In a society where first hand work experience is greatly valued many universities or institutions of higher education have designed their Quality enhancement plan (QEP) to address student applied learning. This paper is the results of a university’s QEP plan, called Experiencing Transformative Education Through Applied Learning or ETEAL. This paper will highlight the research that was conducted using text mining and data mining techniques to analyze a dataset of 672 student evaluations collected from 40 different applied learning courses from fall 2013 to spring 2015, in order to evaluate the impact on instructional practice and student learning. Text mining techniques are applied through the NVivo text mining software to find the 100 most frequent terms to create a document-term matrix in Excel. Then, the document-term matrix is merged with the manual interpretation scores received to create the applied learning assessment data. Lastly, data mining techniques are applied to evaluate the performance, including Random Forest, K-nearest neighbors, Support Vector Machines (with linear and radial kernel), and 5-fold cross-validation. Our results show that the proposed text mining and data mining approach can provide prediction rates of around 67% to 85%, while the decision fusion approach can provide an improvement of 69% to 86%. Our study demonstrates that automatic quantitative analysis of student evaluations can be an effective approach to applied learning assessment.
{"title":"Using Text Mining and Data Mining Techniques for Applied Learning Assessment","authors":"Jessica Cook, Cuixian Chen, Angelia Reid-Griffin","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.39","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.39","url":null,"abstract":"In a society where first hand work experience is greatly valued many universities or institutions of higher education have designed their Quality enhancement plan (QEP) to address student applied learning. This paper is the results of a university’s QEP plan, called Experiencing Transformative Education Through Applied Learning or ETEAL. This paper will highlight the research that was conducted using text mining and data mining techniques to analyze a dataset of 672 student evaluations collected from 40 different applied learning courses from fall 2013 to spring 2015, in order to evaluate the impact on instructional practice and student learning. Text mining techniques are applied through the NVivo text mining software to find the 100 most frequent terms to create a document-term matrix in Excel. Then, the document-term matrix is merged with the manual interpretation scores received to create the applied learning assessment data. Lastly, data mining techniques are applied to evaluate the performance, including Random Forest, K-nearest neighbors, Support Vector Machines (with linear and radial kernel), and 5-fold cross-validation. Our results show that the proposed text mining and data mining approach can provide prediction rates of around 67% to 85%, while the decision fusion approach can provide an improvement of 69% to 86%. Our study demonstrates that automatic quantitative analysis of student evaluations can be an effective approach to applied learning assessment.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47448706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper describes various pedagogical efforts implemented to promote significant learning in a computational chemistry course. The taxonomy of significant learning advanced by Fink (2003) is used as a framework to discuss the results. In this taxonomy, Fink identifies six categories of learning: foundational, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn. Significant learning occurs when all six kinds of learning are promoted. In the computational chemistry course, the learning outcomes are aligned with these kinds of learning, and students are provided with learning activities to get them engaged with the course content. These activities purposefully activate students’ prior knowledge, increase their motivation, develop basic skills, apply and integrate what they learn in realistic situations, develop an appreciation for computational chemistry as an ally in science, and further their ability to work independently and with others, and to continue learning about the subject matter beyond the course.
{"title":"Promoting Significant Learning: A Case Study in Computational Chemistry","authors":"R. Parra","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.19","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes various pedagogical efforts implemented to promote significant learning in a computational chemistry course. The taxonomy of significant learning advanced by Fink (2003) is used as a framework to discuss the results. In this taxonomy, Fink identifies six categories of learning: foundational, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn. Significant learning occurs when all six kinds of learning are promoted. In the computational chemistry course, the learning outcomes are aligned with these kinds of learning, and students are provided with learning activities to get them engaged with the course content. These activities purposefully activate students’ prior knowledge, increase their motivation, develop basic skills, apply and integrate what they learn in realistic situations, develop an appreciation for computational chemistry as an ally in science, and further their ability to work independently and with others, and to continue learning about the subject matter beyond the course.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42249387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Responding to concerns about a textbook reading that students perceived as heteronormative, cisnormative, and antifeminist, we formed a partnership between students and faculty to reflect on the situation and to workshop ways to move forward. Our discussions were informed by our situation: a public HBCU in North Carolina, a state that had been in the headlines for anti-LGBT legislation. Many students reported that prior to our work they had not felt they had power to challenge the authoritative nature of texts in a classroom, even when they found those texts to be incorrect or inappropriate. This project empowered students to work with faculty and the publisher to change the textbook itself as well as the way certain rhetorical content was taught in our institution.
