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- All Subjects: Educational technology
- Creators: Nelson, Brian
- Creators: Atkinson, Robert
Description
Lots of previous studies have analyzed human tutoring at great depths and have shown expert human tutors to produce effect sizes, which is twice of that produced by an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). However, there has been no consensus on which factor makes them so effective. It is important to know this, so that same phenomena can be replicated in an ITS in order to achieve the same level of proficiency as expert human tutors. Also, to the best of my knowledge no one has looked at student reactions when they are working with a computer based tutor. The answers to both these questions are needed in order to build a highly effective computer-based tutor. My research focuses on the second question. In the first phase of my thesis, I analyzed the behavior of students when they were working with a step-based tutor Andes, using verbal-protocol analysis. The accomplishment of doing this was that I got to know of some ways in which students use a step-based tutor which can pave way for the creation of more effective computer-based tutors. I found from the first phase of the research that students often keep trying to fix errors by guessing repeatedly instead of asking for help by clicking the hint button. This phenomenon is known as hint refusal. Surprisingly, a large portion of the student's foundering was due to hint refusal. The hypothesis tested in the second phase of the research is that hint refusal can be significantly reduced and learning can be significantly increased if Andes uses more unsolicited hints and meta hints. An unsolicited hint is a hint that is given without the student asking for one. A meta-hint is like an unsolicited hint in that it is given without the student asking for it, but it just prompts the student to click on the hint button. Two versions of Andes were compared: the original version and a new version that gave more unsolicited and meta-hints. During a two-hour experiment, there were large, statistically reliable differences in several performance measures suggesting that the new policy was more effective.
ContributorsRanganathan, Rajagopalan (Author) / VanLehn, Kurt (Thesis advisor) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Burleson, Winslow (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The purpose of this survey study was to collect data from pre-K-12 educators in the U.S. regarding their perceptions of the purpose, conceptions, use, impact, and results of educational research. The survey tool was based on existing questionnaires and case studies in the literature, as well as newly developed items. 3,908 educators in a database developed over 10+ years at the world's largest education company were sent a recruiting email; 400 elementary and secondary teachers in the final sample completed the online survey containing 48 questions over a three-week deployment period in the spring of 2013. Results indicated that overall teachers believe educational research is important, that the most important purpose of research is to increase effectiveness of classroom practice, yet research is not frequently sought out during the course of practice. Teachers perceive results in research journals as the most trustworthy yet also perceive research journals the most difficult to access (relying second-most often for research via in-service trainings). These findings have implications for teachers, administrators, policy-makers, and researchers. Educational researchers should seek to address both the theoretical and the applied aspects of learning. Professional development must make explicit links between research findings and classroom strategies and tactics, and research must be made more readily available to those who are not currently seeking additional credentialing, and therefore do not individually have access to scholarly literature. Further research is needed to expand the survey sample and refine the survey instrument. Similar research with administrators in pre-K-20 settings as well as in-depth interviews would serve to investigate the "why" of many findings.
ContributorsMahoney, Shawn (Author) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
With the unveiling of the National Educational Technology Plan 2010, both preservice and inservice K12 teachers in the United States are expected to create a classroom environment that fosters the creation of digital citizens. However, it is unclear whether or not teacher education programs build this direct instruction, or any other method of introducing students to the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), "a standard of excellence and best practices in learning, teaching and leading with technology in education," into their curriculum (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012). As with most teaching skills, the NETS and standards-based technology integration must be learned through exposure during the teacher preparation curriculum, either through modeling, direct instruction or assignments constructed to encourage standards-based technology integration. This study attempted to determine the extent to which preservice teachers at Arizona State University (ASU) enrolled in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College (MLFTC) can recognize the National Education Technology Standards (NETS) published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and to what extent preservice teachers are exposed to technology integration in accordance with the NETS-T standards in their preparation curriculum in order to answer the questions of whether or not teacher education curriculum provides students an opportunity to learn and apply the NETS-T and if preservice teachers in core teacher preparation program courses that include objectives that integrate technology are more likely to be able to identify NETS-T standards than those in courses that do not include these elements In order to answer these questions, a mixed-method design study was utilized to gather data from an electronic survey, one-on-one interviews with students, faculty, and administrators, and document analysis of core course objectives and curriculum goals in the teacher certification program at ASU. The data was analyzed in order to determine the relationship between the preservice teachers, the NETS-T standards, and the role technology plays in the curriculum of the teacher preparation program. Results of the analysis indicate that preservice teachers have a minimum NETS-T awareness at the Literacy level, indicating that they can use technology skills when prompted and explore technology independently.
