African American Students’ Academic and Web Programming Self-Efficacy, Learning Performance, and Perceptions towards Computer Programming in Web Design Courses

Computer programming has been included in computer literacy education in many countries in the last decade. This study examined the effects of gender and the prior programming experience of computer programming on academic and web programming self-efficacy and learning performance in the web design course among African American students, as well as their perceptions towards computer programming. This study’s 14-week web design course taught African American students multiple web programming languages, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, in order. A one-group pretest–posttest design was adopted in the experiment. The quantitative method was primarily used in data analysis. This study revealed that African American students’ academic and web programming self-efficacy significantly increased after the web design course. Most of the African American students’ perceptions of computer programming became positive after attending the web design course. This study also found that male African American students had a significantly higher level of web programming self-efficacy than female students before the web design course. Interestingly, this difference disappeared after the course. Additionally, both gender and prior experience in computer programming did not significantly affect students’ learning performance in the web design course. The findings of this study not only contribute to the understanding of the feasibility of teaching multiple programming languages in web programming courses for African American students, they also provide evidence of the positive influence of web programming on African American students’ perceptions of computer programming

An exploratory study of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge of digital games

This study investigated pre-service teachers’ perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge of digital games (TPACK-G), the correlation of TPACK-G constructs, and the relation of TPACK-G to personal factors and levels of motivation and self-efficacy. Participants were 96 pre-service teachers from a university in the northeastern United States. Data were collected using online surveys. Quantitative approaches were performed to analyze the data. Results indicated that game content knowledge (GCK) and game pedagogical knowledge (GPK) significantly predicted pre-service teachers’ game pedagogical content knowledge (GPCK), with GPK being the strongest predictor. Pre-service teachers with high levels of motivation or self-efficacy for digital game integration had significantly better TPACK-G than those with low levels. Personal factors, including gender and prior experiences with digital games, were found to be influential to pre-service teachers’ TPACK-G. This study adds to the understanding of the application of the TPACK model in the context of digital game use for pre-service teachers

Interaction, Internet Self-Efficacy, and Self-Regulated Learning as Predictors of Student Satisfaction in Distance Education Courses

Online learning research is largely devoted to comparisons of the learning gains between face-to-face and distance students. While student learning is important, comparatively little is known about student satisfaction when engaged in online learning and what contributes to or promotes student satisfaction. Emerging research suggests there are a few strong predictors of student satisfaction, and other predictors that may or may not predict student satisfaction. None of the existing research examines predictors together, or statistically controls for course differences. This study examines the influence of various factors on student satisfaction including three types of interaction, Internet self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning. Participants (N = 180) include both undergraduate and graduate students attending exclusively online classes in education. Students responded to an online survey adapted from several different scales. A pilot test of the survey and procedures showed strong validity and reliability for the sample. To control for course differences, data analysis focused on a hierarchical linear model (HLM) with student and class level variables. Results indicate learner-instructor interaction and learner-content interaction are significant predictors of student satisfaction when class-level variables are excluded. Of the class-level predictors, only the program from which the course was offered moderates the effect of learner-content interaction on student satisfaction. There is no direct impact of class-level predictors on student satisfaction. Learner-content interaction is the sole significant predictor when class-level predictors are added to the model. Supporting analyses for the HLM, results, limitations, and significance of the findings are reported and discussed

Exploring factors influencing minority students’ perceived learning in collaborative Wiki-based learning environments

This study examined the factors affecting minority students’ learning experience in Wiki-based environments. These factors included perceived collaborative learning, sense of community, Wiki self-efficacy, and perceived learning experience. The relationships of these factors were explored. The participants were 45 African American students enrolled in two undergraduate-level management courses in which Wiki was used to facilitate the process of group work. A mixed methods approach was applied to analyze the collected data. Results indicated that sense of community and collaborative learning significantly contributed to perceived learning in Wiki-based environments. However, Wiki self-efficacy was not a good predictor of perceived learning. Most of the minority students were positive about their group learning experience that involved collaborative processes as well as the development of knowledge and skills. Emotional support and support for cognitive or meta-cognitive processing were identified as factors that had potential influences on Wiki based collaborative group learning

Internet Self-Efficacy, Self-Regulation, and Student Performance: African-American Adult Students in Online Learning

The paper intended to investigate adult students’ Internet self-efficacy, self-regulation, and performance in online learning environments. The relationships between these variables and the effect of student characteristics on Internet self-efficacy and self-regulation were explored. The participants of this study were African American students from a university in the United States. They participated in two web-based research courses offered in summer. Data were collected through an online survey and were analyzed by a quantitative approach. The results showed Internet self-efficacy was positively related to self-regulation at a significant level. Internet selfefficacy and self-regulation differed in terms of student performance. The differences of gender and age did not have a significant impact on Internet self-efficacy and self-regulation. Discussions and implications were addressed according to the major findings of this study

Exploring the Factors That Influence K-12 Teachers’ Use of Open Educational Resources

The features of open educational resources (OERs) have the potential of enhancing teaching effectiveness and student learning experiences in K-12 education. Encouraging K-12 teachers to use OERs requires an understanding of the factors that have an influence on teachers’ decisions to adopt or use OERs in their teaching. In this regard, this study explored the factors related to how teachers perceived their use of OERs, including the perceived ease of use of OERs, perceived usefulness of OERs, intention to adopt OERs, attitudes, OER self-efficacy, and so on. The relationships of several proposed factors were explored. The participants were teachers from a university in the northeastern United States. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were applied to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that teachers’ perceptions of using OERs were positive overall. Their perceived ease of use and usefulness were two significant predictors of teachers’ adoption of OERs. Other factors that addressed teachers’ willingness and challenges with the use of OER were reported and discussed

Plane-projection multi-photon microscopy for high-frame-rate Live Tissue Imaging

We present a wide-field multi-photon microscopy that provides optical sectioning at high frame rate under biocompatible laser dosage. Axial resolution comparable to confocal microscopy and 5-frame-per-second live tissue imaging are demonstrated