ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Frontrunners in ICTL: Kenyan Runners' Improvement in Training, Informal Learning and Economic Opportunities Using Smartphones
Author: Hansson, Per Olof
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Athletes,Foreign Countries,Informal Education,Telecommunications,Internet,Usability,Web Sites,Statistical Analysis,Video Technology,Participatory Research,Action Research,Disadvantaged,Economic Opportunities,Business,Performance,Case Studies

The primary aim of this research was to study how mobile technology shapes, changes, and develops informal learning outside the classroom and school environment. In this study we provided each of the 30 Kenyan elite runners with a simple Android smartphone and free Internet for one year. This research project was a developmental intervention with a participatory action research approach, and aimed to facilitate innovation and examine how the runners developed their training, informal learning, and economic opportunities using a smartphone. Logs and tracking of smartphone usage recorded quantitative data, and interviews and participatory observations gathered qualitative data. Key findings were that the smartphone improved the runners' training and race performance and created business opportunities. Second, a smartphone with an Internet connection empowered marginalized groups and augmented informal learning opportunities. Third, that a smartphone was not a significant technological hurdle for impoverished or uneducated individuals. Fourth, the participants were able to learn with little or no guidance or scaffolding. Fifth, the tracking log data indicated both a breadth and depth to individual learning. This participatory action research made a significant impact on the participants' lives and the most common statement from the interviews was the statement &quot;it helps us a lot&quot;.
A Model for Integrating ICT into Teacher Training Programs in Bangladesh Based on TPCK
Author: Khan, Shahadat Hossain
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teacher Education Programs,Technology Integration,Faculty Development,Instructional Innovation,Teaching Methods,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Technological Literacy

Modern technology increasingly creates new challenges in various professional development and practice. However, in teaching, the mere adoption of new or innovative technology is not enough to meet the students' learning needs and opportunities. Technology alone could not sufficiently bring about the desired changes in students' competencies and behavior. It is the teachers' competencies to integrate ICT in their instructional tasks that can facilitate these desired changes to the maximum level. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for the inclusion of pedagogy and substantial content knowledge based use of ICT in teachers' professional development. In this paper, the author presents a model for integrating ICT in the professional development of teachers in Bangladesh based on the Technology Pedagogy Content Knowledge (TPCK) framework, to address the issue on effective use of ICT in teaching based on two perspectives. Firstly, how the teachers can undertake three different phases of improving their use of technology to facilitate effective instruction. This will be focused on understanding the challenges in the use of ICT in three phases of teachers' professional development in Bangladesh, particularly the pedagogical and contextual (specific subject content) issues concerning prerequisite conditions that ensure the effective use of ICT. Secondly, the paper highlights on conclusive suggestions to implement the proposed model demonstrating the potential benefits to the teachers, trainers, policymakers and other educators who are directly or indirectly accountable for teachers' professional development. Finally it concludes with emerging research issues and pertinent guidelines in the context of Bangladesh.
Investigating Students' Behavioural Intention to Adopt and Use Mobile Learning in Higher Education in East Africa
Author: Mtebe, Joel S.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: College Students,Higher Education,Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Intention,Student Attitudes,Regression (Statistics),Foreign Countries,Access to Education,Social Influences,Predictor Variables,Questionnaires,Validity,Reliability,Information Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Statistical Analysis,Factor Analysis

Recent penetration of mobile technologies and its services in East Africa has provided a new platform for institutions to widen access to education through mobile learning. Mobile technologies provide learners with flexibility and ubiquity to learn anytime and anywhere via wireless Internet. However, far too little research has been conducted to investigate factors that contribute towards students' adoption and use of mobile learning in East Africa. We applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to investigate students' behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile learning in higher education in East Africa. A sample of 823 students selected from five higher learning institutions was collected and tested against the research model using regression analysis. The results showed that, four factors: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions had significant positive effects on students' mobile learning acceptance with performance expectancy being the strongest predictor. These findings will enable those who are involved in the implementation of mobile learning to develop mobile services that are relevant and acceptable to learners in higher education in East Africa.
Effectiveness of Web Quest Strategy in Acquiring Geographic Concepts among Eighth Grade Students in Jordan
Author: AL-Edwan, Zaid Suleiman
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Concept Formation,Control Groups,Web Based Instruction,Teaching Methods,Grade 8,Instructional Effectiveness,Experimental Groups,Scores,Geography,Geography Instruction,Tests,Statistical Analysis,Statistical Significance,Gender Differences,Hypothesis Testing,Internet,Lesson Plans,Units of Study