ContributorsLewis, Carrie L (Author) / Nelson, Brian (Thesis advisor) / Archambault, Leanna (Thesis advisor) / Savenye, Wilhelmenia (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Believe It! is an animated interactive computer program that delivers cognitive restructuring to adolescent females' irrational career beliefs. It challenges the irrational belief and offers more reasonable alternatives. The current study investigated the potentially differential effects of Asian versus Caucasian animated agents in delivering the treatment to young Chinese American women. The results suggested that the Asian animated agent was not significantly superior to the Caucasian animated agent. Nor was there a significant interaction between level of acculturation and the effects of the animated agents. Ways to modify the Believe It! program for Chinese American users were recommended.
ContributorsZhang, Xue (Author) / Horan, John J (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study explored three methods to measure cognitive load in a learning environment using four logic puzzles that systematically varied in level of intrinsic cognitive load. Participants' perceived intrinsic load was simultaneously measured with a self-report measure--a traditional subjective measure--and two objective, physiological measures based on eye-tracking and EEG technology. In addition to gathering self-report, eye-tracking data, and EEG data, this study also captured data on individual difference variables and puzzle performance. Specifically, this study addressed the following research questions: 1. Are self-report ratings of cognitive load sensitive to tasks that increase in level of intrinsic load? 2. Are physiological measures sensitive to tasks that increase in level of intrinsic load? 3. To what extent do objective physiological measures and individual difference variables predict self-report ratings of intrinsic cognitive load? 4. Do the number of errors and the amount of time spent on each puzzle increase as the puzzle difficulty increases? Participants were 56 undergraduate students. Results from analyses with inferential statistics and data-mining techniques indicated features from the physiological data were sensitive to the puzzle tasks that varied in level of intrinsic load. The self-report measures performed similarly when the difference in intrinsic load of the puzzles was the most varied. Implications for these results and future directions for this line of research are discussed.
ContributorsJoseph, Stacey (Author) / Atkinson, Robert K (Thesis advisor) / Johnson-Glenberg, Mina (Committee member) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Klein, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of instructor response prompts and rubrics on students' performance in an asynchronous discussion-board assignment, their learning achievement on an objective-type posttest, and their reported satisfaction levels. Researchers who have studied asynchronous computer-mediated student discussion transcripts have found evidence of mostly mid-level critical thinking skills, with fewer examples limited to lower or higher order thinking skill demonstration. Some researchers suggest that instructors may facilitate increased demonstration of higher-order critical thinking skills within asynchronous discussion-board activities. However, there is little empirical evidence available to compare the use of different external supports to facilitate students' critical thinking skills performance and learning achievement in blended learning environments. Results of the present study indicate that response prompts and rubrics can affect students' discussion performance, learning, and satisfaction ratings. The results, however, are complex, perhaps mirroring the complexity of instructor-led online learning environments. Regarding discussion board performance, presenting students with a rubric tended to yield higher scores on most aspects that is, on overall performance, as well as depth and breadth of performance, though these differences were not significant. In contrast, instructor prompts tended to yield lower scores on aspects of discussion board performance. On breadth, in fact, this main effect difference was significant. Interactions also indicated significant differences on several aspects of discussion board performance, in most cases indicating that the combination of rubric and prompt was detrimental to scores. The learning performance on the quiz showed, again, the effectiveness of rubrics, with students who received the rubric earning significantly higher scores, and with no main effects or interactions for instructor prompts. Regarding student satisfaction, again, the picture is complicated. Results indicated that, in some instances, the integration of prompts resulted in lower satisfaction ratings, particularly in the areas of students' perceptions of the amount of work required, learning in the partially online format, and student-to-student interaction. Based on these results, design considerations to support rubric use and explicit feedback in asynchronous discussions to support student learning are proposed.
