How Simulation can Illuminate Pedagogical and System Design Issues in Dynamic Open Ended Learning Environments

A Dynamic Open-Ended Learning Environment (DOELE) is a collection of learners and learning objects (LOs) that could be constantly changing. In DOELEs, learners need the support of Advanced Learning Technology (ALT), but most ALT is not designed to run in such environments. An architecture for designing advanced learning technology that is compatible with DOELEs is the ecological approach (EA). This thesis looks at how to test and develop ALT based on the EA, and argues that this process would benefit from the use of simulation. The essential components of an EA-based simulation are: simulated learners, simulated LOs, and their simulated interactions. In this thesis the value of simulation is demonstrated with two experiments. The first experiment focuses on the pedagogical issue of peer impact, how learning is impacted by the performance of peers. By systematically varying the number and type of learners and LOs in a DOELE, the simulation uncovers behaviours that would otherwise go unseen. The second experiment shows how to validate and tune a new instructional planner built on the EA, the Collaborative Filtering based on Learning Sequences planner (CFLS). When the CFLS planner is configured appropriately, simulated learners achieve higher performance measurements that those learners using the baseline planners. Simulation results lead to predictions that ultimately need to be proven in the real world, but even without real world validation such predictions can be useful to researchers to inform the ALT system design process. This thesis work shows that it is not necessary to model all the details of the real world to come to a better understanding of a pedagogical issue such as peer impact. And, simulation allowed for the design of the first known instructional planner to be based on usage data, the CFLS planner. The use of simulation for the design of EA-based systems opens new possibilities for instructional planning without knowledge engineering. Such systems can find niche learning paths that may have never been thought of by a human designer. By exploring pedagogical and ALT system design issues for DOELEs, this thesis shows that simulation is a valuable addition to the toolkit for ALT researchers

Designing Open and Distance Learning for Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A toolkit for educators and planners

Everyone remembers a good teacher. Good teachers are the key to educational expansion and improvement. In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to expand the number of primary and secondary teachers. In all African countries, there is an equally important need to improve the quality of teaching. To achieve this, it is clear that new approaches to teacher education are essential. Existing institutions of teacher education will continue to play an important role, but, alone, they will not meet the goals of Education for All (EFA) by 2015. It is fortunate that, just as the twin needs to improve the quantity and quality of teachers become imperative, so new forms of education and training are becoming available. The world is witnessing a revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs), which can offer training and support of a type and at a cost hitherto impossible to consider, and thus, must be fully explored given the scale and urgency of demand. In doing so, however, it will be necessary to build on existing and well-tested strategies, including the best models of open and distance learning. This toolkit is the third in a series of recent publications by the Africa Region Human Development Department of the World Bank to share knowledge and experience on how distance education and ICTs can support education in Sub-Saharan Africa. It emphasizes the rigorous process by which new forms of distance-education programs for teacher education can be planned and implemented. The best models of established programs are considered along with the potential for incorporating, as the means become available, new modes of communication. Most forms of teacher education, particularly those concerned with qualification upgrading and ongoing professional development, will have to be based in schools. The authors demonstrate how school-based programs, appropriately resourced and supported, have the potential not only to raise significantly the number and quality of teachers, but also to improve classroom practice and school organization, generally. The guidance and advice, which is drawn from many years of experience in design and implementation, and embraces a range of case studies from across the region, will be of considerable value to those preparing new policies and programs of teacher education and to those seeking to improve existing programs

Modelling human teaching tactics and strategies for tutoring systems

One of the promises of ITSs and ILEs is that they will teach and assist learning in an intelligent manner. Historically this has tended to mean concentrating on the interface, on the representation of the domain and on the representation of the student’s knowledge. So systems have attempted to provide students with reifications both of what is to be learned and of the learning process, as well as optimally sequencing and adjusting activities, problems and feedback to best help them learn that domain. We now have embodied (and disembodied) teaching agents and computer-based peers, and the field demonstrates a much greater interest in metacognition and in collaborative activities and tools to support that collaboration. Nevertheless the issue of the teaching competence of ITSs and ILEs is still important, as well as the more specific question as to whether systems can and should mimic human teachers. Indeed increasing interest in embodied agents has thrown the spotlight back on how such agents should behave with respect to learners. In the mid 1980s Ohlsson and others offered critiques of ITSs and ILEs in terms of the limited range and adaptability of their teaching actions as compared to the wealth of tactics and strategies employed by human expert teachers. So are we in any better position in modelling teaching than we were in the 80s? Are these criticisms still as valid today as they were then? This paper reviews progress in understanding certain aspects of human expert teaching and in developing tutoring systems that implement those human teaching strategies and tactics. It concentrates particularly on how systems have dealt with student answers and how they have dealt with motivational issues, referring particularly to work carried out at Sussex: for example, on responding effectively to the student’s motivational state, on contingent and Vygotskian inspired teaching strategies and on the plausibility problem. This latter is concerned with whether tactics that are effectively applied by human teachers can be as effective when embodied in machine teachers