This study aimed at identifying the Effectiveness of using Web Quest Strategy in acquiring the geographic concepts among eighth grade students in Jordan. The study individuals consisted of (119) students in the scholastic year 2013-2014. Four sections were randomly selected from two schools divided into experimental and control groups. They were distributed to the experimental group that consisted of (58) male and female students taught by Web Quest Strategy, and a control group that consisted of (61) male and female students taught by the traditional method. To achieve the study objectives, teaching plans were prepared according to the Web Quest Strategy and testing the acquisition of the geographic concepts. The study results showed the presence of differences with statistical significance at significance level (a = 0.05) between the means of the students' scores on the test acquiring the geographic concepts' attributed to the teaching method in favor of the experimental group. But the results did not reveal the presence of differences with statistical significance between the means of the students' scores on the test acquiring the geographic concepts' by the eighth basic grade students attribute to the gender variable or to the interaction between the teaching method and gender.
Exploring Interactions of Cultural Capital with Learner and Instructor Expectations: A Case Study
Author: Russell, Roxanne
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cultural Capital,Teacher Student Relationship,Visualization,Case Studies,Information Technology,Financial Support,Consortia,Expectation,Student Attitudes,Cross Cultural Training,Space Sciences,Computer Software,Teaching Methods,Program Descriptions,Interviews,Qualitative Research,Foreign Countries,Misconceptions,Teacher Role,Student Role,Specialists,Employees,Observation

In this case study, we are able to take a close look at a situation not often encountered in the literature on ICTs in emerging economies: a private company from an emerging economy provided much-needed funding for a US NASA higher learning consortium through a contract for training and research and development in 3D visualization. This study examines this training program by asking: How do bidirectional flows of cultural capital interact with learner expectations and instructor preconceptions in the case of a cross-sector, cross-border training program? Researchers and practitioners concerned with education in a globalized context may consult findings here to deduce a set of criteria underlying these learners' expectations for this NASA branded program and preconceptions of the instructors about the learners that may help instructional designers prepare for comparable cross-cultural training programs.
Measurement Invariance of the UTAUT Constructs in the Caribbean
Author: Thomas, Troy D.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Factor Analysis,Technology Uses in Education,Technology Integration,Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Theories,Performance,Expectation,Social Influences,Intention,Behavior,Cross Cultural Studies,Bias,College Students,Online Surveys,Models

This article employs confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the factorial validity and the cross-national comparability of the UTAUT constructs with respect to mobile learning in higher education in four Caribbean countries. Except for the measurement of one factor, the UTAUT constructs exhibit adequate reliability and validity. Though full metric invariance is not achieved, cross-national comparisons of the regression relationships among the factors are still possible. In addition, non-invariant item intercepts also affect the comparisons of the factor means. Partial scalar invariance is required.
E-Counselling Implementation: Students' Life Stories and Counselling Technologies in Perspective
Author: Kolog, Emmanuel Awuni
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Counseling Techniques,Student Attitudes,High School Students,Foreign Countries,Information Technology,Interviews,Questionnaires,Content Analysis,Electronic Mail,Delivery Systems,Financial Needs,Games,Videoconferencing,Computer Mediated Communication,Personal Narratives,Student Characteristics,Counselor Attitudes,School Counselors,School Counseling

Given the current global trend of mimicking real life situations into digital counselling games and its related digital counselling platforms, we decided to contextually understand from the Ghanaian senior high school students, their life challenges arising from their life stories. The study also explores the extent to which ICT is currently being used to provide counselling services to students. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from selected students and a school counsellor. The selected students were made to write about their life stories subjectively. The content of the data was analyzed. After that, students' financial status was identified as the main challenge to their academic pursuit, though several other difficulties were revealed in the study. The study also showed that students had little knowledge about the use of ICT in counselling and only used email as the only digital tool for counselling delivery. The purpose of the study is to use the findings as a basis to develop a digital counselling game in our next study. Again, the study is intended to serve as a guide for researchers when designing a digital counselling platforms for senior high schools.
Curriculum Alignment: Establishing Coherence
Author: Gagné, Philippe
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Alignment (Education),Curriculum Development,Integrated Curriculum,Curriculum Implementation,Guides,Higher Education,French,Second Language Programs,Best Practices,Program Descriptions,Foreign Countries,Educational Practices

