This study investigated the characteristics of deep and surface approaches to learning in online ... more This study investigated the characteristics of deep and surface approaches to learning in online students’ responses to instructor’s qualitative feedback given to a multi-stage, ill-structured design project. Further, the study examined the relationships between approaches to learning and two learner characteristics: epistemic beliefs (EB) and need for closure (NFC). Four emerging themes were identified where the students’ approaches to learning spread along a spectrum of deep to surface learning: number of feedback items addressed, understanding of feedback, quality in addressing feedback, and holistic thinking. In addition, the maturity of EB was likely to be associated with students’ understanding of feedback and the systematic and relational thinking demonstrated in their responses to feedback. The relationship was unclear between NFC and deep/surface learning characteristics. The findings provide implications for the design of feedback to scaffold deep learning in ill-structured problem solving.
Advancing Medical Education Through Strategic Instructional Design
Nursing education programs seeking to equip graduates with needed tools to integrate medical expe... more Nursing education programs seeking to equip graduates with needed tools to integrate medical expertise with experience in the systematic design of instruction have the opportunity to better ensure positive learning outcomes in varied settings as graduates take on their new roles as nurse educators. The learning environment of the nurse educator is complex yet with skill in the reasoned approach to the design of instruction can progress into more knowable contexts for which to problem solve. Nurse educators possessing interdisciplinary skills in their field facilitated by expertise in instructional design will enhance their practice by developing and delivering precision instruction.
Aect 2010 Cyber Change Learning in Our Connected World Proceedings of the Association For Educational Communications and Technology 2010 International Convention, 2010
Complex problem solving and motivation are often argued as the most important benefits of massive... more Complex problem solving and motivation are often argued as the most important benefits of massively multiplayer role-playing online games. However, little empirical research exists to support these assertions. Current research and educational game design theory are insufficient to explain the relationship between complex problem solving, motivation, and games; nor do they support the design of educational games intended to promote motivation and complex problem-solving skills. For the past few years, we have been engaged with design-based research (DBR) to address this gap in the literature. In this chapter, we present the findings of this study in a framework for designing and assessing educational MMORPGs for facilitating learners’ motivation and complex problem-solving skill acquisition. This game design and assessment framework bridges three levels of interactivity that were identified in a series of DBR studies as being crucial for effective educational game design: (1) interface interactivity, (2) narrative interactivity, and (3) social interactivity. In this chapter, we present Interactivity3 design and assessment framework and discuss the findings of a study that shows the validity of this framework for designing and assessing educational MMORPGs.
Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an e... more Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an educational MMOG, called McLarin's Adventures, on facilitating 9th-grade students' complex problem-solving skill acquisition in interdisciplinary STEM education. The article discusses the nature of complex and ill-structured problem solving and, accordingly, how the game-based learning environment can facilitate complex problem-solving skill acquisition. The findings of the first study point to the importance of supporting cognitive regulation of students for successful complex problem-solving skill acquisition in digital game-based learning. The findings of the follow-up study show that when scaffolded by dynamic modeling, students made significant improvement in their complex problem-solving outcomes. Implications drawn from the findings of these two studies are discussed related to: (1) educational game design strategies to effectively facilitate complex problem-solving skill d...
This qualitative study explored how groups with high or low self-regulation regulated their colla... more This qualitative study explored how groups with high or low self-regulation regulated their collaborative behaviors. We used purposeful sampling to select two groups of students in an online course with the highest and lowest mean self-regulation scores, based on survey data. We inductively analyzed online discussion posts and identified three themes that described the groups’ processes for externalizing and internalizing understanding: level of engagement with content, approach to seeking and providing help, and openness to disagreement and problemsolving. The group with the highest mean self-regulation scores elaborated upon course concepts, helped one another understand and apply ideas, and integrated viewpoints to carry out course activities. The group with the lowest scores wrote about surface-level features, exchanged help in a brief and depersonalized manner, and moved quickly to consensus without evaluating alternative perspectives. These patterns illustrated marked differen...
Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2019
Students today routinely conduct research in the digital world to solve problems in daily life an... more Students today routinely conduct research in the digital world to solve problems in daily life and in learning tasks. Although research to date has proposed different models to describe the processes of information problem solving (IPS), little is known about the cognitive patterns demonstrated in the processes, particularly the iterative nature of IPS and the driving factors behind iterations. The current study employed the lens of a self-regulated problem-solving model to develop an in-depth understanding of learners’ IPS processes. Analysis and cross comparisons of three students’ on-screen research activities, think-aloud articulations, artifacts, and interviews revealed three representative patterns for performing an IPS task: reasoning-driven, prior knowledge/task-driven, and information-driven. These different patterns manifest qualitative differences in the three students’ research behaviors and iterations of problem-solving stages. The findings afford an in-depth understand...
