ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Digital Textbooks: School Librarians' Stages of Concerns in Initial Implementation
Author: Kang, Ji Hei
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Textbooks,Electronic Publishing,Questionnaires,Attitude Measures,School Libraries,Librarians,Role,Work Environment,Likert Scales

Introduction: A legislative mandate to adopt digital textbooks in Florida provides an opportunity to identify concerns school librarians have regarding digital textbook implementation. Method: The stages of concern questionnaire was used to identify stages of concern among Florida school librarians about their potential role in this implementation. Analysis: Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample and the distribution of responses to each question. Questions were separated into seven separate stages, with key differences analysed using the stages of concern profiles and the analysis of variance test. Results: Results indicate that participants conform to the non-user profile, which has higher unconcerned (Stage 0), informational concerns (Stage 1) and personal concerns (Stage 2). It is also found that school librarians' restrictive schedules and heavy workloads prevent them from studying new innovations--in particular digital textbooks. Intensified personal concerns (Stage 2) suggest potential resistance to digital textbooks. Conclusions: These findings could provide librarians as educators an opportunity to establish more interest in digital textbooks and to discuss those textbooks' impact on teaching and learning. More broadly, the findings can provide some implications and recommendations to help educational policy makers and school administrators identify issues related to expanding digital textbooks.
Reader&apos;s Block: A Systematic Review of Barriers to Adoption, Access and Use in E-Book User Studies
Author: Girard, Adam
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Books,Electronic Publishing,Barriers,Adoption (Ideas),Access to Information,Use Studies,Reading,Literature Reviews

Introduction: This review of barriers to e-book use systematically identifies obstacles to engaging reading experiences. Through the use of an analytical framework, the users being studied, study setting, and methods used in previous work are described in order to identify promising areas for future research. Method: The method used is a systematic literature review which gathers data from core library databases. Explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria are identified to ensure the review is free from bias. Analysis: An analytical framework based on previous research in the areas of user studies and the barrier concept identifies common trends regarding who is being studied, in what setting, and the methods used. Additionally, physical, cognitive, social, and cultural barriers from previous research are identified. Results: User studies on e-books and e-readers commonly focus on students in the university setting and physical barriers (software and hardware) that they face while reading electronically. Many studies focus on adoption rather than use, and rarely focus on fiction reading. Conclusions: The results provide a clear picture of the character of e-book user studies. Although previous user studies on e-books are particularly useful for policy decisions about collecting e-books in libraries, they provide a limited understanding of how people actually read electronic books. Several aspects of the e-book reading experience are identified which have gone under-explored to date. Future areas for fruitful research include the incorporation of cognitive processes and social or cultural intervening factors for e-book use. Incorporating these factors may be particularly valuable outside the university, student, and library settings where user studies typically take place.
Impact of Assessment Criteria on Publication Behaviour: The Case of Communication Research in Spain
Author: Masip, Pere
Date: 2014-06-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Evaluation Criteria,Communication Research,Publications,Productivity,Periodicals,Bibliometrics,Accreditation (Institutions),College Faculty,Universities,Cooperation,Literature Reviews

Introduction: This paper outlines the evolution of Spanish production in the area of communication research over the last seventeen years. It analyses whether the consolidation of the existing systems of assessment of scientific activity have been mirrored by an increase in the output of Spanish authors in journals indexed by the Social Sciences Citation Index Method: A bibliometric approach to the subject matter has been selected. We have analysed indicators such as institutional and individual productivity, models of publishing and dynamics of co-operation (intra-and inter-institutional, national and international). Analysis: This method has been applied to thirty-four journals included in the communication category of the Social Sciences Citation Index. To ensure consistency in the data collected, only journals that have remained in this database over the seventeen years covered by the research, from 1994 to 2010, have been selected. Results: Results reveal that the output of Spanish researchers in communication has increased significantly over five years, from forty-eight papers in 1994-2005, to eighty-two for the period 2006-2010. Conclusions: The increase coincides with the creation in 2002 of National Quality and Accreditation Evaluation Agency (ANECA) whose assessment criteria give priority to publication in journals indexed by the Social Sciences Citation Index.
Test Administration Models
Author: Becker, Kirk A.
Date: 2013-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Testing,Models,Testing Programs,Program Administration,Delivery Systems,Definitions,Computer Assisted Testing,Adaptive Testing,Test Format,Test Items,Printed Materials,Test Construction,Evaluation Criteria,Test Validity,Test Reliability

