This study investigates how teachers understand and position AI tools in middle school writing instruction, drawing on 27 teacher interviews collected during a study called Project Topeka that used an interactive argumentative writing platform with AI-generated scores and feedback. Based on the interviews, we generate an initial theoretical…

Student success and attempts on hundreds of online homework problems housed in a fully interactive online textbook, Material and Energy Balances zyBook, were studied over three cohorts of students (n=284). Auto-graded homework questions with randomized numbers and content can explore proficiency in the course material. Students are allowed to…

Feedback is powerful but variable. This study investigates which forms of feedback are more predictive of improvement to students' essays, using "Turnitin Feedback Studio"--a computer augmented system to capture teacher and computer-generated feedback comments. The study used a sample of 3,204 high school and university students who…

This study explored interactive interface design for writing practice, feedback, and grading in Chinese character learning systems. In the experiment, 30 novice Chinese learners were invited to perform designated learning tasks on two different learning systems. Learning times and outcomes were measured. The results indicated that improvement of…

This paper aims to provide teachers with a practical guide to working in an IT enabled classroom. The paper outlines four central practical examples, with teacher reflections, of what was required in starting an actual IT enabled English listening & speaking program. The classroom environment described is board-less, meaning the teacher's…

This paper discusses several design issues in the development of a new online Japanese textbook, called "Robo-Sensei: Japanese Curriculum with Automated Feedback". When it is completed, the new online textbook will present a full Japanese curriculum. It extends a previously published online software program, "Robo-Sensei: Personal Japanese Tutor"…

Students now have at their disposal a range of Web 2.0 authoring forms such as audio and video podcasting, blogging, social bookmarking, social networking, virtual world activities and wiki writing. Many university educators are interested in enabling students to demonstrate their learning by creating content in these forms. However, the design…

In pedagogical literature, asynchronous, computer-mediated courses have been promoted as an interactive mode of course delivery. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of different teaching strategies in this medium. In this paper, I describe the development of my asynchronous course and outline the fundamental dilemmas in…

This document consists of six issues of a newsletter that provides a forum for the sharing of research findings and instructional strategies by faculty of Western Michigan University. Issue Number 1 addresses writing in the Writing Across the Curriculum Program with notification of a faculty workshop, hints on how to encourage good writing, and a…

Researchers and educators have been developing tutors to help students learn by solving problems. The tutors vary in their ability to generate problems, generate answers, grade student answers, and provide feedback. At one end of the spectrum are tutors that depend on hand-coded problems, answers, and feedback. These tutors can be expected to be…

Designed as a means of communicating creative ideas in community college education, this second edition of Colleague contains 11 articles on instructional and administrative issues facing the community colleges of the State University of New York. The collection includes: (1) "Professional Growth and Development: An In-House Effort," by Alvin J.…

Designed specifically for graduate assistants teaching composition at Michigan State University (MSU), this handbook provides a general information base for teaching assistants, offering practical advice and discussing various aspects of course design, classroom practice, and the logistics of teaching at a large public university. A section on…

While written comments are a popular and potentially effective method of student exam feedback, these comments are often overshadowed by students' focus on their grades. In this paper I discuss the additional use of orally recorded exam feedback in introductory statistics classes of 40 or fewer students. While grading and writing comments on a…

Two teaching ideas integrate mathematics and business. The first discusses consumer deception by such ploys as false bottoms on containers and simple rather than compound interest on investments. The second describes a business mathematics course in which students are motivated by contracting for certain jobs and potential bonuses. (MDH)