ARCHIVED // 2013
Several ACU faculty submitted research proposals and were appointed Mobile Learning Fellows for 2013. Here is a brief summary of their research.
Active Mobility: Using Mobile Devices and Social Media to Facilitate Learning Practices
Dr. Stephen Baldridge, LMSW, Assistant Professor of Social Work and Director of ACU’s B.S.S.W. Program, continued his research into the effects of social media to increase the frequency and quality of student participation. This study aimed to measure both the frequency and quality of student interaction across two identical sections of the same course, one using face-to-face discussion methods, the other relying heavily on social media.
Though the number of interactions per student were higher in the social media section, the difference was not statistically significant. However, the quality of interaction was significantly higher in the social media section as compared to the face-to-face section. Dr. Baldridge recommends that further research be conducted with larger sample sizes, using differing types of social media to continue to explore implications of the use of mobility and social media on student participation.
The Addictions of Connectivity: Spirituality and Well-Being Correlates of iPhone and Facebook Usage
Dr. Richard Beck, Professor of Psychology and Department Chair, examined the impact of social computing—such as texting, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram— upon spiritual well-being. This study measured the frequency of student texting and Facebook usage along with measures of global spiritual well-being. It was predicted that increased social computing would be predictive of decreased ratings of spiritual wellbeing.
The results of the study suggested that excessive social computing was associated with decreased religious wellbeing and overall life satisfaction. At the same time, participants reporting excessive social computing and decreased wellbeing were more likely to have given up social computing for a religious purpose. The analyses suggested that this fasting from social media appeared to be effective. Students who had taken such fasts reported greater general and spiritual wellbeing.
Mobile Data Mining: Beyond Mobile Computing Surveys –Pattern Analysis and Process Automation
Does merely giving students mobile learning devices mean they will be used effectively in the class? Dr. Ian Shepherd, Assistant Professor of Economics, and Dr. Brent Reeves, Associate Professor of Management Science and Computer Science, engaged students in Macroeconomics and Microeconomics classes to find out if students in device-intensive classes displayed different behaviors and user patterns than their counterparts in non-intensive application classes.
The research indicates that purposeful and informed device use affects how these devices are used both in and out of the classroom. In other words, just giving students mobile learning devices does not ensure that they will actually them, or certainly use them effectively. Training is required for the student through consistent, repetitive, and graded work that reinforces both content and technology skill.
Designing for Augmented Reality Interfaces to Enhance Art Student Performance: A Comparison of Learning Platforms
Kenny Jones, Professor of Art and Design, is researching Augmented Reality (AR) and its impact on the perception of visual design forms. AR can be described as virtual, digital content layered on top of a real-time image through a mobile device. AR apps can use the GPS-like features of mobile devices to determine where subjects are and in what direct they are looking.
Professor Jones hypothesized that students who design an AR simulation for an artwork will display a significant increase in perception of visual design forms when compared to students who engage similar projects without the AR design context. He concludes that improvements in research design are needed, especially regarding AR interface and increased inter-rater reliability.
Authoring and Use of a General Science iBook for Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers: a Collaborative iPad Project
Digital textbooks and resources are becoming a more common platform for teaching students, from elementary school through university levels. During the 2012-13 academic year, Dr. Cynthia Powell investigated the use of iPads as a teaching platform in Chemistry 203, a physical sciences course for pre-service elementary school teachers.
An inquiry-based iBook workbook written by Dr. Powell was deployed as the course textbook. Students used the iPads to take class notes and participate in various class activities. Commercially available chemistry apps for the iPad were downloaded to each device. Students took lab photos with their iPads using the apps to take precise measurements. Learning outcomes for students who collected data using traditional methods and those who used augmentation to collect the data from iPad photographs were compared.
The students involved in the study overwhelmingly preferred using the iPad as a teaching platform over traditional paper and pencil notes and activities. Data collected on student outcomes indicate that the iPad educational apps and laboratory data collected on iPads are at least as effective a pedagogical approach as traditional presentation. Further research is underway.