Online learning (web-based education) continues to have a significant impact on higher education. Increasingly, students seek fully online programs in a broad range of disciplines at the undergraduate and graduate levels. College faculty have produced increasingly more research focusing on how to teach online, including best practices and appropriate web-based course pedagogy. Faculty and college administrators regularly discuss what curricula is appropriate for online learning versus what curricula does not adapt well into online courses. This is especially true for course content in the psychomotor domain which is typically taught in live lab-based courses and traditional hands-on focused classroom presentations. A few of the significant challenges for instructors teaching psychomotor skills in the online course environment include: how to appropriately assess student learning of hands-on skills, how to confirm psychomotor skill acquisition, and how to verify the student can teach the skills to other individuals. This research provides a qualitative focus within a problem solving case study that introduces a possible solution for assessing fitness assessment and exercise training techniques learned in a web-based course. This paper presents background information on the use of web-based learning in the general sphere of higher education and outlines the current range of online education courses in fitness, exercise science, health, and wellness education. This inquiry focuses on a case study analysis exploring the utilization of webcam videos as new assessment tools implemented in a fully web-based course, PRF 711: An Integrated Approach to Fitness and Wellness, offered in an Exercise Science and Health Promotion Graduate Program at California University of Pennsylvania. The web-based graduate program offers several psychomotor skill based courses, recently developed at the University. The research results are analyzed supported by survey data, mining data from assessment documents, online classroom observation, and interviews of several students, the instructor, and three subject matter professionals. One goal of this study was to identify the entry-level technology skills, professional experience, client accessibility, and confidence with technology of students enrolled in the PRF 711 course. Another goal was to analyze the experiences and feedback of five students, who used webcams to submit online video/audio course assignments focused on hands-on content in the psychomotor domain, more specifically, fitness assessment and exercise activities. The five students were asked to describe experiences, suggestions, and questions regarding the processes and protocols used during video set-up, video recording, project submission, and instructor feedback. An additional goal was to analyze the experiences of the instructor who implemented the video project protocols, evaluated student video projects, and faux-graded student performance. The study also analyzed interview data collected from a variety of stakeholders who made observations and suggestions regarding the video assessment protocol, the assessment instruments, as well provided feedback at the end of the course regarding summative evaluation of the video assessment intervention. The stakeholders interviewed included the Director of Training and, the Director of Content Development for the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), who were jointly responsible for designing much of the curriculum used in the PRF 711: An Integrated Approach to Fitness and Wellness course. Additionally, feedback and insight were analyzed from an instructional designer. Constant comparison of stakeholder feedback and analytic induction were used to organize and categorize the data. Study results show that the new webcam video assessment protocol is a viable solution for assessing hands-on skills in the PRF 711 online course. Several challenges, issues, and solutions are addressed. The study results will be used at California University of Pennsylvania to enhance assessment protocols using webcam videos in courses that require the learning of hands-on and psychomotor skills. The study results may also be used as a conceptual framework to examine how web-based courses in several disciplines, with a significant amount of psychomotor objectives, could include online video assessment techniques. The implications of this research for healthcare/fitness educators, students, college administrators, and instructional designers is reviewed in the discussion. Suggestions for areas of further research and future practice are included.

This study is an exploration of participation, community, and mathematical understanding in an open, online, calculus help forum. These forums, populated by members from around the world, are locations where students post queries from their coursework and receive assistance from volunteer tutors. The site under investigation has a spontaneous participation structure, meaning that any forum member can respond to a query and contribute to an ongoing discussion. From earlier work, we know that such forums foster mathematical dialogue, contain exchanges with sophisticated pedagogical moves, and exhibit a strong sense of community. In this study, we delve deeper into the functional aspects of activity (such as student positioning and pedagogical moves), the benefits that accrue from participation in tutoring as a communal activity, and the mathematical understanding that is evident in the way problems on limit and related rates are framed and solutions constructed. Based on an observational methodology, we find that the forum provides tutoring for students and support for tutors that is unique from our expectations of other learning environments, such as one-on-one tutoring and computer-based tutoring systems. Students position themselves with authority in the exchanges by making assertions and proposals of action, questioning or challenging others proposals, and indicating when resolution has been achieved. Tutors, who generally have more experience and expertise than students, provide mathematical guidance, and, in exemplary exchanges, draw the student into making a mathematical discovery. The dedication of tutors to the forum community was evident in the presence of authentic, honest mathematical practices, in the generous provision of alternative perspectives on problems, and in the sincere correction of errors. Some student participants picked up on these aspects of community and expressed excitement and appreciation for this taste of mathematical discourse. The primary contribution of the tutors was their assistance in supporting students as they constructed productive framings for the exercises, and this was the help that students were most in need of. As a result of eavesdropping on this public conversation, we conclude that the forums are a public conversation that should be listened to by educational researchers, teachers, and designers of tutoring systems.

