Liberating learning object design from the learning style of student instructional designers

Learning objects are a new form of learning resource, and the design of these digital environments has many facets. To investigate senior instructional design students' use of reflection tools in designing learning objects, a series of studies was conducted using the Reflective Action Instructional Design and Learning Object Review Instrument tools. Analysis revealed that most participants found the reflection questions useful in design but also that intensive use of the tools is needed to free learning object design from the personal learning traits of the designers.     

Scientific explanations: Characterizing and evaluating the effects of teachers' instructional practices on student learning

Teacher practices are essential for supporting students in scientific inquiry practices, such as the construction of scientific explanations. In this study, we examine what instructional practices teachers engage in when they introduce scientific explanation and whether these practices influence students' ability to construct scientific explanations during a middle school chemistry unit. Thirteen teachers enacted a project‐based chemistry unit, How can I make new stuff from old stuff?, with 1197 seventh grade students. We videotaped each teacher's enactment of the focal lesson on scientific explanation and then coded the videotape for four different instructional practices: modeling scientific explanation, making the rationale of scientific explanation explicit, defining scientific explanation, and connecting scientific explanation to everyday explanation. Our results suggest that when teachers introduce scientific explanation, they vary in the practices they engage in as well as the quality of their use of these practices. We also found that teachers' use of instructional practices can influence student learning of scientific explanation and that the effect of these instructional practices depends on the context in terms of what other instructional practices the teacher uses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 53–78, 2008     

Impact of instructional leadership on high school student academic achievement in China

Asia Pacific Education Review - The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of instructional leadership on high school students’ academic achievement in the Chinese context and to...     

Indicators of exemplary programs in instructional design and technology: faculty and student perspectives

This exploratory study investigated what faculty and current students in Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) programs perceive as indicators of an exemplary program. We surveyed a sample of the faculty and students and asked them to identify the most important indicators of an exemplary program and rank their own programs according to those indicators. We contacted programs from 11 different countries, though the majority of contacted programs were from the United States of America. We coded and analyzed the respondents’ 941 indicator statements and created 35 thematic indicators. The frequency and percentage of occurrence of these themes across the programs for both faculty and students were analyzed. Their mean rating of their programs for each theme was also calculated. The paper presents the results of this analysis and examines the differences across students/faculty and program types. The findings of this survey, albeit limited due to the low response rate, could benefit IDT programs in terms of performance improvement and assist students by offering criteria by which they can select a graduate program.     

Challenge 98: sustaining the work of a regional technology integration initiative

In this article, we offer a research‐based theoretical framework for sustainability, describing the proven qualities of a project and the innovations that support its sustained existence over time. We then describe how a US Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge grantee, working to promote technology integration in a socio‐economically disadvantaged region of the state of Texas, succeeded in creating a sustainable set of activities around its work to support educators’ uses of technology. We examine the factors that served to nurture and facilitate sustainability of the practices associated with technology integration to promote student achievement. We take the fact that it is not the project but rather the change in practice that is important.     

Blending Learning和信息技术与课程整合

随着对E-learning的研究转入低潮，人们开始冷静思考总结经验教训，于是将传统课堂教育和E-learning的优势相结合，产生了Blending Learning的概念。而观今学校教育中最红火的莫过于信息技术与课程整合，这符合素质教育以及21世纪人才培养目标的要求。本文拟从Blending Learning为信息技术与课程整合带来的新启示这个角度着手，探讨如何将Blending Learning的思想融入课程整合中，以期为整合带来新思路、扩展新道路。     

Impact of student agency on learning performance and learning experience in a flipped classroom

The efficacy of the flipped classroom model largely depends on the specifications of its design and implementation, and one important specification to consider is student agency. With the purpose of prescribing the optimal level of student agency for the flipped classroom, this study conducted a repeated-measures experimental design to compare the effects of three levels of student agency in an undergraduate flipped course with 43 students. The empirical results revealed that student agency had a significant impact on students' academic performance and perceived learning experience. Moreover, a low level of student agency appeared to induce superior performance and evaluation ratings from the students and counter the influence of personality and self-study time. The findings are expected to inform the design and implementation of flipped courses and extend our understanding of student-centred learning to the context of the flipped classroom.     

