ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Effects of a Pedagogical Agent's Smiling Expression on the Learner's Emotions and Motivation in a Virtual Learning Environment
Author: Liew, Tze Wei
Date: 2016-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Environment,Motivation Techniques,Student Motivation,Virtual Classrooms,Hypothesis Testing,Emotional Experience,Academic Achievement,Affective Behavior,Affective Objectives,Psychological Patterns,Nonverbal Communication,Computer Simulation,College Programs,Affective Measures,Likert Scales,College Freshmen

The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that a smiling expression on the face of a talking pedagogical agent could positively affect a learner's emotions, motivation, and learning outcomes in a virtual learning environment. Contrary to the hypothesis, results from Experiment 1 demonstrated that the pedagogical agent's smile induced negative emotional and motivational responses in learners. Experiment 2 showed that the social meaning of a pedagogical agent's smile might be perceived by learners as polite or fake. In addition, qualitative data provided insights into factors that may cause negative perceptions of a pedagogical agent's smile, which in turn lead to negative affective (emotional and motivational) states in learners. Theoretical and design implications for pedagogical agents in virtual learning environment are discussed in the concluding section of the paper.
e-Tutor: A Multilingual Open Educational Resource for Faculty Development to Teach Online
Author: Rapp, Christian
Date: 2016-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Open Source Technology,Educational Resources,Faculty Development,Online Courses,Electronic Learning,Multilingualism,Technological Literacy,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Technology Planning,Distance Education,Teaching Skills,Adoption (Ideas),Technology Transfer,College Faculty,Foreign Countries

The situation in Ukraine poses severe problems to the higher education system and to students in Eastern Ukraine. Many students and academicians had been compelled to leave their university buildings and move westwards. Hence, they are forced to substitute face-to-face teaching with distance learning, often on a large scale, but within a short span of time and with limited resources. While technical/technological infrastructure often exists, know-how about conducting online teaching and respective faculty development is often found to be lacking. Within the framework of a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), a faculty development program developed in Turkey as an Open Educational Resource (e-Tutor) was adopted in three languages (English, Ukrainian, and Russian) to support qualifying university staff in teaching online. e-Tutor comprises of 14 modules, each with various content, covering different aspects of online teaching. In the following note, we briefly present the program along with the context, target group/aims, concept, genesis, initial experiences, and further development.
Supporting Our Students to Achieve Academic Success in the Unfamiliar World of Flipped and Blended Classrooms
Author: Miles, Carol A.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Blended Learning,Educational Technology,Homework,Technology Uses in Education,Teaching Methods,Video Technology,Foreign Countries,Feedback (Response),Student Attitudes,Curriculum Development,Universities,Learner Engagement,Curriculum Design,Professional Development

The past few years have seen a rapid increase in the integration of flipped and blended modes of learning in the Australian university classroom. Flipped and blended learning incorporates both online and face-to-face interaction. This changing nature of delivery has created the need for students to adopt study patterns that incorporate learning outside the classroom. To enable the changes to flipped and blended learning, universities are directing considerable resources toward course redesign and the professional development of academics to design and administer these courses successfully. The design and delivery of flipped and blended classes involves three essential partners: the academics teaching the course (and their teaching teams, including tutors and lecturers), the students taking the course and the instructional designers creating the learning objects for the course and often assisting with course assessment, structure and design. This article presents a blended-learning model developed as the result of the examination of student feedback, the authors' professional experience and an extensive review of the literature. Also presented is a framework that proposes six essential inputs to a successful flipped or blended course, and provides detail regarding the types of activities that might be appropriate. The model and framework recommend a structured approach to assuring that all voices are heard and integrated in the flipped and blended design and delivery cycle, and that all parties are supported to assure learning and teaching success in this mode.
The Role of an Academic Development Unit in Supporting Institutional VET Learning and Teaching Change Management
Author: Fotinatos, Nina
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Vocational Education,Technical Education,Career Education,Change Strategies,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Case Studies,Organizational Change,Higher Education,Leadership,Vocational Education Teachers

