Dr. Byron C Havard

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of sensors and wearables and the potential benefits for enhancing learning and human performance through instructional and non-instructional interventions. These devices change the dynamics of how individuals acquire, store, and retrieve information, virtually eliminating the disconnect between humans and computers. Wearables include a variety of body-borne sensory, communication, and computational components that may be worn on the body, under, over, or within clothing. Current trends in commercially available wearables include smartwatches, wristbands, smart jewelry, eyewear, headsets, and e-textiles. Wearables have been integrated into a wide variety of contexts for human performance support and improvement of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning. The contexts for wearable integration are vast including military, healthcare, business and industry, and primary through post-secondary educational environments. However, formal research regarding the efficacy of wearables in these environments is emerging with the majority comprised of proof-of-concept studies. Positive effects regarding learning outcomes in primary through post-secondary educational environments have been noted and a trend toward continued rigorous research in adult learning environments is warranted.

The purpose of this mixed methods, single-case embedded design study was to determine the influence of collaborative video production (CVP) on middle school students' collaboration, engagement, and interest in content and the video production process. A nomological network including the four-phase interest model developed by Renninger and Hidi was designed by the researchers and served as the theoretical framework. The sample for this study consisted of a total of 285 middle school-aged participants representing grades 6, 7, and 8 over a three-year period. Analysis results of data gathered from a 21-item quantitative student questionnaire and 14 focus groups revealed the development of phases 3 and 4 individual interest in content with CVP serving as a collaborative activity for meaningfully engaging tasks.

Virtual reality (VR) is an evolving emergent technology that recently gained growing interest and has gradually been utilized into teaching and learning processes for educational purposes. VR has great potential to enhance student engagement and learning in a more interactive and authentic manner. However, mass adoption for the teaching-learning process has not yet occurred and integrating VR technology into higher education classrooms is still at an infant stage. Moreover, research on providing a comprehensive guide for designing a high-quality engaging learning environment integrating VR, specifically in an online learning environment, is scant. This presentation will share how VR technology was integrated into a higher education online course to provide students with the opportunity to design and develop a VR learning experience addressing a specific learning outcome that was also assessed within the VR environment.

The Peer Assessment Collaboration Evaluation (PACE) Tool is an original peer assessment tool designed and developed by the authors to address the prevalence of social loafing in group projects in online learning environments. Online group projects offer students collaborative opportunities to engage in critical thinking and problem-solving. Students' participation and learning in online group projects are negatively impacted by social loafing. A total of 104 students completed all study requirements, and their data were used in the final analyses. One-way repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed significant positive main effects of PACE Tool use on participants' attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and related subcomponents. Students' use of the tool increased their behavioral intent to engage in peer assessment in the future may reduce social loafing in group projects, thereby positively influencing academic performance. Instructors' use of the tool may combat negative connotations associated with group work and social loafing, creating learning environments for effective group projects.

"To-day's teachers are charged with not only finding meaningful ways to integrate student use of technology in their classrooms, but also ways to more authentically assess student learning. The advancements in video technology have made classroom video production activities both affordable and feasible. Collaborative Video Production (CVP) is a method of increasing higher order thinking, engagement, collaboration, and technology through the creation of video. The information provided in this book about the seven-step process of CVP, stems from both field research and practical classroom application. The video production process and the corresponding activities that are described by Joe P. Gaston and Byron Havard have been successfully conducted with students from elementary grades through higher ed. The focus of this book is on how to manage and facilitate CVP projects in the classroom. Educators who are interested in more authentically engaging and assessing students' understanding of academic content will find this book to be of great benefit"--from publisher

Students drop out of schools for many reasons, and it has negative effects on the individual and society. This paper reports a study using data published in 2015 from the Educational Longitudinal Study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics to analyze the influence of parental involvement on low-achieving U.S. students’ graduation rates from high school. Findings indicate that both students and parents share the same perspective on the need for parental involvement in their academic progress. For low-achieving high school students, parental involvement in academic work is a positive factor influencing students’ graduation from high school.

The purpose of this meta-analysis is to provide a synthesis of the quantitative educational research that currently exists regarding the effects of the flipped classroom strategy on K-12 students’ mathematics learning outcomes. The flipped classroom strategy requires students to view content before class and engage in active, problem-based, and collaborative learning during class. Research reveals a wide range of outcomes including an increase in student engagement, productive use of class time, positive student perceptions of the quality of instruction, an increase in student motivation and self-efficacy, and an increase in student performance and learning outcomes. The overarching research questions of this meta-analysis are: What is the overall effect of the flipped classroom strategy on K-12 students’ mathematics learning outcomes? What is the effect of the flipped classroom strategy based on mathematics content area? What educational environments and learners serve as the contexts for these studies? A rigorous search strategy revealed 1,921 studies, retrieved through 13 databases, and 33 studies were included in the final analysis. The overall effect of the flipped classroom strategy on K 12 students’ mathematics learning outcomes (g = .497, SE = .088) was statistically significant. Additional results are also provided.

The integration of wearables in education environments to enhance teaching and learning is an emerging area of research. However, many studies lack the rigor of formal research designs and results are inconclusive. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the overall effect of wearable use on learning and motivation outcomes and describe the characteristics of the studies that comprise the body of quantitative wearables research. Searches for wearables research were conducted in three databases resulting in 144 results with duplicates removed. Coding based on specific inclusion criteria resulted in 12 studies with 20 effect sizes published between January 2016 and August 2019. The overall weighted mean effect size for 20 learning and motivation outcomes was .6373 (SE = .1622). It should be noted that while this result was statistically significant (z = 3.9292,p = .0001) with 95% CI [.3194, 9552], the heterogeneity was also statistically significant. Additional weighted mean effect sizes relating to study characteristics were significant while meeting the assumption of homogeneity. A discussion of the findings, implications, and limitations are provided.

Exercise science programs require rigorous academic preparation often taught in traditional classroom and lab settings. However, situated learning theory views learning as action in a community of practice, where the elements of social interaction, connectedness, and authentic participation transform cognitive understanding into meaningful knowing. Situated learning can have a complex effect on exercise science students’ connectedness, understanding, theory application, and professional skills. Additionally, social networks (like Facebook) can provide a modern educative community in which to increase engagement and connection in the classroom.