Ultrasound imaging in medical student education: Impact on learning anatomy and physical diagnosis

Ultrasound use has expanded dramatically among the medical specialties for diagnostic and interventional purposes, due to its affordability, portability, and practicality. This imaging modality, which permits real‐time visualization of anatomic structures and relationships in vivo, holds potential for pre‐clinical instruction of students in anatomy and physical diagnosis, as well as providing a bridge to the eventual use of bedside ultrasound by clinicians to assess patients and guide invasive procedures. In many studies, but not all, improved understanding of anatomy has been demonstrated, and in others, improved accuracy in selected aspects of physical diagnosis is evident. Most students have expressed a highly favorable impression of this technology for anatomy education when surveyed. Logistic issues or obstacles to the integration of ultrasound imaging into anatomy teaching appear to be readily overcome. The enthusiasm of students and anatomists for teaching with ultrasound has led to widespread implementation of ultrasound‐based teaching initiatives in medical schools the world over, including some with integration throughout the entire curriculum; a trend that likely will continue to grow. Anat Sci Educ 10: 176–189. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

基于混合学习的教育技术公共课的教学设计

分析了教育技术公共课的现状,提出混合学习能解决当前存在的问题,可以较好地实现该课程的教学目标,并详细地从学习者分析、环境分析、教学目标分析、教学策略和资源的设计、学习评价的设计5个方面阐述了如何在该课程中进行混合学习的设计。     

Improving the quality of student learning: the influence of learning context and student approaches to learning on learning outcomes

Previous studies of the relationship between perceptions and/or evaluations of the learning environment and approaches to study have either not included measures of students' learning outcomes, or have included quantitative differences and not qualitative differences in learning outcomes. The studies reported in this paper focus on the relationship between qualitative differences in learning outcomes, perceptions/evaluations of the learning environment and approaches to study. The results support previous research in identifying relationships between perceptions/evaluations of the learning environment and approach to study and between approach to study and the quality of the learning outcomes. The second of the two studies reported also identifies a relationship between perceptions, approaches and the quality of the outcomes. The results suggest that perceived environments which encourage deep approaches are more likely to facilitate higher quality learning than environments designed to discourage surface approaches.     

Investigating the impacts of targeted professional development around models and modeling on teachers' instructional practice and student learning

Developing understanding of models and proficiency with modeling practice is challenging for both teachers and students. This 2‐year study first investigated existing instructional strategies employed by teachers while teaching Earth and Space Science with dynamic physical models. Summer professional development introduced a conceptual framework, based on analogical reasoning, to help students strengthen and deepen the connections they make between a model and its real‐world referent. The framework draws explicit attention to correspondences and non‐correspondences between model and referent, an often overlooked component of modeling practice which underpins the ability to evaluate and thus improve a model. Teachers were guided to reflect on their own instructional use of models and to plan for integrating specific instructional strategies around models into their Year 2 practice. Classroom observation data reveal that from Years 1 to 2, teachers shifted from a more didactic approach in which they used physical models primarily as tools for demonstration toward more student engagement with models as problem‐solving tools. On an assessment measuring their students' ability to reason with and about models, pre‐post learning gains were higher in Year 2 than Year 1 across students at all ability levels. Together, these findings present evidence that teachers can learn to guide their students toward using physical models in ways that approximate key aspects of how scientists use runnable models, as envisioned by the Developing and Using Models practice of the Next Generation Science Standards.     

Flipping the classroom and instructional technology integration in a college-level information systems spreadsheet course

The purpose of this research was to explore how technology can be used to teach technological skills and to determine what benefit flipping the classroom might have for students taking an introductory-level college course on spreadsheets in terms of student achievement and satisfaction with the class. A pretest posttest quasi-experimental mixed methods design was utilized to determine any differences in student achievement that might be associated with the instructional approach being used. In addition, the scalability of each approach was evaluated along with students’ perceptions of these approaches to determine the affect each intervention might have on a student’s motivation to learn. The simulation-based instruction tested in this study was found to be an extremely scalable solution but less effective than the regular classroom and flipped classroom approaches in terms of student learning. While students did demonstrate learning gains, the process focus of the simulation’s instruction and assessments frustrated students and decreased their motivation to learn. Students’ attitudes towards the topic, their willingness to refer the course to others, and the likelihood that they would take another course like this were considerably lower than those of students in the flipped or regular classroom situations. The results of this study support the conclusion that a technology enhanced flipped classroom was both effective and scalable; it better facilitated learning than the simulation-based training and students found this approach to be more motivating in that it allowed for greater differentiation of instruction.     

Analysis of written language of a language learning disabled (dyslexic) college student and instructional implications

This paper examines spontaneous writing of a college student with a history of language learning problems. Writing samples, collected from tests and papers in college courses, were analyzed for syntactic complexity, spelling, grammatical errors, semantic errors, and organization. Metacognitive factors were analyzed by examining student’s responses to questions about his perceptions about writing. Results showed: (a) the dyslexic student produced syntactically complex structures comparable to nondyslexic writers; (b) the student averaged 9% spelling errors per essay and 17 grammatical errors per essay; (c) primary semantic errors were inappropriate word choices, incorrect determiners, and overuse of “so” as a transition; (d) major problem with organization involved difficulties with expanding an idea beyond “saying the same thing in a different way;” (e) metacognitive strategies included difficulties with separating self from writing and recognizing ambiguity in writing. The paper then describes six instructional strategies to assist in remediation of the student’s writing problems. Paper presented at the Second Miami University Sentence Combining Conference, October, 1983.