In recent years, there have been incidents which decreased people's trust in some organizations and authorities responsible for ratings and accreditation. For a few prominent examples, there was a security breach at Equifax (2017), misconduct was found in the Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (2015), and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (2022) validated some of the low-performing schools as delivering higher standards than they actually were. A natural solution to these types of issues is to decentralize the relevant trust management processes using blockchain technologies. The research problems which are tackled in this thesis consider the issue of trust in reputation for assessment and review credibility at different angles, in the context of blockchain applications. We first explored the following questions. How can we trust courses in one college to provide students with the type and level of knowledge which is needed in a specific workplace? Micro-accreditation on a blockchain was our solution, including using a peer-review system to determine the rigor of a course (through a consensus). Rigor is the level of difficulty in regard to a student's expected level of knowledge. Currently, we make assumptions about the quality and rigor of what is learned, but this is prone to human bias and misunderstandings. We present a decentralized approach that tracks student records throughout the academic progress at a school and helps to match employers' requirements to students' knowledge. We do this by applying micro-accredited topics and Knowledge Units (KU) defined by NSA's Center of Academic Excellence to courses and assignments. We demonstrate that the system was successful in increasing accuracy of hires through simulated datasets, and that it is efficient, as well as scalable. Another problem is how can we trust that the peer reviews are honest and reflect an accurate rigor score? Assigning reputation to peers is a natural method to ensure correctness of these assessments. The reputation of the peers providing rigor scores needs to be taken into account for an overall rigor of a course, its topics, and its tasks. Specifically, those with a higher reputation should have more influence on the total score. Hence, we focused on how a peer's reputation is managed. We explored decentralized reputation management for the peers, choosing a decentralized marketplace as a sample application. We presented an approach to ensuring review credibility, which is a particular aspect of trust in reviews and reputation of the parties who provide them. We use a Proof-of-Stake based Algorand system as a base of our implementation, since this system is open-source, and it has a rich community support. Specifically, we directly map reputation to stake, which allows us to deploy Algorand at the blockchain layer. Reviews are analyzed by the proposed evaluation component using Natural Language Processing (NLP). In our system, NLP gauges the positivity of the written review, compares that value to a scaled numerical rating given, and determines adjustments to a peer's reputation from that result. We demonstrate that this architecture ensures credible and trustworthy assessments. It also efficiently manages the reputation of the peers, while keeping reasonable consensus times. We then turned our focus on ensuring that a peer's reputation is credible. This led us to introducing a new type of consensus called "Proof-of-Review". Our proposed implementation is again based on Algorand, since its modular architecture allows for easy modifications, such as adding extra components, but this time, we modified the engine. The proposed model then provides a trust in evaluations (review and assessment credibility) and in those who provide them (reputation credibility) using a blockchain. We introduce a blacklisting component, which prevents malicious nodes from participating in the protocol, and a minimum-reputation component, which limits the influence of under-performing users. Our results showed that the proposed blockchain system maintains liveliness and completeness. Specifically, blacklisting and the minimum-reputation requirement (when properly tuned) do not affect these properties. We note that the Proof-of-Review concept can be deployed in other types of applications with similar needs of trust in assessments and the players providing them, such as sensor arrays, autonomous car groups (caravans), marketplaces, and more.

This qualitative, exploratory dissertation aimed to describe how accessibility, usability, and cognitive load experts explained and experienced the usability and accessibility aspects of the LT department's website pages, information, and digital links. A usability, accessibility, and cognitive load manual examination was conducted with four experts. The usability, accessibility, and cognitive load examination comprised WCAG 2.1 four standards and Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics. Transcripts and observational field notes were coded through an iterative process in the analysis tool Dedoose. Two groups and four main categories were discovered using emic and etic coding. The two groups were macro challenges and page with most codes. The four main categories included macro, usability, accessibility, and cognitive load. The findings for accessibility, usability, and cognitive load are discussed. Website recommendations for creating an accessible and usable site and suggestions for future research are provided.

