<p> This qualitative multi-case study examined the instructional design and development processes utilized by instructional designers and designers by assignment in higher education that created mobile learning for iTunes U delivery. Current research into the instructional design practices for mobile learning delivery leaves a gap in the literature. This study aimed to identify the instructional design and development processes specific to mobile learning delivery within iTunes U. Ten participants from higher education were purposively selected for participation in the study. Each of the 10 participants met the selection criteria; participants designed or served on a design team that created an iTunes U course for a higher education audience. Five of the participants were instructional designers and the other five were instructional designers by assignment. Data was collected from three sources including the participants' iTunes U courses, sample model designs or processes, and in-depth participant interviews. The study identifies instructional strategies, instructional design processes, advantages, and constraints of instructional design and development for mobile learning through iTunes U delivery. Included in the findings is a design and development model for instructional design of mobile learning through iTunes U.</p>

<p> As online courses become more established, there has been a clear impetus to build interactivity, personalization, and real-time feedback into courses. Faculty and course designers have cast envious eyes at video and online games that engage and enthrall players for hours and some are experimenting with gamification&mdash;a blanket term that covers all manner of attempts to build student intrinsic motivation into online courses. In this study I analyze four cases of gamified online courses at accredited institutions of higher education. I've looked at game elements the course builders are including and whether this might be a means of progress toward educational and societal goals. My conclusion is that there is potential significantly to increase student engagement in the concept of gamifying online courses. I outline areas for future study by suggesting frameworks within which gamification might be further analyzed and assessed.</p>

<p> Employers highly value college graduates who have strong teamwork and interpersonal skills. In studies focused on employer priorities for college learning sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in 2008, 2010, and 2013, employers have stated that colleges should do more to prepare graduates to work effectively in a team-based work environment. Equally important is the empirical research which has demonstrated that cooperative learning has the ability to significantly enhance student learning. These benefits include higher academic achievement, better longterm retention of what is learned, enhanced ability to transfer learning from one situation to another and a more positive attitude toward the academic subject being studied. Lastly, the study of teamwork is important to the study of leadership, without a team of followers there is no leadership. Many college and university faculty have students work in cooperative groups and assign team projects in their courses. Unfortunately, most faculty do not realize that the development of effective teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities takes time, education and training. Students need to be taught how to work cooperatively in teams; these skills do not naturally develop on their own. </p><p> The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the differences between what the research literature identifies as cooperative learning and teamwork instructional &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; and what postsecondary faculty in a variety of academic disciplines actually do when employing groups or teams in their courses. An additional research objective was to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to any differences discovered. In order to take a first step toward answering these questions a web-based survey of full-time faculty, both liberal arts and professional, employed at ten different Maryland colleges and universities was conducted.</p><p> An analysis of the data collected revealed that a preponderance of the faculty assigned cooperative work and team assignments for student centered reasons; they want their students to learn teamwork skills and course content. Yet the majority of the faculty implement very few of the cooperative learning and teamwork instructional &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; discussed in the academic literature. In other words, students were assigned to course teams with little forethought, preparation, or guidance from faculty and many of the assignments utilized were not properly designed for student group/team learning. The research suggests a majority of faculty harbor misconceptions about how students learn teamwork skills and do not realize that their own knowledge of cooperative learning and teamwork as well as of the best instructional practices was very limited. Lastly, the research uncovered several statistically significant relationships among the use of cooperative groups, team projects and instructional &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; and with faculty teamwork self-efficacy, collectivism values, motivation, attitude and to a lesser degree with faculty teamwork KSAs and demographics.</p><p> By gaining a better understanding of faculty confidence and competence to teach and coach effective cooperative learning and teamwork within their classrooms, colleges and universities will be able to develop meaningful instructional aids, mentoring programs and professional development opportunities which support faculty in the effective facilitation of meaningful group exercises and team projects in their courses. In so doing, the college student&rsquo;s attitude toward future team opportunities will be more positive and the likelihood increased that effective teamwork skills will be developed and more likely transferred to future professional situations.</p>

<p>The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of 8 North Carolina secondary teachers who received professional development and implemented concept-based instruction (CBI). Guided by adult learning theories including andragogy, transformational learning, and constructivist theory, interview questions addressed adults as self-directed learners who integrate learning as needed in daily situations, adults who reflect on personal perspectives to overcome misconceptions and institutional change as a result of a shift in beliefs, and adults who gain knowledge by making sense of new learning through individual experiences. The study reveals (a) teachers&rsquo; perceptions of the adequacy of professional development, (b) teachers&rsquo; self-assessments of progress in implementing CBI, (c) teachers&rsquo; perceptions of consistency in implementation across classrooms, and (d) supports and barriers that influenced the implementation of CBI. Study participants recognized CBI as the basis for the organization and structure of the units and lessons used to promote student engagement and understanding around concepts. The study findings indicate the degree of implementation of CBI depends on individual understanding and the level of priority to use CBI recognized by school leadership. Recommendations directed toward educational leaders encourage the organization of a comprehensive professional development design to include administrative support of teacher implementation of new instructional strategies. </p>

Abstract not available.

