VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Evans, Michael A."

Browsing by Author "Evans, Michael A."

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App Factor: Inventing to Solve Problems Instructional Plan
Evans, Michael A. (Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology: Center for the Arts, 2012)
OVERVIEW OF LESSON: Students will investigate the nature of inventions and articulate their knowledge of problems in the 1800’s and inventions that resulted to solve those problems. Next, students explore the Rhythmatical iPod® app, an “invention” designed to solve the problem of engaging students in math concepts. Finally, students will collaborate to design a storyboard for their own iPod® app invention.
Contextual Shaping of Student Design Practices: The Role of Constraint in First-Year Engineering Design
Goncher, Andrea (Virginia Tech, 2012-12-07)
Research on engineering design is a core area of concern within engineering education, and a fundamental understanding of how engineering students approach and undertake design is necessary in order to develop effective design models and pedagogies. This dissertation contributes to scholarship on engineering design by addressing a critical, but as yet underexplored, problem: how does the context in which students design shape their design practices? Using a qualitative study comprising of video data of design sessions, focus group interviews with students, and archives of their design work, this research explored how design decisions and actions are shaped by context, specifically the context of higher education. To develop a theoretical explanation for observed behavior, this study used the "nested structuration" framework proposed by Perlow, Gittell, & Katz (2004). This framework explicated how teamwork is shaped by mutually reinforcing relationships at the individual, organizational, and institutional levels. I appropriated this framework to look specifically at how engineering students working on a course-related design project identify constraints that guide their design and how these constraints emerge as students interact while working on the project. I first identified and characterized the parameters associated with the design project from the student perspective and then, through multi-case studies of four design teams, I looked at the role these parameters play in student design practices. This qualitative investigation of first-year engineering student design teams revealed mutual and interconnected relationships between students and the organizations and institutions that they are a part of. In addition to contributing to research on engineering design, this work provides guidelines and practices to help design educators develop more effective design projects by incorporating constraints that enable effective design and learning. Moreover, I found that when appropriated in the context of higher education, multiple sublevels existed within nested structuration's organizational context and included course-level and project-level factors. The implications of this research can be used to improve the design of engineering course projects as well as the design of research efforts related to design in engineering education.
The Design and Development of a Theory Driven Process for the Creation of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning in an Online Environment
Black, Aprille Noe (Virginia Tech, 2009-04-02)
Educators are struggling to meet the ever-increasing challenges of preparing students to meet the demands of a global society. The importance of collaboration and social interaction in online education has been well documented (Berge, 1998; Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989, Fulford & Zhang, 1993; Gunawardena & McIssac, 2003; Kanuka & Anderson, 1998; Kearsley & Schneiderman, 1999; Sardamalia & Bereiter, 1994). Teachers and instructional designers are struggling to change the academic environment to meet the needs of millennial learners. The purpose of this study is to develop a theory driven process for designing computer-supported collaborative learning in an online environment. A careful analysis of the process for creating collaborative online instruction is conducted and a design strategy for the process is developed. The study provides suggested guidelines for practitioners to create collaborative online instruction. The design procedures emphasize social interaction to allow learners opportunities to explore, discover, and negotiate meaning in an authentic context. Online instruction requires the coupling of multiple areas of expertise to be successful. Although the pedagogical principles are the same, the global implications of "flat world" technology require an important weaving of collaborative interaction, graphic design, and pedagogy. Technology provides the transportation for achieving a collaborative environment; and, quality pedagogical practices provide the GPS (guidance positioning system) to direct collaborative instruction to its ultimate destination–knowledge building.
The Development of an E-Learning Course Incorporating Self-Regulated Learning Procedures into a PSI-Based Course
Pan, Xin (Virginia Tech, 2012-09-10)
This developmental research adopted an adapted Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) structure to design an e-learning course module and a learning procedure, and embedded a self-regulated learning procedure into the PSI course. A set of self-regulated learning tools were developed and applied in this process. Through this PSI-based course, students learned a comparative culture study topic and learned to develop their self-regulated learning skills. This research also conducted Formative Evaluation. Suggestions from expert review and small group evaluation were used to design and revise this module and learning procedure. Evaluation outcomes from expert review and small group evaluation confirmed that this SRL embedded PSI framework was applicable for this e-learning environment. Implications for future use in both academic and practical areas were discussed.
