Papers by Ioan Gelu Ionas
Journal of vocational education & training, Dec 1, 2008
The advent of the global information society and a myriad of other rapidly changing variables are... more The advent of the global information society and a myriad of other rapidly changing variables are presenting many new and unique challenges for the twenty‐first century workforce, and perhaps the most pressing of these challenges is actually meeting the needs for qualified workers ...
2009 Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, Sep 3, 2020
and Technology. He received his Ph.D. degree in Information Science and Learning Technologies in ... more and Technology. He received his Ph.D. degree in Information Science and Learning Technologies in 2007 from University of Missouri-Columbia. He also holds a BS and a Ph.D. from the University of Sibiu, Romania with a specialization in manufacturing technologies and respectively cutting-tools design. His research interests include Design-Based Research in technology-enabled learning contexts, technology-mediated problem solving, applications of dynamic modeling for learning of complex topics, and the impact of epistemic beliefs on learning with technology. Ioan Gelu Ionas, University of Missouri Columbia Dr. Ioan Gelu Ionas began teaching in a Romanian university more than 15 years ago with a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering. Since then he earned an M.B.A. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a Ph.D. in management from a Romanian university. While teaching in Romania he became interested in using technology in teaching and joined the doctoral program in Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he is currently a doctoral candidate. His research interests focus on the research and development of tools and methodologies to support causal reasoning and learning.
The International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2012
This exploratory study presents the outcomes of using self-explanation to improve learners' perfo... more This exploratory study presents the outcomes of using self-explanation to improve learners' performance in solving basic chemistry problems. The results of the randomized experiment show the existence of a moderation effect between prior knowledge and the level of support selfexplanation provides to learners, suggestive of a synergistic effect for learning. The results also suggest the existence of a threshold level of prior knowledge necessary for self-explanation-based cognitive strategies to become effective. As validation, this study also confirms prior findings that show that, given the right settings, learners can benefit significantly from using self-explanation while solving problems.
International Conference on Computers in Education, May 14, 2005
Abstract Problem solving not only plays a central role in education [19] but is also the most imp... more Abstract Problem solving not only plays a central role in education [19] but is also the most important cognitive process in our everyday life. The authors of this paper argue that problem solving must be embedded in authentic learning contexts and supported by ...
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Nov 1, 2006
International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2016
With recent push for teacher accountability in education systems, there has been a clear need to ... more With recent push for teacher accountability in education systems, there has been a clear need to develop effective professional development tools to assist teachers in meeting these standards. Here, we discuss the design and development of a technological tool called EdHub, which seeks to create a strategic knowledge sharing community in order to effectively promote growth and improvement in teachers' pedagogical skills. EdHub helps users with identified practice needs connect with others of similar needs, access materials to support knowledge acquisition, get feedback from supervisors on selfreflection efforts, and ultimately contribute strategies to curated repositories of resources. This was done utilising a closed, nested social network with affordances for communication with experts, supervisors, and other learners seeking similar knowledge to improve practice. In this paper, we discuss the theoretical background, design principles, technologies utilised, developed tools, and considerations for similar design and development efforts.
Volume 1: Plant Operations, Maintenance, Installations and Life Cycle; Component Reliability and Materials Issues; Advanced Applications of Nuclear Technology; Codes, Standards, Licensing and Regulatory Issues, 2008
The U.S. Department of Labor awarded a $2.3 million grant to the University of Missouri-Columbia ... more The U.S. Department of Labor awarded a $2.3 million grant to the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) in 2006 in response to the need for well-trained Radiation Protection Technicians (RPTs). The RPT curriculum initiative resulted from significant collaborations facilitated by MU with community colleges, nuclear power plants, professional organizations, and other nuclear industry stakeholders. The objective of the DOL project is to help increase the pool of well-qualified RPTs to enter the nuclear workforce. Our work is designed to address the nuclear industry’s well-documented, increasingly significant need for RPTs. In response to this need, MU and AmerenUE’s Callaway Nuclear Power Plant first partnered with Linn State Technical College’s Advanced Technology Center (LSTC/ATC) to initiate a two-year RPT degree program. The success of this program (enrollments have been increasing over the past four years to a Fall 2007 enrollment of 23) enabled the successful proposal to the DOL to expand this program nationwide. DOL participants include the following partners: Linn State Technical College with AmerenUE – Callaway; Central Virginia Community College with AREVA; Estrella Mountain Community College with Arizona Public Service – Palo Verde; MiraCosta Community College with Southern California Edison – San Onofre; and Hill College with Texas Utilities – Comanche Peak. The new DOL grant has allowed redevelopment of the LSTC/ATC curriculum using a web-based, scenario driven format, benchmarked against industry training standards. This curriculum will be disseminated to all partners. Integral in this curriculum is a paid, three to four month internship at a nuclear facility. Two of the six new RPT courses have been developed as of the end of 2007. Four of five partner schools are accepting students into this new program starting in the winter 2008 term. We expect that these institutions will graduate 100 new RPTs per year to help alleviate the personnel shortage in this critical area of need.
International journal of designs for learning, Sep 28, 2012
In the design case presented, an online component was designed for an existing introductory energ... more In the design case presented, an online component was designed for an existing introductory energy course targeted at providing pathways to employment in the utility industry. The online component included testing modules, scenario based assessments, and reading materials. The existing pencil and paper course was now to be an instructor-led, blended-learning course. While technologies have advanced in recent years, the question of how to blend computer technology with sound instructional design practices is very much alive and may be even more important when targeting content portability. This paper explores the challenges faced when attempting to use open-source applications in the design, development, and deployment of the online component of this course when primary objectives are outreach, access, portability of content, and ease of future updates. Ioan Gelu Ionas is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri. He received his Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He also holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, an MBA degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia as well as a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Sibiu, Romania. Gelu has taught for more than 10 years in engineering, business and education. His research interests focus on instructional design, causal reasoning and understanding, online learning, and cross-disciplinary research at the confluence of learning, cognition and technology. Matthew Easter is an associate research professor at the University of Missouri. He recently earned his doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Missouri. His research includes investigating how conceptual change theories relate to cognitive theories of motivation. He also assists in the development and study of online learning environments in the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri.
