The Influence of Learning Management System Components on Learners’ Motivation in a Large-Scale Social Learning Environment

Blended learning is becoming increasingly important in information systems research and education. One major drawback is to foster student’s motivation to actively participate in blended learning environments. There is still little understanding about the perceived value of incentives and components of learning management systems. Therefore, we investigated the perceived value of incentives. Furthermore, we analyze incentives’ and LMS components’ influence on learner motivation during a large-scale lecture. Based on the theoretical background of the ARCS model, we found that the perceived value of self-tests and forums have a substantial influence on learners’ motivation. In particular, the findings suggest that a clear communication of the components’ benefits is likely to positively influence learners’ attention, confidence, and perceived relevance. We also show that lecturers can influence perceptions of components by means of incentives. These results are valuable to develop LMS environments

Strategies for Strengthening the Technical Workforce: A Review of International Evidence

Numerous countries suffer from a shortage of technicians and skilled workers, particularly in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), due to a mismatch between the skills and interests of the students graduating from or leaving the current education system and the needs of the labor market. Often, parents and students place a high priority on entering and completing university, and as a consequence, many students pursue academic education in secondary schools in order to gain entrance to university, only to find themselves entering the job market lacking the skills they need for employment and advancement. Further, in some countries, the vocational school system is not well-respected by the public and focuses heavily on preparation of youth for specific jobs in one firm rather than preparing them for careers within an industry as a whole. This literature review aims to synthesize the research evidence about the effectiveness of various strategies used by national governments, non-governmental organizations, technical schools, and industries to strengthen both the quality of the technical workforce, as well as the avenues through which individuals can access career and technical programming

Prizes for innovation

The use of prizes to stimulate innovation in education has dramatically increased in recent years, but, to date, no organization has attempted to critically examine the impact these prizes have had on education. This report attempts to fill this gap by conducting a landscape review of education prizes with a focus on technology innovation. This report critically analyses the diversity of education prizes to gauge the extent to which these new funding mechanisms lead to innovative solutions in this sector. This is supplemented with interviews with sponsors and prize participants to gain the much needed practitioner’s perspective. We address important questions that pervade as prizes are being implemented in this sector: What seems to be working and why? How do prizes compare to other funding mechanisms to stimulate technology innovations? How is sustainability achieved? What can be learned that can inform the design of future prizes? A number of important assumptions are re-examined, namely, that technology innovation is central to educational reform, prizes stimulate innovation, scalability is a proxy for sustainability, and prizes are the most efficient funding mechanism to stimulate innovation. We recalibrate expectations of technology innovation prizes in the educational field against empirical evidence. We reveal key trends through the deploying of prizes in this field and offer case studies as good practices for sponsors to consider when designing future prizes. The report makes recommendations to enhance the impact of prizes, drawing from interdisciplinary sources. The intent of this report is to enable sponsors to distinguish the hype surrounding these prizes and proceed to design prizes that can best serve the education sector

ArchiTECHture: Rebuilding the Traditional University for the 21st Century

This senior thesis is an examination of the major complexities and considerations encountered in developing an e-learning program. In light of the changing landscape of higher education resulting from technological advancement, combined with changing pedagogies and financial pressures, traditional institutions are under heightened scrutiny and most in need of innovation. Online learning as been proposed as a solution to many of these issues, but creating a successful program is no small feat. Furthermore, experimental research on specific course designs and delivery often fails upon real-world implementation. Looking through the lens of Design-Base-Implementation Research (DBIR), an emerging research model that seeks to rectify this inefficiency, this thesis will first affirm the crucial need for active leadership throughout the development and implementation process. Analysis will then turn to the most pertinent elements administrators must address, including the motivations and catalysts for innovation, funding, faculty engagement, IT support, course design and project evaluation; in keeping with DBIR methodology, each of these considerations will take different forms and require alternative courses of action based on the unique institutional attributes and circumstances. Finally, the exploration will culminate in reasserting the urgency for innovation in higher education, and concluding that a uniform “solution” will not only be pragmatically impossible but also detrimental to both institutional legacy and student education: a quality and sustainable program necessitates due diligence in acknowledging and working with the distinct characteristics of each institution

The Decision to Pursue the Principalship: Perspectives of Certified Administrators in Upstate Central New York

