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Gateway science courses are an ongoing obstacle to recruitment into STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Students come into courses that have a high cognitive load, which makes success in the course challenging. Instructional design can be used to reduce cognitive load. The findings demonstrate that leveraging pre- and post-lecture quizzes has the capacity to reduce cognitive load. Over three semesters, assessed 164 students were assessed while taking SCB201 (General Biology I). Students in the participant and control groups were given surveys to gauge the experiment's effectiveness. These surveys were given at the beginning, midterm, and end of the semester. The surveys collected student feedback concerning attendance habits, reading for knowledge, and course difficulty each semester. The participant group findings showed favorable increases in attendance and reading for knowledge. Additionally, students in the participant group found the quizzes helped them to better understand core concepts as the semester progressed. It was determined that these quizzes helped focus learning by causing a decrease in cognitive load for students. This methodology has universal application to any type of course needing to reduce cognitive load.

In spring 2016, a course at Ohio State University (OSU) was introduced to teach advanced agronomic concepts and included the option to prepare students for the Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) exams offered by the American Society of Agronomy. From 2019 to 2021, revisions in instructional methods were implemented that introduced the use of pretests (in addition to posttests given at the end of instructional periods) and focused problem-solving within a teaching unit towards the end of the semester. Improvement in course exam performance for each period was measured, and student performance (SP) on the CCA exams relative to the general population was determined. Student course exam scores increased marginally (3%) from 2019-2021 compared to 2016-2018, though gains were not significant (p > 0.5). SP from 2016 to 2018 (n = 27) was 1%-5% greater than the general population for the international CCA exam (n = 3978) but was equal to or 1.5% below the general population for the local CCA exam (n = 784). SP from 2019 to 2021 (n = 21) was 7.8%-16.4% greater for all categories for both the international (n = 2330) and local (n = 419) exam general populations. Student passing rates on the international exam went from 25.3% to 52.8% greater than the general population from 2016-2018 to 2019-2021, respectively, and student passing rate for the local exam increased from 55.7% less than the general population in 2016-2018 to 26.7% greater than the general population in 2019-2021. These results suggest the modification of course instruction coincided with SP gains and may have contributed to improved performance of the student population compared to the general population.

The current study examined whether the learning benefits of pretesting--like those produced by posttesting--generalize to classroom settings, and whether such benefits transfer to non-pretested related information. Before some lectures but not others, undergraduate students enrolled in a large research methods class were given a brief competitive multiple-choice pretest on topics that were then covered in a lecture occurring immediately following the pretest. The pretests were not seen by the lecturer. On a final exam that was given at the end of the academic term, it was found that pretesting enhanced learning of both pretested and non-pretested related material compared to control questions. On a follow-up questionnaire, students reported taking the pretests seriously and being generally aware when pretested topics were later discussed in the lectures. Furthermore, many students reported using the pretests to guide their own study behavior. Thus, a combination of two mechanisms--namely, increased attentional processing during class and enhanced self-regulated study outside of class--may have contributed to the current pretesting effect. Although much more research in this area is needed, our results suggest that students' learning can profit from short, low-stakes, competitive multiple-choice pretests being deployed in the classroom.

Considerable research has examined the prevalence and apparent consequences of task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) in both laboratory and authentic educational settings. Few studies, however, have explored methods to reduce TUTs during learning; those few studies tested small samples or used unvalidated TUT assessments. The present experimental study attempted to conceptually replicate or extend previous findings of interpolated testing and pretesting effects on TUT and learning. In a study of 195 U.S. undergraduates, we investigated whether interpolated testing (compared to interpolated restudy) and pretesting on lecture-relevant materials (compared to pretesting on conceptually related but lecture-irrelevant materials) would reduce TUTs during a video lecture on introductory statistics. Subjects completed either a content-matched or content-mismatched pretest on statistics concepts and then watched a narrated lecture slideshow. During the lecture, half of the sample completed interpolated tests on the lecture material and half completed interpolated restudy of that material. All subjects responded to unpredictably presented thought probes during the video to assess their immediately preceding thoughts, including TUTs. Following the lecture, students reported on their situational interest elicited by the lecture and then completed a posttest. Interpolated testing significantly reduced TUT rates during the lecture compared to restudying, conceptually replicating previous findings--but with a small effect size and no supporting Bayes-factor evidence. We found statistical evidence for neither an interpolated testing effect on learning, nor an effect of matched-content pretesting on TUT rates or learning. Interpolated testing might have limited utility to support students' attention, but varying effect sizes across studies warrants further work.

