Research and Publications - Department of Educational Leadership, Policy & Technology Studies
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Item School Sanitation from the Standpoint of the School Administrator(American Public Health Association, 1926-09) McLure, John R.Item Impact of U.S. Overseas Schools in Latin America on Political and Civic Values Formation(Arizona State University, 2001-01-22) Ketterer, John J.; Marsh, George E., IIIThis study focuses on the attitudinal outcomes of schooling in American Overseas Schools in Latin America with respect to democracy and citizenship, the formation of views about the United States, and student attitudes about the American international school.Item Integrating Game-Based Learning Initiative: Increasing the Usage of Game-Based Learning Within K-12 Classrooms Through Professional Learning Groups(Springer, 2016-01) Denham, André R.; Mayben, Robert; Boman, Terri; University of Alabama TuscaloosaIn the past 15 to 20 years there has been an increased interest in the use of games for learning. A considerable amount of work has already been done by educational researchers and theorists (Gee, Squire, Malone, Lepper, Shaffer, etc.) to identify and to operationalize the native affordances of games that make them good for learning. Unfortunately this has not led to widespread adoption of game-based learning in the classroom. The root cause for this is the paucity of professional development opportunities centered on the proper integration of games within the curriculum. This article will discuss why professional development is the proper avenue for increasing the integration of games aligned with desired outcomes, what a game-based learning professional development curriculum should look like, and report on an ongoing game-based learning professional development opportunity.Item Stories Untold: Counter-Narratives to Anti-Blackness and Deficit-Oriented Discourse Concerning HBCUs(Sage, 2018) Williams, Krystal L.; Burt, Brian A.; Clay, Kevin L.; Bridges, Brian K.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; Iowa State University; Rutgers State University Newark; Rutgers State University New BrunswickAlthough there is empirical evidence concerning the value of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), broader narratives about these institutions too often overemphasize challenges and depict them from a deficit perspective. We argue that such depictions elide the benefits of HBCUs within the higher education landscape and are rooted in a form of institutional anti-blackness-persistent imagery and discourse that construct Black colleges and universities as institutions devoid of value. In response to such silencing, this study employs counter-narratives rooted in a critical race methodology to illuminate the modern contributions of HBCUs as told by their chief executive officers-HBCU presidents. These contributions include transforming today's learners into tomorrow's leaders, a commitment to serving low-income students that is unencumbered by their financial strains, and tapping the potential of students who were marginalized in prior academic environments.Item The Three Hebrew Boys Revisited: Exploring Border Crossing “Brotha”-Ship in the Journeys of Three Tenured Black Male Seventh-Day Adventist Professors(MDPI, 2019) Douglas, Ty-Ron M. O.; Freeman, Sydney, Jr.; Denham, André R.This paper explores the educational journeys of three tenured, Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) professors who serve at public research-intensive universities as professors of education. We discuss how our journeys in and through Adventist education impact our pedagogy and offer insights that can be helpful to other Christian educators, students, and parents who would like to learn how to navigate a path to a career in higher education. The three of us could be described as somewhat of an anomaly in terms of our identities and positionalities as Black male Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) professors in public universities—yet we know that there are many other people from the neighborhoods and churches where we grew up who could be doing similar work but for various reasons did not get access to this opportunity. The goal of this critical trio-ethnographic paper is to offer a counter-narrative on Black male SDA education and possibilities, through our personal reflections and analyses of our educational experiences in SDA education that inform the way we engage our students now as SDA and culturally relevant teachers in public universities.Item Towards Web-based Environments for Prototyping Social Robot Applications(Association for Computing Machinery, 2021-03-08) Johnson, Brisaac; Hernández-Cuevas, Bryan Y.; Singh, Utkarsh Y.; Crawford, Chris S.; Vikas, Vishesh; Denham, André R.Interest in web-based human-robot interaction (HRI) has grown since it was initially introduced. Similarly, interest in social signals such as voice and facial expressions continues to expand. More recently, researchers have also gained interest in the feasibility of using neurophysiological information to enhance HRI. While both social signals and web-based HRI have seen growing interest, there is limited work exploring potential advances at the intersection of these two areas. This paper describes our efforts to investigate this intersection by integrating: 1) web-based social signal interpretation, 2) hybrid block/text scripting interfaces, and 3) ROS integration via rosbridge. We further discuss potential advantages and current challenges concerning web-based platforms for prototyping social robotic applications.Item Developing a Stealth Assessment System Using a Continuous Conjunctive Model(Society for Learning Analytics Research, 2022-12-16) Yu, Jiaqi; Ma, Wenchao; Moon, Jewoong; Denham, André R.Integrating learning analytics in digital game-based learning has gained popularity in recent decades. The interactive nature of educational games creates an ideal environment for learning analytics data collection. However, past research has limited success in producing accessible and effective assessments using game learning analytics. In this study, a mathematics educational game called The Nomads was designed and developed to train learners’ adaptive expertise in rational number arithmetic. Players’ game log data were captured and fitted to a cognitive diagnostic model (CDM) — CCM (continuous conjunctive model). CCM lends itself well to the complex and dynamic nature of game learning analytics. Unlike traditional CDMs, CCM generates parameters at an attribute level and offers more parsimonious diagnoses using continuous variables. The findings suggest that learners’ attribute mastery improved during the gameplay and that learners benefit from using the scaffolds for three of the attributes instructed by the game. This study presents the application of a powerful new tool for game learning analytics. Future studies can benefit from more generalized analytics models and more specified learning attributes and game tasks.Item Feedback sources in essay writing: peergenerated or AI-generated feedback?