ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Undergraduate Physics Programme at Indira Gandhi National Open University: A Case Study
Author: Mishra, Arundhati
Date: 2009-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Open Universities,Physics,Foreign Countries,Case Studies,Science Education,Program Evaluation,Undergraduate Study,Student Surveys,Program Effectiveness,College Outcomes Assessment,Educational Indicators,Content Analysis

The undergraduate science programme was launched at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in 1991-92 with an enrolment of 1,210 students. The programme was well received, and enrolments increased over the years. However, the success rates have not kept pace with enrolment. In this paper, the authors report the results of an evaluation of the undergraduate physics programme at IGNOU. The evaluation, the first of its type for this programme, adapted the major tenets of the CIPP model. The findings are based on the responses from a randomly chosen sample of 509 learners across India. The methods employed for the study include records, document, and database analysis, surveys, and case studies. Although the University has enhanced access to higher science education, the attrition rate is high (73%), and the success rate is low. The authors recommend that the University review and reorient its strategies for providing good quality, learner-centred higher education in science subjects. The programme should address the concerns of the learners about the effectiveness of the student support systems, the difficulty level, and the learner-friendliness of study materials with the goal of achieving long-term sustainability while maintaining parity with the conventional system. The need for improving the presentation of the courses and simplifying the mathematical details is emphasised. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)
Review of Distance Education Research (2000 to 2008): Analysis of Research Areas, Methods, and Authorship Patterns
Author: Zawacki-Richter, Olaf
Date: 2009-12-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Instructional Design,Distance Education,Literature Reviews,Meta Analysis,Bibliometrics,Delphi Technique,Journal Articles,Classification,Research Methodology,Learning Processes

This paper presents a review of distance education literature to describe the status thereof and to identify gaps and priority areas in distance education research based on a validated classification of research areas. The articles (N = 695) published in five prominent distance education journals between 2000 and 2008 were reviewed for this study. The conclusion is that distance education research is strongly dominated by issues related to instructional design and individual learning processes; whereas, other important areas (e.g., innovation and change management or intercultural aspects of distance learning) are dreadfully neglected. There is a significant trend towards collaborative research and more qualitative studies. Over 80% of all articles originate from only five countries. (Contains 12 tables and 2 figures.)
Time Students Spend Reading Threaded Discussions in Online Graduate Courses Requiring Asynchronous Participation
Author: Brown, Abbie H.
Date: 2009-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Distance Education,Online Courses,Intermode Differences,Asynchronous Communication,Time Factors (Learning),Time on Task,Discourse Analysis,Computational Linguistics,Graduate Study,Learner Engagement,Student Participation

The authors report the results of a study that provides bases for comparison between the time necessary to participate in courses delivered asynchronously online and courses delivered in a traditional classroom setting. Weekly discussion threads from 21 sections of six courses offered as part of online, degree-granting, accredited, graduate programs were examined. The purpose of this research is to determine whether students are spending more or less time participating in an online course than in a traditional classroom. The discussion size (i.e., the number of words per discussion) was determined using the automatic word count function in MS Word. Once the word counts for each course section were determined, the average words per discussion were calculated. The authors used 180 words per minute to calculate the average reading time, based on the work of Ziefle (1998) and Carver (1985, 1990), in order to determine the average minutes per week a student spent reading the discussions. The study indicates that a typical, graduate-level, online, asynchronous discussion requires about one hour a week of reading time, and the time commitment for participatory activity is similar to that of traditional, face-to-face courses, given that it takes under two hours to compose initial messages and responses to the discussion prompt. Although these findings are informative, further research is recommended in the area of time spent on online course activities in terms of student hours earned to enable a direct focus on various student characteristics, such as English language competency and student level. (Contains 3 tables.)
Online and Blended Communities of Inquiry: Exploring the Developmental and Perceptional Differences
Author: Akyol, Zehra
Date: 2009-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Blended Learning,Online Courses,Intermode Differences,Communities of Practice,Social Networks,Network Analysis,Cognitive Development,Student Surveys,Content Analysis,Interviews,Graduate Students