This study investigated the characteristics of deep and surface approaches to learning in online ... more This study investigated the characteristics of deep and surface approaches to learning in online students’ responses to instructor’s qualitative feedback given to a multi-stage, ill-structured design project. Further, the study examined the relationships between approaches to learning and two learner characteristics: epistemic beliefs (EB) and need for closure (NFC). Four emerging themes were identified where the students’ approaches to learning spread along a spectrum of deep to surface learning: number of feedback items addressed, understanding of feedback, quality in addressing feedback, and holistic thinking. In addition, the maturity of EB was likely to be associated with students’ understanding of feedback and the systematic and relational thinking demonstrated in their responses to feedback. The relationship was unclear between NFC and deep/surface learning characteristics. The findings provide implications for the design of feedback to scaffold deep learning in ill-structured problem solving.
Advancing Medical Education Through Strategic Instructional Design
Nursing education programs seeking to equip graduates with needed tools to integrate medical expe... more Nursing education programs seeking to equip graduates with needed tools to integrate medical expertise with experience in the systematic design of instruction have the opportunity to better ensure positive learning outcomes in varied settings as graduates take on their new roles as nurse educators. The learning environment of the nurse educator is complex yet with skill in the reasoned approach to the design of instruction can progress into more knowable contexts for which to problem solve. Nurse educators possessing interdisciplinary skills in their field facilitated by expertise in instructional design will enhance their practice by developing and delivering precision instruction.
Aect 2010 Cyber Change Learning in Our Connected World Proceedings of the Association For Educational Communications and Technology 2010 International Convention, 2010
Complex problem solving and motivation are often argued as the most important benefits of massive... more Complex problem solving and motivation are often argued as the most important benefits of massively multiplayer role-playing online games. However, little empirical research exists to support these assertions. Current research and educational game design theory are insufficient to explain the relationship between complex problem solving, motivation, and games; nor do they support the design of educational games intended to promote motivation and complex problem-solving skills. For the past few years, we have been engaged with design-based research (DBR) to address this gap in the literature. In this chapter, we present the findings of this study in a framework for designing and assessing educational MMORPGs for facilitating learners’ motivation and complex problem-solving skill acquisition. This game design and assessment framework bridges three levels of interactivity that were identified in a series of DBR studies as being crucial for effective educational game design: (1) interface interactivity, (2) narrative interactivity, and (3) social interactivity. In this chapter, we present Interactivity3 design and assessment framework and discuss the findings of a study that shows the validity of this framework for designing and assessing educational MMORPGs.
Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an e... more Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an educational MMOG, called McLarin's Adventures, on facilitating 9th-grade students' complex problem-solving skill acquisition in interdisciplinary STEM education. The article discusses the nature of complex and ill-structured problem solving and, accordingly, how the game-based learning environment can facilitate complex problem-solving skill acquisition. The findings of the first study point to the importance of supporting cognitive regulation of students for successful complex problem-solving skill acquisition in digital game-based learning. The findings of the follow-up study show that when scaffolded by dynamic modeling, students made significant improvement in their complex problem-solving outcomes. Implications drawn from the findings of these two studies are discussed related to: (1) educational game design strategies to effectively facilitate complex problem-solving skill d...
This qualitative study explored how groups with high or low self-regulation regulated their colla... more This qualitative study explored how groups with high or low self-regulation regulated their collaborative behaviors. We used purposeful sampling to select two groups of students in an online course with the highest and lowest mean self-regulation scores, based on survey data. We inductively analyzed online discussion posts and identified three themes that described the groups’ processes for externalizing and internalizing understanding: level of engagement with content, approach to seeking and providing help, and openness to disagreement and problemsolving. The group with the highest mean self-regulation scores elaborated upon course concepts, helped one another understand and apply ideas, and integrated viewpoints to carry out course activities. The group with the lowest scores wrote about surface-level features, exchanged help in a brief and depersonalized manner, and moved quickly to consensus without evaluating alternative perspectives. These patterns illustrated marked differen...
Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2019
Students today routinely conduct research in the digital world to solve problems in daily life an... more Students today routinely conduct research in the digital world to solve problems in daily life and in learning tasks. Although research to date has proposed different models to describe the processes of information problem solving (IPS), little is known about the cognitive patterns demonstrated in the processes, particularly the iterative nature of IPS and the driving factors behind iterations. The current study employed the lens of a self-regulated problem-solving model to develop an in-depth understanding of learners’ IPS processes. Analysis and cross comparisons of three students’ on-screen research activities, think-aloud articulations, artifacts, and interviews revealed three representative patterns for performing an IPS task: reasoning-driven, prior knowledge/task-driven, and information-driven. These different patterns manifest qualitative differences in the three students’ research behaviors and iterations of problem-solving stages. The findings afford an in-depth understand...
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Papers by Victor Law