Exploring user experience of digital pen and tablet technology for learning chemistry : applying an activity theory lens

Mobile learning technologies are spreading rapidly in educational institutions throughout the world. Although research findings concerning the efficacy of mobile technologies for improving student outcomes are generally promising, there are still significant gaps in the research literature, particularly data from direct observational studies. This empirical investigation focused on how students made use of tablet devices and digital pens for learning Chemistry in an undergraduate university course. Observational data in the form of videos and static images, as well as, interview responses, were the main sources of data collected for the study. Activity theory was employed as the guiding theoretical framework to analyse and interpret the data. Several themes emerged from the data analyses, including the affordances of digital pen technology for facilitating reflective thinking, flexibility, peer collaboration, emerging learning and focused learning. It was also found that the use of these mobile technologies was contextualized, dependent on individual differences, and had challenges, for example, there was limited synchronicity between the operational design of the mobile devices and natural human movement. One of the main implications of the research is that when higher education institutions consider the potential benefits and challenges associated with mobile technologies they should take account of the interactions that occur between components within a system including, students, technological devices, and emerging learning processes

Augmented Reality Technology in Teaching about Physics: A systematic review of opportunities and challenges

The use of augmented reality (AR) allows for the integration of digital information onto our perception of the physical world. In this article, we present a comprehensive review of previously published literature on the implementation of augmented reality in physics education, at the school and the university level. Our review includes an analysis of 96 papers from the Scopus and Eric databases, all of which were published between January 1st, 2012 and January 1st, 2023. We evaluated how AR has been used for facilitating learning about physics. Potential AR-based learning activities for different physics topics have been summarized and opportunities, as well as challenges associated with AR-based learning of physics have been reported. It has been shown that AR technologies may facilitate physics learning by: providing complementary visualizations, optimizing cognitive load, allowing for haptic learning, reducing task completion time and promoting collaborative inquiry. The potential disadvantages of using AR in physics teaching are mainly related to the shortcomings of software and hardware technologies (e.g., camera freeze, visualization delay) and extraneous cognitive load (e.g., paying more attention to secondary details than to constructing target knowledge)

Academic Integrity: A Correlational Study of Private Christian College Students\u27 Religiosity and the Propensity to Cheat

Creating a campus culture of academic integrity is a target aimed for by colleges across the nation. A religiosity level and academic dishonesty survey was administered for a predictive correlational study investigating religiosity levels and the propensity to cheat as they relate to students on the campuses of large, medium, and small private Christian college campuses in the southeastern United States. These factors were further tested to determine if they align with the determinants of behavior identified with the theory of planned behavior and self-efficacy. A volunteer response sample was utilized from the answers received by way of the online survey, and a bivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to predict the relationship between the level of religiosity and the propensity to cheat on Christian college campuses. The use of correlation and bivariate linear regression required that assumption testing for normality, reliability, linearity, and homoscedasticity be met. This predictive correlational study produced rigorous statistical information providing educational institutions insight as they work toward creating campus cultures of integrity

Leading Technology Integration: The Principal as an Educational Technology Leader

Research shows that educational leaders hesitate to embrace technology because of the need to balance diverse learning approaches along with pressure to promote and expect teachers to integrate technology chosen primarily by district leaders. While educational technology marries educational theory and practice with technology tools, its intention is still to promote education for all learners. This action research study of administrative leaders in Callery Blossom Independent School District investigates the perspective and understanding of educational technology through interviews of campus principals and a content analysis of lesson plans and campus improvement plans. Educational leaders can use this research to develop and promote a collaborative understanding of educational technology to focus on continuous improvement processes by supporting successful campus technology integrations

