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 revealed significant small (Cohen’s d: 0.10) to large (Cohen’s d: 2.40) effects of task load and changes in the spatial characteristics of the task, such as orientation or position changes, on time spent and oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) measures from all the prefrontal cortex (PFC) areas. Transfer had a large (d = 1.37) significant effect on time spent and HbO measures from right anterior medial PFC (AMPFC); while training had a moderate (d = 0.48) significant effect on time spent and HbR measures from left AMPFC. The findings from this study have important implications for VR training, research, and instructional design focusing on enhancing the learning, retention, and transfer of spatial skills within and across various VR-based training scenarios.

Extensive research has been published on pedagogical approaches for online courses across traditional, theory-based curricula within business, education, and health care. However, there has been less research on pedagogical approaches for online courses within trade or professional disciplines, like journalism, which require high levels of authentic or experiential learning. The transactional distance between instructors and students, campus spaces and students, and students and students, create different challenges for developing collaborative experience and industry-specific skills. If faculty do not receive training on now to handle these challenges, both students and programs can suffer. Viewed through the Online Human Touch and TPACK frameworks, this qualitative multiple case study explored how four journalism and mass communications (JMC) programs approach the training and support of full-time and part-time faculty to teach online. Results include single case descriptions and cross-case analyses. Data analysis revealed non-mandatory training opportunities, instructional design support, and sustained efforts by administrators and staff to increase faculty buy-in to the efficacy of online learning. Implications are discussed for JMC educators offering, or considering offering, online courses, certifications, or degree program.

This multiple case study of four journalism and mass communication programs examines teaching presence as a mechanism for mitigating transactional distance in online learning environments. This study explores instructor-to-student communication strategies and techniques utilized by experienced online journalism and mass communication educators, and the contributions of instructional designers in collaborative course design and delivery settings. Six emergent themes are identified and discussed. Recommendations for journalism and mass communication educators, including administrators, are provided.

Inequitable learning opportunities are a leading contributor to the persistent literacy achievement gaps evident between historically marginalized students and their more affluent peers. This study investigated the impact of a community school reform effort in an urban middle school. The community school initiative focused on meeting the complex academic and non-academic needs of newcomer (i.e., immigrant and refugee) students and families. The researchers compared the community school students to a propensity score-matched group and found that the community school students significantly outperformed the comparison group in English language arts (ELA) from Grade 6 to 8 and had significantly fewer course failures in Grade 8. Results of this study also indicate the promising contributions community school wrap-around services lend to reducing the literacy learning gap between ELL students and their non-ELL peers in the middle grades.

The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, endearingly called “the journalist’s bible,” contains thousands of entries outlining style rules and situational guidance. Designed initially for practitioners, the AP stylebook is a seminal resource at many journalism education programs. Its density and complexity as a learning material inherently poses cognitive load risks for novices—and yet—it remains notably under researched. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study explored journalism instructor axiology, pedagogy, and perceptions of teaching effectiveness when introducing AP Style to novice students. Findings revealed that while AP Style remains a pillar of U.S. journalism curriculum, experienced instructors sometimes feel uncertain about the effectiveness of their introductory pedagogy. They described a hodgepodge of methods and design constraints often incongruous with knowledge of human cognitive architecture. We problematize these findings through cognitive load research, recommend Cognitive Apprenticeship Model principles to reduce load-inducing strategies, and suggest directions for future research.