Abstract Since the establishment of World Wide Web in 1989, the life cycle of knowledge has been greatly shortened, which forces people to be more efficient in the creation, value-adding, update, exchange and use of knowledge. Thus, how to ¡§digitalize¡¨ and ¡§itemize¡¨ knowledge and the learning contents to form a more efficient knowledge cycle has become a crucial concern for one¡¦s competitiveness. Facing the new era of high-speed info, the traditional teaching approach has failed to meet the requirements of the ever-changing learning environment. Therefore, both the design and method of teaching should be changed in a great way in order to keep up with the ongoing development of the entire environment. We have to re-evaluate both the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet¡¦s influences on teaching, and develop a corresponding design module and assessment method, instead of merely digitalizing the traditional teaching materials, or just leaving it alone. If the learning contents could achieve the goal of being Reusable, Accessible, Durable, Interoperable and Adaptable, 50 ~ 80% of expense on developing new teaching materials will be saved. As a result, the main emphasis of this study lies on developing an Object-based E-learning Instructional Design Model which is adaptable to the itemization of conceptual learning. It will discuss the feasibility and effect of employing different multi-media and Example & Enquiry Strategy in the design of Internet Teaching Material Design. This study utilized Teaching Experiment Design, Pre- and Post- experiment, questionnaire assessment in gathering necessary information, which is concluded as below: 1. Teaching materials designed according to the Object-based E-learning Instructional Design Model is easier to understand, interest-provoking, and is adaptable to changes made along side with current events. 2. No significant difference shows among different media platforms of teaching materials generated under Object-based E-learning Instructional Design Model. 3. The ¡§simulation¡¨ method in ¡§Example & Enquiry Strategy¡¨ performed better effect than ¡§instructional games¡¨on the ¡§satisfaction of example & enquiry¡¨. Those who had experienced interaction and enquiry strategy have better learning grades than those who had not. 4.Personal traits and contents of teaching materials have remarkable interference with the learning effect of Object-based E-learning Materials. Keywords¡GObject-based¡BE-learning¡BInstructional Design¡BConceptual Learning¡BTeaching Achievement

The objective of this study is to apply Computer-generated imagery for knowledge and skills in daily life. There are some Computer-generated imagery study on traditional education training; however, fewer professional image processing courses of Synchronous Learning Networking are carried out in practice. The feasibility of using lecture video or practice on line in teaching Computer-generated imagery concepts is important. How do teachers examine students¡¦ performance and make good use of Synchronous Learning Networking? In this study, we will propose the following dimensions to discuss: (1) the difference on Computer-generated imagery between Synchronous Learning Networking and traditional teaching (2) the difficulty on Computer-generated imagery when teaching and learning (3) how to make better performance on Computer-generated imagery under Synchronous Learning Networking. Comparative Case Study is conducted at Tainan Training Center and LMS (Learning Management System) of K12 digital school for the adults who actively study Computer-generated imagery by the means of traditional learning and E-learning. We put Computer-generated imagery under traditional teaching and Synchronous Learning Networking, and we make questionnaires for examining the detailed factors regarding to the performance of Computer-generated imagery.The results indicates that lecture on Synchronous Learning Networking is something about practice on line, whiteboard, slides show, top desk share and homepage browse with office hours and paper work in replace of real discussion. Sometimes teachers and students are meeting the information and interaction delay under Synchronous Learning Networking. Therefore, we are offering seven suggestions to get Computer-generated imagery under Synchronous Learning Networking improved: (1) Teachers suggest that the standard of hardware and Net environment is required. (2) Students should develop active attitude for learning under Synchronous Learning Networking. (3) Teachers should perform on line teaching and stream video is auxiliary. (4) Multiple material for the topic is available for students to choose and adjust their learning model. (5) Dividing into groups is not good for teaching and office hour or guest board is much better for discussion and interaction. (6) Teachers should create new Computer-generated imagery courses to inspire students¡¦ motivation. (7) Continued materials and platform for students to review and interact are required.

<p> The virtual 3D world of Second Life continues to grow as an educational platform for higher education. Instructional designers and faculty designers by assignment in this multi-case study described the constructivist instructional strategies, design models, and processes, utilized to create constructivist collaborative-learning environments in Second Life. A gap was identified in the literature surrounding the use of constructivist design and the effects on various alternative-learning environments, such as Second Life. Ten participants from higher education were purposively chosen to participate in the study. All of the 10 participants met the criteria that included five years experience in instructional design and two years experience designing in Second Life. Five participants were instructional designers and the other five were faculty designers by assignment. Data were collected from four sources that included in-depth semi-structured participant interviews, an observational protocol guide, and documents. The same observation protocol guide was used to examine Second Life sites while the participants were present. The study identified the instructional design models, processes, strategies, advantages, and challenges for instructional design in Second Life. Included in the findings is an instructional design model for use in virtual worlds such as Second Life. .</p>

