Search results for: design courses

Authors: Guizella Rocabado, Cassidy Wilkes

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It is well known that chemistry is one of the most feared courses in college. Although many students enjoy learning about science, most of them perceive that chemistry is “too difficult”. These perceptions of chemistry result in many students not considering Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors because they require chemistry courses. Ultimately, these perceptions are also thought to be related to high attrition rates of students who begin STEM majors but do not persist. Students perceived costs of a chemistry class can be many, such as task effort, loss of valued alternatives, emotional, and others. These costs might be overcome by students’ interests and goals, yet the level of perceived costs might have a lasting impact on the students’ overall perception of chemistry and their desire to pursue chemistry and other STEM careers in the future. In this mixed methods study, we investigated task effort and emotional cost, as well as a mastery or performance goal orientation, and the impact these constructs may have on achievement in general chemistry classrooms. Utilizing cluster analysis as well as student interviews, we investigated students’ profiles of perceived cost and goal orientation as it relates to their final grades. Our results show that students who are well prepared for general chemistry, such as those who have taken chemistry in high school, display less negative perceived costs and thus believe they can master the material more fully. Other interesting results have also emerged from this research, which has the potential to have an impact on future instruction of these courses.

Keywords: chemistry education, motivation, affect, perceived costs, goal orientations

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Authors: Ramona-Niculina Jurcau, Ioana-Marieta Jurcau

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Background: Preparing in the stress field (SF) is, increasingly, a concern for doctors of different specialties. Aims: The aim was to evaluate the importance of an e-learning program for doctors postgraduate courses, in SF. Methods: Doctors (n= 40 male, 40 female) of different specialties and ages (31-71 years), who attended postgraduate courses in SF, voluntarily responded to a questionnaire that included the following themes: Importance of SF courses for specialty practiced by each respondent doctor (using visual analogue scale, VAS); What SF themes would be indicated as e-learning (EL); Preferred form of SF information assimilation: Classical lectures (CL), EL or a combination of these methods (CL+EL); Which information on the SF course are facilitated by EL model versus CL; In their view which are the first four advantages and the first four disadvantages of EL compared to CL, for SF. Results: To most respondents, the SF courses are important for the specialty they practiced (VAS by an average of 4). The SF themes suggested to be done as EL were: Stress mechanisms; stress factor models for different medical specialties; stress assessment methods; primary stress management methods for different specialties. Preferred form of information assimilation was CL+EL. Aspects of the course facilitated by EL versus CL model: Active reading of theoretical information, with fast access to keywords details; watching documentaries in everyone's favorite order; practice through tests and the rapid control of results. The first four EL advantages, mentioned for SF were: Autonomy in managing the time allocated to the study; saving time for traveling to the venue; the ability to read information in various contexts of time and space; communication with colleagues, in good times for everyone. The first three EL disadvantages, mentioned for SF were: It decreases capabilities for group discussion and mobilization for active participation; EL information accession may depend on electrical source or/and Internet; learning slowdown can appear, by temptation of postponing the implementation. Answering questions was partially influenced by the respondent's age and genre. Conclusions: 1) Post-graduate courses in SF are of interest to doctors of different specialties. 2) The majority of participating doctors preferred EL, but combined with CL (CL+EL). 3) Preference for EL was manifested mainly by young or middle age men doctors. 4) It is important to balance the proper formula for chosen EL, to be the most efficient, interesting, useful and agreeable.

Keywords: stress field, doctors’ postgraduate courses, classical lectures, e-learning lecture

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Authors: Anupam Deka

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Gender discrimination has been considered as a major obstacle in granting equal opportunity for woman in Higher education as education plays a pivotal role in a country’s socio-economic development. To examine the empowerment of women in the higher education field of Assam, a case study has been carried out. In the first stage, an overview of enrolment of students in different courses has been made by considering the whole state. In the second stage a study has been conducted regarding the enrolment of students in various degree and P-G courses for the period 2000-2007 under Gauhati University (which is one of the four universities of Assam) and the relevant data has been collected. It has been found that though the enrolment of students in the degree levels has been constantly increasing, but the enrolment of girls are not proportionately increasing, specially in commerce and law. On the other hand, in the post-graduate level, these proportions are higher in almost all the subjects (except some subjects like M. COM., L.L.M, M. C. A., Mathematics, etc.), indicating that more number of girls than boys are taking admission in the P-G courses.

