The University Libraries at Virginia Tech established an Open Access Subvention Fund (OASF) in August 2012. Although it began as a two-year pilot project, the Fund has continued to the present. Anyone at Virginia Tech is eligible to apply for funding to offset the cost of an article processing charge to publish in an open access journal. To learn…

In this article, we explore how members of the Association for Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning's (AAEEBL) Digital Ethics Task Force used their third space discursive expertise to conceptualize Principles for Digital Ethics in ePortfolios and argue that the diversity of their roles is directly responsible for the successful…

National failure rates seen in undergraduate introductory CS courses are quite high. In this paper, we develop a predictive model for student in-class performance in an introductory CS course. The model can serve as an early warning system, flagging struggling students who might benefit from additional support. We use a variety of features from…

As we enter a new age of technological innovation and subsequent educational instrumentation change, there is increasing demand for innovative methods that encourage student learning experiences in virtual, online spaces. ePortfolios and e-book projects are designed and owned by students and are centered within the student's learning. They provide…

A growing body of research has demonstrated that open educational resources (OER) provide an opportunity for improvements in learning outcomes compared to traditional texts. This project builds on the Open Education Group's COUP framework to explore student and faculty use and perceptions of an open education World Regional Geography textbook.…

Leadership inquiry lacks robust studies designed to understand processes as opposed to outcomes. This qualitative case study explored the process of reflection through blogs to evaluate the Virginia Agriculture Leaders Obtaining Results (VALOR) program. We open-coded blog entries for reflection on capacity building and competency development…

The purpose of this study was to explore students and instructor perceptions of the concept of renewable assignments in the open educational resources (OER) movement. Mixed methods were used, with a combination of a survey and semi-structured interview, administered at George Mason University in the United States. Eleven graduate students enrolled…

This case study looks at the implementation of an extracurricular program, the ePortfolio Peer Consultants (ePPC) peer-mentoring technology group, as a part of an ePortfolio project at the University of Virginia and its impact on the development of ePortfolio skill sets. Specifically, we seek to understand if and how the participation in this…

Using an expanded version of Alexander's (2008) theory of dialogic teaching developed by RojasDrummond, Torreblanca, Pedraza, Vélez, and Guzmán (2013), this case study explored how instructors and students in a hybrid graduate course engaged in the process of dialogic teaching and learning (DTL). In particular, we examined the ways in which…

This paper highlights the findings of a survey completed by ACRL/STS [Association of College and Research Libraries/Science and Technology Section] members on scholarly communication issues. In particular it identifies the percentage of their daily activities that are spent in support of scholarly communication activities; extent of change of job…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Asking the Right Questions: Reflective Preparation for a Program Review (Corinne Renguette, Charles Feldhaus, and Elizabeth Wager; (2) The Neuroscience of Learning and Development: What Does That Mean for Assessment and Evaluation? (Marilee Bresciani Ludvik); (3)…

The 21st century faculty member is expected to teach, engage the learner, absorb new discoveries and rely on different knowledge in the execution of duties. This calls for up-to-date skills for instruction, assessment, and identification of opportunities by faculty members to promote learning. This paper investigates the prospects of promoting…

Economics appears to be lagging behind other fields in the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. Twitter is an online microblogging utility, permitting posts of up to 140 characters called tweets. The utility is rapidly making its way into secondary and post-secondary classrooms as a complement to traditional instruction and an active…

Social reading can broadly be described as the experience surrounding the reading of electronic books, more commonly known as eBooks. Utilising eTextbooks and social reading at a university offers some powerful potential to engage students and help them succeed in their studies. A broad overview of the current landscape and recent initiatives…

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is implementing a large scale exploration of digital pedagogies, including connected learning and open education, in an effort to promote digital fluency and integrative thinking among students. The purpose of this study was to develop a classroom assessment toolkit for faculty who wish to document student…