Jim Greer | University of Saskatchewan (original) (raw)

Papers by Jim Greer

Research paper thumbnail of A hybrid object clustering strategy for large knowledge-based systems

Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Data Engineering, 1996

Page 1. .A Hybrid Object Clustering Strategy for Large Knowledge-Based Systems Arun R.amanujapura... more Page 1. .A Hybrid Object Clustering Strategy for Large Knowledge-Based Systems Arun R.amanujapuram' Department of Computer Science University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada S7N OW0 Abstract Object bases ...

Research paper thumbnail of Toward a Specification for Electronic Portfolios for Groups

Research paper thumbnail of Responding to the call for action on aboriginal education: the role of centres for teaching and learning

Research paper thumbnail of Faculty attitudes towards teaching and learning (and the implications for educational development practice)

Faculty’s attitudes towards teaching and learning can have a significant impact on the quality of... more Faculty’s attitudes towards teaching and learning can have a significant impact on the quality of the learning environment for students (Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004; Smart 2010). This ‘Essential Update’ will explore the implications for educational development practice of faculty attitudes towards teaching and learning. How do faculty’s attitudes towards teaching shape our ability (or inability) to engage them in educational development activities? After a brief introduction, participants of this session will work in teams to look at the research results from a comprehensive survey of faculty attitudes conducted at the University of Saskatchewan, explorehow they may (or may not) compare to their institutional context, and identify ways in which the results might impact their own individual or team’s (in the case of a Centre for Teaching and Learning) approach to educational development with faculty, sessionals, and graduate students.

Research paper thumbnail of Institutionalizing blended and online learning: A review of ten years of TEL funding at the U of S

"Just over ten years ago, the Pr... more "Just over ten years ago, the Province of Saskatchewan announced a strategic investment in the provincial higher education system of targeted money to support Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL). Each institution, including the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), received these targeted funds with the explicit mandate to invest in distance and distributed education to serve the communities of Saskatchewan as well as invest in the institutionalizing of technology-enhanced learning at each institution. In 2010, the provincial government canceled this targeted program, asking institutions to continue the investments in technology-enhanced learning as they required for their institutional context, and as they were able. At the U of S, the senior administration continued the program for one additional year out of the institution’s operating budget, but at the time also called on a review of the impact that ten years of dedicated funding had on the distributed, online and blended learning capacities of the institution. This session, which will include a brief review of the types of investments made at the U of S, as well as preliminary analysis of the impact of the investments on the campus community, will focus primarily on the blended learning components of the TEL program at the U of S. We will explore the following questions: • How do you evaluate the impact and effectiveness of TEL over a period of time, particularly when technology becomes obsolete? • How prevalent does technology need to be to be considered institutionalized? • How can institutions sustain technology investments over time, particularly in light of changing funding environments? • And, what measures of success (cost, value added to student learning environment, sustainable technology, etc.) can be used to evaluate the return on investment at the level of institution? "

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding who our students are: Profiling students in large classes to assist instructors

Professors teaching larger classes have trouble getting to know their students. Understanding the... more Professors teaching larger classes have trouble getting to know their students. Understanding the demographics as well as general attitudes and aptitudes of students in large classes is often challenging (Ward & Jenkins, 1992; Carbone, 1998). We have introduced a practice to construct class profiles for each course containing more than 100 students. These profiles contain summary information garnered from institutional databases and an online survey of students. The profiles, which are shared with instructors, include admission and current university GPA, demographics, previous school, and Aboriginal self-designation, as well as information about students’ learning styles, feelings of belonging, anticipated time spent on studies/volunteering/recreation/working, academic goals, living arrangements, and self-assessment of math and writing confidence. The goal of this ideas exchange is to seek input from EDC colleagues into the methods we employ in data gathering and dissemination to instructors, and explore how other institutions support instructors with large classes.

Research paper thumbnail of Distributed Learning at the U of S: Planning for the future

Research paper thumbnail of The role of faculty peer evaluation in tenure and promotion

Research paper thumbnail of Faculty attitudes towards active, student-centred teaching and learning: Understanding the impact of gender, discipline, academic rank, and teaching experience

Research paper thumbnail of Mentorship for early career academic success

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying factors that influence the use of active and student-centred teaching in higher education

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding the institutional SoTL lanscape

Research paper thumbnail of Learning analytics and learner profiling for early alert and help provision

Research paper thumbnail of Moving toward a Future State in Experiential Learning at the University of Saskatchewan Concept Paper

Research paper thumbnail of ACADEMIC STAFF ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACTIVE, STUDENT-CENTRED, AND EVIDENCE-INFORMED TEACHING AND LEARNING: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR CONTEXTUALIZED AND DISCIPLINE-BASED EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Research paper thumbnail of Computer support for peer-help networks

