As of 2017, an estimated 750,000 apps were available in the domain of education. Consequently, te... more As of 2017, an estimated 750,000 apps were available in the domain of education. Consequently, teachers have a monumental task in evaluating and selecting effective educational apps to be used in their classrooms. A number of studies have proposed, discussed and examined frameworks or classification schemes for evaluating mobile apps, but to date, no studies have developed and tested a scale for evaluating the quality of educational mobile apps. The purpose of the current study was to develop a scale to evaluate the design (n=4 items), engagement (n=4 items) and learning value (n=5 items) of educational mobile apps. The scale was tested with 722 grade 7 to 10 students (female = 339, male = 382), 33 teachers (female=25, male=8), and 32 unique mobile apps focusing on mathematics and science. The analysis revealed that the Mobile App Evaluation Scale (MAES) demonstrated good internal reliability and construct validity for each of the three constructs. Limited support for convergent validity and predictive validity was observed.
The purpose of this article was to provide a comprehensive review of research on the quality of s... more The purpose of this article was to provide a comprehensive review of research on the quality of student feedback from post-secondary institutions using online course evaluations versus traditional paper-pencil methods. Nineteen peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2020 were examined for changes to course evaluations following a transition to online collection methods. Three themes emerged from the literature: effects on response rates, presence of non-response bias, and effects on comment quality. Results suggest that using online methods for collecting student feedback tends to decrease response rates somewhat, however, the effect is often temporary. Further, using online methods generated conflicting results on the presence of a non-response bias in open-ended comments with online methods. Many studies demonstrated that online methods increase the word counts in student-provided comments and that the constructive nature of the comments improved as well. The results may in...
Many colleges and universities struggle to support underprepared first-year mathematics students ... more Many colleges and universities struggle to support underprepared first-year mathematics students [1]. A flipped classroom model is a promising approach to address at-risk, higher education mathematics students because it allows for increased interaction and support within the classroom after students have viewed instructional videos at home. However, previous research is somewhat limited with respect to examining in-class pedagogy in a flipped classroom. The purpose of the current study was to examine a specific set of in-class strategies that were used after students viewed content-specific and skill-based videos outside of the classroom. Specific in-class pedagogical strategies included making connections between mathematical ideas explicit [1], focusing on rich problem-solving tasks that support multiple solution strategies [2], encouraging peer-led collaborative learning [1-3]; and using diagnostic and formative assessments [4]. These strategies were tested with two mathematics classes of university students (n=62) in the Faculty of Business and Information Technology. Half the students enrolled in the course had previously failed or withdrawn from the course at least once; the other half were new students in the program. After employing technology to flip the classroom and combining this with supportive in-class pedagogy, 92% of the students (n=57) passed the course with an average grade of 76%. An end-of-course survey indicated that over 90% of students rated their overall experience with the course as very good or excellent, with a mean score of 4.5 on a five-point Likert scale. On average, students rated the following in-class strategies as being helpful to very helpful for supporting their understanding business math concepts: collaborative problem solving, support from in-class tutors (pre-service teacher candidates), and written feedback on assignments with Likert scores ranging from 4.1 to 4.5 on a five-point scale. Student comments on the open-ended survey questions were consistent with the quantitative ratings with the majority of comments referencing the in-class collaborative problem-solving approach and the support of the in-class tutors as helpful for their learning.
This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Soci... more This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The findings support the assertion that Pathway students perform as well as or better than students who enter university directly from secondary school. This finding is encouraging for universities and colleges as they work toward developing additional Pathway Programs and improving the Pathway Programs they may already offer.
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2021
Foodbot Factory is a serious game developed to teach children about the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide ... more Foodbot Factory is a serious game developed to teach children about the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) healthy eating principles. Because no measurement tools existed to assess changes in children’s knowledge of the CFG, the Nutrition Attitudes and Knowledge (NAK) questionnaire was developed for this purpose. The NAK is based on the 2019 CFG nutrition content and aligned with the Foodbot Factory modules (Drinks, Whole Grain foods, Vegetables and Fruit, Protein foods). Seven experts assessed face and content validity of the draft NAK questionnaire. Three sections were deemed valid, while the remaining 2 required minor revisions. The NAK was pilot tested for changes in nutrition attitudes and knowledge among children aged 9–10 years-old (n = 23), who answered the NAK questionnaire before and after using Foodbot Factory. Significant increases were found in overall nutrition knowledge, and knowledge of Whole Grain foods, Vegetables and Fruit and Protein foods. Knowledge of Drinks and nu...
