Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2013

ABSTRACT

While the concept of objectives is widely used in many applied fields of instruction, the systematic derivation and application of objectives for learning and instruction is a key feature of systematic instructional design. However, the treatment of objectives and the terminology surrounding them is sometimes nebulously employed. This article takes a historical look at the terminology around objectives used in the research literature to track changes over time. Data base searchers were conducted using Academic Search Complete, Education Research Complete, and ERIC to identify various terms using nine different objective related terms. Searches were limited to peer-reviewed sources, and restricted by date to include only the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s respectively. Results show that terms with more concrete definitions, such as behavioral objectives, have fallen off markedly, while terms with more operational definitions, such as educational objectives or learning objectives, have gained in currency. Implications for the field of instructional design are discussed.

Keywords: Objectives, Instructional design, Behavioral objective, Cognitive objective, Performance objective

ABSTRACT

Given the importance of globalization as well as the need to train skilled and knowledgeable employees for the 21st century workforce, higher education needs to take a more critical look at the educational practices and instructional methods which lead to improvements in students’ essential skills such as self-directed learning. This study sought to examine the effects of project-based learning (PoBL) strategy on students’ self-directed learning skills in a system-based education course offered in the educational technology department of Arak University in Iran. In order to achieve this end, a sample of 78 students in the field of educational technology who enrolled in the system-based education course was selected. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: the experimental group (PoBL strategy) and control group (conventional teaching strategy). The self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLRS) was administrated three times (i.e. pretest, post-test one, and post-test two). The experimental group received the PoBL strategy and the control group was exposed to conventional teaching (CT) methods. The results of two-way repeated measure ANOVA tests revealed that students who were taught using PoBL strategy performed significantly better in terms of self-directed learning skills than did students who were taught using CT strategy.

Keywords: Project-based learning, Self-directed learning, Educational technology, Higher education

ABSTRACT

This article presents the results from a post-test only experiment conducted in 2011 with undergraduate and graduate students (N=67) from individualist and collectivist cultures. Demographic information was collected through questions appearing at the end of a post-test administered to subjects after completing the e-learning module. Each person was randomly assigned to one of three e-learning modules which all shared identical instructional content: time travel. However, the modules differed in design. Specifically, while the control module was designed according to the coherence principle, one experimental module was designed with non-essential background music and the other was designed with non-essential background images. The coherence principle of multimedia instruction stipulates that the addition of extraneous audio, images, or text impairs learning. Nevertheless, one normative standard of multimedia design does not apply to a group of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Among the findings from this study, a flexible coherence principle is proposed and it suggests that the multimedia designer must consider one’s own cultural and linguistic composition as well as that of the intended audience. A concluding discussion suggests that cultural variation may be related to cognitive variation.

Keywords: E-learning, Linguistic relativism, Cognitive Load Theory, Coherence principle, Collectivist - Individualist, Multimedia design

ABSTRACT

Distance learning (DL) has become an important part of university education. In the past DL was applied in different universities with different forms. With rapid technological developments, DL gained a new format through the Internet. Students can take courses online wherever they are geographically. Therefore, working people and adults can enroll higher education institutions without time and space barriers. Like many countries, Turkey adapted its education system to this new form. From 1980’s to recent years, this system has been applied through open education faculties in state universities. However as the number of foundation universities increase, DL became more common in various programs at different levels. Conventional universities use this system in some courses so students take both face-to-face and online courses together. Universities can use this system to use their scarce financial resources effectively with saving some costs and provides possibilities for sustainable advantage. In this paper, evaluation of students’, who are enrolled in a traditional university, about DL quality was analyzed using Grönross’ service quality model.

Keywords: Distance learning, Grönross, Perceived service quality, Dual-mode education

ABSTRACT

This comparative study identified the differences between gifted children’s offline and online peer feedback within a summer talented writer’s workshop. Researchers analyzed ten students’ writings for degrees of critical thinking evident in their feedback. Online feedback included students’ writings in social writing sites Storybird.com and KidBlog. Offline feedback was submitted on a teacher designed rubric, and then incorporated into a revised manuscript using Microsoft Word. Critical thinking was defined as the three upper tiers of Bloom’s Taxonomy: analysis, and evaluation, and synthesis. Each comment in students' online and offline feedback was coded according to one of the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. In addition, interpretative summaries were written describing how students used feedback within each category. Results indicated that critical thinking (specifically analysis and evaluation) was more evident in the responses that were structured opposed to those that were in the social media contexts. There was also evidence of an increased amount of informal dialogue in the online feedback opposed to the structured feedback. Online writing technologies are seen to be most successful when teachers' expectations for critical thinking and students' desire for informal positive feedback are combined; this success depends on the presence of a skilled teacher and supportive peers, rather than on the presence of a specific technology tool.

Keywords: Critical thinking, Educational technology, Peer feedback, Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gifted Students, Social Media, Writing

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