Simulation-based performance assessment: an innovative approach to exploring understanding of physical science concepts

This paper illustrates the use of simulation-based performance assessment (PA) methodology in a recent study of eighth-grade students’ understanding of physical science concepts. A set of four simulation-based PA tasks were iteratively developed to assess student understanding of an array of physical science concepts, including net force, acceleration, velocity, and inertia. Illustrative examples drawn from the administration of these simulation-based PA tasks to a sample of eighth-grade students (n?=?74) highlight the potential of simulation-based tasks for revealing conceptual understanding of science concepts and for informing curriculum development within the context of design-based implementation research. The paper also describes a variety of challenges encountered over the course of the development, administration, and analysis of the PA data that may be informative for researchers and educators as they consider implementing simulation-based PAs.     

Using a Library Learning Object Repository to Empower Teaching Excellence for Distance Students

In 2015, in response to the findings of an online learning needs assessment, two librarians and a Web developer began creating a library learning object repository. This repository would ensure that distance learners were receiving excellent library services, including library instruction. The team worked with the libraries’ digital media specialist to create an attractive interface and consulted with one of the library’s metadata specialists to create metadata that would help to make the repository easy to search and browse. Further plans include wide-scale sharing with the larger library community and continued growth in the number and types of objects in the repository.     

A Network Perspective on European Union News: Explaining Relationships of Horizontal Reporting Across EU Member States

Due to the increased importance of transnational governance, individual states become increasingly interdependent. This is also reflected in the news media coverage and media attention to foreign affairs. The European Union (EU) represents a case of advanced globalization. This study investigates news media attention to fellow EU member states. The main objective of this study is to explain what factors determine whether EU member states report about each other. The analysis is based on large-scale content analysis data of TV news and newspaper articles of 27 EU member states gathered during the 2009 European Parliament election campaign (N = 19,106) and employs network analysis to explain differences in media attention. The findings show that there are indicators at the national level that are independent of EU governance, as well as factors related to the European integration that determine whether two states report about each other. As such, countries that are neighbors, and where the same language is spoken, are more likely to report about each other. Furthermore, smaller, older, and EU member states that are more supportive of the European integration report more on fellow states.     

Behind mathematical learning disabilities: What about visual perception and motor skills?

In a sample of 39 children with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) and 106 typically developing controls belonging to three control groups of three different ages, we found that visual perception, motor skills and visual-motor integration explained a substantial proportion of the variance in either number fact retrieval or procedural calculation. Furthermore, children with MLD performed significantly worse on visual perception, motor skills and visual-motor integration in comparison with age-matched control children. A mild developmental delay in visual perception, visual-motor integration and (fine) motor coordination and a severe delay in motor skills were found in children with MLD. However, not all children with MLD have problems on these domains. They seem to be a heterogeneous group, not only with respect to their mathematical profile but also with respect to their visual perceptual, motor and visual-motor integration skills. Diagnostic implications are discussed.     

How clicker use facilitates existing pedagogical practices in higher education: data from interdisciplinary research on student response systems

This article identifies how clicker use can support or augment existing principles of good teaching across different disciplines in higher education. While many of these principles will be familiar to instructors, the link between student response system (SRS) use and existing pedagogical methods is still often unclear, even for scholars who are well read in the literature. Functioning as a resource for both novices and instructors who have already incorporated clickers into their courses, this article synthesizes existing literature and offers empirical data from five courses in three disciplines to show how SRSs can be used to support contemporary pedagogical goals. The authors discuss five exemplary practices, providing sample clicker questions along the way, to show how clickers can be used to facilitate active learning in large courses.     

Instruction Boot Camp: Better Instruction Through Collaborative Course Design

ABSTRACT

This case study details Oregon State University Libraries and Press’ Instruction Boot Camp, a professional development event inspired by several different instructional improvement models, where librarians have a chance to work collaboratively in small groups of four to six to redesign a library instruction session. Librarians from six different departments participated in two Instruction Boot Camp sessions in 2012. The benefits of such collaboration include drawing upon the collective wisdom of the group to design a course and having a dedicated time to work on instruction. Although our assessment did not include student-learning outcomes, participating librarians found this a useful and valuable experience.     

“In the shoes of another”: immersive technology for social and emotional learning

Education and Information Technologies - There has been increasing use of interactive technologies in the classroom today and a rising popularity of employing virtual environments as a means to...