You Tube As A Learning Tool

This paper expands upon previous research conducted on the effectiveness of implementing Microsoft MovieMaker (a digital video editing program) into the classroom.  Sixty-one graduate and twenty undergraduate students from King’s College and Rowan University took part in this study.  Using the MovieMaker software to design student created tutorials on material learned in class, participants uploaded finished movie tutorials to the Internet-based website “You Tube” with the goal of providing classmates with a distance education learning program.  With the ability to create and upload coursework using graphics and animation, new opportunities exist for teachers and trainers to expand their teaching methodologies while catering to a variety of learning styles.  The purpose of this study was to investigate student perceptions of the effectiveness of the You Tube tutorial project on their learning so that a future educational workshop to teach the basics of creating and uploading student video tutorials may be implemented.  A survey containing both quantitative and qualitative components was administered at the completion of the You Tube project to assess student perceptions of this teaching strategy. Quantitative analysis involved the use of frequencies and descriptive statistics, while qualitative analysis consisted of grouping open-ended responses into the following themes:  1. Application of You Tube; 2. Major Strengths of the You Tube Project in the Learning Process; 3. Instructor Effectiveness in the Learning Process; and 4. Suggestions for Improvement to Enhance Learning.   Results showed that the You Tube tutorial methodology had a significant positive effect on perceived student learning

An Analysis Of Women Educators In Higher Education And Their Perceptions Of The Use Of Technology In Improving Teacher Effectiveness: A Study In Instructional Technology

An understanding of the relationships among the integration of computer technology by women educators in higher education and effective teaching could have a significant impact on education. Pennsylvania Universities and Colleges have made their commitment to educational technology and provided support for the implementation of such technology. Currently, we have little empirical evidence to show that the use of computer technology by women educators actually does improve learning. Incumbent upon this commitment to educational technology, women educators have a right to ask if their investment of time and effort in learning how to use and implement the technology will produce significant benefits for their students. This research developed a survey instrument to rank statements and gain an understanding of the perceptions of women in higher education concerning the integration of computer technology and teacher effectiveness. The methods used to develop the instrument involved the analysis of relevant research, construction of appropriate items, identification of the population sample, validity and reliability, and pilot testing. The population under study was limited to two Colleges and one University in Northeastern Pennsylvania during the spring and fall semesters of 2007. The results indicated that the women surveyed felt teacher effectiveness is most strongly associated with the availability of technology tools to collect data for the purposes of instructional planning.  Conversely, participants felt that teacher effectiveness was not strongly associated with lesson sequences that integrate technology resources, implementation of procedures consistent with school policies that protect the privacy of electronic student data, and demonstration of ethical behaviors regarding the use of technology

Organizational Culture At The University Level: A Study Using The OCAI Instrument

Organizational culture is a primary component of functional decision making in universities.  In order for administrators, faculty, and staff to effectively coordinate an efficient academic environment for health education, continuing cultural assessment and change are necessary.  The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of culture at the university level.  Specifically, 50 students from two health education courses at Rowan University were studied with regard to three main levels of culture with respect to the Health and Exercise Science Department:  Artifacts, Espoused Values, and Basic Underlying Assumptions.  The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) was utilized to determine how departmental culture affects the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of students.  In this paper, results of the OCAI were examined in terms of how students rated the current departmental culture, and what they would prefer it to be in five years.  It was hypothesized that student perceptions of departmental culture would positively coincide with the overall mission, goals, and objectives of the department and university

Community Outreach and Engagement in a Time of Crisis: The Peer Research Consultants Program

The Peer Research Consultants (PRC) program at the University of Miami Libraries (UML), was formed in 2016 as part of the Learning Commons initiative to collocate and centralize academic services at Richter Library. Although the program had a virtual component in the form of chat and phone services when founded, it was primarily a physical setup where library student workers assisted researchers using a peer-to-peer system. In this paper, we highlight the historical trajectory of the peer research consultant (PRC) program in academic libraries using Richter Library as a case study. We argue that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 provided an opportunity to redefine the program when it shifted entirely to a virtual modality. The shift to online services gave PRC’s the opportunity to collaborate in-depth with library faculty and staff to support new outreach programs and community initiatives. In this paper, we highlight several examples whereby PRC’s collaborative efforts resulted in research guides that offered links to families during lockdown, provided resources on racial justice initiatives, and combatted misinformation. In so doing, we conclude that the PRC program has strengthened the Libraries’ visibility and ties to the university community, incorporated emerging trends in diversity, equity and inclusion, and provided trustworthy information during a time of crisis. We then offer future directions where library programs such as the PRC, can be leveraged for campus and community engagement

