ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Incorporation of ePortfolios into EFL Courses: Barriers Encountered in the Diffusion of Technology
Author: Siu, Fiona Kwai Peng
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Barriers,Portfolios (Background Materials),Video Technology,Feedback (Response),Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Technical Support,Educational Technology,Educational Innovation,Awards,Evaluation Criteria,Questionnaires,Oral Language,Guidelines,Teacher Attitudes

Electronic Portfolios (hereafter ePortfolios) were incorporated into courses run by the English Language Centre (ELC) at the City University of Hong Kong from Jan 2009 to Aug 2010. Experience with this innovation constitutes the substance of this report. Major challenges included: 1) Making the ePortfolio platform user-friendly by providing technical support; and 2) Balancing the workload imposed on teachers and students against the aims of developing ePortfolios. Difficulties encountered in the dissemination of the new technology to students and teachers are also discussed. Findings suggest that the incorporation of ePortfolios into ELC courses has initially been successful in that the ePortfolio platform has been made user-friendly through the availability of ePortfolio templates; uploading videos to YouTube has also successfully resolved the technical problem of overloading a platform. Nonetheless, were students provided with regular and extensive feedback, the imposition on the already heavily impacted teachers' and students' time could constitute a continuing difficulty in making ePortfolio usage a fully successful process. The following are appended: (1) Courses Incorporating ePortfolios/Paper Portfolios (September 2009-August 2010); (2) Criteria for the Intra-Class Outstanding ePortfolio Award; (3) Sample of the ePortfolio Content Guidelines (for the course Spoken Language); and (4) Sample of the End-of-Course ePortfolio Questionnaire. [This article was published in: &quot;Journal of Interactive Learning Research&quot; v24 n2 p211-231 2013.]
Exploring Methodologies for Researching Indigenous Knowledge of Plant Healing for Integration into Classroom Science: Insights Related to the Data Collection Phase
Author: Mpofu, Vongai
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Indigenous Knowledge,Plants (Botany),Culturally Relevant Education,Science Education,Research Methodology,World Views,Western Civilization,Christianity,African Culture,Cultural Awareness,Research Problems,Religious Factors,Observation,Interviews

This article forms part of a major study being conducted in Zimbabwe to explore the possibilities of integrating indigenous knowledge of plant healing (Ikoph) into western-oriented classroom science. The article reports on an aspect of research methodology. This study explored appropriate strategies for gaining access to indigenous knowledge holders, and for generating indigenous knowledge data from these knowledge holders. It is a descriptive study rooted in an African indigenous research methodology. Data were generated through field-noted observations and audio-recorded conversations with 12 participants during the phases of attaining access and of data generation. The findings demonstrated that the participants hold a solid spiritual worldview alongside that of western science and Christianity. Ikoph occupies these participants' metaphysical knowledge zone, although when asked they initially display western science and Christian worldviews related to plant healing. The use of the knowledge holders' language, terminology and metaphors, and of socio-cultural research protocols and methods, was pivotal in accessing the indigenous knowledge of plant healing. It also emerged that spirits play a central role in penetrating this metaphysical knowledge zone. It is argued that classical interpretive research approaches are constricting research involving indigenous knowledge. A shift from such approaches to those that accommodate unique aspects of spirituality, language, methods and protocols of the researched--that is, indigenous African interpretive approaches--is being called for.
Apples and Oranges: Comparing the Backgrounds and Academic Trajectories of International Baccalaureate (IB) Students to a Matched Comparison Group
Author: May, Henry
Date: 2013-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Students,Undergraduate Students,Bachelors Degrees,Educational Background,Comparative Analysis,Matched Groups,Advanced Placement Programs,Scores,Admission Criteria,Selection Criteria,Bias,Educational Indicators,Probability,Predictor Variables,Enrollment,Multivariate Analysis,Multiple Regression Analysis

As a critical step in understanding the impacts of IB, the analyses presented in this report examined the selection mechanisms behind IB participation across Florida, the state with the second highest representation of IB programs in the nation. We use longitudinal student and school-level data from 1995 through 2009 from the Florida K-20 Education Data Warehouse (EDW) to characterize individual students' educational histories from elementary school through high school and into college. To address issues of selection bias, we use propensity score methods (Rosenbaum &amp; Rubin, 1983) to adjust for preexisting differences between IB and non-IB students. These analyses are designed to address the following research questions: (1) What are the student- and school-level predictors of participating in the IB Diploma Programme in Florida?; (2) To what degree does propensity score stratification or matching reduce selection bias associated with key student and school-level factors?; (3) What are the estimated differences in key postsecondary access indicators (i.e., SAT and ACT scores) and enrollment statistics (e.g., college selectivity) with and without different types of propensity score adjustments? Results revealed that, when looking at the statewide population in Florida, the selection bias associated with voluntary participation in IB is very large, and that mechanisms for dealing with selection bias using propensity scores may not be sufficient.
Perceptual Learning, Cognition, and Expertise
Author: Kellman, Philip J.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Perceptual Motor Learning,Cognitive Processes,Expertise,Perception,Learning,Mathematics,Educational Technology

