It is possible to discern a class of Computer-Based Discovery Learning Environments which centre on novel, concept rich,simulated objects and which include simple but general functions with which the objects may be manipulated. This thesis provides a history of this class of environments, which we call objectworlds, and we also give them a strict definition. We describe Gravitas, a new objectworld we have built, which allows learners to work with objects that behave like gravitating masses moving in a two dimensional space. Gravitas contains a powerful programmable interface to the objects, in the form of a set of Logo commands, and a functionally equivalent but easier to use graphical interface which is controlled by the mouse. We show that the combination of interfaces helps learners to explore the world of these objects more effectively. We contrast the educational experiences learners are afforded by objectworlds with those offered by two closely related kinds of Discovery Learning Environment: Simulations and Modelling Systems. We also describe a psychological framework which provides a useful way of thinking about the construction of computer simulated objects for discovery learning applications.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Kakali Bhattacharya / David C. Thompson / Information and communication technology is becoming more affordable and available to schools. In response to the emerging need to produce students with academic skills appropriate for 21st-century learners, many schools are investing large sums of money into this technology in an effort to create learning environments where students have a 1:1 ratio with access to tools such as laptops, tablets, or other types of portable devices. While there is evidence demonstrating that 1:1 student device adoptions can influence instruction and student learning, there is an ever-present, evolving need for scholarship concerning the experiences of teachers participating in such initiatives. The premise of this study is that teachers can provide valuable understanding concerning 1:1 computer adoptions, as they are one of the primary instruments in its success. The purpose of this study was to explore how two middle school teachers in a Midwestern city described the effects of ubiquitous computer access for students on their instructional practices and overall student learning as they participated in a district-wide 1:1 computer initiative. Participants for this qualitative case study were selected through purposeful- and criterion-based sampling. The participants were chosen from a pool of classroom teachers participating in the early phase of their district’s 1:1 initiative. Additionally, the participants’ eagerness to participate in the study as well as their comfort level with technology played a role in selection. Symbolic interactionism provided the lens through which to analyze the participants’ meaning making and the framework of TPACK afforded the substantive lens for discussing their experiences. Many of the individual aspects of the findings of this study are not new or particularly insightful by themselves and largely confirm existing findings in the scholarship. However, the significance of this study lies not in the corroboration of existing scholarship, but instead in illustration of the anatomy of change. In the end, this study investigating ICT integration wasn’t about technology at all. It was about the experience of transition. This study, with rich detail and context, shows the anatomy of transition for the two participants’ pedagogical practices and beliefs from the start of the process to the end. It provides insight into how things come to be and the way in which they come to be. It provides insight into how and why participants moved back and forth across the TPACK domains as they assimilated their fundamental beliefs with their lived experiences. The outcomes of this research suggest avenues for policy makers, administrators, teachers, and professional development organizers to increase the influence of 1:1 initiatives. It is necessary for all involved stakeholders to understand the importance of professional development in affecting technology-related change and to include training in any 1:1 adoption plan. It is equally important for teachers to understand that they will need to leverage formal and informal avenues of professional development to further their professional learning. Professional development organizers need to be cognizant of the needs of the staff and provide targeted, content-specific training in a timely manner. Last, district and building leaders should be aware of their organizational culture and the underlying goals for their 1:1 initiative and keep these in mind as they lead their staff through the change process.

