<p> The purpose of the study was to investigate whether storytelling can be utilized as an instructional strategy to enhance undergraduate learners&rsquo; critical thinking outcomes in an online general education Cinema course in the community college setting. The documented inability of undergraduate online learners to display adequate critical thinking skills in general education courses was identified as the area in need of further scholarly investigation. Storytelling served as the instructional strategy of choice due to its unifying quality of communicating information while creating memorable and lasting experiences. The research question guiding this project asked whether there is a difference between the critical thinking outcomes of undergraduate learners enrolled in an online general education Cinema course who are exposed to storytelling as an instructional strategy and learners who are not. The quasi-experimental quantitative design was employed to collect the participants&rsquo; critical thinking outcomes. Two sections of an <i>Introduction to Cinema</i> course, taught by the same instructor, were selected; one section served as the experimental group and the other section as the control group. The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal II (Watson-Glaser II) measurement instrument was used as an end of semester assessment. The participants were undergraduate online general education learners. The independent samples <i>t-</i>test was utilized to compare the means of two unrelated groups with the independent variable consisting of two categorical, independent groups. The findings revealed that there was no significant difference between the critical thinking outcomes of the experimental and control groups. Nevertheless, the mean of the experimental group&rsquo;s critical thinking scores was higher than that of the control group and the standard deviation suggested a smaller range. Thus, there are indicators that if the number of the experimental group participants had been larger, there would have been a different result.</p>

<p> The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study was to investigate whether online interactive simulations would provide a positive improvement in learners&rsquo; ability to apply critical thinking skills in a dangerous work environment. The course in which an improvement in critical thinking skills was the target outcome was a course which addressed electrical safety-related work practices for electrical apprentices in dangerous work environments. The interactive simulation identified for this study provided different levels of high-fidelity simulations in a dangerous electrical environment, in which the learner was subjected to scenarios where that learner could face simulated injury or death. Critical thinking was measured by a post-Test instrument developed using a DELPHI process and designed to evaluate critical thinking skills in electrical scenarios presented in the simulation. An Independent Samples t-Test was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference, as determined by the post-Test, between a comparison group that did not use the simulation and an experimental group who did use the simulation. In this study, there was no significant difference between the comparison group and the experimental group on the post-Test. The theoretical framework examined in this study included constructivism, self-guided study, cognitive overload, and motivation; and the effect of each was discussed in the study. This research study identifies the need for additional research into the best use of interactive simulations in online course development.</p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to understand the perspectives of teachers and students regarding their use of specific e-textbooks in a higher education learning environment. The e-textbooks used by the teachers and students were examined in order to determine functions and features to focus on during the inquiry. This study was particularly interested in the design of e-textbooks and how they are used by both teachers and students in the learning process. The participants in the research were also prompted to suggest improvements to e-textbooks. </p><p> A case study approach was used as the methodology to examine three teachers represented three majors in three different colleges and a small sample of their students to gather information to answer the research questions. Qualitative data from multiple sources such as in depth interviews and document reviews were used to analyze and examine the overall utility of e-textbooks toward learning/teaching, and functions related to the instructional and navigational design of e-textbooks. </p><p> Results of this study showed that there was overall agreement that choosing books needs to be based on the quality of the material contained within the book, regardless of the format, print or electronic. E-textbooks facilitate teachers&rsquo; and students&rsquo; interactions and access to the materials and resources. However, both teachers and students viewed their e-textbooks as supplementary materials, even thought these e-textbooks allowed them to interact with the text using different tools. One recurring finding was how flexible e-textbooks are in individualizing student learning. Recommendations by students/teachers included the improvement of page layout, the interface, increasing window size, providing more complex tasks, keeping up with technology, and insuring the quality of information within the e-textbook. Implications for future research include further investigation into the use of e-textbooks as supplementary materials, and whether printed texts are also being considered as supplementary. Finally, there are indications that advanced technology may be changing how students learn and if e-textbooks reflect this change. Further research into this possible change in ways that students learn would shed additional light on this question.</p>

<p>Scholars have focused the majority of differentiated instruction research on the effect that differentiation has on student achievement, but have overlooked whether or not the delivery method makes a difference on student achievement. Research questions: Is there a significant difference in Language Arts fluency total mean scores between first grade students who received software computerized differentiated instruction and first grade students who received differentiated instruction provided by the teacher without software? Is there a significant difference in Language Arts in comprehension total mean scores between first grade students who received software computerized differentiated instruction and first grade students who received differentiated instruction provided by the teacher without software? Archival records (128) were examined from a (BOY) and (MOY) mClass Dibels Next and mClass Dibels TRC assessments. There was a statistically significant difference between the students who utilized the Lexia program when compared to their counterparts that received traditional instruction for growth focusing on fluency and it was determined through an independent samples t-test. There was not a statistically significant difference between the students who utilized the Lexia program when compared to their counterparts that receive traditional instruction for growth focusing on comprehension. The results of the inferential tests determined that the students that received their differentiation from the software program had significantly higher growth results than their counterparts that received the differentiation from their classroom teachers in the area of fluency. For the area of comprehension, there was not a significant difference between the two groups.