This paper discusses findings of a mixed method approach to a study of the development of a community of inquiry in an online and a blended learning environment. A graduate course delivered online and in a blended format was the context of the study. Data were gathered from the Community of Inquiry Survey, transcript analysis of online discussions, and interviews with students and the course instructor. Using multiple qualitative and quantitative data sources, the goal was to explore the developmental differences of the three presences (social, teaching, and cognitive) in the community of inquiry framework and students' perceptions of a community of inquiry. The results indicated that in both the online and blended course a community of inquiry developed and students could sense each presence. However, the findings revealed developmental differences in social and cognitive presence between the two course formats with higher perceptions in the blended course. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)
A Review of Adventure Learning
Author: Veletsianos, George
Date: 2009-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Adventure Education,Meta Analysis,Search Strategies,Misconceptions,Teaching Methods,Literature Reviews,Educational Practices,Trend Analysis,Educational Research

Adventure learning (AL) is an approach for the design of digitally-enhanced teaching and learning environments driven by a framework of guidelines grounded on experiential and inquiry-based education. The purpose of this paper is to review the adventure learning literature and to describe the status quo of the practice by identifying the current knowledge, misconceptions, and future opportunities in adventure learning. Specifically, the authors present an integrative analysis of the adventure learning literature, identify knowledge gaps, present future research directions, and discuss research methods and approaches that may improve the AL approach. The authors engaged in a systematic search strategy to identify adventure learning studies then applied a set of criteria to decide whether to include or exclude each study. Results from the systematic review were combined, analyzed, and critiqued inductively using the constant comparative method and weaved together using the qualitative metasynthesis approach. Results indicate the appeal and promise of the adventure learning approach. Nevertheless, the authors recommend further investigation of the approach. Along with studies that investigate learning outcomes, aspects of the AL approach that are engaging, and the nature of expert-learner collaboration, future adventure learning projects that focus on higher education and are (a) small and (b) diverse can yield significant knowledge into adventure learning. Research and design in this area will benefit by taking an activity theory and design-based research perspective. (Contains 2 tables, 3 figures, and 1 footnote.)
Positioning Critical Educational Studies within the Field of Education: Rethinking Lagemann's "An Elusive Science"
Author: Gottesman, Isaac
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational History,Intellectual Disciplines,Foundations of Education,Educational Research,Educational Theories,Scholarship,Criticism,Feminism,Political Attitudes,Politics of Education,Role of Education

Ellen Condliffe Lagemann's (2000) "An Elusive Science" provides the most comprehensive history of education as a field of academic study. As such it is important for those in the education community to read and reflect upon the text in order to take stock of the field. Foundations scholars who read Lagemann's work may be struck by a stark irony, however. While Lagemann is an eminent historian of education and scholar of educational foundations whose work explicitly champions foundations as an important arena of educational inquiry, her vision of the future of the field leaves little room for historical, philosophical, and other conceptual scholarship. This article aims to identify the intellectual assumptions that led Lagemann into this contradiction. It also aims to illuminate how a sustained examination of one historical moment in particular--the turn to "critical" work in the field in the late 1970s and early 1980s--highlights the problematic nature of Lagemann's position and opens up possibilities for a counter-vision of the role of foundations in the field of education. (Contains 21 notes.)
Between Mutuality and Diversity: The Project in Intergroup Education and the Discourse of National Unity in Post World War II America
Author: Sevier, Brian R.
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Group Unity,Nationalism,Political Attitudes,Social Bias,United States History,Population Trends,Multicultural Education,Criticism,Films,Democratic Values,Time Perspective,Cultural Pluralism,Theory Practice Relationship

In this article, the author posits a dual argument. First, he contends that the post-WWII discourse of national unity pushed intolerance to the forefront of the domestic agenda linking its elimination with social cohesion while simultaneously advancing assimilationist and meritocratic beliefs about &quot;the&quot; American experience. Here, he utilizes the writings of Project creators/leaders to illustrate the ways in which they understood the amelioration of intolerance as integral to the safety and image of America and as inseparable from the purpose of strengthening national unity. Second, he argues that the curricular work of the teachers involved in the Project allow people a historically rare opportunity to understand how educators mediated the content of intergroup education. The freedom Project teachers experienced to act as both intergroup-curriculum creators and implementers allows people to glimpse the ways in which they reproduced &quot;and&quot; challenged beliefs about assimilation, intolerance, and the curricular treatment(s) of diverse populations in American society. (Contains 8 notes.)
&quot;Not the Bus, but Us&quot;: George W. Bush and School Desegregation
Author: McAndrews, Larry
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Busing,Public Schools,Civil Rights,School Desegregation,Federal Legislation,Racial Segregation,Poverty Programs,Educational Policy,Policy Analysis,Politics of Education,Desegregation Effects,Desegregation Litigation,Desegregation Methods,Desegregation Plans

