Papers by Elizabeth Dalton
The “Serious Games” movement has been gaining in popularity and political support. A substantial ... more The “Serious Games” movement has been gaining in popularity and political support. A substantial subset of that genre consists of explicitly educational games, intended to be used in K-12 schools, higher education, and workplace training. Most recent educational game and literature makes at least a token reference to constructivism. But to what extent is educational game research conducted within the theoretical framework of “strong” constructivism as described by Vygotsky, Piaget, and Rogoff? A review of a sample of books and journal articles in the field finds that while many researchers embrace the socio-cognitive nature of learning, others align more with “weak” constructivism, emphasizing the need for active learning, but focusing on individual learner development and ignoring the social contexts of learning. This may reflect trends in the broader game design literature, as well as divisions still evident in contemporary educational research.
Critical thinking, defined as thinking that evaluates itself, is considered in terms of two broad... more Critical thinking, defined as thinking that evaluates itself, is considered in terms of two broad intellectual functions: analytical and heuristic thought. Both functions are shown to be valuable, with distinctive strengths and limitations, and both are useful in correcting bias.
Is learning a matter of transferring knowledge objects from the external world to the internal mi... more Is learning a matter of transferring knowledge objects from the external world to the internal mind, the construction of such objects internally by the learner, or some other process altogether? Does knowledge exist within the individual, or within the sociocultural context? To what extent do individual characteristics of learners such as age, sociocultural membership, or gender affect learning? Philosophers, educators, and education policy makers have argued about the nature of learning, and of knowledge, for thousands of years, and their various theories have been implemented, in part, in learning programs of all kinds. In this essay I suggest that there is not a single “correct” answer to this question, but that the different theories of knowledge do have implications for the experiences and outcomes in those learning programs organized around them. I propose to analyze these different theories of knowledge and learning in terms of metaphorical cognition, using theories developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and a methodology suggested by Schmitt (2005), concluding with practical recommendations for an adult online college program based on this metaphorical analysis.
Most current IT industry certifications rely heavily on multiple choice items, with some use of f... more Most current IT industry certifications rely heavily on multiple choice items, with some use of fill-in-blank items. A few vendors, however, have begun to experiment with the use of performance-based measures, in the form of proctored labs (exercises in which examinees perform IT tasks using actual equipment and software, and are rated by trained proctors using an instrument), remote labs (exercises in which examinees interact across the network with actual equipment and software, which may be scored by a proctor or by automated instruments), and software simulations. Software simulations involve a representation of the hardware and software used in the tasks being assessed, provided to the examinee at a testing site or via the internet. Software simulations can be expensive to create, but avoid several known problems of proctored labs, such as the expense of specialized hardware, the need for the examinee to travel to the test site, and the difficulty in training proctors to provide reliable ratings. Software simulations can also avoid the network latency and stability issues which plague remote labs, and are more easily monitored or instrumented, and therefore more easily scored than remote labs. However, there are a number of psychometric challenges to making the switch to simulated labs in a certification situation. These challenges are largely typical to performance assessments generally, although the use of automated scoring in simulations avoids the issue of inter-rater reliability, a common hurdle in performance assessments. Challenges include legal defensibility, the difficulty in equating the new exams to existing exams, the need to demonstrate the validity of the new exams, reliability concerns, unidimensionality concerns, issues of partial scoring and local independence, and the desire to provide sub-section scoring comparable to existing certification processes.
This document provides a review of the latest revision of the venerable “Bloom's Taxonomy,” which... more This document provides a review of the latest revision of the venerable “Bloom's Taxonomy,” which combines aspects of the original taxonomy published by Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, and Krathwohl in 1956 with more recent taxonomy and framework research by others such as Merrill, Ausubel, Gagné, Romizowski, etc. David Krathwohl, one of the original contributing authors to Bloom's Taxonomy, was one of the two editors of the new version, published in A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing in 2001. Unfortunately, when this revision was begun Benjamin Bloom was in advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease and unable to participate in the project. He died before the revision was published.
This document overviews the revised taxonomy in terms of types of objectives and learning activities, and particularly assessments, and where they fall in the two- dimensional taxonomy. A short review of other possible taxonomies or frameworks and comparable tools for selection of activities or assessments is also included.
There is a growing body of research to support the positive effects of contextualized learning in... more There is a growing body of research to support the positive effects of contextualized learning in mathematics. One way to provide this context is in the form of mathematical learning games. Learning games can provide context for learning, simplification of related but noncritical subject areas, a safe learning environment, social interaction opportunities between students, and (especially important from an affective point of view) fun. There is need for further study of high level learning games to determine what elements make them effective. This study aims to explore this area within the realm of precalculus mathematical topics.
A study of the use of mathematics games in a pre-calculus remedial mathematics class is proposed.... more A study of the use of mathematics games in a pre-calculus remedial mathematics class is proposed. The effects of the game treatment will be evaluated in terms of success in the remedial class, success in the following calculus class, and success in a physics course normally enrolled in by freshman students in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences simultaneously with calculus. Attitudes toward mathematics will also be assessed.
A long tradition exists of using learning games in language classrooms. However, little formal re... more A long tradition exists of using learning games in language classrooms. However, little formal research backs up this practice, and many collections of language learning games focus on vocabulary drills in behaviorist approaches. Linguistic levels are related to learning theories and this analysis is used to suggest more specific approaches to the inclusion of language learning games in classes. Additional opportunities for research are proposed.
A variety of factors are contributing to the increasing use of computer-mediated assessments. Ass... more A variety of factors are contributing to the increasing use of computer-mediated assessments. Assessments can be costly and time-consuming to administer and score. One way to reduce this expense is to automate as much of the process as possible, whether the assessments are being administered as part of an local instructor-led or remote, asynchronous technology-based event. There has also been a marked increase in the need for distance learning solutions (due to expense restrictions, safety concerns, and a need to avoid time out of office and away from families). This has often led to a call for technology-based instruction, for which technology-mediated assessments are indicated. Yet computer-mediated assessments, as commonly implemented (mulitple-choice or limited text matching), measure very low-order learning objectives. Most are restricted to simple recall of facts and definitions. This presents a critical problem: while low-order learning objectives meet some needs for quick recall and form the building blocks for higher-order objectives, they do not enable far-transfer of skills from the learning environment to the performance environment. What is needed are mechanisms which will allow the automated or mostly-automated administration and scoring of assessment items and sets which can measure higher-order learning objectives.
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Papers by Elizabeth Dalton
This document overviews the revised taxonomy in terms of types of objectives and learning activities, and particularly assessments, and where they fall in the two- dimensional taxonomy. A short review of other possible taxonomies or frameworks and comparable tools for selection of activities or assessments is also included.
This document overviews the revised taxonomy in terms of types of objectives and learning activities, and particularly assessments, and where they fall in the two- dimensional taxonomy. A short review of other possible taxonomies or frameworks and comparable tools for selection of activities or assessments is also included.