This qualitative research study sought to uncover the attractants and deterrents of educational administrative positions in Upstate Central New York (CNY) public schools by exploring the perspectives of both practicing principals and those that are certified but not currently employed in an administrative position. The study posed three research questions. First, how do educators who are certified as administrators in Upstate Central New York describe experiences that have influenced them to pursue or not pursue the principalship? Second, what do certified administrators perceive as the attractants and deterrents to the principalship in Upstate Central New York and which of these are factors in their decision to apply for and accept principalships? Finally, how have the attractants and deterrents to the principalship changed in the recent years covered by this study? Participants in the study included certified educational administrators that are both practicing principals as well as those that have not yet assumed an administrative position. Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques were utilized to include participants from rural, urban, and suburban settings in CNY. Two separate cohorts, interviewed five years apart, provided insight into the changing landscape of the principalship. Findings addressing the research questions are based on five themes that emerged during the study: Accountability, Nature of the Job, Terms and Conditions of Employment, Climate, and Personal Factors. The longitudinal nature of this study revealed the emergence of the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) requirements as a recent major factor impacting the decision of certified administrators to seek, accept, and remain in the principalship in New York State. The conclusions of this study have potential significance to assist decision makers of CNY public schools to better understand and attract high quality candidates from the available candidate pool. Recommendations and implications are enumerated and proposed for educational constituent groups in New York State including Superintendents and Boards of Education, the New York State Education Department and State Government, Public and Private Universities with preparation programs in Educational Leadership, Professional Associations (SAANYS, NYSSBA, NYSCSS), and the Central New York School Study Council. School districts need to provide a rich professional fulfilling work environment to both attract and retain principals. As the principal is the key to promoting academic excellence, a supportive work environment that accentuates the attractants and minimizes the deterrents will facilitate the provision of a high quality, equitable education to all children throughout the diverse communities of CNY

Four Contributions to Experimental Health Economics

Chapter 1 “The effects of audits and fines on upcoding in neonatology”: The chapter provides causal evidence on the effect of random audits with different probabilities and financial consequences on dishonest reporting of birth weights in neonatology. The results show that audits with low detection probabilities only reduce fraudulent birth-weight reporting, when they are coupled with fines for fraudulent reporting. For audit policies with fines, increasing the probability of an audit only effectively enhances honest reporting, when switching from detectable to less gainful undetectable upcoding is not feasible. Chapter 2 “Physicians’ incentives, patients’ characteristics, and quality of care: A systematic experimental comparison of fee-for-service, capitation, and pay for performance”: This chapter presents causal evidence from a series of controlled experiments with physicians, medical students, and non-medical students about the effects of performance pay on the quantity and quality of care with heterogeneous patient types. Behavioral data show that performance pay significantly reduces non-optimal service provision under fee-for-service and capitation and enhances the quality of care. The effect sizes depend on the patients’ severity of illness. The effect of performance pay and fee-for-service on the quality of care decreases in the patients’ severity of illness, while it increases in severity for performance pay and capitation. Chapter 3 “Physician performance pay and personality traits”: The chapter explores how responses to performance incentives for physicians aimed at improving the quality of care relate to an individual’s personality traits. This analysis uses the experimental data introduced in Chapter 2. Beyond the experimental evidence that performance pay significantly improves the quality of care, I find differences in the provided quality of care for some personality traits under capitation payments but not under fee-for-service. More conscientious and more agreeable individuals respond significantly less strong to incentives under performance pay blended with capitation. Other personality traits are not significantly related to individuals’ behavior. These findings can be informative for incentivizing physicians better and sorting them into incentive schemes. Chapter 4 “Physician altruism: The role of medical education”: The chapter presents structural estimates on experimental data from a large sample of German medical students varying in their study progresses. The estimates reveal substantial heterogeneity in altruistic preferences across study cohorts. Patient-regarding altruism is highest for freshmen, declines for the students in the pre-clinical and clinical study phase, and tends to increase for practical-year students who are assisting in clinical practice. Across individuals, patient-regarding altruism is higher for females and increases in general altruism. Altruistic subjects have lower income expectations and are more likely to choose surgery and pediatrics as their preferred specialty

Institutional Support for Academic Staff to Adopt Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in Saudi Arabian Universities

Higher education institutions have increasingly invested in integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into learning and teaching activities. However, the success of e-learning initiatives is influenced by academic staff’s beliefs and attitudes towards e-learning quality, concerns about new teaching situations, increased workload, insufficient technical and pedagogical skills and availability of institutional support. This mixed methods study aims to investigate the perceptions of academic staff in five public universities in Saudi Arabia (n=518) about the actual and desired institutional support that is provided or should be provided by their institutions to motivate them to adopt Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). Additionally, it aims to compare that actual and desired institutional support. The study also seeks to determine whether there are statistical significant differences in academic staff’s assessment of actual and desired institutional support according to their university, faculty, gender, main purpose of using VLEs and attitude toward participation in e-learning. In terms of actual institutional support, academic staff reported that their universities rarely provide the required institutional support (mean=2.29). They rated all seven sections of institutional support (i.e. supportive institutional practices, technical support, pedagogical support, technical training, pedagogical training, flexibility of training programmes, and institutional incentives) as rarely provided with means ranging between 2.06 and 2.59. In addition, the study revealed statistically significant differences in academic staff’s assessment of actual instuitional support according to their university, faculty, gender, main purpose and attitude toward participation in e-learning. In terms of desired institutional support, academic staff confirmed the importance of institutional support (mean=4.41). The results indicated that the seven sections of support are highly desired with means ranging between 4.28 and 4.60. Also, the results indicated statistically significant differences in academic staff’s assessment of desired institutional support according to their university, faculty, main purpose and attitude toward participation in e-learning. In terms of differences between actual and desired institutional support, paired t-test results revealed statistical significant differences between the actual and desired institutional support. According to academic staff, the widest gap between actual and desired support is in section five, “pedagogical training” (mean=2.06 and mean=4.45). On the other hand, they reported the smallest gap in section four, “technical training” (mean=2.59 and mean=4.42). The main contribution of this study is to provide a model based on the study findings; thus, an “Institutional Support Model” was proposed to assist universities to provide the required support for their academic staff. The model suggests forty-four items of support integrated into seven main areas of support: Institutional Support Practices (ten items), Technical Support (six items), Pedagogical Support (six items), Technical Training (six items), Pedagogical Training (six items), Flexibility of Training Programmes (five items) and Institutional Incentives (five items). In addition, many customised models can be generated from the quantitative results according to academic staff’s characteristics

