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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
Annotated Bibliography

Ertmer, P. A., Schlosser, S., Clase, K., & Adedokun, O. (2014). The grand challenge:
Helping teachers learn/teach cutting-edge science via a PBL approach.
Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based

Learning, 8(1). Available at:

http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1407

This high quality mixed-methods research study combined quantitative and

qualitative research to examine teachers understanding of content and confidence levels
for implementing a STEM-focused problem-based learning (PBL) unit in middle school
and high school science classrooms. The sample size was relatively small; however, this
is typical in most qualitative studies, and was limited to a rural area of the United States.
The research study results were triangulated among data sources and among four
different researchers. The authors note that the studys triangulation methods in addition
to the mixed methods research design increased the studys legitimacy (2014, p.9). The
sample size comprised twenty-one in-service and pre-service teachers participated in a
two-week summer workshop on the development of a STEM-focused PBL unit.
The teachers interacted with a group of higher education experts on the
conversion of common crops such as corn and/or soybeans into bio-fuel. They used the

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
knowledge gained from these focused studies to collaborate and develop PBL units on
bio-fuel for their middle, or high school science classrooms.
Teachers gained knowledge on the topic of energy in the form of bio-fuels, and
were able to successfully develop PBL units to do with their students in the upcoming
school year. The research article mentioned that the results of the mixed-method study
would have benefitted

from the researchers studying the implementation of the PBL

units. Ertmer, Schlosser, Clase, & Adedokun (2014) concluded that the shortage of
highly-qualified STEM educators is a problem that needs to sorted out through increased
collaborations with experts in the STEM fields, personalized technology training for
teachers, and more extensive study on the implementation of PBL experiences in our
classrooms (p. 17).

Grant, M. (2011). Learning, beliefs, and products: Students' perspectives with projectbased

learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 5(2).

Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1254

This article was a small-scale qualitative research study on students perspectives

of project-based learning that involved five carefully selected eighth-grade students from
a private day school. Five themes were apparent in the research results: internal
influences, external influences, project beliefs, technology-rich tools, and the learning

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
results. This qualitative studys limitations were its small sample size of only five
students, as well as its focus on only private school students. Future recommendations for
studies must take into account public schools students and conduct research on larger
sample sizes. This research article was valuable for in-depth understanding of student
attitudes towards PBL in ways that earlier studies had not missed by focusing on PBL
from the viewpoint of theory, design, and implementation. The scope of the research
article was unable to explain the connection between the five factors that influence PBL
for students. The inexperience of the students with PBL may have caused their teachers
to limit their options on the projects, and as a result, directly contributed to the lack of
passion about the subject matter (Grant, 2001, p. 65). Therefore, I am motivated to
conclude that when students are able to have full control over their learning process with
the guidance of their teacher in the role of the facilitator, academic outcomes are much
better. This study was of moderate quality, in my opinion due to its tiny sample size, and
sole focus on private school tech-based PBL.

Ivanov, S., & Leer, R. (2013). Rethinking the future of learning: the possibilities and
limitations of technology in education in the 21st century. International Journal
of Organizational Innovation, 5(4), 14-20.

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
This peer-reviewed article offered a concise summary of recurrent themes of
educational reform in the United States of America. Ivanov and Leer (2013) discussed
the applicability and limitations of technology integration within learning environments
to foster a student-centric and cost-effective reformation of outdated educational
practices. Ivanov and Leer (2013) note that rapid advancements in technology and
globalization require a transition of our current educational practices to reflect
personalized learning opportunities for students instead of the standardization that is
required currently (p. 15).
While the article focuses on the need for education reformation within the United
States of America, it is applicable to any educational system that is lagging behind in
embracing the full measure of 21st century learning and global connection possible
through the purposeful use of technology within the educational environment. The
discussion of the future possibilities that technology could bring to the areas of green
learning by reducing carbon footprints to the emergence of virtual reality, brings
thought-provoking and time-sensitive weight to the need for measured technology
integration in the education field (p. 17).
I found this article helpful in its futuristic discussion of the necessity and
limitations of integrating technology in learning environments; however, I feel that it was
lacking in the amount and depth of its research in comparison to other peer-reviewed
articles on the same topic. Its reference list is sparse compared to other peer-reviewed

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
articles that I have located during my research on technology integration and
project-based learning. Therefore, while this article was intriguing in its overview of the
future possibilities and limitations of technology in education, I recommend researchers
supplement this well-written, albeit sparsely researched, peer-reviewed article with more
extensively researched peer-reviewed publications from well-known practitioners and
researchers that are directly involved in the reformation of current educational practices.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix. Harvard
Educational Review, 84(1), 74-84.

