<p> Assistive technology is used in education to support and increase students&rsquo; learning. Many of these are math and science virtual manipulative applications, studies of which are well documented. Studies documenting the effects of social studies software on special education students, however, are scarce due to the small number of applications and the difficulty of gathering consistent data. This is because students often suffer from mental, emotional, behavioral and physical instability. This study was intended to determine whether assistive technology is beneficial in this regard. The study used Study Island software, which provides students and teachers self-adjusting, customizable social studies coursework. The study examined the suitability of the software in increasing the academic performance of middle school special education students at Pandale School, a public separate school. This quantitative, experimental study compared two sets of randomly assigned students who used identical learning materials, presented in either print or software form. The demographics of the school dictated the participant pool, which consisted of 11-20-year-old African American males. Using two mixed model ANOVAs, the pretest and posttest scores and test completion times of each group were compared to determine the software's efficacy. Every experimental group participant saw an increase in test scores from pretest to posttest. After controlling for preexisting conditions, it was observed that the type of instruction variable explained 18% of the test score variance between groups, as represented by partial <i>&eta;²</i>, <i>p</i> &lt; .0001, indicating a rejection of the null hypothesis and a finding that the software had a positive effect on the participants' test scores. An analysis of test completion times for the pretest (<i>M</i> = 43.64) and posttest (<i>M</i> = 33.23) showed that the mean test scores differed significantly, <i> F</i>(1.000, 38.0000 = 90.184, <i>p</i> = 0.001) from pretest to posttest and amongst both groups, and suggested that the null hypothesis should not be rejected and that the Study Island virtual manipulative had neither positive nor negative effect on test completion times. Study results indicated the usefulness of Study Island as one tool of many in the classroom. Future studies targeting specific demographics and student needs are indicated. </p>

<p> Teachers need training to integrate technology into classroom curriculum, activities, and pedagogy. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards and statewide computer based assessments, coupled with technology&rsquo;s rapid rate of innovation and change, has only increased the need to help support teachers&rsquo; development of these necessary skills. The purpose of this project was to create an online-based e-learning professional development training module for teachers to develop their technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) and skills. The design of the training module incorporated e-learning design principles, adult learning principles, and current research on developing teachers&rsquo; TPACK. To provide feedback on the design, teachers from two middle schools in Southern California were invited to use the training module, and were surveyed regarding their experiences. Results of the survey indicate participants gained knowledge and skills for using their school computer lab, integrating technology into their classroom instruction, and overall, were pleased with the e-learning training module.</p>

<p> Online professional development (online PD), the acquisition of new skills and knowledge related to the teaching profession via the Internet, is an emerging field for teachers. This mixed- methods research explored the impact of an online PD program on high school teachers&rsquo; self-efficacy levels, classroom instruction, and the role that school culture played on teachers accepting or rejecting the online PD. Within a social cognitive theory lens, this study helped frame teacher attitudes and adult learning in the context of school culture. </p><p> Phase 1 of this study used quantitative data from two surveys called PRE and POST, which were taken before and after the online PD program, respectively. Qualitative data were collected in Phase 2, using the International Society for Technology in Education Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT), participants&rsquo; journal reflections, and interviews. Findings indicated statistically significant changes in self-efficacy levels for eight of the 21 survey items and minimal changes in technology use during instruction. Furthermore, various aspects of school culture independently affected teachers&rsquo; inclination to accept or reject the online PD. Findings supported the concept of designing personalized professional development programs tailored to the individual&rsquo;s specific learning styles, attitudes, and experiences of school culture.</p>

<p> There is very little research about the use of virtual reality (VR) technology within special education environments, in particular Emotional and Behavioral Disorder (EBD) classrooms. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of students with EBD as they use a VR learning platform as their primary learning environment. The study was focused on four participants as they told their stories about their experience with the virtual learning world of <i>Quest Atlantis.</i> Three main themes related to the participants&rsquo; experiences emerged: emergence of self-confidence; play and learning within a virtual learning environment; and fostering positive social interactions. Their experiences within the <i>QA</i> environment showed how they found learning to be a &ldquo;fun&rdquo; and meaningful process, which was much different from their experiences in non-virtual learning environments. For these participants, this medium helped them to begin to develop a greater sense of self-confidence, which led to more self-control and management of their lives. In addition, they had begun to learn how to increase their understanding of working in collaborative learning environments, a much-needed skill for the years to come. The benefits of this study may help educators add to their understanding of how the use of VR can help to create a positive learning environment for a group of students with EBD that tend to be in the highly restrictive learning setting.</p>

