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The this study examined courses taught within a single College of Education over six semeters to compare face-to-face, hybrid, and online instructional methods as related to student achievement, persistence, and satisfaction. Additionally, a comparison of key student characteristics including sex, race/ethnicity, and residency status was conducted. This study extends the existing literature supporting “no meaningful significant difference” between instructional delivery methods by specifically focusing on courses of similar curriculum as offered within the specific discipline of educational studies. The results reinforce that administrators and instructors should continue to expand access to courses through the flexibility of online and hybrid learning. However, as programs expand their course offerings, further investigation is warranted into the barriers to hybrid and online learning for certain groups of educational studies students within this institution, including women, Asians, and out-of-state residents. / Educational Administration

This study examines the theory of social presence and its relevancy to distance learning. Short, William, and Christie (1976) originally designed social presence to evaluate the difference between types of dyads (one-to-one interactions) and the quality of the communication media used for those interactions (Rafaeli, 1988; Rice, 1984; Walther, 1992). However, the theory of social presence was not design to explain mediated communication between multiple individuals. Although studies have investigated the effects of social presence in computer-mediated conferencing, little field research exist on the importance of social presence with multiple individuals communicating together within a Web-based instructional program. Moreover, it is evident from the body of literature that a universal meaning of social presence is lacking. For this reason, social presence in this study referred to the degree to which adult learners perceived that they had established some form of rapport with members of an online community. This includes interactions with other learners and support personnel (i.e., faculty, staff, technical support, graders, etc.). Social presence has emerged as an important social factor in the field of distance learning (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997; Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, & Archer, 1999). Recent field studies emphasize the importance of examining social and psychological factors that affect student satisfaction, impact learning, and influences the way people communicate in distance learning environments (Blocher, 1997; Gunawardena, 1995, Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997; Hackman, 1990, 1996; Hiltz, 1997; Rourke, 1999; Walther, 1992). Researchers in the fields of education and human interpersonal communication have identified "interactivity" (i.e., interaction), "intimacy," and "immediacy" as attributes that enhance social presence (Christophel, 1990; Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997; McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996; Mehrabian, 1989; Moore, 1989b; Short et al., 1976). Although social presence has been characterized as an important construct in distance learning (McIsaac & Gunawardena, 1996), little existing field research describes the value adult learners place on it, and whether it affects their satisfaction within a mediated learning environment. This descriptive study examined the adult distance learners' perceived value of social presence (based on interactions, intimacy, and immediacy), in addition to whether it existed within an asynchronous Web-based instructional program. / Ph. D.