{"title":"Students as Co-Producers of Queer Pedagogy","authors":"Kathryn Wymer, Collie Fulford","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.29","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.29","url":null,"abstract":"Responding to concerns about a textbook reading that students perceived as heteronormative, cisnormative, and antifeminist, we formed a partnership between students and faculty to reflect on the situation and to workshop ways to move forward. Our discussions were informed by our situation: a public HBCU in North Carolina, a state that had been in the headlines for anti-LGBT legislation. Many students reported that prior to our work they had not felt they had power to challenge the authoritative nature of texts in a classroom, even when they found those texts to be incorrect or inappropriate. This project empowered students to work with faculty and the publisher to change the textbook itself as well as the way certain rhetorical content was taught in our institution.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47813101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Corinne Gist, Natalie R. Andzik, Elle Smith, M. Xu, N. Neef
The use of competitive games to increase classroom engagement has become common practice among many teachers. However, it is unclear if using games as an assessment tool is a viable way to increase student performance. This study examined the effects of administering quizzes through a game-based system, Kahoot!,versusprivately on an electronic device. The quiz scores of 56 undergraduate students, enrolled in one of two special education courses, were evaluated. A linear regression was used to compare student scores across the two conditions, as well as performance over the course of a 15-week semester. No significant difference in quiz scores was found between the two conditions, and quiz scores in both conditions improved similarly over time. Sixty-eight percent of the students reported preferring to take the quiz privately on an electric device as opposed to on Kahoot!. Limitations and recommendations for practitioners are discussed.
{"title":"The Effects of Gaming on University Student Quiz Performance","authors":"Corinne Gist, Natalie R. Andzik, Elle Smith, M. Xu, N. Neef","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.11","url":null,"abstract":"The use of competitive games to increase classroom engagement has become common practice among many teachers. However, it is unclear if using games as an assessment tool is a viable way to increase student performance. This study examined the effects of administering quizzes through a game-based system, Kahoot!,versusprivately on an electronic device. The quiz scores of 56 undergraduate students, enrolled in one of two special education courses, were evaluated. A linear regression was used to compare student scores across the two conditions, as well as performance over the course of a 15-week semester. No significant difference in quiz scores was found between the two conditions, and quiz scores in both conditions improved similarly over time. Sixty-eight percent of the students reported preferring to take the quiz privately on an electric device as opposed to on Kahoot!. Limitations and recommendations for practitioners are discussed.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47938944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper describes the impact of a learning strategies intervention conducted in first-year seminar courses that, 1) disaggregated components of academic skills into meaningful components for first-year students, 2) taught students academic skills within an authentic context, and 3) scaled-up the intervention for implementation at a programmatic level. This work is grounded in research on metacognition, self-regulation, and motivation, as well as literature on the academic transition to college. Results reinforced earlier findings indicating significant improved use of metacognitive learning strategies, even when the intervention was expanded to include multiple instructors in multiple course sections. Further research is needed to determine the precise factors precipitating improvement when the project was brought to scale.
{"title":"Bringing a Learning Strategies Project to Scale in a First-Year Seminar","authors":"H. Steiner, Nirmal H. Trivedi, Joshua Brown","doi":"10.36021/JETHE.V2I1.36","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/JETHE.V2I1.36","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the impact of a learning strategies intervention conducted in first-year seminar courses that, 1) disaggregated components of academic skills into meaningful components for first-year students, 2) taught students academic skills within an authentic context, and 3) scaled-up the intervention for implementation at a programmatic level. This work is grounded in research on metacognition, self-regulation, and motivation, as well as literature on the academic transition to college. Results reinforced earlier findings indicating significant improved use of metacognitive learning strategies, even when the intervention was expanded to include multiple instructors in multiple course sections. Further research is needed to determine the precise factors precipitating improvement when the project was brought to scale.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48418717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Universal design for learning (UDL) ensures that content is accessible to the largest audience by removing learning impediments (CAST, 2011). However, few scholars have surveyed students about how much UDL they encounter in their courses or how important they perceive these course modifications to be, especially in a post-secondary context. To this end, students at a Canadian college were surveyed. In a follow-up survey, faculty were also asked to report on how they thought their students perceived and valued their UDL usage. UDL perceived usage and perceived usefulness data were compared across both students and faculty and there was much agreement across the samples. Disagreements are discussed.
{"title":"Universal Design for Learning (UDL)","authors":"Lynne N. Kennette, N. Wilson","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.17","url":null,"abstract":"Universal design for learning (UDL) ensures that content is accessible to the largest audience by removing learning impediments (CAST, 2011). However, few scholars have surveyed students about how much UDL they encounter in their courses or how important they perceive these course modifications to be, especially in a post-secondary context. To this end, students at a Canadian college were surveyed. In a follow-up survey, faculty were also asked to report on how they thought their students perceived and valued their UDL usage. UDL perceived usage and perceived usefulness data were compared across both students and faculty and there was much agreement across the samples. Disagreements are discussed.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45663958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Multiple-choice testing is a staple within the U.S. higher education system. From classroom assessments to standardized entrance exams such as the GRE, GMAT, or LSAT, test developers utilize a variety of validated and heuristic-driven item-writing guidelines. One such guideline that has been given recent attention is to randomize the position of the correct answer throughout the entire answer key. Doing this theoretically limits the number of correct guesses that test-takers can make and thus reduces the amount of construct-irrelevant variance in test score interpretations. This study empirically tested the strategy to randomize the answer-key. Specifically, a factorial ANOVA was conducted to examine differences in General Biology classroom multiple-choice test scores by the interaction of method for varying the correct answer’s position and student-ability. Although no statistically significant differences were found, the paper argues that the guideline is nevertheless ethically substantiated.
