The current study investigates the effects of preparing learners for an online debate through a worked example in terms of student perception, participation, level of cognitive skill, and electronic interaction patterns. There has been a change in the focus of distance learning research from comparative media studies to the means to improve the quality of distance education. One of the key elements in this changing impetus are strategies to promote interaction such as the introduction of structure or scaffolding argumentation (McIsaac & Blocher, 1998). One such strategy is the online debate in which students are organized into teams to take a position on an issue and argue on its behalf (Jeong, 2004). The debate is constrained through the addition of rules and specific message headers. Well-designed quality interaction holds the potential to create more satisfied learners and higher quality learning outcomes (Muirhead, 2002), but in the absence of quality, interaction has been found to actually lead to a decrease in satisfaction, participation, and performance (Joung & Keller, 2004; Kreijns, Kirschner, & Jochems, 2002). One way to ensure quality within interactive exercises such as online debate is to prepare students through a worked example. A worked example models an expert’s work and demonstrates desired behaviors for the learner to study (Atkinson, Derry, Renkl, & Wortham, 2000). Students were randomly assigned to teams to participate in an online debate with half being given access to a worked example before participating. In order to examine the effects of the worked example on students’ perceived satisfaction and level of preparedness, a survey was administered at various points throughout the semester. Additionally, debate transcripts were analyzed for participation, cognitive skill, and interaction patterns. The results demonstrate that students prepared through a worked example participated more frequently, wrote more words or phrases that encouraged the participation of others, and used higher-order thinking skills. The conclusion was that worked examples can be used to model behaviors for students to emulate. The implication being that instructors should consider providing worked examples before engaging students in online debate and future research should examine the efficacy of a worked example in preparing learners for other types of interactive activities.

Community colleges have utilized distance education to reach previously underserved populations. Considering the educational opportunities afforded by increased Internet access and the history of community colleges of providing open access to all individuals, it is no wonder that distance education has grown as a means of extending education in rural areas. Along with taking advantage of these opportunities, community colleges must also be committed to the success of students in the online environment. There is a need to identify individual student characteristics that predict success in the online environment in order to provide appropriate course enrollment advising. This study examines demographic and educational variables of online students at Bevill State Community College, with the goal of identifying the predictive ability of student characteristics on success in online courses. Online learners at Bevill State were mostly females and roughly half had completed an introductory computer course before enrolling in an online class. The average age of the participants was 25.57. These individuals had an average GPA of 3.07 and had completed an average of 4.56 semesters of college. Overall, 71.1% of the participants were successful in the online course in which they were enrolled, having achieved a grade of D or higher. The logistic regression model of five predictor variables was 72% accurate in predicting student success and non-success. Results show that the major factors influencing whether a person is successful in online classes are: age at the time of enrollment, overall GPA before enrollment, and the number of semesters of previous college experience. These findings indicate that students who are older, have more experience in college, and who have had more success in the traditional classroom may be more likely to be successful in the online environment. As online education continues its growth, identifying factors that help to distinguish between those who may be successful and those who may not will help students, advisors, and administrators make informed decisions about course enrollments. Future research should include a variety of methodologies to further explore the variables identified here as well as others that may influence student success in the online environment.

The purpose of this study was to examine Alabama community college presidents’ perceptions regarding distance education. Further, this study was intended to determine the adequacy of the training opportunities and support for faculty that teach distance education courses and what services are available for distance education students. This study was designed to investigate distance education in the Alabama Community College System and to provide information in an effort to create a comprehensive plan to maximize access to online learning for students within the system. A survey was given to a total of 26 Alabama 2-year college presidents (22 comprehensive community colleges and four technical colleges). The online survey consisted of 40 closed-ended multiple-choice questions and 2 open-ended questions. The survey asked questions regarding the presidents’ perceptions of distance education, online courses, student support, and virtual community colleges. The results of the statistical analysis were presented in both narrative and table forms to provide answers to the four research questions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The study concludes with a summary, conclusion, and recommendations for further research. The findings of the study showed that Alabama community college presidents’ perceived distance education as important to the growth of their respective institutions. Alabama community colleges provided adequate training opportunities for faculty who taught distance education courses, and provided adequate services for students that enrolled in distance education courses. In addition, the findings indicated the following factors had a major or moderate influence on their institutions’ decisions regarding college-level, credit-granting distance education offerings: seeking to increase student enrollment, making more courses available, making more degree and certificate programs available, meeting student demands for flexible schedules and reducing seat time, providing access to college for students who otherwise would not have access, and maximizing the use of existing college facilities. The findings also determined that institutions provided adequate services for students enrolled in distance education courses.