The need for increased exam security, improved test formats, more flexible scheduling, better measurement, and more efficient administrative processes has caused testing agencies to consider converting the administration of their exams from paper-and-pencil to computer-based testing (CBT). Many decisions must be made in order to provide an optimal examination program from the perspectives of validity, customer service, and cost. Methods to administer computer-based testing include Computer Adaptive, Linear-On-The-Fly, Multistage testing, and multiple fixed forms. Each of these methods has pros and cons that must be considered in relation to the purpose and characteristics of the exam. Issues of security, access, psychometrics, and cheating will also be addressed.
Educational Research with Real-World Data: Reducing Selection Bias with Propensity Scores
Author: Adelson, Jill L.
Date: 2013-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Research,Data,Statistical Bias,Probability,Statistical Analysis,Grade 5,Reading Achievement,Gifted,Special Education

Often it is infeasible or unethical to use random assignment in educational settings to study important constructs and questions. Hence, educational research often uses observational data, such as large-scale secondary data sets and state and school district data, and quasi-experimental designs. One method of reducing selection bias in estimations of treatment effects is propensity score analysis. This method reduces a large number of pretreatment covariates to a single scalar function and allows researchers to compare subjects with similar probability to receive the treatment. This article provides an introduction to propensity score analysis and stratification, an example illustrating its use, and suggestions for using propensity score analysis in educational research.
Identifying Teacher Needs for Promoting Education through Science as a Paradigm Shift in Science Education
Author: Holbrook, J.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Needs,Science Teachers,Secondary School Teachers,Secondary School Science,Teacher Competencies,Questionnaires,Faculty Development,Self Efficacy,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Expectation,Educational Theories,Student Motivation,Educational Environment,Formative Evaluation,Inquiry,Reflection,Interviews,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research,Foreign Countries

This paper identifies an &quot;education through science&quot; philosophy for school science teaching at the secondary level and determines its interrelationship with approaches to student acquisition of key educational competences and the identification of teacher needs to promote meaningful learning during science lessons. Based on the philosophy, factors identified as integral to the PROFILES project (PROFILES, 2010) and aspects related to the teaching approach, the paper sets out to put forward areas of potential teacher professional need and plan for an effective continuous development (CPD) programme to promote teacher's self-efficacy in undertaking teaching through &quot;education through science,&quot; as advocated in PROFILES. From a breakdown of desired students' learning and components related to teacher self-efficacy, the professional needs of teachers are identified by means of a validated Teacher Needs Questionnaire (TNQ), covering identified pedagogical content knowledge and philosophical expectations, together with follow-up interviews with selected teachers. The TNQ/interview outcomes were analysed and used to develop a continuous professional development programme for teachers. Findings show that teacher competences needs were mainly focused on educational theories, assessment, inquiry-based learning and self-reflection, while their self-identified, perceived need for professional development was much wider and support in all potential components were requested. The wide request from teachers made the planning of the CPD more difficult but the various components were interlinked with the competence requirements in the developed CPD programme.
Finnish Science Teachers' Views on the Three Stage Model
Author: Sormunen, K.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Science Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Professional Continuing Education,Faculty Development,Instructional Innovation,Teaching Models,Teaching Methods,Needs Assessment,Motivation,Inquiry,Decision Making,Beliefs,Focus Groups,Elementary School Teachers,Secondary School Science,Secondary School Teachers,Elementary School Science,Inservice Teacher Education,Vignettes,Training Methods

The core idea of the PROFILES project is to support science teachers' continuous professional development. The instructional innovation of the PROFILES is the so called Three Stage Model (TSM) which aims to arouse students' intrinsic motivation, to offer a meaningful inquiry-based learning environment and to use the science learning in socio-scientific decision making. Incorporation of innovations, like the PROFILES philosophy with the TSM, in teachers' daily work is seen here as a frame for their professional development in science teaching. When introducing a new instructional model, e.g., the TSM, to be implemented in science teaching, it is important to first listen to the teachers and grasp their initial views. This is organized by the use of focus group interviews during the first teacher meeting in the Finnish PROFILES program in order to find out, what kind of prior views the teachers have related to the TSM, to its planning and to its implementation in the classroom. The results of this study reveal crucial points that need attention within teacher professional development to implement the TSM. The teachers need, also, to be encouraged to place more trust in their students' abilities: detailed instructions (structured inquiry) might not be needed unless the students ask for them. When the PROFILES-like projects pay attention to explicit consideration to the classroom and school contexts in which teachers work, and emphasize the opportunities to implement new pedagogies in these contexts, teachers can develop strategies for overcoming such constraints. Acknowledging the teacher's voice is a crucial factor for adapting any professional development towards teachers' ownership of new developments.
Developing In-Service Science Teachers' Ownership of the Profiles Pedagogical Framework through a Technology-Supported Participatory Design Approach to Professional Development
Author: Kyza, E. A.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Inquiry,Teacher Participation,Teacher Attitudes,Participative Decision Making,Science Teachers,Faculty Development,Reflection,Technology Uses in Education,Foreign Countries,Secondary School Teachers,Learning Modules,Instructional Design,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires

Teacher ownership is crucial for the sustainability of science education reform efforts. This paper discusses participatory design as a bottom-up approach for promoting teachers' sense of ownership of inquiry-based learning and teaching approach as put forward by the PROFILES project. According to the prevalent argument in favor of participatory design, this approach leads to designs that are ecologically valid and attuned to different stakeholder needs. In this study, we report on the investigation of a technologically-mediated approach of participatory design of inquiry-based learning. Research questions address the teachers' perceptions of the affordances and trade-offs of the participatory design approach, and its effect on teacher design efforts and on student motivation. We collected qualitative data from 26 teachers and quantitative data from 171 high school students. Teachers reported that the process of collaborative design and the enactment of the designed module increased their ownership towards the PROFILES module. The analysis of nine chemistry teachers' discourse revealed that this process allowed them to collaborate productively, resulting in the development of a module that adopted the PROFILES 3-stage philosophy and was more aligned with their students' needs. The analysis of students' surveys indicated a statistically significant increase in motivation. These findings suggest that technologically-mediated participatory design is a valid approach for promoting teacher ownership of the PROFILES approach in science teaching.
The PROFILES Project Promoting Science Teaching in a Foreign Language
Author: Blanchard, B.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science Instruction,Second Language Learning,Teaching Methods,Scientific Concepts,Language of Instruction,Foreign Countries,Student Motivation,English (Second Language),Language Usage,Learning Modules,Relevance (Education),Inquiry,Secondary School Science,Grade 12,Vignettes,Discussion (Teaching Technique)

School subjects can provide a good context for learning a second language. This is especially true for science as it can involve a range of student centred activities, which involve students in collaborative communication related to a range of different competences. This paper reflects on one approach to learning in a second language, using the approach promoted by the PROFILES project. It illustrates how the PROFILES approach can realise greater potential for student language development, focusing on learning about carbon dioxide in an inquiry learning format, permitting experimentation and interpretation of the outcomes. The approach is via a scenario providing a familiar setting for the learning and, following experimentation, the approach moves to decision making where the focus of carbon dioxide is on being a greenhouse gas and effecting global warming, this leading to a debate on acceptable levels of carbon dioxide and the effect of deforestation. The latter involves the use of argumentation skills in a socio-scientific setting allowing the utilisation of a second language in a different dimension to that of providing scientific explanations.
PROFILES Networks: Three International Examples
Author: Rauch, F.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Profiles,Science Education,Inquiry,Self Efficacy,Science Teachers,Communities of Practice,Social Networks,Active Learning,Teacher Collaboration,Network Analysis,Professional Development,Partnerships in Education,Performance Factors,Program Development,Program Descriptions,Foreign Countries

This paper explores the effectiveness of networking in promoting inquiry-based science education (IBSE) through raising the self-efficacy of science teachers to take ownership of more effective ways of teaching students, supported by stakeholders (Holbrook &amp; Rannikmae, 2010). As PROFILES project (Professional Reflection Oriented Focus on Inquiry-based Learning and Education through Science) is based on &quot;teacher partnerships,&quot; the project recognises the importance, not only of dissemination of developments for the benefit of science teachers across Europe and even worldwide, but also the need for interaction through a well-researched and effective networking system at the school, local, national and European/worldwide levels. The theoretical and practical approach of PROFILES networking is presented, including examples from Austria, Latvia and Romania. Research (evaluative) findings show that networking can operate at the school, local, regional and national levels and that networking is able to play an important role in the functioning of PROFILES. Evaluative findings show that networks offer goal-oriented exchange processes among teachers which support the professional development of teachers. Networking has the potential to create a culture of trust and supports self-efficacy and teacher ownership. Hence, networking is playing a significant role in the functioning of PROFILES in the presented countries.
Coping with the Challenges of Open Online Education in Chinese Societies in the Mobile Era: NTHU OCW as a Case Study
Author: Young, Shelley Shwu-Ching
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Open Source Technology,Electronic Learning,Case Studies,Handheld Devices,Copyrights,Sustainability,Information Storage,User Needs (Information),Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Semi Structured Interviews,Observation