In order to provide an on-demand, open electrical engineering laboratory, we developed an innovative software-based Virtual Open Laboratory Teaching Assistant (VOLTA). This web-based virtual assistant provides laboratory instructions, equipment usage videos, circuit simulation assistance, and hardware implementation diagnostics. VOLTA allows students to perform laboratory experiments anywhere at their convenience. A series of studies was carried out in an experimental section of our traditional entry-level electric circuits laboratory to answer the hypothesis: students taught using VOLTA will learn as much as students who were taught by a human teaching assistant. The experiments were conducted using a pre-test/post-test design, and student performance was assessed using ANOVA on gain scores. Statistical analysis revealed that the student performance increased significantly when VOLTA was integrated into a closed laboratory. We conclude that VOLTA can support students in open and closed laboratories as effectively as a human teaching assistant.

To address the needs and interests of primary stakeholders in a writing program, this article presents a model of "grassroots" assessment that involves instructors from all ranks as well as students in the development, facilitation, and interpretation of assessment results. The authors describe two assessment plans that measured student and instructor perceptions about curricular changes, the individual results of those assessments, and the conclusions the authors came to about the importance and challenges of involving a range of stakeholders in assessment.

This study discusses the need, development, and validation of the Innovation Test Instrument (ITI). This article outlines how the researchers identified the content domain of the assessment and created test items. Then, it describes initial validation testing of the instrument. The findings suggest that the ITI is a good first step in creating an innovation assessment because it is more inclusive of both divergent and convergent thinking. In comparison, past innovation assessments have only assessed either divergence or convergence. The ITI still needs further validation and improvement to make strong claims about its ability to determine the effectiveness of an innovation course.

This study reports an empirical study of an explicit instruction of corpus-aided Business English collocations and verifies its effectiveness in improving learners' collocation awareness and learner autonomy, as a result of which is significant improvement of learners' collocation competence. An eight-week instruction in keywords' collocations, with the help of AntConc and self-constructed Business English Pedagogical Corpus combined with COCA general corpus and Wikipedia corpus, was imparted to 23 undergraduate learners majoring in Business English in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. They took the collocation competence pre-test and post-test before and after the teaching experiment which was phased into two themes and submitted learning reflective journals at the end of each theme instruction and answered a questionnaire at the final end. The data from the tests, reflective journals and questionnaire collaboratively suggest that given appropriate guidance EFL Business English learners can take a more active role in raising their collocation awareness and developing learner autonomy and thus improve their collocation competence significantly. The results from the test analysis also indicate that the corpus-aided Business English collocation pedagogy is proved to be more effective for intermediate and advanced level learners rather than lower level ones. The findings have pedagogical implications for EFL Business English instructors and learners.

In this study, a mobile application was developed for courses at undergraduate level. The application has not only been developed and used, but has also been used practically for 8 weeks. In other words, the findings are based on a practical experience rather than a theoretical basis. This study aimed to determine the opinions of students who participated in the development and application process of an Android application named NEU-CEIT about the mobile learning environment, educational and sharing structure of the developed application. A total of 27 students participated and students were asked to upload the developed application and examine the content. Following the application, students were administered an environment evaluation questionnaire. Data of the research were collected with survey method. Data obtained in the research were analyzed through the views of experts. According to the results, it was revealed that outcomes related with the usage structure of the developed application were positive, educational structure of the application is appropriate to follow the curriculum, it is rich in terms of materials and it might be one of the applications that students can use for communication. The results also showed that mobile applications will support education and increase motivation. This study supports that mobile applications improve academic achievement.

This study focuses on interactive multimedia e-learning aims to improve our understanding about the dynamics of e-learning. The objective is to critical evaluate and better understand the interrelationships in the proposed framework between internal, external and the pedagogy dimensions in adoption of interactive multimedia and e-learning. It develops a tool to measure creative user adoption of interactive multimedia and e-learning services by using Partial Least Squares algorithm as the method of estimation and the major analytical tool in this study. Finding of a small scale data sampling of students in United Kingdom indicate that the proposed measurement framework is an acceptable fit with the data. Overall, the findings supply a precise tool for measuring creative user adoption of interactive multimedia and e-learning services, providing further insights for researchers and may provide to guide research and practice in interactive multimedia and e-learning by using communication media.

