Call for papers–Situating Data Science

A Special Issue of Journal of the Learning Sciences
Guest Editors: Michelle Wilkerson and Joseph L. Polman

The emerging field of Data Science has had a large impact on science and society. This has led to over a decade of calls to establish a corresponding field of Data Science Education (Berman et al., 2016; Cleveland, 2001; Finzer, 2013). Initial efforts to do so, while productive, have focused primarily on curricular structures and materials rather than learner knowledge and experience. There is still a need to more deeply conceptualize what makes learning Data Science sufficiently different that it requires a new field of study, and to explore the theoretical and practical implications of these differences for constructing an ethical and effective Data Science Education.

This special issue of Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS) will explore one key feature of Data Science that we argue has serious implications for education and research: learners’ relationships to data. Data Science is typically concerned with data that is at once personal and opaque—collected in incidental, automated, or unknown ways from activities and contexts within which learners themselves are deeply situated. Emerging research suggests this can significantly impact how learners engage with and make sense of these data—limiting opportunities to learn when these relationships are not recognized by educators or designers (Philip, Olivares-Pasillas, & Rocha, 2016; Rubel, Lim, Hall-Wieckert, & Sullivan, 2016) and enriching them when they are leveraged (Kahn, 2017; Lee, 2013; Taylor & Hall, 2013). The goal of “Situating Data Science” is to sketch the contours of what a Data Science Education might entail given these relationships. More specifically, we ask: In what ways do learners’ relationships relative to data, the contexts from which data are derived, and the tools and practices of data science, shape how they engage with and make sense of data? And, How might learners’ prior experiences with and relationships to data equip them for formal and structured Data Science Education experiences?

We invite contributions that explore how learners’ situatedness—relative to data, and relative to the field of data science—can impact learning in ways that necessitate new lines of research, new theoretical and methodological development, and new approaches to educational design and practice. We use the term situated (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Lave & Wenger, 1991) in its broadest sense, to refer to a collection of approaches toward learning, cognition, and participation that we expect can grant new insight into the complex territory marked by the emerging fields of Data Science and Data Science Education. Papers may focus on questions such as:

• How do learners’ different experiences of the same data context affect their engagement with data, and how might this diversity be leveraged pedagogically?
• How do different framings of data science activity goals (e.g., using data for commercial exploitation, predictive modeling, advocacy, self-monitoring, scientific inquiry) influence learners’ engagement with and treatment of data?
• How are current data scientists, such as practitioners of learning analytics or educational data mining, apprenticed into the discipline? In what ways do such apprenticeships leverage (or not) learners’ own data or learning experiences?
• What might be fruitful theoretical and methodological approaches for uncovering orientations toward or experiences with data that are likely to be especially powerful for supporting formal Data Science Education?
• How can insights about learners’ experiences with the types of datasets, tools, and methods characteristic of Data Science in informal (e.g., home, online, museum, hobbyist, advocacy) contexts inform the design of formal Data Science Education experiences?

Submission Instructions: We are currently soliciting abstracts for proposed papers for the special issue. Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words and be accompanied by up to six keywords. Abstracts should be submitted to situatingdatasci@gmail.com. Our anticipated timeline is as follows:

Abstracts Due (to situatingdatasci@gmail.com) : Feb 19, 2018
Invitations to Submit Drafts Sent : Feb 26, 2018
First Drafts Due (to JLS ScholarOne online submission system) : June 22, 2018
Reviews of First Drafts : September 15, 2018
Ongoing Revisions : October 2018-April 2019
Final Manuscript Submitted : May 31, 2019
Special Issue Publication : Fall 2019

Per JLS editorial policy, all articles which are part of this special issue must be accepted through the journal’s standard review process. We anticipate including six (6) articles in this special issue, as well as an introduction by the guest editors and two commentaries.

Call for Papers–Technology for Equity and Social Justice in Education

Special Issue of International Journal of Multicultural Education

Call for Papers: “Technology for Equity and Social Justice in Education”

Guest Editors:

  • Sherry Marx, Utah State University
  • Yanghee Kim, Northern Illinois University

Please contact Dr. Sherry Marx (sherry.marx@usu.edu) and
Dr. Yanghee Kim (ykim9@niu.edu) for questions.