<p> Described as sitting, &ldquo;&hellip;at the intersection of three current popular approaches to the improvement of teaching and learning &ndash; walkthroughs, [professional] networks, and district improvement strategies&rdquo; (City, Elmore, Fiarman, &amp; Teital, 2011, p. 4)- instructional rounds is designed to bridge the gap between educators and their instruction. At its core, instructional rounds rests upon the same premise as any other community of practice; however, this community of practice has developed a set of protocols and procedures that quickly establishes expectations of the group, group norms, and a common language. THS implemented school-based IR as a way for teachers to build relationships and a common language around instructional practice, while also reflecting on and refining classroom instruction. </p><p> This study explores the experiences of ten teachers in the lower school division of The Haverford School (THS) who are engaged in school-based instructional rounds (IR) groups. It aims to understand teachers&rsquo; perceptions of IR as aiding in the development of collaborative relationships, as well as the tensions and possibilities that exist around the implementation of IR in a school and how these factors may influence the development of collaborative relationships. Finally, this study explores factors influence the type of learning community that emerges in a school. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p>

<p> Current research uses effect size guidelines to determine if there is a small, medium, or large effect for group design interventions. A best practice methodology and guidelines for determining the effect size of an intensive intervention in a single-subject design have not been established. The present study identifies cut score guidelines for single-subject research designs to determine if the intervention had a small, medium, or large effect. This study examines the distribution of effect size, using the Percentage of Non-Overlapping Data (PNOD) and Cohen&rsquo;s d, for a large sample of intensive academic interventions. In addition, differences in distribution for varying environmental settings (e.g., clinic-based and school-based) and targeted skill areas (e.g., math, reading, and writing) are examined. This information will assist interventionists in selecting interventions, determining if an intervention is working, and if changes to an intervention should be considered.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different types of annotations on college students’ foreign language learning in the synchronous computer-mediated communication environment. One hundred and forty-seven second year students were randomly assigned to three conditions: text-only annotations, text + picture annotations, and no annotation. Results indicated that students who received the text-only annotations and the text + picture annotations significantly outperform students who had no access to any annotations on information comprehension and vocabulary learning. However, no significant differences between the two annotations groups were found. The findings, when examined in light of the previous research about computer-based multimedia learning, call into questions of instructional materials design and instructional support that should be provided to students during instruction. The study extended research on applying multimedia principles to different teaching and learning situations, specifically, the synchronous multimodal computer-mediated communication environment. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / June 2, 2017. / Includes bibliographical references. / Vanessa Dennen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Xufeng Niu, University Representative; Fengfeng Ke, Committee Member; James Klein, Committee Member.

Underrepresented (UR) university students approach postsecondary studies in multitudes; yet are minorities in the larger landscape. They are less prepared given sustained societal and systemic inequities, and face added obstacles to success and marginalization in postsecondary settings. To empower them and redress pervasive deficit framing, I evaluated the impacts of a distinctive training system in explicit metacognitive regulation (MR) on low performing, UR university students’ skills and agency. Metacognition, or “thinking about thinking” and self-regulation, the successful control of learning processes are critical to students’ learning and achievement. While institutionalized MR teachings characteristically occur in discipline specific or ‘learning to learn’ courses, the challenges of restricted access and stigmatization of UR students are also pervasive. MR training with explicit motivational theory as content, which is also discipline-flexible and culturally driven, is nonexistent. I used mixed data, bound in a descriptive case study to measure the impacts of this nuanced training. To determine initial impacts, I obtained the participants’ pre to post scores on the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and Self-Regulation Skills Inventory-Self Report. I interviewed participants six months after training as well, to investigate their extended applications of MR skill for agency. MRT participants significantly improved in MR skill initially and used such skills for agency in their academic lives in the two semesters after training. The students also exerted behaviors in their academic contexts to exemplify Bandura’s (1986) agency tenets – Intentionality, Forethought, Self-Reactiveness and Self-Reflectiveness. I attribute the MRT participants’ successes to the integration of explicit motivation theory topics, cultural relevance and context autonomy in training, with implications and recommendations to researchers and practitioners. I encourage future research studies evaluating such intentional MR training systems, which can subsidize agency within these culturally nuanced college learners. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / May 4, 2018. / Agency, Culture, Marginalized Students, Metacognition, Self-Regulation, Underrepresented Students / Includes bibliographical references. / James Klein, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maxine Jones, University Representative; Vanessa Dennen, Committee Member; Tamara Bertrand Jones, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the nine-step problem design process (Hung, 2009) to design a problem based learning course. I applied a descriptive case study approach to conduct design and development research (Richey & Klein, 2007). The study was conducted in the Malaysian teacher education setting. In this study, I served both as the researcher and instructional designer of the course. The instructor also involved as co-designer. The student participants were 25 preservice teachers enrolled in a video production course. Various data sources were collected such as a designer log, extant data, surveys, and interviews. The findings indicated that the nine-step problem design process was somewhat suitable in the context of this study due to conditions such as decision-making power, existing materials, lack of knowledge, unclear information of the steps, and time. Therefore, it is recommended that designers have client buy-in when deciding which design model or processes to follow and have some content expertise and experience designing problem based learning. It is also important to have subject matter expert involvement when using the steps to design problem based learning. In regards of participants’ perceptions, the instructor had positive views toward problem based learning and indicated her intention to use it again in the future. However, the instructor felt that designing problem based learning was a challenging and time-consuming task. Overall, the students found problem based learning to be interesting but challenging in terms of completing the video competition and reflection tasks. For future research, performance data such as students’ achievement and problem-solving skills should be collected to inform the effectiveness of the problems developed by using the nine-step problem design process. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / January 9, 2018. / 3C3R, Design and development research, Nine-step problem design process, Problem based learning / Includes bibliographical references. / James Klein, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jonathan Adams, University Representative; Vanessa Dennen, Committee Member; Allan Jeong, Committee Member.

