So you are going to be an online writing instructor: issues in designing,developing, and delivering an online course

Online education is increasing exponentially in colleges and universities. In this article, writing instructors are introduced to theories of instructional design that form the foundation to support effective student learning. We present a series of guidelines, derived from these theories and our research and teaching, that writing instructors may use to design, develop and deliver their online courses. We present considerations for instructors such as the need for the course, an analysis of the learners, appropriateness of the course for online delivery, pedagogical concerns, and resources. We then discuss how best to support students in online environments. We conclude with suggestions for faculty support and training for online course delivery.     

Rethinking the evaluation of algorithm animations as learning aids: an observational study

One important aspect of creating computer programs is having a sound understanding of the underlying algorithms used by programs. Learning about algorithms, just like learning to program, is difficult, however. A number of prior studies have found that using animation to help teach algorithms had less beneficial effects on learning than hoped. Those results surprise many computer science instructors whose intuition leads them to believe that algorithm animations should assist instruction. This article reports on a study in which animation is utilized in more of a “homework” learning scenario rather than a “final exam” scenario. Our focus is on understanding how learners will utilize animation and other instructional materials in trying to understand a new algorithm, and on gaining insight into how animations can fit into successful learning strategies. The study indicates that students use sophisticated combinations of instructional materials in learning scenarios. In particular, the presence of algorithm animations seems to make a complicated algorithm more accessible and less intimidating, thus leading to enhanced student interaction with the materials and facilitating learning.     

Applying Learning Style Theory to Web Page Design

ABSTRACT

Library Web sites can be instructional tools, especially for those patrons who utilize library resources from their homes. Many libraries are developing online tutorials, but there is an opportunity for Web instruction on another level. The organization and design of a Web site can act as an instructional tool in itself. This paper is a call to library Web designers to assess their work in terms of learning style preferences. Learning style theory is based on how people process information and learn new material. Applying these ideas to Web page design can make library resources more accessible and improve the patron's comprehension of how the library works.     

Audio peer feedback to promote deep learning in online education

We investigated the relation between providing and receiving audio peer feedback with a deep approach to learning within online education. Online students were asked to complete peer feedback assignments. Data through a questionnaire with 108 respondents and 14 interviews were used to measure to what extent deep learning was perceived and why. Results support the view that both providing and receiving audio peer feedback indeed promote deep learning. As a consequence of the peer feedback method, the following student mechanisms were triggered: “feeling personally committed,” “probing back and forth,” and “understanding one's own learning process.” Particularly important for both providing and receiving feedback is feeling personally committed. Results also show that mechanisms were a stronger predictor for deep learning when providing than when receiving. Given the context in which instructors face an increasing number of students and a high workload, students may be supported by online audio peer feedback as a method to choose a deep approach to learning.     

Performing a course material enhancement process with asynchronous interactive online system

Online systems have come to be heavily used in education, particularly for online learning and collecting information not otherwise readily available. Most e-learning systems, including interactive learning systems, have been designed to “push” course materials to students but rarely to “collect” or “pull” ideas from them. The interactive mechanisms in proposed instructional design models, however, prevent many potential designers from improving course quality, even though some believe that the learning experience and the comments of students are important for enhancing course materials. As well, students could actually contribute to instructional design.This paper presents a course material enhancement process that elicits ideas from students by encouraging students to modify course materials. This process had been tested on different higher education programs, both graduate and undergraduate. It aims to understand which programs’ students have a higher willingness to participate in this work and if they can benefit from this process. To facilitate this research, an asynchronous interaction system, teacher digital assistant (TDA), was designed for teachers to receive responses, recommendations, and modified materials from students at any time. The major advantage of this process is that it could embed students’ thoughts into the course material to improve the curriculum, which can benefit future students.     

What are the most important predictors of computer science students' online help-seeking behaviors?

