Educational Technology | Q

Qian Xie; Tinker, Robert (2006).  Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Chemical Reactions for Use in Education  Journal of Chemical Education, 83, 1. 

One of the simulation engines of an open-source program called the Molecular Workbench, which can simulate thermodynamics of chemical reactions, is described. This type of real-time, interactive simulation and visualization of chemical reactions at the atomic scale could help students understand the connections between chemical reaction equations and atomic interactions.

Qian, Gaoyin; Tao, Liqing (2005).  In-Service Teachers and Computer Mediated Discussions: Ranges and Purposes of Reflection  Reading Horizons, 46, 2. 

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand discourse types (i.e., factual, prudential, and justificatory) of in-service teachers in the graduate program in literacy education when they engaged in Computer Mediated Discussion (CMD). This study also sought to uncover the kind of support that CMD provided, and to identify their attitudes towards and feelings about such forms of discussion based on their online journal entries and responses to a questionnaire. Fourteen graduate students participated in a weekly reflection for 10 weeks on the readings and on the literacy development of the children they selected for case study. Results indicated that in-service teachers' discourse types differed in quality but not in quantity over time, and that in-service teachers used CMD as a place where they could seek for academic and affective support. Issues about use of CMD were also identified and addressed.

Qian, Yufeng (2008).  Learning in 3-D Virtual Worlds: Rethinking Media Literacy  Educational Technology Magazine: The Magazine for Managers of Change in Education, 48, 2. 

3-D virtual worlds, as a new form of learning environments in the 21st century, hold great potential in education. Learning in such environments, however, demands a broader spectrum of literacy skills. This article identifies a new set of media literacy skills required in 3-D virtual learning environments by reviewing exemplary 3-D virtual learning programs in K-12 settings.

Qiu, Lin; Riesbeck, Christopher (2008).  An Incremental Model for Developing Educational Critiquing Systems: Experiences with the Java Critiquer  Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 19, 1. 

Individualized feedback is an important factor in fostering learning. However, it is often not seen in schools because providing it places considerable additional workload on teachers. One way to solve this problem is to employ critiquing systems. These systems, however, require significant development effort before they can be put into use. In this paper, we describe an incremental authoring model that facilitates the development of educational critiquing systems by integrating manual critiquing with critique authoring. As a result of the integration, the development of critiquing systems becomes an evolutionary process. The model explores a vision for developing educational critiquing systems with much less upfront development effort. We describe a system that we built, the Java Critiquer, as an exemplar of our model. Evaluation results from performance testing and real-life usage of the system have shown that the system successfully provides a tool for accumulating critiques and at the same time supporting teachers critiquing student code.

Quezada, Reyes L.; Alfaro, Cristina (2007).  Biliteracy Teachers' Self-Reflections of Their Accounts while Student Teaching Abroad: Speaking from "the Other Side"  Teacher Education Quarterly, 34, 1. 

In an article published in the "International Education Journal" entitled "Beyond Educational Tourism: Lessons Learned While Student Teaching Abroad," Quezada (2005) provides an overview of the literature regarding student teaching abroad experiences. This article summarizes his literature review and applies the findings to a study conducted by Alfaro (2003) about the experiences of four biliteracy teachers who participated in an international student teaching abroad program in Mexico and who are now teaching in the United States. The study focused on addressing the personal and professional dynamics biliteracy teachers negotiate in becoming teachers with a global perspective as a result of an international experience (Alfaro, 2003).

Quigley, Marian; Blashki, Kathy (2003).  Beyond the Boundaries of the Sacred Garden: Children and the Internet.  Educational Technology Review, 11, 1. 

Suggests that the Internet plays an important role in socialization and that children need to be recognized as active participants rather than passive recipients of multimedia texts and messages. Argues that there needs to be a shift away from the current emphasis on restriction to a focus on communication between adults and children.

Quinlan, Thomas (2004).  Speech Recognition Technology and Students With Writing Difficulties: Improving Fluency  Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 2. 