This study examined cognitive relationships between the fair-share and center-of-balance conceptualizations of the arithmetic mean. It also hypothesized the use of these conceptualizations as blending spaces for the mathematical and statistical domains within a proposed knowledge structure for the arithmetic mean. Twenty-nine undergraduate liberal arts students completed pre/post verbal protocols with written solutions to arithmetic mean problems. The problems emphasized either the fair-share or center-of-balance conceptualization, or mathematical concepts related to the arithmetic mean. The participants were divided into three groups: those that received fair-share instruction, those that received center-of-balance instruction, and a control group. The data was analyzed using statistical methods, including contingency tables and ANCOVA, to investigate the effects fair-share and center-of-balance instruction had on knowledge of fair-share, center-of-balance, and mathematical concepts regarding the arithmetic mean. A qualitative analysis of the verbal protocols helped explain any statistically significant connection between the fair-share and center-of-balance conceptualizations, or between either conceptualization and mathematical concepts related to the arithmetic mean. Analysis of the data indicated participants increased their knowledge of the fair-share conceptualization after receiving instruction that was focused on center-of-balance. Similarly, participants increased their knowledge of the center-of-balance conceptualization after receiving instruction that was focused on fair-share. In either case, the concept, 'the sum of the deviations from the mean is zero,' was used to transfer knowledge between the conceptualizations. In addition, instruction in either the fair-share or center-of-balance conceptualization increased knowledge of the mathematical concepts related to the arithmetic mean. However, only specific mathematical concepts were impacted by each of the conceptualizations. The results suggest that both the fair-share and center-of-balance conceptualizations are pertinent to pedagogical decisions regarding the arithmetic mean. Furthermore, the concept, 'the sum of the deviations from the mean is zero,' is a viable cognitive connection between the fair-share and center-of-balance conceptualizations.

Researchers have long acknowledged the important role that vocabulary plays in assisting in reading comprehension. Because of the importance of vocabulary, it is necessary to determine how to ensure that all students are making adequate vocabulary gains. The purpose of this study was to determine the necessary amount of instruction for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to make vocabulary gains. This study considered if providing additional robust vocabulary instruction was beneficial for students. In addition, this study looked to determine if there was a correlation between students standardized vocabulary test scores prior to instruction and amount of instruction provided to make gains in vocabulary knowledge and if there was a correlation between students posttest scores and amount of instruction provided. The results of the study indicated that additional vocabulary instruction was beneficial for all students who received it. In addition, this study revealed that there was a significant negative correlation between students standardized vocabulary test scores and amount of instruction and there was also a significant negative correlation between students posttest scores and amount of instruction. There are several implications for both the classroom and future research deriving from this study. In the classroom, teachers must be prepared to provide additional vocabulary instruction for students who do not master the taught words at the conclusion of initial instruction. Future research must consider guidelines to determine the appropriate amount of vocabulary instruction to provide for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, continued research is necessary in the area of ameliorating the proven vocabulary differences in students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and their more affluent peers.

The Effects of Rich Vocabulary Instruction on Students Expository Writing Lisa Marie Yonek, Ed.D University of Pittsburgh, 2008 Two approaches to vocabulary instruction, rich instruction and traditional instruction were examined to compare their effectiveness in assisting students in developing word knowledge and transfer of that knowledge to use of target words in expository writing. Fourth grade students in an urban school district were taught twelve Tier Two words over the course of five days using either rich instruction or traditional instruction. Rich instruction consisted of exposing students to both definitional and contextual information, multiple exposures and active or deep processing of each word. Traditional methods included dictionary definitions, matching activities, cloze sentence activities and sentence writing. Outcomes were measured on tasks of word meanings, depth of word knowledge, writing quality and number of target words used in writing. There were no differences between groups on knowledge of word meanings but students who received the rich instruction outperformed students who received the traditional instruction on all other measures suggesting that rich instruction is more effective in helping students to deepen word knowledge and utilize newly learned words in complex literacy acts such as writing. Interpretations and implications are discussed.

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to investigate the importance of the use of a support system in which the math text is read to the students through the use of a text to speech engine (audio support system) embedded in a cognitive tutoring system. In addition this study investigated whether the use of an audio support system had any effect on the word problem solving performance of three struggling readers when they were presented with a seven-step process to solve word problems. Pre-assessments were carried out to determine whether the participants had reading difficulties in the areas of decoding, fluency and/or comprehension that may affect their math word problem solving performance. The results indicated that the embedded devices did facilitate the word problem solving skills of these struggling readers. The reading barriers were reduced or removed and the program allowed for individualization. The results also indicated that the participants utilized these embedded devices differently; however, there was not a significant difference comparatively in how these devices were used. Whether the students were successful in learning from this cognitive tutoring system is inconclusive. This program is written in such a way that the students are expected to solve the word problems correctly because the embedded devices made it almost impossible for the students to fail. Although the cognitive tutoring system appears to be an effective approach for providing ongoing practice and individualization, it appears that students would benefit from direct instruction from the classroom teacher who can help the students review their work, identify their own mistakes, make the necessary corrections, and bring about a more thorough understanding of the problem solving process.

