Journal of Educational Technology Systems

Web-based sites such as WebCT/Blackboard are useful for faculty and generally appreciated by students. This article describes the results in a hybrid course of the addition of specialized Web-based software. The intent was to enhance student skills in analysis and critique. Highly structured assignments were graded with Waypoint software, providing much more voluminous feedback to the students than would normally be possible. General aspects of Waypoint are described. The critical and analytical processes were also reinforced in midterm examinations. Statistical analysis supports the conclusion that this course design produced significantly improved analysis and critique skills steadily to the end of the course.

This study investigates how the combination of instructor modeling and question prompts for peer-questioning influences students' online questioning and answering activities. Fourteen students in a turfgrass management online class at a large land-grant university participated in two three-week sessions of online discussion. Two randomly selected small groups (n = 6) received question prompts and instructor modeling while the other two discussion groups (n = 8) did not. Their online interactions (frequency, length, and type of questions) and selected follow-up telephone interviews were analyzed. The results of the descriptive statistics of students' online activities and the interview reveal that the instructor's participation in online discussion played a critical role in modeling students' questioning activities and in facilitating students' continuous use of the given online peer questioning guidance. Thus, the combination of instructor modeling and question prompts is more effective than providing either strategy alone. The results are discussed from the viewpoint of distributed scaffolding.

Females are underrepresented in technology-related careers and educational programs; many researchers suggest this can be traced back to negative feelings of computer self-efficacy developed as early as the age of 10. This study investigated the effect of embedding technology into a 5th grade science classroom and measuring its effect on self-efficacy beliefs of young females. During a 1-semester trial, students in an experimental group used tools such as Kidspiration©, Keynote©, and Promethean© ActivBoard for specific assignments; students in a control group were not exposed to technology integrated specifically into the science curriculum. Our results indicated that the careful selection and use of computing technology led to higher levels of perceived importance and self-efficacy toward technology by female students.

In this article, I propose a technology-supported teaching and learning model that aims to bridge the gender gap identified in areas such as mathematics and science. Further, this model promotes collaboration between teacher educators and K-12 teachers. The focus of technology is on the use of video conferencing. This model is further tested by a government funded 3-year project using design-based research paradigm.

This article discusses our teaching approach in graduate level Engineering Statistics. It is based on the use of modern technology, learning groups, contextual projects, simulation models, and statistical and simulation software to entice student motivation. The use of technology to facilitate group projects and presentations, and to generate, model, and analyze data in practical engineering applications, is discussed. Class topics division, course objectives, classroom strategies, testing, and grading schemes, software tools used and results obtained are also presented.

Recently, concerted efforts have been made to encourage teachers to utilize technology within the classroom. Just as other modes of presentation style have implications for students' perceptions of their classroom experiences, so, too, might teachers' use of technology. The current study investigated this possibility, as well as whether the strength of this association between teachers' use of technology and students' perceptions is moderated by context. Using data from 101 high school students from the United States, it was found that teachers within the disciplines of math and science who use more technology are perceived as more competent. In other disciplines, there is not a significant association between technology use and teacher evaluations. Implications with respect to the anticipated future increases in technology use and possible consequences for student motivation and learning are discussed.

For students in many professional programs, their written work remains the chief means for them to convey their understanding and application of material presented in the classroom. Within their papers are applications of learning objectives or competencies. However, when students are asked to aggregate their acquisition of competencies, or if the school would like to know which competencies students are acquiring, then we are immediately confronted with the fact that the data within these papers is locked up in proprietary data formats, e.g., .doc. This article describes our proof-of-concept research wherein we asked students to “tag” their work with specific competencies via XML and retrieved that data using a database management system.