The effects of Internet guided practice with aural modeling on the sight-singing accuracy of elementary education majors

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of aural modeling in guided practice through the Internet on the sight-singing improvement of elementary education majors. Students enrolled in a music methods course for elementary education majors (N=37) used software delivered via the Internet to practice sight-singing. The experimental web page included visual examples of sight-singing exercises as well as aural modeling of each of the exercises. The control web page included only visual examples. A t test for independent samples indicated no significant difference in the posttest scores of the two groups in rhythm (p \u3e .05), pitch on solfege (p \u3e .05), or pitch on text (p \u3e .05) at the conclusion of the 15 weeks of study. However, both groups did improve significantly from pretest to posttest, indicating that the skill of sight-singing can be taught to elementary education majors using multimedia technology

GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH: TRENDS AND APPLICATIONS IN UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

Water resources are progressively under pressure from anthropogenic uses. Students need to learn about water systems as they are the future decision-makers and problem solvers who will be faced with unknown challenges in the future. The overarching goals of this dissertation were: 1) to identify ways in which geoscience instructors are incorporating systems thinking and science modeling in their teaching along with the accompanying methods for improving systems thinking and modeling implementation and 2) explore how the implementation of science modeling and systems thinking increase student evaluation of models and the understanding of hydrologic content. Data for these studies came from the Geoscience Educators Research (GER) 2016 survey data, student assignments and interviews surrounding the Water Balance Model, and student responses from a sociohydrologic systems thinking assignment. First, GER survey data was analyzed with significant variation observed in reported frequency of science modeling and systems thinking (SMST) practices with the highest levels of SMST reported in the atmospheric and environmental sciences, those who emphasize research-based, student centered pedagogical methods, those who recently made course revisions, and those who reported high levels of participation in educational professional development. Therefore, to test if this was replicable in subsequent work, we examined a course at UNL, SCIL 109: Water in Society, a novel course. Courses in SCIL (Science Literacy) are housed in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, are interdisciplinary, and include both human and scientific dimensions. A case study emerged from this data presenting the use of a computer-based water model over three iterations of SCIL 109. Results indicate that students regardless of year in college, gender, or major can effectively reason about the Water Balance Model. Specific investigation into student performance and reasoning surrounding the Water Balance Model indicate that model evaluation and understanding of core hydrologic content increased from 2017 to 2018 in part due to a flipped classroom format. Finally, the systems thinking assignment from SCIL 109 was studied using mixed-methods to investigate student operationalization of a sociohydrologic system. Results show that students scored highest on problem identification from their written work and mechanism inclusion form their drawn models. Each of these studies contributes to the overall body of knowledge surrounding undergraduate geoscience education. Adviser: Cory T. Forbe

Visual art assessment for middle school students

This research study was designed by a middle school art teacher to fulfill the new teacher evaluation requirements in Virginia. The study was implemented in a sixth grade art classroom of sixteen students in the 2012 fall semester. This research study investigated the use of an authentic assessment tool to document student growth in a middle school art classroom. This performance assessment tool, evaluating student artwork, used detailed criterion-referenced rubrics to score student achievement in units focused on drawing and painting. The design included a pre- and post-instruction artwork that was assessed with the created rubrics. Student artwork was organized in digital portfolios to also document student growth and achievement. Students wrote reflective artist statements to demonstrate mastery of the instructional objectives and learned vocabulary. This assessment tool was designed to test the viability of using detailed rubrics and performance assessments to provide data on student growth and achievement as measures to determine teacher performance evaluation requirements

The Role of Geospatial Thinking and Geographic Skills in Effective Problem Solving with GIS: K-16 Education

Effective use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) is hampered by the limited geospatial reasoning abilities of students. The ability to reason with spatial relations, more specifically apply geospatial concepts, including the identification of spatial patterns and spatial associations, is important to geographic problem solving in a GIS context. This dissertation examines the broad influence of three factors on GIS problem solving: 1) affection towards computers, geography, and mathematics, 2) geospatial thinking, as well as 3) geographic skills. The research was conducted with 104 students in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Students were drawn from four educational levels: grade 9 students, 13 to 14 years of age; 1st year undergraduate university students, 3rd and 4th year undergraduate geography majors; and geography students at the graduate level ranging from 22 to 32 years of age. The level of affection is measured with modified scales borrowed from psychology. Results show that students in general exhibit positive sentiments toward computers and geography but less so towards mathematics. Spatial thinking and knowledge of geospatial concepts are measured by a 30-item scale differentiating among spatial thinkers along a novice-expert continuum. Scores on the scale showed an increase in spatial reasoning ability with age, grade, and level of education, such that grade 9 students averaged 7.5 out of 30 while the mean score of graduate students was 20.6. The final exercise assessed pertinent skills to geography namely inquiry, data collection, and analysis. In general, there was a positive correlation in the scores such that the skill proficiency increased with grade. Related analysis found three factors that affect problem-solving performance with a GIS. These include age, geographic skills (inquiry and analysis), and geospatial thinking (subscales analysis, representation, comprehension, and application). As well, the relationship(s) between performance on the geospatial scale and the observed problem-solving sequences and strategies applied on a GIS was examined. In general, students with lower scores were more apt to use basic visualization (zoom/measure tools) or buffer operations, while those with higher scores used a combination of buffers, intersection, and spatial queries. There were, however, exceptions as some advanced students used strategies that overly complicated the problem while others used visualization tools alone. The study concludes with a discussion on future research directions, followed by a series of pencil and paper games aimed to develop spatial thinking within a geographic setting

