A Mixed Methods Comparison of the First Principles of Instruction in Flipped and Face-to-Face Technology Integration Courses

This dissertation examines the impact of the First Principles of Instruction (FPI) model when applied to face-to-face (F2F) and flipped technology integration courses. Through this investigation, I demonstrate how the FPI inform the design of problem-centered environments, their impact on participants’ technological, pedagogical, content knowledge (TPACK), and the essential aspects of experiencing these FPI-based courses. Using an embedded quasi-experimental mixed methods design, the quantitative analyses of pre- and post- TPACK outcomes were examined and related to the interventions’ mechanisms via the descriptive phenomenological analysis of participants’ course learning experiences. Participants were 32 preservice teachers enrolled in the second of three required technology integration courses during the 2017 spring and fall semesters. Data included surveys, technology-integrated lesson designs, prompted course reflections, and semi-structured interviews. In the flipped group, preservice teachers’ self-perceptions of TK, PK, TCK, TPK, and TPACK statistically significantly increased and had large effect sizes. Except for TK, the F2F group’s self-perceptions of all TPACK domains statistically significantly increased with medium to large effect sizes. The non-significant growth in the F2F group’s TK, an unexpected outcome of a technology integration course, was illuminated by the qualitative analysis. Participants’ experiences unique to the flipped section indicated that exposure to new technologies prior to the physical class contributed to their increased perception of TK. As for application of TPACK to technology-integrated lesson designs, both groups demonstrated statistically significant growth with large effect sizes (F2F p = .000, d = 1.17; Flippeda p = .000, d = 1.97). The magnitude of the results strongly demonstrates the FPI’s positive impact on TPACK-related learning outcomes in the F2F and flipped courses. Further analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between groups’ perceptions and application of TPACK. These non-significant differences suggest the FPI were equally effective when applied to designing flipped and F2F courses. The phenomenological analyses revealed that the participants experienced technology integration often in class and noted the importance of purposefully selecting and using technologies. Participants described learning new technologies in the course as proceeding from practicing technological skills to evaluating digital tools’ potential for future integration. While iterative component tasks were experienced by some as redundant, participants valued the problem progression corollary’s task variation and scaffolded nature for focusing their learning and keeping them confident when challenged. Experiencing incongruous moments between design and implementation prompted participants’ contemplations of persisting barriers to technology integration and appraisals of in-class experiences as designed for the ideal. The FPI-based elements experienced by participants, when viewed through the perspective of constructionism, facilitated preservice teachers’ TPACK construction as they designed and shared tangible artifacts with an authentic audience. The study’s implications endeavor to inform future approaches to technology integration preparation, directions for FPI-based research and design, and the development of TPACK measures

The Wrong Side of Yesterday

These chapters start off a novel that follows Simon Jones, a man brought back to the city of Decatur, Illinois by the death of his sister. Simon is left taking care of Jeffrey, a ten-year-old boy with an arm that loses skin constantly and glows a dull white. While Simon and Jeffrey navigate their grief and uncertain futures, the city is rocked by a series of murders that target “divergents,” people with physical abnormalities like Jeffrey’s arm. The Wrong Side of Yesterday is a novel that uses elements of magical realism and mystery to explore issues of grief, disability, poverty, and identity, all within the confines of a dying Midwestern city

Palembangese in print: An NLS look at literacies, linguacies, communicacies, and culturacies in South Sumatra

People have been interacting with print in the South Sumatran city of Palembang for well over a millennium. Most of this literate activity has been carried out in languages other than the vernacular. Even now, the vast majority of print in the public realm in Palembang is in Indonesian, English, Arabic, and Chinese. And yet there are examples of the local language, Baso Pelembang, in print. This thesis looks for reasons behind these variations from the norm. After exploring the perspective offered by the New Literacy Studies (NLS), this paper builds upon the foundation provided by these works. Through use of this new framework, in which an understanding of literacies is clearly connected to (and distinguished from) other cultural skills, this thesis is equipped to examine the who, what, when, where, and how of literate skills, practices, interactions, and events. This analysis allows a fuller understanding of the questions of why particular cultural actors interact with print in specific ways in specific situations. Armed with this framework, the paper proceeds to examine Palembangese texts from a variety of sources (e.g., newspapers, text messages, the internet, etc.). This research demonstrates that people in Palembang choose to use the language of their hearts and homes in print for a variety of reasons, reasons that can best be understood through careful examination of the specific cultural environment in which texts are produced. Some of the reasons established in this study were 1) the desire to build or sustain solidarity and trust, 2) the desire to draw in readership through the shocking rarity of seeing the vernacular in print, and 3) the desire to authentically report the utterances of local people

A Probabilistic Model for AVCS Longitudinal Collision/Safety Analysis

This paper develops a probabilistic model for analyzing longitudinal collision/safety between an abruptly decelerating vehicle and its immediate follower. The input parameters are the length of the gap between the two vehicles, their common speed prior to the failure, the reaction delay of the following vehicle and a bivariate distribution for the two deceleration rates. The output includes the probability of a collision and the probability distribution of the relative speed at collision time We use this model to compare the safety consequences associated with the platooning and “free-agent” longitudinal-separation rules. We also demonstrate that the free-agent rule implemented with a potential technology of fast and accurate emergency deceleration, under some reasonable conditions, can avoid collisions while offering a high freeway capacity previously thought possible only under the platooning rule. This model has many other applications

