The current study attempts to investigate the potential benefit of using a custom-designed virtual reality experience to reduce the social distance between the students and the speakers of the target language. This virtual reality experience provides opportunities for students to acclimate to the Spanish culture and at the same time practice and…

This study aimed to identify the specific needs of faculty to create, execute, and trouble shoot the technology associated with clinical simulation. How faculty experiences and the use of simulation in the clinical environment is a critical topic to explore because there seems to be a lack of training and resources to properly execute simulation.…

This research focused on the inquiry skill of questioning used as a teaching tool and how undergraduate preservice teacher-preparatory program. The instructional strategy of questioning took place in a classroom that used a mixed-reality simulation system. The research design was a mixed-methods procedure. The quantitative aspect included a…

The study investigated the use of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) in English and Business classrooms in Higher Education from the context of learners' performance outcomes, as well as stakeholders' (learners, administrators, and faculty) perceptions pertaining to their experiences when using an MMOG based curriculum. The findings…

This dissertation is the product of several individual multi-disciplinary investigations that cover a variety of topics in mathematics, physics, geology, and geoscience education. The first chapter formulates a better understanding of the timings, magma source, and relationships between dikes and associated magmatic bodies of the Red Bluff…

Nurse educators are faced with the challenges of facilitating student learning in shorter time frames along with decreasing student opportunities to further their learning experiences in real-world clinical situations (LaFond & Van Hulle Vincent, 2012; Smith & Barry, 2013). There is an identifiable need for safe environments where students…

This qualitative study utilized video games and virtual reality in an eighth-grade public middle school media literacy elective classroom in which the head researcher was also the official teacher for the students in the study. The nineteen students and their teacher used video games in small groups for five consecutive weeks. The teacher and…

Digital Citizenship is a concept typically used in discussions of how technology impacts our relationships with others and our physical world communities. It is also used to describe ways that we can leverage our technology use and skill to make our communities and nations better and stronger. Educators are now teaching "good digital…

Game-based learning has entered the mainstream, yet little research has examined its influence within an early elementary setting, in the subject of history, or within the context of entire curricular unit. This dissertation examines two years' worth of data during which an augmented reality, geolocated mobile game was embedded within a…

Game designers and researchers agree that the main motivation for starting playing a game is challenge. It is only a small step to say that when the game becomes too difficult, players can become frustrated and quit. While extensive work shows that challenge is central in player enjoyment, its influence on player retention has received little…

This study was conducted to examine the perceptions of potential college students after participating in a recruitment presentation of a university. The focus was to conduct user research to establish some causal relationship between the design of a university marketing tool and a behavior such as the interest of potential students in the…

Traditional teacher education programs focus on pedagogy and, to a lesser extent, assessments of knowledge (Siedlecki, 2012). Pedagogy and assessments should be fundamental components of any secondary teacher's curriculum planning (Knight, Shum, & Littleton, 2014). This study sought to consider the possible effects of three pedagogical…

The purpose of this quantitative experimental posttest-only control group research study was to determine the degree to which differences exist in outcomes between students using a video game-based instruction and students using a traditional non-video game-based instruction in accelerated degree program courses at a 4-year university in Illinois…

This study tested the proposition that the Augmented Reality Sandbox's (ARS) user-interaction from tactile sensory feedback and a realistic 3D perspective improved topographic map comprehension among novice users with reduced cognitive load compared to the same instruction and practice from a 2D topographic map. Undergraduate students were…

Technology integration is a critical and longstanding issue in mathematics education. As access to various technology resources increases, so too has the expectation for teachers to use technology to enhance student engagement and understanding. Despite the potential benefits to integrating technology into teachers' instructional practices,…