The aim of this paper is to examine the role and impact of a central academic development unit (ADU) within an institutional strategic and operational change management project. The primary goal of this project was to improve vocational education and training (VET) learning and teaching practice in an Australian dual-sector regional university. This driver of this change management project was in preparation for an external accreditation audit with the Australia Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). This paper presents perspectives from the ADU director and a specific ADU team (six senior educators and nine administrative staff) employed for 16 months to enact partial project goals. The ADU director utilises narrative methodology to describe the enactment of the project at the ADU level within the context of Kotters 8 Step Change Model (Kotter, 2012). An open and closed item survey approach was used to capture the perceptions of the ADU team regarding demonstrated leadership, management and team functionality throughout the duration of the project. The survey data also captured their perceptions regarding the value placed on change management requirements and indicators and their most rewarding experiences throughout the project. This paper highlights challenges and key lessons for ADUs associated with change management in a dual-sector environment. It also highlights the importance of utilising a suitable change management framework to initiative, lead and support meaningful, sustained changes in the dual-sector education environment.
Let Them See It: A Project to Build Capacity by Raising Awareness of Teaching-Development Pathways
Author: Bolt, Susan
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Capacity Building,Consciousness Raising,Faculty Development,Teacher Effectiveness,Professional Development,Focus Groups,Online Surveys,Mixed Methods Research,Feedback (Response),College Faculty,Universities,Foreign Countries,Research Methodology,Stakeholders

In an ideal world, university teaching and research would be valued equally; however, this is not currently the case. The notion that university reputation should be judged predominantly by research metrics has been challenged by a global trend towards a demand-driven system that encourages widening participation, student choice and social mobility, consequently there has been seen an increased number of teaching-focused roles. Understandings about the links between professional developments (e.g. peer review of teaching), the enhancement of teaching quality and academic-career pathways that emerged from the Transforming Practice Programme (TPP) (Curtin University, Australia, 2014) project informed this study. This paper describes the steps taken to make teaching-development opportunities visible to staff. The focus was on creating visual artefacts underpinned by robust technology that users could navigate and interact with. The strategy also included a short video, an interactive map and a database.
A Vision of You-Topia: Personalising Professional Development of Teaching in a Diverse Academic Workforce
Author: Thomas, Lisa
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Diversity (Faculty),Foreign Countries,Developmental Programs,Models,Higher Education,Teaching Methods,Faculty Development

The higher education (HE) sector in Australia is in a state of flux due to a range of social, political and economic factors. Increased competition, greater student diversity, tautening of industry exigencies, reduced funding, and rapid technological advances are key drivers of change in this environment. Within this period of transformation, HE institutions remain steadfast in maintaining quality teaching and learning practices. Challenges are therefore presented on the traditional role and function of the teaching academic, creating opportunities to explore how staff can be better prepared to teach into the new era of HE. Professional development for learning and teaching is one approach that can support staff to enhance teaching practice. Professional development programs however that fail to meet the contemporary needs of HE or consider the academic's professional requirements, may be at risk of becoming extraneous. A move towards a more flexible approach to professional development may be necessary to meet these requirements to provide appropriate, timely support for teachers. This paper problematises approaches to professional development which adopt a &quot;one-size-fits-all&quot; model and introduces a new, innovative program &quot;Continuing Professional Development (Learning &amp; Teaching)&quot; (CPD [L&amp;T]) at the University XXXXXX. The CPD (L&amp;T) model supports the professional development of all teaching staff--from casual teacher to professor level, academic and professional staff. The model is externally referenced and features self-nominated activities for accreditation. CPD (L&amp;T) enables multiple, ongoing methods of engagement across a professional's teaching career, supporting a new, &quot;You-topic&quot; vision of professional development in learning and teaching.
&quot;Really Useful Research&quot; for Real Equality and Justice in Adult and Community Education
Author: Connolly, Bríd
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Community Education,Adult Education,Educational Research,Research Needs,Critical Theory,Intellectual Disciplines,Sex Fairness,Social Justice,Intellectual History,Reflection,Feminism,Participative Decision Making,Democratic Values,Educational Practices,Civil Rights,Activism,Debate

