Tamara Galoyan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tamara Galoyan

Maureen Tang joined the faculty of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel University in 20... more Maureen Tang joined the faculty of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel University in 2014 and obtained tenure in April 2020. She completed BS, PhD, and postdoctoral work at Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University, respectively, all in Chemical Engineering. She is the recipient of a NSF CAREER award and placed as a Finalist in the 2012 AAAS Dance Your PhD competition. Her research at Drexel studies materials and processes for electrochemical energy storage and conversion.

Studies in health technology and informatics, May 18, 2023

We developed the first health informatics training program in Armenia and in the Caucasus region.... more We developed the first health informatics training program in Armenia and in the Caucasus region. The training program consists of four educational pillars, including a bootcamp, an individualized training program, a capstone, and a scholarly project. We conducted surveys and qualitative interviews to evaluate the training program. With trending positive results we acknowledge that it is important to understand the landscape of health informatics and conduct needs assessment prior to establishing such a training program in an LMIC.

Frontiers in Oncology

IntroductionIn Armenia, an upper-middle income country, 93% of deaths are from non-communicable d... more IntroductionIn Armenia, an upper-middle income country, 93% of deaths are from non-communicable diseases and over half of the male population smokes. Armenia has more than double the global lung cancer incidence. Over 80% of lung cancer is diagnosed at stages III or IV. However, there is a significant mortality benefit in detecting early-stage lung cancer via screening with low-dose computed tomography.MethodsThis study employed a rigorously-translated, previously-validated survey based on the Expanded Health Belief Model to understand how Armenian male smokers’ beliefs would affect lung cancer screening participation.ResultsSurvey responses highlighted key health beliefs that would mediate screening participation. Most respondents felt they were at risk for lung cancer, but over 50% also believed their cancer risk was equivalent to (or less than) non-smokers’ risk. Respondents also overwhelmingly agreed a scan could help detect cancer earlier, but fewer agreed early detection could...

Brain Sciences

Spatial visualization ability (SVA) has been identified as a potential key factor for academic ac... more Spatial visualization ability (SVA) has been identified as a potential key factor for academic achievement and student retention in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in higher education, especially for engineering and related disciplines. Prior studies have shown that training using virtual reality (VR) has the potential to enhance learning through the use of more realistic and/or immersive experiences. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of VR-based training using spatial visualization tasks on participant performance and mental workload using behavioral (i.e., time spent) and functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) brain-imaging-technology-derived measures. Data were collected from 10 first-year biomedical engineering students, who engaged with a custom-designed spatial visualization gaming application over a six-week training protocol consisting of tasks and procedures that varied in task load and spatial characteristics. Findings reve...

International Journal of Medical Education

Proceedings of the 2021 AERA Annual Meeting

Proceedings of the 2020 AERA Annual Meeting

Clinical Ophthalmology

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of worldwide childhood blindness with increas... more Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of worldwide childhood blindness with increasing incidence in low and middle income countries (LMICs) due to advances in neonatal care. There are insufficient numbers of healthcare professionals specialized in ROP management and few local training opportunities in LMICs. Social media platforms provide a promising solution to enable interactive medical education across geographic and logistic barriers. As an adjunct to an ROP training program for ophthalmologists in Armenia, we implemented a Facebook Virtual Examination Room (VER) for case discussion with a global community of collaborators and preceptors. To evaluate training through VER, we operationalized engagement as a multilayer metaconstruct that includes cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional domains. Methods: A concurrent mixed methods approach was taken to collect and analyze data from comments and activities within VER. Quantitative data was analyzed for descriptive statistics on group utilization, participant activity, and clinical metrics. Qualitative data was analyzed by conducting thematic analysis involving initial and pattern coding. Results: Ten participants (7 trainees and 3 preceptors) interacted in the Facebook group across 153 unique cases, with 218 threads, 414 comments, and 216 likes. Of the 120 unique cases eligible for consensus evaluation, treatment was mentioned most frequently (87), followed by location (68), staging (65), and plus disease (31), with agreement ranging from 67% to 97%. Based on the qualitative analysis, the most common themes of discussion were clinical management, dilemma resolution, knowledge growth, and gratitude. Conclusion: A closed Facebook group for case-based discussions can be a useful adjunct to an existing ROP training program by engaging learners across social-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive domains. For international training partnerships, the financial and logistical advantages can be significant, though focus should remain on the primary curriculum and training modality.

International Journal of Science Education

Brain Sciences, 2021

The goal of this study was to examine the effects of task-related variables, such as the difficul... more The goal of this study was to examine the effects of task-related variables, such as the difficulty level, problem scenario, and experiment week, on performance and mental workload of 27 healthy adult subjects during problem solving within the spatial navigation transfer (SNT) game. The study reports task performance measures such as total time spent on a task (TT) and reaction time (RT); neurophysiological measures involving the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS); and a subjective rating scale for self-assessment of mental workload (NASA TLX) to test the related hypothesis. Several within-subject repeated-measures factorial ANOVA models were developed to test the main hypothesis. The results revealed a number of interaction effects for the dependent measures of TT, RT, fNIRS, and NASA TLX. The results showed (1) a decrease in TT and RT across the three levels of difficulty from Week 1 to Week 2; (2) an increase in TT and RT for high and medium cognitive load tasks...