Guidelines for Planning Future Public School Facilities: A Trends-oriented Approach

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to establish guidelines for planning future public school facilities based upon identified global, societal, and educational trends that would most likely highly impact upon the types of public school facilities that will be built in the future. Based upon an extensive literature review, interviews with educational practitioners and facility specialists, and on-site visits to 15 schools in four states, 66 guideline elements were developed. These elements were submitted in a questionnaire/rating sheet format to a researcher-selected jury of 13 national educational facility planning specialists (100% Response Rate) for their evaluations. The five sections for which the final set of guidelines were established were: (1) Planning, Design, and Site Selection; (2) Environmental Enhancement Factors; (3) Space Utilization; (4) Technology; and (5) School and Community Service Areas. The findings were that all 66 guidelines were rated as essential, highly desirable, or significant by the jurors. The major conclusions reached from the study were several: (1) Educational practitioners advocated systematic, proactive, long- and short-range facility planning. This planning should be broad-based and pluralistic with flexibility, mobility, and adaptability as the cornerstones of the school design process. All planning should be based on both hard and soft data. Planning should also be both bottom-up and top-down with maximum information shared with the stakeholders. (2) Aesthetic, psychological, and behavioral environmental enhancement factors were key areas in future school designs. Facilities should be student-centered and user-friendly with an external welcoming appearance. The selection of the school site was extremely important, also. (3) Schools should be designed to offer optimal comfort to all inhabitants with flexible spaces where teachers and students can learn, relate, and explore. Schools and communities should share resources if possible

A delphi study to identify teaching competencies of teacher education faculty in 2015

The purpose of this study was to reach consensus on future course delivery modes and recommended teaching competencies that would be required for teacher education faculty in future course delivery environments. A three-round, online modified Delphi study was used to answer the following research questions (RQs): (a) RQ1: What course delivery modes will teacher education faculty of traditional colleges and universities be using in 2015?, and (b) RQ2: What competencies will teacher education faculty of traditional colleges and universities need to teach using these delivery modes? Course delivery modes and general teaching competencies were determined as a result of consensus reached by a panel of 17 educational experts drawn from institutions within the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and other educational organizations. The first round used an open-ended questionnaire format. The responses generated by the first round contributed to the development of the Round II instrument. In the second round, panelists were asked to rate the items identified in round one on a 7 point Likert-scale. The Round III questionnaire was designed using Round II results. Ratings by individual panel members were shown relative to the group response (median, mode, and IQR), followed by a request for the panelist to re-rate or confirm their original rating from Round II. Based on an analysis of data collected in Rounds I, II, and III, the following conclusions were drawn for each research question. Data collected to answer RQ1 found that teacher education faculty of traditional colleges and universities in 2015 will integrate more online technologies into their face-to-face classroom-based teaching environment. Blended course delivery modes integrating online components was strongly supported by the panel experts who participated in the study. Among the various future online approaches identified through this study, the asynchronous, or combination asynchronous and synchronous, mode will be preferred over the synchronous mode alone. Data analyzed to address RQ2 found that there will be a total of 77 general teaching competencies needed by higher education faculty in the coming decade. These competencies were logically grouped into the following five categories: planning and designing learning environment; teaching and learning; technology; assessment and evaluation; and cultural and ethical issues