Productive failure refers to an instructional strategy that tasks students with attempting to solve a complex and/or ill-structured problem prior to instruction about the topic. In their problem-solving attempts, the students are anticipated to fail. Failure is a subject of discussion in many theories related to learning (e.g., expertise and self-regulation). In these theories, failure is considered as a natural occurrence where the learners must identify a method to recover. However, recent literature has begun to investigate the efficacy of leading learners directly to experience failure as an instructional strategy. This study investigated the effectiveness of the instructional strategy “productive failure” in improving learners’ conceptual knowledge in chemistry. Productive failure is comprised of two phases, exploration and consolidation. Exploration refers to learners having the opportunity to generate multiple solutions to a problem (i.e., attempt to solve the problem through multiple representations). Consolidation refers to an event where learners refine, correct, and/or consolidate the knowledge generated in the exploration phase. The research on productive failure has traditionally used a complex and/or ill-structured problem during the exploration phase and teacher-led instruction in the consolidation phase. Thus, productive failure is defined as a preparation for future learning activity, in that the exploration phase prepares individuals to learn from the subsequent consolidation phase. Compared to other instructional strategies, productive failure has led to improved knowledge gains on concepts, whereas other learning outcomes result in minimal or no gain. While the efficacy of this approach has been documented throughout the literature, many of the learner characteristics moderating their success under this strategy have not been identified. The types of elements that lead to improved learning under this approach should relate to learners’ abilities to persist through the exploration phase and realize the connection among explored concepts during the consolidation phase. Two characteristics that fit these criteria are cognitive flexibility and need for cognition. Cognitive flexibility deals with a person’s ability to adapt to a learning situation and quickly restructure their way of thinking. Need for cognition refers to a learners’ disposition towards difficult activity. The purpose of this study was to document the effects of productive failure against direct instruction with practice on conceptual learning. Also, this study aimed to identify a moderating role between learners’ need for cognition and cognitive flexibility in their conceptual learning outcomes. In addition, the study investigated four exploratory hypotheses dealing with learners’ satisfaction and process variables of problem solving. The study occurred in an undergraduate chemistry course with 64 students enrolled at a research three university in the southeastern United States during the Fall 2017 semester. This study focused on the topic of chemical reactions, where learners were tasked with explaining molecular changes in a substance. Of the 64 students invited, 58 attended the session where the learners had an opportunity to consent. Of the 58 students, 52 consented to be a part of the study. Those 52 students were randomly assigned into one of the two conditions. Throughout the implementation of the study, six participants dropped out by not attending one or more sessions. This left a remaining 46 total students, with 24 in the direct instruction with practice condition and 22 in the productive failure condition. The difference between these groups was in the sequence of events. Learners in the productive failure condition were tasked to solve a complex problem before instruction on the topic (i.e., chemical reactions), whereas these events were reversed for participants in the comparison group. All participants completed five separate instruments: a demographic and background survey, the cognitive flexibility measure, the need for cognition measure, a satisfaction measure, and a knowledge test before and after instruction. In addition, information on learners’ problem solving performance (i.e., self-reported problem solving time and number of solutions generated) was gather in each group. A combination of t-tests and two-way ANOVAs were conducted to investigate the seven hypotheses laid out within this study. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the conditions in their posttest scores (i.e., conceptual learning). While cognitive flexibility approached being a significant predictor, neither it nor need for cognition were significant factors impacting learning in either group. The exploratory hypotheses indicated that cognitive flexibility impacted the amount of time learners spent on problem solving, while need for cognition had no impact. Finally, learners’ satisfaction on productive failure was not originally equivalent but in a delayed measure there was no significant differences among the groups. The implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 27, 2018. / chemistry, conceptual knowledge, instructional design, productive failure / Includes bibliographical references. / Aubteen Darabi, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil Charness, University Representative; James D. Klein, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.