Instructional Media Design Commons^™

Understanding Computational Thinking In The Gameplay Of The African Songo Board Game, Rebecca Y. Bayeck

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Computational thinking is a necessary skill for the 21st century. While previously examined in computer-rich settings, researchers are increasingly studying computational thinking in unplugged environments such as board games. Focusing on the African board game Songo, this study shows that computational thinking practices are embedded in Songo board gameplay and interact with the cultural context. The study also reveals a computing practice peculiar to Songo gameplay, songoputation. This paper suggests that researchers can benefit from exploring computational thinking and computing practices beyond board games in western contexts.

Supporting And Sustaining Equitable Steam Activities In High School Classrooms: Understanding Computer Science Teachers’ Needs And Practices When Implementing An E-Textiles Curriculum To Forge Connections Across Communities, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

While the last two decades have seen an increased interest in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) in K-12 schools, few efforts have focused on the teachers and teaching practices necessary to support these interventions. Even fewer have considered the important work that teachers carry out not just inside classrooms but beyond the classroom walls to sustain such STEAM implementation efforts, from interacting with administrators to recruiting students and persuading parents about the importance of arts and computer science. In order to understand teachers’ needs and practices regarding STEAM implementation, in this paper, we focus on eight experienced computer …

Reimagining Culture With Youth: Relationship And Representation In Culturally Centered Learning Environments, Lili Yan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation intends to develop an understanding of how culturally centered learning environments impact youth’s relationship with culture. Working alongside a multicultural team of researchers, educators, and designers who came together with a shared goal of designing curricular activities to engage sixth graders with culture, I followed 12 sixth graders for a school year to understand their development of relationships with culture. I (re)conceptualize the holistic process of learning and engagement with culture as Ti-Wu and propose a cultural learning model that helps us understand how youth develop multiple relationships with culture. I further share how multimedia technology mediates youth’s …

Is Microethnography An Ethnographic Case Study? And/Or A Mini-Ethnographic Case Study? An Analysis Of The Literature, Rebecca Y. Bayeck

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Selecting the research approach that addresses the research question is often challenging for novice researchers. However, getting a better understanding of the research approaches available in the field, is likely to help novice researchers identify and choose the research approach that fits their situation. In this paper, we discuss microethnography, ethnographic case study, and mini-ethnography case study in order to show that these approaches may have similarities but are different. The author hopes that this discussion will help researchers get a better understanding of these approaches and dissipate the confusion that may exist.

Examining Teachers' Beliefs About 3d Learning: The Importance Of Analyzing Multiple Data Sources, Jessie Nixon, Colin Hennessy Elliott, Jefferey B. Bush, Mimi Recker

Publications

While teachers’ beliefs about curricular reforms such as NGSS and 3D learning (science practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts) often influence whether or not they enact these practices in the science classroom, it is unclear if changes in beliefs influence practices or if engaging in new teaching practices changes teachers’ beliefs. Through a comparative case study, we examine how two science teachers' beliefs about 3D learning related to their implementation of a science unit introducing students to a sensor-based physical computing system. We found that it was necessary to triangulate multiple data sources to better understand teachers’ beliefs. We …

Social Network Analysis Shows Equal Numbers Of Public, Educators, And Scientists Within An Online Social World, Man Zhang

Student Research Symposium

Characterizing who participates in and contributes to conversations with online social worlds can help extend our understanding of the science education ecosystem, including giving insight into what kinds of communication works for whom and under what conditions. We describe methods for characterizing an online, scientific affinity space using three science-based hashtags: #ScienceTwitter, #AcademicTwitter, and #SciComm. Researchers applied an established framework to describe a subset of users who interacted with these hashtags (n = 1000) and analyzed the structure of the network during a one-month period. Social network analysis showed a highly dispersed network, but equal numbers of scientists, members of …

Signals Conveying Teachers’ Readiness For Change In Next Generation Science Professional Development, Bonni Jones