2021 12th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems & Applications (IISA), 2021
Foodbot Factory, a nutrition-based serious game for students in grades 4-6, is intended to be use... more Foodbot Factory, a nutrition-based serious game for students in grades 4-6, is intended to be used in Canadian classrooms and for online-learning. However, it was not developed with accessibility in mind, and must be updated to ensure it is inclusive and considers the needs of all learners. Plans for the implementation of these updates are discussed, detailing the use of in-game dialogue to facilitate user-customization.
The interactive and engaging nature of serious games (i.e., video games designed for educational ... more The interactive and engaging nature of serious games (i.e., video games designed for educational purposes) enables deeper learning and facilitates behavior change; however, most do not specifically support the dissemination of national dietary guidelines, and there are limited data on their impact on child nutrition knowledge. The Foodbot Factory serious game mobile application was developed to support school children in learning about Canada’s Food Guide; however, its impacts on nutrition knowledge have not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to determine if Foodbot Factory effectively improves children’s knowledge of Canada’s Food Guide, compared to a control group (control app). This study was a single-blinded, parallel, randomized controlled pilot study conducted among children ages 8–10 years attending Ontario Tech University day camps. Compared to the control group (n = 34), children who used Foodbot Factory (n = 39) had significant increases in overall nutrition k...
Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between co... more Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between colleges and universities. Through strategic partnerships, two Ontario-based postsecondary institutions (a college and a university) have developed innovative and effective pathway programs that facilitate the transition of students between institutions for the completion of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. These programs support the training of highly qualified, market-ready graduates. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of the successes and challenges of a particular Ontario college and university pathway program, with a focus on the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway program. Preliminary results indicate that pathway students were more academically successful than their traditional university student counterparts but did experience a number of challenges in transitioning from college into university. Principal challenges included inefficient communication between program administr...
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009
An audience response system (ARS) permits students to respond to multiple choice questions using ... more An audience response system (ARS) permits students to respond to multiple choice questions using a remote control device. All responses are instantly displayed, usually in chart form, and subsequently reviewed and discussed by the instructor and the class. This paper offers a comprehensive review of teaching strategies used with ARS and includes a discussion of general, motivational, assessment based, and learning based approaches. Several promising strategies have been identified, particularly collecting formative assessment feedback and peer based instruction. More systematic, detailed research in a broader range of contexts is recommended.
International Journal of Educational Management, 2016
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore not only the academic measures such as grade poi... more Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore not only the academic measures such as grade point average of success of college-to-university transfer programs (Pathway Programs), but also the social-cultural facilitators and barriers throughout the students’ Pathway experience.Design/methodology/approach– The experience of students and academic advisors moving between Queensdale College and North Star University (NSU) (pseudonyms) were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach including analysis of data from online surveys, secondary data (course performance), and focus group interviews.Findings– Students who are able to enter the Pathway Programs at NSU perform on average better than their four-year traditional program peers. There remain a number of social-cultural barrier which need to be addressed to improve the overall experience of these transfer students.Practical implications– The results from this study will assist the administrative decision makers in designing Pathways a...
Introduction The purpose of the PRISM-NEO project was to provide Grades 7 – 10 mathematics and Sp... more Introduction The purpose of the PRISM-NEO project was to provide Grades 7 – 10 mathematics and Special Education teachers with collegial support and professional development opportunities to assist them in creating appropriate mathematical learning experiences for their students identified as 'at-risk' in mathematics. The project design combined multiple professional development experiences, including collegial support within the same school and board; specific training on the PRIME developmental continuum; opportunities to implement new knowledge and skills in current teaching practices; and time to reflect on mathematics beliefs and practices. Research Questions 1. How has the PRISM-NEO experience influenced teachers' conceptions of mathematics, their efficacy, and their teaching practices? 2. How has the PRISM-NEO experience influenced student attitudes and achievement in mathematics? 3. What do teachers and principals identify as factors inhibiting and supporting the...
This paper presents the perspective of adolescent students at-risk in mathematics. The paper prov... more This paper presents the perspective of adolescent students at-risk in mathematics. The paper provides a venue for students' voices; an opportunity for them to outline how educators might improve mathematics teaching and learning for this underrepresented group. The students in this study suggested that learning opportunities could be improved if they were provided with additional instructional time; more one-on-one assistance with either a teacher or more able peer; and manipulative-based activities which focused on developing conceptual and procedural knowledge as well as mathematics communication skills. Thus, the study findings support the creation of a mathematics learning environment that balances both small group collaboration and teacher directed explicit instruction provided to at-risk students either one-on-one or in homogeneous small groups. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present one component of the research findings from a study conducted in partnership with...