Keywords: field study, enrolment of girls in degree and P G levels, regression lines, Chi Square test, diagrams and statistical tables

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Authors: Sonia Achour

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Owing to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the shift to online learning took place abruptly. Neither practitioners nor learners were prepared for this sudden move. Higher education providers were compelled to implement online courses on a very short notice. Sultan Qaboos University is one among these. The question of motivation attracted a great number of educators. A case study was carried out so as to shed some lights on students' perceptions towards virtual learning and how it influenced their motivation to learning. The data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews of a focused group of 16 students along with classroom observation over a 12 week period. Both interviews and class observation revealed that there was a general negative feeling about the online teaching platform and its impact on the learners' motivation. Several factors were identified, namely the absence of interaction, social isolation, inconsistency of instructional knowledge, unfamiliarity with the new learning environment, IT illiteracy, and teacher development. The researcher aims at demonstrating the effect of virtual classrooms on students' motivation to acquire L2. The findings may be used to inform future decisions about courses, curriculum design. And teacher development

Keywords: online learning, motivation, EFL context, virtual setting

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Authors: Fouzia Ajmal

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Global Citizenship Education (GCED) could prove to be the best solution to prevent violent extremism as it will sustain a respect for all and build up a feeling of having a place with humankind. To meet the target 4.7 of sustainable development goals, it is important to focus on global citizenship education at all levels of education in general and in pre-service teacher education in particular so that the message and practices reach the young masses. The pre-service education is imperative to develop knowledge, skills and disposition of prospective teachers. The current study was conducted to investigate the integration of GCED in pre-service teacher education curriculum of Pakistan. The study was delimited to B.Ed (hons) Elementary Education programme. The curriculum of B.Ed Elementary developed by Higher Education Commission was analyzed through Curriculum Alignment Matrix. 31 course outlines were analyzed, and percentage was used to analyze the level of integration of GCED in courses. The analyses depicted that the concepts of civic sense, tolerance, duties and rights of citizens and fundamental rights of humans are partially aligned in a few of the courses. The tolerance, active citizenship, and respect for cultural diversity and religious harmony are evident in Pakistan Studies and teaching of social studies courses. The relevant books are also mentioned as resources in these courses. The intercultural understanding is not very evident while globalization is mentioned in a few courses. It is recommended that a deliberate effort may be made to integrate concepts of Global Citizenship Education so as to enable the prospective teachers in developing necessary skills to play their active role in promoting peace and building resilience to extremism in elementary school students.

Keywords: curriculum analysis, global citizenship education, preservice teacher education, resilience building

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Authors: Selahattin Gultekin

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Today, in engineering departments, mathematics courses such as calculus, linear algebra and differential equations are generally taught by mathematicians. Therefore, during mathematicians’ classroom teaching there are few or no applications of the concepts to real world problems at all. Most of the times, students do not know whether the concepts or rules taught in these courses will be used extensively in their majors or not. This situation holds true of for all engineering and science disciplines. The general trend toward these mathematic courses is not good. The real-life application of mathematics will be appreciated by students when mathematical modeling of real-world problems are tackled. So, students do not like abstract mathematics, rather they prefer a solid application of the concepts to our daily life problems. The author highly recommends that mathematical modeling is to be taught starting in high schools all over the world In this paper, some mathematical concepts such as limit, derivative, integral, Taylor Series, differential equations and mean-value-theorem are chosen and their applications with graphical representations to real problems are emphasized.

Keywords: applied mathematics, engineering mathematics, mathematical concepts, mathematical modeling

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Authors: Abolfazl Ghelichi, Ghasem Modarresi

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The problem with interpretation courses arises from the fact that Interpretation Courses at University levels are presented by most of the instructors based on listening activities and testing listening performance while interpretation strategies have been underrated. The data are gathered from30 students majoring in Translation Studies to fulfill the major aims of the study including. The study aimed at: 1) examining the significant relationship between specific interpretation strategies and interpretation performance of translation students in interpretation courses, 2) investigating the significant difference between males and females in their interpretation performance, and 3) exploring the interpretation strategies which are more effective for the translation students to improve their interpretation performance from students’ opinions. The results of the study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores for the two groups. The experimental group outperformed the control group in their interpretation performance and the effect size was large. However, there was no significant difference between male and female with respect to their cognition [t (28) =.79, p<.05]. As for the results obtained from the interviews with the students, the commonalities emerged from the students’ responses were analyzed and reported by the researchers.

Keywords: anticipation, interpretation performance, interpretation strategy, shadowing

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Authors: Wiem Ben Khalifa, Dalila Souilem, Mahmoud Neji

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The evolutions of Social Web and Semantic Web lead us to ask ourselves about the way of supporting the personalization of learning by means of intelligent filtering of educational resources published in the digital networks. We recommend personalized courses of learning articulated around a first educational course defined upstream. Resuming the context and the stakes in the personalization, we also suggest anchoring the personalization of learning in a community of interest within a group of learners enrolled in the same training. This reflection is supported by the display of an active and semantic system of learning dedicated to the constitution of personalized to measure courses and in the due time.