<p> Students in the United States have historically struggled with mathematics, especially with problems that require higher-order thinking Even struggling students, however, often show considerable interest in the arts. Unfortunately, the literature sheds almost no light on how the arts might be useful in helping students become proficient in rigorous mathematics.</p><p> I created <i>Beautiful, Beautiful Math (BBM)</i> to both intrigue students and require them to use higher-order thinking In <i>BBM</i> lessons, students interact with an object of art in order to learn mathematics. </p><p> My overarching research question was: "How can objects of art be used as effective catalysts for higher-order thinking in mathematics lessons?" In this study, "higher-order mathematical thinking" was operationally defined as having students actively engaged, working and talking together, on math tasks that require high levels of Webb's Depth of Knowledge. Three research sub-questions informed this study: 1. What do exemplary <i>Beautiful, Beautiful Math (BBM)</i> lessons look like? 2. To what extent do <i> BBM</i> lessons result in students' higher-order thinking in mathematics? 3. What are key design features and other implementation factors that need to be in place for BBM lessons to have the desired outcomes?</p><p> A constructivist learning philosophy coupled with recent cognitive psychology research informed my study. Using an action research methodology, three teachers participated in two cycles of creating <i>BBM</i> lessons. I collected eight sources of data: The Performance Assessment for Quality Teaching (PAQT) scores for each lesson, including a baseline lessons and two <i>BBM</i> lessons for each participant; video recordings of the <i>BBM</i> lesson implementations; lesson plans; audio recordings of planning sessions; audio recordings of post-lesson debriefs; audio recordings of my post-study interviews with the participants; student survey responses; and my researcher's journal. I then created tables of the PAQT scores merged with the lesson plans, which helped me search for patterns among the different lessons. Additionally, I wrote narratives of each teacher's experiences with <i>BBM</i>, which became a rich source of information.</p><p> Results show that <i>BBM</i> lessons increased higher-order thinking across all three teachers when compared with their "typical" baseline lesson. The cognitive rigor of the mathematical tasks showed especially strong growth. Additionally, students were highly engaged and active in mathematical discourse. Those <i>BBM</i> lessons determined to be "exemplary," based on their extremely high PAQT scores, had several important design features in common, including strong integration between the work of art and the mathematics content, the use of Visual Thinking Strategy questions, and a cycle of problem solving. Inquiry-based pedagogical practices and the culture and climate of the classroom and school were found to be additional keys to the success of <i> BBM</i> lessons.</p><p> Products from this study include: a set of instructions that will allow other teachers to create <i>BBM</i> lessons; a <i>BBM</i> workshop that I facilitated at the local art museum for math and art teachers from around our county; a collection of twelve <i>BBM</i> lessons for the museum's library and website; and collaboration between one of the teachers and myself to design a workshop for a fall NCTM conference.</p>

<p> Faculty-designers (educational professionals untrained in instructional design) have emerged as critical components in development of online courses and a need has arisen to ensure that faculty-designers possess appropriate skills and competencies to maintain quality of online courses.</p>

<p> Passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of combat-experienced veterans enrolling in institutions of higher learning. While these student-veterans bring unique perspectives to the classroom, they also face many challenges to their educational pursuits. Few educators are aware of how the effects of trauma or recalling combat experiences might support or hinder adult learning in the cognition, emotion, and social dimensions of learning. This qualitative multiple case study explored how combat experiences supported or hindered learning by graduate-level student-veterans within the content of the curriculum, as an incentive to learn the content of the curriculum, and for facilitating social interactions within the learning environment. Semi-structured interviews described how student-veterans perceived the use of their combat experiences within these three dimensions of learning. Ten purposefully drawn participants from graduate-level student-veteran volunteers attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas described a variety of military and educational experiences. Data were analyzed and coded using qualitative data analysis software to reveal themes within the perceptions of the participants and across participant cases. All participants described how their combat experiences supported their learning; eight of 10 described how their combat experiences hindered their learning. Themes supported the theoretical proposition that combat experiences could support student learning through the cognitive, emotional, and social interactions of student-veterans with the curriculum and other students. Participants also described how combat experiences and the military lifestyle could hinder learning in all three dimensions suggesting educators should consider adjusting instructional approaches for some student-veterans. Negative cases to the themes were reported. The study added to an understanding of Illeris' learning theory and the application of contemporary adult education models with graduate-level student-veterans. Recommendations for use of the findings in the classroom were made. Proposals for further research included case studies of student-veterans who have experienced flashbacks during instruction, student-veterans at the graduate and undergraduate level for further comparison, and other traumatized student groups such as law enforcement, medical, and first responders.</p>

