Improving Retention for Principles of Accounting and Elementary Statistics Students: Ultra-Short Tutorials Designed to Motivate Effort and Improve Performance

This dissertation reports on two supplemental instruction implementations in courses with high failure rates. In study one, 27 ultra-short on-line tutorials were created for Principles of Accounting II students (N = 426). In study two, 21 tutorials with a similar design were created for Elementary Statistics students (N = 1,411). Accounting students were encouraged by their instructor to use the resource, but statistics students only saw a brief demonstration by the researcher. Neither course gave students credit for using the tutorials. In study one, 71.4% of the accounting students used the tutorials. Students who used the tutorials had dramatically lower drop rates and better pass rates. Tutorial use was correlated with exam scores, although the effect was moderate. Tutorial use remained at high levels two years after implementation without instructors promoting use of the resource. Course grades were higher for the two-year period after implementation compared to the two years prior to implementation. In study two, statistics sections were randomly assigned to intervention (tutorials; 695 students) or control (716 students). There were no significant differences in drop rates or average grades between intervention and control sections. On average, 46.0% of the intervention students used the tutorials. Users were less likely to drop and more likely to pass compared to non-users and control students; these differences were especially pronounced among low-achieving students. Tutorial use was correlated with slightly higher exam scores, but only for low achievers. The lack of differences between intervention and control sections may have been due to the drop off of usage after the first exam and the small learning effect only accruing to the relatively small number of low achievers. Participants reported the tutorials as “important to their course achievement” more often than other course resources. The important features of the tutorials were convenience (24/7 Internet access), efficiency of learning, and clear instruction. These studies suggest that the magnitude of the learning effect of the ultra-short tutorials depends on the tutorial topics, instructor promotion of the resource, and whether or not they are implemented in a course in which students feel the need to seek extra instruction

Studi Layanan Bimbingan Dan Konseling Oleh Guru Dalam Mengatasi Kesulitan Belajar Siswa Di Sekolah Dasar Muhammadiyah 22 Sruni Tahun 2016/2017

The purpose of this research is to know: (1) guidance and counseling services, (2) knowing students learning difficulties, (3) describes the difficulties of teachers in the implementation of guidance and counseling in primary school Muhammadiyah Sruni 22 and (4) solutions to overcome teacher difficulties. This research uses qualitative descriptive study type, design research with Phenomenology. Data collection techniques used interviews, observation and documentation, source data from students, teachers and the principal. The validity of the data using triangulation techniques and triangulation of sources. Data analysis techniques using interactive models, Miles and Huberman, namely the reduction of data, data presentation, data verification. The results showed that (1) the implementation of guidance and counseling in primary school Muhammadiyah 22 Sruni executed by master class by using the Special guidance book and carry out a service orientation, information services, placement and distribution service, service learning, individual counseling services, tutoring service group, (2) learning difficulties faced by students in the form of difficult in understanding reading and math, learning difficulties of students can be seen from the value of students under the student's attitude and the KKM is lacking passion , seeking attention and interfere with friends, the solution by using the techniques of individual guidance, technical guidance and remedial groups, (3) such teacher difficulties faced in terms of time, (4) the solution to maximize time at school by providing additional hours after school and provide guidance when learning

Identifying characteristics of students who opt for distance education.

Currently Web-based instruction is one of the fastest growing instructional technologies, particularly at the University level. At the same time, the number of students who choose web-based format of Distance Education (DE) are also growing rapidly. In accordance with that, the necessity to ascertain what motivates students to enroll in this particular mode arises. The purpose of this investigation was to identify demographic characteristics and the motivational profile of the DE students, as well as to find out what barriers affect the enrollment decision. The subjects for the survey were 240 students enrolled in DE and on-campus studies at the University of Windsor. A 55-item questionnaire was designed in order to identify the motivational factors that influence students\u27 decisions to enroll in Web-Based (WB) courses. The questions focused on students\u27 computer skills, motivational goals for enrollment, and barriers to on-campus learning. Moreover, detailed demographic characteristics (including age, gender, marital status, vocational level, etc.) were obtained from the participants. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2001 .Q87. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 41-04, page: 0887. Adviser: Larry Morton. Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2001

Impact of Self-Regulation Skills on Academic Performance of Young Children in Private Schools of Karachi