Keywords: Semantic Web, semantic system, ontology, evaluation, e-learning

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Authors: Orit Baruth, Anat Cohen

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Online courses have become common in many learning programs and various learning environments, particularly in higher education. Social distancing forced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for these courses. Yet, despite the frequency of use, online learning is not free of limitations and may not suit all learners. Hence, the growth of online learning alongside with learners' diversity raises the question: is online learning, as it currently offered, meets the needs of each learner? Fortunately, today's technology allows to produce tailored learning platforms, namely, personalization. Personality influences learner's satisfaction and therefore has a significant impact on learning effectiveness. A better understanding of personality can lead to a greater appreciation of learning needs, as well to assists educators ensure that an optimal learning environment is provided. In the context of online learning and personality, the research on learning design according to personality traits is lacking. This study explores the relations between personality traits (using the 'Big-five' model) and students' satisfaction with five techno-pedagogical learning solutions (TPLS): discussion groups, digital books, online assignments, surveys/polls, and media, in order to provide an online learning process to students' satisfaction. Satisfaction level and personality identification of 108 students who participated in a fully online learning course at a large, accredited university were measured. Cluster analysis methods (k-mean) were applied to identify learners’ clusters according to their personality traits. Correlation analysis was performed to examine the relations between the obtained clusters and satisfaction with the offered TPLS. Findings suggest that learners associated with the 'Neurotic' cluster showed low satisfaction with all TPLS compared to learners associated with the 'Non-neurotics' cluster. learners associated with the 'Consciences' cluster were satisfied with all TPLS except discussion groups, and those in the 'Open-Extroverts' cluster were satisfied with assignments and media. All clusters except 'Neurotic' were highly satisfied with the online course in general. According to the findings, dividing learners into four clusters based on personality traits may help define tailor learning paths for them, combining various TPLS to increase their satisfaction. As personality has a set of traits, several TPLS may be offered in each learning path. For the neurotics, however, an extended selection may suit more, or alternatively offering them the TPLS they less dislike. Study findings clearly indicate that personality plays a significant role in a learner's satisfaction level. Consequently, personality traits should be considered when designing personalized learning activities. The current research seeks to bridge the theoretical gap in this specific research area. Establishing the assumption that different personalities need different learning solutions may contribute towards a better design of online courses, leaving no learner behind, whether he\ she likes online learning or not, since different personalities need different learning solutions.

Keywords: online learning, personality traits, personalization, techno-pedagogical learning solutions

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Authors: A. Vahanyan

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The paper touches upon the problem of revision and modernization of the current curriculum on translation studies at the Armenian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In the contemporary world where quality and speed of services provided are mostly valued, certain higher education centers in Armenia though do not demonstrate enough flexibility in terms of the revision and amendment of courses taught. This issue is present for various curricula at the university level and Translation Studies related curriculum, in particular. Technological innovations that are of great help for translators have been long ago smoothly implemented into the global Translation Industry. According to the European Master's in Translation (EMT) framework, translation service provision comprises linguistic, intercultural, information mining, thematic, and technological competencies. Therefore, to form the competencies mentioned above, the curriculum should be seriously restructured to meet the modern education and job market requirements, relevant courses should be proposed. New courses, in particular, should focus on the formation of technological competences. These suggestions have been made upon the author’s research of the problem across various HEIs in Armenia. The updated curricula should include courses aimed at familiarization with various computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools (MemoQ, Trados, OmegaT, Wordfast, etc.) in the translation process, creation of glossaries and termbases compatible with different platforms), which will ensure consistency in translation of similar texts and speeding up the translation process itself. Another aspect that may be strengthened via curriculum modification is the introduction of interdisciplinary and Project-Based Learning courses, which will enable info mining and thematic competences, which are of great importance as well. Of course, the amendment of the existing curriculum with the mentioned courses will require corresponding faculty development via training, workshops, and seminars. Finally, the provision of extensive internship with translation agencies is strongly recommended as it will ensure the synthesis of theoretical background and practical skills highly required for the specific area. Summing up, restructuring and modernization of the existing curricula on Translation Studies should focus on three major aspects, i.e., introduction of new courses that meet the global quality standards of education, professional development for faculty, and integration of extensive internship supervised by experts in the field.

Keywords: competencies, curriculum, modernization, technical literacy, translation studies

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Authors: Anupam Deka, Indira Bardoloi

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Gender discrimination has been considered as a major obstacle in granting equal opportunity for women in higher education as education plays a pivotal role in a country’s socioeconomic development. To examine the empowerment of women in the higher education field of Assam, a case study has been carried out. In the first stage, an overview of enrollment of students in different courses has been made by considering the whole state. In the second stage, a study has been conducted regarding the enrollment of students in various degree and postgraduate courses for the period 2000-2007 at Gauhati University (one of the four universities of Assam), and the relevant data has been collected. It has been found that though the enrollment of students in the degree levels has been constantly increasing, but the enrollment of girls are not proportionately increasing, especially in commerce and law. On the other hand, in the postgraduate level, these proportions are higher in almost all subjects (except some subjects like M. COM., L.L.M, M. C. A., Mathematics, etc.), indicating that compared to boys, a higher number of girls are being admitted in postgraduate courses.

