Perceptions of effectiveness and the actual use of technology-based methods of instruction: A study of California criminal justice and crime-related faculty

The field of criminal justice/criminology has few studies that examine faculty opinions regarding the use of technology as a replacement and supplement to traditional classroom instruction. Using a sample of criminal justice and crime-related higher education faculty members in the state of California, this study examines perceptions of effectiveness and the actual use of various classroom-based technologies. The results reveal that while most faculty members hold positive views toward the use of technology, far fewer are actually integrating technology-based methods of instruction into their courses. Meanwhile, most faculty members do not perceive the presence of adequate administrative supports or incentives at their institutions for the development of distance learning courses. Overall, support for the integration of technology into criminal justice education appears to be greatest when it is used as a supplement rather than a replacement for face-to-face classroom instruction.     

Capabilities‐based educational equivalency units: Beginning a professional dialogue

Abstract

This article proposes a basic model for the transformation of academic equivalency in distance education, shifting from a unit of measurement that relies on time in the classroom (the Carnegie unit) to one that focuses on learner achievement. The Capabilities‐Based Educational Equivalency (CBEE) model puts forward a framework of academic equivalency that is founded on valid and useful instructional design objectives. While allowing time to be variable (rather than constant) and holding academic achievement relatively constant, the CBEE model permits the comparison of student achievement in face‐to‐face and distance education, as well as between programs delivering instruction via a wide variety of media.     

Attitudes of Alaskan distance education students toward media and instruction

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study to assess the attitudes of distance higher education students in various units of the College of Rural Alaska, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Emphasis was given to media preferences, the convenience of various media, and overall attitudes toward distance instruction. Results of a mail survey indicated acceptance of a wide variety of media as well as strong general support for distance instruction. Additionally, a large majority of respondents rated distance instruction as equal to or better than face‐to‐face instruction.     

Flipped classroom instruction for inclusive learning

The flipped classroom is a teaching methodology that has gained recognition in primary, secondary and higher education settings. The flipped classroom inverts traditional teaching methods, delivering lecture instruction outside class, and devoting class time to problem solving, with the teacher's role becoming that of a learning coach and facilitator. This methodology provides an avenue for more hands‐on and student‐driven learning during class time. The benefits of a flipped classroom include increased student motivation, differentiating instruction, self‐pacing lessons and mastery learning, increased collaboration and instant feedback for formative assessment. Although limited research has been conducted regarding students with learning difficulties in inclusive settings using a flipped learning model, initial research indicates flipping a classroom can be beneficial. Information is provided on inclusive practices from numerous countries that are beneficial to students with learning difficulties, as well as strategies and resources for individuals who may want to implement a flipped classroom.     

Speaking Personally—With Ken Udas

Abstract

The context of rural Alaska provides many challenges for the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in the delivery of education via distance technologies. Audioconference courses have been and continue to be the backbone of the University's distance delivery system. This paper discusses the potential of a FirstClass^® Server using telecommunications, e‐mail, student‐to‐student interaction, submission of assignments, timely instructor feedback, and the transfer of files and multimedia documents in an asynchronous manner. Survey data were collected from students who received instruction using this system, as well as the traditional audioconference delivery method. Analysis of the data indicated some positive aspects of the FirstClass system that enhance the distance‐delivered instruction.     

Mastering course content and learner satisfaction in early childhood education: A comparison of regular classroom instruction with three variations of internet delivery*

