What works best: evidence based practices to help improve NSW student performance

\u27What works best\u27 brings together seven themes from the growing bank of evidence we have for what works to improve student educational outcomes. The seven themes addressed here are:  1. High expectations 2. Explicit teaching 3. Effective feedback 4. Use of data to inform practice 5. Classroom management 6. Wellbeing 7. Collaboration These themes offer helpful ways of thinking about aspects of teaching practice but they are not discrete. Rather, they overlap and connect with one another in complex ways. For example, providing timely and effective feedback to students is another element of explicit teaching – two of the more effective types of feedback direct students’ attention to the task at hand and to the way in which they are processing that task. Similarly, being explicit about the learning goals of a lesson and the criteria for success gives high expectations a concrete form, which students can understand and aim for. Wellbeing and quality teaching are mutually reinforcing – if students with high levels of general wellbeing are more likely to be engaged productively with learning, it is also true that improving intellectual engagement can improve wellbeing.  The seven themes are not confined to what happens in classrooms. While they offer sound strategies for individual teachers to consider as part of their repertoires, evidence suggests that their effectiveness is stronger when they are implemented as whole-school approaches. For example, the literature indicates that teachers are more likely to make effective use of student data when working together than when working alone. Ideally, everyone associated with a school – including school leaders, parents, students and community members – will share a commitment not only to the school’s vision for development but to the mechanisms for achieving these goals, and will engage collaboratively in responding to the challenge

Humanoid-based protocols to study social cognition

Social cognition is broadly defined as the way humans understand and process their interactions with other humans. In recent years, humans have become more and more used to interact with non-human agents, such as technological artifacts. Although these interactions have been restricted to human-controlled artifacts, they will soon include interactions with embodied and autonomous mechanical agents, i.e., robots. This challenge has motivated an area of research related to the investigation of human reactions towards robots, widely referred to as Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Classical HRI protocols often rely on explicit measures, e.g., subjective reports. Therefore, they cannot address the quantification of the crucial implicit social cognitive processes that are evoked during an interaction. This thesis aims to develop a link between cognitive neuroscience and human-robot interaction (HRI) to study social cognition. This approach overcomes methodological constraints of both fields, allowing to trigger and capture the mechanisms of real-life social interactions while ensuring high experimental control. The present PhD work demonstrates this through the systematic study of the effect of online eye contact on gaze-mediated orienting of attention. The study presented in Publication I aims to adapt the gaze-cueing paradigm from cognitive science to an objective neuroscientific HRI protocol. Furthermore, it investigates whether the gaze-mediated orienting of attention is sensitive to the establishment of eye contact. The study replicates classic screen-based findings of attentional orienting mediated by gaze both at behavioral and neural levels, highlighting the feasibility and the scientific value of adding neuroscientific methods to HRI protocols. The aim of the study presented in Publication II is to examine whether and how real-time eye contact affects the dual-component model of joint attention orienting. To this end, cue validity and stimulus-to-onset asynchrony are also manipulated. The results show an interactive effect of strategic (cue validity) and social (eye contact) top-down components on the botton-up reflexive component of gaze-mediated orienting of attention. The study presented in Publication III aims to examine the subjective engagement and attribution of human likeness towards the robot depending on established eye contact or not during a joint attention task. Subjective reports show that eye contact increases human likeness attribution and feelings of engagement with the robot compared to a no-eye contact condition. The aim of the study presented in Publication IV is to investigate whether eye contact established by a humanoid robot affects objective measures of engagement (i.e. joint attention and fixation durations), and subjective feelings of engagement with the robot during a joint attention task. Results show that eye contact modulates attentional engagement, with longer fixations at the robot’s face and cueing effect when the robot establishes eye contact. In contrast, subjective reports show that the feeling of being engaged with the robot in an HRI protocol is not modulated by real-time eye contact. This study further supports the necessity for adding objective methods to HRI. Overall, this PhD work shows that embodied artificial agents can advance the theoretical knowledge of social cognitive mechanisms by serving as sophisticated interactive stimuli of high ecological validity and excellent experimental control. Moreover, humanoid-based protocols grounded in cognitive science can advance the HRI community by informing about the exact cognitive mechanisms that are present during HRI