In this paper, we present a step-by-step guide to implement a curricular alignment project, directed at professional development and student support, and developed in a higher education French as a second language department. We outline best practices and preliminary results from our experience and provide ways to adapt our experience to other domains so instructors and students may fully benefit from such a project.
Boundaries in Visualizing Mathematical Behaviour
Author: Hare, Andrew Francis
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Visualization,Mathematics Education,Mathematical Applications,Mathematical Models,Calculus,Graphs,Teaching Methods,Educational Practices

It is surprising to students to learn that a natural combination of simple functions, the function sin(1/x), exhibits behaviour that is a great challenge to visualize. When x is large the function is relatively easy to draw; as x gets smaller the function begins to behave in an increasingly wild manner. The sin(1/x) function can serve as one of their first counterexamples, helping them to better appreciate the tamer functions that they normally encounter. I see three boundaries here. First, a boundary erected by mathematicians between &quot;nice&quot; versus &quot;wild&quot; functions--captured for example by the concept of continuity. Second, a boundary between those functions that are most often studied in calculus and pre-calculus classrooms, and those that are more rarely looked at. Third, the boundary between the drawable and the undrawable. In this example, we can witness this last boundary first-hand even as we attempt to sketch the curve. Yet, we can also continue the visualization in our mind's eye beyond what we can represent on paper.
Breaking down the Boundary between High School and University Chemistry
Author: Cunningham, Natashia
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science Instruction,Secondary School Science,High Schools,College Science,Chemistry,Introductory Courses,Mixed Methods Research,Student Adjustment,Adjustment (to Environment),Testing,Curriculum,Independent Study,Academic Support Services,Foreign Countries,Interviews,Online Surveys,Student Experience,College Students

This study examined some of the factors that influence students' transition from Ontario high school chemistry to university introductory chemistry. The study was a mixed-methods, multi-phase research study carried out by an undergraduate honours thesis student who had experienced some of these transition issues. Students' transition into chemistry was reported to be more difficult than their overall transition into university, including their academic transition; they thus appeared to experience a &quot;transition within a transition.&quot; Students identified testing, curricular experience, and the amount of independent work as the principal areas of misalignment between their high school and university chemistry experiences. In exploring the use of support resources, students reported that there were sufficient resource opportunities but typically did not avail themselves of one-on-one interactions. Analysis of the data has led to recommendations for the instructional team for Introductory Chemistry at McMaster University.
Blind Curves or Open Roads? Student Leaders Speak on the Future of Canadian Post-Secondary Education
Author: Demenoff, Selena
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Postsecondary Education,Futures (of Society),Educational Trends,Student Attitudes,Student Leadership,Experiential Learning,Holistic Approach,Access to Education,Educational Finance,Financial Support,College Students

In working to build a better, more just future, post-secondary institutions play a crucial role in shaping the students of today and tomorrow. Many institutions already employ a number of innovative programs aimed at broadening students' horizons. We can now look forward to seeing these initiatives grow. As students, we outline our views on some of the challenges and possible avenues for change in post-secondary education. Efforts to strengthen student leadership, optimize experiential learning, and develop a more holistic educational approach are important. Current challenges to post-secondary education lie within aspects of accessibility, funding, relationship disconnect, and segregated educational approaches. Strengths and challenges encountered within post-secondary education can frame learning boundaries to be deconstructive or constructive. Both boundary modalities can play important roles in designing the future of post-secondary education in Canada.
Inquiry, Critique, and Dissemination of Knowledge: Graduate Students Contributing to Wikipedia
Author: Simmons, Nicola
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Inquiry,Criticism,Graduate Students,Electronic Publishing,Masters Programs,Teacher Education,Skill Development,Web Sites,Critical Literacy,Metacognition,Peer Influence,Introductory Courses,Knowledge Management,Assignments,Teaching Methods

Graduate students use existing knowledge and are ultimately expected to add to that knowledge. Students in a Masters of Education entry course were asked to find a Wikipedia page related to the course topics, critique it, and make improvements to it to begin to develop these skills. In this paper, I examine ways in which their perspectives were transformed (Mezirow, 1991) regarding their roles in knowledge use and construction and how they grew as a result.
Evidence in Support of Removing Boundaries to Undergraduate Research Experience
Author: Haave, Neil
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Undergraduate Students,Learning Experience,Student Research,Educational Practices,Correlation,Grade Point Average,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gains,Low Achievement,Sustainability,Program Effectiveness,Data Analysis,Foreign Countries