This mixed-methods case study centered on an online professional development (PD) event targeting university-level teacher educators and higher education discipline-specific instructors. The topic of the online PD was disciplinary literacy and the promoted use of metacognitive modeling via think-aloud as an instructional strategy for secondary students in various discipline areas. The study aimed to understand how the use of the same instructional strategy by the PD facilitators affected participants in terms of changes to (a) their knowledge about and attitudes towards reading instruction in the disciplines (e.g., mathematics, social studies, science, the arts); (b) their beliefs regarding learner-centered/non learner-centered classrooms; (c) their general teaching philosophies; and (d) their self-efficacy to use and teach the strategy to others. Specifically, it looked for any relationships between these changes, their intention to apply the same instructional strategy in their own classes and/or teach their pre- and in-service teachers the strategy, and participant perceptions on the importance of the strategy to their learning. The online PD was accessible over a period of four weeks in the winter/spring of 2012. Ten participants from various institutions took part in this study by completing surveys, submitting metacognitive modeling samples pre- and post- PD, and participating in interviews. All participants experienced change during this PD event through the acquisition of new knowledge, while many showed resultant changes to their attitudes and beliefs. Changes in knowledge were most evident in the pre- and post- metacognitive modeling samples the participants provided, with increased scores indicating improvement in their ability to use the instructional strategy. Most evidence of other change is found throughout their interviews. Overall, the participants rated and ranked the metacognitive modeling example videos provided by the PD facilitators as nearly integral to their learning. The largest limitation of the study was the small number of participants. Discussion discerns the nature of teacher change, provides suggestions for future PD design/research, and asserts that the goal of PD, traditionally to result in changed teaching practices in the classroom, instead be to provide the knowledge and initial experience educators can use as a foundation to change in all areas. / text

Technology-enhanced instruction has a great potential to support the learning process. However, the engaging power of technology can become a distracting factor if it is not deployed properly. Unfortunately, the current literature in instructional design and user interface design is broad and not easily accessible by construction faculty. This dissertation presents a framework to guide the development of technology-assisted instruction for the classroom. The framework developed is called EDDE which stands for four conceptual steps involved in the creation of a technology-supported teaching tool: Explore, Design, Develop, and Evaluate. EDDE contains a novel synthesis of the literature in instructional design and user interface design as well as survey data of student subject matter knowledge and information technology background. A computerized tool called EDDEaid makes accessible the large store of knowledge supporting EDDE. Assessment of EDDEaid is presented with evaluation results from nine university faculty that teach construction subjects as well as through critique of and changes to an existing interactive learning tool. EDDE and EDDEaid are found to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the deployment of technology-enhanced instruction and provide support to construction faculty developing learning tools. / text

<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>

<p> This work is a case study focused on the practices of a comprehensive college access program that serves students in south Los Angeles that has maintained a high school graduation rate of 100% and a college matriculation rate of 98% since 1997. This study sought to utilize the voice and experience of students of color to discern the factors that are most effective in helping urban students of color and in turn, inform the future work of the college access community. The study was driven by the following research questions: a) which practices of a south Los Angeles college access program most impact a student's ability to matriculate to college? and b) How can the epistemology of urban students inform the work of college access programs? Through observations, interviews, journal exercises and document review, this study ranked the practices in order of importance according to the participants, and identified that structure and accountability are essential to the success of this college access program. In addition, the study revealed that the students of this program succeed academically because the program, provides students with structure, access and guidance; because it immerses its students in a college-going culture; because it offers access to academic and cultural resources; because it sets high academic expectations; because it engages the family of origin and creates a family within the program; and because it enhances the self-concept of its students: college access programs see students as scholars. </p><p> Using funds of knowledge as a framework, this study also introduced the original term, "masked epistemologies" which refers to the shared experiences of college access students once they enter college. The concept of masked epistemologies refers to the experience of students who enter college via a college access program, who go on to feel like her ways of knowing, shaped by the unique experience of being a high achieving student participant of a college access program from an urban setting, are disregarded in the new, unknown terrain of college, and must be masked or concealed, only to be revealed in environments considered safe. The students' epistemologies go from being highly praised and admired, to being ignored to the point of invisibility. This study found that students of this college access program struggle with adapting to the social realm of college because they have not been exposed to class differences throughout their tenure in the program.</p>