Keywords: field study, enrollment of girls in degree and postgratudate levels, regression lines, chi square test, diagrams, statistical tables

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Authors: Nandu C. Nair, Kamal Bijlani

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This paper proposes a concept-based assessment to track the performance of the students. The idea behind this approach is to map the exam questions with the concepts learned in the course. So at the end of the course, each student will know how well he learned each concept. This system will give a self assessment for the students as well as instructor. By analyzing the score of all students, instructor can decide some concepts need to be teaching again or not. The system’s efficiency is proved using three courses from M-tech program in E-Learning technologies and results show that the concept-wise assessment improved the score in final exam of majority students on various courses.

Keywords: assessment, concept, examination, question, score

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Authors: Salima R. Rajwani, Tazeen Ali, Rubina Barolia, Yasmin Parpio, Nasreen Alwani, Salima B. Virani

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Introduction: Nurses and physicians have a critical role in initiating lifesaving interventions during cardiac arrest. It is important that timely delivery of high quality Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) with advanced resuscitation skills and management of cardiac arrhythmias is a key dimension of code during cardiac arrest. It will decrease the chances of patient survival if the healthcare professionals are unable to initiate CPR timely. Moreover, traditional training will not prepare physicians and nurses at a competent level and their knowledge level declines over a period of time. In this regard, simulation training has been proven to be effective in promoting resuscitation skills. Simulation teaching learning strategy improves knowledge level, and skills performance during resuscitation through experiential learning without compromising patient safety in real clinical situations. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation training in Advanced Cardiac Life Support Courses by using the selfefficacy tool. Methods: The study design is a quantitative research design and non-randomized quasi-experimental study design. The study examined the effectiveness of simulation through self-efficacy in two instructional methods; one is Medium Fidelity Simulation (MFS) and second is Traditional Training Method (TTM). The sample size was 220. Data was compiled by using the SPSS tool. The standardized simulation based training increases self-efficacy, knowledge, and skills and improves the management of patients in actual resuscitation. Results: 153 students participated in study; CG: n = 77 and EG: n = 77. The comparison was done between arms in pre and post-test. (F value was 1.69, p value is <0.195 and df was 1). There was no significant difference between arms in the pre and post-test. The interaction between arms was observed and there was no significant difference in interaction between arms in the pre and post-test. (F value was 0.298, p value is <0.586 and df is 1. However, the results showed self-efficacy scores were significantly higher within experimental group in post-test in advanced cardiac life support resuscitation courses as compared to Traditional Training Method (TTM) and had overall (p <0.0001) and F value was 143.316 (mean score was 45.01 and SD was 9.29) verses pre-test result showed (mean score was 31.15 and SD was 12.76) as compared to TTM in post-test (mean score was 29.68 and SD was 14.12) verses pre-test result showed (mean score was 42.33 and SD was 11.39). Conclusion: The standardized simulation-based training was conducted in the safe learning environment in Advanced Cardiac Life Suport Courses and physicians and nurses benefited from self-confidence, early identification of life-threatening scenarios, early initiation of CPR, and provides high-quality CPR, timely administration of medication and defibrillation, appropriate airway management, rhythm analysis and interpretation, and Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC), team dynamics, debriefing, and teaching and learning strategies that will improve the patient survival in actual resuscitation.

Keywords: advanced cardiac life support, cardio pulmonary resuscitation, return of spontaneous circulation, simulation

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Authors: Mark Deschaine, David Whale

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Utilization of online instruction continues to increase at universities, placing more emphasis on the exploration of issues related to adult graduate student engagement. This reflective case study reviews non-traditional student engagement in online courses. The goals of the study are to enhance student focus, attention and interaction. Findings suggest that interactivity seemed to be a key in keeping students involved and achieving, with specific activities routinely favored by students. It is recommended that time spent engaging students is worthwhile and results in greater course satisfaction and academic effort.

Keywords: online learning, student achievement, student engagement, technology

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Authors: Jingwen Shan

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In order to explore the key factors affecting the robot program learning intention of school students, this study takes the technology acceptance model as the theoretical basis and invites 167 students from Jiading District of Shanghai as the research subjects. In the robot course, the model of school students on their learning behavior is constructed. By verifying the causal path relationship between variables, it is concluded that teachers can enhance students’ perceptual usefulness to robotics courses by enhancing subjective norms, entertainment perception, and reducing technical anxiety, such as focusing on the gradual progress of programming and analyzing learner characteristics. Students can improve perceived ease of use by enhancing self-efficacy. At the same time, robot hardware designers can optimize in terms of entertainment and interactivity, which will directly or indirectly increase the learning intention of the robot course. By changing these factors, the learning behavior of primary and secondary school students can be more sustainable.