As of 2017, an estimated 750,000 apps were available in the domain of education. Consequently, te... more As of 2017, an estimated 750,000 apps were available in the domain of education. Consequently, teachers have a monumental task in evaluating and selecting effective educational apps to be used in their classrooms. A number of studies have proposed, discussed and examined frameworks or classification schemes for evaluating mobile apps, but to date, no studies have developed and tested a scale for evaluating the quality of educational mobile apps. The purpose of the current study was to develop a scale to evaluate the design (n=4 items), engagement (n=4 items) and learning value (n=5 items) of educational mobile apps. The scale was tested with 722 grade 7 to 10 students (female = 339, male = 382), 33 teachers (female=25, male=8), and 32 unique mobile apps focusing on mathematics and science. The analysis revealed that the Mobile App Evaluation Scale (MAES) demonstrated good internal reliability and construct validity for each of the three constructs. Limited support for convergent validity and predictive validity was observed.
The purpose of this article was to provide a comprehensive review of research on the quality of s... more The purpose of this article was to provide a comprehensive review of research on the quality of student feedback from post-secondary institutions using online course evaluations versus traditional paper-pencil methods. Nineteen peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2020 were examined for changes to course evaluations following a transition to online collection methods. Three themes emerged from the literature: effects on response rates, presence of non-response bias, and effects on comment quality. Results suggest that using online methods for collecting student feedback tends to decrease response rates somewhat, however, the effect is often temporary. Further, using online methods generated conflicting results on the presence of a non-response bias in open-ended comments with online methods. Many studies demonstrated that online methods increase the word counts in student-provided comments and that the constructive nature of the comments improved as well. The results may in...
Many colleges and universities struggle to support underprepared first-year mathematics students ... more Many colleges and universities struggle to support underprepared first-year mathematics students [1]. A flipped classroom model is a promising approach to address at-risk, higher education mathematics students because it allows for increased interaction and support within the classroom after students have viewed instructional videos at home. However, previous research is somewhat limited with respect to examining in-class pedagogy in a flipped classroom. The purpose of the current study was to examine a specific set of in-class strategies that were used after students viewed content-specific and skill-based videos outside of the classroom. Specific in-class pedagogical strategies included making connections between mathematical ideas explicit [1], focusing on rich problem-solving tasks that support multiple solution strategies [2], encouraging peer-led collaborative learning [1-3]; and using diagnostic and formative assessments [4]. These strategies were tested with two mathematics classes of university students (n=62) in the Faculty of Business and Information Technology. Half the students enrolled in the course had previously failed or withdrawn from the course at least once; the other half were new students in the program. After employing technology to flip the classroom and combining this with supportive in-class pedagogy, 92% of the students (n=57) passed the course with an average grade of 76%. An end-of-course survey indicated that over 90% of students rated their overall experience with the course as very good or excellent, with a mean score of 4.5 on a five-point Likert scale. On average, students rated the following in-class strategies as being helpful to very helpful for supporting their understanding business math concepts: collaborative problem solving, support from in-class tutors (pre-service teacher candidates), and written feedback on assignments with Likert scores ranging from 4.1 to 4.5 on a five-point scale. Student comments on the open-ended survey questions were consistent with the quantitative ratings with the majority of comments referencing the in-class collaborative problem-solving approach and the support of the in-class tutors as helpful for their learning.
This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Soci... more This study evaluates the impact of a College to University Pathway Program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The findings support the assertion that Pathway students perform as well as or better than students who enter university directly from secondary school. This finding is encouraging for universities and colleges as they work toward developing additional Pathway Programs and improving the Pathway Programs they may already offer.
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2021
Foodbot Factory is a serious game developed to teach children about the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide ... more Foodbot Factory is a serious game developed to teach children about the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) healthy eating principles. Because no measurement tools existed to assess changes in children’s knowledge of the CFG, the Nutrition Attitudes and Knowledge (NAK) questionnaire was developed for this purpose. The NAK is based on the 2019 CFG nutrition content and aligned with the Foodbot Factory modules (Drinks, Whole Grain foods, Vegetables and Fruit, Protein foods). Seven experts assessed face and content validity of the draft NAK questionnaire. Three sections were deemed valid, while the remaining 2 required minor revisions. The NAK was pilot tested for changes in nutrition attitudes and knowledge among children aged 9–10 years-old (n = 23), who answered the NAK questionnaire before and after using Foodbot Factory. Significant increases were found in overall nutrition knowledge, and knowledge of Whole Grain foods, Vegetables and Fruit and Protein foods. Knowledge of Drinks and nu...