It is well known that interesting questions can stimulate thinking and invite participation. Class exercises are designed to make use of questions to engage students in active learning. In a project toward building a community skilled in software verification and validation (SV&V), we critically review and further develop course materials in the software engineering curriculum for an undergraduate course in SV&V. The project involves the joint effort with many other academic institutions and industry partners. There are four topic areas of Software Engineering in our focus: Requirements Engineering, Software Review, Configuration Management, and Testing. We see class exercises as active learning tools for the students in our flipped classroom approach. We present our design of the class exercise: in its generic components envisioning how it may be used in general, but also its use in selected examples to illustrate these components. The class exercise design includes the learning objectives to indicate how the course design meets the learning outcome objectives for ABET accreditation. We further applied a classification of the learning objectives to present the case of the class exercises as active learning tools. Our initial implementation is ready and we are in the process of implementation with partner institutions for feedback and review.

In the last decade, e-learning has been a standard part of the educational process at all types of schools--primary, secondary, and high schools. When used, e-learning can achieve significant savings not only in terms of time as well as operating costs. However, e-learning is also often criticized. This is mainly due to direct absence of teachers (lack contact with him). This fact brings with it a range of following these problems, such as long response times in asking a question or impossibility to consult on specific issues. E-learning brings with it other, often-hidden problems, that in the traditional way of teaching we do not perceive. Since from year 2009 we try at the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra create modules for LMS Moodle, which could help students in organizing a way of teaching process (module Interactive Element Stat, Module Emotion Recognition, and others). The aim of the creation of modules is to support adaptivity in Moodle. Nowadays for the support of teaching process we designed and created a module with a name Notes. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of creating their own notes in Moodle. The basic function of the newly created solution is to add comments to the study materials including highlighting text. The module allows users to edit notes, create, and print them together with study materials.

Group awareness can affect student online learning while self-regulation also can substantially influence student online learning. Although some studies identify that these two variables may partially determine learning behavior, few empirical studies or thorough analyses elucidate the simultaneous impact of these two variables (group awareness and self-regulation) on online learning behavior. This paper compared one online collaboration environments with GA support with one without group awareness (NA) support and further investigated how these two variables, different system types (i.e., GA and NA) and different self-regulation levels (i.e., high and low), influence learning task (i.e., assessment) participation, and peer interaction (i.e., asking for help and willing to help) using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Analytical results first showed that both variables have significant interaction on assessment participation and requesting rate. GA can particularly stimulate students with high-level self-regulation to engage more learning task (assessment) participation and ask for help more, compared with students with low-level self-regulation. Second, both variables have no significant interaction on willingness to help. The GA class can enhance a student's willingness to help regardless of his/her self-regulation level.

One approach to encourage productive study strategies is to incorporate preparatory quizzes (or pre-quizzes) in which students are required to submit answers to questions before the underlying material is covered in class. In the present study, students took an introductory mechanical engineering class that either included pre-quizzes (treatment group) or did not (control group). Students in the treatment group visited the online textbook more often and earlier in advance of deadlines, indicating better management of their study time--behaviors that have been shown to be productive study strategies. They also performed better in the course, indicating that techniques intended to prime productive study strategies can pay off. Finally, measures of productive learning strategies correlated with measures of course performance for both groups. These findings support the pretesting principle, which holds that students study more effectively and learn better when they take practice tests before a lesson.

Learning objectives (LOs) are statements that typically precede a study session and describe the knowledge students should obtain by the end of the session. Despite their widespread use, limited research has investigated the effect of LOs on learning. In three laboratory experiments, we examined the extent to which LOs improve retention of information. Participants in each experiment read five passages on a neuroscience topic and took a final test that measured how well they retained the information. Presenting LOs before each corresponding passage increased performance on the final test compared with not presenting LOs (experiment 1). Actively presenting LOs increased their pedagogical value: Performance on the final test was highest when participants answered multiple-choice pretest questions compared with when they read traditional LO statements or statements that included target facts (experiment 2). Interestingly, when feedback was provided on pretest responses, performance on the final test "decreased," regardless of whether the pretest format was multiple choice or short answer (experiment 3). Together, these findings suggest that, compared with the passive presentation of LO statements, pretesting (especially without feedback) is a more active method that optimizes learning.