Keywords: TAM, learning behavior intentions, robot courses, primary and secondary school students

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Authors: Vittorio Caffi, Maria Pignataro, Antonio Cosimo Devito, Marco Pesenti

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This paper deals with the integration of advanced digital design and modelling tools and methodologies, known as Building Information Modelling, into the traditional Academy educational programs for building engineers and architects. Nowadays, the challenge the Academy has to face is to present the new tools and their features to the pupils, making sure they acquire the proper skills in order to leverage the potential they offer also for the other courses embedded in the educational curriculum. The syllabus here presented refers to the “Drawing for building engineering”, “2D and 3D laboratory” and “3D modelling” curricula of the MSc in Building Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano. Such topics, included since the first year in the MSc program, are fundamental to give the students the instruments to master the complexity of an architectural or building engineering project with digital tools, so as to represent it in its various forms.

Keywords: BIM, BIM curricula, computational design, digital modelling

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Authors: Aber Aboalgasm, Rupert Ward, Ruth Taylor, Jonathan Glazzard

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Teaching art by digital means is a big challenge for the majority of teachers of art and artistic design courses in primary education schools. These courses can clearly identify relationships between art, technology, and creativity in the classroom .The aim of this article is to present a modern way of teaching art, using digital tools in the art classroom in order to improve creative ability in pupils aged between 9 and 11 years; it also presents a conceptual model for creativity based on digital art. The model could be useful for pupils interested in learning drawing and using an e-drawing package, and for teachers who are interested in teaching their students modern digital art, and improving children’s creativity. This model is designed to show the strategy of teaching art through technology, in order for children to learn how to be creative. This will also help education providers to make suitable choices about which technological approaches they should choose to teach students and enhance their creative ability. It is also expected that use of this model will help to develop social interactive qualities that may improve intellectual ability.

Keywords: digital tools, motivation, creative activity, education

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Authors: C. Zimmermann, E. Lackner, M. Ebner

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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are increasingly popular learning hubs that are boasting considerable participant numbers, innovative technical features, and a multitude of instructional resources. Still, there is a high level of evidence showing that almost all MOOCs suffer from a declining frequency of participant activity and fairly low completion rates. In this paper, we would like to share the lessons learned in implementing several design patterns that have been suggested in order to foster participant activity. Our conclusions are based on experiences with the ‘Dr. Internet’ MOOC, which was created as an xMOOC to raise awareness for a more critical approach to online health information: participants had to diagnose medical case studies. There is a growing body of recommendations (based on Learning Analytics results from earlier xMOOCs) as to how the decline in participant activity can be alleviated. One promising focus in this regard is instructional design patterns, since they have a tremendous influence on the learner’s motivation, which in turn is a crucial trigger of learning processes. Since Medieval Age storytelling, micro-learning units and specific comprehensible, narrative structures were chosen to animate the audience to follow narration. Hence, MOOC participants are not likely to abandon a course or information channel when their curiosity is kept at a continuously high level. Critical aspects that warrant consideration in this regard include shorter course duration, a narrative structure with suspense peaks (according to the ‘storytelling’ approach), and a course schedule that is diversified and stimulating, yet easy to follow. All of these criteria have been observed within the design of the Dr. Internet MOOC: 1) the standard eight week course duration was shortened down to six weeks, 2) all six case studies had a special quiz format and a corresponding resolution video which was made available in the subsequent week, 3) two out of six case studies were split up in serial video sequences to be presented over the span of two weeks, and 4) the videos were generally scheduled in a less predictable sequence. However, the statistical results from the first run of the MOOC do not indicate any strong influences on the retention rate, so we conclude with some suggestions as to why this might be and what aspects need further consideration.

Keywords: case study, Dr. internet, experience, MOOCs, design patterns

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Authors: Aber Salem Aboalgasm, Rupert Ward

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Teaching art by digital means is a big challenge for the majority of teachers of art and artistic design courses in primary education schools. These courses can clearly identify relationships between art, technology and creativity in the classroom .The aim of this article is to present a modern way of teaching art, using digital tools in the art classroom in order to improve creative ability in pupils aged between 9 and 11 years; it also presents a conceptual model for creativity based on digital art. The model could be useful for pupils interested in learning drawing and using an e-drawing package, and for teachers who are interested in teaching their students modern digital art, and improving children’s creativity. This model is designed to show the strategy of teaching art through technology, in order for children to learn how to be creative. This will also help education providers to make suitable choices about which technological approaches they should choose to teach students and enhance their creative ability. To define the digital art tools that can benefit children develop their technical skills. It is also expected that use of this model will help to develop social interactive qualities that may improve intellectual ability.

Keywords: digital tools, motivation, creative activity, technical skill

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Authors: K. Pietrykowski, M. Bialy, M. Duk

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One of the main disadvantages of radial engines is non-uniformity of operating cycles of each cylinder. This paper discusses the results of the kinematic analysis of pistons motion of the ASz-62IR radial engine. The ASz-62IR engine is produced in Poland and mounted in the M-18 Dromader and the An-2. The results are shown as the courses of the motion of the pistons. The discrepancies in the courses for individual pistons can result in different masses of the charge to fill the cylinders. Besides, pistons acceleration of individual cylinders is different, which triggers an additional vibration in the engine.