<p> This study was initially planned to be a single study using the Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) by Conti (1978), surveying students and alumni of a four-year university. These plans were redirected to conducting a meta-analysis, utilizing 30 years of dissertations that utilized the PALS instrument.</p><p> The motivation for this study was to determine if educators might be a collaborative resource to aid corporate trainers in developing a learner-centered training program. College instructors could become corporate consultants if they reinforced the learner-center approach. A learner-centered instructor would inquire and recognize the inconsistencies in the trainer&rsquo;s teacher-centered training materials. This motive was based on first-hand experience with Acme Corporation.</p><p> There were 108 dissertations identified. Eighteen were not retrieved, and 35 dissertations did not meet the inclusion criteria. Fifty-five dissertations were used with nearly 5,300 subjects. A complete list was provided by name and ProQuest number with exclusion reasons.</p><p> The retrieved dissertations were grouped: (a) four-year colleges; (b) two-year colleges; (c) other educators. The third group consists of educators with a Masters or a Doctorate degree and teaches adult students outside of the traditional college environment.</p><p> The results showed that PALS composite mean was statistically significant for each group, and within one standard deviation of the norm mean (<i> M</i> = 146). Conti and Welborn (1986) categorized these as intermediate teacher-centered. The seven factors were analyzed, and the mean was less than one standard deviation and teacher-centered and several factors were not significantly different from the factor&rsquo;s norm mean. No scores were found to be learner-centered. Linear regression analysis was performed over three decades of dissertations to determine if there was a trend towards learner-centered style. The results indicate no correlation exists.</p>

<p> This historical content analysis study examined portable responsive instructional materials used by United States teachers and students in primary, secondary, and higher education instructional settings for the period of 1957 through 1982&mdash;the beginning of the space race with the stimulus of educational funding from the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) to the introduction of classroom computers into the mainstream education population. During this period, a plethora of instructional materials was implemented in classrooms, which supported the audiovisual movement to improve performance and knowledge. This study focused on the pedagogical and functional uses of instructional materials from the specified period of history.</p><p> Instructional materials included in this qualitative study provided a response from or feedback to the participant through some form of communication&mdash;a screen, display, or other mode of communication. The physical nature of the studied instructional materials was small, lightweight, and portable, and each was used collaboratively or individually for instructional purposes in an educational environment. With this definition in mind, certain materials that were important to the audiovisual movement, such as movie projectors and cameras, were not included in this study. Instructional materials from corporate training were not included in this study with the exception of materials that crossed over from the corporate arena to the educational environment. </p><p> Pedagogical and functional frameworks of identified instructional materials from 1957 to 1982 provided a foundation from which to compare contemporary instructional materials and devices to those of the past, to predict pedagogical purposes, and to support current integration of instructional materials such as handheld devices into the classroom based on historical information gathered in this study.</p><p> Analysis of the instructional materials was based on audiovisual codes found in the literature of the time. To further analyze the data gathered, a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method was adapted and applied to determine the success or failure of specified functionality of the identified instructional materials.</p>

<p>Even though various models have been developed in the field of human performance technology (HPT), little research has been done to empirically test these models of human performance (HP) with large amounts of data. This insufficient evidence on whether or not HP models work in practice discourages HPT professionals and workers from applying HP models into their own contexts. This study aims to examine structural relationships among performance support systems (PSS), human behaviors (HB), and performance (PER) in order to test the proposed performance model. Using national government-wide representative data from the 2012 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS, N=687,687, 82 federal agencies), this study has the opportunity to empirically test a comprehensive performance model (Bichelmeyer & Horvitz, 2006) using structural equation modeling (SEM). In measurement model I, a 1st order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), all model fit indices were found to be adequate (?</p><p>2(93) = 90800.207; CFI = .949; TLI = .926; RMSEA = .038; SRMR = .030). All factor loadings of the observed variables were significant (p < .001), indicating that all first-order factors were well measured by the indicators. In measurement model II, a 2nd order CFA, all model fit indices were also found to be in adequate range (?</p><p>2(111) = 120515.246; CFI = .933; TLI = .918; RMSEA = .040; SRMR = .036). All factor loadings of the first-order factors used to measure the second-order factors were statistically significant (p < .001), indicating that all the second-order factors were well measured by the first-order factors. In structural model, a 2nd order SEM, all model fit indices demonstrated the proposed model is entirely adequate (?</p><p>2(111) = 120515.381; CFI = .933; TLI = .918; RMSEA = .040; SRMR = .036). In terms of structural relationships, results supported the hypothesized direct associations among PSS, HB, and PER. Four steps outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986) and Judd and Kenny (1981) were taken for mediation analysis. In addition, bootstrapping (1,000) with confidence intervals was used for a robust examination of the mediating effect of HB. The results indicated that HB partially mediated the relationship between PSS and PER (?_11* ?_21 = .35, p < .001, 95% CI [0.34 to 0.37]). Finally, implications are discussed based on the results and findings of this study. At the first-order factor level, various sets of practices for Human Performance Technology (HPT), Human Resource Management (HRM), and Human Resource Development (HRD) are presented.

