Impact of Hands‐On Research Experience on Students’ Learning in an Introductory Management Information System Course

Although students in Introductory Information Systems courses are taught new technology concepts, the complexity and constantly changing nature of these technologies makes it challenging to deliver the concepts effectively. Aiming to improve students’ learning experiences, this research utilized the five phases of design science methodology to develop an experiment to solve a real‐world problem, and then implemented it in an undergraduate classroom. As part of their classwork, students participated as subjects testing new information technologies to solve a real‐world problem. They were asked to complete a questionnaire and answer questions in a focus group to assess the effectiveness of the technologies tested and determine whether the experience had added to the learning they gained from the course. The results revealed that the students were able to use the new technologies effectively and provide useful feedback to the company sponsoring the study, contributing to the release of a new commercial product line. Students also reported that participating in this research project improved their satisfaction with the introductory MIS course. These results encourage educators to conduct hands‐on experience involving real‐world research projects since they provide valuable additional learning opportunities in introductory MIS courses.     

Distance Learning for Teacher Professional Development in Statistics Education

We provide an overview of EarlyStatistics, an online professional development course in statistics education targeting European elementary and middle school teachers. The course facilitates intercultural collaboration of teachers using contemporary technological and educational tools. An online information base offers access to all of the course content and resources.     

Students’ Perception of Interdisciplinary,Problem‐Based Learning in a Food Biotechnology Course

Abstract: Students’ perception of 8 criteria (rationale of the problem; interdisciplinary learning; facilitator asked essential questions; learner's skills; assessments; facilitation procedures; team's use of resources [team collaboration], and facilitator within a problem‐based learning context) were assessed for a food biotechnology course that was part of a 3rd year biotechnology program. The mean score for “perceived learner's skills” was the lowest whereas those for “facilitation” and “facilitator” were the highest. Selected qualitative comments from students were also analyzed. This study demonstrated interdisciplinary learning as the students could make meaningful connections across different science disciplines. Further investigation is needed to develop possible strategies to accommodate the challenges in making meaningful connections across science disciplines as well as to develop a defined hybrid method for analysis of students’ responses.     

E‐Textbooks and Students’ Learning Experiences

The contribution of the e‐textbooks can be enormous considering their additional supporting features, but adoption has not crystallized yet. This study examines the relevant experiences of college students in terms of how the use of e‐textbooks may enhance their learning. A survey study was conducted to measure the perceptions of each student on how helpful an e‐textbook is for facilitating learning (i.e., E‐book Helpfulness), how well it promotes his/her involvement in learning (i.e., Student Involvement), and how much improvement it makes on learning outcome (i.e., Learning Outcome). Results indicate that e‐textbooks are perceived as enhancers of student learning experiences in two complementing routes: (1) E‐textbook Helpfulness enhances students’ learning outcomes directly and (2) Student Involvement plays an important mediating role between E‐textbook Helpfulness and Learning Outcome if students use e‐textbooks in class. These findings suggest that the successful adoption of e‐textbooks requires schools to provide necessary resources (e.g., computer labs) and instructors to actively engage students in using e‐textbooks.     

远程教育课程开发模式的研究

作者根据四年来远程教育课程开发的实际经验并借鉴国内外课程开发的优秀经验和设计理念,建立了一种将远程教育理论、学习理论和教学设计理论融入到课程开发的具体"策略"中的具有较强可操作性的远程教育课程开发模式.作者希望依据此模式使不太熟悉远程教育理论的课程开发的技术人员和缺乏开发经验的教育者在进行课程开发时,能开发出具有较高质量的远程教育课程,从而为高质量的远程教育提供保障.     

Cotton Island: Students’ Learning Motivation Using a Virtual World

As technology advances, it is important for teachers to seamlessly integrate technology into their innovative teaching techniques. Using virtual worlds is one alternative to traditional teaching methods that can provide rich learning experiences. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to present Cotton Island, an avatar‐based 3‐D virtual learning environment in Second Life and (b) to evaluate students’ learning motivation in using Cotton Island as a learning tool. Cotton Island was designed with unique navigational features to provide access to rich resources and educational activities that improve students’ knowledge of cotton. Based on the ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) model, this study assesses students’ learning motivation when using Cotton Island as a learning tool, and whether students had a positive learning outcome consistent with the instructors’ goal of knowledge improvement. The results show that students had a positive experience in terms of learning motivation and knowledge improvement.     

