Research Annotations

Records: 322

Course Signals at Purdue: Using learning analytics to increase student success

Kimberly Arnold     Matthew Pistilli

APA Citation

Arnold, K. E., & Pistilli, M. D. (2012, April). Course signals at Purdue: Using learning analytics to increase student success. In Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on learning analytics and knowledge (pp. 267-270). ACM.

Annotation

Course Signals (CS), a student success system employed at Purdue University, helps to promote academic integration of students to universities. A predictive student success algorithm (SSA) is executed for data mining on multiple university sources, including grades, student demographics, past academic history, students’ performance recorded through Blackboard Vista. Purdue University adopted this system in 2007. CS has been recognized to increase satisfactory grades and decrease unsatisfactory . . . grades and withdrawals. CS also has an impact on student retention. The earlier in their academic career students have a course with CS, the higher the retention rate. 89% of the student respondents reported their positive attitude towards CS. Majority of the respondent (n = 1,500) seem to have connection with computer-generated messages and emails. Faculty and TAs noticed that students are less likely to procrastinate with CS system. Faculty and instructors are found to have a positive response, but they are careful in utilizing CS. Their concern included lack of best practice, and making students more concerned.

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Debt and Graduation from American Universities

Rachel Dwyer     Laura McCloud     Randy Hodson

APA Citation

Dwyer, R. E., McCloud, L., & Hodson, R. (2012). Debt and graduation from American universities. Social Forces, 90(4), 1133-1155.

Annotation

In 2009, two-thirds of college graduate had taken on educational debt with the median amount of $15,123 (Lewin 2009). Although student debt can be a useful resource that allows for students’ needed investments, effect of debt on college completion is mixed. Educational loans raise number of enrollment, but influence of loans on persistence have to be considered. Dwyer and her colleagues used logistic regression on National Longitudinal Survey of youth 1997 Cohort. The result indicates that . . . students’ familial background, types of institution (public or private) as well as amount of debt are significant determinant of graduation likelihood. For students of middle class background, debt up to $10,000 did not have influence in college completion rate, but debt beyond $10,000 undermined the odds of graduation. Dwyer et al. (2012, p. 1150) notes that “the pattern of first positive, then flattening, then negative effects of taking on additional debt indicates mixed support for the ability of debt-financed education.” Students in private college, where college communities are relatively smaller, and students from economically privileged background in public universities were found to be resistant to debt.

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Facebook: Learning tool or distraction?

Aaron M. Fewkes     Mike McCabe

APA Citation

Fewkes, A. M., & McCabe, M. (2012). Facebook: Learning tool or distraction? Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28, 92-98.

Annotation

This study examined whether Facebook could be used as a learning tool or if it tended to only distract students. For the study, researchers created a Facebook group called “Facebook: Learning Tool or Distraction.” Students from Ontario High Schools were invited to fill out online questionnaires. 51 students filled out the entire questionnaire, 12 partially completed it. Findings include that almost have of students go on Facebook once during class, with a higher number visiting throughout the . . . school day on lunch and other breaks. The authors suggest that these times are noteworthy because they are times when students and teachers usually don’t interact that, through the use of Facebook, could be used for sending reminders about assignments. The authors state that “from a pedagogical perspective, knowing that increased reminders to do something increases the chances of it happening, another reminder sent to students, via a medium they are using, at times when students tend to mis-manage their time well, seems logical” (p. 96).

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Factors Associated With Student Persistence in an Online Program of Study: A review of the literature

Carolyn Hart

APA Citation

Hart, C. (2012). Factors associated with student persistence in an online program of study: A review of the literature. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(1).

Annotation

This paper reviewed twenty studies on persistence in online education published between 1999 and the date of publication. In so doing, she noted a lack of consistency in the definition of persistence, stating that some studies examined persistence to the end of a course, others to the end of a program, and others examined the student’s “intent to return” (Berger and Braxton, 1998). Despite this, Hart finds several facilitators and barriers to persistence, as listed below:
Facilitators:
College . . . status and graduating term (students who are closer to graduation are more likely to persist)
Greater schedule flexibility
Greater goal commitment
Higher GPA
Greater satisfaction and perceived relevance of the course or degree program
Higher confidence and self-efficacy
Greater social connectedness
Emotional and technical support
Barriers:
Having an auditory learning style
Having more than basic computer skills
Difficulty in accessing resources
Social isolation
Lack of computer accessibility
Work and family commitments
Poor communication with program faculty and staff

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Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from randomized trials

Williams Bowen     Matthew Chingos     Kelly Lack     Thomas Nygren

Annotation

Six public university campuses (including two separate courses in two departments on one campus) that agreed to cooperate in a carefully designed research project utilizing random assignment techniques. How did learning outcomes compare across the treatment and control groups?
We first examine the impact of assignment to the hybrid format, relative to the
traditional format, in terms of the rate at which students completed and passed
the course, their performance on a standardized test of . . . statistics (the CAOS
test), and their score on a set of final exam questions that were the same in the
two formats. Hybrid-format students did perform slightly better
than traditional-format students on three outcomes, achieving pass rates that whereabout three percentage points higher. On average, students learned
just as much in the hybrid format as they would have had they instead taken the
course in the traditional format—with “learning” measured in traditional ways,
in terms of course completion, course grades, and performance on a national test
of statistical literacy

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Keeping Students on Course: An impact study of a student success course at Guilford Technical Community College

E. Z. Rutschow     D. Cullinan     R. Welbeck

APA Citation

Rutschow, E. Z., Cullinan, D., & Welbeck, R. (2012). Keeping Students on course: An impact study of a student success course at Guilford Technical Community College. MDRC.