This study aims to develop Taiwan undergraduates' volunteer service motivation scale. To begin with, item pool was proposed on the basis of literature. After discussing with three Taiwan undergraduates, item pool, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (N = 150) was proceeded, where three tests were conducted EFA: 1. Item analysis: comparisons of extreme groups and correlation analysis were employed. The former's critical ratios are all more than 3, and reach significant standard, showing the 20 items have discriminating power. The latter shows that the r value of all items and the total score are all more than .60, and reach significant standard (p<0.001), showing the items can measure the same concept. 2. Factor analysis: primary axis factoring and the promax method of oblique rotation were adopted. In the first EFA, the 5 items concerning interpersonal relationship were distributed to other factors; and, due to incompatibility with other factors, so this dimension of Interpersonal Relationship was deleted. The 2nd EFA's results are consistent with the original design, which is categorized into Self-Growth, Serving Others, and Social Identification, and has appropriate total variation and total reliability. In order to verify the stability of the EFA factors, another batch of samples (N = 452) were investigated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In accordance with the CFA's results, the initial model's test are acceptable without offending estimations, the basic fit of the initial model is in good fitness (including individual reliability, composite reliability, the average variance extracted, construct discrimination). To conclude, these 15 items 3 factors of Taiwan Undergraduates' Volunteer Service Motivation Scale has acceptable reliability and validity; therefore, it can serve as the scale to investigate Taiwan undergraduates' volunteer service motivation for proceeding the relative studies.

What liability is associated with assuming the role of the "sponsor" in a clinical trial? This article discusses the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations governing sponsorship, and how courts have interpreted those regulations in cases with a claim of injury. There is a natural concern with the responsibility implied by assuming the role of "sponsor" in a clinical trial agreement. In a commercially sponsored clinical trial, for example, the site can reasonably require that a drug company assume most liability for subject injury Pharmaceutical companies are not the sponsor, however, for Investigator Sponsored Trials (ISTs, sometimes called Investigator Initiated Trials IITs). Between these extremes are the complex cases where a mix of delegated roles and responsibilities are assigned, and where the "duty of care" relation between a physician and their patient may take precedence in any case. This article discusses sponsorship in terms of the FDA regulations, and reviews several cases where judicial interpretation of a sponsor's duties had an impact on liability.

It is now well accepted that working in research teams that span universities, jurisdictions and countries can be rewarding and economically prudent. To this end, investigators collaborate in the pursuit of knowledge to address human and societal problems and translate results into local and global contexts. This implies that investigators need to develop study instruments that are fit for purpose and strategically manage issues arising from geographical, linguistic and cultural diversity. A proven method is cognitive interviewing to pre-test the study materials to ensure clarity and relevance in the study population. This paper describes the steps taken to increase the methodological reliability of study instruments through the use of cognitive interviewing and argues this technique should be a standard step in instrument development.

The research aims to develop "Sense of Life Meaning Scale" of Taiwan college students. In accordance with the related literature, most Western scholars adopted Frankl's Logotherapy for developing "Sense of Life Meaning Scale", which consists of freedom of will, will to meaning and meaning of life. The research also adopts these three beliefs as research factors; furthermore, with the related literature and measurements, 20-items questionnaire was designed. Owing to the past instrument have already proved the existence of three factors within sense of life meaning, CFA was directly applied for the research. This part is categorized into three models: (1) The initial model: the result reveals that two items' factor loadings are under 0.55., and need to be delete. (2) The modified model: After deleted two items, the model retested, and reveal firstly, the whole applicableness is acceptable; secondly, item quality test isn't under the situation of offending estimates (it means all output data are in an acceptable range); thirdly, internal construct applicableness analysis consisting of component reliability, average variance extracted; AVE (?v), competitive model comparison, and sex-group measurement identity test all qualified. (3) Cross-validity model: For the modified model, the research investigate another samples (N = 405), and after the re-verification, the outcome present acceptable whole applicableness. Therefore, the three factors 18 item scale of "Sense of Life Meaning" is built.

Maintaining score interchangeability and scale consistency is crucial for any testing programs that administer multiple forms across years. The use of a multiple linking design, which involves equating a new form to multiple old forms and averaging the conversions, has been proposed to control scale drift. However, the use of multiple linking often conflicts with the need for minimizing old item/form exposure and the need for pretesting. This study tried to find a balance point where the needs for equating, item/form exposure and controlling, and pretesting can be satisfied. Three equating scenarios were examined using real data: equating to one old form, equating to two old forms, or equating to three old forms. The finding is that the equating based on one old form produced persistent score drift and also showed increased variability in score means and standard deviations over time. In contrast, equating back to two or three old forms produced much more stable conversions and had less variation. Overall, equating based on multiple linking designs shows the promise of producing more consistent results and preventing scale drift. We recommend that testing programs and practitioners consider the use of multiple linking whenever possible.

