Embedding accessibility and usability: considerations for e-learning research and development projects

This paper makes the case that if e‐learning research and development projects are to be successfully adopted in real‐world teaching and learning contexts, then they must effectively address accessibility and usability issues; and that these need to be integrated throughout the project. As such, accessibility and usability issues need to be made explicit in project documentation, along with allocation of appropriate resources and time. We argue that accessibility and usability are intrinsically inter‐linked. An integrated accessibility and usability evaluation methodology that we have developed is presented and discussed. The paper draws on a series of mini‐case studies from e‐learning projects undertaken over the past 10 years at the Open University

An Evaluation of Mouse and Keyboard Interaction Indicators towards Non-intrusive and Low Cost Affective Modeling in an Educational Context

AbstractIn this paper we propose a series of indicators, which derive from user's interactions with mouse and keyboard. The goal is to evaluate their use in identifying affective states and behavior changes in an e-learning platform by means of non-intrusive and low cost methods. The approach we have followed study user's interactions regardless of the task being performed and its presentation, aiming at finding a solution applicable in any domain. In particular, mouse movements and clicks, as well as keystrokes were recorded during a math problem solving activity where users involved in the experiment had not only to score their degree of valence (i.e., pleasure versus displeasure) and arousal (i.e., high activation versus low activation) of their affective states after each problem by using the Self-Assessment-Manikin scale, but also type a description of their own feelings. By using that affective labeling, we evaluated the information provided by these different indicators processed from the original user's interactions logs. In total, we computed 42 keyboard indicators and 96 mouse indicators

Moving Toward a Culture of Evidence: Documentation and Action Research inside CAPE Veteran Partnerships

This report is a culmination of three years of study of the impact on effective teaching of educators and artists engaging as partners in action research (inquiry based study of their own practice), in documenting the effects of arts integration on student learning (creating a "culture of evidence"), and in collaborating with other action research teams and with formal researchers to actively investigate qualities of teaching and learning at participating schools (what CAPE calls "layered research")

Balanced Teaching: The Role of Caring in Effective Teaching

Despite a rich history of research and reform, educational scholars have not yet formulated a working definition of effective teaching that encompasses the complexities of the learning process. Today, as policy makers demand measurable outcomes, teachers are increasingly aware of their need to be effective in motivating their students to achieve. In order to do so, teachers need to establish balanced practices that incorporate all three of the domains of learning: (a) affective, (b) behavioral, and (c) cognitive. Currently, the emphasis is on the behavioral and cognitive aspects of learning, but, frequently, the affective aspects are ignored. However, affect plays an important role in the learning process. Teachers can capitalize on students\u27 affect to achieve cognitive and behavioral outcomes when they communicate care to their students. This project was designed to encourage teachers to explore the role of the teacher/student relationship and demonstrations of care in order to maximize their effectiveness with their students

Designing Motivational Interviewing Instruction Employing the First Principles of Instruction

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Health care reform emphasizes prevention of chronic disease through the reduction of modifiable risk factors as a way to reduce health care costs, morbidity, and mortality. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an effective method of health behavior counseling. It has been used successfully applied in health related behavior change and self- management of chronic disease. The knowledge, skills, and attitude of MI are acquired through learning as other techniques used in the health professions. Nurse practitioner faculty need guidance on how to design instruction in MI that incorporates competencies and utilizes innovative strategies. Prescriptive instructional design theory utilizes knowledge from educational research to establish the steps in the design process. The purpose of this research was to apply prescriptive instructional theory to the design of effective, efficient, and engaging instruction in MI resulting in beginning proficiency in the NP students. A formative design was used for this study. The First Principles of Instruction served as the prescriptive design theory used in the design of instruction in MI. Data sources included the researcher’s design journal, observation during interaction with the instance, demographics of authentic users, authentic user reaction, and knowledge testing. Four cycles of design-redesign were completed. Results of the study point to improvements in the First Principles of Instruction. The instruction was effective, based on the improved scores from pretest to posttest on the Helpful Response Questionnaire. The improved scores also indicated an increase in knowledge of MI. Efficiency was not improved from pretest to posttest. The definition of efficiency as less time to completion of the task did not apply to MI communication skills. The First Principles of Instruction were useful in the design of the techniques of MI. However, there is little guidance for the affective component of MI such as empathy. The prescriptions of the First Principles of Instruction were useful in designing the instruction in MI. NP students indicated in post instruction interviews that engagement in the instruction was related to the relevance of the subject matter to practice and interactive exercises

Never On A Sunday: The Sabbath And The Christian Academic Library - Part 1

The article will appear in two parts. Part One examines the biblical basis for the positions taken and makes a general application. Part Two, in the next issue, will look at the application of Scripture to the world of Christian higher education and its libraries

Emotion In Online Distance Language Learning: Learners’ Appraisal Of Regret And Pride In Synchronous Audiographic Conferencing

In the last few decades, the study of emotions has been considered essential to our understanding of social and human mental lives, as they mediate between what is personally important and the outer world of people, objects and happenings (Oatley & Jenkins, 1996). Despite assumptions that success and failure in language learning are partly determined by learners’ ability to regulate their emotions, there is no research in second language acquisition (SLA) on everyday emotions other than anxiety. Thus, we move away from linguists’ broad conception of affect into the more particular understanding of emotion by emotion theorists, as incorporating phenomenological experiences, cognitive appraisal and some form of coping. Appraisal theory claims that emotions are elicited by evaluations of events and situations in relation to a person’s goals, needs or concerns (Roseman & Smith, 2001). Roseman’s appraisal model proposes seven appraisals of an event that influence emotions: unexpectedness, situational state, motivational state, probability, agency, control potential and problem type (Roseman, 2001). We administered a questionnaire to a large number of distance language learners, and interviewed a sample of respondents to find out about the emotions they felt when using a synchronous audiographic conferencing tool for oral interaction, and also their appraisal of instances of regret and pride, following Roseman’s model. Our analysis revealed that learners overall feel positive emotions more often than negative emotions, and that women report feeling more than men. We found a stable pattern of appraisal for both regret and pride along certain dimensions such as situational state, but varied particularly concerning agency. Our findings suggest that negative emotions should not be ostracised from the process of language learning, and that language learners need to develop an awareness of the origin of their emotions (positive and negative), including self, others and the context of interaction

A Sixth-Grade Literature Discourse Community: Making Social Meaning With Illustrated Literature During Interactive Reading Events.

The study focused on six at-risk students enrolled in the sixth grade at a large urban Southern middle school. These students, along with their classroom teacher, participated in two interactive reading events using illustrated trade books. The purpose of the study was to examine how these students used the pictures and text to create meaning for the stories. The two illustrated selections differed in story complexity, amount of world knowledge required for interpretation, and relationship of pictures to text (i.e., a close relationship indicated both picture and text communicated similar information, while a distanced relationship indicated one source provided story insights not provided by the other medium). Each of the two reading events was analyzed for content that matched the story, level of abstraction, and facilitating guidance provided by the teacher. Results showed these six at-risk learners reconstructed the illustrated stories by widely varying their attention to information sources and using their personal knowledge for story interpretation. They revealed limited ability to retrieve world and cultural knowledge as well as limited acknowledgment that background knowledge could be a source of information for their story development