An exploratory investigation into influences of form of digital feedback on learners’ engagement with their feedback

Where digital feedback studies report positive pedagogic outcomes, reasons for such outcomes are often not clear. One possible factor is the nature of learners’ engagement with digital feedback. With the aim of informing markers’ own action research, this exploratory study investigates how form (as opposed to content) of digital feedback may influence engagement. Within the context of an English university with rapidly growing use of the GradeMark digital feedback tool, and informed by a secondary analysis of a prior survey of learners’ experiences and perceptions of feedback, interviews with learners were conducted to investigate: How may the ways in which feedback can be presented in the GradeMark digital feedback tool influence undergraduates’ engagement in developmental use of lecturers’ feedback for summative assessment of written coursework? It was found that GradeMark on-script ‘Bubble Comments’ and off-script ‘Voice Comments’ may both positively influence how valued learners feel and encourage and support their use of feedback for development by positively influencing their motivation and ability to engage. On-script ‘QuickMark Comments’ and off-script ‘General Comments’ and ‘Rubrics’ may negatively influence same. These influences arise from the specific ways feedback can be presented in GradeMark affecting personalisation, specificity and clarity of meaning of feedback, learners’ emotional connection with their marker and by grabbing their attention. Ways in which form may influence content are also identified. It is recommended that, through their own action research, markers using GradeMark explore the use of Bubble Comments and Voice Comments as alternatives to General Comments, and ‘Grading Forms’ as an alternative to Rubrics. Markers using other digital feedback tools may consider using on-script annotations and digital audio feedback as alternatives to off-script paragraphs of digital written feedback, and free-form rather than pre-set assessment criteria-related comments. Specific considerations in doing so are suggested. Institutional strategy considerations in relation to use of assessment criteria and accessibility of GradeMark on mobile devices are also highlighted

An investigation into the potential for blended learning approaches in enhancing students’ assessment experience on an Introduction to Economics and Statistics Module

Use of audioslides and videoconferencing was trialled on a cohort of undergraduate Level 4 Introductions to Economics and Statistics students during 2010/11 with the aim of evaluating impact in support students' assessment. Audioslides were produced to provide enriched assessment guidance. A private space in a VLE-linked videoconferencing system was offered to students to support group essay writing at a distance. Students' engagement and views were evaluated. Cohort assessment performance was compared with the previous year. Students feel supported by audioslides. Some are interested in using videoconferencing set up and training was too complicated and there was no actual use. They may be interested in using external, non-VLE linked and more familiar tools such as Skype. Neither blended learning approach had a demonstrable impact on assessment performance which was poorer then the pervious 2009/10 year's

The role of water vapor in climate. A strategic research plan for the proposed GEWEX water vapor project (GVaP)

The proposed GEWEX Water Vapor Project (GVaP) addresses fundamental deficiencies in the present understanding of moist atmospheric processes and the role of water vapor in the global hydrologic cycle and climate. Inadequate knowledge of the distribution of atmospheric water vapor and its transport is a major impediment to progress in achieving a fuller understanding of various hydrologic processes and a capability for reliable assessment of potential climatic change on global and regional scales. GVap will promote significant improvements in knowledge of atmospheric water vapor and moist processes as well as in present capabilities to model these processes on global and regional scales. GVaP complements a number of ongoing and planned programs focused on various aspects of the hydrologic cycle. The goal of GVaP is to improve understanding of the role of water vapor in meteorological, hydrological, and climatological processes through improved knowledge of water vapor and its variability on all scales. A detailed description of the GVaP is presented

The chamber of fear: a role playing approach to the recruitment and selection of learning technologists

