This research, begun in 2006, funded by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, is led by Dr Gregor Kennedy of the Biomedical Multimedia Unit at the University of Melbourne, and also includes other researchers from CSU (Dr Andrea Bishop), from the University of Melbourne (Dr Kerri-Lee Krause, Dr Terri Judd and Dr Kathleen Gray) and from the University of Wollongong (Dr Sue Bennett and Dr Karl Maton). The project, using a combination of Focus Groups and Questionnaires explores the question of whether there is a mismatch between the technology skills and expectations of 1st year University students and those of their lecturers. An overview of the project and its objectives was published in a paper at ASCILITE 2006. Additional information is available on the project homepage.
This research, begun in 2005, funded by a CSU Small Grant and a University of Wollongong RILE grant, is being undertaken with Dr Gregor Kennedy of the University of Melbourne and Dr Sue Bennett of the University of Wollongong. The research uses a combination of functional brain imaging (specifically functional magnetic reasonance imaging), observation, interview, audit trail analysis, and questionnaires to explore questions about the connection between interactivity, cognition and learning outcomes when using educational multimedia. An initial publication on this project was published at ASCILITE 2006.
This research, completed in 2006, funded by the CSU Division of Information Technology, was carried out with Daryl Miller, Peter Adams, Anthony Chan and Philip Roy. The research involved a trial of paperless assignment submission, marking and return in 20 internal, distance education and offshore distance Information Technology (IT) subjects, with 545 enrolments and 1023 student assignments in Autumn and Spring 2005. Preliminary results were published at 2005 Charles Sturt University Learning and Teaching Conference and at the 2005 Charles Sturt University Student Experience Conference. The final report from this project is also available.
This research, completed in 2005, funded by a CSU Scholarship in Teaching grant, was carried out with Dr Andrea Bishop, Dr Dan Bedgood and William Adlong. The research used a combination of interviews and questionnaires to identify factors that contributed to confidence and anxiety in Chemistry laboratory sessions and to evaluate the effectiveness of a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory in this context. Early results of this project were published at the UniServe Science Symposium in 2003 and 2004.
This research, begun in 2001, was initially funded by a CSU Small Grant, and
focusses on the use of desktop 3D environments as learning resources for spatial
learning. As part of this project, the early version of a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory was developed, which, as
well as being used for empirical testing as part of this project, has also
been
used in the teaching of Chemistry at CSU. Publications from this work include conference papers at ASCILITE in 2001, 2002 and 2003, at ICCE in 2004 and at SimTect in 2005, along with an article in the AJET journal in 2004.
This research, completed in 2000, was funded by a CSU Faculty of Science and
Agriculture Seed Grant. It has focussed on the fundamental usability issues
in Desktop Virtual Environments, and most specifically interfaces for movement
control. The project involved usability testing of VRML Browsers and Computer
Games. The Cosmo Player and the Tomb Raider and Quake games were selected for
intensive study, involving 12 subjects for 2 sessions each of an hour's duration. Results were published at OZCHI in 2001.
A paper published in a special issue of the Journal of Interactive Learning Research in 2001 described the technical capabilities of the web as a platform for highly interactive learning resources, developed from a constructivist pedagogical perspective. This built on an earlier (1995) paper presented at ASCILITE '95.
In 1995, 1996 and 1997, I carried out a theoretical and empirical analysis of the consequences of a constructivist theory of learning to the development of computer assisted learning resources. Results were published at ASCILITE '96, EDTECH'98 and in the British Journal of Educational Technology in 2001.
Another outcome of this work was a set of 10 Constructivist Design Principles.
In association with members of the ARC Special Research Centre for Applied
Philosophy and Public Ethics, I have carried out research focussing on ethical
issues associated with the Internet. In 2006 I published a paper with Professor John Weckert on ethical issues associated with online child pornography. In 1998 I presented a seminar alongside
international and interstate speakers at a workshop on Internet Security. In
1999 I contributed a paper on the implications of web browser monopolies
to a Technology Bulletin on Internet Ethics of the IT Chapter of the Australian
Society of Chartered Accountants.
An extensive survey, was completed by on campus and distance education students who
completed a group assignment where communication with group members was carried out
entirely using CMC tools over the Internet. The results were published at the CSU Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT)
conference in 1999, and also at ASCILITE'99.
In 1995 I carried out an evaluation of multimedia authoring tools for the development
of constructivist CAL resources, using data gathered during the development of a pilot CAL
resource called Curry Cookery Concepts. Results were published
at ACEC'96. In 1997 the evaluation was updated, using data
gathered during the development of a pilot CAL resource called Principles
of Computer Graphics. Results were puiblished at ASCILITE'98.
In 1990, I carried out a study titled Computers in Schools: A Study of the Use of Computers in Education in Year 11 and 12 in the ACT. This involved interviews with 30 teachers at three schools, and surveys completed by 150 students. The final report was made available to the schools involved in the study, as well as being placed in the University of Canberra Curriculum Resources Centre.
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Barney Dalgarno, last update 18/07/07