Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in pre-service science teachers: Support from blended learning

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework has been used to prepare pre-service science teachers at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait for ICT integration in education. Pre-service teachers worked in teams to design an ICT solution for an authentic problem they faced during in-school training. Pre-service teachers were separated into two groups. The first group was coached by ICT, pedagogy, and content experts. The second group was offered a blended condition, by which they had access to an online portal with different tutorials and examples, with opportunities to meet with different experts whenever they wanted. Pre-test and post-test design data were collected for attitudes toward ICT, ICT skills, and TPACK. The findings show that the self-reported TPACK, the score of attitudes toward ICT, and ICT skills increased in both groups. However, the blended support condition reported a higher increase in the participants' technological knowledge (TK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), their attitude toward ICT as a tool for instruction and productivity, and ICT enjoyment. This indicated that students perceived the blended condition for supporting design teams as a more desirable method for enhancing their development of TPACK

College Student Perceptions of ADHD: Links Between Prior Knowledge and Stigma

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by persistent inattention, which might or might not accompany hyperactivity and impulsivity, that noticeably interferes with functioning and development in at least two settings. It is a commonly diagnosed childhood mental health disorder. Public knowledge and attitudes towards ADHD are an important consideration for those who are going to potentially be working with that population. Research has shown older children and parents may attribute ADHD behavior to poor social skills or immaturity. Teachers often report feeling unprepared to have a student with ADHD and would like more training. Some research has shown the perpetuation of common misconceptions of ADHD by parents and teachers. This research sought to determine if there was a correlation between knowledge of ADHD and stigma towards individuals with ADHD and to determine if students majoring in psychology differed from their peers on knowledge about ADHD or attitudes towards individuals with ADHD. After surveying 131 students from a faith-based, private university in Virginia, it was found that those majoring in psychology did not have significant differences in knowledge of ADHD or stigma towards people with ADHD when compared to students in other majors. Both knowledge and stigma scores were high across groups and no significant correlation between knowledge and attitudes was found. Findings have implications for university students diagnosed with ADHD and administrators working to reduce the stigma of ADHD on campus

Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Abstracts 2005

Proceedings of the Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Regional Conference held at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005

The role of cultural diversity in e-based language learning.\ud A comparative study of Bulgarian and Lithuanian learners of German as a foreign language using an online learning platform

The study reported on in this paper focusses on the impact of cultural\ud factors in media-based language acquisition. The study sets out to investigate the\ud role of learners‟ cultural dispositions during the use of media-based programs in\ud language learning. More specifically, the study aimed at finding out to what extent\ud the cultural disposition of learners outweighs the learners‟ individual preferences\ud in a media-based (online) language course. The analysis of input data produced\ud strong differences between the two learning cultures at the outset of the study.\ud Lithuanian learners were found to be more passive, more rule oriented, more\ud reliant on their mother tongue as a means of instruction and less tolerant vis-à-vis\ud ambiguity when they entered the experiment. They also turned out to reject open\ud (less teacher-guided) forms of communicative learning requiring active\ud participation and, instead, preferred language teaching to be (passively)\ud entertaining. Bulgarian learners by contrast were more tolerant vis-à-vis ambiguity\ud and more goal-oriented with respect to learning the foreign language for academic\ud success abroad. They also turned out to be more focussed on and appreciative of\ud the technical aspects of the program and thus were eager to explore new\ud approaches to media-based learning. However, over the course of the study both\ud groups of participants developed an unexpected ability to adapt to the electronic\ud media even though the program seemed to counteract their cultural-specific\ud preferences. The study shows that both groups of learners improved significantly\ud over the course of the experiment with respect to language skills and that\ud acceptance of the program was high in both groups despite the initial resistance\ud and despite the fact that the program requires a well developed level of\ud independence. Despite the fact that a tendency to act according to cultural\ud dispositions can be shown those influences were not found to be statistically\ud significant

Pre-service Primary and Secondary Teachers’ Perceptions of the Potential of Virtual Reality for Teaching and Learning

In this thesis, three separate but closely connected studies were conducted. A scoping review employed a systematic approach to identify studies dealing with pre-service teachers’ ICT beliefs, revealed the crucial factors in terms of measuring pre-service teachers’ ICT beliefs, explored unresolved issues with the current literature of pre-service teachers’ beliefs of different technologies, and provided clear directions for the development of further educational research and practice. A systematic review sought to examine the ICT beliefs of pre-service teachers containing the variables of ICT beliefs measurement, ICT adaptation factors and ICT training needs. The findings from the scoping review and systematic review revealed the relevant research and provided insights into the possible ways to measure pre-service teachers’ ICT beliefs. A mixed method empirical study on pre-service teachers’ beliefs and training needs on the educational use of virtual reality was conducted to fill the research gap and move the literature forward, as the results of scoping review and systematic review have suggested that there is a lack of evidence about pre-service teachers’ beliefs on cutting-edge technologies, such as virtual reality technology. It was found that pre-service teachers have moderately positive attitude towards ICT and virtual reality technology in terms of openness to new ICT tools, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and technological complexity; however, they hold a relatively positive expectation for the future development of virtual reality technology in the educational field. The results also showed that pre-service teachers have moderately positive attitudes towards ICT training, and they have clear goals about their training needs to guide their implementation of virtual reality technology in classroom teaching and learning. It is suggested that pre-service teachers in China need to adapt to the recent and newest policies for their own development and for the advancement of society. Future research could be based on the relationship between pre-service teachers’ ICT beliefs and the practices of integration of technology in the classroom, as well as the changes in pre-service teachers’ perceptions of ICT and cutting-edge educational technologies before and after the Covid-19 pandemic for teaching practice