Undergraduate research is one of several high impact educational practices used by educational institutions to increase student engagement and success (Kuh, 2008). Many studies on the impact of undergraduate research have surveyed students or faculty on their personal experience and its influence on students' subsequent degrees and employment (Brownell &amp; Swaner, 2010). These studies have documented the ability of high impact educational practices to have the greatest influence on those students who self-identify as belonging to a minority or disadvantaged group. Few studies, however, have documented the impact on students with lower grades. The privilege of being admitted to an undergraduate research experience (e.g., an independent studies course) is typically reserved for upper-year students who have proven themselves academically. This paper presents correlational data from our campus showing that academically weaker students have a greater increase in academic performance between prior grade point average (GPA) and final grade in an independent studies course than academically stronger students. In addition, student annual GPA data shows that the impact of undergraduate research serves to raise students' GPAs in the year of an independent studies course. Although the findings are based on data from one small campus, they do raise the question that if undergraduate research has the greatest impact on academically weaker students and accelerates academic maturity, is limiting registration into these courses on the basis of superior GPA and years of study placing inappropriate boundaries on student learning?
Developing and Validating an Instrument for Student Ratings of Teaching
Author: Hunt, Gary
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance,Measures (Individuals),College Faculty,College Students,Academic Achievement,Student Surveys,Correlation,Background,Likert Scales,Interrater Reliability,Focus Groups

In May 2007, the Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Science established an ad hoc subcommittee to develop a new student ratings of teaching survey. The final survey, approved by the Faculty in February 2011, includes statements categorized in the dimensions of teaching shown in previous studies to be correlated with student achievement. The survey is learner-centred, discipline and pedagogically neutral, and includes only items that can be reasonably evaluated by students. The survey consists of 40 items including eight statements of student background information, 32 statements to rate on a six-point Likert scale, and four open-ended questions. We demonstrated that a faculty group with no formal training in survey design and informed by the literature, can, in collaboration with faculty, develop a survey established as having a high degree of inter-rater reliability.
Reducing the Boundaries between the Community and the Academy with a Full-Time Service Learning Capstone
Author: Ballard, Andy
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Service Learning,School Community Programs,School Community Relationship,Outreach Programs,Business Skills,Entrepreneurship,Community Needs,Needs Assessment,Community Change,Student Projects,Program Descriptions,College Programs,Community Programs,Foreign Countries

The purpose of this paper is to share my experiences as the instructor of a full-time, single semester, service-learning capstone course. In this innovative course students already volunteering in the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization work in teams to identify community needs and address them using their business skills and knowledge and an entrepreneurial approach. The student teams are responsible for all phases of the work, from working with the community to identify needs through planning solutions to implementation and measurement. The students' work is assessed through presentation, report, reflection and peer evaluation.
Publishing an Article: The Goal for a Graduate Course
Author: Hilke, Michael
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Physics,Graduate Students,Web 2.0 Technologies,Peer Evaluation,Research Projects,Writing Improvement,Writing Skills,Interpersonal Communication,Student Projects,Scientific Research,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Publishing Industry,Publications

This essay discusses the effectiveness of a graduate course for physics students, with a course goal to write a publishable article on a modern research topic (graphene). I analyze the tools used to this end, which included Web 2.0 methods, in-class discussions and presentations, as well as extensive peer-review. In addition to producing a published article, this course led students to not only advance their mastery of a modern research topic but also to significantly improve their writing, discussion and presentation skills.
Real Life and the Classroom
Author: Van Praagh, Shauna
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Legal Education (Professions),Law Schools,Graduate Study,Personal Narratives,College Faculty,Teaching Methods,Relevance (Education),Residential Schools,Canada Natives,Correlation

The choices teachers make about both form and content in designing their courses shape students' perceptions of the connection between &quot;real life&quot; and the &quot;classroom.&quot; The choice to begin a first-year law course with stories told by residential school survivors provides an example of how to bring &quot;real life&quot; into the classroom in a way which develops both critical understanding of ideas and capacity for identity-based roles and responsibilities. Classroom and &quot;real life&quot; merge through issues and pedagogical approaches that combine deep reflection with active participation.