This study is addressing course design as an important process within the area of language curriculum development. The importance of course design lies in its being as the preparatory stage that contributes to shaping and guiding the subsequent stages of the whole process of course development-implementation and evaluation. The study aims at understanding the role of teachers at a tertiary context in Oman in designing the courses they teach based on their perspectives. It also aims at understanding how students conceptualize and evaluate theses courses. In addition, it aims at exploring what issues and factors have the greatest impact on course design and in what way from the teachers and students’ perspectives as course developers and course receivers, respectively. Based on its purpose, the study is conceived within the paradigm of interpretivism employing its epistemology and philosophy as an underpinning stance. On the basis of the participants’ perspectives and experiences, the qualitative approach has been chosen for determining the strategy and methods of sampling, and data collection and data analysis. In order to gain thick descriptions and information about the investigated phenomenon, the researcher used the method of semi-structured interviews with the teacher sample and focus group discussion with the student sample. In addition, the method of document analysis was also used as a supplementary tool for the teacher sample as it is concerned with the mechanism of course design. Findings of the study were categorized according to the five research questions of the study and the two types of data (teachers and students’ data). Interpretations of teachers’ data revealed that they conceptualize course design as a matter of prioritizing the key element- that is mainly students’ needs- that contributes to shaping and guiding the other components of a course. The students’ data, on the other hand, revealed a variety of perspectives involving their evaluation of single aspects of course design, particularly materials development and selection of the content of a course, with their major concern about course implementation. Among the major findings of this study is the identification of challenges confronted by teachers and students that were described in terms of problems impacting negatively the process of designing courses by teachers and the process of learning by students. Based on the findings of data analysis, the study offers a number of implications and suggestions that are of value for teachers who are involved in the process of course design and the institution where the study takes place. Teachers must have an active role in course design due to their direct contact with the learning situation. Teachers’ involvement in course design is considered as a major factor behind the stage of course implementation. For this, teachers need to be aware of the relationship between course design and its implementation and how they affect each other. Doubtlessly, teachers can play an active role in course design, yet the institution must provide external support such as professional development programs and establishing a professional curriculum committee in order to ensure the effectiveness of curriculum development.

Today‘s college students, who are often referred to as ―Millennials‖, are entering college with different expectations for learning than students born before 1982 (Howe & Strauss, 2000). They expect to be able to access information instantly with their smart phones or laptop computers. At the same time, increasing numbers of students entering higher education have a disability of some kind. Some of these are observable disabilities that require specific accommodations to learning materials and the learning environment, such as ramps for students using wheelchairs and interpreters for students with hearing impairment. Students with learning disabilities represent a kind of ―invisible‖ disability in that their challenges may not be readily observable by faculty members, but must be accommodated through changes to curriculum materials and instructional approaches. One of the greatest challenges to meeting the needs of all students is the perception of negative faculty attitudes toward students with disabilities, and the subsequent choice made by many students not to disclose a hidden disability (Getzel & Wehman, 2005; Madaus, Scott, & McGuire, 2003; National Center for the Study of Postsecondary Educational Supports (NCSPES), 2000). Within the last 10 years, a new way of designing learning for K-12 students has emerged to address the needs of all the learners in the classroom. This framework for design is called Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2002). More recently, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has begun to be introduced to faculty in higher education as a framework for course design that meets the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. This mixed methods study explored the promise of the UDL at a small New England research university where a faculty professional development model was implemented to enhance the use of UDL practices among faculty members. A baseline study of faculty attitudes was conducted in the fall of 2010. One hundred ninety-two faculty members responded to the survey, yielding a 30% return. In addition, four faculty who had participated in the UDL grant consultation team model and who taught classes of 65 students or more were interviewed for the purpose of gathering information on their perceptions of the effectiveness of the model. Results of the volunteer faculty survey revealed positive attitudes from the majority of respondents, with at least 60% indicating that they ―strongly agreed‖ with four of the five questions related to the provision of learning accommodations for students with disabilities. In contrast, less than 30% of respondents indicated they ―strongly agreed‖ with statements demonstrating their general knowledge of disabilities and/or knowledge of disability policy and law. Four main themes emerged from the data analysis of the faculty interviews. These themes addressed faculty members‘ descriptions of general course modifications made as a result of the UDL consultation team work, description of their course, reflections about the UDL consultation team model, and the processes through which faculty members chose to refer themselves for course design assistance from the UDL consultation team. Overall, results of the study suggest promising practices for professional development designed to increase use of UDL approaches in higher education. Further research is needed to determine the transferability of this model among a larger range of faculty and higher education institutions.

