Post 40: What it's all really like.

For post forty I figured I would share just exactly what it is I do as a student, what my material looks like, and allow some peer-review. Correspondence courses tend to demand more deliverable materials and independent study, but as a research community we're working on ways to include social presence and epistemic engagement. Presented here is a paper.

Hixson, S. (2015, October 11). Critical thinking application II: Standardized test report card       [Course deliverable for a course on evaluation and assessment OTL-541K].      School of Education, Colorado State University Global Campus.

Critical Thinking Application II: Standardized Test Report Card           In order to establish the background perceptions related to this report, and in the case of any cultural or situational bias, I am of the opinion that the current standardized assessment system in Colorado for secondary students has not successfully demonstrated statistical validity or reliability. As the opinion of the author may result in confirmation bias it is my responsibility to mention that I noticed a peculiarity in the data represented as scale means, which were sets of assessment scores that were processed and averaged on a base score, because I have a background in psychology; and not because I am active in the political situation surrounding standardized testing in Jefferson County, Colorado. Part I: Statewide Assessment Data and Report           Bennett (2015), provides a stratification to describe the development of standardized assessment according to three tiers; a tier in which the assessments attempt to reproduce conventional paper assessments and rely on the validity of the reproduced measures, a tier in which the testing systems infrastructure is developed and expanded for accountability and efficiency reasons, and a testing system which includes rich data and student performance activities that are immersive and cognitively engaging multi-step processes. In the State of Colorado I can say that we have a second-tier testing system. Though there are grave concerns about the construct validity and reliability of the instruments themselves, the assessment scores and processed data are easily available and reports can be generated automatically by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE, n.d.). The infrastructure exists which can provide access to many different measures of key variables in the statewide assessment data, generate and export electronic report of the thousands of scores in the population, and demonstrate well thought out data storage and technology utilization. However the tests themselves cannot be shown to demonstrate construct validity as there are confounding variables which cause the data to have extreme and unrelated variation in overall mean scores statewide. In terms of cognitive psychology reading comprehension and writing are thought to be strongly related, people who are skilled at reading and vocabulary comprehension are overall also skilled in writing and communication; while poorly demonstrated writing skills may not necessarily be related to intelligence or achievement, writing depends on reading related cognitive abilities and tests of writing and reading tend to show strong correlations in a wide range of studies (Bruning, Schraw & Ronning, 1999). Bruning, Schraw & Ronning generalize in a second print textbook, “These relationships are not surprising when we consider that frequent reading exposes students to many more samples of writing” (p. 303). The data presented in figure 1 are from the statewide population mean scale scores of secondary public education students on the reading and writing tests created by the Colorado Department of Education, and demonstrate a Pearson correlation coefficient of r=0.0016 where df=9 r-crit=0.602 using a probability of error p=0.05 failing to reject the null hypothesis that reading and writing are not related. Figure 1. Colorado statewide mean scale scores on reading and writing 2004-2014. (CDE, n.d.)                 These data raise critical concerns about construct validity and questions about which of the assessments is in error among either of the three major subjects reading, writing, and math; and also demonstrate no relationship in variability of scores within scores generated in a given year. Figure 2 demonstrates that these data are reproduced on the school, district, and state level which make it appear that either statewide reading scores are inflated, or likewise the assessments for math and writing are not accurately measuring performance. Figure 2. Comparisons between large and small schools, district and state averages. (CDE, n.d.)          These data warrant further investigation into the causes of outlying and variable data which seems otherwise unrelated between measures and within groups. One confounding variable with these data is that Lakewood High School is a very large school while Jeffco Open School is a very small democratic school, N=2,000 and N=200 students estimated, respectively. Part II: Reflections.           Goodwin & Hubbell (2013), include only self-report measures of knowledge based on multiple-choice or open ended sentence questions in their survey of assessments of skill. In a related assignment and available for viewing online I had created a formative assessment based on a Likert scale and continued to investigate the possibility that other measures of performance may be more accurate and statistically valid (Hixson, 2015). A previously cited work states that scores correlating a subjects content knowledge after a standard video presentation and scores generated by an automated essay scoring system were stating that the average Pearson r=0.85 in the study of the automated scoring of writing (Kersting, Sherin & Stigler, 2014). Kersting, Sherin & Stigler fail to report the number of human grades performed in the analysis, so no value of r-crit could be found, during human versus computer scoring and move forward with their research claiming, “We reasoned that if the average correlations between rater and computer-generated scores exceed .80, an argument can be made for the convergent validity of machine scores with human scores” (p. 965). In statistical terms this literally says, that the researchers are unaware of whether the correlations they had found were significant, and were choosing to publish data which clearly demonstrates a confirmation bias for automated testing systems in order to show that automated essay readers may work.           What I am seeing in terms of the quest for statistical validity among outcomes measures for secondary students; is extensive confirmation bias in the ability of the system to accurately represent and aggregate student knowledge with grandiose technological infrastructure and little construct validity, measures of variance, or confidence intervals related to the reliability of mean scores or scoring systems. The system appears to be financially driven and the data that the system has generated over a decade is not supported by research or best practices in psychology.