(Springer Nature, 2024-04-12) Banihashem, Seyyed Kazem; Kerman, Nafiseh Taghizadeh; Noroozi, Omid; Moon, Jewoong; Drachsler, HendrikPeer feedback is introduced as an effective learning strategy, especially in largesize classes where teachers face high workloads. However, for complex tasks such as writing an argumentative essay, without support peers may not provide highquality feedback since it requires a high level of cognitive processing, critical thinking skills, and a deep understanding of the subject. With the promising developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly after the emergence of ChatGPT, there is a global argument that whether AI tools can be seen as a new source of feedback or not for complex tasks. The answer to this question is not completely clear yet as there are limited studies and our understanding remains constrained. In this study, we used ChatGPT as a source of feedback for students’ argumentative essay writing tasks and we compared the quality of ChatGPT-generated feedback with peer feedback. The participant pool consisted of 74 graduate students from a Dutch university. The study unfolded in two phases: firstly, students’ essay data were collected as they composed essays on one of the given topics; subsequently, peer feedback and ChatGPT-generated feedback data were collected through engaging peers in a feedback process and using ChatGPT as a feedback source. Two coding schemes including coding schemes for essay analysis and coding schemes for feedback analysis were used to measure the quality of essays and feedback. Then, a MANOVA analysis was employed to determine any distinctions between the feedback generated by peers and ChatGPT. Additionally, Spearman’s correlation was utilized to explore potential links between the essay quality and the feedback generated by peers and ChatGPT. The results showed a significant difference between feedback generated by ChatGPT and peers. While ChatGPT provided more descriptive feedback including information about how the essay is written, peers provided feedback including information about identification of the problem in the essay. The overarching look at the results suggests a potential complementary role for ChatGPT and students in the feedback process. Regarding the relationship between the quality of essays and the quality of the feedback provided by ChatGPT and peers, we found no overall significant relationship. These findings imply that the quality of the essays does not impact both ChatGPT and peer feedback quality. The implications of this study are valuable, shedding light on the prospective use of ChatGPT as a feedback source, particularly for complex tasks like argumentative essay writing.Item Opting Out: Parents Creating Contested Spaces to Challenge Standardized TestsMitra, Dana; Mann, Bryan; Hlavacik, Mark; University of Alabama TuscaloosaItem Connecting Learners or Isolating Individuals? The Social Justice Frames in the Cyber Charter Schools in PennsylvaniaMann, Bryan; Barkauskas, Nik; University of Alabama TuscaloosaCyber charter schools are online schools that deliver educational content to students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. These programs provide the entire schooling experience through remote access to a virtual learning environment. Since cyber charters are a new educational platform, there is limited scholarly research discerning if they promote or detract from social justice in education. In mainstream dialogue, supporters hail cyber charters as providers of a quality education to students dissatisfied by their traditional school settings. For opponents, the schools are framed as providers of inadequate academic outcomes with a lack of social opportunity. To synthesize these disparate arguments, the authors examine Pennsylvania cyber charter website content and news stories in the popular press. The authors then discuss how these arguments relate to a social justice framework, considering potential implications for both Pennsylvania and outside entities who may wish to implement cyber charter schools in their local context.Item Exploring School Choice and the Consequences for Student Racial Segregation within Pennsylvania’s Charter School TransfersFrankenburg, Erica; Kotok, Stephen; Schafft, Kai; Mann, Bryan; University of Alabama TuscaloosaUsing individual-level student data from Pennsylvania, this study explores the extent to which charter school racial composition may be an important factor in students’ self-segregative school choices. Findings indicate that, holding distance and enrollment constant, Black and Latino students are strongly averse to moving to charter schools with higher percentages of White students. Conversely, White students are more likely to enroll in such charter schools. As the percentage and number of students transferring into charter schools increases, self-segregative school choices raise critical questions regarding educational equity, and the effects of educational reform and school choice policies on the fostering of racially diverse educational environments.Item Choice, Cyber Charter Schools, and the Educational Marketplace for Rural School DistrictsMann, Bryan; Kotok, Stephen; Frankenburg, Erica; Fuller, Ed; Schafft, Kai; University of Alabama TuscaloosaPennsylvania is a state with significant proportions of students who attend rural schools, as well as students who attend charter schools. This study examines enrollment patterns of students in brick and mortar and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania and how these enrollment patterns differ across geographic locale. We analyze student level enrollment data, controlling for demographic characteristics, and find that, in contrast to brick and mortar schools, cyber charter schools attract students from a variety of locales across the urban-rural continuum. However, rural students exhibit the greatest likelihood of attending cyber charter schools. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to educational equity, cyber charter school underperformance, and the fiscal impacts of charter schools on the budgets of small school districts.