The Effects of Leader–member Exchange and Cognitive Style on Student Achievement: A Mixed Methods Case Study of Teacher–student Dyads
Mosley, Chaney Wayne (Virginia Tech, 2012-03-23)
The purpose of this embedded sequential explanatory case study with a quantitative→qualitative two-strand design of inquiry was to explain how the quality of teacher-student relationships and the gap of cognitive styles between teachers and students impact student achievement. The population for the quantitative strand of research was comprised of 11 career and technical education (CTE) teachers and 210 CTE students, representing six disciplines within CTE. The study occurred in a suburban high school in western North Carolina. Leader-member Exchange (LMX) theory and Adaption-innovation theory guided the research. In the quantitative strand, the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory was used to measure the cognitive style of teachers and students, a researcher developed survey was used to measure dyadic intensity, the Leader-Member Excellence—Shared-Leadership Exchange instrument was used to measure the perceived quality of dyadic relationships between teachers and students, and the North Carolina CTE end of course tests were used to measure student achievement in CTE classes. Additionally, demographic information was collected from teacher and student participants. In the qualitative strand, four teachers and eight students were interviewed. The purpose of the qualitative strand was to investigate how teachers and students describe their dyadic relationships. Data from both the quantitative and qualitative strands were mixed to allow for a stronger interpretation and explanation of the quantitative and qualitative results. Statistically significant relationships were identified among the various dimensions of teacher-student relationships. There was a weak, positive relationship between dyadic intensity and student GPA. A weak, positive relationship was found between dyadic intensity and teacher LMX. There was a weak, positive relationship between dyadic intensity and student LMX. There was a weak, positive relationship between student GPA and teacher LMX. A moderate, positive relationship was found between student GPA and student LMX. A moderate, positive relationship was found between student GPA and student achievement. Additionally, there was a moderate, positive relationship between teacher LMX and student LMX. A path analysis of quantitative data indicated that student GPA had a significant effect on teacher LMX. Teacher LMX and student GPA had a significant effect on student LMX. Lastly, student GPA had a significant effect on student achievement. Qualitative data validated the quantitative findings. Further, five themes surfaced from the qualitative data providing support for additional findings. The researcher recommended future investigation of the impacts of leader-member exchange and cognitive style on student achievement using alternative indicators of student achievement, an exploration of how involvement in a career and technical student organization (CTSO) interacts with teacher-student relationships and student achievement through the lens of leader-member exchange, and an examination of the impacts of leader-member exchange and cognitive style on student achievement outside of the context of CTE. The quality of teacher-student relationships from both the teacher's perspective and the student's perspective are affected by a student's grade point average. Student grade point average has a significant effect on student achievement. Much remains unknown about the antecedents of teacher-student relationships and how the relationships between teachers and students may interact with student achievement.
The Effects of Seductive Details and Segmentation on Interest, Recall and Transfer in a Multimedia Learning Environment
Lusk, Danielle Leigh (Virginia Tech, 2008-03-19)
Multimedia learning theory, and the research that has supported it, is largely focused on the cognitive elements of learning. Although motivation has been mentioned as a factor in learning in a multimedia environment, motivation has not been measured as a distinctive variable in most studies. Specific attributes of multimedia, including seductive details and segmentation, have been hypothesized to increase interest; however, only studies examining these attributes— effects on learning (measured by recall and transfer) have been conducted. The present study aimed to extend the examination of the use of seductive details and segmentation in multimedia learning by measuring interest in addition to recall and transfer. The participants were 167 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to four treatment groups involving a tutorial on the formation of lightning, which differed according to the multimedia attributes featured in the tutorial. Treatment groups included seductive details and segmentation (SD+S), seductive details and no segmentation (SD+NS), no seductive details and segmentation (NSD+S), and no seductive details and no segmentation (NSD+NS). Participants took an interest questionnaire before engaging with the tutorial and immediately following the tutorial. Tests of recall and transfer were used to measure learning after the tutorial. Two trained raters evaluated responses. Data from the study were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and correlation procedures. The results of the study revealed no significant differences among treatment groups in regards to interest, recall, or transfer. There was no significant relationship between interest and recall or interest and transfer. Although the results did not provide support for existing literature on seductive details and segmentation effects or reveal that these attributes increase interest, the implications of the findings present several valuable areas for future research.