Communication, Affect, & Learning in the Classroom

The purpose of the handbook was to synthesize the first three decades of research in instructional communication into a single volume that could help both researchers and instructors understand the value of communication in the instructional process.Preface1.Teaching As a Communication Process The Instructional Communication Process The Teacher The Content The Instructional Strategy The Student The Feedback/Evaluation The Learning Environment/Instructional Context Kibler’s Model of Instruction The ADDIE Model of Instructional Design2.Communicating With Instructional Objectives Why Some Teachers Resent Objectives The Value of Objectives What Objectives Should Communicate3.Instructional Communication Strategies The Teacher As a Speaker The Teacher As a Moderator The Teacher As a Trainer The Teacher As a Manager The Teacher As a Coordinator & Innovator4.Communication, Affect, and Student Needs Measuring Student Affect Basic Academic Needs of Students Traditional Interpersonal Need Models Outcomes of Meeting Student Needs5.Learning Styles What is Learning Style? Dimensions of Learning Style and Their Assessment Matching, Bridging, and Style-Flexing6.Classroom Anxieties and Fears Communication Apprehension Receiver Apprehension Writing Apprehension Fear of Teacher Evaluation Apprehension Classroom Anxiety Probable Causes of Classroom Anxiety Communication Strategies for Reducing Classroom Anxiety7.Communication And Student Self-Concept Student Self-Concept: Some Definitions Characteristics of the Self Development of Student Self-Concept Dimensions of Student Self-Concept Self-Concept and Academic Achievement Effects of Self-Concept on Achievement Poker Chip Theory of Learning Communication Strategies for Nurturing and Building Realistic Student Self-Concept8.Instructional Assessment:Feedback,Grading, and Affect Defining the Assessment Process Evaluative Feedback Descriptive Feedback Assessment and Affect Competition and Cooperation in Learning Environments9.Traditional and Mastery Learning Systems Traditional Education Systems Mastery Learning Modified Mastery Learning10.Student Misbehavior and Classroom Management Why Students Misbehave Categories of Student Behaviors Students’ Effects on Affect in the Classroom Communication, Affect, and Classroom Management Communication Techniques for Increasing or Decreasing Student Behavior11.Teacher Misbehaviors and Communication Why Teachers Misbehave Common Teacher Misbehaviors Implications for the Educational Systems12.Teacher Self-Concept and Communication Dimensions of Teacher Self-Concept Development of Teacher Self-Concept Strategies for Increasing Teacher Self-Concept13.Increasing Classroom Affect Through Teacher Communication Style Communicator Style Concept Types of Communicator Styles Teacher Communication Style Teacher Communicator Behaviors That Build Affect14.Teacher Temperament in the Classroom Four Personality Types Popular Sanguine Perfect Melancholy Powerful Choleric Peaceful Phlegmatic Personality Blends15.Teacher Communication: Performance and Burnout Teaching: A Multifaceted Job Roles of an Instructional Manager Teacher Burnout Symptoms of Teacher Burnout Causes of Teacher Burnout Methods for Avoiding Burnout Mentoring to Prevent BurnoutAppendix A To Mrs. Russell: Without You This Never Would Have HappenedGlossaryInde

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform.

