<p> Keywords: Gamification, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, academic performance, mathematics, test scores, <i>Edufocal</i>&copy; </p><p> Children have been playing computer games for many years. Today's children are very technologically savvy compared to 10 years ago. However, no concrete research was done in the Caribbean and in Jamaica to be specific, that investigates the impact of gamification on student academic scores and motivation. Gamification is used to describe the use of gaming mechanics in non-game contexts that can be used to influence behavior, improve motivation and increase engagement (Marczewski, 2013). The present study is an experiment to investigate the effects of a gamified software intervention in mathematics achievement among sixth-grade students.</p><p> The experimental method was used to collect data. A two-group pre and post-test design method was employed. The treatment involved a set of mathematical instructional games created using the Jamaican curriculum. Two sets of scores from standardized tests were analyzed; a diagnostic test and the final GSAT exam. An attitude survey was also conducted to investigate student motivation pre and post-gamification.</p><p> A Gain Score Analysis (GSA) with an independent sample <i>t-test </i> was conducted on the pre and final post-test scores. Upon analyzing the gain scores from students in the treatment group, the results saw (<i> M</i>=-2.67, <i>SD</i>=2.27) while in the control group, on the other hand, the mean difference was (<i>M</i>=-2.67, <i> SD</i> =2.39) and <i>t</i> (59) = -1.172. The results indicate that the intervention student scores had a negative correlation, and we fail to reject the null hypothesis as (<i>p</i>>.246). As such, the intervention did not statistically improve students performance in the short or long-term. The findings from the attitude analysis revealed that students in the gamified group had a more positive attitude towards math at the beginning of the year. At the end of the school year, students in the gamified group also had a more positive attitude toward math compared to the traditional control group. Based on the results from the test scores, the change in attitude was not consistent with the use of the gamified software.</p><p> This research is significant as an extensive study of this nature has never been done in Jamaica and by extension the Caribbean. The findings will be of benefit to educators, instructional technologists, administrators and the Ministry of Education in Jamaica. While the study focused on math scores, the results can be used to assist in future planning on whether or not to include some aspects of gamification in each institution as a way to improve student scores in other subjects.</p><p>

<p> An Investigation of Higher Education Faculty About Mobile Learning. Serena Brown, 2018; Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. Keywords: mobile learning, mobile devices, technology integration, learning engagement, instructor perceptions, MLPS, UTAUT. </p><p> This applied dissertation was designed to investigate instructor perceptions about mobile learning among instructors in higher education. The study included the areas of influences of mobile technologies over the approaches of teaching and learning, use of mobile learning technologies to develop class instruction, use of mobile learning for professional learning, influences of mobile learning over the restrictions of time and space when acquiring knowledge anytime, anywhere, and mobile learning to facilitate teacher-student communications. An additional objective of this study was to add a more current literature source to the existing literature addressing instructor perceptions about mobile learning in higher education. </p><p> The writer used the Mobile Learning Perception Scale, a quantitative survey, using a cross-sectional survey design collecting data at one point in time during the study with nonprobability convenience sampling. </p><p> An overall analysis of the data revealed higher education instructors agreed (mean = 3.81, median = 4.00, mode = 4) with K12 teachers (mean = 4.09, median = 4.00, mode = 4) mobile learning techniques and tools were beneficial for use in the approaches to teaching and learning, influential in the development of classroom instruction strategies, useful for professional learning, influential over the restrictions of time when acquiring knowledge anytime, anywhere, and useful for facilitating teacher-student communication. </p><p> The results of this study provide administrators the benefit of insight into instructors&rsquo; perceptions and attitudes of mobile learning at the higher education level. Knowing higher education instructors&rsquo; perceptions and attitudes about mobile learning afford the institution a much-needed understanding of the direct determinants and influencing key moderators which inform behavioral intention and use of mobile learning technologies (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, &amp; Davis, 2003).</p><p>

<p> This qualitative study examined low achieving online learners' uses of social self-regulated learning strategies. Research has shown that low achieving online learners lack strategies for self-regulated learning, which directly relates to their lack of achievement. Social self-regulated learning strategies examined in this study included help seeking, social comparison and social interactions. As learners constructed meaning and struggled with content, interactions between learners and peers, the instructor/instructor's assistant, technical support, and materials facilitated the process. Low achieving online learners resisted utilizing social self-regulated learning strategies. However, according to the research, little data was collected from low achieving online learners directly. This study asked low achieving online learners to describe their experiences, through semi-structured interviews. Barriers to social self-regulated learning strategies included poor attitudes, internet addiction, and exterior blame, according to the research. Self-regulated learning, in general, is linked to higher achievement. This study found that low achieving online learners lacked the use of social self-regulated learning strategies. Additionally, participants lacked help seeking behaviors, experienced social isolation, and held negative views of their classmates and instructor. The findings in this study may assist instructional designers to increase opportunities for social self-regulated learning in online courses, which may, in turn, increase achievement.</p>

