Digital Commons Annual Report: Year Two 2009-2010

This report shows the progress for Utah State University\u27s Digital Commons repository during it\u27s second year, from Noveber 1, 2009 through October 31, 2010

Self-Directed Learning in Problem-Based Learning Versus Traditional Lecture-Based Learning: A Meta-Analysis

Problem-based learning is a student-centered, inquiry-based approach that builds problem-solving skills. Reviews of problem-based learning, as compared to traditional lecture-based learning, report modest positive gains in cognitive outcomes. Many metaanalyses have been conducted to analyze the effectiveness of problem-based learning, but none have examined self-directed learning in the context of problem-based learning. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis across all disciplines examining the extent to which problem-based learning engenders self-directed learning compared to a lecture-based approach. This study used a random effects model meta-analysis using 75 outcomes from 38 studies. Results indicated a statistically significant, z(74) = 7.11, p = 0.01, overall medium effect size (g = 0.45) favoring problem-based learning. A test of heterogeneity indicated genuine variance across outcomes (Q = 559.57, df = 74, p \u3c 0.01). Subgroup analyses indicate positive effect sizes for the four components of self-directed learning with two being statistically significant: personal autonomy, g = 0.51, z(47) = 6.4, p = 0.01, and independent pursuit of learning, g = 0.66, z(2) = 3.49, p = 0.01. Two emergent subgroups were also examined. From the 23 subgroup components, 12 reported statistically significant effect size estimates above 0. Findings and conclusions provided the first synthesis of conative and affective outcomes in problem-based learning by specifically analyzing self-directed learning. From this synthesis, practitioners learn that problem-based learning promotes conative and affective skills in self-directed learning

Digital Commons Annual Report: Year One 2008-2009

This report shows the progress for Utah State University\u27s Digital Commons repository during it\u27s first year, from October 27, 2008 through October 31, 2009

A Problem Based Learning Meta Analysis: Differences Across Problem Types, Implementation Types, Disciplines, and Assessment Levels

Problem based learning (PBL) in its most current form originated in Medical Education but has since been used in a variety of disciplines (Savery & Duffy, 1995) at a variety of educational levels (Savery, 2006). Although recent meta analyses have been conducted (Dochy, Segers, Van den Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003; Gijbels, Dochy, Van den Bossche, & Segers, 2005) that attempted to go beyond medical education, they found only one study in economics and were unable to explain large portions of the variance across results. This work builds upon their efforts as a meta-analysis that crosses disciplines as well as categorizes the types of problems used (Jonassen, 2000), the PBL approach employed (Barrows, 1986), and the level of assessment (Gijbels et al., 2005; Sugrue, 1993, 1995). Across 82 studies and 201 outcomes the findings favor PBL (d = 0.13, +/- .025) with a lack of homogeneity (Q = 954.27) that warrants a closer examination of moderating factors

Assessing the Quality of Doctoral Dissertation Literature Reviews in Instructional Technology

Assessment of the doctoral dissertation literature review provides insight into a student’s preparation for future work as a researcher. In 2004, efforts to assess the quality of literature reviews in doctoral dissertations were pioneered by Boote & Beile. Their work represents an important response to the call for improved research skills among emerging scholars. The purpose of this study is to replicate their work in a focused area of educational research, specifically Instructional Technology, and to examine the inter-rater reliability of the rubric. The findings suggest that dissertation literature reviews in Instructional Technology show the same need for improvement as dissertation literature reviews from education as a whole. Potential avenues of research are identified as well as improvements for rubric

Changing Higher Education Learning with Web 2.0 and Open Education Citation, Annotation, and Thematic Coding Appendices

Appendices of citations, annotations and themes for research conducted on four websites: Delicious, Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook

Copyright Solutions for Institutional Repositories: A Collaboration With Subject Librarians

This work investigates using subject librarians to conduct copyright clearance in an institutional repository (IR). At Utah State University, the library assures copyright clearance for faculty scholarship, thereby garnering input of faculty scholarship into the IR. Currently, subject librarians are not widely participating in routine IR work; however, the involvement of subject librarians with the IR offers benefits to the subject librarians and the institution as a whole. This article provides a model for institutions needing new solutions for copyright clearance using subject librarians and discusses the rationale, benefits and challenges of adopting this model

Teachers, Tasks, and Tensions: Lessons From a Research-Practice Partnership

How teachers make sense of new academic standards significantly shapes the implementation of those standards. Professional development organized around the analysis of mathematical tasks has potential to prepare teachers for standards implementation by helping them develop common understandings of standards and how to help students meet ambitious new learning goals. In practice, however, designers and participants bring different goals to the professional development context, which becomes evident when teachers engage in task analysis. In this article, we use the design tensions framework (Tatar, 2007) to analyze these tensions within a research-practice partnership comprised of five university researchers, three district curriculum leaders from a large urban school district, 12 high school Algebra 1 teachers from nine schools in the district, and a small team of Web engineers. Primary data for the study consist of participant observation and field notes of meetings in which project stakeholders negotiated the design of the professional development, as well as interview and survey data. An analysis based on the design tensions framework helped our partnership surface, both in the moment and retrospectively, the need for designers of professional development focused on standards implementation to be adaptive and willing to evolve activities to satisfy multiple stakeholders\u27 goals for participation