Instructional Media Design Commons^™

Using Importance-Performance Analysis To Guide Instructional Design Of Experiential Learning Activities, Sheri Anderson, Yu-Chang Hsu, Judy Kinney

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Designing experiential learning activities requires an instructor to think about what they want the students to learn. Using importance-performance analysis can assist with the instructional design of the activities. This exploratory study used importance-performance analysis in an online introduction to criminology course. There is limited research on experiential learning in online courses as well as empirical data to assist with the instructional design of the experiential learning activities. The primary goal of this article is to demonstrate the use of importance- performance analysis to guide the instructional design of experiential learning activities.

Becoming A Maker Educator, Jackie Gerstein

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Maker Movement is a "global-do-it-yourself (DIY) movement of people who take charge of their lives, solve their own problems and share how they solved them" (Roscorla, 2013). This movement is gaining traction in the educational sphere, in both formal (public and private K-16 schools) and informal educational environments (after-school programs, community makerspaces, libraries, museums, etc.). As such, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of articles about the Maker Movement and Maker Education in professional journals, as well as increased attention to the topic with-in school-related professional development activities and education conferences.

Getting Graphic About Infographics: Design Lessons Learned From Popular Infographics, Joanna C. Dunlap, Patrick R. Lowenthal

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

People learn and remember more efficiently and effectively through the use of text and visuals than through text alone. Infographics are one way of presenting complex and dense informational content in a way that supports cognitive processing, learning, and future recognition and recollection. But the power of infographics is that they are a way of delivering the maximum amount of content in the least amount of space while still being precise and clear; because they are visual presentations as opposed to oral or text presentations, they can quickly tell a story, show relationships, and reveal structure. The following paper reports …

Using Voicethread To Facilitate Asynchronous Communication: A Design Case, Jesús Trespalacios

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Online courses have traditionally used text as the only medium to communicate. However, new technologies make it easier than ever before to integrate audio and video communication into online courses. The purpose of this design case study is twofold. Firstly, we sought to describe the different instructional activities designed for an Instructional Design online graduate course. Secondly, this study undertook to explain the integration of VoiceThread (a Web 2.0 tool with multimedia capabilities) to facilitate students’ interactions and the revisions made on some activities that used this tool. Data collected from two surveys administered at the end of the course …

Creating An Intentional Web Presence: Strategies For Every Educational Technology Professional, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Joanna C. Dunlap, Patricia Stitson

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recently, educators are pushing for students, specifically graduates, to be digitally literate in order to successfully read, write, contribute, and ultimately compete in the global market place. Educational technology professionals, as a unique type of learning professional, need to be not only digitally literate to lead and assist teachers and students toward this goal, but also model the digital fluency expected of an educational technology leader. Part of this digital fluency involves effectively managing one’s web presence. In this article, we argue that educational technology professionals need to practice what they preach by attending to their own web presence. We …

Sense Of Community, Perceived Learning, And Achievement Relationships In An Online Graduate Course, Jesus Trespalacios, Ross Perkins

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The ubiquity of online programs in higher education requires continued focus on designing instructional environments that improve students’ learning. We examine students’ perceptions of sense of community and learning, as well as academic achievement, using grades obtained from a final project and participation in asynchronous discussion forums. Findings indicate a significant correlation between perceived learning and the sense of community connectedness subscale. Although sense of community is closely associated with interactions, the results did not show a significant relationship between the sense of community and the discussions achievement variable. Implications and challenges in implementing activities to foster sense of community …

Effects Of Personalization And Invitation Email Length On Web-Based Survey Response Rates, Jesús H. Trespalacios, Ross A. Perkins

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Individual strategies to increase response rate and survey completion have been extensively researched. Recently, efforts have been made to investigate a combination of interventions to yield better response rates for web-based surveys. This study examined the effects of four different survey invitation conditions on response rate. From a large metropolitan university in the West, a group of 1,598 selected students were randomly assigned to four groups, each of which received a different version of the invitation email to participate in a survey of campus technology needs. Findings show that neither the degree of personalization nor the length of the invitation …

Effectiveness And Student Perceptions Of High-Enrolment Health Studies Online Courses, Ken-Zen Chen, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Christine Bauer

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: In countries such as the USA, colleges and universities are focusing on how best to serve their students in tough fiscal times and a highly competitive marketplace. Boise State University has specifically focused on providing online courses as one option to meet student needs. However, more recently, Boise State began developing high-enrollment online courses to resolve bottlenecks in enrolments, while maintaining robust, interactive, and engaging learning experiences.

Design: A mixed-method case study.

Setting: Three high-enrollment health studies online courses offered at a 4-year university in Boise, Idaho, USA.