This research aimed to explore if self-regulation skills had any effecton the academic outcomes of young children in private schools ofKarachi, Pakistan. Quantitative research method was used todetermine the impact of self-regulation upon the academic outcome ofyoung children by utilizing Early School Self-Regulation Scale-Care GiverVersion (Bhamani, 2012).The sample size consisted of randomlychosen 210 children, studying in grades 1 and 2 from seven differentprivate schools in Karachi. The results of the research show that selfregulationskills had a significant impact on the academic outcome ofyoung children in private schools of Karachi, b = -6.3, t (198) = 0.693,p < .01. Self-regulation skills also explained a significant proportion ofvariance in students grades, R2 = .397, F (1, 198) = 130.536, p < .01

FACE READERS: The Frontier of Computer Vision and Math Learning

The future of AI-assisted individualized learning includes computer vision to inform intelligent tutors and teachers about student affect, motivation and performance. Facial expression recognition is essential in recognizing subtle differences when students ask for hints or fail to solve problems. Facial features and classification labels enable intelligent tutors to predict students’ performance and recommend activities. Videos can capture students’ faces and model their effort and progress; machine learning classifiers can support intelligent tutors to provide interventions. One goal of this research is to support deep dives by teachers to identify students’ individual needs through facial expression and to provide immediate feedback. Another goal is to develop data-directed education to gauge students’ pre-existing knowledge and analyze real-time data that will engage both teachers and students in more individualized and precision teaching and learning. This paper identifies three phases in the process of recognizing and predicting student progress based on analyzing facial features: Phase I: Collecting datasets and identifying salient labels for facial features and student attention/engagement; Phase II: Building and training deep learning models of facial features; and Phase III: Predicting student problem-solving outcome. © 2023 Copyright for this paper by its authors

The effect of dog interaction through therapy trained animals or Harrisonburg-Rockingham SPCA volunteering on high achieving first year college student adjustment period

Transitioning to college is a big change. A change that can be life altering for some students, especially when they realize that transitioning to college also means leaving their beloved companion at home. This research study proposes an Animal Assisted Activity intervention for high achieving first year college students through the Honors College as a way to lower their anxiety and increase their happiness as they adjust to their new environment. The research compared an intervention using therapy dogs from the university counseling center to an intervention using SPCA dogs and a control group to see where the largest difference occurs. Even with results that didn’t favor the researcher’s hypotheses, the meaning came genuinely from the qualitative feedback received from participants. Throughout the course of the research, it became clear that meaning would come from developing a program for these first-year students to integrate into the General Education core of classes each student must take to receive their degree. This program will hopefully contribute to the health of future students at the university

Implementing Motivational Features for an Augmented Reality Game Encouraging Physical Activity for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

Evidence shows lower physical activity (PA) levels in persons with an intellectual disability (ID) compared to the general population. Physical activity promotes multiple health benefits, such as prolonged life and reduced risk for obtaining various chronic diseases. There are numerous applications targeting increased physical activity for the general population, but these tend to be too complex to use, and have therefore not been adopted, by persons with ID. Exergames promote increased physical activity by utilizing the entertaining aspects of games as a motivator, and some research has been explicitly aimed toward providing such a platform for persons with ID. One application targeting increased PA levels in persons with ID is Sorterius. While Sorterius promotes PA during utilization, it is somewhat limited in providing motivational elements to its users, and an increase in motivational elements could greatly increase usage of the application. Therefore, the main goal of this project was to enhance the overall enjoyment of playing Sorterius. To reach this goal, the project utilized knowledge gained from a prior literature review assessing which game aspects persons with ID perceived as motivating. The project also relied on continuous discussion with experts in the field. The resulting design includes a customizable mascot where users can unlock new items for their mascot and an automated difficulty adjustment based on user performance. To evaluate the application, a usability test was conducted on two experts and six persons with ID for a duration of two weeks. Due to various reasons, we were only able to retrieve written consent from one of the persons with ID before submitting the thesis. Results from testing indicated a similar degree of usability as the previous version while providing an increased number of motivational elements towards its users. The new version was also tested on the intended users compared to the previous version

Motivation Modelling and Computation for Personalised Learning of People with Dyslexia