The purpose of this study was to identify the status and challenges of online distance education programs in post-secondary institutions in Ghana. This study was a replication of a similar study conducted in Kenya in 2009, at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. This present study was conducted with an online survey using Google survey assessment. The survey requested responses from six post-secondary institutions in Ghana. Out of a total of 450 projected student responses, 309 responses were received with a 69% participation rate. A total of 14 responses were received for instructors out of a projected 30 resulting in 47% participation rate. And for administrators, 8 responses were received out of a projected 12 resulting in a 67% participation rate. Overall the study revealed that Ghana post-secondary institutions have established and incorporated online distance education into their programs, offering both online and blended courses. Some of these institutions established regional centers across the country and incorporated foreign instructors into their programs. The survey also revealed that students were satisfied with the overall online distance education program in their institutions which included the level of instruction, feedback and evaluation. However, there were still challenges revealed from the study that included the high cost of education, frequent power outages, school stoppages as a result of instructor strikes and the need to restructure courses to include projects.

A gap exists in education research in the area of online readiness for secondary courses. In the current study, I examined the use of an online readiness assessment to inform students and educators of the necessary skills, aptitudes, and propensities needed for secondary course completion. In this research study, the perceptions of 17 secondary students in a North Texas public school were examined. Using a three-phase design, qualitative demographic surveys, focus groups, and open-ended end-of-course success questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The findings revealed the Revised McVay Online Readiness Assessment beneficial for providing students with information regarding skills needed for their online course success. Students were interested in how prior online experience influences online readiness and successful completion as well as the influence prior expectations of online learning had on online success. In addition, the study revealed the importance of student readiness relating to more specific self-regulatory skills including time-management, metacognitive self-monitoring, and task-strategies. The study results also revealed students found importance in knowing their comfort with online communication. K-12 school system and curriculum leaders may consider and take action to ensure effective curriculum and programs are implemented to achieve the desired results of student online course completion as well as providing students with necessary skills, such as comfort in online communication, and self-regulation specific to time-management, metacognitive self-monitoring, and task-strategies. The study results suggest an online readiness assessment would prove even more useful with the inclusion of such specific skills.

This study seeks to answer the overarching question of how the use of a digitally delivered arts curriculum, including a virtual museum environment, affects teacher's perceptions of curriculum integration and whether they believe it is successful in the classroom. This study is based on the analysis of archival data collected during a pilot study that was conducted in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017. This pilot study used a qualitative, descriptive approach and included the use of surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations. The main focus of this study was on the experiences of a selection of educators who took part in the pilot study and summer training sessions to determine the successes and challenges they faced as they sought to the implement the experimental digitally delivered arts curriculum. The results of the study should improve the field's understanding of how virtual environments and technology can influence teacher experiences and perceptions of their potential value for learning as they continue to take hold in public schools worldwide.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate student perceptions of the design and consistency of the online learning environment in relation to motivation, satisfaction, and self-efficacy. Through surveys, think-aloud observation sessions, and reflection interviews, data were collected concerning student perspectives of design and consistency in the online learning environment. SPSS was used to process the survey data and a multi-step process was used to code the observations and interviews. Nine categories emerged from the analysis: (1) frustration; (2) excitement; (3) feeling of being lost; (4) confusion; (5) disgust; (6) positivity; (7); anxiety; (8) understanding; (9) action. The findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided to inform future development of online courses.

This study focuses on the use of American Invention Kits from the Smithsonian Institute in conjunction with a 3D printer. In conjunction with a large dataset from a study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this innovative research focuses on the effect the digital fabrication curriculum unit has on gifted and talented students' knowledge and affinity toward the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Students from two rural middle schools in north-central Texas (N = 190) took part in this quantitative study; the students were divided among four subgroups: gifted-contrast (n = 12), gifted-treatment (n = 8), nongifted-contrast (n = 76), and nongifted-treatment (n = 94). The surveys utilized include the STEM Semantics Survey, TIMSS-Limited, and a knowledge assessment for the specific curriculum unit focused on the solenoid. The STEM Semantics Survey is divided into five subsets. Thirty-two separate one-way repeated measures ANOVAs were performed across the surveys and subgroups. Statistically significant results were found on four comparisons. This research holds implications in the areas of advocating for gifted education, collecting field data, utilizing large datasets, and understanding rural schools.