Doodling Effects on Junior High School Students’ Learning

The main purpose of this study was to assess the effects of doodling on the learning performance of high school female students in Tehran. The design of this research was a pre‐test–post‐test with a control group. A group of 169 junior high school 12–13 year‐old students was chosen for this study. After being taught a section of the Natural Science course, the students were asked to answer questions related to the lessons. After that, their grades were used as the pre‐test scores. The post‐test was carried out after the devised treatment. During ten sessions of the same course and teacher, the students were each given a blank sheet of paper and were asked for doodling if they felt like doing it. After each session, a couple of relevant written questions were asked to evaluate how well students had learned the lessons. The experiment and control group both consisted of 27 randomly selected students; participants in the experiment group were doodlers and those in the control group did not doodle. To evaluate the doodling effect a t‐test analysis was performed. Comparison of the grades showed that the experiment group outperformed the control group significantly.     

高职创业教育课程学习体验量表的编制及应用

学习体验是高职创业课程有效性评价的重要内容。从学习沉浸体验、学习关系体验、学习获得体验与学习活动体验四个维度编制高职创业课程学习体验量表,并采用该量表对1204名高职学生进行调查,结果发现:当前高职学生创业课程学习体验总体水平处于中等偏上,仍有较大改进空间。其中,学习关系体验最佳,学习沉浸体验最差;学习体验与创业实践、创业自我效能感之间存在正向预测关系。依据研究结果,高职创业课程模式应由知识驱动转向实践驱动、学习方式由传授式变向沉浸式、评价指标由学业结果延向学习体验、课程资源由课堂支持走向社会支持。     

Electronic Textbooks: Antecedents of Students’ Adoption and Learning Outcomes

Faculty and students are increasingly faced with the opportunity to use electronic versions of textbooks (e‐texts). Despite the advantages of e‐texts and recent advances in technology, evidence suggests that students are still reluctant to adopt and use e‐texts. This situation leads us to investigate two research questions: What factors contribute to students’ acceptance of e‐texts? Are there differences between hardcopy texts and e‐texts when it comes to course grade? We draw on a variety of perspectives (i.e., psychology, management information systems, economics, environmental studies) to build a framework that allows us to determine the motivations of students for adopting e‐texts, and the learning outcomes of e‐text adoption. Data was collected via a survey administered in the business school of a metropolitan university with approximately 20,000 students, located in the western United States. Results suggest that perceived ease‐of‐use and the price of e‐texts relative to hardcopy texts are two key motivators in e‐text adoption, while perceived usefulness, Internet self‐efficacy and environmental concerns are not significant motivators. However, there was no significant difference in the grades of e‐text adopters compared to hardcopy adopters. We conclude this paper by discussing the implications of our findings for educators.     

Coach Education and Continuing Professional Development: Experience and Learning to Coach

Research over the last decade has demonstrated that it is experience and the observation of other coaches that remain the primary sources of knowledge for coaches. Despite this, coach education and continuing professional development fail to draw effectively on this experience. Using the work of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper attempts to understand how the “art of coaching” can be characterized as structured improvisation and how experience is crucial to structuring coaching practice. An examination of current coach education and assessment demonstrates that coaching practice viewed as a composite of knowledge has not specifically addressed the pervasive influence of experience on coaching practice. Drawing on experiences from the educational field, we examine how coach education and continuing professional development can utilize mentoring and critical reflection to situate learning in the practical experience of coaching.     