Effects of Students' Identity Salience on Their Attitudes Toward and Experience in Face-to-face Peer Collaborative Learning Activities
Wang, FeiHong (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-18)
This sequential, mixed methods study explored students' attitudes towards collaborative learning and their responses to collaborative learning problems in relation to their identity salience. Identities are motivators of human actions that impact an individual's self-esteem and behavioral tendencies (Stryker, 1968). An individual has three identity aspects that are related to different behavioral tendencies: individual, relational, and collective aspects. The identity aspect that an individual acts out across a variety of situations is their identity salience. Implied by the identity salience theory, students' behaviors may be detrimental or beneficial to the effectiveness of collaborative learning based on their identity salience. Results of the study revealed a possible relationship between students' identity salience and their attitudes, prior experiences, working preferences, and priorities in collaborative learning. In addition, results of the study also disclosed students' behavioral tendencies in dealing with collaborative learning problems including group tension, the free-rider effect, and role taking in relation to students' identity salience. Findings of this study can be used to support further investigations on personalized student grouping for effective collaborative learning.
Experiences with the Mobile Interactive Learning Table: a custom table for education
Wilson, Gregory (Virginia Tech, 2011-12-08)
Multi-touch technology on tabletop displays lets children interact with digital objects in collaborative and competitive ways. Multi-touch tables are not a part of classroom instruction because of high cost and lack of meaningful applications. This thesis explores possible solutions to building hardware and software that support the engagement of children. Outlined is a demonstration of our Mobile Interactive Learning Table (MILT), a custom hardware system that can be built for a cost well below current commercial implementations. Experiences with transporting the table to schools and similar settings are discussed, as well as proposed advantages to this do-it-yourself custom approach. Additionally, digital card games were created to encourage elementary and middle school student engagement in meaningful learning. Observations of children collaborating and competitively playing these games, and a comparison study comparing gameplay using different input devices were conducted.
An exploration on the use of Gilberts behavior engineering model to identify barriers to technology integration in a public school
King, Charles Lee, Jr. (Virginia Tech, 2013-12-06)
Barriers to technology integration are not a new phenomenon for educators, however resolving the issues surrounding the barriers necessitates the use of appropriate methods to accurately identify them. The purpose of this study is to investigate (a) whether or not Gilberts Behavioral Engineering Model is an appropriate instrument for identifying barriers to technology integration in an educational setting, particularly a public school and (b) can Gilberts Behavioral Engineering model be used in a public school to identify barriers to technology integration. The research and design methods were conducted in two phases. In Phase I, a model usability study was conducted through an online Cause Analysis survey based on Chevalier's updated model. The survey was administered to 80 teachers and four administrators in a public school. In phase II, two expert reviewers validated the process used to implement the Behavior Engineering Model. The data from the Cause Analysis indicated that participants believed there was a lack of financial and non-financial incentives for integrating technology and that the management and reporting system did not adequately track the use of technology. The expert reviewers both agreed that Gilberts model was implemented correctly identified barriers to technology integration and revealed a performance gap. They also agreed that Gilberts model is appropriate to use in a public school setting.