This thesis aims to examine students&rsquo / attitudes towards brain-based applications in the English Composition II course. For this purpose, a case study was carried out with a group of 23 first year students at the Department of Foreign Language Education at Middle East Technical University in the second half of the 2002-2003 academic year. After receiving writing training with a brain-based methodology for ten weeks, the students were given an attitude questionnaire which aimed at identifying their attitudes towards brain-based applications in the course. One week later, the iv researcher also conducted interviews with 10 of the 23 students separately to investigate students&rsquo / attitudes towards brain-based applications in the course further. The analysis of the data collected through the attitude questionnaire indicated that 93 % of the students showed significant positive attitudes towards the brain-based applications, while only 1 % of the students had negative attitudes towards the brain-based applications. The analysis of the results of the interviews also revealed that all students had positive feelings about the brain-based applications. Accordingly, the results indicated taking this composition course resulted in highly positive feelings such as confidence, relaxation, or being valued in the students. All students found writing meaningful and relevant to themselves. They stated to have acquired various skills during the course such as writing skills, computer skills, teaching skills, emotional intelligence, and an awareness of needs. They found these useful and meaningful for their lives in general, as students, and as teachers as part of their future profession.

Literature suggests that the original and "pure" elements of cross country course design have faded through time; in order to wholly enhance course design the original elements must be preserved and united with desired modern course elements. "Pure" sport is defined by an athlete's struggle and persistence that occur amidst tough competition, rugged course elements, and physical pain. In addition to identifying the desired elements through literature review, case studies, and self-experience of cross country course design, it was necessary to confirm the desired elements through interviewing eight key informants. The key informants were renowned and accomplished NCAA cross country coaches selected to represent a wide geographic. These eight informants were interviewed to unveil which elements of cross country courses were desired, important, essential, would advance design, and are underutilized and present in their favored courses. The results from the interviews confirmed a deep desire for enhanced course design by unionizing the elements present in the "pure" sport of cross country with contemporary desired elements. The new "pure" sport of cross country can be obtained through the utilization of the elements revealed within this thesis. Designing courses that will provide unchanged emotions from the "pure" sport of cross country, yet do not incorporate excessively rough course elements, will be the new "pure" sport of cross country. Overall, the results show designing for the athlete, which includes safety, well defined routing and proper carrying capacity, an accomplished sense of place, advanced technologies and facilities, sport appropriate and safe footing and reasonable terrain, and spectator engagement, would considerably improve design. In order to preserve the "pure" sport of cross country while also integrating modern desired and necessary elements, course designers must use pioneering design methods in order to incorporate all of the desired elements. The main objective of this research was accomplished and has established a foundation upon which subsequent research efforts may begin. This work serves as a catalyst to improving cross country course design by attaining the knowledge of proper, intensified, and innovative design.

No description available.

