The purpose of this study was to explore early-career faculty&rsquo / s needs on teaching related issues and examine the effectiveness of an online environment that was designed as a support to a graduate course on teaching in higher education. The study was carried out through two phases including a needs analysis and evaluation of the online environment. Findings of the needs analysis were used as input data in designing the online environment. An exploratory mixed design was employed to investigate graduate assistants&rsquo / perceptions about the effectiveness of the online environment in general, and the components specifically. Results of the first phase revealed that early-career faculty (n=53) were highly willing to participate in faculty instructional development activities, mostly through workshops and internet-based systems. Having students&rsquo / active participation into class was found to be one of the biggest concerns of new faculty. The second phase of the study provided descriptive data related to graduate assistants&rsquo / (n=10) use of an online environment incorporating a discussion forum, exemplary V teaching case and informative videos. Interaction with people from different academic fields helped the graduate assistants to experience and gain different perspectives about teaching. The graduate course itself raised graduate assistants&rsquo / awareness with regard to the teaching aspect of their profession. Online components generally provided the graduate assistants with different perspectives on teaching, and contemplate their future teaching. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that online technologies have a potential to support faculty instructional development through incorporating visual media and communication tools.

Social digital gaming is an explosive phenomenon where youth and adults are engaged in inquiry for the sake of fun. The complexity of learning evidenced in social digital games is attracting the attention of educators. Martian Boneyards is a proof-of-concept game designed to study how a community of voluntary gamers can be enticed to engage in sustained, high-quality scientific inquiry. Science educators and game designers worked together to create an educational game with the polish and intrigue of a professional-level game, striving to attract a new audience to scientific inquiry. Martian Boneyards took place in the high-definition, massively multiplayer online environment, Blue Mars, where players spent an average of 30 hours in the game over the 4-month implementation period, with some exceeding 200 hours. Most of the players’ time was spent in scientific inquiry activities and about 30% of the players’ in-game interactions were in the analysis and theory-building phases of inquiry. Female players conducted most of the inquiry, in particular analysis and theory building. The quality of scientific inquiry processes, which included extensive information gathering by players, and the resulting content were judged to be very good by a team of independent scientists. This research suggests that a compelling storyline, a highly aesthetic environment, and the emergent social bonds among players and between players and the characters played by designers were all responsible for sustaining high quality inquiry among gamers in this free-choice experience. The gaming environment developed for Martian Boneyards is seen as an evolving ecosystem with interactions among design, players’ activity, and players’ progress.

Social digital gaming is an explosive phenomenon where youth and adults are engaged in inquiry for the sake of fun. The complexity of learning evidenced in social digital games is attracting the attention of educators. Martian Boneyards is a proof-of-concept game designed to study how a community of voluntary gamers can be enticed to engage in sustained, high-quality scientific inquiry. Science educators and game designers worked together to create an educational game with the polish and intrigue of a professional-level game, striving to attract a new audience to scientific inquiry. Martian Boneyards took place in the high-definition, massively multiplayer online environment, Blue Mars, where players spent an average of 30 hours in the game over the 4-month implementation period, with some exceeding 200 hours. Most of the players’ time was spent in scientific inquiry activities and about 30% of the players’ in-game interactions were in the analysis and theory-building phases of inquiry. Female players conducted most of the inquiry, in particular analysis and theory building. The quality of scientific inquiry processes, which included extensive information gathering by players, and the resulting content were judged to be very good by a team of independent scientists. This research suggests that a compelling storyline, a highly aesthetic environment, and the emergent social bonds among players and between players and the characters played by designers were all responsible for sustaining high quality inquiry among gamers in this free-choice experience. The gaming environment developed for Martian Boneyards is seen as an evolving ecosystem with interactions among design, players’ activity, and players’ progress.

The classroom has become an important focus of educational research because most learning takes place there. The purpose of this study was to examine 8th grade students perception of science classroom environment from constructivist perspective and investigate the association between students perceptions, motivational beliefs and attitudes toward science. In addition in this study the affects of gender difference on students&amp / #8217 / constructivist learning environment, motivation and attitude toward science were investigated. The data in the present study were collected through Turkish version of Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) and Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) from 8th grade students who were in randomly selected from 15 elementary schools in &Ccedil / ankaya, Ankara. A total of 956 students (462 girls, 493 boys and one did not indicate gender) were participated in the study. The data obtained from participants were analyzed by using Canonical Correlation Analyses and Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVA). Results of canonical correlation analyses indicated that all constructivist learning environment variables and all the motivational beliefs variables were positively related with each other. In addition the result of this analysis also showed that all constructivist learning environment variables and attitude variables were positively related with each other. The findings of MANOVA showed that gender had a significant effect on students&amp / #8217 / constructivist learning environment (personal relevance and critical voice), their adaptive motivational beliefs (intrinsic goal orientation, task value, and control of learning beliefs), and their attitude toward science (adaptation to science attitudes, enjoyment of science lesson, leisure interest in science, and career interest in science). Results indicated that girls&amp / #8217 / perceptions of their learning environment, their adaptive motivational beliefs and their attitude toward science were higher than boys.

