The Group Learning At Significant Scale (GLASS) approach was developed to increase the scalability and efficacy of student design teams during large class sessions. GLASS utilizes freely available technology-mediated collaboration tools to facilitate instructional delivery, autograded assessment, and review of teams, alongside an innovative…

With the growing trends in favor of online course offerings in higher education, it is important that researchers continue to focus on investigating the components vital to effectiveness. Using a survey design, the elements of interaction and presence, and their relationship and influence on student learning in an online course is examined in the…

The present study examined students' first impressions of different aesthetic treatments for the same web-based lesson about the experiences of British soldiers during World War I as expressed through examples of trench poetry. Holding site content and functionality constant, the interface design's visual presentation was manipulated along two…

Given the wide range of options for students to further their education online, it is important to determine what factors impact overall student perceptions of online course quality. Specifically, the study validates the reliability of Merrill's (2012) First Principles of Instruction as factors that impact students' perceptions of online course…

Learner motivation is a key to effective instruction and is critical to creating a successful online learning environment; yet, there is a paucity of theory and empirical research on how to create a motivating online learning environment. The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe the experiences of adult learners in a…

Growing science apathy at the K-12 education level represents an alarming development with potentially devastating consequences at individual, societal and economic levels. Technology has been incorporated in science education without fundamentally improving test scores or student attitudes. We claim the core of the problem is how technology is…

As part of the research carried out at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS), the Paper Authentication and Integrity Research (PAIR) project was launched. We began by investigating how one recent technology affected student learning outcomes. One aspect of this research was to study the…

The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of online collaborative learning and communication media regarding team projects. Media richness and social presence theories are well-accepted rational theories that explain media choices and media behaviors, and serve as the theoretical framework. Quantitative and qualitative data collection…

Invited as a paper from E-Learn 2009 This study compared two programmes developed as a learning tool for students to practise basic laboratory procedures. One was a Flash simulation programme, the other a Second Life virtual reality programme. A cohort of 93 bioscience students participated in the between trial. A control group was used to…

Although the advent of VLEs (Virtual Learning Environments) promised more flexible and independent learning, concerns have also been raised about the quality of their pedagogical effects. This article presents the results of a case study which endeavoured to explore the relationship between approaches to learning and studying, and perceptions of…

Examine students' motivational orientation (intrinsic/extrinsic) during problem-based learning (PBL), comparing it to their orientation during typical class activities. Participants were regular education students who used "Alien Rescue," a computer-based PBL program designed for sixth grade science. Implications of the findings for…

Discusses learner-centered active assessment, or interactive assessment, and applies it to an instructional design course that used WebCT (a Web-based authoring/management tool) to support a face-to-face classroom setting. Highlights include a definition of classroom assessment; and results of pretests and posttests, class surveys, and course…

Explores the significance of concept mapping for education and curriculum development. Discusses two main streams in curriculum paradigms and important processes, and the functions which concept mapping can have in education and curriculum development. Examines why students in educational institutions don't yet make systematic use of concept maps,…

Describes the development of a distance education program in Brazil where students perform physics experiments in secondary schools assisted by a distance tutorial system. Discusses advantages of Web-based instruction; instructional design; public policy; student responses; teacher responses; and student performance. (Author/LRW)