134,718 research outputs found
The Common Core State Standards and the Role of Instructional Materials: a Case Study on EdReports.org
The purpose of this study was to review research studies investigating the role of instructional materials in relation to the Common Core State Standards and to evaluate whether a new organisation, EdReports.org, which was founded to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to the Common Core State Standards, has achieved its intended objectives. Content analysis was used to analyse the subject matter of reports on the research studies. A decision-oriented evaluation model was used to analyse the decision process, decision-making setting, decision model and types of decisions in the change process within EdReports.org. The results showed that the research studies have produced important findings concerning the role of instructional materials in relation to the Common Core State Standards and EdReports.org has attained its objectives in successfully developing and diffusing a program to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to the Common Core State Standards. The conclusion recommends that policymakers in other educational settings should consider whether Ed.Reports.orgâs operating system provides a valid model for creating a program to evaluate the alignment of instructional materials to academic standards. 
XinuPi3: Teaching Multicore Concepts Using Embedded Xinu
As computer platforms become more advanced, the need to teach advanced computing concepts grows accordingly. This paper addresses one such need by presenting XinuPi3, a port of the lightweight instructional operating system Embedded Xinu to the Raspberry Pi 3. The Raspberry Pi 3 improves upon previous generations of inexpensive, credit card-sized computers by including a quad-core, ARM-based processor, opening the door for educators to demonstrate essential aspects of modern computing like inter-core communication and genuine concurrency.
Embedded Xinu has proven to be an effective teaching tool for demonstrating low-level concepts on single-core platforms, and it is currently used to teach a range of systems courses at multiple universities. As of this writing, no other bare metal educational operating system supports multicore computing. XinuPi3 provides a suitable learning environment for beginners on genuinely concurrent hardware. This paper provides an overview of the key features of the XinuPi3 system, as well as the novel embedded system education experiences it makes possible
Scaling up a learning technology strategy: Supporting student/faculty teams in learnerâcentred design
Many postâsecondary institutions are experiencing the challenge of scaling up their learning technology initiatives without a matching increase in staff resources. This mismatch is particularly acute at the design stage of projects, where both domain knowledge and instructional design expertise are needed. To address this, we are developing structures and tools for a small cadre of instructional design experts to support a growing number of learning technology projects developed by student/faculty teams. One of these tools, the LearnerâCentred Design Idea Kit, is an interactive WWWâbased resource now in a fourth iteration of use in an undergraduate course, Designing Learning Activities with Interactive Multimedia. The course and the LCD Idea Kit which supports it are part of a larger institutional strategy to introduce technologyâenabled change in the learning process, working âbottomâupâ with individual faculty and using the LCD Idea Kit to scale up the course across multiple university departments. In this paper, we describe the course and the Kit in detail and provide and overview of our current status and lessons learned
Improving instructional effectiveness with computerâmediated communication
This study explores the use of asynchronous ComputerâMediated Communication (CMC) in the delivery of instructional content, and points up the interaction among learners, as well as between learners and instructors. The instructional content in the project described was available to learners online as Microsoft Word documents, with email being used for communicating within the student group. Many students, as well as some of the instructors, felt uncomfortable with the flexibility and openness that a CMC environment allowed. However, once familiar with this process of instruction and interaction, learners were able to work consistently at their own pace, and understand that instructors are interested in every individual learner's opinion and in the collective views of the group. It was evident that a CMCâbased instructional delivery system, when carefully planned, has the potential to facilitate that outcome, and to improve instructional effectiveness
Inside Online Charter Schools
Online charter schools -- also known as virtual charters or cyber charters -- are publicly funded schools of choice that deliver student instruction via telecommunications. Today, about 200 online charter schools are operating in the United States, serving about 200,000 students at the elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. Although online instruction is increasing rapidly, there have been few studies of their operations and effects. In innovative new research funded by the Walton Family Foundation, the National Study of Online Charter Schools offers a rigorous analysis of online charter schools and their effects. Mathematica Policy Research's report provides the first nationwide data and analysis of the operations and instructional approaches of online charter schools, based on data collected in a survey completed by 127 principals of online charter schools across the country and public data from the U.S. Department of Education
Measuring the Cost of a College Degree: A Case Study of a SUNY Community College
Inspired by a Delta Cost Project White Paper, this study uses different measures of calculating the cost of a college degree at an upâstate community college in New York. Departmental cost per credit hour, direct instructional costs, and full costs are calculated and compared. A transcript analysis of the 2008â09 graduates highlights excess credit hours taken and crossâsubsidies necessary within degree programs to produce these graduates
A Prospectus on Substantive Change
Prepared for The Commission on Colleges, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, October 1, 1987. For consideration by the Commission on Colleges at its December 5 and 6, 1987, meeting at the Salt Lake Hilton Hotel
San Francisco Bay Area KIPP Schools: A Study of Early Implementation and Achievement: Final Report
Examines the achievement results and operations of five Knowledge Is Power Program middle schools to assess the program's effectiveness, the role of leadership, implementation of the KIPP culture, design of curricula and instruction, and lessons learned
Some effects of system information in instructions for use
An experiment was carried out to investigate whether it is useful to add system information to procedural information in instructional text. It was assumed that readers of instructions construct both a procedural and a system mental model, and that the latter enables the readers to infer possible missing information in procedural instructions. Moreover, it was assumed that system information would increase the cognitive load during reading and practicing, and that it would affect the appreciation of the instructions as well as the self-efficacy of the reader. The participants in the experiment read instructions and practiced with a fictitious machine before performing a number of tasks and answering a questionnaire. The results indicate that system information increased the cognitive load during reading and decreased self-efficacy, while the instructional text with system information was judged as more difficult. The effect on performance is limited: system information leads to faster performance for correctly completed tasks
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