A partially unusual behaviour was found among 14 sophomore students of civil engineering who took a pre test for a free fall laboratory session, in the context of a general mechanics course. An analysis contemplating mathematics models and physics models consistency was made. In all cases, the students presented evidence favoring a correct free fall acceleration model, whilst their position component versus time, and velocity component versus time graphs revealed complex misconceptions both on the physical phenomenon and it's implicit mathematics consistency. The last suggests an inability to make satisfactory connections through definitions between graphed variables. In other words, evidence strongly suggests that students are perfectly able to "memorize" the free fall acceleration model, whilst not understanding it's significance at any level. This small study originated the develope and validation of a tutorial on free fall graphs for position, velocity and acceleration models, as part of a following cross-universities major project.

Educational technology continues to expand with multi-user virtual environments (e.g., Second Life™) being the latest technology. Understanding a virtual environment's usability can enhance educational planning and effective use. Usability includes the interaction quality between an individual and the item being assessed. The purpose was to assess the usability of "AgriCulture Island" in Second Life™ to identify possible issues, understand of the severity of these issues, and how they could be effectively addressed in order to use Second Life™ as a teaching tool. The framework allowed the identification of constructs that further defined usability related to assessing a virtual environment. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed including pre/post questionnaires, observations, and a focus group session. The study engaged 12 participants during summer 2012 from a college of agriculture. Findings revealed that participants accepted Second Life™ more after initial exposure. Additionally, participants indicated the experience felt "real" and they could sense others in the environment. Observation data provided a picture of participant interaction with the virtual environment. Elements documented were assistance needs, satisfaction, confusion, and deviation from task. The importance of understanding educational technology usability cannot be underestimated. This study adds to the educational technology literature and provides recommendations for use.

The original SOCO Scale was reduced to 10 items by Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan (2001). The author conducted a pretest and a posttest in his Personal Selling class during the Fall 2009 semester. Significant differences by gender, student sales experience and family member in the sales field were identified. The author once again pretested the shortened scale in his Spring 2010 Personal Selling class; however, spousal health problems derailed the planned posttest. Significant differences by gender and student sales experience were found. Paired t-test findings and comparison of the two data sets data are also addressed in this paper.

This article describes a recently introduced module at University College Dublin School of Information and Library Studies (SILS), entitled "Information Architecture: Designing the Web." The module provides students with a realistic experience of how information architects apply their skills to produce usable web sites, via a project to produce a documented Virtual Research Environment for information architecture researchers. The article discusses the importance of both information architecture and Virtual Research Environments to LIS education and explains how the module achieves its aims.

Automated scoring models for the "e-rater"® scoring engine were built and evaluated for the "GRE"® argument and issue-writing tasks. Prompt-specific, generic, and generic with prompt-specific intercept scoring models were built and evaluation statistics such as weighted kappas, Pearson correlations, standardized difference in mean scores, and correlations with external measures were examined to evaluate the e-rater model performance against human scores. Performance was also evaluated across different demographic subgroups. Additional analyses were performed to establish appropriate agreement thresholds between human and e-rater scores for unusual essays and the impact of using e-rater on operational scores. The generic e-rater scoring model with operational prompt-specific intercept for the issue-writing task and prompt-specific e-rater scoring model for the argument writing task were recommended for operational use. The two automated scoring models were implemented to produce check scores at a discrepancy threshold of 0.5 with human scores.

The Association of American Geographers' Center for Global Geography Education aims to internationalize geography in higher education by providing materials and activities to support international learning collaborations. From 2007-2011, geographers in different countries collaboratively developed online learning materials and trialed these materials in their courses. This research examines the student learning outcomes for international trials in seven countries in order to develop effective practices for the implementation of online, cross-cultural curricula. Facilitators require competencies--from flexibility in teaching methods to an awareness of "teachable" moments--to coordinate meaningful online and off-line student intercultural communications.

Both theoretical and practical considerations have led the revision of the Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®) revised General Test, here called the rGRE, to adopt a multistage adaptive design that will be continuously or nearly continuously administered and that can provide immediate score reporting. These circumstances sharply constrain the available options for equating or linking together the thousands of unique test forms that will need to be administered each year. The only practical method is to pre-equate each form through item response theory (IRT) methods. Unfortunately, doing so means that item position and context effects are both vitally important and potentially difficult to control. This study examines item position effects in a GRE context and attempts to assess the extent to which they may affect the rGRE. It was found that position effects are in fact present in GRE data and that they can be particularly troublesome under multistage testing. Pretest strategies are able to mitigate effects to some degree, but complete control will require careful attention be paid to the time limits and associated test configuration details in the design of the rGRE.