Student Research Symposium

Change in the domain of education is complex. Research has begun to uncover factors that influence the success of proposed initiatives. This paper examines factors influencing science teachers as they wrestle with implementing innovative teaching practices. We present a theoretical framework that unpacks a construct we call signals of readiness for change (readiness signals). We define readiness signals as elements of teachers’ talk that signal a teacher’s sentiment toward a proposed initiative. Signals often reflect tensions that must be resolved for initiatives like the Next Generation Science Standards to succeed and endure. These tensions exist in teacher beliefs, confidence in …

How Does Embodied Doing Become Thinking? A Motor Control Characterization Of Ct, Ravi Sinha

Student Research Symposium

Few studies have examined the nature of learning involved when young children engage with tangible robotics toys, particularly from a cognitive perspective. We use the tool incorporation mechanism from cognitive and motor neuroscience studies to describe the development of computational thinking (CT) during early childhood. We characterize the development of CT through participation in screen-free coding tasks as learning symbol-based control.

Connecting Beliefs, Mindsets, Anxiety, And Self-Efficacy In Computer Science Learning: An Instrument For Capturing Secondary School Students’ Self-Beliefs, Luis Morales-Navarro, Michael T. Giang, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and Context

Few instruments exist to measure students’ CS engagement and learning especially in areas where coding happens with creative, project-based learning and in regard to students’ self-beliefs about computing.

Objective

We introduce the CS Interests and Beliefs Inventory (CSIBI), an instrument designed for novice secondary students to learn by designing projects (particularly with physical computing).. The inventory contains subscales on beliefs on problem solving competency, fascination in design, value of CS, creative expression, and beliefs about context-specific CS abilities alongside programming mindsets and outcomes. We explain the creation of the instrument and attend to the role of mindsets …

The Predictive Validity Of The Gre Across Graduate Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis Of Trends Over Time, David F. Feldon, Kaylee Litson, Brinleigh Cahoon, Zhang Feng, Andrew Walker, Colby Tofel-Grehl

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This meta-analysis assesses the predictive validity of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) across outcome variables, including grade point average, for graduate students. In addition to aggregate effects, this paper also assessed changes in observed effects over time as related to increasing diversity in the graduate student population and as a function of gender and racial/ethnic composition of study samples. Framed using a lens of critical whiteness, this analysis examined n = 1,744 individual effects across k = 208 studies. Overall, 61.6% of reported effects were nonsignificant (i.e. no predictive value of GRE scores on student outcomes). Further, the magnitude of …

Designing Hybrid Human-Ai Orchestration Tools For Individual And Collaborative Activities: A Technology Probe Study, Vanessa Echeverria, Kexin Yang, Luettamae Lawrence, Nikol Rummel, Vincent Aleven

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Combining individual and collaborative learning is common, but dynamic combinations (which happen as-the-need arises, rather than in pre-planned ways, and may happen on an individual basis) are rare. This work reports findings from a technology probe study exploring alternative designs for classroom co-orchestration support for dynamically transitioning between individual and collaborative learning. The study involved 1) a technology-probe classroom study in an authentic, AI-supported classroom to understand teachers' and students' needs for co-orchestration support over dynamic transitions; and 2) workshops and interviews with students and teachers to get informed feedback about their lived experiences. 118 students and three teachers from …

Identifying Self-Regulation Strategies Students Use When Cognitive Load Occurs, Linyu Luo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

When the amount of information to process exceeds students’ capacity to do so, that indicates a problem in the learning environment that will hinder students’ successful learning. This study found that students use a variety of strategies to help them manage their own learning when they felt overwhelmed by the amount of information they needed to process. Further, these strategies differed from those typically expected of students when they are not overwhelmed.

