Cooperative Learning: Value-Added To Operations Management

Integrating cooperative learning techniques with information technology and applying it to the field of Production and Operations Management (P/OM) will help to investigate how Computer-Supported Cooperative Learning (CSCL) can enhance learning performance of students.  Research in CSCL provides evidence that collaborative communication technology can be a better mechanism to add value to education.  Most studies, however, have examined learning performance only during the middle and end of the learning process.  Thus, it is not clear how information technology can continuously facilitate and improve student performance and learning experience over time. The purpose of this research is to examine how information technology, when applied to communication medium, can facilitate the learning process in the field of production and operations management. This study compared traditional, face-to-face cooperative learning environments to computer-supported cooperative learning environments for differences in students’ learning performance and group member satisfaction

Learning Through the Life Span: A Conceptual Virtual Simulation Model

Teaching in a virtual environment has been a natural progression of advancements in information and communication technologies. The current issues with virtual teaching models appear to be related with the effective simulation of course content, some teaching materials are easier to be visualised in a simulation than others. For example, nursing through the life span is a module which was introduced in the nursing syllabus at Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology) in 2009. The module explores the learnt experiences and the impact of ill health on a patient’s family and their development. The theoretical contents of the module make it difficult to teach in a virtual environment. However, using a unified health informatics system and advanced statistical and probability modelling, human behaviour can be explored and modelled. The results can then be integrated with the available technology into an appropriate virtual classroom. In this paper, the application of health informatics together with virtual classroom technology is conceptualised as an aid for teaching human behaviour

Computer-supported collaborative learning performance and satisfaction: A muiti-stage study

Research in computer-supported cooperative learning provides evidence that collaborative technology can enhance learning performance and increase affective experiences in the context of cooperative learning. Most studies, however, have examined the learning performance only during the middle and end of the process. It is not clear how information technology continuously facilitates and improves student performance and learning experience over time. By employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research presented in this article drew research findings in the fields of communication, information systems, and education to examine cooperative learning processes with a continuous, longitudinal study. Based on a descriptive model of computer-supported cooperative learning, this research examined the effect of a collaborative technology on the accumulation of learning performance and learning satisfaction on group members. Three sets of hypotheses regarding learning performance, perceived learning performance, and group member satisfaction are examined

Aplicaciones pedagógicas del Juego de rol en la Educación Virtual: Una experiencia en el contexto del Examen de Estado

Se describe la utilización de una metodología bimodal (Virtual/presencial) de aprendizaje sustentada en el diseño y mantenimiento de juegos de rol como estrategias mediadoras de conocimiento e interacciones comunicativas a través de la utilización de la Plataforma Virtual de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (BlackBoard®) como soporte tecnológico. Los resultados obtenidos muestran cualitativamente el desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas en los participaciones y varios manifestaciones de creatividad en el desarrollo de las actividades propuestas lo que sugiere amplias posibilidades de generalizar la aplicación de los juegos de rol como alternativas pedagógicas para facilitar los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje en escenarios virtuales de capacitación – formación en donde la clave del éxito del proceso depende de la fluidez de la comunicación y los lazos construidos a partir de esta entre docentes y estudiantes. Abstract This article describes the use of a bimodal methodology (virtual / in classroom setting), supported in the design of role plays as a mediating strategy for knowledge construction and communicative interactions to take place. This is achieved by means of a virtual platform used at Javeriana University  (BlackBoard®) which serves as the technological support. The results obtained qualitatively show the development of communicative skills among the participants, and manifestations of creativity in the activities proposed. This suggests ample possibilities to generalize the use of role plays as a pedagogical alternative to facilitate the teaching/learning processes in virtual scenarios for professional development growth, where the key to success in the process depends on the flow of communication and the ties built between teachers and students.