An exploratory study of family dining attitudes toward full service restaurant product/service attributes
Logan, Theresa Castillo (Virginia Tech, 1991-05-15)
Families dining out with children are becoming an important customer segment revealing a personal preference for convenience, timely service, menu variety, and child entertainment. According to united states industry figures, families dining out with children constitute twenty percent of estimated commercial restaurant sales. Although the restaurant industry is segmenting customer markets for the 1990's, most restaurateurs still define customer markets using instinct versus market segmentation research. By targeting families with children, the researcher investigated family dining attitudes according to gender, income, ages of children in the family unit, and frequency of dining out. The research was an exploratory investigation, identifying family dining attitudes toward full service restaurant products and services. Survey data was collected and analyzed, using a convenience sample of families in Fairfax County, Virginia.
An exploratory study of human resource management and business strategy in multiunit restaurant firms
Ishak, Nor K. (Virginia Tech, 1990-03-24)
The objectives of this study is two-fold: First, is to explore the nature of human resource management (HRM) functional activities in the multiunit restaurant firms, focusing at the unit restaurant managers level. The second objective is to investigate the relationship between the firm's business strategy and its HRM practices. This study addresses the critical need for empirical research that examines HRM practices in restaurant firms, and presents a possible solution to the acute management shortage problem in the industry. Data are collected from 14 publicly-traded multiunit restaurant firms. A case study approach is taken to provide an in-depth examination of each firm. Primary data are derived via interviews and structured mailed questionnaires. Information is also collected through published sources. The results indicate that restaurant firms do have similar HRM functional activities' emphasis. Some of those activities were found to support the firm's business strategy. An analysis of the qualitative data indicate that although the HRM executives are involved in the firms' strategic planning process, the current acute labor shortage and high turnover problems demand them to focus on administrative issues instead. The study provides exploratory evidence for the effectiveness of a positive link between HRM practices and business strategy. It has contributed to a deeper understanding of the issues and functions of the HRM divisions in the multiunit restaurant firms.
Game Based Improvement of Learning Fractions Using iOS Mobile Devices
Aslan, Serdar (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-25)
Education plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of any nation. Researchers, pedagogists, and teachers all over the world are constantly working towards improving the process of teaching at all levels of education in order to help impart knowledge in a more effective way. One of the most fundamental branches of education is mathematics. Unless a strong foundation is laid in childhood, it becomes difficult for adults to apply mathematics to their daily lives. Mathematics is such a field that it is integrated in most of our activities. Fractions, a mathematics topic, pose significant challenges for middle school students Although the students generally understand proper fractions (i.e., the numerator is smaller than the denominator), they find it very difficult to learn improper fractions (i.e., the numerator is greater than the denominator). One cannot do away with parts of mathematics curriculum, just because the concept is hard to grasp. The solution is to come up with alternative methods to teach these concepts, such that they are easier to understand and more fun to learn. This thesis describes a digital game-based solution for teaching fractions to middle school students using iOS mobile devices, i.e., iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. We developed a universal iOS game, called Candy Factory, which runs on all iOS mobile devices. The game assigns the student the role of the owner of a Candy Factory and tasks the student to manufacture a candy bar to match the kind and size of a customer order from a whole candy bar that is retrieved from the warehouse. The game is created to teach fractions based on the concept of partitioning and iterating. The student performs various activities such as partitioning, iterating, and measuring to produce the candy bar to satisfy the customer requirements. The game consists of three levels, which help the student progress smoothly from easier problems to more difficult ones. The Candy Factory game, not only helps students learn the fundamentals of fractions, but also makes the learning process enjoyable.