The present study investigated the effects of speech recognition technology (SR) and advance planning on children's writing processes. Fluent and less fluent writers, ages 11 to 14, composed 4 narratives, via handwriting and SR, both with and without advance planning. Less fluent children's handwritten narratives were significantly inferior to those of fluent children in terms of length, quality, and surface errors. For less fluent writers, SR (a) significantly increased the length and (b) decreased the surface errors of narratives. Although narrative length related positively to holistic quality, SR did not significantly improve quality. Advance planning helped children to compose more fully developed stories. For children with writing difficulties, advance planning and SR may each independently support text generation.

Quinn, Bill; Foshay, Rob; Loomis, Carol (2001).  Teaching Beginning Reading with PLATO Courseware: An Overview of the New PLATO Beginning Reading Solution and How To Use It. Technical Paper. 

Research on effective beginning reading instruction has helped to define what instructional methods and content are most valuable. The research has shown that three important aspects of beginning reading instruction are alphabetic principles, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. A review of research in Part 1 of this Technical Paper discusses some of the instructional issues regarding these three areas of curriculum focus. Part 2 discusses the need for higher elementary reading achievement and includes 3 graphs that show 4th grader reading performance by: eligibility for free/reduced lunch, location of school, and ethnicity. Part 3 provides a detailed description of the core early elementary PLATO[R] resources "Beginning Reading for the Real World" and "Projects for the Real World." Across four levels, A to D, the "Beginning Reading for the Real World" program provides numerous opportunities for elementary students to learn and use letter-sound connections, context cues, comprehension, and reasoning skills. Target students, instructional emphasis, and activities presented are outlined for each of the four levels. Curriculum organization, instructional elements, and use of the curriculum are discussed in the section highlighting "Projects for the Real World." A table provides information on units, essential reading skills, and grammar/editing skills for Levels A-I (grades K through 8). Part 4 focuses on teaching with "Beginning Reading for the Real World." | [FULL TEXT]

Quinn, Bill; Foshay, Rob; Morris, Barbara (2001).  Teaching Early Mathematics with PLATO[R] Software: An Overview of the New PLATO Elementary Mathematics Curricula and How To Use Them. Technical Paper. 

The "PLATO[R] Math Expeditions" and "PLATO[R] Projects for the Real World" curricula are designed to implement effective, research-based instructional practices. "Math Expeditions" is designed to give elementary grade users the mathematics skills and practice needed to solve real-life problems. Across the eight Levels, A through I (K-8), this curriculum provides opportunities in 134 lessons and 399 activities for students to learn number facts and operations, fractions, measurement, geometry, ratios/proportions, probability/statistics, and reasoning skills. This curriculum can be used alone or in conjunction with "Projects for the Real World," which include activities such as map reading and labeling, graphs, photos of Maya ruins and planets, planning, and writing. In Levels A through I, 46 units include 245 projects with a total of 793 activities, all with a great variety of learner activity. Learners solve math problems, and are asked to integrate the math with the full range of activities in each project. In one project, a learner can be asked to tabulate and display data, do addition in order to answer questions, draw graphs, and play learning games. Together, "Math Expeditions" and "Projects for the Real World" offer over 830 hours of instruction and practice in mathematics skills and strategies. These courses can be combined with the other highly successful PLATO courses, particularly Math Fundamentals, Pre-Algebra. Following a review of research that discusses instructional issues in six specific areas of instructional focus, this Technical Paper consists of five parts focusing on: research on early mathematics instruction; the need for new curriculum in early mathematics; the PLATO[R] early math curricula; PLATO[R] Learning's "Math Expeditions" program (including a table that lists projects and activities for specific skills taught in each grade level); "Projects for the Real World" (including a table that lists units, skill, and number of activities in which topics are used for levels A through I); and teaching with PLATO[R] early mathematics. | [FULL TEXT]

Quinn, David M. (2003).  Legal Issues in Educational Technology: Implications for School Leaders.  Educational Administration Quarterly, 39, 2. 