Research paper thumbnail of Bootstrapping accurate learner models from electronic portfolios

ABSTRACT This paper presents a way to use electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) to initialize lear... more ABSTRACT This paper presents a way to use electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) to initialize learner models for adaptive learning environments. E-portfolios become sources of evidence for claims about prior conceptual knowledge or skills. We developed the EP-LM system to test whether accurate learner models can be built from e-portfolios and to determine whether this approach can be beneficial for reflective learning. EP-LM supports e-portfolio browsing, claiming skill levels on certain concepts, and evidencing the claims using artifacts included in the e-portfolio. Experimental results show that accurate learner models can be created through this approach and that reflective and personalized learning can result.

Research paper thumbnail of E-learning Specification in the context of Instructional Planning

Research paper thumbnail of Using learning object technology to tackle the education challenges of the Caribbean

International Conference on Information Technology: Research and Education, 2003. Proceedings. ITRE2003., 2003

The education systems in many Caribbean countries lag behind highly developed countries due to a ... more The education systems in many Caribbean countries lag behind highly developed countries due to a number of geographic and economic factors. Consequently, traditional opportunities for secondary and tertiary education are not available for a significant portion of the population. Even when education opportunities exist, they are often of low quality. We propose the use of learning objects and learning object repositories as a viable, cost-effective solution to these problems. Global repositories provide rich sources of learning objects that can be assembled into course material depending on local needs. Used effectively, learning objects can reduce the time, cost, and expertise required for producing content, allowing existing resources to achieve much more than is currently possible. We also describe our long-term research aimed at providing personalized learning experiences to individuals based on learning object technology, We argue that this research has the potential to transform distance education.

Research paper thumbnail of Supporting Awareness to Facilitate Collaborative Learning in an Online Learning Environment

Designing for Change in Networked Learning Environments, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of A hybrid object clustering strategy for large knowledge-based systems

Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Data Engineering, 1996

Page 1. .A Hybrid Object Clustering Strategy for Large Knowledge-Based Systems Arun R.amanujapura... more Page 1. .A Hybrid Object Clustering Strategy for Large Knowledge-Based Systems Arun R.amanujapuram' Department of Computer Science University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada S7N OW0 Abstract Object bases ...

Research paper thumbnail of Toward a Specification for Electronic Portfolios for Groups

Research paper thumbnail of Responding to the call for action on aboriginal education: the role of centres for teaching and learning

Research paper thumbnail of Faculty attitudes towards teaching and learning (and the implications for educational development practice)

Faculty’s attitudes towards teaching and learning can have a significant impact on the quality of... more Faculty’s attitudes towards teaching and learning can have a significant impact on the quality of the learning environment for students (Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004; Smart 2010). This ‘Essential Update’ will explore the implications for educational development practice of faculty attitudes towards teaching and learning. How do faculty’s attitudes towards teaching shape our ability (or inability) to engage them in educational development activities? After a brief introduction, participants of this session will work in teams to look at the research results from a comprehensive survey of faculty attitudes conducted at the University of Saskatchewan, explorehow they may (or may not) compare to their institutional context, and identify ways in which the results might impact their own individual or team’s (in the case of a Centre for Teaching and Learning) approach to educational development with faculty, sessionals, and graduate students.

Research paper thumbnail of Institutionalizing blended and online learning: A review of ten years of TEL funding at the U of S

"Just over ten years ago, the Pr... more "Just over ten years ago, the Province of Saskatchewan announced a strategic investment in the provincial higher education system of targeted money to support Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL). Each institution, including the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), received these targeted funds with the explicit mandate to invest in distance and distributed education to serve the communities of Saskatchewan as well as invest in the institutionalizing of technology-enhanced learning at each institution. In 2010, the provincial government canceled this targeted program, asking institutions to continue the investments in technology-enhanced learning as they required for their institutional context, and as they were able. At the U of S, the senior administration continued the program for one additional year out of the institution’s operating budget, but at the time also called on a review of the impact that ten years of dedicated funding had on the distributed, online and blended learning capacities of the institution. This session, which will include a brief review of the types of investments made at the U of S, as well as preliminary analysis of the impact of the investments on the campus community, will focus primarily on the blended learning components of the TEL program at the U of S. We will explore the following questions: • How do you evaluate the impact and effectiveness of TEL over a period of time, particularly when technology becomes obsolete? • How prevalent does technology need to be to be considered institutionalized? • How can institutions sustain technology investments over time, particularly in light of changing funding environments? • And, what measures of success (cost, value added to student learning environment, sustainable technology, etc.) can be used to evaluate the return on investment at the level of institution? "