Instructional Design and Technology Student and Instructor Perceptions Regarding Collaborative Learning Groups
Jeffrey, Thomas Read (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-18)
Collaborative group learning is a popular method of instruction that is used in a variety of academic disciplines but little is known about how it is perceived as an instructional approach. The purpose of this study was to discover how college-level learners and instructors perceive collaborative group learning in regard to value and benefit, role of the instructor, and factors that contribute to positive and negative collaborative experiences. A non-experimental study provided information about participants in the form of descriptive data, correlational statistics, and qualitative analysis. Findings indicated that collaborative group learning was valued because it supported the achievement of learning goals, was an effective method of learning, and held professional benefit. However, value and benefit were reported to be affected by a variety of factors, such as work and reward inequities, the social context of collaboration, and the appropriateness of the activity to the learning situation and objectives. Findings related to the instructor's role showed that students acknowledged and accepted ownership of group processes; however, they also indicated that they would like the instructor to play an active role in the collaborative activity to support the learning process. This and other instructor role findings indicate the complexity of balancing instructor functions, as highlighted in results that showed some learners and instructors preferred a hands-off approach on the part of the instructor, while other learners and instructors felt that instructor involvement was a necessity. Suggestions provided by learners and instructors regarding instructor functions that supported effective collaboration included such activities as mentoring collaborative behavior, monitoring group and individual progress, and providing clear expectations and guidance. Findings from this study may be useful for informing the design, development, and implementation of collaborative group learning activities by providing insight into the factors that contribute to effective collaborative experiences, as well as perceptual differences and similarities between the learners and instructors.
Knowledge Creation Analytics for Online Engineering Learning
Teo, Hon Jie (Virginia Tech, 2014-07-25)
The ubiquitous use of computers and greater accessibility of the Internet have triggered widespread use of educational innovations such as online discussion forums, Wikis, Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, to name a few. These advances have led to the creation of a wide range of instructional videos, written documents and discussion archives by engineering learners seeking to expand their learning and advance their knowledge beyond the engineering classroom. However, it remains a challenging task to assess the quality of knowledge advancement on these learning platforms particularly due to the informal nature of engagement as a whole and the massive amount of learner-generated data. This research addresses this broad challenge through a research approach based on the examination of the state of knowledge advancement, analysis of relationships between variables indicative of knowledge creation and participation in knowledge creation, and identification of groups of learners. The study site is an online engineering community, All About Circuits, that serves 31,219 electrical and electronics engineering learners who contributed 503,908 messages in 65,209 topics. The knowledge creation metaphor provides the guiding theoretical framework for this research. This metaphor is based on a set of related theories that conceptualizes learning as a collaborative process of developing shared knowledge artifacts for the collective benefit of a community of learners. In a knowledge-creating community, the quality of learning and participation can be evaluated by examining the degree of collaboration and the advancement of knowledge artifacts over an extended period of time. Software routines were written in Python programming language to collect and process more than half a million messages, and to extract user-produced data from 87,263 web pages to examine the use of engineering terms, social networks and engineering artifacts. Descriptive analysis found that state of knowledge advancement varies across discussion topics and the level of engagement in knowledge creating activities varies across individuals. Non-parametric correlation analysis uncovered strong associations between topic length and knowledge creating activities, and between the total interactions experienced by individuals and individual engagement in knowledge creating activities. On the other hand, the variable of individual total membership period has week associations with individual engagement in knowledge creating activities. K-means clustering analysis identified the presence of eight clusters of individuals with varying lengths of participation and membership, and Kruskal-Wallis tests confirmed that significant differences between the clusters. Based on a comparative analysis of Kruskal-Wallis Score Means and the examination of descriptive statistics for each cluster, three groups of learners were identified: Disengaged (88% of all individuals), Transient (10%) and Engaged (2%). A comparison of Spearman Correlations between pairs of variables suggests that variable of individual active membership period exhibits stronger association with knowledge creation activities for the group of Disengaged, whereas the variable of individual total interactions exhibits stronger association with knowledge creation activities for the group of Engaged. Limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations for future work are made.