Three questions guided this research study: a) Is Goal Accomplishment Style, as measured by Atman's Goal Orientation Index (GOI), related to persistence and dropout in an online, computer-conferenced class? b) Is there a relationship between other selected variables (Demographic, Personal, Institutional, and Participative) and student persistence or dropout in the online, computer-conferenced environment? And, c) Can a relationship between goal accomplishment style and the other selected student variables be identified and related to persistence and dropout in an online computer-conferenced class? The data sources for this study were students registered in twenty online, computer-conferenced courses at a mid-sized university specializing in delivering courses, both in the traditional face-to-face mode and at a distance, to working adults. Using logistic regression, this study investigated the relationship among twenty-five selected independent variables in an attempt to better understand the variables and their influence on the dichotomous dependent variable, persistence/dropout in the online classroom. The independent variables were culled from traditional classroom dropout research and adapted for use in the online environment. In addition, variables specific to the online environment were developed. The purpose of the logistic regression was to identify the most parsimonious set of variables predicting student persistence and dropout. At the end of the semester, qualitative interviews were conducted with six dropout students. The interviews were conducted in an attempt to add depth to the depth provided by the quantitative results. During the interviews the students were asked specifically about their perceptions of interactivity and collaboration in the online classroom. Using both qualitative and quantitative analyses, a more complete picture of why students participate in or dropout of online, computer-conferenced classes was developed. Three variables were identified as significant predictors of persistence/dropout, predicting persistence correctly between 98 to 100 percent of the cases. These variables included whether or not a student would recommend another online class, whether or not the student submitted assignments in a timely manner, and Acting, one of the three categories of Atman's Goal Orientation Index. Dropouts, however, proved to be more difficult to predict. (The models predictive strength regarding dropouts ranged from only to 0% to 45%.) The qualitative interviews identified the fact that the dropout students were really hybrid in that they appeared as dropouts on the institution's master list but who were persisters in other classes. Four of the six "dropout" students interviewed were taking two courses during the semester. During the interviews, the students said they found it difficult to balance the requirements of family, home, work and school while taking two classes, especially during the shortened summer semester. Almost all (95 per cent) of the study participants indicated they would be taking online courses in the future. Enrollments in online courses at the institution are increasing dramatically. Institutions must begin to examine the true nature and definition of dropouts, especially with respect to adult working students in the online environment. / Ph. D.

Keller's Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) uses small units of instruction, self-pacing, mastery learning, lectures for motivation, and proctors for immediate feedback. While highly successful in the early 1970's, PSI fell out of favor for a variety of reasons. This developmental dissertation resurrects Keller's system in its purest form and uses PSI for an online Master's program. Using Cold Fusion™ and Dreamweaver™ an online Keller experience was created. Experts of PSI reviewed the product to check for fidelity to Keller's ideas. Formative and summative evaluation showed that this system of instruction is viable for the online environment. Recommendations and implications for future use are discussed. / Ph. D.

The motivation and importance of this study was influenced by my own experience of transitioning from traditional face-to-face to online instruction. For this study, I conducted telephone interviews with 12 instructors meeting the specified qualifications. I also conducted email interviews with participants for 5 weeks. Transcripts of all interviews are located in the appendices. I used a combination of first person, hermeneutic and existential phenomenological approaches to investigate the lived experiences of college and university instructors who have transitioned from traditional face-to-face to online instruction. Several minor themes were revealed. The overall theme is that the online classroom system is an emerging culture with some unique advantages. The paper ends with a major question to be further examined: Would the results be different if less experienced instructors were interviewed? / Ph. D.

This case study examined asynchronous online instruction to suggest practices of delivering a traditional lab-based course via the Internet and effective ways of teaching in such an environment. Numerous studies were outlined to compare traditional and distance education student outcomes, commonly referred to as the media comparison approach. This approach, as it pertains to the instructional design process, was outlined in-depth to provide an outline for future online courses in Herbaceous Plants. The instructor's enthusiasm and interests about delivering an online course led to the development and implementation of the first Herbaceous Plants course at The George Washington University. The course was offered in an attempt to address the growing needs and requests of the Landscape Design students for a course on herbaceous plants. Institutions can use this study to gain insight into the technologies used in distance education and how traditional lab-based courses can be taught through asynchronous, online environments. A well developed distance education program can be a time saving, cost-effective solution in higher education. In order to implement similar courses, institutions should complete individualized instructional designs prior to the development of the course. While technologies such as the Internet, email, and videostreaming have effectively facilitated dramatic increases in our abilities to disseminate information, distance education is not the solution to every educational challenge. In time, online instruction will take its place in contemporary education while continuing to expand educational opportunities to new and distant audiences whose quest for knowledge would otherwise be hampered by time or distance. / Master of Science

The purposes of this study were to: (a) determine the professional development preferences of educators in a selected school district, (b) discover to what extent and under what circumstances these educators desired the use of Web-based distance education for professional development purposes, and (c) discover the obstacles to implementation of Web-based instruction professional development within the school district. In addition, demographic and informational data thought to be pertinent were solicited. A survey instrument developed for this study was administered to 1,843 site-based educators; 1,455 (78.95%) surveys from all (N=39) of the targeted schools were returned. Analyses of the data provided by respondents indicated the following major findings: (a) 90.2% preferred to use district-provided in services for recertification training; (b) 64% reported a high computer and Internet comfort level; (c) 74% preferred learning with peers over solitary training; (d) 44.5% favored traditional in service delivery over Web-based instruction; (e) appropriate subject matter was deemed the most important element in the selection of training, followed by training when needed, stipends, training location, and training with peers, respectively; (f) 61% indicated an interest in utilizing Web-based instruction for recertification purposes and 61.3% for required subjects; (g) 65.1% would use Web-based instruction if a menu of practical topics were offered; and (h) 62.7% would use Web-based instruction if training was provided. Inadequate marketing of online courses and user fear of insufficient instructor assistance (26.7%) were found to be barriers to implementation. No statistical significance was found between chosen demographic data (age, gender, grade level, and job category) and desire for Web-based instruction. Training in the use of technology and Web-based instruction was deemed desirable prior to the implementation of online delivery.

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As more universities begin to offer distance education classes, advances in current methods of delivering classroom information must be introduced. At present, universities use two different methods for distance education. The first is text-based web pages, which due to bandwidth restrictions are generally unable to display complex multimedia information. The second method is to videotape lectures and distribute the tapes to distant sites. While this does a reasonable job of simulating a classroom, the cost associated with producing and distributing the videos and the delay involved in distribution makes this system unattractive. This thesis presents a method for compressing the classroom video to a smaller size so that the lecture can be rebroadcast over the Internet without losing classroom information. In addition, methods will be demonstrated for automatically extracting various types of information from a videotaped lecture; this will result in a more interactive lecture than a simple videotape would provide.