Profile of On-Line Anatomy Information Resources: Design and Instructional Implications

This study is based on a review of 40 on-line anatomy web resources compiled from sites selected from our own searches as well as sites reviewed and published by an external group (Voiglio et al., 1999, Surg. Radiol. Anat. 21:65-68; Frasca et al., 2000, Surg. Radiol. Anat. 22:107-110). The purpose of our survey was to propose criteria by which anatomy educators could judge the characteristics of the currently available web-based resources for incorporation into the courses they teach. Each site was reviewed and scored based on a survey matrix that included four main categories: 1). site background information, 2). content components, 3). interactivity features, and 4). user interface design components. The average score of the reviewed sites was 3.3 of the total possible score of 10, indicating the limited use of computer-based design features by the majority of sites. We found, however, a number of programs in each of the survey categories that could serve as prototypes for designing future on-line anatomy resources. From the survey we conclude that various design features are less important than the comprehensiveness, depth, and logical organization of content. We suggest that the content should be sufficient for supporting explicitly defined educational objectives, which should target specific end-user populations. The majority of anatomy programs currently accessible on-line fall short of these requirements. There is a need for a coordinated and synergistic effort to generate a comprehensive anatomical information resource that is of sufficient quality and depth to support higher levels of learning beyond the memorization of structure names. Such a resource is a prerequisite for meaningful on-line anatomy education

Exploring digital comics as an edutainment tool: An overview

This paper aims t oexplore the growing potential of digital comics and graphic novels as an edutainment tool.Initially, the evolvement of comics medium along with academic and commercial initiatives in designing comicware systems arebriefly discussed. Prominent to this study, the methods and impact of utilizing this visual media with embedded instructional content and student-generated comics in classroom setting are rationallyoutlined.By recognizing the emerging technologies available for supporting and accelerating educational comic development, this article addresses the diverse research challenges and opportunities of innovating effective strategies to enhance comics integrated learning across disciplines

9th Conference of EARLI's JURE "Models and learning: theory, design and application" : 30th June - 4th July 2006, Tartu, Estonia : [abstracts]

http://www.ester.ee/record=b2158682*es

Report on argumentation and teacher education in Europe

This document will ultimately form part of a comprehensive package of materials for teacher education and professional development in argumentation. The initial deliverable from Kaunas University of Technology described the rhetorical basis of argumentation theory for pre‐ and in‐service teachers, whilst this state of the art report sets out the current and rather unsatisfactory status of argumentation in curricula, initial teacher training/education and teacher professional development, across the fifteen S‐TEAM partner countries. We believe that this is a representative sample and that the report can be taken as a reliable snapshot of the situation in Europe generally

THE EFFECT OF VISUAL ART ON MUSIC LISTENING

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of visual stimuli on music listening skills in pre-service elementary teachers. Visual Stimuli in this study refers to the presentation of arts elements in selected visually projected images of paintings. Music listening skills are defined as those skills needed to identify and interpret musical excerpts. A Pretest-Posttest Control-group Design was used in this study. Subjects were pre-service elementary general educators enrolled in a large southern university (N=93). Students from intact classes were randomly placed into either the experimental group or the control group. The treatment consisted of six music listening lessons over a two-week period with each group receiving the identical teaching protocol with the exception of the use of paintings with the experimental group. Listening instruction emphasized the identification of melodic contour, instrumentation, texture, rhythm and expressive elements of the compositions. The Teacher Music Listening Skills Test (TMLST) was constructed by the investigator and administered before and after the treatment. The TMLST was designed to assess music listening skills in adult non-musicians. Results indicate that the group receiving visual stimuli in the form of paintings scored significantly higher on listening skills (pandlt;.01) than the control group which received no visual stimuli in the form of visually projected images of paintings. There was an instruction effect on both preference and familiarity of the musical pieces for both the control group and the experimental group