References Bennet, R. E. (2015), Chapter 10: The changing nature of educational assessment. 39, 370-407. Bruning, R., Schraw, G. & Ronning, R. (1999). Cognitive psychology and instruction (3rd ed).        Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. CDE (n.d.). SchoolView data lab report. Retrieved from: CDE Website Goodwin, B. & Hubbell, E. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying       focused every day. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Hixson, S. (2015, May 31). Teaching portfolio [Course deliverable for a class on teaching and      learning methods OTL-502-1]. School of Education, Colorado State University Global Campus.      Retrieved from http://www.dxed.org/teaching-portfolio Kersting, N., Sherin, B. & Stigler, J. (2014). Automated scoring of teachers’ open-ended responses      to video prompts: Bringing the classroom-video-analysis assessment to scale. Educational and      Psychological Measurement, 74(6), 950-974.

Post 39. Inspirations.

Progress continues in terms of my own professional development to begin offering classes for current teachers who would like to be a part of democratic education and the understanding of the teaching role as an Advisor to students who are the body of decision makers in a self-directed and democratic learning environment. Available now on the www.dxed.org website is a "for teachers" developed specifically for educators who would like to adapt the standards-driven academic expectations from the powers that be into a democratic format and lesson plan structure. To me, standards are good, they establish what we are teaching and facilitate communication among educators and to students. The validity of academic testing and publishing technology is to be questioned heavily however, as I cannot see a publisher with an invested stake in the provision of software, having an interest in the personal, intellectual and social development of students as young people in a community of learners.

Clicking the image will redirect the reader to the new website resources.
http://www.dxed.org/for-teachers

For Teachers

Post 38: Images.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than a picture of a document is at least worth mentioning. What follows are my letters of recommendation that served as a required part of my high school graduation in May of 2000. Also a link to my original Jefferson County Open School 2000 JCOS Transcripts Corey Hixson.

Post 37: The Problem, Revisited.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Problem", cited here with an inspired image from the poem (Emerson, 1950).