Planning an employee Spanish training program at the community college level

The purpose of this study was to research the process of planning and creating an employee Spanish training program. The researcher determined employees\u27 previous knowledge of the language and culture as well as training preferences utilizing two surveys (n = 120) and a personal interview (n = 15). Surveys were statistically analyzed using SPSS software to determine frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations and the interviews were analyzed using a content analysis procedure. Research on adult learning theories, program planning theories and exemplary Spanish training programs complemented the quantitative and qualitative data collected. The study revealed that CCC employees had marginal knowledge of the language and culture but held positive attitudes toward the training and Hispanics in general. Employees also preferred multiple methods of instruction, including an interactive classroom approach coupled with computer-based reinforcement. Training preferences included weekly sessions of 1.5 hours with ample opportunity for transfer of learning. Suggestions for creating an effective Spanish training program based on employees\u27 backgrounds and preferences, as well as adult learning theory and program planning theory are explained

Mapping for Impact: Actionable Spatial Literacy through Counter-Mapping

Counter-mapping is a technique that young people can use to take informed action on community issues through the mapping process. This mixed-methods study examined how ninth-graders in a large urban district in Iowa developed spatial thinking skills while engaging in counter-mapping in their community and the extent to which they used those maps to take informed action. A nine-week learning progression for counter-mapping scaffolded progress variables across three different spatial thinking standards and one inquiry standard. Findings indicated that students improved throughout the learning progression, but some needed teacher support to conduct spatial inquiries. Chances of reaching the upper anchor on a learning goal were positively associated with prior opportunities to grapple with complex spatial reasoning tasks. Students shifted over the learning progression from viewing maps as navigational tools to using them as communication tools. The extent to which students could use counter-maps to take informed action depended on their level of spatial literacy. Student reflections demonstrated that the hypothesized upper anchor of the inquiry standard and the lower anchor of the mental maps standard needed revision. Ninth-graders in the study could not take community-level informed action, but they could take personal action and propose potential solutions to spatial problems. Some significant results showed female students performed better than male students early in the learning progression. Latino students outperformed White students on two tasks. Counter-mapping is a place-based and assetbased pedagogical tool that can build critical spatial thinking skills while affirming students’ identities

Effectiveness of teacher training on the use of universal design learning strategies with special education students in middle school

In inclusive classrooms, the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) presents a viable schema to inform instructional materials, lesson design, and teaching practices to meet the needs of diverse groups of learners. UDL principles and guidelines emphasize using multiple means of representation, action, and engagement to employ different learning networks and address the multitude of learners in the classroom, with the hopeful outcome of benefiting all students. Current literature has yielded inconclusive results about the concrete effects of the UDL framework, including an ongoing challenge in defining UDL practice in the classroom. This quantitative study explored UDL practices in an inclusive California middle school as reported by teachers in a survey, and investigated how UDL training effects the use of UDL strategies and technology in the classroom. It found significant correlations between UDL training and the use of UDL strategies in the classroom overall as well as total number of UDL strategies used. Further correlations were found between social-emotional learning in the classroom and use of UDL strategies as well as links between UDL training, UDL use, and the use of teaching tools that target visual modalities

Struggling Adolescent Writers Describe Their Experiences

Abstract Writing continues to be difficult for adolescents throughout the United States. There is little known about writing from the adolescent\u27s perspective. This case study describes six 8th graders\u27 thoughts and motivations on writing. The purpose of the current study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of struggling adolescent writers by taped participant interviews of six students, three male and three female, which scored below proficient on their state writing assessment. The conceptual theoretical framework for the current study is Bandura\u27s social cognitive theory. The central research question of this study focused on the experiences of adolescents who struggle with writing on state assessments. Qualitative data were collected during a three week period and analyzed in two stages. Stage 1 was the analytical compiling of the data into categories; stage 2 examined the data for patterns, themes, and relationships. Thematic analysis revealed six themes. Analysis of data supported the theoretical framework that students who struggle with writing were low on morale and motivation on writing assignments. Results of the study included a desire in the students to excel on their writing assignments, but the eagerness was subdued by the challenges they faced in writing. The data showed that students struggle with the amount of knowledge they have on a given topic and the techniques used to write a coherent sentence. Students stated that they need guidance to gather information on a given topic and with organization of their writing. In response to the students\u27 perceptive, teacher can plan, implement, and guide students towards success in writing. This study can contribute to social change as it will guide teachers of writing instruction strategies that will respond to the challenge of mastering a difficult and complex subject