<p> Paper Mechatronics is a new design medium that integrates traditional papercrafting with mechanical, electrical, and computational components. This multidisciplinary medium adds layers to the creative possibilities of traditional papercrafting. This dissertation presents computational design tools and techniques that I designed and developed to enable novices to build their own Paper Mechatronics. I begin with an overview to describe Paper Mechatronics as a new medium for learning by making. Then I illustrate the design considerations and development of tools and associated prototyping techniques to support novice designers. Finally, I report on Paper Mechatronics workshops as user studies, where I assess the tools and techniques and discuss findings and lessons learned from working with a group of children, educators, and fellow researchers. </p><p> These investigations show that Paper Mechatronics can be a compelling means for exploratory construction that promotes powerful ideas. Consciously designed tools and techniques can lower the entry bar for novice designers to actively explore their ideas through design and engineering. This work establishes a foundation for Paper Mechatronics as a medium to enable creative learning and open a further discourse on developing tools and techniques to widen access to exploratory construction, thus promoting creativity.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed-methods study, which included 182 teachers across three Midwestern school districts, was threefold. First, the researcher sought to determine the technological self-efficacy ratings of teachers at school districts with 1:1 technology in relation to the ISTE&rsquo;s National Education Technology Standards for Teachers. Based on the study&rsquo;s findings, participants had the lowest mean self-efficacy ratings for ISTE&rsquo;s fifth standard, which focused on teachers&rsquo; lifelong learning and growing as professionals (ISTE, 2008). Participants had the highest mean ratings for the fourth standard, which related to digital citizenship (ISTE, 2008). Second, the researcher aimed to identify if there was a relationship between teachers&rsquo; generational identities and their technological self-efficacy ratings. The study&rsquo;s results indicated there was a relationship in which younger generations demonstrated higher technological self-efficacy ratings. Finally, the third purpose was to determine what teachers viewed as the most beneficial professional development opportunities related to incorporating technology in the classroom. Regarding past professional development opportunities, the most prevalent theme was district-specific professional development. The participants wrote they appreciated professional development specifically focused on the devices provided by their school districts. Also, participants wrote they found professional development opportunities offered in-house and geared toward the school districts&rsquo; specific needs to be beneficial. As for future professional development opportunities, participants indicated they viewed more strategic professional development to be most beneficial. They wrote this type of professional development needed to focus on specific grades, content areas, and skills.</p><p>

<p> This mixed methods study investigates the effect of cultural and sociolinguistic textures of talk on authentic discussion patterns and whether reading comprehension and inferencing are affected in an online booktalk environment with adolescents. The research will also investigate the contextual features of the classroom community to be studied to help determine the specific sociocultural norms established in that classroom. The unique conditions of the setting in which today&rsquo;s adolescents function, such as amplified access to digital technologies, the evolving status of socialization, the express shift of physical and emotional factors, and the collective influence of prior experiences with reading, call for a more nuanced examination of their literacy practices. Data was collected from a Pre-AP 10^th grade students in an urban high school setting. Using a sample of 75 students for the blog postings and recorded classroom discussions, the transcripts were sent through LIWC and the variables of tone, analytical, social, affect, cognitive process, and affiliation were examined. An F-test two sample for variances found that there is a connection between the students&rsquo; funds of knowledge and their comprehension of the text. The results also suggest that inferencing is influenced through the other variables. There was no statistical significance between cognitive process and social, affect and affiliation, cognitive process and affiliation. </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the types of online tools and strategies used with problem-based learning. The target population for this study consisted of instructional designers who were currently working in the field and have four or more years of experience in designing problem-based curriculum using synchronous and asynchronous tools in an online environment. A modified Delphi method was used in this study that provided insights and consensus to answer the research question and sub-question by obtaining relevant information from expert instructional designers using three Delphi iterative rounds of statements. The findings of this study suggested that the combination of synchronous and asynchronous tools used in a problem-based environment could provide learners with a wider range of opportunities to learn and interact with their peers and instructors. The results of the study suggested certain synchronous and asynchronous tools may be more effective when supporting problem-based learning in an online training environment. The results of the study also suggested there were challenges using synchronous and asynchronous tools that supported problem-based learning.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation presents a multidimensional learning theory called Interactive Spatial Learning (ISL). Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, ISL was abductively derived from a qualitative investigation into the forms of learning that emerged through the practices found at the Builder&rsquo;s Brewery school in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. ISL was developed in response to the divergence that exists between two theoretical perspectives in online learning research; studies from a cognitive perspective define learning as changes in individual cognition while studies from a sociocultural perspective define learning as participation. The exclusive adoption of either learning perspective may lead to oversights in four important aspects of learning: (a) the temporal sequencing of independent and social regulatory learning processes, (b) contextual learning cues embedded within the virtual learning environment, (c) individual learner attributes, and (d) the development of socioemotional connections between learners. To address these oversights, this study utilized data collected from interviews, participant observations, chat logs, survey responses, and digital artifacts to extend our understandings of the learning that emerges from the coordinating mechanisms between the individual, social, and technological aspects of a virtual learning environment. Data collection and analysis incorporated the use of data sensitizing principles to develop the theoretical constructs of knowledge places, community-based Discourses, and technology mediation found in ISL. ISL posits that learning is the recontextualization of information to different modalities through interactions that occur in interactive spaces. Interactive spaces are where information and knowledge are generated and transformed. At a systemic level, ISL explains information flow across spaces and semi-permeable boundaries mediated by technology. At a mechanistic level, a sub-theory of ISL, called autonomous learning, looks at the emergent learning process and how people learn&mdash;the nature of which is spontaneous, self-directed, and independent. Autonomous learning trajectories describe the processes that individuals construct in order to learn. These trajectories consist of four different but interchangeable and repeatable components: learning cues/Cues, learning goals, resourcing, and recontextualization. This dissertation concludes by exploring the implications and connections that ISL has to instructional design, pedagogy, and theorizing in online spaces.</p><p>