Recent research indicates that perceptual learning (PL)--experience-induced changes in the way perceivers extract information--plays a larger role in complex cognitive tasks, including abstract and symbolic domains, than has been understood in theory or implemented in instruction. Here, we describe the involvement of PL in complex cognitive tasks and why these connections, along with contemporary experimental and neuroscientific research in perception, challenge widely held accounts of the relationships among perception, cognition, and learning. We outline three revisions to common assumptions about these relations: 1) Perceptual mechanisms provide complex and &quot;abstract&quot; descriptions of reality; 2) Perceptual representations are often &quot;amodal,&quot; not limited to modality-specific sensory features; and 3) Perception is &quot;selective.&quot; These three properties enable relations between perception and cognition that are both synergistic and dynamic, and they make possible PL processes that adapt information extraction to optimize task performance. While PL is pervasive in natural learning and in expertise, it has largely been neglected in formal instruction. We describe an emerging PL technology that has already produced dramatic learning gains in a variety of academic and professional learning contexts, including mathematics, science, aviation, and medical learning.
Teacher-Made Tactile Science Materials with Critical and Creative Thinking Activities for Learners Including Those with Visual Impairments
Author: Teske, Jolene K.
Date: 2014-10-22
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Tactile Adaptation,Teacher Developed Materials,Instructional Materials,Visual Impairments,Gifted Disabled,Science Instruction,Academic Accommodations (Disabilities),Creative Thinking,Critical Thinking,Scientific Concepts,Models,Thinking Skills,Teaching Methods,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students

Gifted students with visual impairments are twice exceptional learners and may not evidence their advanced science aptitudes without appropriate accommodations for learning science. However, effective tactile science teaching materials may be easily made. Recent research has shown that when tactile materials are used with &quot;all&quot; students in the class, everyone benefits. This presentation provides many classroom-tested example sets of tactile materials for teaching upper elementary and middle school science concepts. These science concepts include the parts of: a flower, ear, insect, beaver habitat, volcano, hydroelectric power plant, plant cell, and sun. Critical and creative thinking skill strategies to accompany these materials for further developing gifted students&apos; science knowledge also are provided. These include application of the Edward de Bono CoRT Breadth thinking skills and other creative thinking skills, such as making a model or using analogy. This document represents the content of a gifted education conference presentation made at the Iowa Talented and Gifted Association Annual Meeting. [Based on paper presented at the Iowa Talented and Gifted (ITAG) Annual Conference: Reaching for the Future (Des Moines, IA, Oct 13-14, 2014).]
AIDS Education: A Conversation with an African American Adolescent
Author: Davis, Marjorie
Date: 1997-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS),Health Education,Females,Interviews,Qualitative Research,Research Methodology,Surveys,Adolescents,African Americans,Novices,Researchers,Adolescent Attitudes,Graduate Students

This article looks at the lessons that a novice qualitative researcher learned from interviewing an adolescent on AIDS education. The data informs us of what can be missed when adolescents are surveyed and not talked &quot;to.&quot; As Toni informs us, &quot;They should teach you this.&quot; The article points out how reciprocity, responsibility, and teaching in research is key. Toni's response to the quantitative instrument informs us, as researchers, how the qualitative method of interviewing better served as a vehicle for reciprocity by offering the emancipation that she needed. Roles were reversed in the midst of the project. The researcher became student and the adolescent became teacher. The article concludes with what an adolescent believes researchers &quot;should&quot; do and what researchers are &quot;expected&quot; to do when doing research &quot;on&quot; adolescents.
Perceptual Learning and the Technology of Expertise: Studies in Fraction Learning and Algebra
Author: Kellman, Philip J.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Cognitive Style,Perception,Pattern Recognition,Algebra,Mathematics Achievement,Achievement Gains,Mathematics Skills,Electronic Learning,Computer Uses in Education,Secondary School Mathematics,Grade 7,Urban Schools,Public Schools,Minority Group Students,Low Income Groups,Pretests Posttests,Statistical Analysis,Experiments