Abstract

In the spring semester 2000, a Penn State course, ECE 479 (The Young Child's Play as Educative Process), was taught by the same instructor in four delivery formats. One group consisted of a regular classroom, held on campus. A second group, also on campus, was taught in a computer lab via the Internet; and there were opportunities for interaction with peers and the instructor. A third group took the course on the Internet as part of a local distance education group; hence, there were some limited opportunities for face‐to‐face interaction with peers and the instructor. The fourth group took the course on the Internet, as part of a statewide distance education group, where there were no opportunities for face‐to‐face interaction. Twenty students who enrolled in the course (5 per group) completed questionnaires and phone interviews. Information was gathered on professional backgrounds, computer experience, and initial level of content knowledge on the topic of the ECE Internet course. Sixteen students who completed the course were interviewed again to evaluate satisfaction with the course and to estimate learning outcomes. Across the four conditions general satisfaction was expressed with the content, activities, and course requirements and with the teacher. However, students in the three computer groups expressed dissatisfaction over technical problems (all four who did not complete the course came from these computer groups). Significant gains in content knowledge occurred for the classroom group, while the learning in the three Internet‐based instruction groups did not show the same gains. Concern was expressed related to the lack of face‐to‐face interaction, making the learning environment less desirable. Although Internet technology provides a great deal of promise, these results suggest that improvements are needed to make this delivery modality more effective for in‐service distance learning. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

     

Attitudes of students towards the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) in a face-to-face learning mode of instruction

Abstract

The development and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education has led to most universities incorporating elements of online learning into their traditional classrooms via the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) (Burrell-Ihlow 2009, Angeli 2005, Salisbury and Ellis 2003). However, it is not known how well students who are used to traditional face-to-face learning environments and who do not necessarily prefer online environments adapt when placed in such environments. This study investigated the attitudes of students towards the use of a LMS in a traditional face-to-face classroom. The combination of the LMS and the face-to-face mode of instruction were considered as a “mixed learning mode of instruction”.

The study aimed at assessing the attitudes of students towards a mixed learning mode of instruction. The results showed a positive trend towards the acceptance of a mixed learning mode of instruction for learning. Many students involved in this mode said that it was the mixed mode of delivery that enabled them to benefit from this course, have more contact with the lecturer and were motivated to work. Most students felt that the efficiency and quality of education had improved. These results suggest that more courses should be offered using a mixed mode delivery.     

Cooperative Learning: A Motivational Tool to Enhance Student Persistence,Self‐Regulation,and Efforts to Please Teachers and Parents

ABSTRACT

The effects of cooperative group learning on students’ persistence, self‐regulation, and efforts to please teachers and parents were examined. Eighty‐one high school geometry students were randomly assigned to either a cooperative learning or traditional lecture group. Twenty‐seven students received cooperative group instruction for nine weeks and then received traditional classroom instruction for nine weeks. Twenty‐five students received traditional instruction for nine weeks and then received cooperative group instruction for nine weeks. Twenty nine students received traditional classroom instruction for 18 weeks. Participants completed pre, post, and post‐posttest motivation questionnaires at each phase of the project. Students in the cooperative group classrooms exhibited significantly greater gains in persistence, self‐regulation, and efforts to please their parents and teacher. The implications of these findings for motivation theory and cooperative group structures are discussed.     

Flipping an English writing class with technology-enhanced just-in-time teaching and peer instruction

ABSTRACT

Just-in-time teaching and peer instruction are two student-centred approaches that have been widely employed in various science subjects but seldom in language classrooms. This research proposed a flipped learning model through technology-enhanced just-in-time teaching and peer instruction and investigated the effectiveness of this model in promoting English learning. Two groups of upper intermediate EFL learners participated in the study and learned in two different flipped learning modes, one with the newly proposed approach and the other with the conventional flipped learning approach. The results showed that the proposed model outperformed the conventional model in promoting the development of students’ writing skills, motivation, and tendency of critical thinking. The use of an assessment-centred tool (e.g. EDpuzzle) for interactive videos and cloud-based tools for real-time collaboration (e.g. Padlet and Google Docs) assisted in creating scaffolded learning experience, sharing culture, and opportunities of peer instruction for students in the flipped classroom with Just-in-time teaching and peer instruction. Such results implied that our flipped learning model is very conducive to language learning, and it is advised to be employed more widely in various language learning classes.     