<p> Homeschool families have the freedom to uniquely structure the learning environment to meet the needs of their children. Many homeschool parents increasingly rely on digital devices and the Internet to provide alternatives to traditional and private schools. Cooperatives (co-ops), charter school partnerships, virtual academies, online tutors, digitized instructional programs, and individualized curricula can be utilized to provide or supplement the learning environment. This research presents a multiple-case study exploring the variety of learning environments that homeschool parents utilize to teach their children. The participants in this research were homeschool parents who share teaching responsibilities with other homeschool parent educators, charter school organizations, or online instructional programs. In essence, the study examined the perceived effectiveness, efficiency, and efficacy of online, blended, and traditional face-to-face learning environments from the parents&rsquo; perspective. Data collection involved the combined responses from an online survey and participant interviews with ten homeschool parents. Each of the parents shared teaching responsibilities with a homeschool cooperative, a charter school organization, or both. Profiles of each participant include demographic information, homeschooling style, and the rationale for homeschooling their children. Three main themes emerged from the analysis of the homeschool parents&rsquo; perceptions: A Flexible Learning Environment Structure, Quality Time with Family, and Support from Like-Minded Others. The findings from this study can be utilized to advise future families of optimal practices for cultivating academic success and social development of the homeschooled child. The findings indicate homeschool parents perceive the academic and social learning environments as flexible and sufficient for their children&rsquo;s education. From the study participants&rsquo; perspective, integrating technology into the homeschool structure positively impacted their children&rsquo;s mathematics and literacy development. While partnering with homeschool cooperatives and charter schools, study participants were encouraged to continue educating their children, establishing close familial bonds, and providing opportunities for their children to interact with many people of different age-groups.</p><p>

<p> Nationwide, there has been a trend for acute care facilities to hire a greater percentage of new graduate registered nurses (GRNs). It has been estimated that in acute care 42% of newly hired Registered Nurses (RNs) are likely to be new graduates; and turnover rates for these new hires can range between 35 and 60 percent. A high turnover rate of RNs can have several negative consequences including increased cost in training and recruitment, and decreased quality of patient care. </p><p> Current literature has identified challenges that occur during the transition period between being a student and becoming a registered nurse. There is a gap in the literature regarding an understanding of the experience of the newly graduate RNs and an understanding of when GRNs feel like they are fully functioning as an RN and part of the health care team. </p><p> A Hermeneutic Phenomenology study was conducted in a 500 bed acute care facility in Northeast Ohio. Ten GRNs agreed to participate in the study and completed one-on-one interviews with the researcher. </p><p> Themes that emerged focused on the process of transitioning into the role of RN. Participants discussed challenges of the new RN role, especially their first code experience. Major themes that emerged included: self-esteem and confidence, development of critical thinking, mentoring, bullying, amount to learn, and high expectations.</p><p>

<p> Online education courses provide students with flexibility of time and place to learn (Kena et al., 2016). The percentage of college students enrolled in distance education course has increased to 28%. The problem is the high rate of students who failed to complete online courses is alarming. failing rates in online courses range from 10% to 90%. If college retention in online courses remains unaddressed, the US will continue to be in disadvantage to compete globally. Self-regulation has been endorsed as a key factor to predict successful online learning. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study using a correlational research design was to examine the relationship between a self-reported and a tracing instrument to measure self-efficacy over time. The study was fulfilled by conducting a study among college students taking an online course during the fall semester of 2017 at Hartnell College, CA. Research method was a correlational statistical test analysis. The theoretical framework for the research study was the social-cognitive Self-Regulated Learning framework by Pintrich. Self-reported instrument was able to measure change over time implying that the use of self-reported mechanisms could be used to measure the dynamic relationships of SRL. Traced-self efficacy in technology use increases academic achievement over time. Self-reported and traced self-efficacy variables could better predict mastery of content in an online course. The researcher contributed with a study that measured self-efficacy over time to better understand the dynamic role of motivation in self-regulation learning (Karabenick, 2015). Future studies should consider research methodologies that include analysis over time to be able to explore the dynamic relationship between SRL processes.</p><p>