2021 12th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems & Applications (IISA), 2021
Foodbot Factory, a nutrition-based serious game for students in grades 4-6, is intended to be use... more Foodbot Factory, a nutrition-based serious game for students in grades 4-6, is intended to be used in Canadian classrooms and for online-learning. However, it was not developed with accessibility in mind, and must be updated to ensure it is inclusive and considers the needs of all learners. Plans for the implementation of these updates are discussed, detailing the use of in-game dialogue to facilitate user-customization.
The interactive and engaging nature of serious games (i.e., video games designed for educational ... more The interactive and engaging nature of serious games (i.e., video games designed for educational purposes) enables deeper learning and facilitates behavior change; however, most do not specifically support the dissemination of national dietary guidelines, and there are limited data on their impact on child nutrition knowledge. The Foodbot Factory serious game mobile application was developed to support school children in learning about Canada’s Food Guide; however, its impacts on nutrition knowledge have not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to determine if Foodbot Factory effectively improves children’s knowledge of Canada’s Food Guide, compared to a control group (control app). This study was a single-blinded, parallel, randomized controlled pilot study conducted among children ages 8–10 years attending Ontario Tech University day camps. Compared to the control group (n = 34), children who used Foodbot Factory (n = 39) had significant increases in overall nutrition k...
Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between co... more Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between colleges and universities. Through strategic partnerships, two Ontario-based postsecondary institutions (a college and a university) have developed innovative and effective pathway programs that facilitate the transition of students between institutions for the completion of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. These programs support the training of highly qualified, market-ready graduates. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of the successes and challenges of a particular Ontario college and university pathway program, with a focus on the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway program. Preliminary results indicate that pathway students were more academically successful than their traditional university student counterparts but did experience a number of challenges in transitioning from college into university. Principal challenges included inefficient communication between program administr...
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2009
An audience response system (ARS) permits students to respond to multiple choice questions using ... more An audience response system (ARS) permits students to respond to multiple choice questions using a remote control device. All responses are instantly displayed, usually in chart form, and subsequently reviewed and discussed by the instructor and the class. This paper offers a comprehensive review of teaching strategies used with ARS and includes a discussion of general, motivational, assessment based, and learning based approaches. Several promising strategies have been identified, particularly collecting formative assessment feedback and peer based instruction. More systematic, detailed research in a broader range of contexts is recommended.
International Journal of Educational Management, 2016
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore not only the academic measures such as grade poi... more Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore not only the academic measures such as grade point average of success of college-to-university transfer programs (Pathway Programs), but also the social-cultural facilitators and barriers throughout the students’ Pathway experience.Design/methodology/approach– The experience of students and academic advisors moving between Queensdale College and North Star University (NSU) (pseudonyms) were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach including analysis of data from online surveys, secondary data (course performance), and focus group interviews.Findings– Students who are able to enter the Pathway Programs at NSU perform on average better than their four-year traditional program peers. There remain a number of social-cultural barrier which need to be addressed to improve the overall experience of these transfer students.Practical implications– The results from this study will assist the administrative decision makers in designing Pathways a...
Introduction The purpose of the PRISM-NEO project was to provide Grades 7 – 10 mathematics and Sp... more Introduction The purpose of the PRISM-NEO project was to provide Grades 7 – 10 mathematics and Special Education teachers with collegial support and professional development opportunities to assist them in creating appropriate mathematical learning experiences for their students identified as 'at-risk' in mathematics. The project design combined multiple professional development experiences, including collegial support within the same school and board; specific training on the PRIME developmental continuum; opportunities to implement new knowledge and skills in current teaching practices; and time to reflect on mathematics beliefs and practices. Research Questions 1. How has the PRISM-NEO experience influenced teachers' conceptions of mathematics, their efficacy, and their teaching practices? 2. How has the PRISM-NEO experience influenced student attitudes and achievement in mathematics? 3. What do teachers and principals identify as factors inhibiting and supporting the...
This paper presents the perspective of adolescent students at-risk in mathematics. The paper prov... more This paper presents the perspective of adolescent students at-risk in mathematics. The paper provides a venue for students' voices; an opportunity for them to outline how educators might improve mathematics teaching and learning for this underrepresented group. The students in this study suggested that learning opportunities could be improved if they were provided with additional instructional time; more one-on-one assistance with either a teacher or more able peer; and manipulative-based activities which focused on developing conceptual and procedural knowledge as well as mathematics communication skills. Thus, the study findings support the creation of a mathematics learning environment that balances both small group collaboration and teacher directed explicit instruction provided to at-risk students either one-on-one or in homogeneous small groups. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present one component of the research findings from a study conducted in partnership with...
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