Keywords: nonuniformity, kinematic analysis, piston motion, radial engine

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Authors: Alper Tolga Kumtepe, Erdem Erdogdu, M. Recep Okur, Eda Kaypak, Ozlem Kaya, Serap Ugur, Deniz Dincer, Hakan Yildirim

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Interaction is one of the most important components of open and distance learning. According to Moore, who proposed one of the keystones on interaction types, there are three basic types of interaction: learner-teacher, learner-content, and learner-learner. From these interaction types, learner-content interaction, without doubt, can be identified as the most fundamental one on which all education is based. Efficacy, efficiency, and attraction of open and distance learning systems can be achieved by the practice of effective learner-content interaction. With the development of new technologies, interactive e-learning materials have been commonly used as a resource in open and distance learning, along with the printed books. The intellectual engagement of the learners with the content that is course materials may also affect their satisfaction for the open and distance learning practices in general. Learner satisfaction holds an important place in open and distance learning since it will eventually contribute to the achievement of learning outcomes. Using the learner-content interaction activities in course materials, Anadolu University, by its Open Education system, tries to involve learners in deep and meaningful learning practices. Especially, during the e-learning material design and production processes, identifying appropriate learner-content interaction activities within the context of learning outcomes holds a big importance. Considering the lack of studies adopting this approach, as well as its being a study on the use of e-learning materials in Open Education system, this research holds a big value in open and distance learning literature. In this respect, the present study aimed to investigate a) which learner-content interaction activities included in interactive courses are the most effective in learners’ achievement of verbal information learning outcomes and b) to what extent distance learners are satisfied with these learner-content interaction activities. For this study, the quasi-experimental research design was adopted. The 120 participants of the study were from Anadolu University Open Education Faculty students living in Eskişehir. The students were divided into 6 groups randomly. While 5 of these groups received different learner-content interaction activities as a part of the experiment, the other group served as the control group. The data were collected mainly through two instruments: pre-test and post-test. In addition to those tests, learners’ perceived learning was assessed with an item at the end of the program. The data collected from pre-test and post-test were analyzed by ANOVA, and in the light of the findings of this approximately 24-month study, suggestions for the further design of e-learning materials within the context of learner-content interaction activities will be provided at the conference. The current study is planned to be an antecedent for the following studies that will examine the effects of activities on other learning domains.

Keywords: interaction, distance education, interactivity, online courses

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Authors: Opeyemi Fadipe, Masud Salimian

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The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a new normal into the world; online teaching is now the most used method of teaching over the face to face meeting. With the emergency of these teaching, online-teaching has been improved over time and with more technological advancement tools introduced. Practical courses are more demanding to teach because it requires the physical presence of the student as well as a demonstration of the equipment. In this study, a case of Lagos State University thermofluid practical was the understudy. A survey was done and give to a sample of students to fill. The result showed that the blend-approach is better for practical course teaching. Software simulation of the equipment used to conduct practical should be encouraged in the future.

Keywords: COVID-19, online teaching, t-distribution, thermofluid

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Authors: Nina Leila Mussa

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Background: The devastating effects of the war on Syria’s educational infrastructure has been widely reported, with millions of children denied access. However, among those who resettled in Lebanon, the impact of receiving educational assistance on their abilities to pass the English entrance exam is not well described. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of success among Syrian refugees receiving English language courses in a Lebanese university. Methods: The database of Syrian refugee girls matriculated in English courses at the American University of Beirut (AUB) was reviewed. The study period was 7/2018-09/2020. Variables compared included: family size and income, welfare status, parents’ education, English proficiency, access to the internet, and need for external help with homework. Results: For the study period, there were 28 girls enrolled. The average family size was 6 (range 4-9), with eight having completed primary, 14 secondary education, and 6 graduated high school. Eighteen were single-income families. After 12 weeks of English courses, 16 passed the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) from the first attempt, and 12 failed. Out of the 12, 8 received external help, and 6 passed on the second attempt, which brings the total number of successful passing to 22. Conclusion: Despite the tragedy of war, girls receiving assistance in learning English in Lebanon are able to pass the basic language test. Investment in enhancing those educational experiences will be determinantal in achieving widespread progress among those at-risk children.

Keywords: refugee girls, TOEFL, education, success

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Authors: Kimberlyn Greene

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Employers today expect college graduates to not only develop and demonstrate content-specific knowledge but also 21st century skillsets such as critical thinking. International assessments suggest students enrolled in United States (U.S.) educational institutions are underperforming in comparison to their global peers in areas such as critical thinking and technology. This multi-case study examined how undergraduate digital literacy courses at a four-year university in the U.S., as implemented by instructors, fostered students’ development of critical thinking skills. The conceptual framework for this study presumed that as students engaged in complex thinking within the context of a digital literacy course, their ability to deploy critical thinking was contingent upon whether the course was designed with the expectation for students to use critical thinking skills as well as the instructor’s approach to implementing the course. Qualitative data collected from instructor interviews, classroom observations, and course documents were analyzed with an emphasis on exploring the course design and instructional methods that provided opportunities to foster critical thinking skill development. Findings from the cross-case analysis revealed that although the digital literacy courses were designed and implemented with the expectation students would deploy critical thinking; there was no explicit support for students to develop these skills. The absence of intentional skill development resulted in inequitable opportunities for all students to engage in complex thinking. The implications of this study suggest that if critical thinking is to remain a priority, then universities must expand their support of pedagogical and instructional training for faculty regarding how to support students’ critical thinking skill development.

