More Like this

1. Using sequence mining to reveal the efficiency in scientific reasoning during STEM learning with a game-based learning environment

   Taub, M. ; Azevedo, R. ; Bradbury, A. ; Millar, G. ; Lester, J. ( January 2018 , Learning and instruction)

   The goal of this study was to assess how metacognitive monitoring and scientific reasoning impacted the efficiency of game completion during learning with Crystal Island, a game-based learning environment that fosters self-regulated learning and scientific reasoning by having participants solve the mystery of what illness impacted inhabitants of the island. We conducted sequential pattern mining and differential sequence mining on 64 undergraduate participants’ hypothesis testing behavior. Patterns were coded based on the relevancy of what items were being tested for, and the items themselves. Results revealed that participants who were more efficient at solving the mystery tested significantly fewer partially-relevant and irrelevant items than less efficient participants. Additionally, more efficient participants had fewer sequences of testing items overall, and significantly lower instance support values of the PartiallyRelevant--Relevant to Relevant--Relevant and PartiallyRelevant--PartiallyRelevant to Relevant--Partially Relevant sequences compared to less efficient participants. These findings have implications for designing adaptive GBLEs that scaffold participants based on in-game behaviors.
2. Using Telehealth Technologies to Build Nurse Practitioner Student Confidence

   Eckhoff, D. ( January 2022 , 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Telehealth technologies play a vital role in delivering quality healthcare to patients regardless of geographic location and health status. Use of telehealth peripherals allow providers a more accurate method of collecting health assessment data from the patient and delivering a more confident and accurate diagnosis, saving not only time and money but creating positive patient outcomes. Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) students should be confident in their ability to diagnose and treat patients through a virtual environment. This pilot simulation was completed to help examine how APN students interacted in a simulation-based education (SBE) experience with and without peripherals, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF) program. The SBE experience was created and deployed using the INACSL Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best PracticesTM and vetted by a simulation expert. APN students (N = 24), in their first assessment course, were randomly selected to be either a patient (n = 12) or provider (n = 12) in a telehealth simulation. Student dyads (patient/provider) were randomly placed to complete a scenario with (n = 6 dyads) or without (n = 6 dyads) the use of a peripheral. Students (providers and patients) who completed the SBE experiencemore »had an increased confidence level both with and without the use of peripherals. Students evaluated the simulation via the Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M), and scored their perception of the simulation on a 1 to 5 point Likert Scale. The highest scoring areas were perceived support of learning by the faculty (M=4.6), feeling challenged in decision-making skills (M=4.4), and a better understanding of didactic material (M=4.3). The lowest scoring area was feeling more confident in decision making (M=3.9). We also recorded students’ facial expressions during the task to determine a probability score (0- 100) for expressed basic emotions, and results revealed that students had the highest scores for joy (M = 8.47) and surprise (M = 4.34), followed by disgust (M = 1.43), fear (M = .76), and contempt (M = .64); and had the lowest scores of anger (M = .44) and sadness (M = .36). Students were also asked to complete a reflection assignment as part of the SBE experience. Students reported feeling nervous at the beginning of the SBE experience, but acknowledged feeling better as the SBE experience unfolded. Based on findings from this pilot study, implications point towards the effectiveness of including simulations for nurse practitioner students to increase their confidence in performing telehealth visits and engaging in decision making. For the students, understanding that patients may be just as nervous during telehealth visits was one of the main takeaways from the experience, as well as remembering to reassure the patient and how to ask the patient to work the telehealth equipment. Therefore, providing students opportunities to practice these skills will help increase their confidence, boost their self- and emotion regulation, and improve their decision-making skills in telehealth scenarios.« less
3. “Let’s See” – Students Play Vector Unknown, An Inquiry-Oriented Linear Algebra Digital Game

   Mauntel, M. ; Sipes, J. ; Zandieh, M. ; Plaxco, D. ; & Levine, B. ( January 2019 , Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   The results we report are a product of the first iteration of a design-based study that uses a game, Vector Unknown, to support students in learning about vector equations in both algebraic and geometric contexts. While playing the game, students employed various numeric and geometric strategies that reflect differing levels of mathematical sophistication. Additionally, results indicate that students developed connections between the algebraic and geometric contexts during gameplay. The game’s design was a collaborative effort between mathematics educators and computer scientists and was based on a framework that integrates inquiry-oriented instruction and inquiry-based learning (IO/IBL), game-based learning (GBL), realistic mathematics education (RME).
4. Intelligent teacher dashboards that support students’ self-regulated learning, engagement, and teachers’ decision making

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.570229  

   Wiedbusch, M. ( April 2021 , Frontiers in education)

   Michalsky, Tova ; Moos, Daniel (Ed.)

