Patricia McGee

Demystifying the Millennial student: a reassessment in measures of character and engagement in professional education.

The characteristic profile of Millennial Generation students, driving many educational reforms, can be challenged by research in a number of fields including cognition, learning style, neurology, and psychology. This evidence suggests that the current aggregate view of the Millennial student may be less than accurate. Statistics show that Millennial students are considerably diverse in backgrounds, personalities, and learning styles. Data are presented regarding technological predilection, multitasking, reading, critical thinking, professional behaviors, and learning styles, which indicate that students in the Millennial Generation may not be as homogenous in fundamental learning strategies and attitudes as is regularly proposed. Although their common character traits have implications for instruction, no available evidence demonstrates that these traits impact their fundamental process of learning. Many curricular strategies have been implemented to address alleged changes in the manner by which Millennial students learn. None has clearly shown superior outcomes in academic accomplishments or developing expertise for graduating students and concerns persist related to the successful engagement of Millennial students in the process of learning. Four factors for consideration in general curricular design are proposed to address student engagement and optimal knowledge acquisition for 21st century learners. Anat Sci Educ 4: 214‐226.

Transformative Power of the Learning Object Debate.

This article examines the significance of how learning objects have come to be conceptualized and utilized, particularly in higher education. While many articles critique the term and its origins, an examination of the role metaphor plays in our conceptualization of ‘data’, ‘information’ and ‘learning objects’ helps us move beyond a fixation on the term to its promise and challenges. Although much has been written about how learning objects should be developed, accessed and stored, much less has been written about how they should be designed and used. This quest for understanding of the role learning objects will play in the future of learning leads to new strategies which encompass such issues as a reusability, knowledge management, efficient infrastructure design and innovative course design.

Supporting Academic Honesty in Online Courses.

Patricia McGee The University of Texas at San Antonio Abstract Ensuring academic honesty is a challenge for traditional classrooms, but more so for online course where technology use is axiomatic to learning and instruction. With the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) requirement that online course providers reduce opportunities to cheat and verify student identity, all involved with course delivery must be informed about and involved in issues related to academic dishonesty. This article examines why students cheat and plagiarize, types of dishonesty in online courses, strategies to minimize violations and institutional strategies that have proven to be successful.

Persistence and motivation: A new teacher's path to technology infusion

Summary This case study examines a new teachers beliefs and perceptions about how and why technology can and should be used to support student learning. A middle school science teacher reflected upon her preparation for and applications of technology in her classroom. Data were generated through e-mail exchanges over the course of several months. Qualitative analysis identified themes including a nontechnology focus, expectations, rationale, impact, and beliefs and learned lessons. Findings suggest that for this teacher persistence was critical to learning in absence of pre-service or in-service learning opportunities in the effective application of technology to support learning. It is recommended that technology-oriented staff development incorporate theory, guidelines, models, and illustrations for effective and meaningful applications.

Discourse analysis: Power/Knowledge on an academic listserv

This case study examines whether an academic listserv functions primarily as a medium for progressive discourse in which enacted power relations are collaborative or primarily as a medium for discourse in which norms are unilaterally established and off‐line hierarchical power relations are re‐enacted. A few instances of progressive norm setting and other indicators of collaborative power relations were found. However, findings overall suggest that the hierarchical power relations of the college context were re‐enacted in the listserv as revealed by the manner in which the discourse was patterned by gender, rank, and role.

Blended Course Design: Where's the Pedagogy?

Blended or hybrid course design is generally considered to involve a combination of online and classroom activities. However defining blended courses solely based on delivery mode suggests there is nothing more to a blended course than where students meet and how they use technology. Ultimately there is a risk that blended courses defined in this way will not utilize effective strategies that have proven to improve learning for students. This study investigates pedagogical strategies or designs that have reported success in higher education coursework as published in articles that address blended pedagogy. A qualitative meta-interpretive analysis identified eight themes: definitions of blended design, meetings for the learner, online priority, technology with a purpose, focused e-interactions, active learning, distribution of time, pedagogical chunking, and outliers and omissions.

Ethics and Decision‐Making in a Course Management System: instructor and learner development

Abstract This study examines teacher and student development over the course of a semester in a business ethics class in which a course management system (CMS) was used to support ethical decision‐making. Dual methods were used to analyze instructor and learner development. An action research approach facilitated changes in practice that can be mapped to learner behaviors. Argyris and Schon’s (1978) theory of congruence framed instructor analysis while student data were analyzed with Kavathatzopoulos’s (1993) heteronomous or autonomous typology. Findings indicate some change in the instructor’s governing values with changes in action strategies. Online student groups ranged in the degree of documented ethical reasoning development and a positive correlation exists between grades and discussion forum activities indicating shifts in reasoning abilities.

Experienced online instructors: beliefs and preferred supports regarding online teaching

While online courses are becoming a mainstay of college course offerings administrators, staff, instructors and students have different perceptions about how online courses should work. While faculty members are expert in their discipline and institutions provide support for acquiring content expertise, how instructors develop skills in online teaching is neither systematic nor codified in higher education. This preliminary study reports findings from a Delphi study of expert online teachers who identified 11 institutional strategies that best supported their development of online teaching skills. Three major areas of most value were: training, external supports, and prolonged experience.