CURRENT PROJECTS:

1. •Information Technology Use Among At-Risk Students in STEM Disciplines (IT-STEM)
   In partnership with the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, the USE Lab is investigating how use of information technologies, such as learning management systems, can inform and impact an ongoing retention and success program for students in Engineering and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
   
   

2. •MPortfolio Research and Evaluation
   In partnership with the Division of Student Affairs and the University Library, the USE Lab is actively engaged in working with the MPortfolio pilot project to analyze existing data and assist in future data collection efforts. Additional information about the MPortfolio project is available by clicking here.
   

1. •Michigan Education through Learning Objects (MELO3D)
   An interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff, and graduate students who are working together to deploy quality online learning objects in introductory courses at the University of Michigan. The research questions are based on the belief that effective use of online learning objects can increase student engagement and enhance student learning. Steven is assisting with the data collection and analysis as part of this project. More information is available by clicking here.
   

DISSERTATION:

1. •Student Use of a Learning Management System for Group Projects: A Case Study Investigating Interaction, Collaboration, and Knowledge Construction
   Web-based Learning Management Systems (LMS) allow instructors and students to share instructional materials, make class announcements, submit and return course assignments, and communicate with each other online. Previous LMS-related research has focused on how these systems deliver and manage instructional content with little concern for how students' constructivist learning can be encouraged and facilitated. This study investigated how students use LMS to interact, collaborate, and construct knowledge within the context of a group project but without mediation by the instructor.
   
   The setting for this case study was students' use in one upper-level biology course of the local LMS within the context of a course-related group project, a mock National Institutes of Health grant proposal. Twenty-one groups (82 students) voluntarily elected to use the LMS, representing two-thirds of all students in the course. Students' peer-to- peer messages within the LMS, event logs, online surveys, focus group interviews, and instructor interviews were used in order to answer the study's overarching research question.
   
   The results indicate that students successfully used the LMS to interact and, to a significant extent, collaborate, but there was very little evidence of knowledge construction using the LMS technology. It is possible that the ease and availability of face-to-face meetings as well as problems and limitations with the technology were factors that influenced whether students' online basic interaction could be further distinguished as collaboration or knowledge construction. Despite these limitations, students found several tools and functions of the LMS useful for their online peer interaction and completion of their course project. Additionally, LMS designers and implementers are urged to consider previous literature on computer-supported collaborative learning environments in order to better facilitate independent group projects within these systems. Further research is needed to identify the best types of scaffolds and overall technological improvements in order to provide support for online collaboration and knowledge construction.
   Download the PDF of the dissertation (1.7 MB)
   Watch Steven’s public dissertation defense on YouTube
   

PAST PROJECTS:

1. •Sakai Multi-Institutional Survey Initiative (MISI)
   This initiative, began in late 2008, seeks to enable institutions around the world using the Sakai community-source collaborative learning environment to ask similar questions of instructors and students using online surveys. The goal of the initiative is to build a shared dataset in which Sakai use can be compared and contrasted across institutions. Steven’s role in MISI includes leading the development of the shared “core” survey items, organizing the data collection from participating institutions, and guiding the statistical analysis. Click here to see selected results from the 2010 MISI dataset.
   

1. •Using Handheld Technologies in High School Economics Project
   This research was a year-long collaborative design project in which four high school economics teachers used Texas Instruments technologies as part of their instruction in an issues-centered project-based curriculum. As part of this project, Steven managed all of the technology training and distribution. He also collected qualitative and quantitative data including videotaping instructors' teaching and also analyzed this data, and co-wrote research summaries and related research articles. Findings from this project suggest that the issues-centered approach fostered students’ learning of basic economics concepts at least as well as, and perhaps better than, traditional approaches do. However, there was no positive impact on students’ learning as a result of their use of Texas Instruments technologies. Download the PDF of our paper presented at CUFA 2004 (268 KB)
   

1. •Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners (IDEAL)
   Project IDEAL is a consortium of states working together to develop effective distance education programs for adult learners. Through collaborative research and practice, the consortium works to raise the quality of distance education across the country. The Support Center at the University of Michigan provides member states with technical assistance for program planning, teacher training, and program evaluation. As part of this project, Steven assisted in a wide variety of technology-oriented research tasks, designed Excel spreadsheets for complex data entry, assisted with data collection, and maintained the project website. Read more about Project IDEAL at their website.
   
   

2. •Technology Integration in Teacher Education
   This was a small research project stemming from a course about how pre-service teachers integrate technology into their curriculum and daily instruction. As part of this project, Steven designed and conducted interviews with the pre-service instructors and also participated in the analysis and writing of the research summaries.
   
   

3. •Highly Interactive Classrooms, Curricula, & Computing in Education (Hi-Ce)
   This large project based in urban public schools is dedicated to educational reform through inquiry-based curricula, learner-centered technologies, comprehensive professional development, and administrative and organizational models. As part of this project, Steven worked closely with middle school teachers and helped provide technology support, curriculum training, and in-service training sessions. Read more about Hi-Ce at their website.
   
   

4. •Cognitive Constraints on Multimedia Learning
   This project was Steven’s senior-year undergraduate research project in which video was used as a seductive detail in exploring cognitive constraints on multimedia learning. Steven was responsible for all facets of the study design, data collection, analysis, and writing of results. Read the paper in the Journal of Educational Psychology.
   

Researching Information & Learning Technologies, Collaboration, and Impact in Teaching & Learning

Research