Many prior studies conducted in museums have focused primarily on exhibits as the main objects for learning. Less progress has been made in studying signage as another meaning-making tool in museums. The present study was designed to understand the role of signage in family learning by answering the following research questions, How does signage about exhibit content or interaction strategies affect parents and childrens learning and their engagement? and What is the role of parent prior knowledge on parents and childrens learning and their engagement? To address these questions, 45 parent-child dyads with children aged six to seven years were recruited to engage with two exhibits about cars. Fifteen parent-child dyads were assigned to each of three conditions, created by two different types of signage: 1) Content and interaction signage condition, 2) Content signage condition, and 3) No signage condition. In each condition, eight parents with low knowledge in the car domain and seven parents with high knowledge were recruited. Findings showed that parents and children learned and engaged differently across the three signage conditions. Both children and parents in the conditions with signage learned more than children and parents in the no signage condition. By using information from signage, parents in the two signage conditions were able to identify the content of the exhibit more quickly and to shape appropriate educational messages in their conversations with children. Findings also showed that parents with high knowledge were more likely to have the exhibit-focused engagement, which was often oriented to their own interpretation and not always beneficial for childrens learning. However, by showing that parent-child dyads in the content and interaction signage condition were most likely to operate and observe the exhibit appropriately and most likely to describe evidence and make appropriate inferences, this study suggested that the interaction signage can be a way to support parents with high knowledge. This study suggested that signage is not only a tool for communicating about the learning opportunities in the exhibit but it can be also a tool for mediating the usage of the exhibit.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of questioning during a read-aloud and questioning after a read-aloud, using science-related informational tradebooks with first-and second-graders. Three thematically-related tradebooks were used, each portraying a scientist involved in authentic investigation. Students in two first/second grade classrooms were engaged in three read-aloud sessions. One group was engaged in discussion of text ideas during reading, while the other group engaged in discussion only at the conclusion of the read-alouds. After-story posttest results revealed minimal differences in scores between groups. However, students in the during-reading group demonstrated statistically significant differences in their pretest/posttest gain scores. This suggests that the cumulative effect of exposing students to multiple texts focusing on the work scientists do did affect students building a robust representation of text ideas. Furthermore, these results suggest that pairing thematically-related texts with discussion during the read-aloud, cuing students to important ideas and encouraging text-to-text connections as they are encountered, was more beneficial than engaging students in similar discussion after reading.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the existing literature on the foreign language learning of students with LLDs by conducting a comprehensive investigation of the performance of three students in middle school foreign language classes in a suburban school district in southwestern Pennsylvania. More specifically, this study documents (a) student writing over time, (b) student and teacher perceptions, (c) classroom interactions, and (d) the instructional practices that teachers use to accommodate these three middle school students with (LLDs) during whole group class instruction. As previous research has demonstrated a relationship between classroom interactions and student performance in a foreign language, this study also examines how the writing performance of three students with LLDs relates to the classroom interactions and instructional practices that their teachers implement to accommodate students with LLDs. To conduct this study, several data sources were collected and analyzed including student writing assessments over time, student and teacher interviews, and classroom observations. To link these multiple sources of data that were collected, an Activity Theory was applied as an analytical framework. This sociocultural theoretical framework was applied to this study because it provides a method to explain the multiple aspects of a childs environment that contribute to his/her learning. By referring to Activity Theory, relationships between classroom components such as classroom interactions, student and teacher perceptions, mediational tools, and student performance were established and explained. Although this study examines a small group of three students and its specificity prevents generalizing to all students with LLDs who participate in foreign language programs, the findings and implications contribute to a grounded conceptual understanding of students with LLDs and their abilities and challenges in learning a foreign language. By contributing to the conceptual understanding of the foreign language learning of students with LLDs, the findings of this study assist school districts in making decisions regarding enrollment of students with LLDs in foreign language programs, designing curricula and instructional accommodations for students with LLDs, developing professional development for foreign language teachers, and informing the public on the issue of students with LLDs and foreign language learning.

In the current era of educational reform and accountability, co-teaching has emerged as a popular and widely implemented service delivery model for students with special needs. The intent of this inquiry was to examine the roles and responsibilities assumed by the elementary special educator during the practice of co-teaching. Using naturalistic inquiry, 11 pairs of co-teachers in 32 elementary language arts and mathematics classes were observed and the activities of the special educator were documented at 5-minute intervals. Results indicated that the special educator assumed several different roles while co-teaching. These included team teaching, providing individual or small group support, and lead teaching. Overall, the special educator spent the majority of his or her time as the lead instructor of a heterogeneous group of students formed by the special and general educators dividing the class into groups. The special educator then either taught his or her group within the general education classroom or in a separate classroom, frequently the special education classroom. The roles and responsibilities assumed by the special educator also differed by subject matter.