With the rise in access to mobile multimedia devices, educational institutions have exploited the iTunes U platform as an additional channel to provide free educational resources with the aim of profile-raising and breaking down barriers to education. For those prepared to invest in content preparation, it is possible to produce interactive, portable material that can be made available globally. Commentators have questioned both the financial implications for platform-specific content production, and the availability of devices for learners to access it (Osborne, 2012). The Open University (OU) makes its free educational resources available on iTunes U and via its web-based open educational resources (OER) platform, OpenLearn. The OU’s OER on iTunes U reached the 60 million download mark in 2013; its OpenLearn platform boasts 27 million unique visitors since 2006. This paper reports the results of a large-scale study of users of the OU’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. A survey of several thousand users revealed key differences in demographics between those accessing OER via the web and via iTunes U. In addition, the data allowed comparison between three groups: formal learners, informal learners and educators. The study raises questions about whether university-provided OER meet the needs of users and makes recommendations for how content can be modified to suit their needs. As the publishing of OER becomes core to business, we reflect on reasons why understanding users’ motivations and demographics is vital, allowing for needs-led resource provision and content that is adapted to best achieve learner satisfaction, and to deliver institutions’ social mission

Evaluating Evaluations of Clinical Decision Support Systems: Case Studies From NHS Clinical Settings

The NHS is under increasing pressure to cut costs while delivering high quality care. At the same time, the demand for healthcare services has grown, driven in part by the increasing number of older people in the population. NHS Trusts are adopting clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) to help decision making at the point of care. CDSSs are said to bring benefits such as improvements in guideline adherence, clinical processes and user performance but evidence of these benefits is not always available and their effectiveness in terms of improving patient outcomes is often open to question. This thesis presents research that was carried out in a large teaching NHS Trust looking at the evaluations of three CDSSs. Semi structured interviews were carried out with key informants who were involved in their adoption, use and evaluations. Documentary analysis and observations were also used to augment the interviews. Most evaluations were carried out informally by the developers and were primarily driven by external regulatory pressures rather than patient outcomes and organisational needs. Evaluation documentation was inadequate or missing, thus making it difficult to systematically assess these evaluations. This thesis contends that evaluations are important to provide decision makers in NHS Trusts with adequate information to make decisions about CDSSs and computerised healthcare information technologies in general. NHS Trusts need to build organisational capacity and readiness to enable them to effectively carry out evaluations that will provide meaningful information to gain better understanding of CDSSs and to inform their successful adoption, implementation, usage and to justify the resource allocation. This research shows that CDSS evaluations investigated took a predominantly narrow view. It thus provides evidence for the need for a more systemic approach to evaluation

Human Capital in Innovation-Driven Environments

Organization leaders and policymakers express the need for developing entrepreneurial and innovative talent, central to firm growth and job creation. Despite the growing number of individuals working at the forefront of innovation and technology, there is much to learn about the role of entrepreneurial and innovative human capital in shaping key organizational processes and outcomes. In my dissertation, I explore how individuals in innovation-driven contexts–such as entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors–vary in their human capital, and how the accumulation of this capital (e.g., knowledge, career experience, expertise), in turn, affects organization performance and innovation. In the first essay, I explore how the performance of external hires and their teams are affected by mobility and how team design affects the innovation performance of both groups. To do so, I analyze over 63,000 mobility events of U.S. engineers and scientists across different industries. The second essay examines the mobility of entrepreneurs to wage employment at established firms. A field experiment was conducted to understand how hiring firms evaluate entrepreneurs as job candidates. In the third essay, I investigate whether allowing the general public, without investment expertise, to invest in startups can provide funding opportunities to a more diverse group of entrepreneurs. Leveraging novel data on startups that participated in Regulation Crowdfunding in the U.S. and data on startups that could have decided to crowdfund, I examine the differences in firm and founding team characteristics of startups funded by crowd and professional investors. This dissertation draws on and contributes to research at the nexus of entrepreneurship and organizations. Specifically, the first two essays build on interorganizational career mobility and human capital research. The second and third essays contribute to research on entrepreneurship, evaluation, and resource mobilization. My dissertation offers insights to innovators and entrepreneurs on how to successfully navigate the capital and labor markets. For managers of organizations, the first and second essays highlight ways to develop entrepreneurial and innovative environments. The second and third essays have implications for policymakers on designing entrepreneurship education and funding programs