Library Research & Adobe Scholars: Lifelong Learning through Mentoring

i. The Library Research Scholars program pairs librarian faculty mentors with undergraduates on a yearlong journey of engaging with research and creating an intellectual product on a topic of their own devising. Each librarian mentor is paired with a Library Research Scholar whose research area of interest coincides with the librarian’s own area of expertise. As mentors, librarians work actively to guide their mentees through an open-ended, research inquiry process. Librarian faculty members from all departments of the library, including Technical Services, have served as mentors to Library Research Scholars. Librarian faculty mentors guide Research Scholars through a process of discovery. While Research Scholars enter the program with an idea of the topic they would like to explore, that idea becomes refined, reformulated, and fine-tuned over the course of the academic year with the help of a librarian mentor. From oral histories that celebrate the stories of a university’s LGBT community, to plays written about a city’s founders, librarian faculty mentors have guided their Research Scholars through the collaborative, open-ended research inquiry process that is inherent in the development of complex research projects. Many of the resulting scholarly projects exemplify critical engagement with archives, general collections, and community research. Through mentoring and modeling, Library Research & Adobe Scholars build scholarly habits outside of the traditional classroom to support their lifelong learning habits of mind

Female Athletes And Performance-Enhancer Usage

The purpose of this study was to develop a knowledge base on factors associated with performance-enhancer usage among female athletes at the high school level in order to identify markers for a future prevention-education program.  The study used a pretest-only, between-subjects Likert Scale survey to rank the importance of internal and external pressures that may lead to performance-enhancer usage among this population.  Subjects included 122 female athletes from top-ranked sport programs at 7 New Jersey high schools.  Descriptive and quantitative statistics were used to analyze the data at a p<.05 significance level.  The Chi Square Test of Homogeneity, Spearman Correlation Coefficient, Kruskal-Wallis One-Way ANOVA, and Scheffé Post-Hoc Test were used to analyze associations between the nine survey issues and five levels of importance.  Results indicated that subjects rated the pressure to win and self-induced competitive pressures as the two most important factors in leading to performance-enhancer usage.  Chi-Square results showed significant differences in the level of importance for each of the nine issues presented, while the Spearman Correlation revealed several correlations among certain issues.  The Kruskal-Wallis One-Way ANOVA showed significant differences in ranks when data were grouped by school and sport.  Post-Hoc analysis supported findings of the Kruskal-Wallis One-Way ANOVA.  This study provided descriptive and quantitative data that added to the existing research.  The findings may be used by health educators and athletic coaches for performance-enhancer prevention-education programs

CASE STUDY CC BY-NC 4.0 University of Miami

Officially opening in January of 2018, the Learning Commons in the University of Miami Libraries Richter Library was a new venture, a common space where students in different disciplines could reach their academic goals through collaboration with peers and guidance from experts. By bringing campus partners such as the Writing Center, Math Lab, Digital Scholarship, and the Camner Center for Academic Resources into one place, the UM Libraries created a new information ecosystem in which students could explore and thrive, utilizing a concentration of resources to better become self-directed, lifelong learners. Co-locating services allows students—the most important stakeholders on campus—to access resources and assistance more easily and in a more approachable manner. Technology, expert help, and collaborative spaces underpin this new ecosystem and allow peer-to-peer learning to take root and grow. Part of that expert help comes from students of the University of Miami themselves in the form of the UM Libraries peer research consultants. Training Guides Providing hands-on research support to their peers at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, peer research consultants are trained to provide quality reference interactions by the library's Learning and Research Services department. This training allows peer research consultants to deepen their research skills and develop the advanced research, interpersonal, and presentation skills needed to support their fellow students. The peer research consultants program taps into the instinct of undergraduates to rely on their peers for academic guidance while also providing personalized, one-on-one service. While a group training day is a new addition, the training program for the peer research consultants began as a series of checklists and guides which still underpin the program. This initial training is organized to begin with concrete expectations before moving into more the more abstract and artful form of providing empathetic research support. Basic knowledge, such as referrals, logins, and opening and closing procedures, is reflected in comprehensive training checklists that librarians and the peer research consultant supervisor guide peer research consultants through before moving on to more advanced training. After this basic orientation, either during a training day or more individualized setting, peer research consultants then begin to develop their reference and research skills through a series of active learning guides, whose goal is to encourage exploration, analysis, and self-reflection. These guides are completed in an asynchronous format, allowing peer research consultants to complete them while they work and at their own pace, taking time to explore library resources as well as ask questions from librarians when they find areas of difficulty. As eac