Measuring Engagement Effects of Educational Games and Virtual Manipulatives on Mathematics
Samur, Yavuz (Virginia Tech, 2012-04-26)
Educational games have been demonstrated to increase engagement and engagement has been demonstrated to increase achievement. Therefore, the researcher attempted to investigate how to better measure engagement and refine the measurement of engagement in this study. To frame the engagement, three domains of engagement – behavioral, cognitive, and emotional– are analyzed in detail to be able to examine the qualities of each type. Moreover, three game attributes –clear goals, immediate feedback, and balance between challenges and skills- are presented and discussed as fundamental features of virtual manipulatives and educational games used in this study to make an impact on students’ engagement. To measure effects of educational games and virtual manipulatives on three domains of engagement, the researcher designed an engagement survey that examines each domain separately with their sub-domains. The Cronbach’s alphas for engagement pre-test and post-test were found .89 and .91 respectively. In this pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design, four fifth-grade classrooms (N=86) from four schools in southwest Virginia were assigned as three experimental groups and one control group. In the first experimental group, participants played an educational game called Candy Factory and in the second experimental group, the students played another educational game called Pearl Diver on iPod Touch for eight days consecutively, for 20 minutes each. In the third experimental group, participants performed activities with virtual manipulatives, whereas in the control group, participants did paper-and-pencil iii drills for the same duration. All of the groups studied on the same topic, fractions. According to the results of ANCOVA, experimental group students’ engagement scores were found significantly higher than control group students’, F(1,80)=11.568, p=.001. When three domains of engagement were analyzed, significant differences were found among all three domains between experimental and control groups. When the researcher conducted separate analysis for educational games group and virtual manipulatives group, students who played educational games were also found significantly different than control group students in terms of all three domains of engagement and general engagement, F(1, 58)= 8.883, p=.004. In addition to this, students who did activities with virtual manipulatives showed significantly higher engagement than students who did paper-and-pencil drills in control group, F(1, 46)= 7.967, p=.007. Statistical difference was found in emotional and cognitive engagement while the results showed no significant difference in behavioral engagement between virtual manipulatives and control group students. Therefore, the three game attributes were considered as the main determining factors to engage students more to the content.
Peer Review in CS2: the Effects on Attitudes, Engagement, and Conceptual Learning
Turner, Scott Alexander (Virginia Tech, 2009-08-13)
In computer science, students could benefit from exposure to critical programming concepts from multiple perspectives. Peer review is one method to allow students to experience authentic uses of the concepts in a non-programming manner. Peer review provides students with the opportunity to evaluate other people's work and, in doing so, allows for a rich learning experience. While much is known about peer review and it has many uses in other disciplines, the literature, especially in computer science, does not spend much time on the perspective of and benefits to the reviewer. In this work, we examine how to implement the peer review process in early, object-oriented, computer science courses as a way to develop the reviewers' higher-level thinking skills, increase their knowledge of specific programming concepts, and to improve attitudes to help engage them in the activity. Specifically, we explore peer review and its effects on Abstraction, Decomposition, and Encapsulation and how the type of review (students reviewing their peers or reviewing materials from their instructor), influences these effects. We also look at how the students' attitudes relate to their engagement in and the benefits from the reviews. To study these ideas, we used peer review exercises in two CS2 classes at local universities over the course of a semester. We divided the students into three groups where one group reviewed their peers, one group reviewed their instructor, and one group completed small design or coding exercises. We measured the students' attitudes and their conceptual understanding during the semester with surveys, tests, and concept maps. We collected the completed reviews as well. We found that reviewing helped students learn Decomposition, especially those reviewing the instructor's programs. We did not find evidence of improvements to the students' level of thinking over the semester nor were there significant changes in their attitudes. However, the data showed that students assigned to review their peers were less likely to complete the assignments than the other students were. Overall, peer reviews are a valuable method for teaching Decomposition to CS2 students and can be used as an alternative way to learn object-oriented programming concepts.