I like a church; I like a cowl; I love a prophet of the soul; and on my heart monastic aisles Fall like sweet strains, or pensive smiles; Yet not for all his faith can see Would I that cowled churchman be. Why should the vest on him alure, Which I could not on me endure? Not from a vain or shallow thought His awful Jove young Phidias brought; Never from lips of cunning fell The thrilling Delphic oracle; Out from the heart of nature rolled The burdens of the Bible old; the litanies of nations came, Like the volcano’s tongue of flame, Up from the burning core below,-- The canticles of love and woe; The hand that rounded Peter’s dome, And groined the aisles of Christian Rome, Wrought in a sad sincerity; Himself from God he could not free; He builded better than he knew;-- The conscious stone to beauty grew. Know’st thou what wove yon woodbird’s nest Of leaves, and feathers from her breast? Or how the fish outbuilt her shell, Painting with morn each annual cell? Or how the sacred pine-tree adds To her old leaves new myriads? Such and so grew these holy piles, Whilst love and terror laid the tiles. Earth proudly wears the Parthenon, As the best gem upon her zone; And Morning opes with hast her lids, To gaze upon the Pyramids; O’er england’s abbeys bends the sky, As on its friends, with kindred eye; For, out of Thought’s interior sphere, These wonders rose to upper air; And nature gladly gave them place, Adopted them into her race, And granted them an equal date With Andes and with Ararat. These temples grew as grows the grass; Art might obey, but not surpass. The passive master lent his hand To the vast soul that o’er him planned; And the same power that reared the shrine, Bestrode the stibes that knelt within. Ever the fiery Pentecost Girds with one flame the countless host, Trances the heart through chanting choirs, And through the priest the mind inspired. The word unto the prophet spoken Was writ on tables yet unbroken; The word by seers or sibyls told, In groves of oak, or fanes of gold, Still floats upon the morning wind, Still whispers to the willing mind. One accent of the Holy Ghost The heedless world hath never lost. I know what say the fathers wise,-- The Book itself before me lies, Old Chrysostom, best Augustine, And he who blent both in his line, The younger Golden Lips or mines, Taylor, the Shakspeare of divines. His words are music in my ear, I see his cowled portrait dear; And yet, for all his faith could see, I would not the good bishop be.

Emerson, R. W. (1950). The problem. In Atkins, B. (Ed.), The selected writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (2nd ed.)(pp. 762-763). New York, NY: Modern Library.

Post 36. Expressions.

And so, now I suppose is a perfect time to publish; I've arranged to take some time from my M.Ed program, the paradigm shift in our community is tangible and visible both in terms of intelligence and in terms of education, it's a time period that is also filled with the ending of President Obama's term in office and much is being accomplished in political terms, young people are taking to the streets to express their concerns about our education, and I've noticed that earning an M.Ed right now would not aptly demonstrate my academic skills.

So, I'm taking the next 365 days to publish my work instead of dedicating more time to academic pursuits that understate my base of skills and knowledge.

It is time to share the story.

The website at www.dxed.org represents most of my work in writing and in terms of my nonprofit contributions to education. Hopefully, for a year things will settle in, and the writing sample provided on the site will expand into a newly published work that helps to empower students and improve public education philosophy in much the same way that www.apstr.org seeks to create a higher standard of blended learning classrooms in public education.

Clicking on the goat pictured here will take you to the website that has been designed to support and share my efforts.

Post 35. New Images.

Please also remember that you can follow the progress of APSTR on both www.apstr.org and on the Google+ business page for [APSTR]

You can donate to APSTR via PayPal with this button.

APSTR's humble beginning, along with our very first donated pc in the images.

Post 34. Classrooms.

I had an idea, to create a blended learning environment that also has asynchronous components, discussion forums that build communities around classroom learning groups. The following writing describes what this might look like. The document was created as a part of a Master's in Adult Education and Training Program at the University of Phoenix. If you'd like to cite the document, it may be easiest to check the references in the document, but the following citation should do. Hixson, S. (2014, November 17). Community of inquiry: Facilitating social presence [Assignment for a course on adult education]. School of Education, University of Phoenix.