This theoretical article and literature review is a continuation of the ideas

presented in Paris Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. Ladson-Billings offers her reflection
on the progress of culturally responsive pedagogy and agrees with Paris in that the
terminology needs revision (i.e. remixing). She states that teachers need to value our
students individuality, especially in the urban classroom environment and encourage our
mainstream students to examine the privileges in their own life experiences. It is no
longer about being responsive to culture. It is now about sustaining culture, and not
placing one culture above the others in order force to assimilate to the majority as
previous generations had grievously erred.

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
As the U.S. increases her overall diversity with the influx of immigrants, the
education field must step up to the task of teaching the future generations how to embrace
a globally connected population. The 21st century learner does not place one culture
above another, nor do they place one language above another, as mentioned in the other
theoretical articles/literature reviews annotated herein by Paris (2012) and Palmer (2013).
Ladson-Billings offered a glimpse of the future of engaging in culturally sustaining
pedagogy that will teach the unique person and not their assigned label. The combination
of culturally responsive pedagogy with tech-based project-based learning is a critical part
of the reformation of the educational system in the United States.

Liu, M., Wivagg, J., Geurtz, R., Lee, S., & Chang, H. M. (2012). Examining how
middle school science teachers implement a multimedia-enriched problem-based
learning environment. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 6(2).
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1348

Liu, Wivagg, Geurtz, Lee, & Changs (2012) qualitative study explored how ten
middle school teachers implemented a media-rich project-based learning (PBL)
experience in their classrooms. Unlike previous research studies on PBL in the
classroom, this case study focused on the implementation, motivations, and teachers
most important tech-tools in the teaching of PBL in the classroom (p. 46). The analysis

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
involved four factors regarding curriculum needs, adequate campus support, pedagogical
beliefs, new instructional methods & higher order thinking skills, and lastly, student
engagement and learning needs. Implementation techniques addressed three aspects:
student role, teacher role, and classroom interactions to demonstrate the variability of the
implementation process between teachers to address students unique learning needs.
They cite a few reasons for the lack of implementation of PBL in K-12 classrooms such
as the constraints of standardized state and/or federal curriculums and the expectation
they will produce a uniform product (Liu, Wivagg, et al., 2012, p. 48). The chosen PBL
unit involving a science-fiction aliens-among-us storyline to fully engage students in
the role of determining the most suitable new home planets for the homeless aliens
(Liu, Wivagg, et al., 2012, p. 51). Students simulated the work of scientists, and made
significant strides in content area learning standards.
I found this research study to be a high quality source due to its extensive
background research and large sample size compared to other articles on tech-based PBL
in education. Only ten teachers were involved in the study feedback; however, one
thousand students participated in the PBL experience, and thus, in my opinion, this study
readily demonstrates the successful combination of technology integration and
project-based learning as an excellent way to deliver content knowledge to students.

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
Palmer, D., & Martinez, R. A. (2013). Teacher agency in bilingual spaces: A fresh look at
preparing teachers to educate latina/o bilingual children. Review of Research in
Education, 37(1), 269-297.

This extensive peer-reviewed literature review draws from various theoretical and
research-based scholarly articles and examines the ways that teachers can utilize their
free agency in their classrooms with their students to create learning spaces that embrace
and cultivate the unique identities that are present in their schools. The article follows a
similar argument as Paris (2012) and Ladson-Billings (2014) in that it also discusses the
need for culturally sustaining pedagogy. This article narrows the focus on Latino/a
bilingual students, which comprise the vast majority of our bilingual student population
in schools. This journal article provided an accurate glimpse of the currently best
teaching practices for educating the growing Latino/a ELL students, paying special
attention to the unique needs of our bilingual students, and how to utilize their
multicultural experiences for greater opportunities for learning in our classrooms. This
literature review is an excellent resource for applying the official recommendations for
21st century learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and project-based learning to meet
the unique needs of the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. Therefore, I
recommend this literature review as a high quality resource for specifically addressing the
needs of the Latino student population.

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance,

terminology, & practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97.

This article refers back to Paris previously successful academic discourse on

culturally responsive pedagogy, and Paris improves his prior ideas to reflect todays
cultural climate. The avoidance of monolingual and mono-cultural viewpoints is a crucial
part of ensuring the success of todays students. As our students progress into a more
globally connected world, the notion that English is the lingua franca, or that Caucasian
is the race du jour is seriously flawed and destined to fail as our students receive
educations that cultivate their unique identities and backgrounds. The multiethnic and
multilingual future is destined to come whether todays teachers are ready or not. I
appreciate this articles discourse on the best practices for addressing todays unique
students.
With the heavy emphasis on globalization and diversity within our classrooms
through 21st century learning ideals, this theoretical article by Paris (2012) aptly puts into
words the progressive ideology that so many of our stakeholders have regarding
reformation of the educational process. In combination with targeted technology
integration and project-based learning, a strong focus on culturally responsive pedagogy

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
is one of the keys to improving the caliber of education in the United States of America
to catch up with the rest of the top nations in the world.

