This article reports on how computer software (NVIVO) was used to analyse data for a research project on design issues in e-learning. The aim of the project was to study how South African higher education has incorporated new e-learning in the delivery of programmes. The study began by exploring the emerging patterns of the use of e-learning in…

A meta-analysis of 26 primary studies, yielding 76 pair-wise comparisons of dynamic and static visualizations, reveals a medium-sized overall advantage of instructional animations over static pictures. The mean weighted effect size on learning outcome is d = 0.37 (95% CI 0.25-0.49). Moderator analyses indicate even more substantial effect sizes…

The assessment of student writing is an essential task for writing teachers, and yet many graduate programs do not require students to take a course in assessment or evaluation, and courses on teaching writing often devote only a limited amount of time to the discussion of assessment. Furthermore, teachers frequently need to prepare their students…

This chapter describes how a commitment to instructional design principles has prompted the evolution of collaborative interaction between student affairs professionals and academic faculty. Central to this collaboration are the opportunities that e-portfolios have made available.

Research findings show the difficulties younger students have in working with graphs. Higher mental operations are necessary for a skilled interpretation of abstract representations. We suggest connecting a concrete representation of the modeled problem with the related graph. The idea is to illustrate essential mental operations externally. This…

Educational designers often develop a "powerful learning environment" that is subsequently implemented by teachers. Due to a lack of cooperation with teachers they may receive limited feedback on the quality of their design and the way it is implemented. This study focuses on teachers' perceptions of a Dutch innovative learning…

The authors argue that the affective is the most-overlooked of the three domains identified by Bloom & Krathwohl's committees. Research suggest the affective domain is the gateway to learning, yet the cognitive and psychomotor domains take precedence. Some complexities of the affective domain are neglected. They further suggest that many college…

The concept of competence is increasingly the basis for (re)designing VET. In competence-based VET academic disciplines are no longer starting points for curriculum development. Competence needed for working in practice, however, is. Competence-based learning is a dominant trend in VET in several countries because of fewer expected problems in the…

Learner analysis and needs assessments are basic elements of all instructional design models and are of concern to those designing distance education courses. Mismatches between students' expectations and actual course features may impact learning. This investigation surveyed 249 geographically dispersed online students for the course features…

The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of interactivity to a computer-based learning package enhances the learning process. A sample of 33 (22 male and 11 female) undergraduates on a Business and Management degree used a multimedia system to learn about the operation of a bicycle pump. The system consisted of a labelled…

This study examines the effect of an important cultural dimension--power distance index (PDI)--on learners' perceptions of their online learning experiences. PDI refers to the degree to which a learner's response to another individual in a learning setting is inhibited or otherwise negatively altered when the other individual holds a position that…

A randomized experimental design with three levels of intervention was used to compare the effects of beginning reading interventions on early phonemic, decoding, and spelling outcomes of 96 kindergartners identified as at risk for reading difficulty. The three instructional interventions varied systematically along two dimensions--time and design…

A nomadic collaborative partnership model for a community of practice (CoP) in Design for Learning (D4L) can facilitate successful innovation and continuing appraisals of effective professional practice, stimulated by a "critical friend" assigned to the project. This paper reports on e-learning case studies collected by the UK JISC eLIDA…

With the accelerating rate of globalization, business exchanges are carried out cross the border, as a result there is a growing demand for talents professional both in English and Business. We can see that at present Business English courses are offered by many language schools in the aim of meeting the need for Business English talent. Many…

The Playful Invention and Exploration (PIE) Institute project was funded in 2005 by the National Science Foundation (NSF). For the past three years, Inverness Research has served as the external evaluator for the PIE project. The authors' evaluation efforts have included extensive observation and documentation of PIE project activities; ongoing…