Learner motivation for MOOC registration and the role of MOOCs as a university ‘taster’

Despite the widespread adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), no business model has emerged to make them sustainable from an institution standpoint. Using MOOCs as a marketing platform shows promise; but for this to succeed, it is necessary to understand the motivations of those who undertake them and to demonstrate how these same motivations can be better satisfied through enrolment in a fee-paying university course. We discuss the motivations for students as they progress through a MOOC and the factors that might lead to subsequent university enrolment. Our arguments are informed by MOOC statistics, the AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) marketing model, and the literature on adult education, technology adoption, goal seeking and consumer value. We argue that most students are led to MOOC enrolment through close alignment of the course topic and subject matter with their personal goals and through the establishment of an attractive value proposition. Progress in the MOOC depends on whether this goal alignment is maintained, and whether the value assumptions of students are met or exceeded. We predict that subsequent university enrolment will most likely occur when the MOOC experience is both satisfying and representative of the university experience, and where the increased time and financial commitment demanded by formal study is offset by the greater likelihood of attaining the focal goal. For this strategy to succeed, it will be necessary for the host institution to actively work with MOOC students to create an awareness of appropriate fee-paying courses and to promote the benefits of university study. This has implications for the way institutions market their courses to MOOC students.     

Wearable Textiles to Support Student STEM Learning and Attitudes

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Electronic textiles, especially those that can be worn (wearable textiles) are gaining traction within the P12 education community. The technology...     

A risk‐analysis approach to implementing web‐based assessment

Computer‐Based Assessment is a risky business. This paper proposes the use of a model for web‐based assessment systems that identifies pedagogic, operational, technical (non web‐based), web‐based and financial risks. The strategies and procedures for risk elimination or reduction arise from risk analysis and management and are the means by which the quality of the system is measured. A comparison is made between the severity of risks for non‐web based systems and web‐based systems.     

Multimodal learning analytics for game-based learning

A distinctive feature of game-based learning environments is their capacity to create learning experiences that are both effective and engaging. Recent advances in sensor-based technologies such as facial expression analysis and gaze tracking have introduced the opportunity to leverage multimodal data streams for learning analytics. Learning analytics informed by multimodal data captured during students’ interactions with game-based learning environments hold significant promise for developing a deeper understanding of game-based learning, designing game-based learning environments to detect maladaptive behaviors and informing adaptive scaffolding to support individualized learning. This paper introduces a multimodal learning analytics approach that incorporates student gameplay, eye tracking and facial expression data to predict student posttest performance and interest after interacting with a game-based learning environment, Crystal Island . We investigated the degree to which separate and combined modalities (ie, gameplay, facial expressions of emotions and eye gaze) captured from students (n = 65) were predictive of student posttest performance and interest after interacting with Crystal Island . Results indicate that when predicting student posttest performance and interest, models utilizing multimodal data either perform equally well or outperform models utilizing unimodal data. We discuss the synergistic effects of combining modalities for predicting both student interest and posttest performance. The findings suggest that multimodal learning analytics can accurately predict students’ posttest performance and interest during game-based learning and hold significant potential for guiding real-time adaptive scaffolding.     

University Advertising and Universality in Messaging

University and college institutional advertisements, which typically are broadcast as public service announcements during the halftime of football games, were the subject of a quantitative analysis focused on commonality in messaging and employment of the semiotic theory of brand advertising. Findings indicate advertisements focus on students’ social lives at the expense of depictions related to an academic focus and that, at statistically significant levels, smaller universities are more likely than large ones to depict their research as having an impact beyond their own campus. Findings suggest that institutions recruit out-of-state students in pursuit of revenue rather than using the advertisements in service of efforts to raise funds.     

Multiple orthographic codes in reading and writing acquisition

A modified Stroop Test (single-letter, letter-cluster, and whole-word colorinconsistent stimuli) showed greater interference for the more automatic orthographic coding unit—the word—than for the less automatic coding units—single letters and letter-clusters—in developing readers in second, fourth, and sixth grade (N=72, Study 1). A developmental trend was observed from relative skill in word-level orthographic-phonological correspondence in second graders to relative skill in subword level orthographic-phonological correspondences in sixth graders. A previous finding that whole word coding > letter coding > letter cluster coding in relative rate of development was replicated (N=300, Study 2). Multiple orthographic codes—for whole words, single letters, and letter clusters—were correlated with both reading and writing but patterns of correlations with the component reading and writing skills changed from first to third grade; by third grade whole word coding was not correlated with reading and writing skills but letter cluster coding was correlated with all reading and most writing skills. Cue validity —categorization of letters on the basis of differentiating rather than distinctive features—improved from second to sixth grade and may account for developmental gains in letter cluster coding. Level of cue validity was correlated with speed of sentence comprehension (N=60, Study 3). The theoretical and practical significance of multiple orthographic codes for orthographic-phonological connections in word recognition and for literacy acquisition in general is discussed.This research was supported, in part, by Grant No. 25858-01 awarded to the first author from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Study 1 is based on a presentation at the 1990 meeting of the American Education Research Association. Study 2 is based on a presentation at the 1991 meeting of the American Education Research Association. Study 3 is based on a presentation at the 1989 meeting of the American Education Research Association.The authors thank the participating children from the Shoreline Public Schools (Study 1), Bellevue, Northshore and Seattle Public Schools (Study 2), and the Mukiteo Public Schools (Study 3). They also thank Sylvia Mirsepassi for secretarial assistance.     

心灵深处的音乐

Life...What is it?See it in the colors of autumn,A gentle snowfall in winter,A sudden shower in spring,The radiance of a summer day.Behold it in the laughterOf the young and the old.Know of it in a surge of hope,The blessings that are bountiful.What is li…