Studying Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Experience While Empowering Technology Use Through Personalized Professional Learning

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate the impact and experiences of teachers who had engaged in a personalized professional learning program to promote ICT integration in preK-12 classrooms. Survey results (n=344) showed that teachers’ perceptions of their ability to use technology tools and their self-efficacy towards using technology in the classroom improved significantly after the training. Interview results indicated support, choice, and coherence as positive aspects of the program with content support, community, and the overarching struggles of teaching as challenges to improvement. Overall, being able to have their individual needs met empowered teacher progress towards their learning goals despite their initial teaching, academic, and technology self-efficacy levels

Doctoral E-Mentoring: Current Practices and Effective Strategies

Effective mentoring has been viewed as the cornerstone of a successful doctoral experience. Traditional doctoral education uses an apprenticeship model for mentoring to help students learn what is required as an academic professional. However, online environments present unique challenges to creating and maintaining mentor-mentee relationships. Using keywords specific to e-mentoring and online graduate education, literature searches were conducted to isolate relevant research from the last decade. From this literature, it was possible to synthesize current practices in e-mentoring and identify effective strategies to use for doctoral students conducting research. Using the Yob and Crawford (2012) framework, results were organized into the following six independent categories: Competence, Availability, Induction, Challenge, Communication, and Emotional Support. Other aspects that impact the mentoring relationship are also discussed

Teachers’ Perceptions About \u3cem\u3eMath Snacks\u3c/em\u3e Spanish Materials

Mathematics has been a gatekeeper especially for diverse students (Martin, Gholson & Leonard, 2010). The implications of an increasingly diverse school population calls for the development of culturally and linguistically responsive materials, including support materials for mathematics in Spanish. Teachers of mathematics in the United States have limited resources available to them in Spanish to support bridging mathematics content and practices for English Learners (Moschkovich, 2013). The CCSS-M requires deep conceptual understanding in order for students to be successful in their formal K-12 education. Students, whose home language is other than English, need support and opportunities to success in mathematics classrooms. According to Wright (2010), a practice that could support these students is to learn new conceptual ideas in one’s native language and then in English. Also, literature indicates the need of rich contexts to support learning content reducing cognitive demands due to language (Khisty, 1995). Educational games/animations could provide context for mathematics learning

Gestión del conocimiento. Perspectiva multidisciplinaria. Volumen 17

El libro “Gestión del Conocimiento. Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria”, Volumen 17 de la Colección Unión Global, es resultado de investigaciones. Los capítulos del libro, son resultados de investigaciones desarrolladas por sus autores. El libro es una publicación internacional, seriada, continua, arbitrada, de acceso abierto a todas las áreas del conocimiento, orientada a contribuir con procesos de gestión del conocimiento científico, tecnológico y humanístico. Con esta colección, se aspira contribuir con el cultivo, la comprensión, la recopilación y la apropiación social del conocimiento en cuanto a patrimonio intangible de la humanidad, con el propósito de hacer aportes con la transformación de las relaciones socioculturales que sustentan la construcción social de los saberes y su reconocimiento como bien público

Case Studies in Instructional Design Education: Students’ Communication Preferences During Online Discussions

The analysis of case studies is an important constructivist instructional strategy that shows potential for engaging students in asynchronous online discussions. However, little is known about the use of audio-based discussions to promote this type of analysis. Twenty-nine students from two sections enrolled in an online instructional design course participated in the study. Students from both sections had the opportunity to experience different learning activities including online case-based discussion forums using text-based (Moodle) and audio-based (VoiceThread) formats. Data from a course evaluation survey were collected and analyzed based on the diffusion of innovation theory. Results revealed that students considered the case-based discussion as the most relevant learning activity. Additionally, students preferred the text-based format over the audio-based for the discussion of case studies. Reasons for their preferences and implications for research and practice are discussed

Manipulative Use and Elementary School Students’ Mathematics Learning

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) 1998/1999, we examine the relationship between elementary students’ (K–5) manipulative use and mathematics learning. Using a cross-sectional correlational analysis, we found no relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics achievement. However, using a longitudinal analysis, we documented a positive relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics learning during their elementary school years (K–5). From a teaching and learning perspective, these findings provide important evidence of the influence of long-term manipulative use on students’ overall learning. From policy and methodological perspectives, these findings provide evidence for the importance of modeling student learning (as opposed to achievement) when studying the effectiveness of instructional strategies

Integrating Multimedia Animations to Support Common Core State Standards in Mathematics Classrooms

Multimedia animations offer students the context required to apply mathematical concepts to support their understanding. This chapter shares information about the NSF-funded Math Snacks, short animations designed to target specific math concepts that students may find difficult, including ratio and proportion. Additionally, the authors offer research-based guidelines for integrating these animations in the math classroom in a way that supports the Standards for Mathematical Practice. The chapter concludes with an introduction to the support materials available at www.mathsnacks.org for teachers who wish to use animations to support the Common Core State Standard for Mathematics in the middle grades

Interaction in Asynchronous Discussion Boards: A Campus-Wide Analysis to Better Understand Regular and Substantive Interaction

Discussion boards can provide a glimpse into the regular and substantive interaction required in online courses. Advances in technology and an increased interest in learning analytics now provides researchers with billions of data points about instructor and student interaction within a learning management system (LMS). This study used LMS data to explore the frequency of interaction between instructors and students in discussion boards in online courses at one institution. Overall, 415 courses were analyzed spanning two semesters. Results from the study found that the average number of posts by an instructor was 32.9. The average instructor interaction was 1.49 instructor posts per student. 23% of courses had no instructor posts. Student posts averaged 470 per course and the average posts per student was 19.9. Based on the discussion board activity, the most discussion interaction occurred during the first two weeks of the semester. Results also suggested that there is no relationship between student satisfaction and the number of total posts in a course. The paper concludes with implications for research and practice

Community and Connectedness in Online Higher Education: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Community and connectedness are important concepts in online higher education. However, researchers debate how they are defined, operationalized, or enacted in practice. A scoping study was conducted to review the research literature on the extent, range, and nature of research in community and connectedness in online higher education. A total of 66 studies published from 2001 through 2018 were identified for review. The findings illustrate how research on community and connectedness has focused on areas such as course design, technology tools, faculty, and students as well as highlight the important role these concepts have played in the last two decades in online higher education. The gaps in the literature suggest a need to further investigate the role community and connectedness play in different types of programs and other roles that faculty, staff, and students could play to foster these concepts

Students’ Perceptions of Institutional Services and Online Learning Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to explore new online students’ perceptions of self-efficacy and satisfaction with institutional resources. A mixed methods approach was used to better understand online students’ perceptions. During the first phase of the study, 155 new online graduate students were surveyed about the importance and their satisfaction with university resources as well as their online self-efficacy. During the second phase of the study, follow-up interviews were conducted with six participants to better understand their perceptions. Participants reported being aware of the institutional resources and having positive experiences with online course tools. Furthermore, most participants found administrative services such as Registration and Financial Aid and Scholarship services the most important. Participants also reported high levels of online self-efficacy. While the results illustrate student perceptions of institutional resources, more studies are needed to explore how participants with limited prior experience in online courses would evaluate the effectiveness of institutional resources