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Abstract Background Instructional videos have been increasingly critical to afford effective learning experiences in online courses, but most videos follow a lecturing monolog delivery format. This format tends to lead students to observe the videos passively. Previous laboratory studies have indicated that observing dialog videos of an instructor tutoring a tutee enhances student learning more than watching monolog videos of the same instructor lecturing. This paper describes two empirical studies that replicated the laboratory findings in large-scale college-level online STEM courses. Results The results show that observing dialog videos of tutoring led to superior learning outcomes compared to monolog videos of lecturing, regardless of whether students observe the videos individually or collaboratively, as long as they engaged generatively with the materials. This finding was confirmed across two tested STEM domains. Conclusions The findings of these classroom studies suggest that observing dialog tutoring videos is a novel and robust online instructional format that can be generalized across STEM domains. The benefit of overhearing tutorial dialogs requires students to engage in Constructive and Interactive behaviors, as defined by the ICAP framework, rather than exposing students to long didactic lectures.

Practitioner-focused educational doctoral programs have grown substantially in recent years. Dissertations in Practice (DiPs), which are the culminating research report and evaluation method in these programs, differ from traditional PhD dissertations in their focus on addressing a problem of practice and on connecting theories with practice. As part of our ongoing program evaluation, we reviewed DiPs from doctoral students who graduated from an online asynchronous Educational Doctoral program in Learning Design and Technologies at the University of South Carolina. Findings revealed that most students chose a pragmatic philosophical paradigm, adopted a mixed methods research design, reported an action research intervention implemented with populations in K-12 schools, used surveys and interviews as data sources, and analyzed data with descriptive/inferential statistics and thematic analysis. Implications for the program curriculum are discussed.

Abstract Introduction To investigate the prevalence of fundus tessellation (FT), and the threshold for screening FT using an artificial intelligence (AI) technology in Chinese children. Methods The Nanjing Eye Study was a population-based cohort study conducted in children born between September 2011 and August 2012 in Yuhuatai District of Nanjing. The data presented in this paper were obtained in 2019, when these children were 7 years old and underwent 45° non-mydriatic fundus photography. FT in whole fundus, macular area, and peripapillary area was manually recognized from fundus photographs and classified into three grades. Fundus tessellation density (FTD) in these areas was obtained by calculating the average exposed choroid area per unit area using artificial intelligence (AI) technology based on fundus photographs. The threshold for screening FT using FTD was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results Among 1062 enrolled children (mean [± standard deviation] spherical equivalent: − 0.28 ± 0.70 D), the prevalence of FT was 42.18% in the whole fundus (grade 1: 36.53%; grade 2: 5.08%; grade 3: 0.56%), 45.57% in macular area (grade 1: 43.5%; grade 2: 1.60%; grade 3: 0.50%), and 49.72% in peripapillary area (grade 1: 44.44%; grade 2: 4.43%; grade 3: 0.85%), respectively. The threshold value of FTD for screening severe FT (grade ≥ 2) was 0.049 (area under curve [AUC] 0.985; sensitivity 98.3%; specificity 92.3%) in the whole fundus, 0.069 (AUC 0.987; sensitivity 95.5%; specificity 96.2%) in the macular area, and 0.094 (AUC 0.980; sensitivity 94.6%; specificity 94.2%) in the peripapillary area, respectively. Conclusion Fundus tessellation affected approximately 40 in 100 children aged 7 years in China, indicating the importance and necessity of early FT screening. The threshold values of FTD provided by this study had high accuracy for detecting severe FT and might be applied for rapid screening.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been touted as a disruptive innovation with a low-cost and flexible option for opening up higher education. However, existing barriers of MOOCs such as a low retention rate and a low forum participation rate have limited their capacity of serving learners. To strengthen the potential of MOOCs, a compelling design that enables an effective learning experience is needed. This article is aimed to propose a series of design guidelines for MOOCs, namely the LITTLE, as a preliminary design framework for an effective MOOC. The LITTLE includes guidelines such as learner-centered, inquiry-based, technology-enriched, trophy-driven, literature-guided, and evidence-based strategies. Examples are provided in concert with theoretical justifications to illustrate the guidelines.

ObjectiveThe study aims to assess two refractive instrument-based methods of vision screening (SureSight and PlusoptiX) to detect refractive amblyopia risk factors (ARFs) and significant refractive errors in Chinese preschool children and to develop referral criteria according to the 2021 AAPOS guidelines.MethodsEye examinations were conducted in children aged 61 to 72 months (n = 1,173) using a PlusoptiX photoscreener, SureSight autorefractor, and cycloplegic retinoscopy (CR). The Vision Screening Committee of AAPOS's preschool vision screening guidelines from 2021 were adopted for comparison. Paired t-test analysis and Bland–Altman plots were used to assess the differences and agreement between the PlusoptiX photoscreener, SureSight autorefractor, and CR. In addition, the validity of the cut-off values of the several ARFs measured with the SureSight and PlusoptiX was estimated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and compared to the age-based 2021 AAPOS examination failure levels.ResultsA total of 1,173 children were tested with comprehensive eye examinations. When the referral numbers based on the 2013 (43/3.67%) and 2021 (42/3.58%) AAPOS guidelines were compared, significant differences between the values of astigmatism (72.09 vs. 52.38%) and anisometropia (11.63 vs. 38.10%) were found. The 95% limits of agreement (LOA) of the spherical value and the cylindrical value between PlusoptiX and CR were 95.08 and 96.29%. It was 93.87 and 98.10% between SureSight and CR. Considering refractive failure levels, the ROC curves obtained the optimal cut-off points. However, the PlusoptiX and the SureSight showed lower efficiency in hyperopia (Youden index, 0.60 vs. 0.83) and myopia (Youden index, 078 vs. 0.93), respectively. After adjusting the above cut-off points, the optimized NES (Nanjing Eye Study) referral criteria for myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia were –0.75, 1.25, –1.0, and 0.5 with PlusoptiX and –1.25, 2.75, –1.5, and 0.75 with SureSight.ConclusionsSureSight and PlusoptiX showed a good correlation with CR and could effectively detect refractive ARFs and visually significant refractive errors. There were obvious advantages in detecting hyperopia using SureSight and myopia using PlusoptiX. We proposed instrumental referral criteria for age-based preschool children based on AAPOS 2021 guidelines.

Practitioner-focused educational doctoral programs have grown substantially in recent years. Dissertations in Practice (DiPs), which are the culminating research report and evaluation method in these programs, differ from traditional PhD dissertations in their focus on addressing a problem of practice and on connecting theories with practice. As part of our ongoing program evaluation, we reviewed DiPs from doctoral students who graduated from an online asynchronous Educational Doctoral program in Learning Design and Technologies at the University of South Carolina. Findings revealed that most students chose a pragmatic philosophical paradigm, adopted a mixed methods research design, reported an action research intervention implemented with populations in K-12 schools, used surveys and interviews as data sources, and analyzed data with descriptive/inferential statistics and thematic analysis. Implications for the program curriculum are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing K-12 students' computational thinking (CT) skills is essential. Building on the existing literature that has emphasized programming skill development, this study expands the focus to examine students' use of underlying CT cognitive skills during collaborative problem-solving processes. A case study approach was employed to examine video data of 5th graders engaging in an integrated-STEM robotics curriculum. The findings reveal that students applied algorithmic thinking most frequently and prediction the least. They recorded most debugging behaviors initially in the problem-solving process, but after accumulating more experiences their uses of other CT skills, including algorithmic thinking, pattern recognition, and prediction, increased. Implications for developing young learners' CT skills to solve real-world problems are discussed.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]