CARPE DIEM: OVERCOME MISCONCEPTIONS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTANCE LEARNING

ABSTRACT

This paper makes note of the vast opportunities for growth and expansion available to community colleges through online distance education. While many community colleges have taken advantage of these opportunities, continued success may be in jeopardy because of the high drop-out rates in online courses of study relative to courses offered as traditional, face-to-face classroom instruction. The reason for this may be that the “digital divide” still exists between students of the 21st century and faculty who were educated long ago in the 20th century, including even those faculty who have stepped forward to offer online courses. Perception of up-to-date concepts of distance learning is a major issue, and only when the gap is bridged between distance learner and instructor will online learning reach its potential. The literature available on distance learning has numerous suggestions for bridging this gap between students and faculty. The authors of this article recommend that community colleges make the institutional commitment to equip and train Internet-ready faculty to appropriately advise and teach 21st-century students. However, taking such a step may have significant implications for the immediate future in the allocation of financial resources.     

Use of learner‐centered instruction in college science and mathematics classrooms

Learner‐centered approaches to science and mathematics instruction assume that only when students are active participants will learning be deep, enduring, and enjoyable, and transfer to contexts beyond the classroom. Although their beneficial effects are well known, the extent to which learner‐centered practices are used in college classrooms may be low. Surveys of undergraduate science and math majors reveal general dissatisfaction with how courses in their majors are taught, and their number is half what it was 2 decades ago. In response, federally funded systemic reform initiatives have targeted increasing the use learner‐centered instruction in science and mathematics courses to improve undergraduate education generally and the training of preservice teachers specifically. Few data exist regarding how effective these initiatives have been or how frequently learned‐centered instruction occurs as assessed from faculty's perspective, which may not corroborate undergraduate perceptions. Accordingly, a survey was developed to assess the use of learner‐centered techniques and was administered to science and math professors of Louisiana over the Internet. The return rate was 28%. Analyses reveal that they are used infrequently, but when used, are applied to all aspects of teaching. Data also suggest that federal funding has been slightly effective in promoting its use. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 566–584, 2003     

Challenge-based instruction promotes students’ development of transferable frameworks and confidence for engineering problem solving

ABSTRACT

Challenge-based teaching facilitates students’ simultaneous development of content mastery and strategies for applying technical knowledge innovatively. The University of Texas at Austin Department of Biomedical Engineering has offered a challenge-based course on biotransport as an accelerated study-abroad learning experience in Cambridge, England. We used a mixed methods approach to characterize students’ learning trajectory, to include technical prowess, problem-solving self-efficacy, and engineering identity throughout the entirety of this course. Students developed problem solving strategies and confidence over the semester and readily transferred their acquired solution framework to technical domains outside of the course subject of biotransport. Students identified challenge-based pedagogies as their preferred methods of classroom instruction, became familiar with corresponding assessments, and identified strongly as practitioners within the engineering field. We believe this illustrative case study provides significant evidence for the effectiveness of challenge-based instruction and can serve as a model for pedagogy-sensitive classroom assessment in engineering.     

Is distance teaching more work or less work?

Abstract

This article presents data collected in a year‐long study in which the author and his assistants kept detailed records of their time spent teaching and maintaining two comparable university courses. One course was offered online to adult professionals away from campus, the other offered to undergraduates in traditional classrooms on campus. The courses had similar learning objectives, similar student activities, and equally favorable ratings by students. Both were mature courses that required only routine maintenance and revision. The data do not support the widely held belief that teaching an asynchronous online course requires more effort than teaching a comparable synchronous classroom course. Although the distance course required more frequent attention, the total teaching and maintenance time spent per student was less than that required to teach and maintain the classroom course. Categories of teaching tasks are also compared.     

The Impact of Blended Learning on Community of Inquiry and Perceived Learning among High School Learners Enrolled in a Public Charter School

Abstract

This study examined how blended learning impacts high school learners’ community of inquiry (CoI) and perceived learning in comparison to online instruction. Archival data collected from a public charter high school in the U.S. southeast was examined. The results demonstrate a statistically significant difference in social presence among students enrolled in blended learning courses as compared to online learning only. No statistically significant difference in perceived learning existed between groups. Findings are discussed in light of the community of inquiry framework and add to current understanding of the impacts of distance learning on K-12 student outcomes and the applicability of the CoI framework to K-12 learning environments.     

