Virtualizing Office Hours in CS 50

In Fall 2007, we introduced “virtual office hours” into Harvard College’s introductory computer science course, CS 50, so that students could meet with teaching fellows (TFs) online to discuss problem sets at any hour from anywhere. Our goals were to lower the bar to interaction among TFs and students and to improve the efficiency and convenience of the same. Rather than rely on email and online forums alone, we experimented with Elluminate, third-party software that not only allowed students and TFs to chat via IM and VOIP, it also enabled the latter to see and even share control of the former’s screens (e.g., code in students’ terminal windows). Students, in turn, were able to troubleshoot bugs with TFs by their (virtual) side. We surveyed our nearly 300 students on their experiences with office hours, both physical and virtual. Although most students responded positively to the idea of virtual office hours, only 55% logged in at least once. However, nearly the same number (62%) attended the physical. We ultimately judged our virtual office hours a net positive, with 14% of students attending the virtual (and 21% the physical) “often.” But our experiment was not without some unexpected results. We found that wait times online sometimes matched or exceeded those in the physical lab, partly the result of the software’s own shortcomings and students’ habits online. Ultimately, the audience for these virtual office hours was entirely self-selecting. Those students who liked the experience online opted in, whereas those who preferred more traditional help opted out.Engineering and Applied Science

Technology Solutions for Developmental Math: An Overview of Current and Emerging Practices

Reviews current practices in and strategies for incorporating innovative technology into the teaching of remedial math at the college level. Outlines challenges, emerging trends, and ways to combine technology with new concepts of instructional strategy

Building Collaboration Networks and Alliances to Solve the IT Talent Shortage: A Revelatory Case Study

As companies increasingly face challenges finding sufficient numbers of skilled IT workers, regions around the country have attempted different strategies to address the gap. In Northeast Wisconsin, the primary strategy has been the formation of a formal organization, the NEW Digital Alliance, charged with attracting, developing, and retaining IT workers in Northeast Wisconsin, funded by local companies and universities. In this paper, we will explore collaborative networks and the innovative effect they have on solving the IT talent pipeline challenge in a specific geographic region. Specifically, we explore the role of collaboration maturity and present a new comprehensive framework that may help understand and direct new regional collaborative efforts. The findings suggest that an alliance of business, education, and economic development partners can move a region forward in ways that are difficult for single players to achieve. We find that the Northeast Wisconsin region has been able to achieve coordination between K-12, higher education, and employers to improve on awareness of the problems that each part of the talent pipeline is facing. With an increase in collaboration maturity, the organization was able to relatively easily transition to virtual activities as well as assemble new constellations of collaborative efforts in short order when faced with the COVID-19 crisis

Implementation of a learner support system in online education : a case study

Learner support systems that provide academic and non-academic supports, which are planned and strategically integrated into the online learning experience have been shown to have a positive impact on student’s persistence and satisfaction in online environments. Insufficient research exists on how these systems are implemented, how support is provided, and how students perceive the support they receive, especially for adult learners. To address this gap in research, this descriptive case study analyzed the implementation of a learner support system in an online program in which three-quarters of the students are nontraditional. Through the use of qualitative methods, the study describes the experiences and perceptions of faculty, the academic advisor, and students who administered or received support through the system. This study contributes needed research to the field of education by exploring student support as a method of improving student persistence in online education. This study found that learner support systems require oversight and management to ensure that they remain a working system. It was uncovered that the originally envisioned support system ultimately broke down as support became compartmentalized to those providing support resulting in gaps in a learner support system that was envisioned to encircle students with assistance when needed. However, despite this breakdown, the results showed that learner support can help students feel encouraged and satisfied with their online experience. The majority of students found the support they received was helpful and that alerts about their academic standing motivated to continue in their course. This research study also illuminated support strategies the faculty and the academic advisor used to optimize student interaction and persistence. The academic advisor, as a one-stop resource for providing nonacademic support, increased students’ feelings of connectedness. This study also found that regular support interactions and timely responses from course faculty helped students’ feel supported and reduced their perception of being isolated. This study also uncovered the faculty and advisors’ perceptions and challenges in providing support to students. Lastly, the study identified the types of support that students found most helpful to their learning in an online environment. The students found timely responses to their requests for assistance as most important to their learning and preferred easy methods to communicate with their professors. The support preferences between traditional and nontraditional students were also investigatedCurriculum and Instructio

A Correlation Analysis of Faculty Interaction with Undergraduate Students in Online Courses and Student Course Completion Rates

The extent in which a teacher communicates with his or her students in an online setting may affect student course completion rates. The increased use of online courses and degree programs at the post-secondary level has fundamentally changed the way faculty members and students interact, and ultimately may impact student course completion rates. Course completion is an aspect of student retention. The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to analyze the correlation between faculty interaction with online undergraduate students in required introductory English composition courses and student completion rates in those courses. Blackboard is a learning management system used for interaction between teachers and students in online courses. The number of interactions a teacher has with students on Blackboard may affect the retention rates of students in a particular course. This study examined and compared the data from faculty Blackboard interaction and student completion rates using SPSS. There was a positive correlation between the amount of times faculty accessed Blackboard and student course completion rates. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between the amount of times a faculty member responded to students’ discussion board posts on Blackboard and the students’ course completion rates. Suggestions for further research are included

