Browsing by Author "Brusic, Sharon A."
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- An Analysis of Successful and Unsuccessful Example Solutions to Enhance Open-Ended Technological Problem-Solving Efficiency Among Middle School StudentsSianez, David M. (Virginia Tech, 2003-05-02)This study investigated the usefulness of providing successful and unsuccessful example solutions in enhancing students' technological problem-solving efficiency. Prior research exploring worked example solutions indicated improved problem-solving efficiency when solutions were structured in a fashion that decreased the amount of extraneous cognitive load and increased the amount of germane cognitive load as specified by cognitive load theory. Fifty-one 7th and 8th grade students enrolled in technology education courses were selected from one school in the southwest region of Virginia. Participants completed three technological problem-solving tasks that included elevated load, cantilevered weight, and energy absorption using supply kits containing simple modeling materials. Problem-solving efficiency was determined by combining the amount of elapsed time across all three tasks. A 3 x 3 mixed factorial ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Data analysis revealed trends similar to worked example research in mathematics and science, but no significant difference among the three groups was found in this study.
- Comparison of Students' Product Creativity Using a Computer Simulation Activity versus a Hands-on Activity in Technology EducationMichael, Kurt Y. (Virginia Tech, 2000-05-10)The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of a computer simulation activity versus a hands-on activity on students' product creativity, originality, and usefulness. Fifty-eight middle school technology education students from Northern Virginia participated in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a computer simulation or hands-on treatment group. The computer simulation group used a Lego-type brick simulator to construct creative products on the computer; whereas, the hands-on treatment group used real LEGO® bricks to construct their creative products. The hands-on groups' products were collected by the researcher and copied into the computer simulation program. Both groups' products were printed using a color printer. The printed products were evaluated by expert judges using a creative product semantic differential scale. This study showed that there was no significant difference in product creativity scores among the computer simulation and the hands-on treatment group. The null hypothesis was accepted. Findings suggested that it was possible to use a computer simulation activity in place of a hands-on activity and still maintain product creativity, originality, and usefulness.
- Making Connections: Adolescent Girls' Use of the InternetRobbins, Janice Irene (Virginia Tech, 2001-04-25)Women remain underrepresented in computer technology careers and university majors, and adolescent girls shy away from high school computer science courses. More information is needed about females who are attracted to computer technology. This study describes the online activities of young adolescent girls ages 12-14 who are high-end users of computer technology. Three developmental tasks of adolescence (search for identity, pursuit of social connections, and desire for a sense of competence and accomplishment) were used to frame explorations of the girls' online activities. Eight girls were interviewed, the personal web sites of six girls were analyzed, and postings on a message board for young girls interested in online activities were reviewed. Patterns and themes that emerged from the data indicated that Internet technology was an effective match for the informants' developmental tasks. Specific inferences included: (1)Online technologies offered the informants multiple ways of negotiating social relationships; (2) Internet use supported the informants' engagement in personalized, self-directed, and self-initiated learning; (3) Support from parents, siblings, and peers provided the environment for each girl to develop confidence and competence in Internet use; and(4) The informants' use of the internet reflected women's ways of knowing.
- The Relationship Between Learning Style and Conventional or Modular Laboratory Preference Among Technology Education Teachers in VirginiaReed, Philip A. (Virginia Tech, 2000-04-17)This study investigated the relationship between the laboratory environments and the learning styles of middle school technology education teachers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Based on the assumption that a strong relationship between teaching and learning styles exists, it was hypothesized that teacher preference for one type of laboratory over another (conventional or modular) may be an issue of learning style. A random sample (n=195) was drawn from the entire population (as identified by the Virginia Department of Education in 1998) of public middle school technology education teachers (N=392). Randomly selected teachers were mailed a cover letter, demographic questionnaire, postage-paid return envelope, the Learning Type Measure (LTM) instrument, and one dollar for taking the time to complete and return the instrument. The LTM instrument, demographic questionnaire and Bernice McCarthy's research on the 4MAT System of Leadership and Instruction were used to describe the laboratory environments and the teaching and learning styles of the respondents. Data collected were compared using contingency tables and Pearson's Chi-square analysis. Eighty-three (42.5%) of the middle school teachers responded and sixty-five of the instruments (78%) were usable. The findings indicate that respondents were overwhelmingly male (94%) and had considerable teaching experience (mean = 17.4). Sixty-percent of respondents taught in a modular laboratory and forty-percent taught in a conventional laboratory. Of the four learning styles identified by the LTM (Imaginative, Analytic, Common Sense, and Dynamic), respondents overwhelmingly (69.2%) rated themselves as Common Sense learners. Common Sense learners as teachers encourage practical applications, are interested in productivity and competence, like technical things, use hands-on activities, and try to give students the skills they will need to be economically independent in life. These findings are consistent with previous research involving the personalities and learning styles of industrial arts/technology educators. The self-perceived learning styles of respondents were significantly different when compared to McCarthy's findings for secondary teachers and administrators in general. However, the learning styles of respondents in conventional laboratories were not significantly different than the learning styles of respondents in modular laboratories. Though it seems logical that learning style might explain laboratory preference, this notion was not supported by this study.