<p> As discussed in past literature, high school students often lack motivation towards learning (Crow, 2007; Lumsden, 1995). This lack of motivation interferes with student learning (Lumsden,1995; Vansteenkiste, Simons, Lens, Soenens, &amp; Matos, 2005). At the middle school and collegiate level, Socratic Seminar is seen to provide motivation towards learning in students (Copeland, 2005; Mee, 2000; Strong, 1996); however, there is a need for research on student motivation as a result of Socratic Seminar at the high school level. </p><p> The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which, if any, differences exist in student motivation towards learning among students receiving English instruction via Socratic Seminar versus traditional lecture at the high school level. It was hypothesized that Socratic Seminar provides a better opportunity for students to experience the IV pillars of motivation as described by John Keller (1987a)--attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction--than traditional lecture does. </p><p> A quantitative correlational design was implemented with a cross-sectional data collection administered post-implementation of traditional lecture 3 times and post-implementation of Socratic Seminar 3 times over an 8-week period with 139 11th grade English students at Lutheran High School of Orange County. The responses were viewed as a group through the application of chi-squares. Next, chi-squares were applied to analyze the group's results for each question from the modified CIS. Then, the results were analyzed via Cramer's V within the individual constructs of motivation as described by the CIS, which include: attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction. </p><p> The results displayed Socratic Seminar as providing a more motivating experience towards learning in certain areas of motivation while lecture was seen to be more motivating for other areas of motivation. It was originally believed the application of Socratic Seminar would provide higher student motivation toward learning. From these results, it was learned that teachers must seek a balanced approach in their teaching by applying both Socratic Seminar and lecture. In a broader sense, the lesson learned is that different teaching strategies motivate students in different ways and a wide range of teaching strategies ought to be applied.</p>

<p> The United States currently lags behind globally in the areas of math and science. In order to compete and meet the skills necessary for the future workforce, it has become necessary to seek out instructional strategies that will increase student achievement in those academic areas. With the wide variety of diversity occurring in public schools today, there is a need to identify how to best meet and challenge our students academically in order to close the achievement gap between different genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic status (SES), and ability levels. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of accelerated mathematics instruction on the student achievement of heterogeneous groups of sixth graders as measured on standardized assessments. In addition, this study looked at individual effects on subpopulations including special education, gifted, ethnicities, genders, and low Socio- Economic Status (SES). </p><p> The research design methodology used was quasi experimental non-equivalent groups. The study took place in a suburban school district located in the Southwestern United States comprised of over 32,000 students. Control and experimental groups were compared utilizing quantitative data collected from the mathematics subsection on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). The study compared heterogeneously grouped sixth grade students at six schools using quantitative data collected for three years, from 2010-2012. The control group presented on-grade level mathematics curriculum to their sixth grade students. The experimental group accelerated the mathematics instruction of their students by one year or equivalent of seventh grade level. </p><p> The findings indicated there was a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups for the areas of SES, special education, gifted, gender and ethnicity. These data suggest that students taught a year ahead of their grade level, benefitted from this treatment rather than receiving the standard sixth grade mathematics instruction. </p><p> As a result of this study, teachers may be able to determine whether to include more students of varying ability in higher level mathematics courses rather than isolating advanced instruction to high ability students only. The study findings will also assist in identifying whether the acceleration method of instruction has any effect in order to be considered an option to the traditional method of remediation for low achieving students.</p>

<p> Since being introduced into classrooms in the late 1990s, online instruction has grown substantially both in student enrollment and the number of programs offered at state, district, and multi-district levels. Although having been applied liberally to all core subjects and many supplemental subjects, online instruction has yet to be utilized extensively in the musical arts. Courses in music performance present a unique set of technological and logistical challenges when adapted to an online setting. Nevertheless, private music teachers have utilized Internet resources extensively. Similar techniques applied to public school music programs, however, have yet to be explored thoroughly. Utilizing a combination of asynchronous instruction and synchronous instruction for teaching online music performance courses offers a potential for study and development. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to establish the feasibility of an online music performance course that included both asynchronous and synchronous instruction. An approach that utilized both a multimedia blog format and real-time video instruction was developed, implemented, and delivered to a limited group of trombone students as a pilot study. Nine students participated in online trombone lessons that focused primarily upon the development of performance fundamentals. The delivery of content was assessed to determine a feasible format for music performance instruction in an online setting. Although typical technological shortcomings were experienced during instructional settings, students were able to identify, explain, and apply concepts gleaned from the blog and real-time video lessons. </p><p> Internet-based resources have been applied to independent and collegiate music performance instruction; pedagogical approaches, however, have not been developed for use in secondary level online learning programs. Consequently, online music performance instruction has not evolved as rapidly as online instruction of core academic subjects. As technological advances become available, the possibility for delivering online instruction in areas of the performing arts, and especially in music performance, becomes more feasible and likely will be integrated into the curricula of many online learning programs. Until such time, the implementation of viable online instructional models is essential for the development of traditional music performance courses.</p>