The increasing development of e-learning systems in recent decades has benefited ubiquitous computing and education by providing freedom of choice to satisfy various needs and preferences about learning places and paces. Automatic recognition of learners’ states is necessary for personalised services or intervention to be provided in e-learning environments. In current literature, assessment of learners’ motivation for personalised learning based on the motivational states is lacking. An effective learning environment needs to address learners’ motivational needs, particularly, for those with dyslexia. Dyslexia or other learning difficulties can cause young people not to engage fully with the education system or to drop out due to complex reasons: in addition to the learning difficulties related to reading, writing or spelling, psychological difficulties are more likely to be ignored such as lower academic self-worth and lack of learning motivation caused by the unavoidable learning difficulties. Associated with both cognitive processes and emotional states, motivation is a multi-facet concept that consequences in the continued intention to use an e-learning system and thus a better chance of learning effectiveness and success. It consists of factors from intrinsic motivation driven by learners’ inner feeling of interest or challenges and those from extrinsic motivation associated with external reward or compliments. These factors represent learners’ various motivational needs; thus, understanding this requires a multidisciplinary approach. Combining different perspectives of knowledge on psychological theories and technology acceptance models with the empirical findings from a qualitative study with dyslexic students conducted in the present research project, motivation modelling for people with dyslexia using a hybrid approach is the main focus of this thesis. Specifically, in addition to the contribution to the qualitative conceptual motivation model and ontology-based computational model that formally expresses the motivational factors affecting users’ continued intention to use e-learning systems, this thesis also conceives a quantitative approach to motivation modelling. A multi-item motivation questionnaire is designed and employed in a quantitative study with dyslexic students, and structural equation modelling techniques are used to quantify the influences of the motivational factors on continued use intention and their interrelationships in the model. In addition to the traditional approach to motivation computation that relies on learners’ self-reported data, this thesis also employs dynamic sensor data and develops classification models using logistic regression for real-time assessment of motivational states. The rule-based reasoning mechanism for personalising motivational strategies and a framework of motivationally personalised e-learning systems are introduced to apply the research findings to e-learning systems in real-world scenarios. The motivation model, sensor-based computation and rule-based personalisation have been applied to a practical scenario with an essential part incorporated in the prototype of a gaze-based learning application that can output personalised motivational strategies during the learning process according to the real-time assessment of learners’ motivational states based on both the eye-tracking data in addition to users’ self-reported data. Evaluation results have indicated the advantage of the application implemented compared to the traditional one without incorporating the present research findings for monitoring learners’ motivation states with gaze data and generating personalised feedback. In summary, the present research project has: 1) developed a conceptual motivation model for students with dyslexia defining the motivational factors that influence their continued intention to use e-learning systems based on both a qualitative empirical study and prior research and theories; 2) developed an ontology-based motivation model in which user profiles, factors in the motivation model and personalisation options are structured as a hierarchy of classes; 3) designed a multi-item questionnaire, conducted a quantitative empirical study, used structural equation modelling to further explore and confirm the quantified impacts of motivational factors on continued use intention and the quantified relationships between the factors; 4) conducted an experiment to exploit sensors for motivation computation, and developed classification models for real-time assessment of the motivational states pertaining to each factor in the motivation model based on empirical sensor data including eye gaze data and EEG data; 5) proposed a sensor-based motivation assessment system architecture with emphasis on the use of ontologies for a computational representation of the sensor features used for motivation assessment in addition to the representation of the motivation model, and described the semantic rule-based personalisation of motivational strategies; 6) proposed a framework of motivationally personalised e-learning systems based on the present research, with the prototype of a gaze-based learning application designed, implemented and evaluated to guide future work

Impact of self regulation skills on students academic grades

This research aimed to explore if self-regulation skills had any effect on the academic outcomes of young children in private schools of Karachi, Pakistan. Quantitative research method was used to determine the impact of self-regulation upon the academic outcome of young children by utilizing Early School Self-Regulation Scale-Care Giver Version (Bhamani, 2012).The sample size consisted of randomly chosen 210 children, studying in grades 1 and 2 from seven different private schools in Karachi. The results of the research show that selfregulation skills had a significant impact on the academic outcome of young children in private schools of Karachi, b = -6.3, t (198) = 0.693, p \u3c .01. Self-regulation skills also explained a significant proportion of variance in students grades, R2 = .397, F (1, 198) = 130.536, p \u3c .0