In 1982 civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson criticized President Ronald Reagan's attacks on busing to coerce school desegregation for targeting &quot;not the bus, but us.&quot; Two decades later, the United States Supreme Court ended the thirty-two-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, plan which had launched the era of court-ordered busing (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools). The same year, President George W. Bush signed the &quot;No Child Left Behind Act,&quot; which authorized federal funding and state testing of the nation's public school students. In lieu of busing, this law was also targeting &quot;us,&quot; the largely minority underclass for whom Jackson purported to speak in 1982. Yet this time the Republican president was not implicitly assaulting minorities; he was seeking to aid them. Despite this significant change in policy, however, one outcome remained the same: public schools increasingly divided by race and class. This article provides a brief history of the school desegregation policies of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower through Bill Clinton, based on secondary and primary sources, then examines the initial school desegregation efforts of President George W. Bush, based largely on contemporary primary sources. It argues that the early returns on the Bush Presidency show that despite his genuinely good intentions, President Bush, like his predecessors, has been unable to overcome this difficult history of racial segregation in the nation's public schools. George W. Bush would become the first Republican president to fight a &quot;war on poverty,&quot; yet only the latest president of either party to struggle in the battle for school desegregation. In many ways, for a variety of reasons, this battle was over before it began.
Where to Begin? Eye-Movement when Drawing
Author: Maycock, Bryan John
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Observation,Eye Movements,Scientific Methodology,Psychologists,Foreign Countries,Human Body,Freehand Drawing,Memory,Visualization,Imagination,Art Teachers,Art Education,Cognitive Psychology,Teaching Methods,Cognitive Processes

For over a century, drawing from observation, at least at the introductory level, has been integral to many secondary and most post-secondary art school programs in Europe and North America. Its place in such programs is understood to develop an ability to see and interpret on a flat surface the real, three-dimensional world; this skill, in turn, provides support to related mental processes such as memory, visualization, and imagination. Where an artist looks when drawing from observation may not be arbitrary and can be observed, quantified, and analyzed. Our interest in examining the first few minutes of the drawing process takes its lead from the novice's question, "Where should I begin?" Attempting to understand these first few minutes led to a collaborative study between art educators and cognitive-perceptual psychologists: the former interested in implications for practical pedagogy, the latter in applying expertise in eye movement and scientific methodology in service of a specific real-world question. The stated purpose of the study notwithstanding, contrasting histories and practices in art and science provided contexts for discussion beyond the collection and interpretation of data. This article seeks to report upon and further that discussion. (Contains 4 figures.)
Secondary Engineering Competencies: A Delphi Study of Engineering Faculty
Author: Harris, Kara S.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Delphi Technique,Engineering,Engineering Education,College Faculty,College Freshmen,Secondary Education,Interpersonal Competence,Interpersonal Communication,Work Ethic,Technology Education,Competence,Skill Development,Teacher Attitudes,Mathematics Skills,Science Process Skills,Problem Solving

The central purpose of this study was to expand upon previous research in relation to competencies that are desired by university engineering faculty in their incoming freshman. This study used a Delphi technique as noted by Paige, Dugger, and Wolansky (1996) and Wicklein (1993) to identify and analyze what secondary education competencies should be developed in a K-12 engineering program as indicated by engineering faculty. The results of the study clearly indicate that, in general, university-level engineering and engineering technology professors rate students' interpersonal, communication, and work ethic competencies higher than engineering/technology, mathematics, or science-related skills. Even though new K-12 engineering standards are not suggested by the results of this study, technology teacher educators should examine the study's findings to insure identified competencies are included in their programs or their school's mathematics, science, and language arts curricula. (Contains 6 tables.)
Preparing Technology Teachers to Teach Engineering Design
Author: Asunda, Paul A.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,Engineering Education,Professional Development,Technology Education,Design,Teacher Education,Middle School Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,High Schools,Problem Solving,Thinking Skills,Interviews,Case Studies,Comparative Analysis,Planning,Class Activities,Teaching Methods,Student Evaluation