Method: A systemic analysis of final course evaluations, student grades, and …

Learners’ Interpersonal Beliefs And Generated Feedback In An Online Role-Playing Peer-Feedback Activity: An Exploratory Study, Yu-Hui Ching, Yu-Chang Hsu

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Peer feedback affords interaction and critical thinking opportunities for learners in online courses. However, various factors prevent learners from taking advantage of these promising benefits. This study explored learners’ perceptions of the interpersonal factors in a role-playing peer-feedback activity, and examined the types of peer feedback that learners generated when playing a role. Participants were 16 graduate students engaged in an online role-playing peer-feedback activity. The results from survey responses revealed learners’ positive interpersonal beliefs, including psychological safety and trust, toward the role-playing peer-feedback activity. In addition, more than sixty percent of the participants reported being more comfortable critiquing peers’ …

Teachers’ Perceptions About Math Snacks Spanish Materials, Sara Morales, Lida J. Uribe-Flórez, Karen Trujillo, Karin Wiburg

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mathematics has been a gatekeeper especially for diverse students (Martin, Gholson & Leonard, 2010). The implications of an increasingly diverse school population calls for the development of culturally and linguistically responsive materials, including support materials for mathematics in Spanish. Teachers of mathematics in the United States have limited resources available to them in Spanish to support bridging mathematics content and practices for English Learners (Moschkovich, 2013). The CCSS-M requires deep conceptual understanding in order for students to be successful in their formal K-12 education. Students, whose home language is other than English, need support and opportunities to success in mathematics …

Open Access Journals In Educational Technology: Results Of A Survey Of Experienced Users, Ross A. Perkins, Patrick R. Lowenthal

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

As the academic publishing industry evolves, there has been an unprecedented growth of open access journals (OAJs). In educational technology alone, with an estimated 270 associated journals, nearly one-third are designated as open. Though OAJs are lauded for what their availability can contribute to social justice issues (reduction of subscription requirement barriers), some remain suspicious of the content found in them and question the legitimacy of publishing in them. In this study, we sought to discover the opinions of educational technology scholars about OAJs in their own field. We were able to learn which OAJs were deemed to be most …

Enhancing Graduate Students’ Reflection In E-Portfolios Using The Tpack Framework, Yu-Hui Ching, Dazhi Yang, Youngkyun Baek, Sally Baldwin

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

When electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) are employed as summative assessments for degree granting programs, it is imperative that graduate students demonstrate their knowledge in the field to showcase learning growth and achievement of the program learning outcomes. This study examined the extent master's degree students in the field of educational technology demonstrated their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) related elements in their e-portfolio reflection, when they were guided by TPACK framework grounded instruction. Using content analysis technique and open-ended survey responses, the findings show that graduate students were able to demonstrate their interconnected technological pedagogical knowledge in their reflection to justify …

Integrating Mobile Devices Into The Classroom: A Qualitative Case Study Of A Faculty Learning Community, Devshikha Bose, Patrick R. Lowenthal

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the pedagogic affordances of mobile devices, many instructors are not prepared to effectively integrate them into their courses. “Western State University” has developed a program to support faculty in the innovative use of mobile devices in the classroom. This qualitative case study documents instructors’ experiences and perceptions of integrating mobile devices in their courses. Themes under investigation were the impact of mobile devices on teaching practice, student learning, and course learning outcomes. Results indicate that instructors used mobile devices to create content, communicate, store, and share information. Assignments were modified to take advantage of mobile devices, digital fluency was …

Qualitative And Mixed Methods Social Media Research: A Review Of The Literature, Chareen L. Snelson

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Social media technologies have attracted substantial attention among many types of users including researchers who have published studies for several years. This article presents an overview of trends in qualitative and mixed methods social media research literature published from 2007 through 2013. A collection of 229 qualitative studies were identified through a systematic literature review process. A subset of 55 of these articles report studies involving a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Articles were reviewed, analyzed, and coded through a qualitative content analysis approach. Overall trends are presented with respect to the entire collection of articles followed by an …

The Validation Of An Instrument For Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Professional Development Program On Teaching Online, Jui-Long Hung, Dazhi Yang

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Attending professional development (PD) on teaching online is becoming popular for teachers in today’s K-12 online education. Due to the unique characteristics of the online instructional environments, surveys become the most feasible approach to evaluate the effectiveness of PD programs. However, there is no validated, open-access instrument available to satisfy the needs. Purpose of this study is to conduct construct validity, content validity, concurrent validity, and reliability tests on an open-access instrument for K–12 PD for online teaching. With the exception of a few items that have minor issues on content and construct validity, results show that the survey is, …

Exploring Effects Of Intrinsic Motivation And Prior Knowledge On Student Achievements In Game-Based Learning, Youngkyun Baek, Yan Xu, Sanghoon Han, Jungwon Cho

