Department of Technology Leadership & Communication

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    Negotiating Organizational Constraints: Tactics for Technical Communicators
    (Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing, 2002) Hovde, Marjorie Rush
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    Teaching Writing in Online Distance Education: Supporting Student Success
    (University of West Georgia, 2013) Stella, Julie; Corry, Michael; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    An intervention is a counseling action an instructor may use to support a student who struggles to work productively in an online writing instruction (OWI) course. Interventions may increase retention and graduation rates at institutions as well as increase student and teacher satisfaction (Allen, Bourhis, Burrell, and Mabry, 2002; Archambault and Crippen, 2009; McCombs, Ufnar, and Shepherd, 2007; O'Dwyer, Carey, and Kleiman, 2007; Stein, Wanstreet, Calvin, Overtoom, and Wheaton, 2005; Sun, Tsai, Finger, Chen, and Yeh, 2008). In Moore's (1993) Theory of Transaction Distance, interventions are called "advice and counsel," and they are a crucial component of the program structure element in the theory. Many researchers recommend early identification and intervention for struggling students (Archambault et al., 2010; Simpson, 2004). For example, Simpson (2004) found that early interventions following Keller's (1987) ARCS model (Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction) were effective in helping students complete a course. In addition, Simpson found that such interventions could be cost effective; however, there are many open variables when calculating cost. As researchers and online instructors, the authors recommend early intervention activities performed by email and text messaging at many opportunistic intervention points during the course of the instruction. As well, developing an intervention strategy prior to course beginning to assist in planning and preparation is advocated and recommended.
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    Understanding Online Teacher Best Practices: A Thematic Analysis to Improve Learning
    (SAGE, 2014-01-01) Corry, Michael; Ianacone, Robert; Stella, Julie; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    The purpose of this study was to examine brick-and-mortar and online teacher best practice themes using thematic analysis and a newly developed theory-based analytic process entitled Synthesized Thematic Analysis Criteria (STAC). The STAC was developed to facilitate the meaningful thematic analysis of research based best practices of K-12 education delivery options. In the study, data for the thematic analysis consisted of published research about best practices in both brick-and-mortar and online education. The use of both brick-and-mortar as well as online teacher best practices provided an opportunity to identify commonalities among these modes of delivery. Based on these commonalities, the thematic analysis detected emergent themes, which could be used as a foundation upon which online teachers might build specialized practice. As well, research-validated teacher best practice themes generated from this study may be considered a starting point for defining teacher best practices in online education and for their development. Emergent themes were discussed in the context of the data and the environment of online education. The STAC analytic process provides a foundation for analysis and may be used by researchers for other thematic analyses in the future.
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    Understanding online K-12 students through a demographic study
    (Contact Nord, 2014-12) Corry, Michael; Dardick, William; Ianacone, Robert; Stella, Julie; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    Online K-12 learning opportunities have proliferated, but much remains to be understood about the characteristics of participating students. This study presents a demographic profile of fulltime, K-12 online learners today and compares them with public school students nationwide in the United States. The data was collected from a parent survey that produced 119,155 valid responses/records for students enrolled full-time in online K-12 public schools in 43 states. The study shows that the online student population includes somewhat more females than males, and more middle school than elementary or high school students. White students are overrepresented among full-time online learners compared with their share of the nationwide student population, while Hispanic/Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander students are underrepresented. Gifted and talented students and English language learners (ELLs) are also underrepresented. These data provide a baseline for more detailed explorations and can assist practitioners, policy makers, and researchers in making important decisions about online education that have implications for all students.
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    Central Indiana STEM Talent Expansion Program: Student and Faculty Interventions
    (IEEE, 2015-08) Hundley, Stephen P.; Feldhaus, Charles R.; Watt, Jeffrey X.; Marrs, Kathleen A.; Gavrin, Andy; Mzumara, Howard; Department of Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    Funded by 5-year, $2M grant from the National Science Foundation, the Central Indiana STEM Talent Expansion Program (CI-STEP) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is creating a pipeline of students and a campus culture change to increase the number of undergraduates obtaining Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees. CI-STEP addresses initiatives needed for transforming the undergraduate STEM experience by propagating, expanding, and creating new evidence-based educational innovations in undergraduate STEM education at IUPUI.
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    Who Will Lead Next: Where are the New Volunteers?