<p> The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between six factors of student satisfaction and intent to continue with online education in a sample of older adult learners. Participants were chosen using a stratified random sampling of students enrolled at Mercer University and South University online programs to ensure a proportional mix of qualifying learners. The randomly selected qualifying online students received an email inviting them to participate in the study. An online survey adapted from the technology acceptance model (TAM), the Student e-learning Satisfaction Instrument (SESI), along with demographic questions were used to gather the data. The data were analyzed using logistic regression. This study involved the investigation of the relationships between the perceived satisfaction of older adults with online technologies in an educational setting, as measured by the SESI instrument with the criterion variable of intent to continue online learning. Overall, mean scores for the six predictor variables were somewhat stable across the variables, ranging from the lowest for Personalization (<i>M</i>=3.65, <i>SD</i>=0.61) to the highest for Learner Interface (<i>M</i>=3.81, <i>SD</i>=0.77). Results of binomial logistic regression analysis indicated that the variable of e-learning satisfaction is a statistically significant predictor of the odds that older adult learners intend to continue online learning (&beta;=1.205, <i> p</i>=0.006). None of the perceived satisfaction scores averaged below 3, indicating that a majority of the participants affirmed that they were satisfied with technology. The practical recommendations suggest that to ensure the success of older adult learners in the online environment, learners must be able to adopt new techniques for effective teaching and learning in an online environment. The online teaching instructor should also design the programs based on the needs of the leaners. Future research recommendations include a qualitative analysis of the research problem could produce results that substantiate the findings of the current study.</p>

<p>Although all organizations and institutions should consider accessibility when developing online content, inaccessibility is a recurring issue in recent literature pertaining to online learning environments (OLEs) and faculty accessibility awareness. The goal was to describe how online faculty gain knowledge regarding accessibility, to explore the lived experiences of online faculty who have worked with students who have disabilities, and to gain a better understanding of how faculty experience the process of accessibility implementation. The following research questions guided this study: How do faculty in OLEs experience encounters regarding accessibility for students who have print related disabilities? How do faculty in OLEs experience the journey of developing the skills needed to provide accessibility for students with print related disabilities? What aspects of accessibility and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) do faculty members practice in OLEs and what meaning do they ascribe to the lived experience of providing these accommodations? An interview guide was used to address the research questions. Participants were recruited from the Online Learning Consortium and Assistive Technology Industry Association for participation in phenomenological interviews, which were recorded and then transcribed verbatim. The transcripts of these interviews were analyzed to determine eight super-ordinate themes: Accessibility and usability awareness of online faculty; interactions and relationships between faculty, students, various departments, and outside organizations relating to SWDs and accessibility; different perspectives and experiences of faculty who teach courses within programs that have an emphasis on accessibility, AT, or working with people with disabilities; faculty experiences and perspectives of working with SWDs and providing accessible materials in OLEs; faculty training and experience with accessibility and people with disabilities; faculty autonomy within OLEs as it relates to creating accessible content; accommodations and accessibility features used in OLEs; as well as LMS accessibility and usability. The results of this study led to several implications regarding training and support services for faculty, students, other staff, and administration within online programs, best practices for implementing accessibility, as well as recommendations for future studies.

This thesis describes an experiment using technology to develop conceptual understanding of functions through graphical representations. It examines the effects of including dynamic representations in a conceptual approach to the teaching of functions. The study was implemented over a 5-day period in a Grade 9 class in a small, generally working class, rural school in Eastern Massachusetts. Participating students were observed during class discussions and video analysis, and their written responses and created functions were analyzed. The procedure used in the experiment was based on the Theory of Didactic Situations and used the Didactic Engineering methodology. The structure and sequencing of the thesis is also based on these concepts. Conclusions are drawn regarding the effects of using multiple representations systems to deepen understanding of functional relationships and suggested improvements to the introduction of the function concept in high school instructional programs are given.