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")

The Crazy Ideas You Had: The Impact of a Literacy Course Design, Delivery, and Teacher on Preservice Teachers\u27 Reading Attitudes

This study sought to determine whether the design and/or the instructor of a required literacy course impacted preservice teachers\u27 attitudes toward reading. Furthermore, the study sought to contrast the attitudinal impact of varying course delivery (onsite versus online). Additionally, the study attempted to identify those course activities and/or instructor behaviors perceived by the preservice teachers to have most affected their reading attitudes. Using mixed methodology research design, this study made use of empirical data obtained from three subscales of the Adult Survey of Reading Attitudes, or ASRA, (Smith, 1990a): Reading Activity and Enjoyment; Social Reinforcement; and Tutoring. Preservice teachers enrolled in two sections (online versus onsite) of an undergraduate literacy course completed pre- and post-course instruments. In order to determine whether the design of a required literacy course impacted preservice teachers\u27 attitudes toward reading and if varying course delivery (onsite versus online) affected any such impact, the pre- and post-course data was subject to statistical analysis. The study also utilized qualitative narrative analysis of pre- and post-course writing pieces, Reading Autobiographies and Final Reflections, to identify specific course activities and instructor behaviors perceived by the preservice teachers to have affected their reading attitudes. Statistical analysis in this research confirmed that intentional course design and delivery of both online and onsite literacy classes does significantly impact respondents\u27 attitudes in terms of Reading Activity and Enjoyment. Participation in an onsite section was also determined to significantly impact respondents\u27 attitudes with regards to the Social Reinforcement of reading; however, no statistically significant result was obtained on the Social Reinforcement subscale in the online section. Neither online nor onsite course delivery significantly impacted respondents\u27 reading attitudes as displayed on the Tutoring subscale. Qualitative narrative analysis of preservice teachers\u27 assigned writings was consistent with previous studies indicating that social modeling, learning communities, and authentic experiences with literature most influence students\u27 dispositions towards reading. Narrative analysis also provided subjects\u27 perceptions about those course activities and teacher behaviors believed to have most affected attitudinal change. Because these activities and behaviors are replicable, future teacher education courses may be intentionally modified to attain similar results

Test of a structural model to investigate the impact of instructor knowledge, attitudes, and contextual constraints on intent to use Web 2.0 in online courses

A growing number of demographically diverse, globally-conscious students demand instant access and flexibility when it comes to formal learning. Institutions of higher education are hard pressed to respond, and often cling to old delivery methods and pedagogy. Learner-directed use of Web2.0 applications to locate, organize, and evidence individualized learning could be the bridge between the need for institutional change and implementation of that change. The purpose of this study was to determine how instructor attitudes and traits regarding learner self-direction and theorized covariates affect the instructional interest in, intent to use, and ultimate use of Web2.0 applications in formal learning environments. A conceptual model of these relationships was developed based on existing theory and knowledge in the realms of self-directed adult learning, technology acceptance, and diffusion of innovation. Data were collected from 285 North Carolina community college online instructors to be analyzed as identifiers of the eight latent variables in the conceptual model. Specifically, the latent variables were instructional attitudes toward learner self-direction (SD), instructional technology acceptance (TA), instructor innovativeness (IA), knowledge of Web2.0 applications (KNOW), interest in Web2.0 applications (INT), intent to use Web2.0 applications in online classes (BI), contextual constraints (CC), and current use of Web2.0 applications in online classes (USE). Eight research hypotheses were generated. The conceptual model was tested by analyzing its fit to the data. This process was completed using the principles of structural equation modeling (SEM) which required confirmatory factor analysis on the measurement model and path analysis on the structural model. During this process it was determined there was not enough variability in the data nor was there a level of current use to reach a conclusion about the impact that intent to use Web 2.0 applications has on use of those technologies. As a result the USE variable was dropped from the final model as allowed by SEM path deletion procedures. Once a final model was determined, research hypotheses were retained or rejected based on evaluation against that model. Results included the determination that knowledge of Web2.0 applications can predict instructor interest in those applications and that the interest can predict instructor intent to use Web2.0 applications in online classes. Results also indicated some hypothesized relationships were not significant. Specifically, attitudes and traits related to learner self-direction, instructional technology acceptance, and innovativeness do not significantly predict interest in Web2.0 applications. Similarly, contextual social and facilitative constraints do not significantly predict instructor intent to use Web2.0 technologies. The implications of these findings, in addition to adding empirical evidence to the body of knowledge, highlight areas for professional development, instructional design changes, and institutional changes as well as possibilities for future research

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education)