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study investigates the effects of students’ intrinsic motivation and prior knowledge on student achievement in learning Chinese in a game-based learning environment. A total of 140 fourth-grade students from an elementary school in South Korea participated in this study. An instructional game called “Hanjamaru,” which is designed to teach Chinese characters, was implemented for four weeks. During the experiment, students’ prior knowledge, intrinsic motivation in gaming, and achievements learning Chinese were quantitatively measured. Findings from this study demonstrate that both students’ prior knowledge and intrinsic motivation affect their achievements in learning Chinese. Also, there students’ prior knowledge and intrinsic …

Value-Added Results For Public Virtual Schools In California, Richard Ford, Kerry Rice

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The objective of this paper is to present value-added calculation methods that were applied to determine whether online schools performed at the same or different levels relative to standardized testing. This study includes information on how we approached our value added model development and the results for 32 online public high schools in California. Student level California Standards Test results in English Language Arts and Mathematics for over 5,000 online students were analyzed. Mean value added metrics for each school were calculated for 8 courses held during the 2010-2011 academic year. We found that schools of distinction existed in 7 …

How Debriefing Strategies Can Improve Student Motivation And Self-Efficacy In Game-Based Learning, Cigdem Uz Bilgin, Youngkyun Baek, Hyungsung Park

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Debriefing is an important step in game-based learning environments. In the present study, the effect of different debriefing strategies in terms of two factors, grouping (self vs. team) and timing (in-game vs. post-game), was investigated on the motivation and self-efficacy levels of students. In a 2x2 ANOVA design, 62 sixth grade students were randomly assigned into two debriefing groups: self-debriefing and team debriefing. About half of members in each group performed either one of the two debriefing: in-game debriefing or post-game debriefing. Students in the self-debriefing as well as in the team-briefing group played the game three days a week …

A Review Of Models And Frameworks For Designing Mobile Learning Experiences And Environments, Yu-Chang Hsu, Yu-Hui Ching

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mobile learning has become increasingly popular in the past decade due to the unprecedented technological affordances achieved through the advancement of mobile computing, which makes ubiquitous and situated learning possible. At the same time, there have been research and implementation projects whose efforts centered on developing mobile learning experiences for various learners’ profiles, accompanied by the development of models and frameworks for designing mobile learning experiences. This paper focuses on categorizing and synthesizing models and frameworks targeted specifically on mobile learning. A total of 17 papers were reviewed, and the models or frameworks were divided into five categories and discussed: …

In Search Of Quality: Using Quality Matters To Analyze The Quality Of Massive, Open, Online Courses (Moocs), Patrick R. Lowenthal, Charles B. Hodges

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The concept of the massive, open, online course (MOOC) is not new, but high-profile initiatives have moved MOOCs into the forefront of higher education news over the past few years. Members of institutions of higher education have mixed feelings about MOOCs, ranging from those who want to offer college credit for the successful completion of MOOCs to those who fear MOOCs are the end of the university as we know it. We set forth to investigate the quality of MOOCs by using the Quality Matters quality control framework. In this article, we present the results of our inquiry, with a …

Mobile Augmented-Reality Artifact Creation As A Component Of Mobile Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, Fengfeng Ke, Yu-Chang Hsu

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of smartphone-based, AR artifact creation and other mobile collaborative learning activities in reinforcing the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service teachers. Adopting a mixed-method research design, the study indicated that mobile AR artifact creation with peer discussion tended to better promote the componential competencies of technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) and the integrative development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), whereas mobile media artifact viewing with peer discussion seemed to better support the content knowledge (CK) development.

Student Perceptions Of Online Learning: An Analysis Of Online Course Evaluations, Patrick Lowenthal, Christine Bauer, Ken-Zen Chen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Student evaluations of teaching provide a wealth of information about students’ experiences in higher education. Colleges and universities, though, as a whole, need to spend more time mining these evaluations to better understand student perceptions of their college coursework. These evaluations are especially helpful to better understand students’ experiences in online courses, which, despite continued growth, are still relatively new for most faculty and students. The analysis of seven years of student evaluations at a metropolitan research university is presented in the following article. The purpose of the analysis was to better discern students’ experiences online as well as to …

Youth Peers Put The “Invent” Into Nutribee’S Online Intervention, Ingrid C. Kohlstadt, Elizabeth T. Anderson Steeves, Kerry Rice, Joel Gittelsohn, Liane M. Summerfield, Preety Gadhoke

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Early adolescents perceive peers as credible and relatable. Peers therefore have a unique conduit to engage early adolescents in positive health behaviors through nutrition learning such as that recommended by the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Purpose: We developed an online, peer leader component to an existing in-person preventive nutrition intervention called NutriBee. We reasoned that youth ages 13–18 could create intervention materials that could remain engaging, credible and relatable to younger peers ages 10–12 online. Peer leaders could potentially derive health benefits from their service-learning experience.