Community of Inquiry: Facilitating Social Presence Part 1: Learning Orientation and Framework      As a teacher, this writing will demonstrate that facilitating confidence in group interaction among learners who are collaborative stakeholders in a community of inquiry, can also facilitate group competence in the subject material by encouraging epistemic engagement as individuals are self-identified as collaborators within a group. Learner-centered participatory environments based on orientations that view knowledge as a collaborative social construction help to facilitate self-directed learning and engagement, as teachers are more able to understand the individual needs and personalities of students through effective communication in personal learning environments (Conradie, 2014). Teachers who are comfortable in nurturing connections between his or her own presence, the social presence of learners in the classroom, and the cognitive presence of students in the classroom, are able to increase student knowledge and satisfaction with courses offered online (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). Continually, teachers who are able to foster connections between teacher presence and social presence in a blended learning environment, increased the cognitive mindfulness of their students in a way which improved a sense of self-efficacy and accomplishment that is thought to improve effort and increase epistemic engagement (Shea & Bidjerano, 2010).      In terms of demographics, the age of learners is increasing in higher education, and online classrooms are thought to meet the needs of the aging population of learners (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). Age as a factor in education also can be described as a ratio of competence, as adult learners age they accrue more cognitive strategies and experience that applies in a constructive learning environment among learning group members (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009).      The age of students is increasing, and this may also increase the expected specialization and complexity of teaching methodologies employed in modern classrooms. As technology evolves, teachers must be able to maintain an awareness of current technologies as well as the content of course material, as well as the contextual and social elements of the classroom environment in order to nurture epistemic engagement among learning groups (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). Learning spaces themselves may contribute to engagement and creativity as the presence of objects and artifacts connected to modern culture may increase curiosity in classrooms (Goodman, 2014).      Group membership as a process of intergroup differentiation increases motivation through a process of increased self-esteem that is related to group goals and ideals, based on differences between-groups, group members idealize positive in-group characteristics of group membership as a quality that motivates group participation according to group prototypes (Tasdemir, 2011). Learners who can self-identify with a learning community or group may experience increased motivation and self-esteem.      The culture of The United States is considered a low-context and individualized culture, which differs from high-context culture according to the nature of group participation (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Collective cultures tend to view group participation as implied, and self-identification as a group member is a higher priority than emphasis on individual accomplishments within the group context, individualistic cultures tend to focus on achievement in the workplace outside of demographics and view perceived competence as a concept that is equal to capability and that influences self-perceptions of efficacy in work settings (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Cross-cultural dimensions can affect the sense of self-efficacy among students in learning groups.       Thoughts about self-efficacy can serve to benefit learner motivation if an individual perceives herself or himself as effective and capable of influencing events that change the outcomes associated with their actions, or create negative cognitive affects if an individual’s self-appraisal does not render a sense of efficacy (Bandura, 1989). A person’s motivational, cognitive, and affective processes can be influenced by the sense of self-efficacy, and people tend to select environments that contribute to efficacy and optimal outcomes (Bandura, 1989). The ability to nurture the appraisal of positive self-efficacy provides for self-directed behavior, by appraising the ability to influence current and future outcomes socially and cognitively, and external environments also influence the self-regulation of and promotion of efficacy (Bandura, 1989).      In summary, the awareness of knowledge is a social construction that is collaborated upon among members of social groups, that can be influenced by the external environment and intentionally encouraged in collaborative blended learning environments, which are inhabited by groups who foster a sense of membership that increases self-esteem and motivation, that is supported by teaching professionals who are able to create student-centered social and cognitive spaces for learning presence and learner collaboration in diverse populations. In the context of The United States, learning as a participatory practice enhances the sense of competence and self-efficacy, as competent learners are able to collaborate on and shape the outcome of learning activities in a formal setting, thereby delineating learning group membership that increases self-esteem and motivation. Part 2: Classroom Design      This writing was created to meet the needs of a course on foundations of adult learning, and the coursework related to the assignment provides two options. This document is written to meet the second example prompt, which is a teaching activity designed to meet the needs of 35 adult learners ranging in age from 17 years old to 70 years.      