This study explored undergraduate and graduate students' attitudes toward the pleasurability of educational gamification in online learning environments. The study is a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research that investigated students' attitudes quantitatively, then qualitatively. In the quantitative phase, an online survey, the Pleasurable Learning Experiences scale (PLLEXs), was administrated at one of the largest public southwestern universities in the U.S. (N = 119). The qualitative phase involved conducting eight semi-structured interviews with selected participants. The PLLEXs uses a 4-point Likert scale that encompasses 4 subscales: (a) Preferences for Instructions, (b) Preferences for Instructors' Teaching Styles, (c) Preferences for Activities, and (d) Preferences for Learning Effectiveness. A series of analyses of variances (ANOVAs) were used to identify predictors of students' overall attitudes toward educational gamification. The main findings were: (a) students had strong preferences toward educational gamification with Preferences of Instructions rated the highest subscale and Preferences for Activities rated the lowest subscale, (b) major was a statistically significant predictor of students' attitudes toward educational gamification, (c) international students had statistically significant lower preferences toward educational gamification compared with U.S. domestic students, (c) online learning experiences measured by the number of previous online courses and the number of hours spent weekly on computers for academic-related work were statistically significant predictors of students' attitudes toward educational gamification, (d) instructor's feedback was the most important aspect and online collaboration was the most challenging aspect in online learning environments, and (e) the use of multimedia in LMSs can support or hinder teaching and learning activities.

The goal of learning analytics is to optimize learning and the environments in which it occurs. Since 2011, when learning analytics was defined as a separate and distinct area of academic inquiry, the literature has identified a need for research that presents evidence of effective learning analytics, as well as, learning analytics research that is conducted in conjunction with learning theory. This study uses Efklides' metacognitive and affective model of self-regulated learning (MASRL) to define cognitive, metacognitive, and affective variables that can explain students' learning outcomes in hybrid/online sections of Calculus I in the 2020-21 academic year. Cognitive variables were measured according to the cognitive operational framework for analytics (COPA). Metacognitive variables were defined according to the ways in which students interacted with the course content in the learning management system (LMS) and supplemental instruction, and affective variables were measured by ways students gave evidence of their affective states, such as in discussion board posts. All variables were compared across the course learning design, activities, and outcomes. Binary logistic regression revealed five significant variables: two cognitive, one metacognitive, and two affective. Thus, this study provided a learning analytics, evidence-based link between self-regulated learning theory and learning design, activities, and outcomes. In addition, implications for students, instructors, and learning theory were explored, as well as, the qualifications of this study as evidence of effective learning analytics.

In the aviation industry, digitally produced and presented flight, navigation, and aircraft information is commonly referred to as glass flight decks. Glass flight decks are driven by computer-based subsystems and have long been a part of military and commercial aviation sectors. Over the past 15 years, the General Aviation (GA) sector of the aviation industry has become a recent beneficiary of the rapid advancement of computer-based glass flight deck (GFD) systems. While providing the GA pilot considerable enhancements in the quality of information about the status and operations of the aircraft, training pilots on the use of glass flight decks is often delivered with traditional methods (e.g. textbooks, PowerPoint presentations, user manuals, and limited computer-based training modules). These training methods have been reported as less than desirable in learning to use the glass flight deck interface. Difficulties in achieving a complete understanding of functional and operational characteristics of the GFD systems, acquiring a full understanding of the interrelationships of the varied subsystems, and handling the wealth of flight information provided have been reported. Documented pilot concerns of poor user experience and satisfaction, and problems with the learning the complex and sophisticated interface of the GFD are additional issues with current pilot training approaches. A case study was executed to explore ways to improve training using GFD systems at a Midwestern aviation university. The researcher investigated if variations in instructional systems design and training methods for learning glass flight deck technology would affect the perceptions and attitudes of pilots of the learnability (an attribute of usability) of the glass flight deck interface. Specifically, this study investigated the effectiveness of scenario-based training (SBT) methods to potentially improve pilot knowledge and understanding of a GFD system, and overall pilot user experience and satisfaction. Participants overwhelmingly reported positive learning experiences from scenario-based GFD systems flight training, noting that learning and knowledge construction were improved over other training received in the past. In contrast, participants rated the usability and learnability of the GFD training systems low, reporting various problems with the systems’ interface, and the learnability (first-time use) of the complex GFD system. However, issues with usability of the GFD training systems did not reduce or change participant attitudes towards learning and mastering GFD systems; to the contrary, all participants requested additional coursework opportunities to train on GFD systems with the scenario-based flight training format.