Keywords: critical thinking skill development, curriculum design, digital literacy, pedagogy

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Authors: Shawndra Bowers, Allie Brandriet, Betsy Gilbertson

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This paper will highlight how Auburn Online’s instructional designers leveraged student and faculty data to update and improve online course design and instructional materials. When designing and revising online courses, it can be difficult for faculty to know what strategies are most likely to engage learners and improve educational outcomes in a specific discipline. It can also be difficult to identify which metrics are most useful for understanding and improving teaching, learning, and course design. At Auburn Online, the instructional designers use a suite of data based student’s performance, participation, satisfaction, and engagement, as well as faculty perceptions, to inform sound learning and design principles that guide growth-mindset consultations with faculty. The consultations allow the instructional designer, along with the faculty member, to co-create an actionable course improvement plan. Auburn Online gathers learning analytics from a variety of sources that any instructor or instructional design team may have access to at their own institutions. Participation and performance data, such as page: views, assignment submissions, and aggregate grade distributions, are collected from the learning management system. Engagement data is pulled from the video hosting platform, which includes unique viewers, views and downloads, the minutes delivered, and the average duration each video is viewed. Student satisfaction is also obtained through a short survey that is embedded at the end of each instructional module. This survey is included in each course every time it is taught. The survey data is then analyzed by an instructional designer for trends and pain points in order to identify areas that can be modified, such as course content and instructional strategies, to better support student learning. This analysis, along with the instructional designer’s recommendations, is presented in a comprehensive report to instructors in an hour-long consultation where instructional designers collaborate with the faculty member on how and when to implement improvements. Auburn Online has developed a triage strategy of priority 1 or 2 level changes that will be implemented in future course iterations. This data-informed decision-making process helps instructors focus on what will best work in their teaching environment while addressing which areas need additional attention. As a student-centered process, it has created improved learning environments for students and has been well received by faculty. It has also shown to be effective in addressing the need for improvement while removing the feeling the faculty’s teaching is being personally attacked. The process that Auburn Online uses is laid out, along with the three-tier maintenance and revision guide that will be used over a three-year implementation plan. This information can help others determine what components of the maintenance and revision plan they want to utilize, as well as guide them on how to create a similar approach. The data will be used to analyze, revise, and improve courses by providing recommendations and models of good practices through determining and disseminating best practices that demonstrate an impact on student success.

Keywords: data-driven, improvement, online courses, faculty development, analytics, course design

Procedia PDF Downloads 32

Authors: Eni I. Eni, James Okon, Ashang J. Ashang

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The pre-degree programme of the University of Calabar was introduced to help increase access to tertiary Education in science related courses. This has become necessary due to population increase and public awareness. Its main objective was to provide access to candidates from educationally less developed states (ELDS) and states within its catchment area. To find out if this objective of the programme has been achieved, an impact evaluation of the programme was conducted, from where the aspect of providing access to University Education was reported here. It was reasoned that if this objective of the programme was properly implemented, there should be an evidence of increase in the access to University Education. To achieve the purpose of this study, two research questions were formulated; expost-facto research design and purposive sampling technique were adopted for the study. Data was collected from the Faculty of Science and analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequencies and percentages. The result of data analysis showed that the pre-degree programme of the University of Calabar has provided educational access to Nigerians especially those from educationally less developed states in science related courses. It was therefore recommended that the programme be sustained and further be improved upon to facilitate its continued provision of access to University Education in Nigeria.

Keywords: higher education, pre-degree programme, University of Calabar, educationally less developed states

Procedia PDF Downloads 306

Authors: R. Herscu-Kluska

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The rise of the flipped or inverted classroom meet the conceptual needs of our time. The evidence of increased student satisfaction and course grades improvement promoted the flipped learning approach. Due to the successful outcomes of the inverted classroom, the flipped learning became a pedagogy and educational rising strategy among all education sciences. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of flipped classroom on higher order learning in chemistry courses since it has been suggested that in higher education courses, class time should focus on knowledge application. The results of this study indicate improving meta-cognitive thinking and learning skills. The students showed better ability to cope with higher order learning assignments during the actual class time, using inverted classroom strategy. These results suggest that flipped learning can be used as an effective pedagogy and educational strategy for developing higher order thinking skills, proved to contribute to building lifelong learning.