A distributed online curriculum and courseware (DONC2) development model is proposed in this study. Collaborative courseware development teams which may work in distributed academic or private institutions who need to develop higher quality, reduced cost, on time products are the users of DONC2 development model. The related features from the disciplines of instructional design and software engineering were combined and concepts like usability, especially in terms of formative and summative evaluation, interoperability and reusability were integrated into the model. The research is conducted as a collective case study, including four cases with distinctive characteristics to reveal the several practices in online curriculum and courseware development work. The DONC2 development model was proposed using the results gathered from the investigated cases and a literature survey. The model uses the iterative incremental and agile software development approaches in order to overcome the disadvantages of other linear system development approaches. This enables building releasable products in short time periods with increased quality. Furthermore, continuous communication, evaluation and feedback as well as good project management and readiness to adapt to changes are integrated as the essential characteristics. DONC2 development model is different than previous linear and non-adaptive models in all of these aspects.

This thesis focuses on three of the main components of an e-learning system: Infrastructure model, data integration and personalization. For the infrastructure model, our aim is to get best use of heterogeneously structured, geographically distributed data resources. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the available infrastructure models is carried out and an open source reference implementation based on grid technology is implemented. Furthermore, a simple data integration mechanism is proposed for the suggested reference implementation. For personalization, a statistical algorithm is proposed based on extracting and utilizing the learner model. The learner model based on Felder-Silverman learning style is extracted automatically using NBTree classification algorithm in conjunction with Binary relevance classifier for basic science learners. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed automated learner modelling approach is consistent with the results, obtained by the questionnaires traditionally used for learning style assessment. In the thesis, the classification results are further utilized for providing the user with personalized queries. Keywords: Interactive learning environments / personalization in e-learning

Summary Distant Learning (DL) in Lithuania is rapidly developing, various Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) emerge. The most popular of them are WebCT, Moodle, Atutor. Therefore I have decided to analyse Moodle Virtual Learning Environment as it is widely used by many institutions of high and secondary education. Purpose of the paper To analyse the tools of virtual learning environments, in order to select those that could be added to Moodle environment and help achieve efficient usage of Moodle in creating and providing DL courses. Objectives: a) Analyse the concept and functions of VLE. b) Provide general analysis of VLE. c) Provide a comparative analysis of Moodle, File3, WebCT environments. d) Determine which functions should be added to VLE Moodle. e) Integrate the selected tools to Moodle environment. f) Prepare methodical material of Moodle environment for teachers and students. Methods of the study: a) Search and systemization of information. b) Analysis and generalization of scientific and informational material. c) Data processing. d) Comparative data analysis. In order to achieve the set objective I have compared Moodle and WebCT, which have proven to be the most popular VLE, as well as File3 – an average level VLE created in Finland. By comparing these VLE becomes apparent that Moodle VLE contains a number of various teaching and handling tools however the distributed versions of this program are short of some tools: they have no internal e-mail, which is... [to full text]

This study explored the racial identity development of White corporate trainers who deliver training in racially diverse organizations. The purpose of this study was to acquire an understanding about the various factors that affect the racial identity development of White trainers as well as to distinguish ways in which racially diverse organizations support the creation of culturally responsive training. The study sought to identify aspects that affect White trainers’ identity and the role of the organizations in defining, or impacting, competencies related to culturally responsive training. A basic qualitative design guided the study and data was collected through two face-to-face interviews and a written reflection in response to their own completed interview transcripts. The participants included six White females and one male and were employed in organizations in the areas of oil and gas, real estate, retail, and consulting. The participants were identified by their connection to Texas A&M University students and faculty, the Academy of Human Resource Development, or the American Society for Training and Development. The findings of the study indicated that White corporate trainers develop their racial identity through a variety of experiences in their personal and professional environments. The White trainers’ perceptions of racial identity were impacted through environmental influences and their construction of Whiteness. Their racial consciousness was further developed through their work within racially diverse organizations and cultural diversity within the training environment exposed the trainers to their weaknesses and areas for growth. The process of becoming more culturally responsive trainers was a constant evolution that took place through self-reflection and the acknowledgment of race as an important component related to identity and their work.