The main purpose of the study was to design, develop, deliver and evaluate a new distance web design course for the needs of students in a vocational higher education institution. Proactive action research was used as a framework during the research process. This research focused on the analysis of the existing face-to-face course to mitigate its problems in the new design. Then, accomplishments and insufficiencies of the new design in the new context were investigated. For this study, data were collected in two different semesters, in a vocational higher education institution. In the first semester, an existing course was investigated to see the problems and the needs. The results revealed that there were problems associated with &ldquo / motivational&rdquo / , &ldquo / interactional&rdquo / , &ldquo / instructional activities&rdquo / , &ldquo / support materials&rdquo / , &ldquo / up-to-date content&rdquo / , &ldquo / technologic&rdquo / , and &ldquo / non-technologic&rdquo / aspects of the existing course. Before the delivery of the new distance course in the second semester, it was completely redesigned with the new characteristics to mitigate some of the predetermined problems of the existing course. In this new structure, an instructor from Ankara gave the course via smart class to this vocational institution located in another city. In the second semester, data were collected to understand what the accomplishments of the new course, and what aspects of the new course needed to be modified. To triangulate qualitative findings, two questionnaire were conducted to see the students&rsquo / attitude towards web-based instruction and students&rsquo / perceptions about learning environment. With the findings of these data collection procedures, the accomplishments of the new design can be categorized in five main headings. These are &ldquo / working with an experienced instructor&rdquo / , &ldquo / extended learning opportunities&rdquo / , &ldquo / increased future expectations of students&rdquo / , &ldquo / fulfilled software requirements&rdquo / , and &ldquo / applicability of a distance vocational course&rdquo / . On the other hand, in the new structure of the course, new problems emerged such as &ldquo / course delivery problems&rdquo / and &ldquo / students&rsquo / readiness&rdquo / , because technology use in education sometimes comes with its unique problems including the solutions. Those accomplishments and insufficiencies points of the new design would be helpful in the new distance course design projects.

Virtual physical education (VPE) offerings have grown for over a decade in the United States, but there has been little empirical knowledge shared, specifically regarding the design of courses to support and validate these expanding programs (Buschner, 2006; Mohnsen, 2012a; b; Mosier, 2012; Mosier & Lynn, 2012). Most VPE research has been conducted at the Florida Vir- tual School (FLVS), but few studies have been completed regarding VPE in Georgia (Watson Pape, Murin, Gemin, & Vashaw, 2014). Due to the lack of research along with the growth in VPE (Daum, 2014; Mosier, 2012; Watson et al., 2014), the purpose of this study was to perform an initial, descriptive examination of a district virtual personal fitness course in Georgia and determine the degree to which its design aligns with the criteria established by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Initial Guidelines for Online Physical Education (PE) (2007). This study aimed to answer the following overarching research question: To what degree does the design of the virtual personal fitness course align with the NASPE Initial Guide- lines for Online PE? A thorough document analysis of the course website and student activity tracking data along with semi-structured interviews and electronic virtual personal fitness student and teacher anonymous survey questionnaires provide a detailed description of the course and illustrate the degree to which its design aligns with the 10 guidelines. Triangulated results of this study indicate superficial strong alignment with eight of the 10 guidelines, and moderate alignment with two of the 10 guidelines, but more evidence is needed to confirm alignment in practice. The researcher concludes that revisions to the guidelines are necessary to better capture evidence of alignment to further promote quality, optimal student learning and best practice in single district virtual personal fitness environments. The results of this study contribute to the over- all knowledge base of single district virtual personal fitness programs and set the stage for future research endeavors to investigate this phenomena and add to the literature in this area.

This thesis is an exploration of the role of a new course design method in the teaching practice of faculty at Brigham Young University (BYU). This method, used by teaching and learning consultants at BYU, is termed authentic purposeful design. It encourages faculty to succinctly define what their course will help students become, use principles of backward design to align all course elements to that purpose, and teach the course with its core purpose in mind. The course design and teaching methods of 3 faculty members who used authentic purposeful design were studied using a qualitative research approach. Themes emerged regarding various values and forces involved as teachers strive for excellence, as well as the roles and dynamics that authentic purposeful design can have in relation to those efforts. The study also revealed ways that the formulation and use of authentic purposeful design could be altered for greater utility by consultants at BYU and other institutions of higher education.