Distance learning is a fast-growing method of delivery in higher education. The literature about distance learning is rich with information about learning and course design. However, there is little information about the non-academic support services that universities can and should provide for distance students. This study addresses that gap in the literature by exploring the non-academic needs of distance learners. Students and faculty members involved with distance learning at four-year institutions in the Fall of 2000 were asked to identify what, if any, needs distance learners have outside the classroom. Specifically, an original web-based survey was designed to identify 34 possible non-academic needs. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of those needs in the success of distance learners, the accessibility of services to meet those needs, and when the needs present themselves to distance learners. Findings indicate that the non-academic needs of distance learners are very similar to those of campus-based students. The most important needs are basic: information about the institution and program, a way to purchase books, a contact person at the institution, and academic advising. More traditional developmental needs such as leadership development, experience with diversity, and career services were important to respondents pursuing Bachelors degrees. Services to meet the needs are currently not easily accessible. Most needs present themselves throughout a student's academic career. Institutions involved with distance learning should consider addressing basic needs first. If an institution targets a large number of students pursuing Bachelor degrees at a distance, they might also add services to meet more traditional developmental needs. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers Virginia agricultural producers encounter when using the Internet and their preferences when seeking information delivered via the Internet. The results are expected to provide Extension educators needed information about producer Internet use patterns and their preferences related to Internet-based learning systems. The survey population (N = 370) consisted of Virginia agricultural producers currently known to be using the Internet as identified by the county Agricultural Extension agents. Data were collected online via an interactive, encrypted Web site and analyzed with SAS/STAT software. The 186 usable producer responses indicated that they were predominately white (98.36%), males (82.87%) averaging 51 years of age with some college education. Their primary occupation was farm or ranch work (41.71%) with a gross value of agricultural sales of $100,000 - $249,999. Nearly 60% conducted Internet agricultural marketing activities; three quarters purchased agricultural supplies, 43.17% conduct non-agricultural Internet business, and 50% use dialup services to access the Internet. In total, 95.68% of the responding producers access the Internet at least once a week and 31.60% reported previous participation in Internet-based learning. Producers below 30 years of age considered their lack of experience/training to be less of a barrier than older producers. Time constraints associated with job responsibilities, isolation from other program participants, and their ability to learn at a distance were seen as greater barriers by males than females. Producers listing their primary occupation as other than farming saw time constraints associated with their job as a greater barrier than those retired but still farming. Producers with a high school education generally rated barriers associated with Internet-based learning as greater obstacles than those with advanced degrees. Following an exposure to an Internet-based learning experience, no differences were observed related to the producers' age, gender, primary occupation, and the operation's gross value of agricultural sales and the selected factors. Producers making agricultural Internet purchases, perceived their motivation to participate in Internet-base learning as less of a barrier than those that did not. Generally, as the producers' Internet use frequency increased, their perception of the barriers was reduced and those with previous Internet-based learning experience saw their ability to learn at a distance as less of a barrier than did those with no experience. A comparison of pre- and post-exposure data, revealed time constrains associated with job responsibilities, access to instructors/specialists, feedback/instructor contact, and the motivation to participate as the greatest barriers to Internet-base learning. Differences in pre- and post-exposure assessments confirm that producers' perception of the barriers were worse than actuality. Extension's Internet-based learning experiences should be accessible from a familiar Internet location. The learners' abilities and connectivity should be considered when developing systems to minimize barriers associated with these factors. Internet-based activities should be relevant to the learner. Experiences should be available in multiple formats including video, audio, print and combinations of the aforementioned. Learners should be afforded the opportunity to interact with the presenter/instructor via the most acceptable and timely means. / Ph. D.

This study investigated self-regulated learning behaviors and their relationships with academic performance in web-based courses. The participants (n = 106) were distance learners taking humanities and technical coursed offered by a community college in Virginia. Data was collected using 28 items from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and 5 demographically related items. Data analysis included factor analyses, multivariate analysis of variance, and regression analyses. The employment of self-regulated learning behaviors differed between humanities and technical courses (p = .0138). Time and study environment management (p = .0009) and intrinsic goal orientation (p = .0373) categories reported significant findings in their relationship to academic performance. The factors affiliated with time and study environment management and intrinsic goal orientation were used as predictors in the development of a mathematical formula used to predict academic success in a web-based course. These predictors explain 21 percent of the variance in the academic success rating calculated using the mathematical formula developed from this study. / Ph. D.

This study explored former and current graduate and undergraduate online students' self-efficacy perceptions for asynchronous online coursework. Self-efficacy is described as a person's judgment of his or her ability to successfully complete a learning or performance task (Bandura, 1997). Using an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach, this study explored the research question in three phases: 1) Conducted interviews and analyzed transcripts of 11 current and previous asynchronous online learners; 2) Created and enlisted the expert review of a survey instrument developed from the interview data analysis; and 3) Collected and analyzed survey responses from current and previous asynchronous online learners. The findings from this research show, based on 215 participant responses, several factors present or absent in asynchronous online learning experiences have positive, negative or no effects on perceived self-efficacy to complete online course requirements. Findings, limitations, practical implications and future research ideas are discussed in Chapter Six of this document. / Ph. D.