Dialogue in a distance education physics course

This study investigated the kinds of dialogues utilized by Open University students while studying an intermediate level physics course. Research objectives were twofold: to document what dialogue types, mediated through which resources, were (1) generally utilized by students as they learned; and (2) were specifically utilized by students to overcome conceptual difficulties. It was found that all students initially chose individual study characterized by intrapersonal dialogue. Only when individual study failed did students opt for interpersonal dialogue. This finding conflicts with the assumed importance often ascribed to interpersonal dialogue by some distance education theorists.     

论在计算机教学中如何促进道德素质教育

针对计算机使用中出现的道德问题，在计算机教学中应引导学生提高警惕，加强网络安全意识，正确对待网络，合理取舍网络信息，培养网络“环保意识”，进而提高学生的道德素质。     

Transactional distance and interactive television in the distance education of health professionals

Abstract

Distance education, in which learners are remote from the primary educational institution and the teacher, is increasingly delivered via interactive television technology. Moore (1980) described transactional distance between students and faculty in distance education as characterized by dialogue and structure. He hypothesized that high structure and low dialogue yield “remote” transactional distance and low structure and high dialogue yield “close” transactional distance. The variables in the current study were operationally defined following Moore (1973, 665): “A learner's ‘distance’ from his teacher [transactional distance] … is defined as a function of individualization [structure] and dialogue.” Student volunteers (n = 221) in thirteen public health and nursing graduate courses at the University of Hawaii at Manoa responded to an investigator‐developed questionnaire regarding elements of dialogue, structure, and transactional distance in their courses. Principal components and internal consistency reliability analyses verified the presence of three factors: structure, dialogue, and transactional distance. Dialogue was greater in the distance‐format courses than in the traditional‐format courses. Distance‐format courses did not differ from traditional courses on amount of structure or transactional distance.     

Categorising computer science education research

The interdisciplinary nature of Computer Science Education as a field of study is a complicating factor when authors are choosing appropriate journals and conferences for publishing research results. This paper reports a survey of 42 such publications in order to identify the types of paper frequently accepted for publication in each. We review existing taxonomies developed for the general fields of Computer Science and Education, and from this starting point, we develop a novel faceted taxonomy, specifically aimed to help new researchers in the field understand what types of papers are published and where they appear. Our results confirm previous studies indicating the predominance of practice-based, technology-driven reports. We also observe certain differences in educational themes between those found in publications grounded in the Computer Science Education corpus and those emerging from more general Higher Education literature.     

Skills and knowledge needed by television production specialists in distance education

The purpose of this study was to examine what distance education-related skills and knowledge television production specialists had to learn in order to perform their jobs. The purposive sample for this study consisted of 12 full-time television production specialists who develop live, interactive, video-based educational programs at American universities. However, prior to employment at their respective universities, these television production specialists had no experience or educational background in the field of distance education. Qualitative methods were used to collect data. The analysis gave rise to the finding that television production specialists had to learn skills in two major areas—technical skills and personal/interpersonal skills—and knowledge of instructional design methods.     

Student satisfaction with distance education in a criminal justice graduate course

As distance education becomes more widespread and sophisticated, a key concern should be how well programming meets the needs of its student clientele. The present study examines student satisfaction across learning environments (studio versus remote) and over time. Survey questionnaires were administered in a distance education course, and scales were constructed for (1) evaluation of the instructor and (2) specific aspects of distance education. Attitudes were generally favorable, although most students would still prefer a “traditional” classroom and satisfaction ratings significantly declined over time. Implications for improving services are explored regarding technological aspects of the classroom that pose difficulties for some students.     

How television production specialists learn distance education skills and knowledge

The purpose of this study was to examine how television‐production specialists, who had no previous experience or educational background in the field of distance education, learned the distance education‐related skills and obtained the knowledge necessary to perform their jobs. The purposive sample for this study comprised 12 full‐time television production specialists who were employed for at least one year at universities across the United States to produce live, interactive, video‐based educational programs, but who, prior to employment at their respective universities, had no experience or educational background in the field of distance education. Qualitative methods, including semi‐structured interviews, observation, and concept maps, were used to collect data. This study found that television production specialists used both incidental and informal learning strategies to learn the necessary skills and knowledge they needed to perform their jobs. Participants learned predominantly by three means: assessing previously held assumptions and beliefs; learning by doing through a trial‐and‐error‐type format; and watching other's videoconference programs. Participants also experienced a ‘mindset change’, brought about by such factors as identifying audience and subject‐matter specialists’ needs, in how they viewed their own performance.     

