Evaluating the efficacy of a hybrid nutrition course offered to on-campus and distance education students

The purpose of this research endeavor was to identify and apply effective strategies to evaluate the efficacy of a university-level general education hybrid nutrition course offered to distance education and on-campus students. A review of relevant literature indicated that student engagement levels, student characteristics, and the use of instructional technology are important to consider when evaluating postsecondary learning environments. Furthermore, the balance of asynchronous and synchronous learning activities within hybrid learning environments should be deemed suitable for the subject matter as well as the receiving student population. Finally, student perceptions and learning outcomes should also be assessed by hybrid course evaluations. The study described in this work established that a standardized general education hybrid nutrition course offered by Utah State University can effectively facilitate learning while generating positive student perceptions from the majority of enrolled distance education and on-campus cohorts alike. All course materials were available online, and were supplemented with weekly, synchronous recitation sessions. Interestingly, the learning outcomes and satisfaction rates of the two student cohorts were similar. However, notable differences in learning preference and performance were identified based on student age alone. Modifications to subsequent versions of the evaluated hybrid course were made based on the findings of the study. Other instructors and course design teams involved in postsecondary nutrition education may view this project as an outline for their own hybrid course development and evaluation efforts, although, limitations did exist and should be acknowledged. An experimental design exhibiting more control over potential extraneous variables, such as instructor, could offer more concrete evidence than the observational nature of the present study. Also, it appears that students\u27 success levels in a given learning environment are not only influenced by instructional measures, but also by the personal and contextual factors of each individual student. Future evaluative efforts should place a greater emphasis on exhibited learning patterns, educational background, and academic discipline of students within the hybrid learning environment. Ultimately, the primary challenge of a modern-day hybrid course is to offer a cohesive and effective blend of uniformity, customization, flexibility, and instructional guidance based on anticipated needs of students

Evaluation of the redesign of a STEM gatekeeper course, General Chemistry I, incorporating active-learning strategies and implementation of a student-choice model

The first courses freshman university students typically enroll in are the introductory science and math, courses that bridge from and build upon their prior educational experiences. These introductory courses often have large enrollment lectures coupled with supplemental sessions to teach using traditional educational practices, which may operate counter to the attitudes and culture of the students who take them. To address this, the general chemistry faculty through collaboration with a team of educational specialists initiated a redesign of the general chemistry course, which primarily serves first-year undergraduates. The redesign efforts included changes such as reducing lecture time and placing emphasis on increased time spent in the more student-centered recitation sections in addition to the generation of online course participation options geared towards students that are more independent. This redesign of a first-year general chemistry course offers useful insights and guidance towards redesigning other similar science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses. This dissertation describes efforts to redesign the general chemistry gatekeeper course at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) through the implementation of a student-choice model allowing students to choose a course participation option that best suits their learning needs. Student performance in multiple grade categories was analyzed using statistical methods to determine the influence of changes throughout the redesign. The findings from this study indicated that the student-choice model was successful in achieving goals of improving course efficiency and increasing student accommodation with no detriment to student performance --Abstract, page iii

Motivational Techniques For At Risk Students In An Online Secondary Environment

This applied project addresses the issues related to at risk youth turning to the Internet as a means to obtain their high school diplomas. A review of literature examines the pros and cons of the virtual high schools, motivational theory, how to apply motivational techniques to the online setting, and methods that can be employed by online instructors to increase learner motivation and participation. The review results in a presentation by the author to fellow online instructors at the Fort Washakie Virtual High School with suggestions on how the teacher can increase the motivation of the student body who is generally considered at risk

FIRST Portfolio: Introduction to Psychology (Psych 181)

This course portfolio analyzed student learning in Introduction to Psychology, Psych 181 at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. This course is often taken by first year students of various backgrounds and majors; this course is a pre-requisite for many other psychology courses. In general, the course covers basic psychological concepts in the realm of biopsychology, developmental psychology, social and personality psychology, cognitive psychology, and clinical psychology. Student enrollment for this section is capped at 200. This portfolio outlines my course goal, objectives, and assessments of those goals. There is also a reflection throughout regarding how well students feel supported and how much the content allows students to apply material or use critical thinking and suggestions for areas that can be improved in future iterations of the course

Full Issue: Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, 2022 Special Issue (Vol. 5, Iss. 3)

The full-length 2022 Special Issue (Volume 5, Issue 3) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here

Graduate studies on optoelectronics in Argentina: an experience

The number of graduate programs in Optoelectronics in Argentina is scarce. The current Optics and Photonics Education Directory lists only three programs. One of them was launched in 2001 in the Facultad de Ingeniería (College of Engineering), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). This was the first graduate program in the field, leading to a Master Degree in Optoelectronics. This decision arose from the demand of telecommunications industries and several estate- or private-funded research institutions working with us in the fields of lasers, optics, remote sensing, etc. A great bonus was the steady work, during several decades, of research groups in the College on the development of different type of lasers and optical non destructive tests and their engineering applications. As happened in many engineering graduate programs in Argentina at that time, few non full-time students could finish their studies, which called for 800 hours of traditional lecture-recitation classes, and the Master Thesis. In recent years Argentine Education authorities downsized the Master programs to 700 hours of blended learning and we redesigned the Graduate Optoelectronic Engineering Program to meet the challenge, dividing it in two successive one year programs, the first aimed at a professional training for almost immediate insertion in the labor market (called Especialización en Ingeniería Optoelectrónica), and the second (called Maestría en Ingeniería Optoelectrónica y Fotónica) aimed at a more academic and research target to comply with the UBA standards for Master degrees. The present work is a presentation of the new program design, which has begun in the current year. © (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.Fil: Fernández, Juan Carlos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Garea, María T.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Isaurralde, Silvia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Liliana Ines. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Raffo, Carlos A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentin

Tahap Kepuasan Pembelajaran Matematik Atas Talian Semasa Pandemik COVID-19

Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP) telah dilaksanakan secara berperingkat iaitu bermula 18 Mac 2020 di bawah Akta Pencegahan dan Pengawasan Penyakit Berjangkit 1988 dan Akta Polis 1967 (Ashley Tang 2020) dan tindakan undang-undang akan dikenakan kepada mereka yang gagal mematuhi arahan PKP (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia 2020). Salah satu kandungan PKP adalah penutupan semua institusi pendidikan selaras dengan saranan daripada UNESCO (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia 2020). Oleh itu, Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) telah mengambil inisiatif untuk menggantikan pembelajaran bersemuka kepada pembelajaran atas talian. Inisiatif ini dititikberatkan kepada calon Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) kerana mereka sangat terkesan dengan perubahan kaedah pembelajaran secara mengejut. Kajian ini di laksanakan untuk mengenal pasti tahap kepuasan calon SPM 2020 terhadap pembelajaran matematik atas talian secara sycncronus yang dijalankan sepanjang tempoh pelaksanaan Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP). Bagi mencapai objektif kajian, dua soal selidik sedia ada digunakan iaitu Student Satisfaction Scale (SSS) dan Community of inquiry (CoI). Hasil daripada kajian tinjauan, calon SPM 2020 di pusat peperiksaan SMK Seri Kundang mempunyai tahap kepuasan yang tinggi (min = 191.90, sp = 20.49) terhadap pembelajaran matematik secara atas talian. Di samping itu, ujian-t sampel bebas digunakan untuk membandingkan min skor kepuasan calon SPM 2020 di mana tiada perbezaan yang besar antara min tahap kepuasan pembelajaran matematik secara atas talian bagi calon kerajaan dengan calon persendirian. Manakala, ujian korelasi Pearson dilaksanakan dan mendapati bahawa terdapat hubungan yang positif antara tahap pengalaman pembelajaran matematik dalam talian (M = 67.03, SD = 7.57) dengan persekitaran pembelajaran matematik atas talian (M = 123.86, SD = 14.20)

Globalization, Culture, and Online Distance Learning

Globalization, the Internet, and access to telecommunication networks have increased the demand for education and educational quality across the globe. The reasons for this demand explains Carnoy (2005) are two-fold: The first is economic, the rising payoffs to higher education in a global, science-based, knowledge intensive economy make university training more of a “necessity” to get “good” jobs, which in turn, changes the stakes at lower levels of schooling and the demand for high-quality secondary schools. The second reason is socio-political: Demographics and democratic ideals increase pressure on universities to provide access to groups that traditionally have not attended university. In this context, online distance learning (ODL), which can transcend local, state, and national borders, has the potential to reach out internationally to enhance learning for diverse learners in varied geographical and socio-cultural contexts and increase inter-cultural awareness and communication. In addition, demand is propelled by rising awareness of the potential for online education to provide services to nearly any location on the planet

Online Instructors’ Gestures For Euclidean Transformations

The purpose of this case study was to explore the nature of instructors’ gestures as they teach Euclidean transformations in a synchronous online setting, and to investigate how, if at all, the synchronous online setting impacted the instructors’ intentionality and usage of gestures. The participants in this case study were two collegiate instructors teaching Euclidean transformations to pre-service elementary teachers. The synchronous online instructors’ gestures were captured in detail via two video cameras; one through the screen-capture software built into the online conference platform used to conduct the class and another separate auxiliary camera to capture the gestures that the instructors made outside the view of the screen-capture software. The perceived intentionality of the instructors’ gestures was documented via an hour-long videorecorded interview after teaching the Euclidean transformation unit. The findings indicated that synchronous online instructors make representational gestures and pointing gestures while teaching Euclidean transformations. Specifically, that representational gestures served as a second form of communication for the students while pointing gestures grounded synchronous online instructors’ responses to student contributions within classroom materials. The findings further indicated the combination of the synchronous online instructors’ gestures and language provided a more cohesive picture of the Euclidean transformation as opposed to the gestures alone. Additionally, the findings specified that synchronous online instructors believe the purpose of their gestures was for the benefit of their students as well as for themselves. Finally, the findings highlighted a connection between instructors who previously thought about the potential impact of gestures in the mathematics classroom and intentionally producing gestures. Specifically, critically thinking about gestures within the mathematics classroom before teaching appeared to correspond with more intentional gestures while teaching. Based on these findings, there were three recommendations. The first recommendation was for continued education on gesture as an avenue to communicate mathematical ideas. A professional development workshop may assist collegiate instructors to produce more intentional and mathematically precise gestures. The last two recommendations were for synchronous online instructors to utilize technology that affords students the opportunity to view all of their gestures and for the instructors to explicitly instruct their students to pay attention to their gestures. Knowing that the students can view all of their movements and are specifically looking for gestures might prompt the instructors to gesture with more intentionality and precision

Distance education : Is the classroom becoming obsolete?

The future of education seems to be moving rapidly towards distance education. Society is moving faster as people are trying to coordinate work, family, and school. Due to the increasing pressure of time and distance constraints, today\u27s learners are sometimes choosing to get their educations online, or through a school with distance education technologies and capabilities. This literature review describes distance education, instructor and student attitudes towards distance education, benefits and disadvantages of distance education, the past and the future of distance education, and how and why it should be used in training and education