Learning in educational settings most often emphasizes declarative and procedural knowledge. Studies of expertise, however, point to other, equally important components of learning, especially improvements produced by experience in the extraction of information: &quot;Perceptual learning.&quot; Here we describe research that combines principles of perceptual learning with computer technology to address persistent difficulties in mathematics learning. We report three experiments in which we developed and tested &quot;perceptual learning modules&quot; (PLMs) to address issues of structure extraction and fluency in relation to algebra and fractions. PLMs focus students&apos; learning on recognizing and discriminating, or mapping key structures across different representations or transformations. Results showed significant and persisting learning gains for students using PLMs. PLM technology offers promise for addressing neglected components of learning: Pattern recognition, structural intuition, and fluency. Using PLMs as a complement to other modes of instruction may allow students to overcome chronic problems in learning.
Self-Efficacy and Civic Engagement in Undergraduate Students: Empirical Results of a Service Learning Program in Thailand
Author: Nuangchalerm, Prasart
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Service Learning,Undergraduate Students,Self Efficacy,Citizen Participation,Social Problems,Civics,Citizenship Responsibility,Social Responsibility,Questionnaires,Student Journals,Interviews,Student Behavior,Likert Scales,Student Attitudes,Program Effectiveness

The environmental and cultural problems in Thailand are large and widely distributed. To address these problems, public awareness must be raised and all sectors of society must assume their civic responsibilities to assist in sustaining both our environment and the local culture. This study sought to engage undergraduate students in civic engagement projects in order to enhance their self-efficacy to address such problems through service learning experiences. One hundred and ninety six undergraduate students participated in a general education course on civic education during the first semester of 2012. This course provided students the opportunity to explore theoretical aspects of citizenship as well as the opportunity to practice community service. Such community service allows the students to experience and learn how the community members live. Data was collected by a variety of methods; self-efficacy questionnaires, student reports, journal writing and reflections, and interviews. Findings revealed that the students had high levels of self-efficacy and increased their levels of civic engagement through the community service conducted.
Implementing E-Learning Designed Courses in General Education
Author: Nuangchalerm, Prasart
Date: 2014-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Online Courses,Curriculum Implementation,General Education,Undergraduate Students,Student Attitudes,Satisfaction,Educational Practices,Constructivism (Learning)

The aim of this study is to implement e-learning designed course for general education. The study employed 3 phases for developing e-learning course: contextual study, designing, and implementing. Two courses general education, 217 undergraduate students are participated the study. Research tool consisted of interview about e-learning form and learning satisfaction questionnaire. The findings revealed that e-learning courses should not be used alone, but it should be mixed between face to face and e-learning in the appropriate solution. After students had learned through e-learning, they express learning satisfaction at high level and need to be continued e-learning courses in other courses.
Leveraging Facilities for Institutional Success. APPA Thought Leaders Series 2014
Author: APPA: Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Higher Education,Colleges,Educational Facilities,Administrators,Educational Finance,Financial Support,College Students,Educational Resources,Best Practices,Academic Achievement,Student Recruitment,Data Collection,Data Analysis,Sustainability,Institutional Mission,Resource Allocation,Data,Decision Making,Goal Orientation

The 2014 Thought Leaders Symposium, sponsored in part by DTZ, a UGL company, and Jacobs, focused on the issues and challenges related to leveraging campus facility assets to achieve desired institutional outcomes. More than three dozen higher education leaders--including presidents, provosts, business officers, consultants, association executives, and facilities professionals--participated in a facilitated discussion and work session to examine the gap between where higher education wants to be and where it actually finds itself. Participants sought to identify the key characteristics of successful campuses, then looked at what institutions are actually achieving--the disagreeable reality of unsustainable funding models, unsuccessful students, and poorly utilized resources. The report includes an executive summary, strategies for improving institutional outcomes, a lengthy resource section, and the top facilities strategies to support the college or university. The strategies include: (1) Understanding how facilities affect student success and employ best practices for student recruitment and retention; (2) Using total cost of ownership as a guiding principle for all facilities decisions; (3) Making better use of campus space; (4) Expanding data collection and analysis to cut costs and increase efficiency; and (5) Using the campus as a classroom to expand awareness of sustainability and facilities best practices. The purpose of this report is to inform and to prompt discussion. Senior campus facilities officers use this report as a resource within their own departments, and with their counterparts in space management, IT, finance, HR, student services, and administration. Appendix A contains references and resources. Appendix B presents the Participants in the 2014 Thought Leaders Symposium. [To view the 2013 report, see ED547781.]
Organizational Climate Changes over Time
Author: Walden, John C.
Date: 1975-11-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Organizational Climate,Questionnaires,School Organization,Longitudinal Studies,Measures (Individuals),Elementary Schools,History,Educational Change,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,Teachers,Principals,Political Influences