Annotation

The present study looks at Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC), and its practices on improving students’ psychosocial skills and habits. GTCC implemented this program in order to improve students’ overall behavior, hoping that it would affect students’ academic lives. While the courses were successful in improving self-management, interdependence, self-awareness, and other academic and professional skills, faculty lost interest in teaching the course as time passed. Further, while . . . student behavior improved, that behavior did not translate to academic achievement as predicted.

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Making a Difference: Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education through open educational resources

Christine Hockings     P. Brett     M. Terentjevs

APA Citation

Hockings, C., Brett, P., & Terentjevs, M. (2012). Making a difference—inclusive learning and teaching in higher education through open educational resources. Distance Education, 33(2), 237-252.

Annotation

Hockings and her colleagues outline principles of inclusive pedagogy. Although previous research focused on face-to-face teaching, open educational resource (OER) also fosters inclusive distance learning. Three models of OER incorporation for inclusive practice are suggested in this study. Model 1 comprises postgraduate certificate in academic practice that recognizes inclusive pedagogy as professional value. As an evaluation for the certificate, teachers’ video recorded sessions are assessed. . . . Model 2 suggests flexible fundings for activities held by Continuing Professional Development (CPD). For example, workshops serve as a safe place for young professionals where they can talk about their sensitive classroom issues openly. These activities relieve teachers’ concerns and tensions. Model 3 uses OER LTI (Learning Tool Integration) to make international connections. The project team works with international center to reach out to sister universities to discuss the utility of OER materials. Small number of teachers will attend workshops in UK to learn ORE materials.

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Online Student Orientation in Higher Education: A developmental study

Moon Cho

APA Citation

Cho, M. H. (2012). Online student orientation in higher education: A developmental study. Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(6), 1051-1069.

Annotation

This article described the entire process of developing an online student orientation that contained four modules: A) What is the nature of online learning B) How to learn in Blackboard C) What are the technical requirements to take an online course? And D) What learning skills and motivations are necessary for online learning? A formative evaluation and a summative evaluation was done. The results show that students valued the Online Student Orientation program that was developed.
● Online . . . student evaluation consisted of 28 questions with a 5-point Likert scale. Students evaluated six aspects of the Online Student Orientation program, including navigation, content, accessibility, design and development, understanding, and satisfaction. And then two open-ended statements.
● Students came from two online faculty members who sent emails to students and posted on Blackboard (study does not give a total number of students who participated).
● Results showed that students valued the program.
● 24 students answered the first open ended question and seemed most satisfied with the content and navigation.
● Further Research Directions: comparing two groups of students, one that received the online orientation and the other that didn’t. Compare retention rate, struggles, achievement, and satisfaction with the online course.

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Open Educational Resources and Change in Higher Education

Jenny Glennie     Ken Harley     Neil Butcher     Trudi van Wyk

APA Citation

Glennie, J., Harley, K., Butcher, N., & van Wyk, T. (2012). Open educational resources and change in higher education: Reflections from practice.

Annotation

This editorial is a critical reflection of exponential growth in Open Educational Resources (OER) in recent years. Because of narrow scope of existing literatures, important questions regarding OER practices remain unanswered. For example, their exclusive attention to OER tools and business neglect a question about fundamental issues of effective online based teaching/learning. “Can learning resources designed for specific students in particular contexts be as successful in other contexts? “ (p. . . . 5). The authors regard meriolism that has resonated with OER as risky. Employing case studies from various countries and context, the authors fill the gap between OER research.

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Politics, Practices, and Possibilities of Open Educational Resources

Liam Phelan

APA Citation

Phelan, L. (2012). Politics, practices, and possibilities of open educational resources. Distance Education, 33(2), 279-282.

Annotation

Open Educational Resources (OER) potentially change societal value of education–from didacticism to autodidacticism. Phelan reviews politics, practice, and possibilities of OER.
Politics : Distinction between distance education and OER deserve more attention. Whereas OER center on “access and equity,” it is not always the case in distance education. For example, online courses for graduate degree is costly in for-profit institution.
Practices : OER university project has partnership with five . . . institutions. In this program, students would learn through OER materials and are charged only for assessment tests. OER lower the cost for accredited certifications.
Possibilities : The Mozilla Foundation is developing “digital badge” which contain information on students’ certification. This badge can be attached to their CVs that way their potential employer can recognize students’ achievement.

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