<p> Practicing architects and architectural educators have called for better writing by architecture graduates; however, there appears to be a gap in published empirical studies on instructional designs that address the problem of developing student architects&rsquo; writing fluency. Writing well is an especially challenging process for architecture students in design studios because learners must transform the concepts in their visual metaphors, design spaces, and physical models into written language. The study investigated whether architecture students in the treatment group showed greater writing fluency and critical thinking after using sketching as a metacognitive process than did the control group that used words in an identical online lesson. Fifty-six architecture design studio students participated in the quasi-experimental online intervention designed to help students describe their design projects in writing. Student papers following the online sketching intervention were scored using <i> The Cognitive Level and Quality Writing Assessment, Critical Thinking Rubric. </i> Although the one-way ANOVA analysis of mean scores on students&rsquo; papers showed no statistical difference between the treatment group, which used sketching, and the control group, which used words, sketching stimulated students in the treatment group to write lengthy posts critiquing each other&rsquo;s sketches. The finding suggests that online instruction using sketching as a metacognitive scaffolding tool should be further explored as a strategy to engage architecture students in writing practice.</p>

<p> Students possess various learning styles and do not respond equally to the same instructional methods. College students today are often uninterested in their current traditional course design. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences exist in learning styles between students who select a traditional course delivery method versus a technology-enhanced course delivery method. Participants included 113 males and 195 females who were enrolled in a College of Business Principles of Marketing course for non-business majors at a large university in the southeast. The students who were enrolled in the course completed an online questionnaire including the Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Style Scale (GRSLSS) and demographic questions. The GRSLSS consists of six learning styles: competitive, collaborative, avoidant, participant, dependent, and independent. A causal-comparative research design was used to identify a cause-effect relationship between the two groups of students. </p><p> Data analyses included a factorial multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and analyses of variances (ANOVAs). Results from this study indicated a significant difference in course delivery methods and gender across all learning styles and no interactions between course delivery methods and gender. ANOVAs revealed a significant difference between the independent, avoidant, dependent, and participant learning styles between students who enrolled in the traditional and technology-enhanced course delivery methods. Students who enrolled in the traditional course delivery method had more of a dependent and participant learning style and students who enrolled in the technology-enhanced course delivery method had more of an independent and avoidant learning style. Males who enrolled in the course had more of a competitive learning style than females - regardless of the course delivery method. These findings are relevant for a better understanding of why students select a particular course delivery method.</p>

<p> For decades, scholars have searched for ways to more effectively teach and practice instructional design. A variety of strategies have been employed to address the ambiguity in and challenges of the field. Much of the focus in the education of instructional designers has been on teaching students how best to use the many models developed for the field (Rowling, 1992). These efforts, while meant to help the new instructional designer succeed, have often been stifled by the ever-changing landscape of what instructional designers are asked to do in their roles after graduation (Kenny, Zhang, Schwier, &amp; Campbell, 2005). Other research centers around the ways students can fuse their new instructional design knowledge with practical activities. </p><p> While many scholars have begun to focus on alternative methods for preparing instructional designers and improving instructional design processes, instructional designers themselves have been neglected. We teach instructional designers about the profession before we have truly understood the professional. From a teaching standpoint, this approach contradicts the very foundation of instructional design education: that of recognizing that the learners/users are at the center of instructional design (Cennamo &amp; Kalk, 2004). The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine instructional designers during design by engaging them in structured reflection as (a.) a way to better understand instructional designers in the design space and (b.) a technique for instructional designers to improve their design. Seven designers were asked to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences over six weeks while engaged in a design project. </p><p> This study used various data collection methods including reflection journals, interviews, and surveys. The Self-Reflection Insight Scale (SRIS) and REFLECT rubric were utilized to measure reflection abilities, and grounded theory was employed to conceptualize the data (Strauss &amp; Corbin, 1990), while concentrating on discovery and the development of theory (Charmaz, 1983). </p><p> Results showed that each designer is unique; designers rely on distinctive designer precedents; designers perceive reflection to positively impact their design products; designers' depth of reflection waxes and wanes; and designers reflect more deeply when provided with feedback.</p>