As the basis for his doctoral dissertation, Taylor explored some of the conjectures advanced by Halpin and Croft relative to the possible directional changes in the organizational climate of schools over time. Taylor limited his study to elementary school based upon the question raised by Watkins in his dissertation relative to the validity of the OCDQ for use in large secondary schools. Taylor&apos;s results did not tend to support the earlier conjectures by Halpin and Croft. [See the original record in ERIC at EJ133956 and http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131727509336422. The corresponding title: &quot;The Organizational Climate Descriptive Questionnaire: A Process Feedback Application in Elementary School&quot; is available in ERIC at EJ166386 and ED547783.]
The Rising Cost of Higher Education. APPA Thought Leaders 2013
Author: APPA: Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Higher Education,Administrators,Paying for College,Costs,Colleges,Educational Finance,Alignment (Education),Institutional Mission,Goal Orientation,Expenditures,Educational Facilities,Investment,Labor,Legal Problems,Legislation,State Regulation,Federal Regulation,State Government,State Aid,Models,Online Courses,Large Group Instruction,Financial Support,Educational Innovation,College Faculty,College Students

The 2013 Thought Leaders Symposium, sponsored in part by DTZ, a UGL company, and Jacobs, focused on the topic of the rising cost of higher education. More than three dozen higher education leaders--including presidents, provosts, business officers, consultants, association executives, and facilities professionals--participated in a facilitated discussion and work session to identify, prioritize, and recommend solutions on the issues related to the cost of higher education. Contents include an executive summary, a discussion of the challenge of rising costs, a summation on colleges in crisis, comprehensive references, and the following top facilities issues: (1) Align the programs and priorities of the institution with its mission and vision; (2) Build campus-wide understanding of the &quot;arms race&quot; between institutions on campus spending; (3) Better utilize and manage space; (4) Involve faculty in decisions about facilities and space; (5) Identify programs and facilities that need investment; (6) Manage rising labor costs; (7) Understand the challenges posed by increasingly complex buildings; (8) Limit rising costs associated with complying with codes and regulations; and (9) Reduce the cost of unfunded mandates on the institution. At campuses worldwide, senior facilities officers use this report as a resource within their own departments and with their counterparts in finance, HR, procurement, space management, IT and student services. Appended are (1) References and Resources; and (2) Participants in the 2013 Thought Leaders Symposium.
Mediation Works: An Action Research Study Evaluating the Peer Mediation Program from the Eyes of Mediators and Faculty
Author: Cook, Jacqueline Yvonne
Date: 2013-10-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Peer Mediation,School Counselors,Mixed Methods Research,Stakeholders,Teacher Surveys,Likert Scales,Rating Scales,Focus Groups,Student Attitudes,Action Research,Secondary School Teachers,High School Students,Intervention,Conflict Resolution,Teacher Attitudes,Administrators,Online Surveys,Demography,Administrator Attitudes

A literature review was conducted to understand how mediators and faculty view a Peer Mediation Program (PMP). The review identified four subgroups: mediators, teachers, administrators, and school counselors as well as their views on the success or lack of success of PMPs. The research also reflects how to best engage stakeholders in the mediation process. PMPs serve as avenues for students to take an active role in creating a better academic climate for schools. Utilizing a mixed method analysis mediators and faculty were surveyed, using a 5-point likert-scale developed by the researcher. Mediators further evaluated their impact by taking the Self-Evaluation Inventory developed by Scrhrumpf, Crawford, and Usadel (1997). A focus group with mediators was conducted to understand student perceptions of their impact. This action research is limited to a high school in the south with the goal of making the program more effective.
The Organizational Climate Descriptive Questionnaire: A Process Feedback Application in an Elementary School
Author: Watkins, J. Foster
Date: 1977-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Organizational Climate,Questionnaires,Feedback (Response),Elementary Education,Industrial Psychology,Performance Technology,Principals,Attitude Measures

Cleveland, a former student and colleague of Watkins was aware of his earlier use of the Halpin and Crofts Organizational Climate Descriptive Questionnaire (OCDQ) at the school level in a school improvement initiative. Later as superintendent of a small city school system, Cleveland encouraged an elementary principal to utilize the results from the OCDQ as a part of the data base in support of a similar initiative. He reported generally positive results with a feeling from the school staff that the OCDQ process had been helpful in focusing the professional development efforts at the individual and school levels. Those feelings were found not to be related to years in education or years in that school. [See the original record in ERIC at EJ166386, and corresponding title &quot;Organizational Climate Changes over Time&quot; in ERIC at EJ133956 and ED547780.]