"The Village That Learns": A Learning Journey Across Intraventions And Domains Over Two Decades In A Rural Thai Community, Deborah A. Fields, Luis Morales-Navarro, Paulo Blikstein

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

What does it mean to become a village that learns? In this paper we document the transformative learning journey of a small Thai village over 24 years, becoming a community that identified, tackled, and iterated on problems, altering their everyday practices and lives. In that process the village shifted from a subsistence agricultural community staggeringly in debt to one known for its sustainable environmental, agricultural, and financial initiatives. To understand the village’s learning journey, we consider the village itself as the primary unit of analysis, applying an iterative case study approach, with chronological sequencing, thematic, and biographical narrative analysis …

Positionality: The Interplay Of Space, Context And Identity, Rebecca Y. Bayeck

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article considers the way in which positionality shifts and is formed during a cross-cultural study to reveal the complexity of the insider-outsider status. As a researcher in a male-dominated game setting, I reflect on the research process and my interactions with participants to show the interplay of space, context, and identity in shaping a researcher’s status. I discuss the process of gaining access to the research site and participants, and data collection in relation to space, context, and identity. The interaction of my identities with space, and context informed my status at various moments. This interplay constructs a complex …

Modeling A Pandemic: Investigating Student Learning About Disease Spread In The Context Of Agent-Based Modeling, Siyu Wu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need for students to learn about public health issues, including the transmission of disease and methods for the prevention of epidemics. This study presents data from a project focused on developing computational microworlds to help middle school students learn about these topics. The microworld is designed to help students model and test their ideas about how a disease spreads through a population and how an epidemic can be prevented. I employed a lab-based case study approach to conduct one-on-one 1.5-hour interviews through Zoom with four middle-school students (ages 12-14). During the interview, the student …

Recommendations On Using Artificial Intelligence In Archival Appraisal And Selection, Rebecca Y. Bayeck, Giovanni Colavizza, Jenny Bunn, Mark Bell, Souvick Ghosh

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article reports on discussions from a three-day webinar about artificial intelligence (AI) in archival appraisal and selection. Increasingly, workshops and research are conducted to discuss AI and archives. This article is an example of this growing interest in the potential of AI for the field of archives. Yet, within the field, discussions about how AI can be applied in archival appraisal and selection is still limited. To advance a conversation on the issue, and particularly on ways to use AI in archival appraisal and selection, we organized a three-day webinar in 2022 with a diverse group of researchers and …

A Student’S Access To Practice-Linked Resources In An Elementary Unplugged-To-Plugged Computer Science Unit, Umar Shehzad, Jody Clarke-Midura, Victor R. Lee, Mimi Recker

Publications

This paper presents a case study of a student’s participation in an expansively-framed unplugged computer science (CS) instructional unit that leverages activities and materials not typically associated with CS: playing an “unplugged” tabletop board game and designing a paper prototype of a new game level. We use the practice-linked identity framework as a lens to characterize resources available in our instructional design and how they afforded or hindered the student’s participation across the instructional activities. Our findings highlight the importance of relational resources in influencing participation, both positively and negatively, and provide implications for the design of future CS learning …

The Intersection Of Cultural Context And Research Encounter: Focus On Interviewing In Qualitative Research, Rebecca Yvonne Bayeck

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This article discusses the influence of the cultural context on the interview process. With literature demonstrating the role of spatial context on interviews, the article contends that similar consideration should be given to cultural contexts of research studies. Focusing on the cultural context where the interview takes place and the interactions during the interview can help researchers understand and analyze interview material. Interview forms such as conversation/interview bombing emerged from the interaction of cultural context with the interview process. This points to the need for qualitative researchers to explore how the cultural context shapes their research encounter. Such focus will …

The Moderating Effect Of Intraoffice Group Dynamics On The Ambulation Of Sms-Prompted Utah Tech Professionals, David Collins Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research examined the extent to which group membership affects the impact of text message activity prompts on daily step count. Two 17-member convenience samples were recruited from various software companies in Utah. The participants in the cohesive group unit sample worked in close proximity to one another in a single office, while the lone participants were recruited from and worked in separate offices. Participants’ daily step count baselines were established during the initial 2 weeks of the experiment, after which they were sent text message activity prompts twice per workweek day for the remaining 4 weeks. Step count data …