   Teachers’ ability to self-regulate their own learning is closely related to their competency to enhance self-regulated learning (SRL) in their students. Accordingly, there is emerging research for the design of teacher dashboards that empower instructors by providing access to quantifiable evidence of student performance and SRL processes. Typically, they capture evidence of student learning and performance to be visualized through activity traces (e.g., bar charts showing correct and incorrect response rates, etc.) and SRL data (e.g., eye-tracking on content, log files capturing feature selection, etc.) in order to provide teachers with monitoring and instructional tools. Critics of the current research on dashboards used in conjunction with advanced learning technologies (ALTs) such as simulations, intelligent tutoring systems, and serious games, argue that the state of the field is immature and has 1) focused only on exploratory or proof-of-concept projects, 2) investigated data visualizations of performance metrics or simplistic learning behaviors, and 3) neglected most theoretical aspects of SRL including teachers’ general lack of understanding their’s students’ SRL. Additionally, the work is mostly anecdotal, lacks methodological rigor, and does not collect critical process data (e.g. frequency, duration, timing, or fluctuations of cognitive, affective, metacognitive, and motivational (CAMM) SRL processes) during learning withmore »ALTs used in the classroom. No known research in the areas of learning analytics, teacher dashboards, or teachers’ perceptions of students’ SRL and CAMM engagement has systematically and simultaneously examined the deployment, temporal unfolding, regulation, and impact of all these key processes during complex learning. In this manuscript, we 1) review the current state of ALTs designed using SRL theoretical frameworks and the current state of teacher dashboard design and research, 2) report the important design features and elements within intelligent dashboards that provide teachers with real-time data visualizations of their students’ SRL processes and engagement while using ALTs in classrooms, as revealed from the analysis of surveys and focus groups with teachers, and 3) propose a conceptual system design for integrating reinforcement learning into a teacher dashboard to help guide the utilization of multimodal data collected on students’ and teachers’ CAMM SRL processes during complex learning.« less
5. “Taphonomy: Dead and fossilized”: A new board game designed to teach college undergraduate students about the process of fossilization

   https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2019.1693217  

   Martindale, Rowan C. ; Weiss, Anna M. ( June 2020 , Journal of Geoscience Education)

   Incorporating games in teaching can help students retain material and become innovative problem solvers through engagement and enjoyment. Here we describe a new board game, “Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized,” and its use as an active learning tool (material available at doi: 10.18738/T8/NQV2CU). The educational objective is to teach the player about taphonomy and fossilization, while the gameplay objective is to preserve and recover the best fossil collection. Through competitive gameplay, students learn how chemical, physical, and environmental factors, as well as physiology and discovery biases can influence an organism’s preservation and collection potential. The game is modeled after an Early Jurassic fossil deposit for scientific accuracy and relevance. The game was incorporated in undergraduate classroom activities in 20 colleges and universities across the United States. Survey results show that students and teachers were overwhelmingly positive about the game, stating that it was fun and helped them learn or strengthen their knowledge of fossilization. When analyzed statistically, we find that students’ self-reported learning outcomes and opinions vary most significantly with college year, major, ethnicity, and race. White students and geoscience or STEM majors reported the highest levels of learning and enjoyment, with minorities and non-STEM majors responding less favorably. We suggestmore »this game is most advantageous for use in upper-level paleontology classrooms, although it is still beneficial at lower levels. It is critical to use this game as part of a larger lesson plan and tailor it to fit the needs of an individual classroom. Modifications for time and class size, as well as follow-up discussion questions, are included.« less