Methods: From 2013–2014 youth could apply online to relate a personal interest …

Online Graduate Students’ Preferences Of Discussion Modality: Does Gender Matter?, Yu-Hui Ching, Yu-Chang Hsu

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Audio/video discussion has been used increasingly in online courses due to its affordances in enhancing online communication. However, whether learners of different characteristics can benefit from this discussion modality has not been investigated extensively. This study examined whether gender plays a role in learners’ preferences and perceptions of audio/video discussion as compared to text discussion. The survey data of thirty-six participants’ perceptions were collected and studied after they participated in an audio/video discussion activity. The findings show that females preferred audio/video discussion more than males did, and more females reported that audio/video discussion strengthened their connection with peers. The top …

Boise State's Journey To A K-12 Online Teaching Endorsement Program, Dazhi Yang, Kerry Rice

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The key to successful K-12 online learning may rely more on the quality of instruction than the medium used to deliver that instruction (Rice, 2012). The quality of online instruction and teachers' professional development concerning teaching online remains a critical issue, as well as a challenge, in the field of K-12 online teaching (Fisk, 2011). Higher education institutions are beginning to address this issue by providing teachers with K-12 online teaching certificate or endorsement programs. Boise State University (BSU) is one such institution.

Data Mining In Online Professional Development Program Evaluation: An Exploratory Case Study, Kerry Rice, Jui-Long Hung

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This case study explored the potential applications of data mining in the educational program evaluation of online professional development workshops for pre K-12 teachers. Multiple data mining analyses were implemented in combination with traditional evaluation instruments and student outcomes to determine learner engagement and more clearly understand the relationship between logged activities and learner experiences. Data analysis focused on the following aspects: 1) Shared learning characteristics, 2) frequent learning paths, 3) engagement prediction, 4) expectation prediction, 5) workshop satisfaction prediction, and 6) instructor quality prediction. Results indicated that interaction and engagement were important factors in learning outcomes for this workshop. …

Are They Simply Interested? An Exploration Of Engineering Students' Most Favorite Classes, Dazhi Yang, Louis S. Nadelson, Kimberly Hardy

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This work in progress explores how instructional strategies and technology use were related to engineering students' affinity toward a class. Instructional strategies, such as contextual problem-based learning and teamwork, can increase student interest in a topic. Additionally using different technological tools affects student interest and learning. However, instructors can be challenged to encourage and maintain student interest, which makes this study worthwhile to pursue. To our knowledge, there is a dearth of engineering education research exploring the relationship between instructional technology, instructional strategies, and engineering students' course favoritism. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying effective instructional strategies …

Moving From Education 1.0 Through Education 2.0 Towards Education 3.0, Jackie Gerstein

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article compares the developments of the Internet and the Web with those of education. The web influences people's way of thinking, doing and being, and people influence the development and content of the web. The evolution of the web from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and now to Web 3.0 can be used as a metaphor of how education should also be evolving, as a movement from Education 1.0 towards that of Education 3.0. The Web, Internet, Social Media, and the evolving, emerging technologies have created a perfect storm or convergence of resources, tools, open and free information access. …

Nacherzeugung, Nachverstehen: A Phenomenological Perspective On How Public Understanding Of Science Changes By Engaging With Online Media, Wolff-Michael Roth, Norm Friesen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

It is widely acknowledged in science education that everyday understandings and evidence are generally inconsistent with the scientific view of the matter: “heartache” has little to do with matters cardiopulmonary, and a rising or setting sun actually reflects the movements of the earth. How then does a member of the general public, which in many areas of science is characterized as “illiterate” and “non-scientific,” come to regard something scientifically? Moreover, how do traditional unscientific (e.g., Ptolemaic) views continue their lives, even many centuries after scientists have overthrown them in what are termed scientific (e.g., Copernican) revolutions? In this study, we …

Waldenfels’ Responsive Phenomenology Of The Alien: An Introduction, Norm Friesen

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Merleau-Ponty has famously said of phenomenological reflection that it “steps back to watch the forms of transcendence fly up like sparks from a fire; it slackens the intentional threads which attach us to the world and thus brings them to our notice” (1962, p. xiii) Bernhard Waldenfels, whose notion of responsivity forms the focus of this reflective review, studied under Merleau-Ponty at the Collège de France in the early 1960s. Waldenfels has characterized his own work as “a further development of the existential-structural phenomenology in Merleau-Ponty’s sense” (1997, p. xvii). At the same time, Waldenfels diverges in fundamental ways from …