Proctoring and Apps in College Algebra

The pandemic forced more instructors and students to move to online learning. For the first time, many experienced a loosening of the reigns and were forced to allow students to submit non-proctored work. Many may have questioned what students really learned in the year 2020. Many college math course competencies emphasize procedures. Now that apps can do that for students, where does that leave math instructors? Additionally, online instruction has exploded over the last decade and has challenged the teaching of college mathematics. While online instruction opens the door to access, it does beg the question of whether students complete their own work and thus whether proctoring is necessary. These thoughts were heavy on my mind as I conducted this research. This research sought to answer questions pertaining to the use of apps and proctoring in College Algebra. These two seemed inter-related as a deeper question behind proctoring is whether students use cell phone apps to solve problems and if so, does this circumvent the purpose of the course. The review of literature demonstrated limited work on the two topics individually but appeared to be totally missing the interaction of the two. Additionally, much of the review of literature found a theme of conceptual versus procedural assessments. This study further addressed this topic in the assessment instrument provided. This study included the analysis of fourteen common College Algebra questions across four semesters. Results showed that proctoring and apps do make a significant difference in outcomes

Software Usability

This volume delivers a collection of high-quality contributions to help broaden developers’ and non-developers’ minds alike when it comes to considering software usability. It presents novel research and experiences and disseminates new ideas accessible to people who might not be software makers but who are undoubtedly software users

Exploring the Relationship Between Technology Use and Student Performance in Developmental Mathematics

Rooted in learning theory and developmental psychology, the field of developmental education is concerned with addressing underprepared students' needs for growth. Much of this development relates to college readiness, thus students considered underprepared for college-level coursework are referred to developmental education coursework in subjects like reading, writing, and mathematics. This approach is similarly taken in Texas, the setting for this study, with the Texas Success Initiative Assessment as the approved instrument for assessing students' college readiness. In Texas, legislation also has been used to govern developmental education programs, such as through state administrative and education codes levying various requirements on the higher education institutions at which developmental education is offered. Of particular interest, a state mandate exists wherein these institutions must provide technology-mediated developmental education. Texas policies also are focused on student performance, defined as students' achievement of state-established benchmarks on the state assessment. For these reasons as well as the wealth of literature about technology in developmental mathematics, this dissertation study explored the relationship between technology use and student performance in developmental mathematics courses. The study setting was a four-year public in Texas through which archival data relevant to technology use and student performance were explored to answer two research questions. One question focused on the relationship between technology use and student performance in developmental mathematics courses, and the second question focused on technology use in developmental mathematics courses in relation to student performance in gatekeeper, college-level mathematics courses. Through an application of the I-E-O model, data were analyzed using the chi-square test of association with relevant descriptive statistics and frequencies computed. Technologies considered for analyses were graphing calculators, scientific calculators, learning management systems, online homework, software, online supplements, and e-textbooks. The results of analyses indicated statistically significant associations between technology use overall and student performance in developmental mathematics courses as well as five of the seven technologies. Conversely, statistically significant associations between technology use overall in developmental mathematics courses and letter grades earned in gatekeeper mathematics courses did not exist; however, statistically significant associations were identified regarding two technologies: learning management systems and e-textbooks

Informing the design of computer-based environments to support creativity

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 63(4-5): pp. 383-409.This paper addresses the problem of creating a human-centered computer-based support environment to facilitate innovation and creative work. It focuses on key factors to be considered in the design and development of any such user support environment regardless of the specific domain for which it may be implemented. The paper reviews psychological literature on how creativity, insight and innovation occur and how they can be fostered in working environments. Based on this discussion the paper then describes a generic set of user or functional requirements intended to apply to any domain specific computer-based working environment for support of creative activities. The paper proposes the conceptual model of a Virtual Workbench as a way of capturing some of these requirements and as a way of organizing thinking about the design of Creative Problem Solving Environments (CPSEs) in general. Finally, the paper proposes one possible translation of the Virtual Workbench and some of the functional requirements into a view of a generic model for CPSEs by describing three component sets of functions that would be a subset of those needed in almost any domain specific CPSE

The Effect of Inquiry-Based, Hands-On Math Instruction Utilized in Combination with Web-Based, Computer-Assisted Math Instruction on 4th-Grade Students\u27 Outcomes

Results indicated that 4th-grade students ( n = 19) participating in the inquiry-based, hands-on math instruction used in combination with web-based, computer-assisted math instruction group and 4th-grade students ( n = 19) participating in the inquiry-based, hands-on math instruction alone group did not significantly improve their pretest-posttest Problem Solving/Data Analysis, Concepts/Estimation, Math Total, and Math Computation norm-referenced normal curve equivalent achievement test score results. However, 4th-grade students participating in the inquiry-based, hands-on math instruction alone group posttest-posttest scores were statistically significantly greater than students who participated in the combination instruction group across all four subtests. Moreover, all posttest norm-referenced, Normal Curve Equivalent subtest scores for both groups were measured within the average range. On the criterion-referenced math test score posttest-posttest comparison, 53% of the 4th-grade students participating in the inquiry-based, hands-on math instruction used in combination with web-based, computer-assisted math instruction group compared to 37% of the 4th-grade students participating in the inquiry-based, hands-on math instruction alone group improved their posttest score results. Finally, no statistically significant differences between the two instructional groups were found for student absences, tardies, discipline referrals, and perceptions of math ability scores. Implications for improving math instruction are discussed