This three-year grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation is an experimental test comparing the costs and effectiveness of web-based activities in college courses to more traditional, classroom-based versions of these same activities. Web-based case studies and other applications are being developed for two large-enrollment classes, Biological Sciences 101 and Educational Psychology 362. The grant will run through 2004.
Partner: College of Arts and Sciences, UNL
Lincoln Northeast High School Web-based Data Gathering Studies
Since 1999, CII has been testing the effectiveness of an on-line note-taking
tool. In experiments at Lincoln Northeast High School, American History students
are gathering gathered information from web pages on New Deal programs and
Great Society programs, using a note-taking tool containing an organizing
framework (graphic organizer) or a standard note-taking window, with no framework.
Results, which are being presented at the 2002 AERA Meeting, indicate that
students generally take more notes, better notes, and better understand relationships
when they use the note-taking tool.
Partner: Lincoln Northeast High School History Department, Lincoln Public
Schools
UNL Web-Based Data Gathering Studies
These studies are closely examining design features of the note-taking tool.
Early studies in 2002-2001 compared typing with cut and paste functions.
Two studies in Spring, 2002, of Educational Psychology students using the
tool are comparing note-gathering decisions and learning outcomes of students
having access to a tool with restricted cut-and-
paste capability (e.g., the tool limits the number of words that can be entered from any given text unit) with students having access to a tool with unlimited cut-and-paste capabilities.
Teachers, Technology, and Students At Risk Project
Teachers are encouraged to incorporate the use of computer technology into
their curriculum, but frequently they are provided wiht inadequate time,
training, and support. This study explores teacher beliefs about computer-based
technology and their experience in using computer aided instruction in a
rural state with at-risk students.
Partner: Nebraska Education Community
Web-Based Learning Tools for Biology 101
Partner: School of Biological Sciences, UNL
ThinkAboutIt!
Wonderwise-4-H Project Evaluation
Wonderwise kits, each of which focuses on a woman scientist and her work, are
aimed at 4th-6th grade level children. They are interactive, multimedia
kits that are being developed and disseminated throughout a 10-state area
through the 4-H program. This project is directed by Judy Diamond and Gary
Heusel. CII Evaluator is Amy Spiegel.
Partners: Nebraska State Museum, Nebraska 4-H Program
Humanizing Physics Project Evaluation
This collaborative project involves several institutions of highereducation
and is designed to revamp the algebra-based physics course to include more
real-life, applications-based examples and to make the course more meaningful
for students,
most of whom are planning to go into the health sciences.
Primary Partner: Department of Physics, UNL
Math Matters Project Evaluation
The goal of this special pilot program, which involves both the Teachers'College
and the Math Department, is to graduate elementary teachers who excel in
teaching mathematics. The Principal Investigators are Ruth Heaton and Jim
Lewis.
Partners: Center for Curriculum and Instruction and Department of Mathematics,
UNL
Projects of the National Center for Information
Technology in Education (NCITE)
Nebraska Writing Assessment Project
This project provides web-based learning tools to assist Nebraska educators
in learning about writing assessment. The web-based experiences, which allow
teachers and others to rate student writing sample, is coordinated with the
Nebraska State Writing Assessment and will help teachers learn to judge dimensions
of students' writing and allow them to share their judgments with their fellow
educators.
Primary Partner: NE Department of Education
Course Management System Assessment Project
A study of the technical and educational features of Blackboard, WebCT and
other course management systems. The project team includes faculty and staff
from Teachers College and from UNL's Computer Sciences and Engineering department.
Partner: Computer Science and Engineering, UNL