Theme Description

The use of technology in the classroom has become efficient, effective, and ubiquitous in recent years. Scholars in the areas of learning sciences, information technology, engineering education, science education, computer science, special education, and teacher education, among others, are harnessing technology to improve the educational experiences of diverse school children and those traditionally marginalized in particular subject areas. There is much potential for technology to enhance the social justice and equity goals of multicultural education around the world.

Technology has often been used to augment regular instruction for children needing additional help with learning. Culturally responsive computing (Scott, Sheridan, & Clark, 2015) is a popular topic that is presently influencing many technological application.For example, high tech applications such as virtual pedagogical agents (animated on-screen characters) have been designed to embody gender and racial diversity to better tutor girls and children of color in math and literacy. Mobile apps and e-textiles have been designed to incorporate key aspects of indigenous and minoritized cultures to better engage students who have been traditionally marginalized in the sciences. Similar technologies specifically aimed at girls, such as sewing and weaving with LED lights and circuits, are also gaining in popularity. With the goals of developing equitable participation and strong learner identities,humanoid robots have been developed to serve as cultural brokers between linguistically and culturally diverse kindergarteners (Kim, Marx, & Nguyen, 2017). In the field of special education, innovative technological advances have assisted students in not only learning subject matter, but also in communicating, improving mobility, and developing social relationships with others (Erdem, 2017).

Technology has been used to facilitate equitable pedagogy and communication across and between students who do not share a common language and to empower diverse school children to tell their own stories of educational and identity growth. Makers spaces have opened formal and informal opportunities for young children to engage with advanced and simple technology to develop expertise in science at an early age. As it is ever-advancing, the possibilities for technology to improve the educational experiences of diverse learners seem limitless.

This special issue highlights the power of technology to enhance both educational achievement and social justice for diverse learners including culturally and linguistically diverse students, refugees, those attending school in an additional language, those in need of special education services, as well as anyone traditionally marginalized in education. Articles will illustrate a variety of innovative ways that advanced and/or simple technology can enhance the equity and empowerment aims of multicultural education. International perspectives on this topic are encouraged, as are studies examining formal and informal educational settings. Authors are expected to incorporate up-to-date multicultural education literature to demonstrate the disciplinary context of their article.

Possible topics might include:

· Examination of a particular technology for enhancing educational experiences for diverse learners at any level (elementary, secondary, post-secondary, higher education, formal, informal, etc.)
· Examination of technology as a way to communicate across language groups with diverse students.
· Examination of technology that incorporates students’ cultural resources into learning activities.
· Examination of technology that purposefully takes into account gender, race, and/or other identity markers of learners.
· Development and evaluation of online environments to connect diverse communities of learners and teachers.
· Examination of technology that can enhance the intellectual, social, cultural development of those traditionally marginalized in educational systems such as girls, those with special needs, language learners, etc.
· Synthesis of literature that examines technology-based programs to enhance multicultural education.
· Critiques of technology programs not meeting their goals of empowerment.
· International examples of technology to enhance multicultural education.

References

Erdem, R. (2017). Students with special educational needs and assistive technologies: A literature review. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 16(1), 128-146.

Kim, Y., Marx, S., & Nguyen, T. (2017). Brokering collaborations among children for equity. The 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL): Philadelphia, PA. June 20-22, 2017.

Scott, K. A., Sheridan, K. M, & Clark, K. (2015). Culturally responsive computing: A theory revisited. Learning, Media, and Technology, 40(4), 412-436.

IJME Submission Guidelines

1. Register first with the IJME (www.ijme-journal.org) if you are not a registered user. Please make sure that you have checked the “author” option in your profile.
2. Follow the IJME submission guidelines available from the website. Use the article template when preparing your manuscript. Manuscripts not following the submission guidelines will not be reviewed.
3. Submit your manuscript directly to the website. In addition, submit the author confirmation note (the first page of the article template) as a separate supplementary document and complete the metadata of your manuscript, as instructed in the journal’s submission webpage, by June 1, 2018.
IJME Selection Process of Manuscripts

1. Manuscripts will be judged on their strength and relevance to the theme of the special issue and should be aligned with the mission of IJME.
2. Manuscripts should neither have been previously published in another journal, nor are under consideration by another journal at the time of submission.
3. Each manuscript will be prescreened by special issue editors for its general fitness to the special issue. Then prescreened manuscripts will be subjected to a double-blind review by a panel of reviewers with expertise in the area. Those manuscripts recommended by the panel of experts will then be considered for final acceptance.