Online or web-based courses have become prolific in our educational environment over the past several years. The development of these courses can be guided by systematic design models to ensure quality instructional design. Transactional distance, the theory that claims the distance an online student feels is more of a pedagogical distance than a geographic one, consists of three factors: structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy. Accurate measurement of these three factors is needed in order to substantiate its claims and to best determine the delivery implications. This study produced an instrument that measures the structure component of the transactional distance theory as it pertains to the online environment. A total of 20 online courses were evaluated using the Structure Component Evaluation Tool (SCET). Experts in the field validated the instrument and reliability was determined by calculating Cronbachs alpha as well as examining inter-rater reliability. The SCET also excelled in a comparison to other instruments in the field in terms of its ability to produce rich, valid information about the structure of online courses.

This study explored the design of learner-learner activities including types of pedagogy and media in online courses and graduate students’ perceptions of social interaction, cognitive learning and overall satisfaction. Data collection and analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods following a Sequential Explanatory Model. Data instruments include a modified version of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey version 14b (Swan, Shea, Richardson, Ice, Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, & Arbaugh, 2008), a Rubric for Assessing Interactive Qualities of Distance Learning Courses (Roblyer, 2004), and a semi-structured interview protocol. A total of 106 graduate students participated in the survey. Twelve of the participants were also interviewed. Six online courses were reviewed and the six instructors who taught them as well as the 12 interviewees who took the courses were asked to complete the Roblyer’s (2004) Rubric. Data was collected and analyzed across 4 phases. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software to compute descriptive statistics to include frequencies Pearson Correlation and Regression analysis. Qualitative data was analyzed through a process of open then thematic coding. Some qualitative data were quantitized. Results from each data set were triangulated in the final phase of data analysis. Frequency results from the survey indicated that less than half of the participants experienced Group Work and Synchronous Class Seminars in online courses and that asynchronous interactions through discussion were more common when compared to synchronous interactions. Graduate students who experienced opportunities for learner-learner interaction found them to be useful and of value in providing them with a broader perspective on the issues covered. Online courses include a variety of activity types that support learner-learner activities and these activities were spread across programs and courses. Results of Pearson correlation showed positive associations between cognitive (r=.687), social (r=.602) and teaching (r=.562) presence and satisfaction. Regression analysis indicated that facilitation (teaching presence), affective expression and group cohesion (social presence) and resolution (cognitive presence) were strong predictors of satisfaction. Overall, cognitive presence (R2.537) explained the most variance and was the strongest predictor of satisfaction. Qualitative data results reflect an appreciation for learner-learner interaction. Graduate students reported value gained from having the opportunity to view or listen to the perspectives and experiences of their peers and being able to feel a part of the learning community. A few students however, found learner-learner interaction was not helpful, useful or meaningful. Fifty percent of participants in this study reported taking online classes as a matter of necessity and not preference, and almost half the participants (48%) preferred to work alone. Interestingly however, only less than 15% of participants expressed dislike for learner-learner interaction. Challenges with group work were the most pronounced of those reported. Students had positive perceptions of the course design, reporting coherent and structured courses. Instructor role also received positive reviews with students highlighting the quality and level of feedback received. The results of this study have important implications for online teaching and learning research, online course design, and theory development. The study shows that graduate students benefit from learner-learner interactions and that more importantly they are aware of the relationship between course design, learner-learner interaction and online learning. The results of this study also have implications for the design and delivery of online courses that seek to ensure collaborative learning through learner-learner interaction with the intent of strengthening both social and cognitive presence through the incorporation of social and instructional interaction opportunities. This study provides a rich quantitative and qualitative exploration of firsthand information on graduate students’ experience and perception of the design for a variety of learner-learner activities and their value in contributing to their learning in online courses. These perceptions provide support for improvements to the way opportunities for learner-learner interaction are developed and managed in the online environment.