This study investigated how playing different types of video games was associated with different values of metacognitive awareness. The target population was first and second-year college students. The study used a survey methodology that employed two self-reporting instruments: the first to estimate a metacognitive-awareness index (MAI), and the second (developed in this study) to: (a) assess a respondent's video- and non-electronic-game experience (including both video and non-electronic games), (b) estimate the time spent playing video games (time played) over the prior two years, and (c) characterize the different types of video games that were played (to determine gamer type). / Out of 759 surveys distributed in 29 classes (for first and second-year courses), there were 175 respondents. For the main analysis, 80 respondents were eligible because they were video gamers, aged 18 to 21 years, and undergraduates. Juniors and seniors were included to mitigate the risk of too few respondents. The analysis was based on a 2 (time played) x 3 (gamer type) ANOVA for MAI. Gamer type was based on the predominant type of video games played among action games, strategy games, and coherent world games (CWGs). A CWG was defined as a role-playing game (RPG) in which a player explored a consistent and complex world to solve challenges or an entity-development game (EDG) in which the player developed, managed, and operated a complex entity in a consistent world or context. The three gamer types were action, strategy, and CWG. / The initial analysis revealed that action gamers and strategy gamers could not be objectively distinguished. Thus, three new gamer types that were consistent with the study's objectives were specified. The first type played predominantly EDGs; the second, RPGs; and the third, neither EDGs nor RPGs as often. The third type was assumed to play predominantly non-coherent world games (NCWGs). Thus, the three gamer types were EDG, RPG, and NCWG. / The results showed that EDG gamers were associated with a significantly higher MAI than NCWG gamers. F(2, 77) = 4.55; p &lt; .05; partial eta2 = .11; and power = .76. There was not a significant association for time played or the interaction of time played and gamer type. In a secondary analysis, comprising 64 gamers, aged 18 to 21 years, and first and second-year students only, the results showed that CWG and EDG gamers were associated with a significantly higher MAI than NCWG gamers. F(3, 60) = 4.29; p &lt; .01; partial eta2 = .18; and power = .84. / Two possible hypotheses for the results were that playing CWGs foster metacognitive awareness or that those with a higher metacognitive awareness preferred CWGs. Because the methodology used a one-time survey, neither hypothesis could be confirmed or denied. Due to coverage and nonresponse errors, the sample results were not generalizable. Nevertheless, the results provided evidence of an association between CWG gamers and a higher metacognitive awareness than for NCWG gamers. The implication was that the study could inform methodology design for future research to develop an empirically-based taxonomy on game characteristics, organized according to their association with metacognitive awareness.

<p> Because the field of educational development (also known as faculty development, academic development, and staff development) is relatively new, very little is known about the competencies required for those who work in the field. Additionally, there are no formal pathways or means of formal preparation for educational developers. This study utilized a mixed-methods research design to explore the competencies required for a leadership role in the field of educational development. </p><p> The first part of the study sought to identify these competencies by using the Delphi technique to survey experts in the field. The second part explored whether these competencies were currently represented through content analysis of job postings for educational development leaders. Twenty-two (22) experts from the field of educational development in the United States were selected using purposive sampling and snowball technique. Participants engaged in four rounds of questionnaires during the Delphi survey and generated 66 knowledge, skills, abilities and values required for an educational development leadership position. The expert panel did not agree that 7 of these items belonged on the competency list. An analysis of job postings for educational development leaders revealed an additional 8 competencies not identified in the Delphi study. </p><p> Analysis and further refinement of these competencies generated during the Delphi survey and content analysis of job postings resulted in 10 areas of knowledge, grouped into four categories: classroom or disciplinary-based knowledge, educational and instructional knowledge, organizational knowledge, and higher education system knowledge. Nineteen (19) skills or abilities were also identified and grouped into five categories: administrative duties, educational development services, enhancing organizational culture around teaching and learning, professional and scholarly development, and individual and soft skills. Eleven (11) values also emerged. </p><p> The research from this study indicates that there is indeed, a formal body of knowledge attributable to the field of educational development, as well as a distinct set of skills and abilities required for successful developers. Better understanding these will help further professionalize the field of educational development and create a formal pathway or means of preparation for those seeking to enter the field.</p>