A Case Study on the Differences in Scores of Undergraduate Students in Traditional, Online, and Hybrid Classes

The primary purpose of this research was to ascertain whether there are variances in academic performance between students taking an educational technology course in traditional, online, and hybrid learning environments. As a secondary goal, the study assessed the differences in academic performance of male and female students in these classes. All students in this study held an undergraduate status of junior or above. They had earned a minimum of 45 hours and had a minimum 2.75 overall GPA. These students also passed the certification test for state educators and had been accepted as teacher candidates of the College of Education in the Teacher Education Department at a state university in the southwestern part of the United States. The state university was designated by the United States Department of Education as a postsecondary minority institution. The students were given identical instructions and rubrics for a WebQuest project. Two different instructors taught each of the three types of classes in the study. The results were analyzed through quantitative investigation of the students’ scores for their individual projects. The WebQuest scores of a total of 1,052 students were collected over 14 semesters (fall 2009 through spring 2016). The scores involved students in 48 one-semester classes (16 traditional, 16 online, and 16 hybrid). Each instructor taught the students in eight of each of the three types of classroom settings, for a total of 24 classes for each instructor. The study was a casual-comparative research (ex post facto). Findings from the study may provide educators and curriculum specialists a resource for building better curricula and instruction for undergraduate classes offered in either traditional, online, or hybrid format; encourage academic institutions and policymakers to invest in learning systems in a variety of forms; and encourage students to access online and hybrid classes without concern about quality implications

Teamwork and Team Performance in Online Simulations: The Business Strategy Game

Abstract Many variables affect teamwork and team performance on assignments, including student characteristics, the delivery mode, and instructors' decisions about assignment design. In this study, the online assignment was a computer simulation of a competitive industry, the Business Strategy Game. Links between student teams' performance and the delivery mode (online versus on-campus) and some of the instructors' decisions regarding how to structure the simulation assignment were examined. Online delivery was correlated with significantly lower student team performance compared to oncampus delivery. On the other hand, while larger class size and smaller team size had negative effects on a student team's performance for on-campus courses, class size, and team size did not matter online. In other words, team performance with online delivery was not constrained by class size or team size as it was on-campus. It was determined that instructors can improve team performance by making key choices when designing and delivering online simulation assignments. For on-campus delivery, allowing more class time for more frequent teamwork discussions was found to lead to higher team performance. Larger teams of 4-6 students outperformed smaller teams using on-campus delivery

Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research

This literature review summarizes research on online teaching and learning. It is organized into four topics: course environment, learners’ outcomes, learners’ characteristics, and institutional and administrative factors. The authors found little consistency of terminology, discovered some conclusive guidelines, and identified developing lines of inquiry. The conclusions overall suggest that most of the studies reviewed were descriptive and exploratory, that most online students are nontraditional and Anglo American, and that few universities have written policies, guidelines, or technical support for faculty members or students. Asynchronous communication seemed to facilitate in-depth communication (but not more than in traditional classes), students liked to move at their own pace, learning outcomes appeared to be the same as in traditional courses, and students with prior training in computers were more satisfied with online courses. Continued research is needed to inform learner outcomes, learner characteristics, course environment, and institutional factors related to delivery system variables in order to test learning theories and teaching models inherent in course design

Distance Learning and the Non-Native English Speaker: A Correlational Study

In higher education, there is an increasing trend of Non-native English speakers (NNESs) enrolling in courses. In addition to an increase in NNESs in higher education, online learning also continues to rise every year. While there has been research investigating NNESs in traditional higher education courses, an opportunity remains to discover how NNESs perform in online courses. The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between non-native English speakers’ (NNESs) responses on the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey (DELES) and final course grades in an online research course. The participants for this study were undergraduate NNESs enrolled in an online research course during the summer and fall of 2017. Data was compiled from the pre- and post-DELES responses and final grades for NNESs. The researcher compared NNESs’ responses from the DELES pre-survey to final course grades to determine if there was a positive correlation. Likewise, the researcher compared NNESs’ responses from the DELES post-survey to final course grades to explore if a positive correlation existed. To analyze the data, a Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between NNESs’ responses on the DELES pre-survey and final course grades as well as the DELES post-survey responses and the final course grades. The analysis showed no correlation between the DELES pre-survey and post-survey with final course grades in an online research course. Lastly, the researcher addressed the implications of the results, limitations of the research, and made recommendations for future research