University technology transfer is a collaborative effort between academia and industry involving knowledge sharing and learning. Working closely with their university partners affords biotechnology firms the opportunity to successfully develop licensed inventions and gain access to novel scientific and technological discoveries. These factors may enhance a firm's entrepreneurial orientation by supporting innovative, proactive, and risk-taking behaviors. This study investigates whether university technology transfer characteristics such as the transfer process, transfer modes (formal and informal), and transfer terms influence entrepreneurial orientation. Using survey data from biotechnology firms that develop human health therapies, the findings suggest that the transfer process and informal technology transfer promote a firm's ability to act entrepreneurially. Exclusive licensing terms, on the other hand, have a negative influence, and formal technology transfer does not significantly contribute to a firm's entrepreneurial disposition.

Individuals with print disabilities have difficulty processing information through visual means and rely heavily on spoken input. Mathematics and fields that have a heavy emphasis on mathematics are difficult for these individuals because of ambiguity inherent in typical everyday spoken renderings of mathematical expressions. MathSpeak is a set of rules for speaking mathematical expressions in a non-ambiguous manner. The present study tested the efficacy of MathSpeak rules for disambiguation of auditory renderings of spoken mathematics. Findings suggest that MathSpeak is efficacious for disambiguating spoken mathematics.

This study tries to shed some light on the Iranian EFL students' writing strategies at the revision stage of the process of writing in relation to students' interpersonal or intrapersonal intelligences. A total of 73 students majoring in English participated in this investigation. The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between the participants' writing revision strategies and their dominant MI profiles. An analysis of covariance also indicated that the type of revision did not have any significant effect on the participants' writing achievement.

This paper addresses the use of computer-based testing in distance education, based on the experience of Universitas Terbuka (UT), Indonesia. Computer-based testing has been developed at UT for reasons of meeting the specific needs of distance students as the following: (1) students' inability to sit for the scheduled test; (2) conflicting test schedules; and (3) students' flexibility to take examination to improve their grades. In 2004, UT initiated a pilot project in the development of system and program for computer-based testing method. Then in 2005 and 2006 tryouts in the use of computer-based testing methods were conducted in 7 Regional Offices that were considered as having sufficient supporting resources. The results of the tryouts revealed that students were enthusiastic in taking computer-based tests and they expected that the test method would be provided by UT as alternative to the traditional paper and pencil test method. UT then implemented computer-based testing method in 6 and 12 Regional Offices in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The computer-based testing was administered in the city of the designated Regional Office and was supervised by the Regional Office staff. The development of the computer-based testing was initiated with conducting tests using computers in networked configuration. The system has been continually improved, and it currently uses devices linked to the internet or the World Wide Web. The construction of the test involves the generation and selection of the test items from the item bank collection of the UT Examination Center. Thus the combination of the selected items compromises the test specification. Currently UT has offered 250 courses involving the use of computer-based testing. Students expect that more courses are offered with computer-based testing in Regional Offices within easy access by students.

Business educators understand the value of improving students' written and oral communication skills. However, too often assignments used to develop these important skills are taught in isolation. The purpose of this article is to enhance a student's written and oral skills by integrating all aspects of the job search written documents and interview practice while utilizing a student-selected job announcement. Each student must find a job announcement for an internship or career position that is consistent with the student's major. The job announcement should list the organization's needs in terms of degree required and specific skills. This article outlines an integrated process of teaching written and oral communication skills through the entire job search. Thus, the job announcement is the focal point for the student's resume, cover letter, career portfolio, and mock interview. Student feedback from the integrated process described in this article has been very positive and rewarding. Students consistently indicate their satisfaction when they successfully apply their self-marketing tools and secure a desired position prior to graduation.