Learning technologists have long been at the heart of emergent pedagogical approaches using technology, working in close partnership with students and staff. Organisations, therefore, need to recruit individuals who are able to offer a diverse set of skills and qualities to facilitate such activities and broker partnerships with programme teams to enhance learning. The recruitment of learning technologists at the presenters’ UK-based University has traditionally consisted of a panel interview with senior managers and HR representatives, together with a short presentation to a team of learning technologists. Recognising that the role of the learning technologist tends to be a complex and problematic one (Browne & Beetham, 2010; Hopkins, 2015); it was felt that the short presentation element did not demonstrably convey those skills and qualities that were necessary in fulfilling the role of a learning technologist in a Higher Education Institution (HEI). In February 2012, the presenters began to develop a role-playing scenario that would “augment [the] assessment process” (Thornton III & Mueller-Hanson, 2004:12), so that the candidate would be able to demonstrate their capacity in undertaking a key element of the learning technologist’s role; i.e. working in partnership with academic staff, advising on and supporting their development of learning technologies as an enabler to student learning and participation. This candidate-led role-play scenario begins with a brief given to the candidate, in advance, informing the candidate that a ‘meeting’ has been arranged between the candidate and the programme team from a fictitious programme (BA in Heritage Studies). In this ‘meeting’, the candidate is required to give a brief five minute presentation around the topic of blended learning. This is followed with the candidate facilitating an extensive twenty-five minute discussion and consultation to the programme team on how a number of blended learning practices and technological solutions could address some of the challenges currently facing the programme. The programme team roles were acted out by members of the learning technology team and the given scenario was situated within an authentic collegiate culture and context. This approach for recruiting learning technologists has currently been performed on three separate occasions. This short presentation will report on the challenges and opportunities of adopting a role-playing approach in the recruitment and selection of learning technologists. It will outline a method for identifying potential candidates who are able to shape the future of learning and influence the development of learning technologies in partnership with students and staff. Delegates will come away with practical ideas and advice on how to make the recruitment and selection process of learning technologists within their own institutional contexts more authentic and relevant. References Browne, T. & Beetham, H. (2010). The positioning of educational technologists in enhancing the student experience. Project Report. Oxford, England: Association for Learning Technology (ALT) and The Higher Education Academy (HEA). Available at: http://repository.alt.ac.uk/831/ [Accessed 6.2.2015]. Hopkins, D. (Ed.). (2015). The Really Useful #EdTechBook. London, England: CreateSpace. Thornton III, G.C. & Mueller-Hanson, R.A. (2004). Developing Organizational Simulations: A Guide for Practitioners and Students. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Thermodynamic Limit for Spin Glasses. Beyond the Annealed Bound

Using a correlation inequality of Contucci and Lebowitz for spin glasses, we demonstrate existence of the thermodynamic limit for short-ranged spin glasses, under weaker hypotheses than previously available, namely without the assumption of the annealed bound.Comment: 8 page

News Media Stories about Cancer on Facebook: How Does Story Framing Influence Response Framing, Tone and Attributions of Responsibility?

This item is only available electronically.Social media has made access to health information easier than ever. In response, news broadcasters have adapted by sharing news stories on social media platforms such as Facebook. Among the news stories shared are those aimed to increase awareness of issues such as public health. However, the way health news stories are commonly framed is likely to generate a narrow perception of the causes of health issues and who is to blame for such issues. Furthermore, the way a health issue is framed may also shape the content and tone of responses in online comments and the stigma associated with some health issues may also appear in both news stories and audience responses. This paper will discuss these concerns regarding framing of health news stories, the implications of online comments and avenues to be explored in future research.Thesis (M.Psych(Health)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 201

An historical analysis of the growth of public education in the city of Quincy 1642 to 1880

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Higher Dimensional Lattice Chains and Delannoy Numbers

Fix nonnegative integers n1 , . . ., nd, and let L denote the lattice of points (a1 , . . ., ad) ∈ ℤd that satisfy 0 ≤ ai ≤ ni for 1 ≤ i ≤ d. Let L be partially ordered by the usual dominance ordering. In this paper we use elementary combinatorial arguments to derive new expressions for the number of chains and the number of Delannoy paths in L. Setting ni = n (for all i) in these expressions yields a new proof of a recent result of Duichi and Sulanke [9] relating the total number of chains to the central Delannoy numbers. We also give a novel derivation of the generating functions for these numbers in arbitrary dimension