Advanced distance education technology and hands-on science

Distance education technology can be used to increase the teaching of science in schools. However, the use of the technology must be carefully monitored. This paper describes the general use of 2-way video/2-way audio technology to link three remote sites and a studio. To evaluate the instructiors' and participants' use of this technology, video recordings ofall 11 (2-hour) broadcasts were reviewed. In general, the instructors were able to conduct a semester long hands-on science course, however, there were many science teaching techniques that had to be altered for this technology. When this technology is used for hands-on science, the hardware itself must be improved so that continuous interaction can take place between the studio and all remote sites. Science topics and activities may prove to be one of thebest fields to present with the technology, because of the practical lab based nature of science. Hands-on science activities seem to lessen the feeling of distance between remote sites and the studio.     

Mastering cognitive development theory in computer science education

To design an effective computer science curriculum, educators require a systematic method of classifying the difficulty level of learning activities and assessment tasks. This is important for curriculum design and implementation and for communication between educators. Different educators must be able to use the method consistently, so that classified activities and assessments are comparable across the subjects of a degree, and, ideally, comparable across institutions. One widespread approach to supporting this is to write learning objects in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This, or other such classifications, is likely to be more effective if educators can use them consistently, in the way experts would use them. To this end, we present the design and evaluation of our online interactive web-based tutorial system, which can be configured and used to offer training in different classification schemes. We report on results from three evaluations. First, 17 computer science educators complete a tutorial on using Bloom’s Taxonomy to classify programming examination questions. Second, 20 computer science educators complete a Neo-Piagetian tutorial. Third evaluation was a comparison of inter-rater reliability scores of computer science educators classifying programming questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy, before and after taking our tutorial. Based on the results from these evaluations, we discuss the effectiveness of our tutorial system design for teaching computer science educators how to systematically and consistently classify programming examination questions. We also discuss the suitability of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Neo-Piagetian theory for achieving this goal. The Bloom’s and Neo-Piagetian tutorials are made available as a community resource. The contributions of this paper are the following: the tutorial system for learning classification schemes for the purpose of coding the difficulty of computing learning materials; its evaluation; new insights into the consistency that computing educators can achieve using Bloom; and first insights into the use of Neo-Piagetian theory by a group of classifiers.     

The Effect of Augmented Reality based applications on achievement and attitude towards science course in distance education process

Education and Information Technologies - This study aims to enrich a theme in the science course in the distance education process with augmented reality-based applications and to examine the...     

Theory and practice in a science education course for elementary teachers

In this action research work, I analyze the theory–practice integration in teacher preparation within the context of a science and technology (S&T) education teaching methodology course aimed at future elementary teachers. The course was designed, developed and evaluated taking into account this relationship as one of its axes. The results reveal that the proposal favors progress in theory–practice integration and stimulates the students’ reflection and research. By means of a written report and an oral presentation, the students communicated their reflections on S&T teaching in the context of their concomitant professional practice. They also collected and presented resources and activities they found useful for teaching, practiced the use of certain educational S&T kits, and looked for and shared S&T pieces of news from different mass media. They additionally conducted a school learning project simulation and reflected on it. Besides, they prepared three written essays about theoretical–practical assigned readings and discussed them. In this paper, I refer to achievements and difficulties that emerged during the process, relating them to other research findings in the area and to theoretical considerations. Finally, I make proposals for further efforts in this field.     

远程教学中课程教学模式的改革与实践

由于远程教育课程学习具有和普通高校不同的特点,所以远程教学中课程教学模式也应不同于普通高校。根据远程教育的特点,我们设计了"导学-自主学习-辅助学习"的三段式课程学习模式,该模式的推广应用将极大的提高学生的学习效率。     

Democratizing computer science knowledge: transforming the face of computer science through public high school education

Despite the fact that computer science (CS) is the driver of technological innovations across all disciplines and aspects of our lives, including participatory media, high school CS too commonly fails to incorporate the perspectives and concerns of low-income students of color. This article describes a partnership program – Exploring Computer Science (ECS) – that directly counters this problem in our nation's second largest school district. With a mission of democratizing CS learning, we argue that despite the constraints of working within public schools, it is imperative to do so. We discuss the ECS program based on inquiry, culturally relevant curriculum, and equity-oriented pedagogy. We describe two ECS-affiliated projects that highlight the importance of authorship, purpose, and agency for student learning and engagement: DietSens using mobile technology to study community health, and a project in which students create video games about social issues. Our work offers a counter-narrative to those who have written off the possibilities of working within public schools and a debunking of the too widespread myth within our educational system that females and students of color are inherently uninterested in rigorous CS learning.