This study investigates the most important predictors of computer science students’ online help-seeking behaviors. 203 computer science students from a large university in southeastern United States participated in the study. Online help-seeking behaviors explored in this study include online searching, asking teachers online for help, and asking peers online for help. Ten-fold cross validation was used to select the most significant predictors from eight potential factors, including prior knowledge of the learning subject, learning proficiency level, academic performance, epistemological belief, interests, problem difficulty, age and gender. Problem difficulty was selected as the most important predictor for all three types of online help seeking, while learning proficiency level, academic performance, and epistemological belief were selected as the most important predictors for both online searching and asking teachers online for help. Based on the selected factors and their relationships with online help seeking, the study provides guidance on targeted training for online help seeking in an era of mass higher education.     

Learning through inquiry: student difficulties with online course-based Material

Abstract This study investigates the case-based learning experience of 133 undergraduate veterinarian science students. Using qualitative methodologies from relational Student Learning Research, variation in the quality of the learning experience was identified, ranging from coherent, deep, quality experiences of the cases, to experiences that separated significant aspects, such as the online case histories, laboratory test results, and annotated images emphasizing symptoms, from the meaning of the experience. A key outcome of this study was that a significant percentage of the students surveyed adopted a poor approach to learning with online resources in a blended experience even when their overall learning experience was related to cohesive conceptions of veterinary science, and that the difference was even more marked for less successful students. The outcomes from the study suggest that many students are unsure of how to approach the use of online resources in ways that are likely to maximise benefits for learning in blended experiences, and that the benefits from case-based learning such as authenticity and active learning can be threatened if issues closely associated with qualitative variation arising from incoherence in the experience are not addressed.     

Dubbo服务框架技术在学习系统开发中的应用与实践

随着软件技术和网络的飞速发展,互联网技术越来越多地被应用到了教育领域,互联网教育以其日益丰富的形式和内容被越来越多的人接受和采纳.在线学习已经成为一种新型而且有效的学习方式.在线学习以其独有的时空无关性、及时性、可重复性等特点,使得每一个互联网用户都可以进行在线学习.同时也对在线学习系统提出了一项挑战——如何使学习系统在高并发访问下稳定运行?本文主要介绍以Dubbo分布式架构为后台服务的学习系统的设计与实现.该系统通过教育游戏吸引儿童注意力,提高学习积极性,引导儿童通过网络进行有效的学习;通过Dubbo分布式集群架构,缓解高并发访问时服务器的压力.     

Effects of interactivity and instructional scaffolding on learning: Self-regulation in online video-based environments

Online learning often requires learners to be self-directed and engaged. The present study examined students' self-regulatory behaviors in online video-based learning environments. Using an experimental design, this study investigated the effects of a newly designed enhanced video learning environment, which was designed to support or scaffold students' self-regulated or self-directed learning on students' learning behaviors and outcomes. In addition, correspondence between students' self-regulation strategies in traditional learning environments and observed self-regulated learning behaviors in the enhanced video environment were examined. A cross-sectional experimental research design with systematic random assignment of participants to either the control condition (common video) or the experimental condition (enhanced video) was utilized. Undergraduate and graduate students participated in the study (N = 80). Study results indicate that the newly designed enhanced video learning environment was a superior instructional tool than the common video learning environment in terms students' learning performance. In addition, there was correspondence between graduate students' self-reported self-regulation and observed self-regulation, with those high on seeking/learning information and managing their environment/behavior more likely to engage more in interactive note-taking.     

Distributed learning environments

Distributed learning is an instructional model that gives students access to a wide range of resources-teachers, peers, and content such as readings and exercises - independently of place and time. The popularity of distributed learning environments (DLEs) in both professional and academic settings has steadily increased due to 1) the rising demand from traditional students as well as working adults for postsecondary and professional education, 2) advances in information technologies, 3) the Internet's ubiquity, 4) the emergence of high-capacity wire and wireless networks, and 4) the pervasiveness of networked personal computers in both businesses and homes. DLEs must balance with student attributes and instructional strategies. Many universities and colleges, for-profit organizations, and corporate training departments now offer DLE courses and programs. Online distributed learning uses information technologies to provide students with Web-based access to content and resources such as assignments, software simulations, and tests exercises. This approach lets students choose the time, pace, and frequency of their learning activities.     