Relationship of Self-Efficacy to the Stages of Concern in the Adoption of an Innovation in Higher Education
Marcu, Amber Diane (Virginia Tech, 2013-04-23)
In this research, it was proposed that self-efficacy is the missing underlying psychological factor in innovation diffusion models of higher education. This is based upon research conducted in the fields of innovation-diffusion in higher education, technology adoption, self-efficacy, health and behavioral change. It was theorized that if self-efficacy is related to adoption, it could provide a quick-scoring method for adoption efficiency and effectiveness that would be easy to administer. The innovation-diffusion model used in this study was Hall and Hord\'s (1987) Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) and it\'s Seven Stages of Concern (SoC) About an Innovation. The SoC measures a user\'s perception of"and concerns about"an innovation over time. The self-efficacies under study were general, teaching, and technology. The scales used in this research instrument were Chen\'s New General Self-Efficacy (NGSE), Prieto\'s College Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (CTSES), and Lichty\'s Teaching with Technology Self-efficacy scale (MUTEBI), respectively. This research hoped to uncover a relationship between self-efficacies and a Stage of Concern in the adoption of an instructional technology innovation, Google Apps for Education, at a large university institution. Over 150 quantitative responses were collected from a pool of 1,713 instructional faculty between late Fall 2012 and early Spring 2013 semesters. The response group was not representative of the larger population. Forty-six percent represented non-tenure track faculty compared to the expected 19 percent. Analysis using nominal logistic regression between self-efficacy and Stages of Concern revealed that no statistically significant relationship was found. Of note is that nearly all participants could be classified as being in the early-stages of an innovation adoption, possibly skewing the overall results.
Rhythmatical: A game to combine music and mathematics for mobile devices
Moorefield-Lang, Heather; Evans, Michael A. (Music Reference Services Quarterly, 2011)
Rhythmatical was designed to be an educational application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that conveyed mathematical topics via musical, rhythmic, or movement interactive techniques. Created by a team of professors, a librarian, students, and members of game development industry this iPhone and iPod Touch application connects music and math for fourth to eighth grade students. This article describes the history of the application, the creation of the new deliverable, as well as gives insights into new ideas for the future.
Social Media as Connected Learning Technology: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Facebook for Undergraduate Education
Won, Samantha Gwai Lan (Virginia Tech, 2015-05-04)
Social media technologies are networked technological tools that can provide opportunities for productive socialization and collaboration. While social media are being incorporated increasingly into formal classroom settings, there is very little research available providing specific evidence for the affordances and limitations of social media as educational tools. It is also unclear whether undergraduates are open to, or already using social media for educational purposes. The current study explores Facebook as a collaborative and participatory learning tool to provide information on sex-related topics to undergraduate students. Connected learning was used as the guiding framework for exploring the ways that social media blend peer culture, academics, and learner interests to promote learning through interactions with a learning community. Results of the study indicate that undergraduate students were open and willing to using social media in academic contexts. However, students did not contribute comments directly to the study page resulting in a lack of evidence confirming whether connected learning occurred. Based on student responses, instructors hoping to integrate social media into their courses would do well to focus on maintaining responsiveness to students, promoting the development of a learning community, and varying the style and format of posts. It was determined that social media sites such as Facebook would serve best as supplemental, but intentional educational technologies rather than the basis for creating entire courses. Further research should center on understanding the participation and lurking patterns of students in educational social media environments, as well as the driving factors behind these participation patterns.
Technology helps students transcend part-whole concepts
Norton, Anderson H. III; Wilkins, Jesse L. M.; Evans, Michael A.; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Balci, Osman; Chang, Mido (2014-02)
How would your students make sense of the fraction 5/7? Would they interpret it as 5 parts out of 7 equal parts? Could they also understand it as a piece that is 5 times as large as 1/7? The former interpretation aligns with part-whole conceptions, whereas the latter aligns with partitive conceptions. Steffe and Olive (2010) have made such distinctions in students’ fractional knowledge to explain why students experience difficulties with fractions and to help students overcome those difficulties. (For summaries of this work, see Norton and McCloskey 2008 and 2009.) We introduce an educational video game (application, or app) designed to promote students’ development of partitive understanding while demonstrating the critical need to promote that development. The app includes essential game features of immediate feedback, incentives, and summary information for refl ection and discussion (Evans et al. 2013).

Browsing by Author "Evans, Michael A."

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