In recent decades, adult and community education has emerged as a distinctive discipline in its own right, based on scholarship in the quest for real equality and social justice. This distinctive discipline is already characterised by &quot;really useful practice&quot;, that is, critical, creative pedagogy, heavily influenced by women's studies and women's community education. Further, it draws on &quot;really useful knowledge&quot;, the cocreation of knowledge for critical consciousness. I make the case that we in the field need to develop a distinctive research approach to underpin the discipline, &quot;really useful research&quot; that is dedicated to promoting emancipation, addressing inequality and inequity, in order to counter the ways in which research has been employed in maintaining the status quo. The article argues that research is not neutral, as feminist research approaches has demonstrated so clearly. And research has been used in a reductionist and instrumental manner, to implement global agendas for private gain rather than public good. Critical adult and community educators are dedicated to real equality and social justice, and &quot;really useful research&quot; will provide the wherewithal to works towards that end. (A bibliography is included.)
Exploring School Exclusion and Oppression with Boal
Author: Meaney, Sarah Elizabeth
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Research Methodology,Educational Experience,Educational Attitudes,Dropout Attitudes,Dropout Research,Disadvantaged,Focus Groups,Expulsion,Adult Education,Continuing Education,Dropout Programs

This article is an overview of research underway which investigates early school leavers' experience of school exclusion and oppression. Augusto Boal's &quot;Theatre of the Oppressed&quot; has been implemented as a research methodology to provoke dialogue on this aspect of early school leaving, and to afford participants in second-chance education a space in which aspects of their stories can be given voice and made visible. In this paper I will present a summary of some of the work, and an illustration of how Boal's techniques have been adapted in an attempt to create a more transformative and collaborative research process.
Food Ration and Mental Training for the Improvement of the Free Throw Performance in Congolese Beginners Basketball Players
Author: Bouhika, Eddie Janvier
Date: 2016-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Dietetics,Food,Imagery,Success,Athletes,Team Sports,Training,Psychological Patterns,Human Body,Physiology,Program Effectiveness,Performance,Adolescents,Eating Habits,Statistical Analysis,Pretests Posttests

Objective: Through an experimental study, the present work aims at testing the effectiveness of diet and mental imagery on the success of free throw in Congolese beginners Basketball Players. Method: 45 players participated in this experimental study in Brazzaville (Congo). These subjects were divided into 3 groups. Group I (n = 15), made up of beginner Basketball players subjected to a balanced diet to the mental training and to the practice of throwing on the ground. Group II (n = 15), made up of beginner basketball players from a local team subjected to mental training of the throw and food monitoring; Group III (n = 15), beginner Basketball Players participating in the district competitions. The variables studied were: flexion of the legs (FL), body orientation (BO), the extension of the arms (EA), and the success of shots (SS). Results: The results indicate that the best progress was made by the players in Group I: +67.7% for the squat, +38% for the orientation of the body, +45.7% for the extension of arm, and 83.7% for successful shots. Conclusion: In summary, mental rehearsal combined with a balanced diet facilitates the practice of physical and sporting activity and significantly improves learning and performance of athletes.
Social Studies Doctoral Dissertations in the United States and Turkey: A Comparative Study
Author: Savas, Behsat
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Studies,Doctoral Dissertations,Comparative Education,Comparative Analysis,Qualitative Research,Literature Reviews,Metadata,Bibliometrics,Research Methodology,Foreign Countries

This study delves into 169 social studies doctoral dissertations published from January 2012 to October 2015. The results of the included studies were qualitatively synthesized and presented in narrative form in the results section. In preliminary searching for systematic reviews concerning social studies, we concentrated on 169 doctoral dissertations published in the United States and Turkey, based on the following inclusion criteria: a) Only publications in the United States and Turkey between the years of 2012 and 2015 were included; b) Search was conducted by using such central keywords as „social studies?. From the initial search of electronic databases, 169 doctoral dissertations (130 from the U.S.; 39 from Turkey) were found. While conducting international comparisons of school curricula, little attention has been paid to the comparisons on doctoral levels. Based on the comparative findings, this study concludes with some insights into how social studies doctoral dissertations can differ across countries. Similarities regarding key words and topics used were not observed. In a sense, this study aims to achieve a mutual understanding and awareness that might encourage Turkish scholars in regards with the research focus, keywords, and above all, their contribution to the field of study.
The Effect of Acute Weight Loss on Body Composition, Self-Esteem and Appearance Esteem before Competitions
Author: Bastug, Gülsüm
Date: 2016-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Body Weight,Human Body,Body Composition,Self Esteem,Competition,Athletics,Water,Self Concept Measures,Emotional Response,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries

Weight loss in human body accompanies physical and psychological differences. In this study, it was aimed to see whether acute weight loss (dehydration) affected self-esteem and appearance esteem in the elite wrestlers before competitions. 38 professional wrestlers who had international competition experiences and were required to be in a lower weight class because of having more than the competition weight, participated in the research voluntarily. 1st measurement 1 week before the competition, 2nd measurement during the competition morning when class determination was done in accordance with body weight were performed in the participant wrestlers prior to acute weight loss. In addition to the athletes' body weight, body mass index (BMI), &quot;the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale&quot; for the determination of their self-esteem levels and &quot;the Appearance Esteem Scale&quot; for the determination of self-esteem associated with appearance were used. The participant wrestlers were professional, they often lost weight before competitions and reached their goal, that's why they had positive feelings, which gave rise to increases in self-esteem and appearance esteem values after weight loss. In conclusion, significant differences were found in body weight, BMI, self-esteem and appearance esteem values before and after weight loss (dehydration) of the wrestlers. A positive uprising was determined in the self-esteem and appearance esteem values after the wrestlers' weight loss. The participant wrestlers were professional, often experienced weight loss before competitions and had targeted weights, that's why they had positively emotional situations, which led to increases in their self-esteem and appearance esteem values.
Actuarial Implications from Pre-Kindergarten Education
Author: Beekman, John
Date: 2016-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preschool Education,Demography,Early Experience,Quality of Life,Social Indicators,Educational Benefits,Gender Differences,Income,Socioeconomic Status,Poverty,Statistical Analysis,Educational Attainment,Salary Wage Differentials

Great progress has been made in providing pre-kindergarten (pre-K) public education throughout the United States. The percentages of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled nationally have grown from 3% to 5% and 14% to 29%, respectively, between 2002 and 2015. By 2015, 42 states and the District of Columbia were in varying stages of offering pre-K programs (0.9% to 74.2% for totals of 3- and 4-year-olds); eight states were in stages of implementation. We will provide approximate answers to four questions. The first two are how does pre-K education affect female and male life expectancies? The other two are how does pre-K education affect expected years of life dependency in health and in lifetime earnings? The methodology used to help answer these questions consisted of using actuarial/demographic tables over the years 1990 to 2040. It will be shown that upper limits to estimated increases in male and female life expectancy that can be attributed to pre-K education are 2.47 and 1.67 years, respectively. Moderate estimates to the decreases in expected years of health dependency for 65-year old males and females that benefit from pre-K education are 1.47 and 4.71 years, respectively. We will document that people with pre-K education will have higher high school graduation rates, lower crime rates, higher employment rates, and higher wages than those without pre-K education; these four improved rates will lead to improved life expectancies and diminished years of health dependency. These results have actuarial implications for life insurance, long-term health insurance, and pension premium calculations.
Student Views Related to the Science Fest Actualized in High School History Lessons (The Case of Turkey)
Author: Ulusoy, Kadir
Date: 2016-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,History Instruction,Student Attitudes,High School Students,Active Learning,Student Projects,Thinking Skills,Science Fairs,Science Activities,Scientific Literacy,Relevance (Education),Program Content,Change Strategies,Control Groups,Experimental Groups,Self Efficacy

Rapid changes and developments in education have also changed the content and the scope of the activities carried out in schools. Learning and teaching through experiencing and practicing process carried out after the transition to the constructivist approach in recent years has started and expedited the performance of new activities in several institutions and organizations including both Ministry of National Education and TUBITAK, as the leading, in Turkey. Holding science fests during the educational process has led the observation of the developments in students' cognitive academic competence and psycho-motor levels and encouragement of students' participation into the activities especially with TUBITAK's starting to support. This research especially aimed to determine the situations of the students on project-based thinking skills related to science fests and science fest process supported by TUBITAK within the scope of the history lesson in recent years. The answer was sought to the question of &quot;Do the science fests held in high school history lessons affect project-based thinking of the students?&quot; The research was a descriptive study revealing the contribution of science fests activities performed in history lessons upon the project-based learning of high school students. Qualitative and quantitative data were obtained in the research. This study was limited with 66 participants from the 10th and 11th grade of three different high schools in central districts of Mersin province in 2014-2015 academic year. According to the data obtained at the end of the study, science fests were noticed to provide a clear contribution. In project-based studies, the students were determined to express themselves more easily and get rid of memorizing. Furthermore, it was also noted that visual materials, tools and equipment and three-dimensional materials were expected to be exhibited in science fests. In this study, it was determined that the projects students carried out within the scope of science fests held in the high school history lessons had effect upon the learning awareness of the students.