{"title":"Randomize it","authors":"D. C. Joseph","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.26","url":null,"abstract":"Multiple-choice testing is a staple within the U.S. higher education system. From classroom assessments to standardized entrance exams such as the GRE, GMAT, or LSAT, test developers utilize a variety of validated and heuristic-driven item-writing guidelines. One such guideline that has been given recent attention is to randomize the position of the correct answer throughout the entire answer key. Doing this theoretically limits the number of correct guesses that test-takers can make and thus reduces the amount of construct-irrelevant variance in test score interpretations. This study empirically tested the strategy to randomize the answer-key. Specifically, a factorial ANOVA was conducted to examine differences in General Biology classroom multiple-choice test scores by the interaction of method for varying the correct answer’s position and student-ability. Although no statistically significant differences were found, the paper argues that the guideline is nevertheless ethically substantiated.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41819473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
“Futurology” is the process of forecasting or designing the future, whether that be the near future or far future. College courses rarely explicitly include futurology, even though the content of many courses has implications for the future. To build knowledge on how future-oriented content can be incorporated into educational curriculum, I studied a college course in which students used futurology activities as part of an active learning setup. My study suggests that future-oriented content is appealing to students and helps students develop a sense of control over the future. In order to better introduce students to futurology, instructors must attend carefully to students' unfamiliarity with structured future-oriented thinking, as well as to fatalistic attitudes about the future.
{"title":"“Nothing Is Set in Stone”: Incorporating Futurology into College Courses","authors":"Skylar Davidson","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.12","url":null,"abstract":"“Futurology” is the process of forecasting or designing the future, whether that be the near future or far future. College courses rarely explicitly include futurology, even though the content of many courses has implications for the future. To build knowledge on how future-oriented content can be incorporated into educational curriculum, I studied a college course in which students used futurology activities as part of an active learning setup. My study suggests that future-oriented content is appealing to students and helps students develop a sense of control over the future. In order to better introduce students to futurology, instructors must attend carefully to students' unfamiliarity with structured future-oriented thinking, as well as to fatalistic attitudes about the future.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43548447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article reports results of a mixed methods exploration of the effects of reflective supervision on cognitive growth in undergraduate students. Students were enrolled in two sections of an introductory skills practice course containing an experiential exercise designed to enhance skill development. One group received supervision; the other did not. Pretest and posttest analyses of measures used to assess cognitive development showed no statistically significant gains for either group. However, the group receiving supervision made more gains, and analysis of qualitative data revealed evidence of cognitive growth for this group. The research supports further investigation of educational interventions that may promote cognitive development in undergraduate students in helping professions and allied health fields.
{"title":"Supporting and Challenging Student Cognitions in the Classroom","authors":"A. Fisher, Chris Simmons, Susan C. Allen","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v2i1.33","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v2i1.33","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports results of a mixed methods exploration of the effects of reflective supervision on cognitive growth in undergraduate students. Students were enrolled in two sections of an introductory skills practice course containing an experiential exercise designed to enhance skill development. One group received supervision; the other did not. Pretest and posttest analyses of measures used to assess cognitive development showed no statistically significant gains for either group. However, the group receiving supervision made more gains, and analysis of qualitative data revealed evidence of cognitive growth for this group. The research supports further investigation of educational interventions that may promote cognitive development in undergraduate students in helping professions and allied health fields.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70086797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract. If assessment is the purpose of testing, open-book tests may defeat the purpose. However, a goal of education is to build knowledge, and based on the literature, open-book tests may not be inferior to closed-book tests in promoting long-term retention of information. Participants studied Swahili-English pairs and either re-studied or took an initial quiz, which was cued recall or recognition in an open-book or closed-book format. One week later, the final closed-book recognition test showed higher performance in the quizzed conditions than in the study-twice condition, replicating the testing effect. However, performance was similar across the quizzed conditions, indicating that testing promoted long-term retention regardless of test format (open-book versus closed-book) and test type (cued recall versus recognition). Open-book tests are not inferior to closed-book tests in building knowledge and can be particularly useful in online classes because preventing cheating is difficult when closed-book tests are administered online.
{"title":"Testing Effect","authors":"O. Senkova, H. Otani, Reid L Skeel, R. L. Babcock","doi":"10.36021/jethe.v1i1.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.36021/jethe.v1i1.15","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. If assessment is the purpose of testing, open-book tests may defeat the purpose. However, a goal of education is to build knowledge, and based on the literature, open-book tests may not be inferior to closed-book tests in promoting long-term retention of information. Participants studied Swahili-English pairs and either re-studied or took an initial quiz, which was cued recall or recognition in an open-book or closed-book format. One week later, the final closed-book recognition test showed higher performance in the quizzed conditions than in the study-twice condition, replicating the testing effect. However, performance was similar across the quizzed conditions, indicating that testing promoted long-term retention regardless of test format (open-book versus closed-book) and test type (cued recall versus recognition). Open-book tests are not inferior to closed-book tests in building knowledge and can be particularly useful in online classes because preventing cheating is difficult when closed-book tests are administered online.","PeriodicalId":93777,"journal":{"name":"Journal of effective teaching in higher education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48037594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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