ContributorsGiacumo, Lisa (Author) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Legacy, Jane (Committee member) / Bitter, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Concerted efforts have been made within teacher preparation programs to integrate teaching with technology into the curriculum. Unfortunately, these efforts continue to fall short as teachers' application of educational technology is unsophisticated and not well integrated. The most prevalent approaches to integrating technology tend to ignore pedagogy and content and assume that the technology integration knowledge for all contexts is the same. One theoretical framework that does acknowledge content, pedagogy, and context in conjunction with technology is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and was the lens through which teacher development was measured and interpreted in this study. The purpose of this study was to investigate graduate teacher education students' knowledge and practice of teaching with technology as well as how that knowledge and practice changes after participation in an educational technology course. This study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design in which both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from 82 participants. TPACK pre- and postcourse surveys were administered to a treatment group enrolled in an educational technology course and to a nonequivalent control group enrolled in a learning theories course. Additionally, pre- and postcourse lesson plans were collected from the treatment group. Select treatment group participants also participated in phone interviews. Analyses compared pre- and post-course survey response differences within and between the treatment and control groups. Pre- and postlesson plan rubric score differences were compared within the treatment group. Quantitative text analyses were performed on the collected lesson plans. Open and axial coding procedures were followed to analyze interview transcripts. The results of the study revealed five significant findings: 1) graduate students entering an educational technology course reported lower ability in constructs related to teaching with technology than in constructs related to teaching in a traditional setting; 2) TPACK was malleable and TPACK instruments were sensitive to that malleability; 3) significant gains in reported and demonstrated TPACK constructs were found after participating in an educational technology course; 4) TPACK construct ability levels vary significantly by participant characteristics; and 5) influences on teaching knowledge and practice range from internet resources, to mentor teachers, and to standardized curriculum packages.
ContributorsSabo, Kent (Author) / Atkinson, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Archambault, Leanna (Committee member) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The gameplay experience can be understood as an interaction between player and game design characteristics. A greater understanding of these characteristics can be gained through empirical means. Subsequently, an enhanced knowledge of these characteristics should enable the creation of games that effectively generate desirable experiences for players. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between gameplay enjoyment and the individual characteristics of gaming goal orientations, game usage, and gender. A total of 301 participants were surveyed and the data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). This led to an expanded Gameplay Enjoyment Model (GEM) with 41 game features, an overarching Enjoyment factor, and 9 specific components, including Challenge, Companionship, Discovery, Fantasy, Fidelity, Identity, Multiplayer, Recognition, and Strategy. Furthermore, the 3x2 educational goal orientation framework was successfully applied to a gaming context. The resulting 3x2 Gaming Goal Orientations (GGO) model consists of 18 statements that describe players' motivations for gaming, which are distributed across the six dimensions of Task-Approach, Task-Avoidance, Self-Approach, Self-Avoidance, Other-Approach, and Other-Avoidance. Lastly, players' individual characteristics were used to predict gameplay enjoyment, which resulted in the formation of the GEM-Individual Characteristics (GEM-IC) model. In GEM-IC, the six GGO dimensions were the strongest predictors. Meanwhile, game usage variables like multiplayer, genre, and platform preference, were minimal to moderate predictors. Although commonly appearing in games research, gender and game time commitment variables failed to predict enjoyment. The results of this study enable important work to be conducted involving game experiences and player characteristics. After several empirical iterations, GEM is considered suitable to employ as a research and design tool. In addition, GGO should be useful to researchers interested in how player motivations relate to gameplay experiences. Moreover, GEM-IC points to several variables that may prove useful in future research. Accordingly, it is posited that researchers will derive more meaningful insights on games and players by investigating detailed, context-specific characteristics as compared to general, demographic ones. Ultimately, it is believed that GEM, GGO, and GEM-IC will be useful tools for researchers and designers who seek to create effective gameplay experiences that meet the needs of players.
