Gregory MacKinnon

The Dilemma of Evaluating Electronic Discussion Groups

Abstract Electronic discussion groups show great promise as an instructional technique that extends the formal classroom meeting. This article addresses the dilemma of whether instructors should associate assessment schemes with the electronic discussion forum. A coding technique called “cognotes” is presented as an example of how assessment can potentially promote substantive electronic discussions.

Judging the Constructive Impacts of Communication Technologies: A Business Education Study

Through an IBM partnership, Acadia University has the benefit of an infrastructure that places a laptop computer in the hands of some 4000 faculty and students on campus. Coupled with anytime–anyplace campus access to the computer network, the setting offers unique opportunities to study the pedagogical impacts of the use of computers in classroom instruction.University business administration courses have routinely employed case study approaches in the delivery of some course content. The research described follows the use of an elaborate case study communications networking system being used in a business course on competitive intelligence. Though the technology collage allows for certain opportunities to promote quality instruction, not all aspects of technology use were found to be productive. This paper provides an analysis of the appropriateness of technology usage in the context of a single business education course.

Electronic Discussion: A Case Study of the Range of Applications in a Laptop University.

Abstract This review paper examines ongoing research on a range of applications of electronic discussion in a laptop university teacher education program. The findings and challenges of employing electronic discussion are discussed and the authors make a case for selecting instructional models that encourage substantive discussion on the part of the student.

Models for Building Knowledge in a Technology-Rich Setting: Teacher Education

Technology offers promising opportunities for creating new types of classroom learning environments. This paper describes three technology models used by teacher education interns: electronic portfolios, negotiative concept mapping, cognote-supported electronic discussions. As implemented in the current study, these models invoke graduated attributes of knowledge building and as such serve as a useful continuum of examples of the potential of technology to assist in promoting progressive knowledge construction. A description of the models is followed by a discussion of the relationship of these classrooms to Knowledge-Building principles. Resume La technologie offre des possibilites prometteuses pour la creation de nouveaux types d’environnements d’apprentissage en classe. Le present article decrit trois modeles technologiques utilises par les stagiaires en enseignement : portfolios electroniques, cartographie conceptuelle de negociation, discussions electroniques avec codage. Tels que mis en œuvre dans le cadre de la presente etude, ces modeles font appel a des attributs hierarchiques de coelaboration des connaissances et constituent donc en eux-memes un continuum utile d’exemples illustrant comment la technologie peut aider a encourager l’elaboration progressive des connaissances. Une description des modeles est suivie d’une discussion portant sur la relation de ces classes avec les principes de coelaboration des connaissances.

Video databases: An emerging tool in business education

A video database of business–leader interviews has been implemented in the assignment work of students in a Bachelor of Business Administration program at a primarily-undergraduate liberal arts university. This action research study was designed to determine the most suitable assignment work to associate with the database in a Business Strategy course and to analyze how the nature of learning was impacted by this technology intervention. Three different assignment approaches to accessing the online database were considered with students. Based primarily on quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews and focus groups, the study determined that this sample of students (N = 65) preferred self-contained case study approaches that accessed regular interaction with the instructor and provided textual materials to supplement the database content.

Technology Integration in the Schools of Guyana: A Case Study

The following study examines the implementation of learning technologies in Guyana, South America. Specifically, the study addresses the impact of using interactive radio instruction for teaching mathematics and SuccessMaker software for enhancing literacy skills. The research results were based on surveys, interviews, classroom observations, and focus groups but also benefitted from access to government statistics and qualitative expert reports of classroom use of these technologies. The results underscore the importance of rooting technology potential in constructivist teaching approaches and ensuring that good pedagogy leads technology.

Inhibition of carboxypeptidase A by (S)-2-mercapto-3-phenylpropanoic acid

(S)-2-Mercapto-3-phenylpropanoic acid is an effective competitive inhibitor of carboxypeptidase A, comparable in potency to (S)-3-mercapto-2-benzylpropanoic acid.

Creating a Digital Jamaican Sign Language Dictionary: A R2D2 Approach

The Jamaican Association for the Deaf, in their responsibilities to oversee education for individuals who are deaf in Jamaica, has demonstrated an urgent need for a dictionary that assists students, educators, and parents with the practical use of “Jamaican Sign Language.” While paper versions of a preliminary resource have been explored with some success, the need for a digital version, including multimedia, is both timely and boasts better pedagogical potential. In a joint action research project, the author has prepared a pilot DVD in Adobe Acrobat format using a collaborative recursive, reflective design, and development (R2D2) design model. This article addresses the design and concomitant processes involved as the pilot study and feedback loops become implemented.

Predispositions to Concept Mapping: Case Studies of Four Disciplines in Higher Education

This chapter investigates the response of four teaching academics in higher education to the use of electronic concept mapping. As such, it would be considered primarily a phenomenological study rooted in qualitative analysis. In particular, the chapter will analyze four independent projects where the instructor used electronic concept mapping for the first time. The academics first undertook these projects beginning in 2010. Three academics teach in North American universities while the last works in a Jamaican university. These projects include (1) use of electronic concept mapping to design anesthesiology curriculum in a medical school, (2) research on the use of virtual worlds in teaching undergraduate English literature, (3) the use of two-dimensional concept mapping in teaching undergraduate Greek mythology, and (4) using concept maps in a Jamaican graduate course in architecture education The analysis and synthesis of these findings will provide an introspective that sensitizes potential users to the nuances of the technology and how important it is to consider first the inherent pedagogical framework.