<p> This qualitative, descriptive case study addressed the research question: How is learning experienced in tough cases aimed at accelerating expertise in a cognitively complex work environment?&nbsp;The time it takes to develop expertise in many professional domains is problematic for industrialized societies. As the baby boom generation transitions from the workforce, they are leaving behind a smaller, less experienced pool of workers to replace them. Accelerated expertise theorists have proposed tough cases as a way of speeding the development of expertise. Tough cases are rare situations that convey novel learning challenges by requiring learners to make plans and decisions in the face of ambiguous and interacting data (Klein and Hoffman, 1992). Expertise can be particularly difficult to develop in cognitively complex work environments. Cognitively complex work environments are &ldquo;systems composed of psychological (cognitive), social, and technological elements, all embedded in a broader team, organizational, and social context&rdquo; (Hoffman &amp; Militello, 2008, p. 216). The study explored the learning process from the perspectives of learners, tough case leaders, and organizational leaders supporting the use of tough cases at the research site. Data were collected through observations of five tough cases and interviews before and after cases with participants and organizational leaders. Themes were inductively developed. The study had eight findings: 1) Tough cases are dynamic learning experiences that are interactive and concrete, while simultaneously confusing and disorienting; 2) the use of real events and complex problems grabs learner attention and interest; 3) making and defending quick decisions draw out learner beliefs and theories, stimulating focus and a tremendous sense of enthusiasm; 4) the practice of eliciting decisions by cold-calling puts learners on the spot, mimicking the stress of high stakes situations common to cognitively complex work environments; 5) role-playing throughout the case forces participation with the learning environment while reducing stress by making the learning experience more enjoyable and entertaining; 6) individual reflection and observation provide continual opportunities for re-examining decisions; 7) interaction and dialogue during role-play expose learners to other ways of thinking and lead to refinement of their mental models; and 8) hearing "the rest of the story" at the end of the case provides an opportunity for learner self-assessment and can build their confidence. The study concluded: (1) the tough case learning process incorporates both experiential and social cognitive learning in a single process; (2) the tough case learning process is substantially different from learning processes proposed in the expertise development literature; (3) tough case learning is a departure from processes described in the adult learning literature; and (4) tough case learning leverages everything considered foundational about adult learning. The study offered recommendations related to theory, practice, and future research.</p>

<p> Over the past several decades there has been a continuous stream of government mandates aimed to improve equity, access, accountability, transparency, student performance, and/or expand the responsibilities of public schools. These externally mandated school reforms have largely excluded the voice of teachers and administrators both in problem definition and in the modifications needed to address them. Further, reform literature is predominantly focused on improving or addressing urban school challenges, so little is known about the challenges and needs of suburban schools. The gaps in the literature related to teacher voice and suburban contexts in high school reform form the basis of this inquiry. Therefore, this study examines suburban teacher perceptions of four specific, popular reform ideas being introduced in high schools across the United States. </p><p> This exploratory mixed methods study gathered data from 165 suburban public high school teachers working in 20 different high schools in Massachusetts using an anonymous survey instrument. Three findings emerged from the study: 1) successful suburban teachers welcome consensus high school reform ideas that they believe to be favorable for student learning, growth, and development though they note significant challenges in regard to time; 2) suburban teachers experience anxiety when reforms alter structures or methods that they rely on to ensure all students meet high school outcomes for graduation and college entrance requirements; and 3) suburban teachers&rsquo; perceptions of consensus high school reform ideas are shaped by the ways in which the reforms impact academic disciplines. This study found that suburban public school teachers view the four reform ideas presented in this study as likely having a positive impact on teaching and learning in their school; however, they noted several implementation challenges that would need to be considered to ensure the efficacy of those reforms.</p><p>

<p> Teachers today are spending more time with problem behaviors and less time with instruction. Problem behaviors can affect students&rsquo; learning as well as teachers&rsquo; instructional time. In contrast to traditional disciplinary practices, this study explored teachers&rsquo; perspectives from all three educational levels regarding the efficacy of positive behavior interventions and supports. Many programs and approaches are available to improve student behavior in schools. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is designed to help schools create and sustain effective behavioral supports for students. This study was focused on the perceptions of teachers after the implementation of a program of positive behavior support in districts within the state of Illinois. Forty-five school districts were randomly chosen from each region and educational level. The research that guided the study related to the perceptions of teachers on the efficacy of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports system. The research was inconclusive, as teachers reported that the behavior system was needed, but it did not change the behaviors of the students who displayed challenging behaviors. This study was significant as it added to the body of research of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.</p><p>

<p> This purpose of this study was to examine the best practices used by facilitators of global collaborations in education. Four research questions were examined to address this purpose, which included: (a) challenges faced by facilitators in developing online international collaborations in education (b) current strategies used by facilitators in developing online international collaborations in education (c) how success is measured and tracked (d) recommendations for future online international collaborations in education. </p><p> This qualitative, phenomenological study utilized a purposive sample of 14 participants who were ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) award recipients or conference presenters between 2014&ndash;2017 affiliated with global collaboration. Data collection was done through a semi-structured interview protocol comprised of six questions. The recorded interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed to determine 27 total themes that emerged from the data. </p><p> With some themes reinforced by literature and some unique to the study, results led to establishing &ldquo;dimensions of leading global collaboration.&rdquo; This includes two primary dimensions: (a) the responsibilities dimension, which entails the tasks and logistical aspects needed in global collaboration efforts, such as planning, practices during the collaboration, and logistical considerations (b) the characteristics dimension, which refers to the qualities that characterize a good global collaboration leader and partner, such as empathy, accountability, and willingness to take risks. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of people and developing a peer to peer network in the dynamic among facilitators (who should be seen as leaders) of global collaboration.</p><p>