It has been established in this writing that group presence and collaboration are key elements to learning, which can be inclusive across age demographics and also increase retention. Presentational classroom environments are teacher-centered and offer a space for student listening only, some classroom orientations offer a perspective called performance-tutoring, which are environments that offer group participation but that is largely based on existing formal structures for learning; epistemic engagement is a process in which learners collaborate on the methods, language, and strategies for learning course material (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). My goal is to create a learning environment that supports teaching that engages both the social and cognitive elements of the classroom through teacher presence, that is collaborative and that maintains a record of group activity, and that creates an active blended learning environment that facilitates individual learning and contributes to group participation and epistemic engagement. This can be accomplished with technology, as shown in figure 1. Figure 1. Blended Learning Classroom Format (Smartdesks.com, n.d.).      As shown in figure 1, classrooms can be equipped with touch-screen workstations that can also be used as conventional learning spaces. Because the classroom is designed for students of a wide age range, the keyboard and mouse is not a required interface for the technology, hands-on fingertip gestures can manipulate the material presented on the screens, a projector screen at the front of the classroom can present material to the entire group without requiring interaction, on-screen keyboards are less noisy or distracting, and the workstations can employ voice recognition technology that can circumvent the need for rapid typing during class participation. The desks shown are created by a company in New Jersey (Smartdesks.com, n.d.). As shown in figure 2, the desks can be fitted with any type of display including touch screens, and can still offer a traditional keyboard and mouse input for students who require it. Figure 2. Computer Desk Features. (Smartdesks.com, n.d.)      The multi-use desks have the ability to be equipped with computer hardware that is not cost-prohibitive and that becomes the foundation for an effective blended learning environment.      Figure 3 demonstrates the collaborative features of the blended learning workstations for classroom use. Figure 3. Student collaboration during learning activities. (Smartdesks.com, n.d.).      The classroom technology is designed to be a part of the instructor’s presentation, as the instructor presents a set of course materials on the classroom projector, the same materials are accessible from each workstation. In this environment the students are thereby given a copy of the course presentation, which can be manipulated on each workstation going from one slide to the next, or viewing a collaborative document, while taking notes on the course materials. Any notes recorded could be accessible from any internet workstation through a university website.      Blended classroom interaction is recorded by the workstations according to student ID, course, and login. As the in-person elements of the coursework take place, students can submit written comments that are visible to the entire class as well as to the instructor, and a virtual space for student responses to the class can be created. Question and answer format activities can take the form of a single screen presented on the main projector, which presents questions from any of the students participating in question and answer activities. Lastly, the workstations can provide discussion spaces throughout the course material, much like modern online classrooms, that can be accessed asynchronously and provide a space for collaboration and discussion of course material while outside the classroom. As mentioned previously, class participation can be recorded on university internet storage space in a way that can be accessed from a home computer while not attending class, so that classroom discussions are available asynchronously.      Instructor communications are central to creating an adequate space for self-directed learning, as individual learner’s memory and perceptions of the course material are relevant to the foundation of self-directed participation and learning in a personal learning environment (Conradie, 2014). As demonstrated by online learning at the University of Phoenix, individual feedback and communication between the instructor, the social space surrounding the course material, and individual learners can be facilitated through the use of computer technology, in a way that is sensitive to a wide range of demographics. This next step brings the online learning technology into the in-person classroom in a way that combines course presentation, collaboration, and asynchronous communication to form a viable community of inquiry among the participants of each course.      To conclude, each student’s work would be visible and available for viewing by collaborators and by instructors, in a way that contributes to group identity among cohorts within the courses and as members of the university as a social group. This approach can increase self-efficacy and epistemic engagement in a blended learning environment, across demographics. References Goodman, S. (2014, November 11). Does your classroom tell a story? Edutopia. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/does-your-classroom-tell-story-stacey-goodman?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-does-your-classroom-tell-story-link Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44(9), 1175-1184. Conradie, P. W. (2014). Supporting self-directed learning by connectivism and personal learning environments. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 4(3), 254-259. Shea, P. & Bidjerano, T. (2009). Community of inquiry as a theoretical framework to foster “epistemic engagement” and “cognitive presence” in online education. Computers & Education, 52, 543-553. Shea, P. & Bidjerano, T. (2010). Learning presence: Towards a theory of self-efficacy, self-regulation, and the development of a communities of inquiry in online and blended learning environments. Computers & Education, 55, 1721-1731. Shiraev E. & Levy, D. Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Smartdesks.com (n.d.). Flip Up / Flip Top PC Computer Desks for Schools and Higher Education. Retrieved from: http://www.smartdesks.com/flipit-flip-up-pc-computer-classroom-desks.asp Tasdemir, N. (2011). The relationships between motivations of intergroup differentiation as a function of different dimensions of social identity. Review of general psychology, 15(2), 125-137.