Supporting middle school students' online reading of scientific resources: moving beyond cursory,fragmented, and opportunistic reading

The abundant scientific resources on the Web provide great opportunities for students to expand their science learning, yet easy access to information does not ensure learning. Prior research has found that middle school students tend to read Web‐based scientific resources in a shallow, superficial manner. A software tool was designed to support middle school students in reading online scientific resources through three key strategies: making explicit a skim–read–summarize structure for online reading, using prompts to guide students' reading and foster articulation of thinking, and connecting reading to learning purposes. This study examined the differences between regular and guided online reading performed by eight pairs of sixth graders in a science inquiry project. The students' online reading processes and conversations were captured by a screen‐recording programme. Analysis of 60 h of screen videos showed that the students' online reading in the regular condition was cursory, fragmented, and opportunistic, while the structured online reading was more deliberate, thorough, and purposeful. Overall, the results suggest that middle school students' online reading of scientific resources needs to be guided.     

Assistance and possibilities: Analysis of learning-related factors affecting the online learning satisfaction of underprivileged students

Online learning is used for different purposes such as the actualization of equal opportunity in education or excellence in education. In Korea, nationwide online learning has been launched since 2005 to boost the self-directed learning capabilities and academic achievement of underprivileged students. The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting the online learning satisfaction of underprivileged students. The subjects in this study were 1043 students and 915 underprivileged students. The underprivileged students were found to be more satisfied with online learning than the students, and the students who were under the guidance of their online homeroom teachers (hereinafter called the students of class type) expressed better satisfaction than the others who studied on their own (hereinafter called the students of self-study type). And the learning support function (F3) was identified as the variable that exerted the largest influence on the satisfaction level of the underprivileged students. This study was significant in that it attempted to suggest what kind of assistance should be provided to raise the online learning satisfaction of underprivileged students and to set up learning assistance models geared toward underprivileged students by covering diverse relevant elements without leaning toward any particular one.     

融入学习者模型在线学习资源协同过滤推荐方法

在线教育存在“信息迷航”问题,而传统的信息推荐方法往往忽视教育的主体—学习者的特征。本文依据教育教学理论,根据在线教育平台中的学习者相关数据,研究构建了适用于在线学习资源个性化推荐的学习者模型。以协同过滤推荐方法为切入点,融合学习者模型中的静态特征和动态特征对协同过滤方法进行改进,建立融入学习者模型的在线学习资源协同过滤推荐方法。以2020年3~7月时间段的东北石油大学“C程序设计”课程学生的真实学习数据和行为数据为数据集,对本文提出的方法进行验证和对比,最后证明本文提出的方法在性能上均优于对比方法。     

浅谈校园网络教育应用平台建设

随着科学技术的发展,尤其是计算机的发展和普及,一种全新的生活方式已经来到了我们周围,尤其是在计算机网络普及开来以后,更是给我们的生活带来了极大的便利。在这其中,网络环境对于教育业的作用是极其巨大的,他给我们带来了一种新的学习模式。本文在介绍了什么是校园网络教育平台和现行的网络教育现状之后,主要探讨了现在网络教育应用中的一些不足和需要改进的措施。     

Understanding online knowledge sharing: An interpersonal relationship perspective

The unique features and capabilities of online learning are built on the ability to connect to a wider range of learning resources and peer learners that benefit individual learners, such as through discussion forums, collaborative learning, and community building. The success of online learning thus depends on the participation, engagement, and social interaction of peer learners, which leads to knowledge sharing. Thus, without frequent and persistent interaction, it is doubtful whether knowledge sharing can take place in online learning. This study argues that theories about the development and maintenance of social relationships provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the motivation to engage in online knowledge sharing behavior. An Online Knowledge Sharing Model (OKSM) is proposed and empirically tested among undergraduate students using an online learning environment. The model introduces two new constructs – Perceived Online Attachment Motivation (POAM) and Perceived Online Relationship Commitment (PORC), which together explained 71 percent of the variance observed in self-reported online knowledge sharing behavior. The findings provide some explanations for the motivation to share knowledge, and have several implications for the design of the features and capabilities of online learning environments.     