He received his Ph.D. in information science and learning technologies from the University of Mis... more He received his Ph.D. in information science and learning technologies from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He also holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering, an M.B.A. degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a Ph.D. in management from the University of Sibiu, Romania. Ionas has taught for more than 10 years in engineering, business, and education and co-authored several books and book chapters. His research interests focus on causal reasoning and understanding, online learning, and cross-disciplinary research at the confluence of learning, cognition, and technology.
Trends and issues in instructional design and …, 2007
A portion of the previous chapter briefly described how constmctivism has influenced the instructio... more A portion of the previous chapter briefly described how constmctivism has influenced the instructional design field. In this chapter, David Jonassen, Dan Cernusca, and Gelu Ionas discuss this issue in more detail, focusing on how constnictivism has affected the nature of ...
International Journal of Designs for Learning, 2012
In the design case presented, an online component was designed for an existing introductory energ... more In the design case presented, an online component was designed for an existing introductory energy course targeted at providing pathways to employment in the utility industry. The online component included testing modules, scenario based assessments, and reading materials. The existing pencil and paper course was now to be an instructor-led, blended-learning course. While technologies have advanced in recent years, the question of how to blend computer technology with sound instructional design practices is very much alive and may be even more important when targeting content portability. This paper explores the challenges faced when attempting to use open-source applications in the design, development, and deployment of the online component of this course when primary objectives are outreach, access, portability of content, and ease of future updates.
This exploratory study presents the outcomes of using self-explanation to improve learners’ perfo... more This exploratory study presents the outcomes of using self-explanation to improve learners’ performance in solving basic chemistry problems. The results of the randomized experiment show the existence of a moderation effect between prior knowledge and the level of support self-explanation provides to learners, suggestive of a synergistic effect for learning. The results also suggest the existence of a threshold level of prior knowledge necessary for self-explanation-based cognitive strategies to become effective. As validation, this study also confirms prior findings that show that, given the right settings, learners can benefit significantly from using self-explanation while solving problems. Although you may not have experienced it yourself, it is likely that you have heard colleagues voicing their concerns about difficulties they have teaching key theoretical concepts to students in a way that makes these concepts “stick. ” This lack of understanding significantly impairs student...
New students in engineering and science typically face difficulties in adapting their learning st... more New students in engineering and science typically face difficulties in adapting their learning strategies to the requirements and challenges of college education. One of the major factors that challenges students engaged in this transition is their ability to build and successfully use deepreasoning skills. To address this challenges instructors need to employ instructional strategies that shift students’ focus from memorization of procedures and equations toward the integrative use of prior and new knowledge introduced in the classroom. In this paper, self-explanation was proposed as the core element of such instructional strategies because it relies on the explanation a learner generates on his or her own as opposed to the explanations provided by an external source such as an instructor or a book. The primary goal of this study was to explore to what degree the use of self-explanation strategies improve students’ performance on basic chemistry problems. Because self-explanation i...
Problem solving not only plays a central role in education [19] but is also the most important co... more Problem solving not only plays a central role in education [19] but is also the most important cognitive process in our everyday life. The authors of this paper argue that problem solving must be embedded in authentic learning contexts and supported by activities that seek to enable problem solvers to externalize their mental model in the most meaningful and engaging manner that will eventually lead them to the construction of a more sophisticated conceptual framework. One such way is through system dynamics modeling activities. To provide a sound argument for the use of system dynamics models in learning, we present three models that support thinking in problem solving.
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, 2006
The ongoing worldwide pandemic has forced educational establishments to accelerate full-scale ado... more The ongoing worldwide pandemic has forced educational establishments to accelerate full-scale adoption of online learning at an accelerated pace, while the development of tools appropriate for remote instruction assessment is yet to catch up. Most of the time traditional assessment methods are still employed, but they are not always optimal for use in online environments; better tools are needed to help gain deeper insights into how students think and learn. graphed is a web application developed to support the assessment of learners’ understanding and knowledge acquisition and, simultaneously, provide researchers with data that can help in the development of dedicated processes for the automatic evaluation and comparison of concept maps. Our goal is to take a more practical approach by studying the capabilities offered by existing software, libraries, and computational avenues to advance the use of concept maps as assessment tools. Preliminary findings suggest that the concept mapp...
This exploratory study presents the outcomes of using self-explanation to improve learners’ perfo... more This exploratory study presents the outcomes of using self-explanation to improve learners’ performance in solving basic chemistry problems. The results of the randomized experiment show the existence of a moderation effect between prior knowledge and the level of support selfexplanation provides to learners, suggestive of a synergistic effect for learning. The results also suggest the existence of a threshold level of prior knowledge necessary for self-explanation-based cognitive strategies to become effective. As validation, this study also confirms prior findings that show that, given the right settings, learners can benefit significantly from using self-explanation while solving problems.
2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, 2012
He received his Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Mis... more He received his Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He also holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, an MBA degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia as well as a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Sibiu, Romania. Gelu has taught for more than 10 years in engineering, business and education and co-authored several books and book chapters. His research interests focus on causal reasoning and understanding, online learning, and cross disciplinary research at the confluence of learning, cognition and technology.
Uploads
Papers by Ioan Gelu Ionas