Yusuke Morita

Development of the WBL system to complement lectures for teacher professional development

In this study, a Web based-learning (WBL) system to complement lectures for teacher professional development was developed and evaluated by five points of view. The WBL courses using prior inference task were developed by Mashiko (2001) to exploit the lectures. The system including the courses had three function modes, (1) administrator mode, (2) learners mode and (3) instructor mode, are integrated using RDBMS. The learners estimated usefulness and practicability of the system for professional development of teachers especially the interaction in the online asynchronous forum with the face pictures of learners was valued.

An analysis of students’ learning behaviors using variable-speed playback functionality on online educational platforms

The goal of this study is to clarify how students’ learning styles give effects to their learning experience and behaviors while visual contents presented at high speed. In our experiment, participants (10 visual learners and 9 verbal learners) categorized by Felder’s index of learning styles learned information science by watching the video content composed of 6 slides. The participants watched the content on the YouTube and used variable-speed playback functionality: 0.5×; 1.0×; 1.25×: 1.5×; 2.0× and we recorded participants’ behaviors by using video cameras and measured how long they spent using the functionality. We applied ANOVA to the participants’ scores on the comprehension test, mean responses for the questionnaire, and the mean percentage of functionality-usage time duration. The comprehension test results indicated no signify discrepancies between visual learners and verbal learners. Questionnaire survey showed that verbal learners felt significantly less difficulty on the slide 2. The functionality usage time duration indicated that verbal learners spent significantly longer time duration watching the video content at 2.0× speed. Those findings suggest the possibility that verbal learners tend to use the hi-speed playback functionality longer than visual learners when they feel less difficulty on educational slides.

Learning by tangible learning system in science class

Tangible User Interfaces are one of the ideas to develop a learning materials as an invisible computing system. First, we developed a tangible learning system for learning Solar System that allows the users themselves to manipulate astronomical models of the sun, earth, and moon, which exist as visible tangible bodies. Second, the tangible learning system was implemented in an elementary school science class and twenty 6th grade students from a public elementary school participated in this practical study. The results clearly showed that the comprehension test scores of students who scored high on mental rotation test increased greatly following the class using the tangible learning system.

Implementation of an International Web-Based PSI Course: A Case Study

An international Web-based Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) course has been implemented as a pilot study between the United States and Japan. Totally, 22 Japanese students participated in the authentic programming course as non-credit students via the Internet. Students from both countries could use the same learning management system, automatic test submission system, and application server. 10 Japanese students who completed the course answered a six-category questionnaire prepared to investigate the level of motivation, difficulty of contents, communication media, proctors, sense of presence, and learning mode. As a result, they exhibited strong motivation to study abroad and dependence on the proctors who supported their learning on site. However, two issues were recorded: First, since Japanese students were non-credit participants in the course, other incentives to motivate their participation were found necessary. Second, some initial network communication trouble to access the Application Server frustrated the Japanese students. These represent but a few of relevant issues pertaining to cross cultural instructional systems

A comparative analysis of changes of student's attitude before and after an international virtual learning class

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of international virtual learning classes. For the purpose, the class implemented using multipoint communication system which was constructed high quality video transfer systems on a cross-border infrastructure (gigabit bandwidth) between Japan to South Korea. In order to reveal the effects of the class, a questionnaire was composed of five categories; consciousness to foreign countries, nationality, acquisition of view point, motivation, recognition to the partner country. The results of 2 /spl times/ 2 mixed two-way ANOVA showed differences of characteristics of two countries and changes of students attitude. The results revealed that an international virtual learning class has a possibility to develop and enhance students awareness of humanity and the world. Future implementation will depend on growth and sustenance of the international relationship for a prolonged period.