Multimedia Development of English Vocabulary Learning in Primary School

In this paper, we describe a prototype of web-based intelligent handwriting education system for autonomous learning of Bengali characters. Bengali language is used by more than 211 million people of India and Bangladesh. Due to the socio-economical limitation, all of the population does not have the chance to go to school. This research project was aimed to develop an intelligent Bengali handwriting education system. As an intelligent tutor, the system can automatically check the handwriting errors, such as stroke production errors, stroke sequence errors, stroke relationship errors and immediately provide a feedback to the students to correct themselves. Our proposed system can be accessed from smartphone or iPhone that allows students to do practice their Bengali handwriting at anytime and anywhere. Bengali is a multi-stroke input characters with extremely long cursive shaped where it has stroke order variability and stroke direction variability. Due to this structural limitation, recognition speed is a crucial issue to apply traditional online handwriting recognition algorithm for Bengali language learning. In this work, we have adopted hierarchical recognition approach to improve the recognition speed that makes our system adaptable for web-based language learning. We applied writing speed free recognition methodology together with hierarchical recognition algorithm. It ensured the learning of all aged population, especially for children and older national. The experimental results showed that our proposed hierarchical recognition algorithm can provide higher accuracy than traditional multi-stroke recognition algorithm with more writing variability

Evaluating the Effects of Utilizing a Mobile Device by Transitioning High School Students with Intellectual Disability to Locate Items from a Grocery List and Improve their Independence

Individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID) struggle to learn daily living skills (DLS) required for independent living. One specific skill set that is challenging for individuals with ID is grocery shopping. The current study is one of two investigations that have been undertaken entirely in the community and without the use of booster session simulations in a classroom. This study investigated the effects of using least-to-most prompting and mobile technology as a tool to assist 18 to 22-year-old adult students with ID to find six items from a grocery-shopping list. Dependent measures included the number of task steps completed correctly, selecting the correct items from the shopping list, and the duration of shopping. Sessions were conducted twice a week in a community grocery store. A single subject, multiple probe design across participants was employed. There were three phases in this study. The phases included: (a) teaching an initial grocery list, (b) teaching a re-sequenced grocery list, and (c) teaching a replacement grocery list. Overall, the participants demonstrated improvements in their ability to complete the task steps and locate grocery items during the intervention condition in phase one. Two of the three participants’ duration of shopping also improved over the course of the intervention in phase one. However, only one participant advanced to phases two and three of the study as the others did not meet the criterion of achieving 85% or better on the task analysis, which was needed to advance to the subsequent phases of the study. The results of this study suggest that the use of mobile devices used with least-to-most prompting can have a degree of positive effect on the acquisition of functional skills such as locating grocery items by 18 to 22-year-old students with ID. However, for some students either additional weekly sessions in the community setting or classroom simulations are needed. Alternatively, researchers and practitioners might consider pairing mobile technology with different prompting and prompt fading systems (e.g., most-to-least prompting) for students struggling to acquire this skill set in a community setting

Examining the Relationship Between Academic Integrity and Moral Reasoning Among Physical Therapy Students

According to research conducted from 2002-1012 by the International Center for Academic Integrity, 43% of graduate and 68% of undergraduate students admitted to cheating on written assignments or tests. However, minimal research exists on physical therapy (PT) students’ perceptions of academic dishonesty. Moral reasoning has been investigated throughout medical programs with PT students having displayed lower levels than other professional students. However, no studies investigating the relationship between academic integrity and moral reasoning in PT students exist. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate moral reasoning and academic integrity among PT students. Data from seven Midwest PT programs (three private and four public) was collected for this study. Student physical therapists (N = 474) completed McCabe’s Academic Integrity Survey and the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2). Online surveys were available for off-campus students unable to attend in person. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and differences between groups (two-way ANOVA, independent t-tests). Correlations, regressions, and factor analysis were used to identify potential predictors of scores. A significant relationship between moral reasoning and academic integrity was found. As moral reasoning levels elevated, cheating frequencies reduced while perceived seriousness of cheating increased. No significant differences were noted among PT students regarding moral reasoning. However, second- and third-year students perceived and reported witnessing greater cheating in their professional programs than first-year students. PT students attending private institutions reported fewer cheating frequencies, higher perceived seriousness of cheating, and higher moral reasoning scores than PT students attending public institutions. PT students attending public institutions reported witnessing increased cheating in their pre-professional coursework. Predictors of academic integrity included perception of cheating within professional programs, perceived seriousness of cheating, moral reasoning scores, and cheating frequency; predictors of moral reasoning included frequency of cheating, gender, political views, and religion. This study highlighted the relationship between moral reasoning and academic integrity in PT students. These findings may inspire educators to implement additional ethical development and academic integrity training within their PT curriculae. Academic dishonesty has been linked to workplace dishonesty in multiple professions. Therefore, advanced training during PT education may impact workplace integrity in the future