Leveraging One\u27s Profession to Enhance Skills and Scholarships

Reflective Action Research (RAR). has been known to be beneficial in enhancing skills and adeptness in one\u27s teaching profession. Research and scholarship undertaking for the heavily loaded faculty can pose a challenge but there is one excellent way to achieve continuous scholarship undertakings. That is, through RAR. This workshop aims to present the importance of Reflective Action Research and how educators can leverage the richness of data in the teaching-learning environment and engage in scholarship in a strategic ways. Two RAR Frameworks will be presented: 1) A Critical-Reflective-Refractive Thinking Frameowk; and, 2) A Reflective Research Methodology inspired by Dewey 1933, Schön, 1983, Kolb, 1985, Gibbs, 1988, Millwood, 2014, and Stynes, Murphy, McNamara & O’Hara, 2018. Within the use of these two Frameworks, the Mental Models Theory (and how even the simplest Mental Model can be valuable to research) will be discussed. At the end of the workshop, it is envisioned that attendees will take with them some new insights and perspective on qualitative research approach based on two RAR frameworks; that they have been able to identify possible research topics or projects, and outline their own qualitative research strategies through Reflective Action Research approach

Ethics in Virtual Educational Environments (Vres): Designers Perceptions

Abstract: Though much has been written regarding benefits of virtual immersive environments (VRE) in education in the past, the subject of ethics was not a focus in instructional technological design. However, developers are expressing ethical concerns regarding various issues in virtual reality and augmented reality (AR/VR) products with current interest in holding accountability for ethical design and use of VR/AR products in virtual environments (VREs). Within the field of education, more research is needed to determine how VR/AR designers make decisions regarding ethics, and particularly when integrating media into learning content. The purpose of the qualitative narrative inquiry study was to interview designers/developers of VR/AR products regarding their perceptions of ethics in design and use of VR/AR products designed for educational purposes. Data collection is achieved through a sample of self-described instructional designers and programmers from Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) membership. Through qualitative narrative inquiry with one-on-one interviews, designers share their stories about their perceptions of ethics in the design and development of VR/AR products for educational purpose. Findings from the study can give in-depth understanding of the importance of ethics in developing VR/AR products, as well as shed Insight into how educational communities implemented ethical decision making in educational endeavors