skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Promoting Problem Solving Through Interactive Video-Enhanced Tutorials
Students in introductory college physics often have wide ranges of preparation, making it challenging to deliver effective instruction for all. While numerous educational products and strategies have been shown to be broadly effective, there is a need for research-based online materials that support personalized learning and focus specifically on improving problem-solving abilities. Building from our Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs), we are developing freely available Interactive Video-Enhanced Tutorials (IVETs). These combine videos of real instructors who guide students through an expert-like problem-solving process using a series of required questions that motivate students to interact with the material. Research on the effectiveness of the IVETs is underway and preliminary results are encouraging.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1821396
PAR ID:
10393242
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Physics Teacher
Volume:
60
Issue:
5
ISSN:
0031-921X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
331 to 334
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling)
    null (Ed.)
    Developing narrative and computational thinking skills is crucial for K-12 student learning. A growing number of K-12 teachers are utilizing digital storytelling, where students create short narratives around a topic, as a means of creating motivating problem-solving activities for a variety of domains, including history and science. At the same time, there is increasing awareness of the need to engage K-12 students in computational thinking, including elementary school students. Given the challenges that the syntax of text-based programming languages poses for even novice university-level learners, block-based programming languages have emerged as an effective tool for introducing computational thinking to elementary-level students. Leveraging the unique affordances of narrative and computational thinking offers significant potential for student learning; however, integrating them presents significant challenges. In this paper, we describe initial work toward solving this problem by introducing an approach to block-based programming for interactive storytelling to engage upper elementary students (ages 9 to 11) in computational thinking and narrative skill development. Leveraging design principles and best practices from prior research on elementary-grade block-based programming and digital storytelling, we propose a set of custom blocks enabling learners to create interactive narratives. We describe both the process used to derive the custom blocks, including their alignment with elements of interactive narrative and with specific computational thinking curricular goals, as well as lessons learned from students interacting with a prototype learning environment utilizing the block-based programming approach. 
    more » « less
  2. ; (, 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education)
    This poster addresses a significant learning barrier experienced at many CS departments, specially at predominantly minority institutions, which is the problem of students? inability to keep engaged and interested in classroom. In this research, we investigate the applicability of using mobile devices in the classroom and incorporation of interactive problem solving using those devices to increase class engagement and active learning for students. By allowing the students to solve problems in their preferred devices, the research expects to create a friendly learning environment where the students want to retain, be active and skillful. The poster will present the design aspects of Mobile Response System (MRS) software that will be utilized to communicate, collaborate and evaluate interactive problems using mobile devices. The poster will also showcase several interactive problem-solving activities utilizing mobile devices and MRS software, which have been developed and are being adopted in CS and IT courses at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU). It is expected that this research will invigorate interest in Computer Science among minority and underrepresented students through exposure to the technology-rich learning environment. By enhancing student learning and problem solving abilities, it is also expected that this research work will improve the quality and quantity of underrepresented minority students in STEM workforce or graduate study. The successful execution of this project will advance research and the knowledge of mobile device usage in CS classrooms and more importantly the way it impact teaching strategy and student learning at WSSU and other institutions. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling)
    Narrative and collaboration are two core features of rich interactive learning. Narrative-centered learning environments offer significant potential for supporting student learning. By contextualizing learning within interactive narratives, these environments leverage students’ innate facilities for developing understandings through stories. Computer-supported collaborative learning environments offer students rich, collaborative learning experiences in which small groups of students engage in constructing artifacts, addressing disciplinary challenges, and solving problems. Narrative and collaboration have distinct affordances for learning, but combining them poses significant challenges. In this paper, we present initial work on solving this problem by introducing collaborative narrative-centered learning environments. These environments will enable small groups of students to collaboratively solve problems in rich multi-participant storyworlds. We propose a novel framework for designing and developing these environments, which we are using to create a collaborative narrative-centered learning environment for middle school ecosystems education. In the learning environment, students work on problem-solving scenarios centered on how to support optimal fish health in aquatic environments. Results from pilot testing the learning environment with 45 students suggest it supports the creation of engaging and effective collaborative narrative-centered learning experiences. 
    more » « less
  4. ; (, Proceedings of the ... International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering)
    It is common for students to multi-task and use their mobile devices while in class for studying or other activities. This research aims to leverage this situation by developing a mobile classroom learning software to help students solve interactive problems in their mobile devices in order to improve their class engagement and problem solving skills. This paper presents the design and development of the mobile classroom response software to communicate, collaborate and evaluate inclass interactive problem solving activities using mobile devices. The software facilitates various pedagogical approaches that reported to enhance student learning. The software is designed to be easy-to-use and maintainable. MRS is extensible and can render interactive problems developed by third party developer. Software quality matrices for the developed code and the user interface are presented to justify above stated objectives. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, Educational Technology Research and Development)
    Mobile devices are being used profusely in the classrooms to improve passive learning environments and to enhance student comprehension. However, with respect to students’ active involvement in problem solving activities, the typical usage of the mobile devices in answering multiple choice and true/false questions is not adequate and the use of mobile devices need to be expanded to include dynamic and interactive problem-solving activities to better satisfy students’ learning needs. To facilitate such interactive problem solving using mobile devices, a comprehensive software environment is necessary. This paper details the design, deployment and evaluation of Mobile Response System (MRS) software that facilitates execution and assessment of multi-step in-class interactive problem-solving activities using mobile devices. MRS is an active learning tool, which engages students with the visual representation of a problem that spans on multiple screens, allows them to interact with that, and makes them realize the consequences of their actions instantly and visually. The immediate and automated grading feature of MRS enables a feedback-driven and evidence-based teaching methodology, which is important to improve the quality of classroom learning. MRS is designed to be independent of any interactive problem or its domain. Therefore, it allows easier integration of interactive activity Apps developed by others and can be used in any discipline. The results obtained from software metrics and runtime performance data verified the quality of the software. Additionally, the in-class assessment data verified that the MRS software is a helpful intervention for improving student comprehension and satisfaction. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email