The purpose of this study was to describe a process of preparing technology education teachers to teach engineering design concepts in the context of technology education. This process was identified through a study of professional development activities that were organized and conducted by technology teacher education partner universities of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) to prepare middle school and high school technology teachers to infuse engineering design, problem solving, content, and analytical skills into the K-12 curriculum. A collective multisite case study formed the methodology for this study. Data were collected using individual interview sessions that lasted 30-40 minutes, video materials, observations, and artifacts. A total of 15 interviews were individually analyzed, and then compared through a cross-case analysis. Several sub themes emerged to illuminate the central theme of professional development. These included planning, communities of practice, administration and climate, practitioner needs, activities in the classroom, expertise, meaning making, and assessment. (Contains 4 figures.)
Effects of Desktop Virtual Reality on Learner Performance and Confidence in Environment Mastery: Opening a Line of Inquiry
Author: Ausburn, Lynna J.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Simulation,Visual Aids,Instructional Effectiveness,Educational Technology,Computer Uses in Education,Teaching Methods,Comparative Analysis,Photography,Young Adults,Adults,Vocational Education,Imagery,Age Differences,Gender Differences

Virtual reality (VR) has demonstrated effectiveness as an instructional technology in many technical fields. However, VR research has generally lacked a sound theory base to provide explanatory or predictive strength. Further, research into the effectiveness of "new desktop technologies" that place VR within the reach of schools and teachers is currently embryonic. The study reported here is a pilot and is highly exploratory. It is a first step in developing a theory-based line of inquiry into desktop VR as an instructional technology with potential for Career and Technical Education. Grounded in several theory and research strands, this study compared the effects of presenting a complex scene via desktop VR and a set of still photographic images. The two treatments were given to groups drawn from the general population with equal representation by both genders and two age groups. Two performance measures and a confidence measure were analyzed using 2-way ANOVAs. Statistically significant main effects for treatment were found for all three measures, all in favor of the VR treatment. These findings were consistent with predictions based on the study's theory base. Several main effects for age and gender, and trends for interactions of age and gender with treatment, were also identified that may provide impetus for further research.(Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)
New Career-Technical Teachers--What Gets Them, and Why Is It Important to Know? Career Motivations of Trade and Industrial and Healthcare Science Second-Career Teachers
Author: Backes, Charles
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocational Education Teachers,Career Choice,Teacher Motivation,Career Change,Career Development,Teacher Recruitment,Questionnaires,Trade and Industrial Teachers,Allied Health Occupations Education

The road to finding a career path as a Trade and Industrial (T&amp;I) or Healthcare Science (HSTE) (formerly Heath Occupations) teacher is winding at best. Job incumbents in this profession are hired after years of employment in an occupational field, and subsequently obtain the necessary credentials for their new teaching career. Various models of career motivation offer reasons why individuals choose a certain career and reasons why individuals may or may not be successful in a career choice. Additionally, a variety of theories have been offered to explain career choices of people in general, for those in helping careers and for those in career and technical education. While these models and theories have great value to any discussion on career development, they fall short when it comes to determining why individuals whose first career choice was to work in a trade or in healthcare make a career change into teaching, and what influences them to make that change. In fact, the career development of T&amp;I and HSTE teachers is largely unknown and overlooked. This exploratory study surfaced from the researchers' experience as T&amp;I and HSTE teacher educators, and a review of previous research and literature revealing a scarcity of available data about the reasons T&amp;I and HSTE professionals choose to change careers and become teachers. The authors' primary purpose is to describe the career choice motivations of T&amp;I and HSTE teachers. From a practical standpoint, they would like to provide insight for those in the school system who recruit teachers and those who have the goal to retain them. It is their belief that one must understand the career motivations of new T&amp;I and HSTE teachers in order to provide better induction into the field, mentoring that matches needs and stronger retention.
Knowledge Management: A Tripartite Conceptual Framework for Career and Technical Teacher Educators
Author: Lee, Hae-Young
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Knowledge Management,Human Resources,Teacher Educators,Vocational Education,Researchers,Research and Development,Theory Practice Relationship,Technology Education,Technology Integration,Labor Force Development,Cognitive Processes,Intellectual Property,Economics,Sociology,Psychology,Social Networks,Teacher Education Programs,Industrial Psychology

Researchers and practitioners consider knowledge management to be a strategic intervention that integrates organizational resources such as technologies and human resources. This conceptual paper focuses on the foundational contributions of economics, sociology, and psychology to knowledge management. Select theories from each foundational area are illustrated. Links are made to the research and practice of career and technical teacher educators. Suggestions for further research include examining the inter-connective links of these foundational areas as a means to help career and technical teacher educators identify the value they add to their broader organizational work contexts.