In this dissertation, the object of research is the advanced generative learning objects (AGLOs), models and processes related to them. The objective of the research is to develop and to investigate the methods that enable to formalize the designing of advanced generative learning objects and using them in teaching/learning of informatics effectively. Scientific novelty: 1. AGLOs expand the informatics learning variability aspects (pedagogical, social, technological, and content). Based on those insights, it is possible to adapt and apply software engineering and computer science methods in the e-learning domain. 2. To our best knowledge, feature-based modelling in the informatics learning domain has been performed systematically for the first time. Such an approach evaluates the domain variability, aggregates and verifies the created models. 3. Formalization of the models at two levels (feature-based and executable specification) provides pre-conditions for automated tools design. 4. From the viewpoint of automatic educational content creation, AGLO extends the concept of reusability in e-learning. The specialized learning environments with integrated AGLO implement the visual transformation of a real task into its physical process, thus providing a high level of motivation and effective learning. / Darbe tiriami informatikos (programavimo) mokymuisi skirti išplėstiniai generatyviniai mokymosi objektai (IGMO) ir su jais susiję informaciniai specifikavimo/atvaizdavimo, transformavimo modeliai ir procesai. Darbo tikslas yra pateikti ir ištirti metodiką, įgalinančią formalizuoti išplėstinių generatyvinių mokymosi objektų kūrimą ir efektyvų jų naudojimą mokant informatikos (programavimo). Darbo mokslinis naujumas: 1. IGMO išplečia informatikos mokymosi sritį naujais aspektais (pedagoginiais, socialiniais, technologiniais, turinio), aprašomais terminu mokymosi variantiškumas. Tai įgalino pagrįstai adaptuoti ir naujai pritaikyti programų inžinerijos ir kompiuterijos principus ir metodus e.mokymosi sričiai. 2. Požymiais grįstas sisteminis informatikos (programavimo) mokymosi srities modeliavimas, mūsų žiniomis, atliktas pirmą kartą. Jis įvertina mokymosi variantiškumą ir agreguoja bei verifikuoja įvairialypius modelius. Tai sudaro prielaidas sistemingam IGMO kūrimui. 3. Modelių formalizavimas dviejuose lygmenyse (požymių modelių ir vykdomųjų specifikacijų) sudaro sąlygas automatizuotiems įrankiams kurti. 4. IGMO išplečia pakartotinio panaudojimo koncepciją e.mokymesi turinio automatinio kūrimo požiūriu. Sukurtos specializuotos heterogeninės mokymosi aplinkos, į kurias integruoti IGMO, įgyvendina realaus uždavinio vizualinę transformaciją į fizinį procesą bei užtikrina aukštą mokinių motyvaciją ir efektyvų mokymąsi.

Darbe tiriami informatikos (programavimo) mokymuisi skirti išplėstiniai generatyviniai mokymosi objektai (IGMO) ir su jais susiję informaciniai specifikavimo/atvaizdavimo, transformavimo modeliai ir procesai. Darbo tikslas yra pateikti ir ištirti metodiką, įgalinančią formalizuoti išplėstinių generatyvinių mokymosi objektų kūrimą ir efektyvų jų naudojimą mokant informatikos (programavimo). Darbo mokslinis naujumas: 1. IGMO išplečia informatikos mokymosi sritį naujais aspektais (pedagoginiais, socialiniais, technologiniais, turinio), aprašomais terminu mokymosi variantiškumas. Tai įgalino pagrįstai adaptuoti ir naujai pritaikyti programų inžinerijos ir kompiuterijos principus ir metodus e.mokymosi sričiai. 2. Požymiais grįstas sisteminis informatikos (programavimo) mokymosi srities modeliavimas, mūsų žiniomis, atliktas pirmą kartą. Jis įvertina mokymosi variantiškumą ir agreguoja bei verifikuoja įvairialypius modelius. Tai sudaro prielaidas sistemingam IGMO kūrimui. 3. Modelių formalizavimas dviejuose lygmenyse (požymių modelių ir vykdomųjų specifikacijų) sudaro sąlygas automatizuotiems įrankiams kurti. 4. IGMO išplečia pakartotinio panaudojimo koncepciją e.mokymesi turinio automatinio kūrimo požiūriu. Sukurtos specializuotos heterogeninės mokymosi aplinkos, į kurias integruoti IGMO, įgyvendina realaus uždavinio vizualinę transformaciją į fizinį procesą bei užtikrina aukštą mokinių motyvaciją ir efektyvų mokymąsi. / In this dissertation, the object of research is the advanced generative learning objects (AGLOs), models and processes related to them. The objective of the research is to develop and to investigate the methods that enable to formalize the designing of advanced generative learning objects and using them in teaching/learning of informatics effectively. Scientific novelty: 1. AGLOs expand the informatics learning variability aspects (pedagogical, social, technological, and content). Based on those insights, it is possible to adapt and apply software engineering and computer science methods in the e-learning domain. 2. To our best knowledge, feature-based modelling in the informatics learning domain has been performed systematically for the first time. Such an approach evaluates the domain variability, aggregates and verifies the created models. 3. Formalization of the models at two levels (feature-based and executable specification) provides pre-conditions for automated tools design. 4. From the viewpoint of automatic educational content creation, AGLO extends the concept of reusability in e-learning. The specialized learning environments with integrated AGLO implement the visual transformation of a real task into its physical process, thus providing a high level of motivation and effective learning.