Recommended Timeline

1. June 1, 2018: Submission Deadline
2. August 1, 2018: Revision Request Decision by Special Issue Editors
3. October 1, 2018: Author Revision Deadline
4. December 1, 2018: Final Acceptance Decision
5. February 28, 2019: Publication of the Special Issue

A Brief Introduction of IJME

IJME is a peer-reviewed open-access journal for scholars, practitioners, and students of multicultural education. The journal is committed to promoting educational equity for diverse students, cross-cultural understanding, and global justice for marginalized people in all levels of education, leadership, and policies. The journal is indexed in numerous international databases such as ESCI, Scopus, ERIC, and Ebscohost and is ranked in the top quartile of social science journals from the world by Scientific Journal Rankings (SJR). The journal has been accessed by readers from over 140 countries since 2015.

For further details, please visit the journal website at www.ijme-journal.org.

 

From my inbox: OLC is Seeking Chief Knowledge Officer

Are you seeking a collaborative working environment with knowledgeable and accomplished colleagues who share your commitment to the future of digital higher education? The Online Learning Consortium is seeking a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) to represent OLC and its mission to advance quality digital teaching and learning experiences for the modern learner.

As Chief Knowledge Officer for OLC, you’ll be at the forefront of the changing higher education landscape, working with the talented team that keeps the OLC community engaged with relevant and valued resources for driving the quality agenda. And you’ll enjoy doing it primarily from your home office, with opportunities to travel to our industry leading conferences and unique consulting engagements on the campuses of our member institutions and partners. As OLC’s CKO, you will provide a knowledgeable voice in representing OLC and its mission to the public.

Ideally, you’ll be an established thought leader in the field of digital learning, with a community of followers, experienced in talking with press and industry influencers about relevant issues, trends and research.

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Research Assistantship in Mathematics Education

Boise State University is pleased to announce a doctoral student research assistantship in the Curriculum and Instruction Ed.D. program starting in the fall of 2018. The position will support a newly-funded research project (VCAST) that involves developing video-based online learning modules for prospective secondary mathematics teachers. The application deadline is March 1, 2018. The position involves working with the VCAST project team for up to 20 hours a week during the two 16 week semesters. The position is renewable for three years, with the potential to fund for a fourth.

As a research assistant for the VCAST project you will have opportunities to:

  • work with faculty with diverse areas of expertise including: teacher education, mathematical knowledge for teaching, online learning environments;
  • conduct, present, and publish mathematics education research under the direction of mathematics educators;
  • acquire skills in data management, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and design-based research;
  • build knowledge about prospective teachers’ understanding of students’ ideas involving functional reasoning.

Benefits: The research assistant will receive a full tuition and fee waiver in fall and spring semesters, a stipend of approximately $20,000 for work in the fall and spring semesters, and student health insurance. In addition, shared office space and a laptop computer will be provided.

Read the position announcement for more information.

Call for Papers–“Re-Examining Cognitive Tools: New Developments, New Perspectives, and New Opportunities for Educational Technology Research”

The Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET) has just released a Call for Papers for a special issue to be published in early 2019, entitled “Re-Examining Cognitive Tools: New Developments, New Perspectives, and New Opportunities for Educational Technology Research”. The special issue seeks to rekindle and re-energise scholarly interest in, and dialogue around, the concept of educational technologies as cognitive tools for learning, with a particular focus on higher education and other post-secondary education contexts. A major goal is to encourage researchers and practitioners to take a fresh look at the concept and its possible applications in light of developments in not only technology, but also learning theory, pedagogy, instructional design, cognitive science, and psychology, that have taken place since the concept was first popularised in the early 1990s.

The guest editors of the special issue are Christopher Drew and Mark J. W. Lee.

While full manuscripts are not due until 1 August 2018, prospective authors are strongly encouraged to make initial contact with the guest editors well ahead of that date (ideally prior to June 2018), providing them with a brief proposal or abstract outlining the nature, content, and aims of the article they intend to submit.

The full Call for Papers is available at https://goo.gl/7mc7Uh .

Queries may be directed to ajet.cogtools@gmail.com . However, kindly note that manuscripts are *not* to be sent to this address (see the Call for Papers for submission instructions).