移动学习呼唤优质的远程教育课程资源研发

在我国构建全民学习、终身学习的学习型社会背景下,远程教育为由于种种原因不能接受传统面授教育的人们,提供一种灵活的高质量的教育机会,也使接受高等教育不再是少数人享有的权利,为大众的终身学习提供了可能。随着信息技术的迅猛发展,智能移动设备使得人人、处处、时时学习成为现实。要提升移动学习的效果,提高远程教育的质量,亟需研发优质的远程教育课程资源。课程资源的研发,要紧随现代信息技术的步伐,充分考虑成人学习的特点,打造课程研发团队,更好地适应学习者的阅读习惯,引起阅读兴趣。     

远程教育教师专业发展研究

随着社会的发展、科学技术的进步,终身学习理念日益深入人心,远程教育逐渐成为与传统教育并驾齐驱的一种教育模式,然而,远程教育专业人员的缺乏和远程教师队伍的能力现状却影响着人才的培养和理论的深入研究。因此,探讨远程教育教师的能力结构、教师扮演的角色以及对教师角色的定位认识,探讨远程教育教师专业发展的对策就显得十分必要。     

远程MBA教育的国际经验及启示

本文介绍了远程MBA教育在美洲、欧洲及亚太地区的发展过程及经验,及其带给我们的启示与思考。     

远程教育的课程开发和教学设计

二、远程教育多种媒体课程材料的教学设计 远程教育多种媒体课程材料的教学设计的目标是要充分发挥各种媒体的教学功能和优势,扬长避短,整体优化,争取取得最佳教学效果.     

Integrated Contextual Learning and Food Science Students’ Perception of Work Readiness

Abstract: The expectation that universities will produce graduates with high levels of work readiness is now a commonplace in government policies and statements from industry representatives. Meeting the demand requires that students gain industry related experience before graduation. Traditionally students have done so by undertaking extended work placements. With increasing numbers of students competing for a limited number of placements, virtual and simulated work environments are becoming popular alternative strategies. This paper describes the simulation of workplace practices through the introduction of integrated contextual learning (ICL) into the Food Science Program at Curtin Univ. as a way of enhancing employability and increasing students’ confidence that they are work ready.     

The Impact of Instructional Design on College Students’ Cognitive Load and Learning Outcomes in a Large Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

The effective design of course materials is critical for student learning, especially for large lecture introductory courses. This quantitative study was designed to explore the effect multimedia and content difficulty has on students’ cognitive load and learning outcomes. College students (n = 268) were randomized into 1 of 3 multimedia groups: text + graphics (Group 1–TG); audio + text + graphics (Group 2–ATG); or video + audio + text + graphics (Group 3–VATG). Participants answered a demographic survey and pretests before viewing 2 food science supplemental lecture materials (i.e., water mobility and amino acid structures) and completing the cognitive load instrument and post‐tests within a noncontrolled setting. Cognitive load scores were tabulated and compared using a 3 × 3 ANOVA and Tukey post hoc analysis across multimedia groups and food science supplemental lecture materials. Based on the post hoc, students in Group 1–TG had higher intrinsic cognitive load scores than Group 2–ATG (ANOVA, P < 0.05). Cognitive load and post‐test scores were tabulated and compared using a spearman correlation across groups. In Group 1–TG, students that reported less intrinsic cognitive load had higher post‐test scores. Also, students that reported more germane cognitive load had higher post‐test scores. In Groups 2–ATG and 3–VATG, students that reported less extraneous cognitive load had higher post‐test scores (ANOVA, P < 0.05).     

现代远程开放教育模式下电大教师的专业发展

现代远程教育的发展对电大教师的专业素质提出更高的要求。电大教师应加强学习,不断完善其知识结构,强化课程开发的意识和能力,提高现代教育技术的应用能力,并在反思中不断提高其专业发展水平。     

实践研究与远程教育教师的发展

远程教育教师是远程教育发展的动力之源和关键所在。加强师资队伍建设是远程教育发展战略的重点,提升科研能力是远程教育教师发展的关键。我国远程教育与教师发展的实践,表征与印证了实践探索是远程教育发展的成功之路,而实践研究是远程教育教师发展的有效途径。在不断深化推进实践研究的过程中,远程教育教师的科研素养、发展能力及自身价值得以提升。在远程教育教师的发展模式中,科研具有重要的支撑作用。     

教师学习经验及专业化发展研究

通过问卷调查获取第一手资料,分别从学习投入、学习态度、学习活动、学习环境和学习效果五个方面,对北京市中小学教师学习经验的现状及特点进行宏观整体描述,并分析学习效果的影响因素,构建影响因素的数学模型。最后从教育行政机构、教育培训机构、学校组织和个人四个层面对教师的学习及其专业化发展提出建议。