ITLS Faculty Publications Copyright (c) 2013 Utah State University All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub Recent documents in ITLS Faculty Publications en-us Mon, 06 May 2013 09:38:23 PDT 3600 Teacher Design Using Online Learning Resources: A Comparative Case Study of Science and Mathematics Teachers http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/256 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/256 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:09:44 PDT Using a comparative case study design, this paper explores the impacts of a technology-related professional development (TTPD) design aimed at helping science and mathematics teachers design classroom activities using the wealth of resources available on the Internet. Using the lens of curricular adaption and the notion of teachers’ varying pedagogical design capacity, we analyzed the experiences of four teachers in terms of the kinds of instructional activities teachers designed, how these were supported with online resources, and teachers’ perceptions of impacts on student learning. Findings suggested that participants used a variety of personally relevant design strategies when applying TTPD concepts to their contexts. In particular, the teachers discussed how they tailored instruction to fit their students’ needs and interests, and how they incorporated instructional games, simulations, and interactive resources to enhance motivation and provide self-paced instruction.

]]> Mimi Recker Physical Activity Data Use by Technoathletes: Examples of Collection, Inscription, and Identification http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/255 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/255 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:49:35 PDT The proliferation of physical activity data monitoring devices had led to an increase in technoathletes—individuals who combine athletic training and performance with the collection and evaluation of personally-relevant data in an effort to better understand their own abilities. We interviewed 20 technoathletes who were actively involved within either cycling or running communities. Qualitative vignettes of technoathletic engagement with data and the practice of data logging, in specific, are discussed and illustrated. Individual relationships that technoathletes have with their data are also examined. Through the examples, we highlight some commonalities in the data that were obtained and how various athletes represented that information. We also consider some of the tensions that technoathletes have with respect to the data they can obtain and how they saw themselves in light of their data and consider some implications for instruction.

]]> Victor R. Lee et al. The Next Information Literacy Challenge: Partnering to Promote Deeper Engagement with Information and Better Writing http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/254 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/254 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:49:33 PDT Wendy Holliday et al. Searching to Learn : Using Search Results to Build Concept Knowledge http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/253 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/253 Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:56:44 PST Anne Diekema et al. Integrating physical activity data technologies into elementary school classrooms http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/252 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/252 Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:53:39 PST This paper describes an iteration of a design-based research project that involved integrating commercial physical activity data (PAD) sensors, such as heart rate monitors and pedometers, as technologies that could be used in two fifth-grade classrooms. Design-based research involves the development, implementation and study of new learning interventions in real-world contexts with the goal of elaborating principles or guidelines relevant to the design of new technologies and learning experiences. The current project involved the implementation of PAD technology-supported learning activities in two fifth-grade classrooms where students pursued investigations related to the distances that they walk, the relationship between heights and footsteps taken, and variations in heart rates among twins and with adults. In addition to describing some of the practical lessons learned related to the use of PAD technologies with elementary school children, we describe our initial efforts to assess students’ knowledge before and after the learning intervention. Results from the written assessments indicated that the newly designed activities indeed covered the intended content related to measures of center and averages. Results from the interviews suggested that students who participated in the unit designed to incorporate PAD technologies more reliably accessed knowledge related to measures of center and averages in scenario based problems than their counterparts who followed a traditional unit.

]]> Victor R. Lee et al. Gendered Socialization with an Embodied Agent: Creating a Social and Affable Mathematics Learning Environment for Middle-Grade Females http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/251 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/251 Mon, 05 Nov 2012 15:44:23 PST This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed-methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred and twenty 9th-graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47% female; 51% Caucasian and 49% Latino). The results revealed that learner gender was a significant factor in the learners’ evaluations of their agent (η2 = .07), the learners’ task-specific attitudes (η2 = .05), and their task-specific self-efficacy (η2 = .06). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 22 students selected from the experiment participants. The interviews revealed that Latina and Caucasian females built a different type of relationship with their agent and reported more positive learning experiences as compared to Caucasian males. The females’ favorable view of the agent-based learning was largely influenced by their everyday classroom experiences, implying that students’ learning experience in real and virtual spaces was interconnected.

]]> Yanghee Kim et al. Understanding Local Teacher Adaptations of a Complex Learning Environment http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/250 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/250 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:26 PDT M. S. Cook et al. Mixed Methods for Mixed Reality: Overcoming Methodological Challenges to Understand User Activity in a Massive Multi-User Virtual Environment http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/249 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/249 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:25 PDT D. Feldon et al. Learning by Cheating? Investigating the Science in a Cheat Sites for Informal Educational Multi-User Virtual Environments http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/247 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/247 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:24 PDT Deborah A. Fields Where in the World is the Science in Whyville? Informal Science in a Multi-User Virtual Community http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/248 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/248 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:24 PDT Y. B. Kafai et al. "Why Are Newbies White?" Discussing and Designing Race in a Tween Virtual World http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/246 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/246 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:23 PDT Y. B. Kafai et al. To Cheat or Not to Cheat? Practices, Purposes, and Politics of Cheating in Online Games http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/245 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/245 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:22 PDT Y. B. Kafai et al. The Development of Distributed Expertise Across Physical and Virtual Worlds in a Teen Gaming Club http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/244 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/244 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:21 PDT Deborah A. Fields et al. Games in Schools, Club, Homes and Fandom Communities: Opportunities and Challenges in Understanding Learning Collaboration http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/243 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/243 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:20 PDT Y. B. Kafai et al. "Should I Get this Skin Color for My Head?" Conversations About Race in a Tween Gaming Club http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/242 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/242 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:19 PDT M. S. Cook et al. Race, Gender, and Trading Face Parts: A Case Study of Identity Construction in a Tween Virtual World http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/240 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/240 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:18 PDT Deborah A. Fields et al. Girl Gamers in Virtual Worlds: Portraits of Participation and Positioning in a Tween Gaming Club http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/241 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/241 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:18 PDT Deborah A. Fields et al. Creating a Culture of Critical Game Designers in Elementary Classrooms and Clubs http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/239 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/239 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:17 PDT K. Peppler et al. How Does Someone Become a Whyvillian? Issues of Race, Gender, and Trading Face Parts in a Case Study of Tween Play in a Virtual World http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/238 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/238 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:16 PDT Deborah A. Fields et al. Projectile Throwing as a Tool to Mediate Relationships: A Connective Ethnography of Gaming Practice in a Tween Virtual World http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/237 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/itls_facpub/237 Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:13:15 PDT Deborah A. Fields et al.