Discusses several legal issues involving the use of educational technology: Freedom of speech, regulation of Internet material harmful to minors, student-developed Web pages, harassment and hostile work environment, staff and student privacy, special education, plagiarism, and copyright issues. Includes recommendations for addressing technology law issues in schools.

Quinsee, Susannah; Hurst, Judith (2005).  Blurring the Boundaries? Supporting Students and Staff within an Online Learning Environment  [Online Submission] 

The inclusion of online learning technologies into the higher education (HE) curriculum is frequently associated with the design and development of new models of learning. One could argue that e-learning even demands a reconfiguration of traditional methods of learning and teaching. One of the key elements of this transformational process is flexibility. This paper considers a number of aspects relating to the flexibility inherent within models of online learning and the potential impact of this on support structures. City University, London, is used as a case study to provide examples of online practice which support strategies outlined here. A number of models of online learning are used at the University to provide evidence of the variation in modes of support and illustrate the different needs of both students and staff when using these forms of learning. What is apparent through this discussion is that to provide effective support for online learners, whether students or staff, clear and solid structures need to be put in place to assist with the creation of an online community.  | [FULL TEXT]

Quintana, Chris; Reiser, Brian J.; Davis, Elizabeth A.; Krajcik, Joseph; Fretz, Eric; Duncan, Ravit Golan; Kyza, Eleni; Edelson, Daniel; Soloway, Elliot (2004).  A Scaffolding Design Framework for Software to Support Science Inquiry  Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13, 3. 

The notion of scaffolding learners to help them succeed in solving problems otherwise too difficult for them is an important idea that has extended into the design of scaffolded software tools for learners. However, although there is a growing body of work on scaffolded tools, scaffold design, and the impact of scaffolding, the field has not yet converged on a common theoretical framework that defines rationales and approaches to guide the design of scaffolded tools. In this article, we present a scaffolding design framework addressing scaffolded software tools for science inquiry. Developed through iterative cycles of inductive and theory-based analysis, the framework synthesizes the work of prior design efforts, theoretical arguments, and empirical work in a set of guidelines that are organized around science inquiry practices and the challenges learners face in those practices. The framework can provide a basis for developing a theory of pedagogical support and a mechanism to describe successful scaffolding approaches. It can also guide design, not in a prescriptive manner but by providing designers with heuristics and examples of possible ways to address the challenges learners face.

Quitadamo, Ian J.; Brown, Abbie (2001).  Effective Teaching Styles and Instructional Design for Online Learning Environments. 

Internet-based, distance learning solutions are finding increased use and may prove effective in facilitating advanced study coursework for remotely located, place-bound students. Despite the current emphasis on distance learning, the conditions for promoting online learning success have not been entirely defined. This paper presents a case study that profiles the teaching challenges and benefits of an online graduate-level Instructional Design course for in-service teachers taught through Western Governors University and Washington State University. The paper addresses some of the teaching challenges for this online instructional experience, focusing specifically on how teaching styles were used to build online learning community, effectively promote productive and satisfying learning interactions, and develop student problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. Also discussed are those instructional design strategies that were repeatedly employed in multiple course sections to increase online student engagement, encourage critical thinking, and enhance student learning. The findings of this study should prove of interest to anyone currently developing or delivering online instruction.   | [FULL TEXT]

Quattrochi, James J.; Pasquale, Susan; Cerva, Barbara; Lester, John E. (2002).  Learning Neuroscience: An Interactive Case-Based Online Network (ICON).  Journal of Science Education and Technology, 11, 1. 

Presents an interactive, case-based online network (ICON) that provides a learning environment that integrates student thinking across different concentration tracks and allows students to get away from interpreting vast amounts of available information, move toward selecting useful information, recognize discriminating findings, and build a conceptual understanding of real and meaningful problems in neuroscience.