Grass roots: Using satellite technology for educational program delivery: The Iowa experience

Abstract

Flexibility in location, scheduling, and delivery of courses and programs through distance education can provide disabled students with what may be their first real access to higher education. Distance educators must stay abreast of developments (particularly technological developments) that will improve future services; in this way, they can take a proactive stance in providing and delivering courses, instruction, and testing in accessible formats. This article states a philosophy for serving disabled learners and describes practical applications of that philosophy for distance education programs based on the experiences of the Independent Study program at the University of Wisconsin‐Extension. Issues addressed include information dissemination, planning, instruction, testing, and faculty training and support.     

Faculty work in developing and teaching web‐based distance courses: A case study of time and effort

Abstract

Using an experiential case approach, this study explores the conventional wisdom that distance education courses require greater faculty work effort and time commitment than traditionally taught courses. The study's basis for analysis is an instructor's time and effort in developing and delivering a graduate‐level course in public administration, for both a distance course (a modality with which he had no previous experience) and his traditional classroom courses. The study finds support for the conventional wisdom. But it also suggests hypotheses for future comparative analysis that development and delivery time and effort may partially depend on the accumulation of instructor experience and the level of institutional support. This article also identifies some implications for future research and faculty participation in distance education.     

THE COLLABORATIVE COURSE: INNOVATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Advances in information technology provide an opportunity for academic librarians and professors to offer innovative collaborative courses. The purpose of collaboration between a faculty member and a professional librarian is to integrate instruction in the course subject matter with bibliographic instruction. This integration promotes learning information acquisition skills and critical thinking, as well as the use of library resources. Research skills that students need in order to use contemporary information technology are included. The integration of those skills with the subject material of the course is described.

Two applications of freshman/sophomore level courses are discussed in the paper. Course rationale, topics, and course assignments are illustrated. It is argued that students must learn modern methods of acquiring information in order to make informed independent judgments and in order to achieve understanding in any particular discipline. Providing students with the skills required to achieve access to the ever‐widening body of available information is an essential requirement of contemporary liberal education. These skills are transferable to subsequent course work and will provide the basis for life‐long learning habits. The paper presents the argument that students' achievement of “library literacy” can be promoted by effective course collaboration between faculty members and professional librarians. Benefits and problems of such collaborative courses are also discussed.     

Planned educational change in Japan: the case of elementary science instruction

Available evidence suggests that Japanese elementary science education has shifted, in recent decades, away from lecture‐style, rote ‘teaching as telling’ toward ‘teaching for understanding’. How has this change been accomplished? Drawing on our ongoing study of innovations in Japanese elementary science instruction, we describe three features of the Japanese system that may facilitate planned change. First, we describe Japan's broad national goals for elementary education and the alignment of textbooks with these goals. We point out that Japan's national goals focus on the whole child (social, ethical and intellectual development), a breadth which, we speculate, may reduce the kind of pendulum swings between goals of academic and social development that have plagued some other countries’ educational policies. In addition, we note that the national goals are abstract and are translated into classroom practice through the collaborative work of teachers. Second, we describe three routes through which the national goals are translated into classroom practice: research lessons, teachers’ research groups, and national elementary schools. Finally, we speculate on some elements of the educational context (for example, collaborative habits and norms, beliefs about the pace and nature of change, and the practice of self‐critical reflection) that may support planned educational change in Japan.     

Ethical considerations in distance education

Abstract

Most treatments of the concept of interaction in distance education have been based on Moore's (1989) discussion of three types of interaction: learner‐content, learner‐instructor, and learner‐learner. However, these previous discussions have failed to consider the interaction that occurs between the learner and the technologies used to deliver instruction. This article presents the concept of learner‐interface interaction and recommends instructional design strategies that will facilitate students' acquisition of the skills needed to participate effectively in the electronic classroom.