Scaffolding strategies for supporting middle school students’ online inquiry processes

Online inquiry, use of the Web as an information resource to inquire into science, has become increasingly common in middle schools in recent years. However, prior research has found that middle school students tend to use the Web in a superficial manner. To address the challenges that students face in online inquiry, we designed the Digital IdeaKeeper, a scaffolded software tool to help students engage in online inquiry through support for inquiry planning, information search, analysis, and synthesis. This study examined the differences between regular and IdeaKeeper-supported online inquiry performed by 8 pairs of sixth graders in naturalistic classroom settings. Analysis of 80 screen videos of students’ computer activities and conversations found that IdeaKeeper-supported online inquiry was more integrated, efficient, continuous, metacognitive, and focused. This study has important implications for designing online learning environments for middle school students.     

基于JSP技术的自动组卷与在线作业系统的设计与实现

网络考核是评价网络学习效果的一个重要环节,网络考核的实现基础是自动组卷技术。对于弥补学生课堂学习的疏漏和及时检验学生学习情况是一种行之有效的手段。在线作业技术将教师完全从手工批改作业中解放出来。探讨了以JDK1.6和Netbeans6.7作为开发平台的在线组卷和在线作业系统部分关键技术的设计与实现。     

Using online assessments to stimulate learning strategies and achievement of learning goals

The main goals of this research are: (i) to explore the influence that announcement of certain type of online assessment has on students' learning strategies and (ii) to explore the influence of stimulated learning strategies on achievement levels that students exhibit during assessments. Research has been conducted by testing and surveying 351 students from higher education institutions. Results indicate that students' learning strategies can be influenced in a relatively short period of time by announcing various types of online assessments and that steering to more desirable deep learning strategies has positive impact on both formal and perceived levels of success in achieving the desired learning goals. These findings can be used to create a novel adaptive online assessment system that incorporates the elements of adaptivity within a series of assessments and uses post-assessment feedback to steer students’ learning strategies.     

Online teaching and technological affordances: An experimental investigation into the impact of modality and clarity on perceived and actual learning

Online courses have become commonplace at many institutions of higher education. While the popularity on online courses is growing, there are still many questions regarding the effectiveness of such courses in facilitating learning outcomes. Using theories from mass communication and education, we designed an online lecture which employed a 2 (modality) × 2 (clarity) between-subjects factorial design to better understand how variations in the mode (text only; audio and text) and structure/clarity (high clarity; low clarity) of information impacted feelings of instructor closeness, credibility, and perceived and actual learning. Results indicated that online lectures presented in a multimodal format were better at facilitating positive student experiences with instructors, as well as perceived and actual learning than lectures that contained only one mode of information. Implications of these findings are discussed with a specific focus on instructional design and technology.     

基于OBE的工程图学混合式教学新体系

突如其来的疫情下“停课不停学”的线上教学,使得以成果导向教育(OBE)为理念的教学存在 特殊性。以《现代工程图学》课程为载体,提出突发事件下 OBE 在线教学应着眼于培养学生的图学素养,融 入计算机实体造型。教学重点集中在整合和挖掘教学资源、依托网络教学平台和加强工程能力培养,教学过程 强调以学生为中心的教学理念、加大多元化过程考核机制,拓宽制图课教学的知识面和受训面。构建了“课内 与课外相结合、线上和线下相结合、理论与实践相结合”的混合式制图教学新体系。并在机自专业制图课程教 学过程中加以实践,适度解决了远程教学中课堂互动性差、实践和测绘教学难以及上机实战少等问题,确保与 线下课程教学质量实质等效,为工程类基础课程教学提供改革思路。