Contribution: This paper presents the "PBL classroom model," an agent-based simulation (ABS) that allows testing of several scenarios of a project-based learning (PBL) application by considering different levels of soft-skills, and students' perception of the methodology. Background: While the community has made great advances in conducting engineering education studies, achieving goals of meaningful learning is still difficult. In this context, each new teaching methodology should be field tested, which can be time consuming. Introducing a simulation that can pre-test methodologies to check their efficiency can assist in the methodological building process.Research questions: The proposed simulation environment helps in understanding the differences in the learning rate of a group of agents (students) with different levels of humanization and instruction. Methodology: Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) was used to build the causal relationship between the students and a PBL methodology, to generate the input data for the simulation. Based on the analysis of the responses to a survey performed over five consecutive semesters, it was possible to generate some cause-effect data parameters to be used as the input for a hybrid type of ABS, known as PLS agent.Findings: The use of the proposed model, based on a computational approach, to study the educational process was validated; the simulation outcomes indicate that higher levels of self-esteem, self-realization, and cooperation result in better learning experiences.

Pre-tests are a non-graded assessment tool used to determine pre-existing subject knowledge. Typically pre-tests are administered prior to a course to determine knowledge baseline, but here they are used to test students prior to topical material coverage throughout the course. While counterintuitive, the pre-tests cover material the student is not expected to know, but serve as a motivational tool and a"road map" for the students, resulting in improved course performance.

Educational Theory into Practice Software (ETIPS) is an online case study program in the testbed stage of development intended for use by professors of education administration. The program is being developed by Sara Dexter and Pamela D. Tucker of the University of Virginia and is being tested by various other universities throughout Virginia. As a testbed member, the author will outline the theoretical framework, elaborating on the advantages of interactive, authentically contextualized online case studies over traditional print scenarios. Emphasis will be given to the outcomes of the program, which are to strengthen candidates' skills in data analysis, problem solving, and collaborative decision making. ETIPS enhances practical leadership skills for those who serve on the front lines. With the rapid growth of online principal preparation programs, this tool clearly represents a change in preparation.

The iPod digital music player has been available since late 2001, and even in higher education, its presence has been seen, although mostly in the hands of students and rarely for outcomes-based educational purposes. In 2004, Duke University provided free iPods to all 1,650 first year students, which subsequently enabled faculty to create learning opportunities, which actively engaged students to integrate digital audio and more into their lessons. Our study takes an alternate approach in which the Center for Teaching and Learning provided a small group of faculty (n = 11) from different disciplines with a free iPod, microphone, training, support and collaboration opportunities. The faculty members were asked to create innovative instructional methods and then use the tool in their classes for the 2008 spring semester. In return, faculty agreed to share their outcomes, which would become part of a resource showcase to assist other faculty. So, instead of distributing the technology to a wide audience, where only some may participate, and our goal was to identify those who would actively engage in the project, develop specific applications, and ultimately assist faculty and subsequently students, in integrating functional instructional technology. The primary purpose of this study is to share another model for using and distributing electronic media tools in higher education and secondarily to provide the results of this model in the form of varied and successful uses of the device in teaching and learning.

Curriculum integration and working in teams are two key characteristics of middle schooling in Australia today. As part of a new primary/middle teacher education program an interdisciplinary team of academics has developed a course that aims to teach pre service teachers how to plan for and teach an integrated curriculum unit in an authentic context: their 6 week school placement. This paper will describe the first cycle of an action research project detailing the issues for the third year pre service teachers and for the staff involved in teaching the course as they come to grips with new ways of working. This is an action research project and the data includes course materials, staff notes and journals and student assignments. A number of key issues have emerged from this trial including pre services teachers' knowledge of how curriculum is constructed at this stage of their career and the difficulties of modeling this approach.

As online courses have become more of an alternative to the traditional classroom environment there's a need for exploring methods on how to evaluate these online courses and their learning objectives. The intent of this research paper is to determine how we can improve online student grades so that failure rates are not 100% higher when comparing them to students attending a traditional campus course and also reduce the rate of late assignments and dropouts. This writer will identify the causes of these three areas and look at various methodologies and evaluation processes to rectify the situation. This writer will use surveys, course evaluations and quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection to determine the causes and recommend changes. (Contains 5 figures.)

The use of online instructional delivery techniques such as instructional web sites, online communication tools, and multimedia productions to deliver classes is a rapidly growing practice in education. Knowledge of how student a priori experiences with computer technologies and applications correlate to student perceptions of and success with embedded on-line learning experiences could enhance decisions about the design and delivery of on-line components embedded in traditional classroom instruction. For the purpose of this study, student success was operationally defined as achieving learning objectives as indicated by test and project scores. This knowledge could also begin to provide the basis for development of a useful pre-assessment instrumentation to assist instructors in identifying which students are most likely to be successful in achieving learning objectives with embedded on-line instruction. More specifically, it could be useful to better understand how students react when selected portions of course material are delivered online to support instruction in an otherwise traditional classroom. (Contains 1 table.)