Understanding Teacher Sense-Making Discourse During Collaborative Professional Development Of An Expansively-Framed Computer Science Curriculum, Courtney Stephens

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Elementary school teachers are being increasingly asked to teach computer science—something that most teacher certification programs do not prepare them for. In an attempt to study how elementary teachers learn to teach computer science, I analyzed the ways that teachers behaved during a professional development accompanying the implementation of a fifth-grade computer science curriculum. My findings suggest that teachers benefit from professional development that encourages collaboration and active participation in teachers through discussion and modeling. Furthermore, my findings suggest that teachers benefit from using curriculum that deliberately connects new concepts to content that they are already familiar and comfortable with—a …

Power Of Near-Peers: Conceptualizing And Testing A Near-Peer Mentoring Model In Raising Youths' Self-Efficacy In Computer Programming, Chongning Sun

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Self-efficacy is seen as a barrier for youth, females in particular, to enter computer science (CS). In this study, I presented a near-peer mentoring model that focused on changing the mentee’s self-efficacy in CS. The present study had three objectives: (a) to design a near-peer mentoring model (i.e., a conceptual model) around the sources of information that influence self-efficacy, (b) to develop a mentor training model based on the conceptual model, and (c) to test the effectiveness of the training model in increasing mentees’ self-efficacy in the context of a summer App programming camp. The present study adopted a mixed-methods …

Understanding The Transient Nature Of Stem Doctoral Students’ Research Self-Efficacy Across Time: Considering The Role Of Gender, Race, And First-Generation College Status, Kaylee Litson, Jennifer M. Blaney, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Developing research self-efficacy is an important part of doctoral student preparation. Despite the documented importance of research self-efficacy, little is known about the progression of doctoral students’ research self-efficacy over time in general and for students from minoritized groups. This study examined both within- and between-person stability of research self-efficacy from semester to semester over 4 years, focusing on doctoral students in biological sciences (N = 336). Using random intercept autoregressive analyses, we evaluated differences in stability across gender, racially minoritized student status, and first-generation student status. Results showed similar mean levels of self-efficacy across demographic groups and across …

Communicating About Computational Thinking: Understanding Affordances Of Portfolios For Assessing High School Students’ Computational Thinking And Participation Practices, Deborah A. Fields, Debora Lui, Yasmin Kafai, Gayithri Jayathirtha, Justice Walker, Mia Shaw

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and Context: While assessment of computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives is at the forefront of K-12 CS education, supporting student communication about computation has received relatively little attention.

Objective: To examine the usability of process-based portfolios for capturing students’ communication about their computational practices regarding the process of making electronic textile projects.

Method: We examined the portfolios of 248 high school students in 15 introductory CS classrooms from largely underserved communities, using a formal rubric (top-down) to code computational communication and an open-coding scheme (bottom-up) to identify computational practices described.

Findings: Students demonstrated stronger …

Debugging By Design: A Constructionist Approach To High School Students’ Crafting And Coding Of Electronic Textiles As Failure Artifacts, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai, Luis Morales-Navarro, Justice T. Walker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Much attention in constructionism has focused on designing tools and activities that support learners in designing fully finished and functional applications and artifacts to be shared with others. But helping students learn to debug their applications often takes on a surprisingly more instructionist stance by giving them checklists, teaching them strategies or providing them with test programs. The idea of designing bugs for learning—or debugging by design—makes learners agents of their own learning and, more importantly, of making and solving mistakes. In this paper, we report on our implementation of “Debugging by Design” activities in a high school classroom over …

Mind-It. Introducing Mindfulness Online To Help Students Change Perceptions And Develop Interest: A Design-Based Research Approach, Joana M. Franco