Ravitz, J. , & Blazevski, J. (2014). Assessing the role of online technologies in Projectbased Learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, 8(1).
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1410

This single wave survey study examined the links between online resources and
readiness, difficulties in implementation, and time devoted to project-based learning
(PBL) or similar approaches in high school academic courses. The authors compared
reform and non-reform high school teachers self-reports encompassing the variables
mentioned above. Results indicated that non-reform schools in the study were not
utilizing technology for PBL in any significant manner while reform high schools were
making strides in utilizing technology and PBL to meet 21st century learning needs.
Similar to results from other tech-based PBL research studies, administrative support and
professional development opportunities played a significant role in the application of
PBL along with using technology as a tool for learning (Ravitz & Blazevski, 2014, p. 74).
Non-reform high schools utilized online features, but did not specifically engage in PBL
with their students in the manner defined by the study. One major limitation of this
research study was the fact that it was a single wave survey, and as such, offered only a

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
snapshot in time (Ravitz & Blazevski, 2014, p. 74). Though the data collected was
from a wide variety of schools, the data was collected in 2007 before the avalanche of
many useful technology tools such as Edmodo and Twitter in the classrooms (2014,
p.74). It was unclear why there was long gap between the data collection date and the
subsequent publication date of the research study. Due to the above limitations, I found
this article only somewhat useful as a glimpse of the possible reasons non-reform schools
fall behind reform network schools in the use of technology for PBL. Fortunately, other
current research studies confirm this studys findings, and therefore, I chose to include it
in my research after all.

Walker, A., Recker, M., Robertshaw, M., Osen, J., Leary, H., Ye, L., & Sellers, L.
(2011).
Integrating technology and problem-based learning: A mixed methods

study

of two teacher professional development designs. Interdisciplinary Journal

of Problem-based Learning, 5(2).
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1255

This was a mixed methods impact study of two different professional

development meetings that were designed to aid teachers in locating high-quality learning
resources on the Internet and guide them in designing successful problem-based learning

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
(PBL) experiences for their classrooms. Teachers learned PBL design skills alongside
technology skills in the first meeting (Walker, Recker, et al., 2011, p.77). Feedback from
the first meeting informed the design of the next meeting. The second meeting divided
technology skills from the PBL designing skills. The study results indicated that both of
the professional development meetings garnered significant gains in the teachers
understanding, confidence, and comfort with technology integration (Walker, Recker, et
al., 2011, p. 83). Instructional Architect (web-based PBL tool) usage for some
participants lasted up to six months after the professional development indicating
long-term usage (p. 88).
Due to the scarcity of long-term PBL studies, it is difficult to ascertain the impact
of this result; however, I would posit that this is an indication that the professional
developments on tech-based PBL design were successful. This article was very useful for
my research on tech-based PBL because it provided an in-depth mixed method study on
the importance of high quality professional developments for teachers on the proper
technology tool usage and the fundamentals of PBL.

Wirkala, C., & Kuhn, D. (2011). Problem-based learning in K-12 education: Is it

effective and how does it achieve its effects? American Educational Research
Journal, 48(5), 1157-1186.

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Meghan J. Lee
ITEC 7470 / W02
Dr. Brantley-Dias
Fall Semester 2014
This peer-reviewed research article from the American Educational Research
Journal explored K-12 problem-based learning in a carefully controlled experimental
study of a middle school student population to determine the effectiveness of PBL and
explore how it achieves its results. A comparison was made of students learning using
the same material under three different learning situations: lecture/discussion,
characteristic small-group PBL, and solo PBL. Comprehension tests weeks after
instruction showed greater depth of comprehension in both PBL learning situations with
equal performance in the two PBL conditions, which demonstrated that the social part of
PBL is not a strict requirement for success in learning (Wirkala & Kuhn, 2011, p. 1182).
The short, targeted research study avoided the common pitfalls of longer studies by
minimizing the issue of confounding variables (Wirkala & Kuhn, 2011, p. 1181). The
study also made use of extensive background research before the application of the
research and reflects a high-caliber of trustworthiness in data collection. The crossed
design of the research gathering reduced the likelihood of experimenter bias, also.
Though it is a few years older than some of the more recent research studies conducted
by other scholars included herein, the quality of this study is excellent.