Motivação dos professores para trabalhar na era dos incentivos extrínsecos extrínsecos: Metas de desempenho e compromissos pró-sociais ao serviço da equidade

Mindful of the withering of high-stakes accountability and disappointing data from pay for performance evaluations in the US, we ask why management by extrinsic incentives and organizational goal setting may have been far less powerful than designers of accountability and extrinsic incentive systems had expected. We explore how system-generated motives (e.g., attaining specific organizational goals, preventing sanctions, or garnering rewards) stack up against autonomously generated, intrinsic, or service motives.? We found through both quantitative and qualitative data that for teachers in the charter schools a constellation of public service motives pre-dominated: diffuse pro-social commitments, ideologies of fairness and equity, a belief in the moral deservingness of deprived student populations in opposition to societal neglect, and identification with one’s work as a personal calling. By comparison, monetary rewards were embraced as already deserved. Neither rewards, nor accountability, seemed to regulate behavior in a deep way. Prestige was not bestowed by official performance statuses within the accountability system, but flowed from judgments, personally communicated, by students, parents, or colleagues who had direct contact with teachers’ work.Conscientes de la decadencia de la rendición de cuentas y de la decepcionante evidencia de las evaluaciones de los sistemas de pago por desempeño en los EE.UU., nos preguntamos por qué la gestión mediante incentivos extrínsecos y por fijación de objetivos organizacionales ha sido menos poderosa de lo que los diseñadores habían esperado. Exploramos la forma en que los motivos generados por el sistema (e.g., alcanzar objetivos organizacionales específicos, prevenir sanciones u obtener recompensas) se acumulaban en contra de motivos generados de forma autónoma, intrínseca o de servicio. Usando datos cuantitativos y cualitativos, encontramos que para los maestros predominaba una constelación de motivos de servicio público: compromisos pro-sociales, ideologías de justicia y equidad, creencia en la dignidad moral de los estudiantes desfavorecidos y una tendencia a la identificación con el trabajo propio como un “llamado” personal. En comparación, las recompensas monetarias fueron aceptadas como si los maestros ya las merecieran y ni las recompensas ni la rendición de cuentas parecían regular el comportamiento de forma profunda. El prestigio no fue derivado del desempeño formal dentro del sistema de incentivos, sino que fluyó del juicio comunicado por estudiantes, padres o colegas que tuvieron contacto directo con el trabajo de los docentes.Ciente do declínio da prestação de contas e as provas decepcionante das avaliações dos sistemas de pagamento de desempenho nos EUA, nos perguntamos por que a gestão por incentivos extrínsecos e definir objetivos organizacionais tem sido menos potente o que os designers tinham antecipado. Nós explorar como os motivos gerados pelo sistema (por exemplo, alcançar os objetivos organizacionais específicos, evitar sanções ou obter recompensas) empilhadas contra razões autonomamente gerados, intrínseca ou serviço. Usando dados quantitativos e qualitativos, descobrimos que para os professores dominadas por uma constelação de razões de serviço público: compromissos pró-sociais, ideologias de justiça e equidade, crença na dignidade moral de estudantes desfavorecidos e uma tendência a identificação com o trabalho como uma "chamada de" pessoal. Em comparação, as recompensas monetárias foram aceitos como se os professores e recompensas merecidas e nem responsabilidade nem regular o comportamento parecia profundamente. O prestígio foi derivada há incentivos de desempenho formais dentro do sistema, mas fluiu a partir da declaração por alunos, pais ou colegas que tiveram contato direto com o julgamento trabalho dos professores

Behavioral Economics and Developmental Science: A New Framework to Support Early Childhood Interventions

Public policies have actively responded to an emergent social and neuroscientific evidence base documenting the benefits of targeting services to children during the earliest period of their development. But problems of low utilization, inconsistent participation, and low retention continue to present themselves as challenges. Although most interventions recognize and address structural and psycho-social barriers to parent’s engagement, few take seriously the decision making roles of parents. Using insights from the behavioral sciences, we revisit assumptions about the presumed behavior of parents in a developmental context. We then describe ways in which this framework informs features of interventions that can be designed to augment the intended impacts of early development, education and care initiatives by improving parent engagement