ContributorsQuick, John (Author) / Atkinson, Robert (Thesis advisor) / McNamara, Danielle (Committee member) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Savenye, Wilhelmina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The goal of this research was to understand the different kinds of learning that take place in Mod The Sims (MTS), an online Sims gaming community. The study aimed to explore users' experiences and to understand learning practices that are not commonly observed in formal educational settings. To achieve this goal, the researcher conducted a four-year virtual ethnographic study that followed guidelines set forth in Hine (2000). After Hine, the study focused on understanding the complexity of the relationships between technology and social interactions among people, with a particular emphasis on investigating how participants shaped both the culture and structure of the affinity space. The format for the dissertation consists of an introduction, three core chapters that present different sets of findings, and a concluding chapter. Each of the core chapters, which can stand alone as separate studies, applies different theoretical lenses and analytic methods and uses a separate data set. The data corpus includes hundreds of thread posts, member profiles, online interview data obtained through email and personal messaging (PM), numerous screenshots, field notes, and additional artifacts, such as college coursework shared by a participant. Chapter 2 examines thread posts to understand the social support system in MTS and the language learning practices of one member who was a non-English speaker. Chapter 3 analyzes thread posts from administrative staff and users in MTS to identify patterns of interactions, with the goal of ascertaining how users contribute to the ongoing design and redesign of the site. Chapter 4 investigates user-generated tutorials to understand the nature of these instructional texts and how they are adapted to an online context. The final chapter (Chapter 5) presents conclusions about how the analyses overall represent examples of participatory learning practices that expand our understanding of 21st century learning. Finally, the chapter offers theoretical and practical implications, reflections on lessons learned, and suggestions for future research.
ContributorsLee, Yoonhee Naseef (Author) / Hayes, Elisabeth (Thesis advisor) / Gee, James (Committee member) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Last Hymn was created by the team of Tyler Pinho, Jefferson Le, and Curtis Spence with the desire to create an eccentric Role Playing Game focused on the exploration of a strange, dying world. Battles in the game are based off of rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution using a procedural generation algorithm that makes every encounter unique. This is then complemented with the path system where each enemy has unique rhythm patterns to give them different types of combat opportunities. In Last Hymn, the player arrives on a train at the World's End Train Station where they are greeted by a mysterious figure and guided to the Forest where they witness the end of the world and find themselves back at the train station before they left for the Forest. With only a limited amount of time per cycle of the world, the player must constantly weigh the opportunity cost of each decision, and only with careful thought, conviction, and tenacity will the player find a conclusion from the never ending cycle of rebirth. Blending both Shinto architecture and modern elements, Last Hymn used a "fantasy-chic" aesthetic in order to provide memorable locations and dissonant imagery. As the player explores they will struggle against puzzles and dynamic, rhythm based combat while trying to unravel the mystery of the world's looping time. Last Hymn was designed to develop innovative and dynamic new solutions for combat, exploration, and mapping. From this project all three team members were able to grow their software development and game design skills, achieving goals like improved level design, improved asset pipelines while simultaneously aiming to craft an experience that will be unforgettable for players everywhere.
ContributorsPinho, Tyler (Co-author) / Le, Jefferson (Co-author) / Spence, Curtis (Co-author) / Nelson, Brian (Thesis director) / Walker, Erin (Committee member) / Kobayashi, Yoshihiro (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12