Relating mathematical concepts to graphical representations is a challenging task for students. In this paper, we introduce two visual strategies to qualitatively interpret the divergence of graphical vector field representations. One strategy is based on the graphical interpretation of partial derivatives, while the other is based on the flux concept. We test the effectiveness of both strategies in an instruction-based eye-tracking study with N = 41 physics majors. We found that students' performance improved when both strategies were introduced (74% correct) instead of only one strategy (64% correct), and students performed best when they were free to choose between the two strategies (88% correct). This finding supports the idea of introducing multiple representations of a physical concept to foster student understanding. Relevant eye-tracking measures demonstrate that both strategies imply different visual processing of the vector field plots, therefore reflecting conceptual differences between the strategies. Advanced analysis methods further reveal significant differences in eye movements between the best and worst performing students. For instance, the best students performed predominantly horizontal and vertical saccades, indicating correct interpretation of partial derivatives. They also focused on smaller regions when they balanced positive and negative flux. This mixed-method research leads to new insights into student visual processing of vector field representations, highlights the advantages and limitations of eye-tracking methodologies in this context, and discusses implications for teaching and for future research. The introduction of saccadic direction analysis expands traditional methods, and shows the potential to discover new insights into student understanding and learning difficulties.

The composite face paradigm (Young, Hellawell, & Hay, 1987) is widely used to demonstrate holistic perception of faces (Rossion, 2013). In the paradigm, parts from different faces (usually the top and bottom halves) are recombined. The principal criterion for holistic perception is that responses involving the component parts of composites in which the parts are aligned into a face-like configuration are slower and less accurate than responses to the same parts in a misaligned (not face-like) format. This is often taken as evidence that seeing a whole face in the aligned condition interferes with perceiving its separate parts, but it remains unclear to what extent the composite face effect also reflects contributions from other potential sources of interference. We present a new variant of the paradigm involving composites created from top and bottom parts of familiar faces drawn from orthogonal social categories of gender and occupation. This allows us to examine the contributions of differences in relatively visual properties (gender) or relatively semantic properties (occupation) to composite interference and to measure whether variation in a task-irrelevant category (e.g., differences in gender across the parts of the composite when the task is to categorize the occupation of one of the parts) will influence the size of the composite effect. Our findings show that the composite face effect can be modulated by task-irrelevant social categories and that this interference is primarily visual in nature because the influence of face gender is more direct and more consistent than the influence of occupation.

It has been suggested that tacit knowledge may be a good predictor of performance in college. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which a situational judgment test developed to measure tacit knowledge correlates with predictors and indicators of college performance. This situational judgment test includes eight situations relevant to the life of college (undergraduate) students and is comprised of 211 behavioral strategies. Four hundred forty-eight college students participated in the study. The results of this study suggest that tacit knowledge has small, statistically nonsignificant correlations with cumulative grade point average (GPA), the percentage of the academic requirements passed on the first attempt, cognitive abilities, achievement motivation, and attention. However, tacit knowledge was found to correlate moderately with the personality factor of agreeableness. The findings do not support claims about the importance of tacit knowledge in academic settings and question what tacit knowledge really is and if it is a useful construct for performance prediction.

A series of short (5 to 7 minutes long) geoscience videos were created to support student learning in a flipped class setting for an introductory geology class at North Carolina State University. Videos were made using a stylus, tablet, microphone, and video editing software. Essentially, we narrate a slide, sketch a diagram, or explain a figure while describing the concept illustrated on the tablet. This study sought to compare student learning about key concepts from video with equivalent textbook reading assignments. Students were given a video or text-based resource followed by a series of assessments featuring knowledge and comprehension questions. Students who reviewed the videos showed greater learning gains and had higher confidence in their learning than students who had completed equivalent textbook reading assignments. Further, we report student interview responses that may help explain why students are likely to seek out and use video resources to supplement their learning.

This article presents the results of a study of academic e-books that compared the metadata and search results from major academic e-book platforms. The authors collected data and performed a series of test searches designed to produce the same result regardless of platform. Testing, however, revealed metadata-related errors and significant variation in search results that could impact the user experience. This article describes how other libraries could perform this type of testing and how this information could be used to inform the selection of e-books that are available on multiple platforms.