The Effect of Instructor's Use of Audio E-mail Messages on Student Participation in and Perceptions of Online Learning: A preliminary case study

The researchers, in the context of LEAD 713, a graduate-level online course at Regent University, consider whether the systematic use of instructor-initiated audio e-mails (as a supplement to regular textual forms of communication) will increase students' participation in group discussion and result in more favorable student perceptions of student/faculty relationships and quality of group discussion, a greater sense or feeling of online community, and a higher degree of satisfaction with the overall learning experience. The results as a whole appear to challenge the researchers' initial assumptions. Benefits of audio e-mails are discussed and future research designs are suggested.     

A comparative study on real lab and simulation lab in communication engineering from students’ perspectives

Over the years, rapid development in computer technology has engendered simulation-based laboratory (lab) in addition to the traditional hands-on (physical) lab. Many higher education institutions adopt simulation lab, replacing some existing physical lab experiments. The creation of new systems for conducting engineering lab activities has raised concerns among educators on the merits and shortcomings of both physical and simulation labs; at the same time, many arguments have been raised on the differences of both labs. Investigating the effectiveness of both labs is complicated, as there are multiple factors that should be considered. In view of this challenge, a study on students’ perspectives on their experience related to key aspects on engineering laboratory exercise was conducted. In this study, the Visual Auditory Read and Kinetic model was utilised to measure the students’ cognitive styles. The investigation was done through a survey among participants from Multimedia University, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there are significant differences for most of the aspects in physical and simulation labs.     

Education research Australia: a changing ecology of knowledge and practice

Processes of national research assessment, such as Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) are a type of audit technology that confronts and steers established institutional identities and traditions. This nexus between policy and practice drives boundary work that diffracts prevailing policy logics, organisational practices, and habits of mind. We use this notion of ‘boundary work’ as an analytical lens for understanding the nature and effects of ERA in the Australian educational research space. This paper explains the methodology that informed the AARE–ACDE research reported in Strategic Capacity Building for Australian Educational Research. It documents the policy logic of ERA and the way it cuts across the established ecology of educational research, revealing social and symbolic work that is remaking the boundaries of educational research. We report on the historical trajectory of Australian educational research, the way ERA codes research outputs, and how educational researchers are repositioning in this shifting research space. We argue that there are specific loci of boundary work where capacity building in Australian educational research can make a difference to future educational knowledge building.     

Who is conducting educational research in Australia and how can their work be supported?

Educational research has long been the subject of lively and agitated debate, not least because of its diversity. Ranging in scope from academic development and broad-scale policy research through to student engagement and discipline-specific research, it includes methods of traditional academic inquiry and investigations and also less traditional modes of research. However, the topography of Australian educational research and the characteristics of the people who undertake this complex body of work are currently unclear. This paper explores some of the complexities of the Australian research community, drawing on the findings of a national online survey of academics who identified as researching in the field of education from within and outside education schools and faculties. The survey attracted 504 responses from 38 of Australia’s 39 universities, and just over two-thirds of respondents were located in a school or faculty of education. We draw on the results to answer the questions of who is undertaking educational research and who how they might be supported. We utilise a conceptual model that ‘segments’ the educational research workforce represented by the survey respondents, and we conclude by indicating strategies that might be utilised to address research barriers indicated by educational researchers.     

Teacher Perceptions of Intra-Occupational Status Relationships among Elementary,Junior High,and Senior High School Teaching Positions

Correlation matrices having linear dependencies are a common occurrence in educational research. For such matrices there is no unique solution for the multiple regression coefficients; however, there is an infinity of solutions which satisfy the least squares criterion and yield the identical multiple-R and R-square. Traditional strategies for deriving the multiple regression coefficients do not ordinarily function in the presence of linear dependencies. The common practice is to use an iterative technique in which a series of approximations is carried out repeatedly until a solution is achieved. The authors have modified the Gauss-Jordan procedure to function in the presence of linear dependencies. The modified procedure is much simpler than the iterative procedure and has the added advantage of identifying each redundant variable with a zero regression coefficient.     

Collaborative Batch Creation for Open Access E-Books: A Case Study

When the National Academies Press announced that more than 4,000 electronic books would be made freely available for download, many academic libraries expressed interest in obtaining MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) records for them. Using cataloging e-mail distribution lists, volunteers were recruited for a project to identify and upgrade bibliographic records for aggregation into a batch that could be easily loaded into catalogs. Project organization, documentation, quality control measures, and problems are described, as well as processes for adding new titles. The project's implications for future efforts are assessed, as are the numerous challenges for network-level cataloging.     

Real-Time Peer Review: An Innovative Feature to an Evidence-Based Practice Conference

Many health sciences librarians as well as other professionals attend conferences on a regular basis. This study sought to link an innovative peer review process of presented research papers to long-term conference outcomes in the peer-reviewed professional journal literature. An evidence-based conference included a proof-of-concept study to gauge the long-term outcomes from research papers presented during the program. Real-time peer review recommendations from the conference were linked to final versions of articles published in the peer-reviewed literature. The real-time peer review feedback served as the basis for further mentoring to guide prospective authors toward publishing their research results. These efforts resulted in the publication of two of the four research papers in the peer-viewed literature. A third presented paper appeared in a blog because the authors wanted to disseminate their findings more quickly than through the journal literature. The presenters of the fourth paper never published their study. Real-time peer review from this study can be adapted to other professional conferences that include presented research papers.     

Development and validation of a parasocial interaction measure: The audience‐persona interaction scale

This research attempted to develop a multidimensional measure of parasocial interaction. A 47‐item questionnaire derived from qualitative responses was submitted to principal components analysis ‐ resulting in a 22‐item, four‐factor Audience Persona Interaction (API) Scale. The four sub‐scales were: Identification with Favorite character, Interest in Favorite character, Group Identification/Interaction, and Favorite Character's Problem Solving Ability. In the initial analysis, the index and it's subscales were found to be very reliable and positively correlated to program exposure level. In an additional construct validity test, mild linear relationships were found between PSI ‐as measured by the API Scale ‐ and viewing level.