    (American Society for Engineering Education, 2016-06) Fox, Patricia; McIntyre, Charles; Whinery, Tiffany Erin; Department of Technology and Leadership Communication, Engineering and Technology
    The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) has more than 12,000 members. The majority of ASEE members are faculty, staff and students from engineering and technology colleges and universities; librarians; STEM and K-12 educators; and corporate members, government agencies and professional societies. ASEE consists of over 50 divisions, twelve sections, four zones, and six councils. Each of these has an officer or set of officers, which lead the divisions, sections, zones or councils. This paper documents a pilot study that examines the past, present and future leaders of the Engineering Technology Division (ETD) and Engineering Technology Council (ETC). The primary goal of this research effort is to explore the various avenues and opportunities for future leadership of EDT and ETC. Past and current leaders of ETD and ETC will be surveyed to determine the factors that drive the motivation and dedication for service leadership within ASEE. The membership of ETD and ETC will be surveyed to find out what the barriers are to becoming leaders specifically in ETD and ETC. Depending on the findings of this pilot study, the authors will expand this research in a larger scope within ASEE and into other societies. Some of the questions that this research will attempt to answer are: 1.) “Do other ASEE divisions and councils encounter problems in recruiting and retaining new leaders?” and 2.) “Do other professional societies have difficulties finding volunteer leaders from academia?”
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    The Efficacy of Project Lead the Way: A Systematic Literature Review
    (American Society for Engineering Education, 2016-06) Hess, Justin L.; Sorge, Brandon; Feldhaus, Charles; Department of Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a non-profit organization offering project-based STEM education curricula for K-12 students. As of 2015, PLTW was by far the largest pre-engineering program implemented throughout the United States with a presence in over 6500 schools. Since its conception in 1997, PLTW rapidly expanded and today covers all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The PLTW Engineering curriculum offers a sequence of courses that students may take over the course of high school, and many university programs allow students who complete this sequence the opportunity to earn college credit. The PLTW Gateway curriculum targets students in Grades 6-8 and the PLTW Launch curriculum targets K-5 students. See the PLTW website for current program titles. They now simply use PLTW Engineering, PLTW Gateway and PLTW Launch. This study investigates the efficacy of PLTW efforts through a systematic literature review process. Specifically, we explored the following research questions: • To what extent has PLTW been an area of scholarly investigation and what has been the nature of these investigations? • What primary strengths and weaknesses of PLTW have these investigations identified? • What gaps in PLTW literature exist and what future research is needed? After an initial data collection and literature reduction processes, we synthesized 31 articles that collected and analyzed empirical data related to PLTW. Our gathered literature included 16 journal articles, 11 dissertations, and 4 theses. Using an emergent coding process, we found that primary strengths of PLTW curricula include motivating students to pursue STEM degrees, providing teachers with professional development opportunities and support, and facilitating student interest in STEM subjects. However, weaknesses of PLTW include minimal evidence supporting PLTW in improving students’ mathematics and science abilities, scheduling and space issues, and moderate financial costs for schools to participate in PLTW. Altogether, the literature collected varied widely and, as a result, each of these strengths and weaknesses requires further investigation. This study concludes with an identification of gaps in PLTW literature that can focus future PLTW-related investigations and, if investigated, help improve future PLTW-related interventions.
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    Intervention in Online Writing Instruction: An Action-theoretical Perspective
    (Elsevier, 2016-06) Stella, Julie; Corry, Michael; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    This analysis argues for an interwoven perspective of motivation, engagement, agency, and action in Online Writing Instruction (OWI) compiled from shared elements of empirical research in online education, writing instruction, and especially student academic engagement in traditional classrooms, where the research domain is comparatively mature. Engagement is the common element shared by these domains. In online education research, engagement is sometimes understood through intentional student actions. In writing instruction, engagement is commonly understood through human agency. In academic settings, engagement can be seen as a foundational part of Self-Determination Theory, which is comprised of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Educators often find measures of engagement valuable because they are reliable predictors of student outcomes, and they suggest a reasonable point of intervention for struggling students. A measure of agentic engagement, which describes the extent to which a student exerts agency to personalize a learning experience, could add value to measures of engagement, especially in OWI where actions and agency are integral to student success. In addition, a focus on engagement and intervention/remediation may offer an opportunity for students to succeed in learning online, not just in OWI, which is a valued skill in the workplace.
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    Connecting in Online Technical Communication Courses: Addressing Usability Challenge for Students and Faculty Members
    (IEEE, 2016-07) Hovde, Marjorie Rush; Department of Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    In designing and offering online technical communication courses, faculty members face many challenges, including attempting to assure the usability of the interface for students. This article addresses five of these challenges and provides options for faculty members to begin to address these challenges.
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    Industry Advisory Board Assessment and Evaluation
    (ASEE, 2017-02) McIntyre, Charles; Fox, Patricia; Technology and Leadership Communication, School of Engineering and Technology
    Virtually all academic programs in any given discipline have an Industry Advisory Board (IAB) whose purpose is to add value to the academic program. It must be noted that the term “IAB” is generic in nature and refers to any Industry Advisory Board, Committee, Council, or otherwise named advisory group. An IAB exists to advise, assist, support, and advocate for their associated academic program and the constituents of that program. Similar to what accreditation requires of an academic program, an IAB must periodically assess and evaluate their performance, which can lead to corrective actions and have a profound impact upon an IAB and the academic program. The contents of this paper describe two methods that an IAB can use for assessment and evaluation, namely IAB Self-Assessment and IAB Benchmarking.