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding who our students are: Profiling students in large classes to assist instructors

Professors teaching larger classes have trouble getting to know their students. Understanding the... more Professors teaching larger classes have trouble getting to know their students. Understanding the demographics as well as general attitudes and aptitudes of students in large classes is often challenging (Ward & Jenkins, 1992; Carbone, 1998). We have introduced a practice to construct class profiles for each course containing more than 100 students. These profiles contain summary information garnered from institutional databases and an online survey of students. The profiles, which are shared with instructors, include admission and current university GPA, demographics, previous school, and Aboriginal self-designation, as well as information about students’ learning styles, feelings of belonging, anticipated time spent on studies/volunteering/recreation/working, academic goals, living arrangements, and self-assessment of math and writing confidence. The goal of this ideas exchange is to seek input from EDC colleagues into the methods we employ in data gathering and dissemination to instructors, and explore how other institutions support instructors with large classes.

Research paper thumbnail of Distributed Learning at the U of S: Planning for the future

Research paper thumbnail of The role of faculty peer evaluation in tenure and promotion

Research paper thumbnail of Faculty attitudes towards active, student-centred teaching and learning: Understanding the impact of gender, discipline, academic rank, and teaching experience

Research paper thumbnail of Mentorship for early career academic success

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying factors that influence the use of active and student-centred teaching in higher education

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding the institutional SoTL lanscape

Research paper thumbnail of Learning analytics and learner profiling for early alert and help provision

Research paper thumbnail of Moving toward a Future State in Experiential Learning at the University of Saskatchewan Concept Paper

Research paper thumbnail of ACADEMIC STAFF ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACTIVE, STUDENT-CENTRED, AND EVIDENCE-INFORMED TEACHING AND LEARNING: THE IMPLICATIONS FOR CONTEXTUALIZED AND DISCIPLINE-BASED EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Research paper thumbnail of Computer support for peer-help networks

Research paper thumbnail of Bootstrapping accurate learner models from electronic portfolios

ABSTRACT This paper presents a way to use electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) to initialize lear... more ABSTRACT This paper presents a way to use electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) to initialize learner models for adaptive learning environments. E-portfolios become sources of evidence for claims about prior conceptual knowledge or skills. We developed the EP-LM system to test whether accurate learner models can be built from e-portfolios and to determine whether this approach can be beneficial for reflective learning. EP-LM supports e-portfolio browsing, claiming skill levels on certain concepts, and evidencing the claims using artifacts included in the e-portfolio. Experimental results show that accurate learner models can be created through this approach and that reflective and personalized learning can result.

Research paper thumbnail of E-learning Specification in the context of Instructional Planning

Research paper thumbnail of Using learning object technology to tackle the education challenges of the Caribbean

International Conference on Information Technology: Research and Education, 2003. Proceedings. ITRE2003., 2003

The education systems in many Caribbean countries lag behind highly developed countries due to a ... more The education systems in many Caribbean countries lag behind highly developed countries due to a number of geographic and economic factors. Consequently, traditional opportunities for secondary and tertiary education are not available for a significant portion of the population. Even when education opportunities exist, they are often of low quality. We propose the use of learning objects and learning object repositories as a viable, cost-effective solution to these problems. Global repositories provide rich sources of learning objects that can be assembled into course material depending on local needs. Used effectively, learning objects can reduce the time, cost, and expertise required for producing content, allowing existing resources to achieve much more than is currently possible. We also describe our long-term research aimed at providing personalized learning experiences to individuals based on learning object technology, We argue that this research has the potential to transform distance education.

Research paper thumbnail of Supporting Awareness to Facilitate Collaborative Learning in an Online Learning Environment

Designing for Change in Networked Learning Environments, 2003

Research paper thumbnail of Faculty Attitudes towards Teaching and Learning (and the Implications for Educational Development Practice)

Faculty’s attitudes towards teaching and learning can have a significant impact on the quality of... more Faculty’s attitudes towards teaching and learning can have a significant impact on the quality of the learning environment for students (Saroyan & Amundsen, 2004; Smart 2010). This ‘Essential Update’ will explore the implications for educational development practice of faculty attitudes towards teaching and learning. How do faculty’s attitudes towards teaching shape our ability (or inability) to engage them in educational development activities? After a brief introduction, participants of this session will work in teams to look at the research results from a comprehensive survey of faculty attitudes conducted at the University of Saskatchewan, explorehow they may (or may not) compare to their institutional context, and identify ways in which the results might impact their own individual or team’s (in the case of a Centre for Teaching and Learning) approach to educational development with faculty, sessionals, and graduate students.