Keywords: chemistry education, flipped classroom, flipped learning, inverted classroom, science education

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Jungho Moon, Lae Jeong Park

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This paper introduces the development of a firmware downloader for students attending microcontroller-related courses taught by the authors In the courses, AVR microcontroller experiment kits are used for programming exercise and the AVR microcontroller is programmed through a serial communication interface using a bootloader preinstalled on it. To use the bootloader, a matching firmware downloader that runs on a host computer and communicates with the bootloader is also required. When firmware downloading is completed, the serial port used for it needs to be closed. If the downloaded firmware uses serial communication, the serial port needs to be reopened in a serial terminal. As a result, the programmer of the AVR board switches from the downloader program and the serial terminal and vice versa. It is a simple task but quite a hassle to do each time new firmware needs downloading. To provide a more convenient programming environment for the courses, the authors developed a downloader program that includes a serial terminal in it. The program operates in downloader or terminal mode and the mode switching is performed automatically; therefore manual mode switching is not necessary. The feature provides a more convenient development environment by eliminating the need for manual mode switching each time firmware downloading is required.

Keywords: bootloader, firmware downloader, microcontroller, serial communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 165

Authors: Terrell Strayhorn

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The lack of diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a persistent and concerning issue. One contributing factor to the underrepresentation of minority groups in STEM fields is a lack of sense of belonging, which can lead to lower levels of academic engagement, motivation, and achievement. In particular, Black students have been shown to experience lower levels of sense of belonging in STEM compared to their white peers. This study aimed to explore the effects of a psychological intervention on Black students' sense of belonging in physics and math courses at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The study used a randomized controlled trial design and included 305 Black undergraduate students enrolled in physics or math courses at HBCUs and PWIs in the United States. Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention consisted of a brief psychological, video-based intervention designed to enhance sense of belonging, which was delivered in a single session. The control group received no intervention. The primary outcome measure was sense of belonging in physics and math courses, as assessed by a validated self-report measure. Other outcomes included academic engagement, motivation, and achievement as measured by physics and math (course) grades. Preliminary results show that the intervention has a significant positive effect on Black students' sense of belonging in physics and math courses, with a moderate effect size. The intervention also had a significant positive effect on academic engagement and motivation, but not on academic achievement. Importantly, the effects of the intervention were larger for Black students enrolled at PWIs compared to those enrolled at HBCUs. Findings, at present, suggest that a brief psychological web-based intervention can enhance Black students' sense of belonging in physics and math courses, and that the effects may be particularly strong for Black students enrolled at PWIs, although they are not negligible for Black students at HBCUs. This is an important finding given the persistent underrepresentation of Black students in STEM fields, the growing number of Black students at PWIs, and the potential for enhancing sense of belonging to improve academic outcomes and increase diversity in these fields. The study has several limitations, including a relatively small sample size and a lack of long-term follow-up. Future research could explore the generalizability of these findings to other minority groups and other STEM fields, as well as the potential for longer-term interventions to sustain and enhance the effects observed in this study. Overall, this study highlights the potential for psychological interventions to enhance sense of belonging and improve academic outcomes for Black students in STEM courses, and underscores the importance of addressing sense of belonging as a key factor in promoting diversity and equity in STEM fields.

Keywords: sense of belonging, achievement, racial equity, postsecondary education, intervention

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: Vojo George Fasinu, Nadaraj Govender, Predeep Kumar

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An Antenna, which remains the hub of technological development in Africa had been found to be a course that is been taught and designed in an abstract manner in some universities. One of the reasons attached to this is that the appropriate approach of teaching antenna design is not yet understood by many engineering academics in some universities in South Africa. Also, another problem reported is the main difficulty encountered when interpreting and applying some of the mathematical concepts learned into their practical antenna design course. As a result of this, some engineering experts classified antenna as a mysterious technology that could not be described by anybody using mathematical concepts. In view of this, this paper takes it as its point of departure in explaining what an antenna is all about with a strong emphasis on its mathematical modelling. It also argues that the place of modelling mathematical concepts into the teaching of engineering design cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, it explains the mathematical concepts adopted during the teaching of an antenna design course, the Strategies of modelling those mathematics concepts, the behavior of antennas, and their mathematics usage were equally discussed. More so, the paper also sheds more light on mathematical modelling in South Africa context, and also comparative analysis of mathematics concepts taught in mathematics class and mathematics concepts taught in engineering courses. This paper focuses on engineering academics teaching selected topics in electronic engineering (Antenna design), with special attention on the mathematical concepts they teach and how they teach them when teaching the course. A qualitative approach was adopted as a means of collecting data in order to report the naturalistic views of the engineering academics teaching Antenna design. The findings of the study confirmed that some mathematical concepts are being modeled into the teaching of an antenna design with the adoption of some teaching approaches. Furthermore, the paper reports a didactical-realistic mathematical model as a conceptual framework used by the researchers in describing how academics teach mathematical concepts during their teaching of antenna design. Finally, the paper concludes with the importance of mathematical modelling to the engineering academics and recommendations for further researchers.

Keywords: modelling, mathematical concepts, engineering, didactical, realistic model

Procedia PDF Downloads 154