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study aligns with contemporary perspectives on higher education suggesting that learning ought to be holistic, going beyond disciplinary knowledge and seeing students as whole beings, to support them in knowing themselves and integrating a more conscious society. In the attempt to contribute to this vision, this study advocates for incorporating mindfulness meditation—a contemplative practice to train the ability to be fully aware of the present moment with a nonjudgmental and curious attitude—into higher education curriculum. Adopting design-based research, I created and iteratively refined a two-week online course called Mind-IT to introduce mindfulness meditation to graduate students in the Veterinary …

Culturally Disruptive Research: A Critical (Re)Engagement With Research Processes And Teaching Practices, Breanne K. Litts, Melissa Tehee, Jennifer Jenkins, Stuart Baggaley, Devon Isaacs, Megan Hamilton, Lili Yan

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Student Research

Purpose

As scholars, educators and policymakers recognize the impact of partnership-based research, there is a growing need for more in-depth understanding of how to conduct this work, especially with and in diverse project teams. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical examination of adopting a culturally disruptive approach in a research–practice partnership (RPP) that includes Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, designers and educators who worked together to collaboratively design culturally situated experiences for sixth graders.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a design-based implementation research methodology, data from design and implementation are presented as two case studies to illustrate key findings.

Findings …

Leveraging Local Resources And Contexts For Inclusive Computer Science Classrooms: Reflections From Experienced High School Teachers Implementing Electronic Textiles, Mia S. Shaw, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and context

Promoting open-ended projects presents new opportunities and challenges for inclusive teaching in CS classrooms. While efforts have been made to develop inclusive curricula, little research has focused on ways teachers apply curricula in their classrooms to promote inclusion.

Objective

To understand the challenges faced in facilitating an open-ended unit and the pedagogical strategies enacted to address those challenges, we analyze the self-reported teaching practices that experienced teachers developed in their implementation of a constructionist electronic textiles unit in Exploring Computer Science.

Method

We inductively analyzed and coded 17 experienced teachers’ weekly surveys and post-interviews.

Findings

Teachers …

Developing And Validating Stealth Assessments For An Educational Game To Assess Young Dual Language Immersion Learners' Reading Comprehension, Frederick J. Poole

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this multiple-paper dissertation is to design a digital game and stealth assessments within the game to assess young second language learners' Chinese reading proficiency. In Chapter 2 (Paper 1), I describe the game designed for this dissertation and how it was implemented in a dual language immersion classroom. This study found that the digital game and in-class implementation led to significant vocabulary and reading comprehension gains. Further, seven types of support that students needed while playing the game were identified. In Chapter 3 (Paper 2), I describe how educational data mining approaches, and more specifically, how data-driven …

Finding A Fit: Biological Science Doctoral Students’ Selection Of A Principal Investigator And Research Laboratory, Michelle A. Maher, Annie M. Wofford, Josipa Roksa, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In the laboratory-based disciplines, selection of a principal investigator (PI) and research laboratory (lab) indelibly shapes doctoral students’ experiences and educational outcomes. Framed by the theoretical concept of person–environment fit from within a socialization model, we use an inductive, qualitative approach to explore how a sample of 42 early-stage doctoral students enrolled in biological sciences programs made decisions about fitting with a PI and within a lab. Results illuminated a complex array of factors that students considered in selecting a PI, including PI relationship, mentoring style, and professional stability. Further, with regard to students’ lab selection, peers and research projects …

“How Well Does Your Structural Equation Model Fit Your Data?”: Is Marcoulides And Yuan’S Equivalence Test The Answer?, James Peugh, David F. Feldon

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Structural equation modeling is an ideal data analytical tool for testing complex relationships among many analytical variables. It can simultaneously test multiple mediating and moderating relationships, estimate latent variables on the basis of related measures, and address practical issues such as nonnormality and missing data. To test the extent to which a hypothesized model provides an appropriate characterization of the collective relationships among its variables, researchers must assess the “fit” between the model and the sample’s data. However, interpreting estimates of model fit is a problematic process. The traditional inferential test of model fit, the chi-square test, is biased due …