In an era witnessing the rapid development of information technology, mobile devices have brought revolutionary changes to learning. A single conventional media platform is not enough for the various mobile devices. Technology-enriched educational environments supported by different devices are important research issues nowadays. To capture the rapid growth of mobile users in Chinese societies, OpenCourseWare (OCW) needs to move their learning models toward the mobile sphere. Therefore, this study reports the three years of empirical experience in implementing the upgraded National Tsing Hua University OCW platform and analyzes how users access the platform with various devices. The results indicate a responsive web design and cloud-computing provide great accessibility to meet the diversity of various mobile devices from Chinese users throughout the world, including 466,429 visits with 264 different mobile devices from 146 territories. Moreover, the proposed solutions make the workflow of OCW production more efficient. The study further discussed the importance of both tablets and smartphones. Moreover, to expand the reach of open educational resources (OER) in Chinese societies, the critical issues of fair use and sustainability of OER should be of concern. The findings of the study provide valuable references for web engineers and educators to explore cross-device online learning using PCs and mobile devices.
Using Supplementary Video in Multimedia Instruction as a Teaching Tool to Increase Efficiency of Learning and Quality of Experience
Author: Ljubojevic, Milos
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Video Technology,Multimedia Instruction,Teaching Methods,Lecture Method,Student Motivation,Context Effect,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Questionnaires,Prior Learning,Student Experience

The main objective of this research is to investigate efficiency of use of supplementary video content in multimedia teaching. Integrating video clips in multimedia lecture presentations may increase students' perception of important information and motivation for learning. Because of that, students can better understand and remember key points of a lecture. Those improvements represent some important learning outcomes. This research showed that segmentation of teaching materials with supplementary video clips may improve lecture organization and presentation in order to achieve effective teaching and learning. The context of the video content and the position of supplementary video clips in teaching material are important influences on factors for motivation and efficiency of learning. This research presents the effects of the use of supplementary videos with different context of content (entertainment and educational) as well as the effects of their position within the teaching material. The experimental results showed that the most efficient method of use of supplementary video is integration with educational video content in the middle of a lecture. This position of video insertion provides the best results. The context of video content influences efficiency of learning also. Entertainment video was not as efficient as educational, but it can be used to engage and motivate students for learning. The given results have been confirmed with a subjective assessment of students' quality of experience with different methods of embedding video clips.
Telecommuting Academics within an Open Distance Education Environment of South Africa: More Content, Productive, and Healthy?
Author: Tustin, Deon Harold
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Distance Education,Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Teleworking,Holistic Approach,Comparative Analysis,Productivity,Satisfaction,Fatigue (Biology),Stress Variables,College Faculty,College Students,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Part Time Employment,Part Time Faculty,Open Universities,Statistical Analysis

Outside an academic setting, telecommuting has become fairly popular in recent years. However, research on telecommuting practices within a higher education environment is fairly sparse, especially within the higher distance education sphere. Drawing on existing literature on telecommuting and the outcome of a valuation study on the success of an experimental telecommuting programme at the largest distance education institution in South Africa, this article presents discerning findings on telecommuting practices. In fact, the research builds on evolutionary telecommuting assessment methods of the direct or indirect effect (work based) and affective impact (emotional) on multiple stakeholder groups. This holistic approach allowed for comparative analysis between telecommuting and nontelecommuting academics with regard to the impact of telecommuting practices. The research reveals high levels of support for telecommuting practices that are associated with high levels of work productivity and satisfaction, lower levels of emotional and physical fatigue, and reduced work stress, frustration, and overload. The study also reveals higher levels of student satisfaction with academic support from telecommuters than nontelecommuters. Overall, the critique presents insightful findings on telecommuting practices within an academic setting, which clearly signal a potential for a shift in the office culture of higher distance education institutions in the years to come. The study makes a significant contribution to a limited collection of empirical research on telecommuting practices within the higher distance education sector and guides institutions in refining and/or redefining future telecommuting strategies or programmes.