knowledge? Constestations And Effects Of Cheating In Whyville, Deborah A. Fields, Y. B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Much research has described the various practices needed of gaining access and participation in multi-user game communities. Cheat sites are a continuation of game communities where players engage in knowledge building about game related challenges. In this paper we analyze the cheat sites created by players for a tween virtual world called Whyville.net, which encourages youth to participate in a range of social activities and play casual science games. Through analysis we created typologies for both the cheats and sites related to science content. Further, a case study of an exemplary cheat site elaborates on how some player generated sites …

Your Second Selves: Avatar Designs And Identity Play, Y. B. Kafai, Deborah A. Fields, M. S. Cook

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Avatars in online games and worlds are seen as players’ key representations in interactions with each other. In this article, we investigate the avatar design and identity play within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 816. One unique feature of Whyville is the players’ ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the expressive resources available for avatar construction, individual tween players’ choices and rationales in creating their avatars, and online postings about avatar …

"Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!" Design And Discussion About Diversity And Race In A Tween Virtual World, Y. B. Kafai, M. S. Cook, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we investigate racial diversity in avatar design and public discussions about race within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 8—16. One unique feature of Whyville is the player’s ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the racial diversity of available resources for avatar construction and online postings about the role of race in avatar design and social interactions in the community. With the growing interest in player-generated content for online …

Weedsin The Flower Garden: An Exploration Of Plagiarism In Graduate Students' Research Proposalsand Its Connection To Enculturation, Esl, And Contextual Factors, Joanna Gilmore, Denise Strickland, Briana Timmerman, Michelle Maher, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Existing literature provides insight into the nature and extent of plagiarism amongst undergraduate students (e.g., Ellery, 2008; Parameswaran & Devi, 2006; Selwyn, 2008). Plagiarism amongst graduate students is relatively unstudied, however, and the existing data are largely based on self-reports. This study investigated the rates and potential causes of plagiarism amongst graduate students in master’s and doctoral programmes in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and science or mathematics education by examining actual research proposals written by graduate students. Results indicate that plagiarism is a prevalent issue at each of the three university sites sampled and across all of the investigated disciplines. …

Adaptations And Continuities In The Use And Design Of Visual Representations In Us Middle School Science Textbooks, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Visual representations are ubiquitous in modern‐day science textbooks and have in recent years become an object of criticism and scrutiny. This article examines the extent to which changes in representations in textbooks published in the USA over the past six decades have invited those critiques. Drawing from a correlational analysis of a corpus of 34 US middle school physical science textbooks, continuities are established with respect to the purposes that most textbook images serve and the numbers of schematic representations that are used. Changes are observed in the overall total number of representations in textbooks and in the proportion of …