Online learning, Dec 1, 2021

International Journal of Instruction, 2022

Despite calls for both research and curricular implementations that support underrepresented stud... more Despite calls for both research and curricular implementations that support underrepresented students' exploration of STEM topics, curricula that apply principles of embodied cognition, such as the use of sports to teach science, are still needed. Further research may also serve to clarify how underrepresented students construct knowledge over time and make sense of embodied STEM learning experiences. In order to encourage engagement with science education, the four-week Science Through Sports summer curriculum was designed and implemented at a middle school located in an economically underrepresented urban area. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore 15 middle school students' attitudes toward science, design thinking, and computational thinking as a result of engaging in Science Through Sports. Findings revealed growth in students' attitudes toward science and science identities, as well as development of skills, self-efficacy, and knowledge in relation to science, sports, computational thinking, and design thinking.

For learners in any academic domain, it is vital to be able to transfer their learning across a v... more For learners in any academic domain, it is vital to be able to transfer their learning across a variety of educational and non-educational contexts. Despite the significant role of transfer in human learning, enhancing student skills to effectively transfer learning has always been one of the most challenging problems in education. The goals of this convergent parallel mixed methods study were to (a) investigate neurocognitive, behavioral, and task factors involved in transfer of problem solving skills; (b) explore how university faculty conceptualize and enhance transfer across disciplines; and (c) offer practical recommendations for enhancing transfer in higher education. The quantitative strand of this mixed methods study focused on neurocognitive, behavioral, and task factors affecting transfer in a Spatial Navigation Transfer (SNT) game, designed and developed for this study. It used a randomized within-subject repeated-measures experimental design involving 27 graduate students from four disciplinary areas. The fNIRS brain imaging technology was used to measure mental workload in subjects during the SNT game, involving well-structured and ill-structured tasks. The qualitative strand of this mixed methods study used semi-structured interviews with 11 university faculty members from four disciplinary areas to explore their conceptualizations of transfer and the instructional strategies they used to enhance transfer in their classrooms. Based on the findings from the quantitative and qualitative strands, pedagogical practices for enhancing transfer in higher education were discussed and recommendations for future research on transfer were offered.

Journal of Online Learning Research and Practice, 2021

In March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education worldwide. In... more In March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education worldwide. In the United States, the pandemic forced colleges and universities across the nation to adopt quickly emergency remote teaching and learning. The ability to pivot instruction seamlessly and effectively across learning formats (e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, online) while supporting student engagement, learning, and completion in an authentic and high-quality manner challenged higher education leaders. This historical review of the literature examines distance and online education from the 1700s to 2021 to identify how external and internal pressures and opportunities have impacted and influenced the evolution of educational formats pre-COVID-19, and how they will continue to evolve post pandemic. This historical review also explores how instructional design and pedagogy have been and continue to be influenced by technological advancements, emerging research from the Learning Sciences and Min...

This paper presents an in-depth examination of three exemplary virtual environments for science l... more This paper presents an in-depth examination of three exemplary virtual environments for science learning (Land Science, River City, and EcoMUVE) to identify and conceptualize game features that support student identity exploration. The work showcases findings obtained from Years 1-2 of an NSF CAREER project (DRL#1350707) undertaken to support the study, design, and implementation of games and curricula that enhance science learning and teaching to promote intentional student learning as identity change (Foster, 2014). The examination was guided by Projective Reflection (PR), a theoretical framework that explains and facilitates learning as identity exploration in immersive play-based environments such as games (Foster, 2014). PR characterizes identity exploration as intentional changes in a) knowledge, b) interest and valuing, c) self-organization and self-control, and d) self-perceptions and self-definitions in a given domain. The Playing Research Method (Aarseth, 2003; Foster, 201...

This study explored experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students in the area of... more This study explored experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students in the area of energy and environment as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Research Experience for Undergraduate students (xREU). This summer research project was conducted in a private university located in the northeastern United States. Since the primary objective of the xREU program was to attract students from non-research-intensive universities to interdisciplinary research, the program was specifically designed to address the development of key learning and working skills that will serve participants throughout their careers. Using several instruments (including the National Engineering Students’ Learning Outcomes Survey [NESLOS], a survey administered biweekly, and a 24-item demographic questionnaire), we collected both qualitative and quantitative data. The results showed that, overall, participants’ content knowledge and other related skills were enhanced over the summer thr...

Researchers and educational advocates have been documenting the positive impact of video games on... more Researchers and educational advocates have been documenting the positive impact of video games on language learning (Gee, 2003; Peterson, 2010; Zheng, 2006). However, despite the potential benefits of using games for language learning, there is still limited research on the specific pedagogical approaches used to incorporate game-based learning into the regular course curriculum (Young et al., 2012). This paper introduces the Game Network Analysis (GaNA) (Foster, Shah, & Duvall, 2015) framework in the context of language learning. GaNA is a combination of frameworks that allows teachers to implement game-based learning for achieving specific curricular goals through a systematic approach that involves game analysis, game integration, and consideration for conditions within the teachers’ context that would impact the success of facilitating learning with games (Shah & Foster, 2015). The paper argues for the benefits of video games to enhance language use and communication in ESL/EFL ...