Supporting Meaningful Learning Experiences with Button-Operated Robots in Early Childhood Settings

Bringing together recent research on button-operated robots in early childhood settings and developmentally appropriate practices, this chapter details strategies for the integration of robots. Educators are encouraged to design and implement robotics experiences that are intentional, active, constructive, cooperative, and authentic (Howland et al., 2012). To achieve these aims, educators should embed challenges within play-based activities and empower children to set and achieve their own goals. Additionally, educators can support children’s active engagement by selecting a button-operated robot that gives clear feedback and by offering just-in-time support as children address errors in their programs. For constructive learning, educators should prompt children to articulate their programming accomplishments and support their reflection with multimodal materials. When designing the activities, educators should intentionally consider how the activity, materials, and environment may invite or discourage cooperation amongst children. Finally, authentic experiences with button-operated robots in early childhood settings should be play-based and naturally connected to the classroom context

Measuring Amenities and Disamenities in the Housing Market: Applications of the Hedonic Method

The hedonic method is an econometric technique used to measure the value of or demand for a good. By considering the characteristics of the good, the method allows for analysis of how each part contributes to the good\u27s value. Houses have many attributes that are not directly sold but which affect their value. This can include parts of a house -- such as a pool or half bathroom -- but also publicly-provided goods whose usage is associated with the home, such as public schools. This explains the widespread use of the hedonic method in regional science as amenities and disamenities have a spatial dimension. There are thousands of research articles that employ the hedonic model and there are various modifications and contexts studied. This book contains ten articles that utilize the hedonic model to measure amenities and disamenities. Topics covered include crime, noise, hospitals, zebra mussels, and schools. The articles and introductory chapter serve both as a survey of the previous hedonic literature as well as a representative selection of different methodological issues in hedonic estimation.https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/rri-web-book/1031/thumbnail.jp

Entrance Capacity of an Automated Highway System

This paper evaluates the entrance capacity and queueing delay for Automated Highway Systems through use of simulations and analytical modeling. Queueing statistics are also used to determine the sustainable capacity of alternative concepts, taking trip length distribution and spacing between ramps into consideration. Based on safety-spacing headways (produced in a separate analysis), the most promising concept utilizes platoons both on the highway and on on-ramps. However, it is unclear whether comparable capacity can be achieved on exit, when vehicles must be decoupled from their platoons, and whether it is safe for vehicles to enter the highway in closely spaced platoons. The analytical evaluation indicates that entrance/exit spacing on the order of one per 2 km or closer would be required to support highways with total capacity on the order of 20,000 vehicles per hour. Most likely, this would be achieved most efficiently if separate dedicated entrances are provided for automated vehicles, to minimize weaving on manual lanes

Analytical Models for Vehicle/Gap Distribution on Automated Highway Systems

Highway congestion has in recent years become a pervasive problem for urban and suburban areas alike. The concept of Automated Highway Systems is based on the belief that integration of sensing, communication, and control technologies into vehicles and highways can lead to a large improvement in capacity and safety without requiring a significant amount of additional highway right-of-way. A fundamental determinant of Automated Highway Systems capacity is the vehicle-following rule, the rule that governs the behavior of vehicles traveling along a common lane (e.g., the spacing between any two longitudinally adjacent vehicles). Vehicle following affects the longitudinal capacity (achievable flow within a lane), the lateral capacity (achievable flow between lanes) and the conflicting relationship between the longitudinal flow and lateral capacity. The issues are investigated by developing probabilistic models for vehicle/platoon and gap distributions, for vehicles that travel in platoons, in slots, or as free-agents. Mathematical models are also developed to estimate the completion time of a lane change, which can be used as a surrogate for the lateral capacity. Numerical results for the three major vehicle-following rules and their comparison are also provided

Social media markets for prescription drugs: Platforms as virtual mortars for drug types and dealers.

Purpose Internet use has changed the mechanics of drug dealing. Although this has spurred some initial academic interest in how markets and their users have been changing, the issue is still under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the organisation of the distribution of prescription drugs and other illegal drugs overlap in these online markets by analysing data gathered from observation of the Swedish Facebook drug market and its participants. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered during three months of digital ethnography conducted among Swedish Facebook posters supplemented by 25 interviews with sellers (20) and buyers (5). Screenshots and interview data were coded by carrying out an NVivo-based content analysis. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics of drug types, co-occurrence with other drugs, group size and the demographic characteristics of sellers. Additionally, the interviewees’ descriptions of the marketplace and their drug dealing or buying activities were included in the analysis. Findings In total, 57 Swedish Facebook groups that sold illegal substances were located. The groups rarely specialised in specific drug types, but were convened around demographic factors, such as specific cities and locales. The sales of prescription drugs were part of the overall activity of groups selling other illegal drugs, but they were more often sold in separate Facebook posts, possibly by specialist sellers. Swedish Facebook sales primarily concerned alprazolam, tramadol, pregabalin and clonazepam, and were sold by both professional and amateur sellers. Originality/value This study reports findings from a Nordic comparative study on social media drug dealing, representing the first in-depth study of digitally mediated prescription drug dealing outside of cryptomarkets