<p> Information technology is not new to academia. Numerous educators and research scholars studying the usefulness of digital technologies in the classroom seek to determine whether the underlying pedagogies effectively bridge the gap between quality of instruction, student engagement, and eventual acceptance of the technology tool in use. With the increase and sophistication in the delivery of online courses in colleges across the country, we now see the recent emergence of an online course structure called Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs (Sandeen, 2014). MOOCs have intensified the interest and desire for students and universities to become engaged in educational opportunities by thinking of new and advanced systems for content delivery. The purpose of this study was (1) to explore student perceptions of the MOOC Virtual Learning Environment Scale or MVLE, characteristics including general systems, pedagogy, social presence, individual characteristics and satisfaction, (2) to examine the interrelationships between theorized MOOC virtual learning environment technology constructs, (3) to develop a conceptual model of the MVLE to create and validate a MOOC Virtual Learning scale, and (4) to understand administrator&rsquo;s perceptions of the characteristics of MOOCs and their futuristic views of MOOCs. The major findings for this study are: (1) the MVLE model is an appropriate scale to measure MOOC design, implementation and evaluation, (2) the creation of a more &ldquo;learner focused&rdquo; approach to MOOCs that includes a definition of the MOOC learner is important to understanding MOOC course designs and their impact within a virtual learning environment, and (3) the characteristics of higher education leaders as it relates to MOOC development must be transformational with a shared vision among university stakeholders, staff, faculty, and the community that must be sustained through ongoing support both academically and financially.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of the qualitative single-case study was to explore and gain deeper understanding of instructor responsibility within hybrid learning courses from the perspective of higher education music students. Two research questions guided the case study: (a) How do higher education music students perceive their instructors&rsquo; responsibility for cognitive, social, and instructional presences along with their expectations of content development and quality of feedback in hybrid learning courses? (2) What do higher education music students perceive as valuable instructor responsibilities in hybrid learning courses? From a triangulated case study, data were collected via demographic and Community of Inquiry questionnaires along with individual one-on-one interviews with participants. Data were analyzed using Atlas.ti8 software with open and list coding. Themes were derived from the codes to adequately arrange, analyze, and organize participant perspectives. The exploration led to discovering the five main themes representing a large spectrum of expectations students had of their hybrid instructor&rsquo;s responsibilities including, (a) assignments, (b) communication and online presence, (c) engagement, (d) feedback, and (e) curriculum. Through the nature of the in-depth case study investigation, various perceived and expected hybrid instructor responsibilities, qualities, and values were also revealed from the students including an overall view of the hybrid learning structure. As more distance and hybrid courses were built, higher education institution leaders increasingly needed to be in tune with their students&rsquo; instructor expectations and learning needs. </p><p>

<p> Hybrid High School education is a disruptive innovation that has begun to replace traditional brick and mortar schools for many students world-wide. In addition to a traditional school model are the traditional metrics by which schools are compared. These metrics have been achievement data, success rates, and funding analyses. These metrics do not account for the lived experience of the high school students, in the same way that the traditional model of education does not account for the changing methods available for learning. This study is a phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of high school students who have attended hybrid educational programs. These programs utilize the digital advances available for learning by offering at least half of their curriculum online, while maintaining face to face instruction during the rest of curricular time. The premise of this study is that high school provides an <i>ethos</i>, or manifested culture, for each student served. The questions used in nine interviews to understand this ethos were created using research in the area of adolescent life satisfaction. The research resulted in focus areas to be discussed: autonomy, engagement, social capital, and community connectedness. Participants in this study age 18&ndash;20 recently graduated from four years attending a hybrid program. The participants were introspective and detailed in their explanations of life experiences during their time in hybrid programs, and how their ethos was shaped by experiences in each of the areas of life satisfaction listed above. The interview analyses led to four conclusions regarding hybrid high school student life. First, the hybrid program graduates interviewed have a rich sense of community. These communities vary and most are members of multiple communities. All feel a sense of belonging and are connected to groups beyond family. Second, the hybrid program graduates are highly self-reliant. Participants pointed out that they have relationships with people who are supportive, but that they are independently responsible for overcoming life&rsquo;s obstacles. Third, these conclusions are intended to influence design of future innovational programs. Finally, the hybrid high school did serve as a disruptive innovation which had clear benefits for the adolescents participating. This study, in combination with additional studies focusing on specific program elements, could result in quality innovative programs that meet the needs of a changing adolescent population.</p><p>

<p> The development of a website and application for use by recovering alcoholics/substance abusers as an aftercare support.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative retrospective causal-comparative study was to determine to what extent the form of professional development (face-to-face or online) or the level of instruction (elementary or high school) has on classroom teaching practices as measured by student learning outcomes. The first research question sought to determine to what extent the form of professional development affects classroom teaching practices as measured by student learning outcomes. The second research questions sought to determine to what extent the level of instruction affects classroom teaching practices as measured by student learning outcomes. The sample was 432 Ohio teachers who participated in the Ohio Performance Assessment Pilot Project. There were 105 teachers who engaged in face-to-face professional development and 327 teachers who engaged in online professional development. There were 216 elementary teachers and 216 high school teachers. An independent samples <i>t</i>-test with a probability level of <i>p</i> = 0.05 was used to determine the differences in student learning outcomes by form of professional development and level of instruction. This study found there is no statistically significant difference between teachers who engaged in face-to-face professional development (<i>M</i> = 0.519) or online (<i>M</i> = .467) or teachers who taught elementary (<i>M</i> = 0.524) or high school (<i> M</i> = 0.493). These findings suggest when the content of professional development is comparable, the form of professional development and the level of instruction have minimal effect on student learning outcomes. </p><p>

Intelligent tutoring systems are effective for improving students’ learning outcomes (Bowen et al., 2013; Koedinger & Anderson, 1997; Pane et al., 2013). However, constructing tutoring systems that are pedagogically effective has been widely recognized as a challenging problem (Murray, 1999, 2003). In this thesis, I explore the use of computational models of apprentice learning, or computer models that learn interactively from examples and feedback, to support tutor development. In particular, I investigate their use for authoring expert-models via demonstrations and feedback (Matsuda et al., 2014), predicting student behavior within tutors (VanLehn et al., 1994), and for testing alternative learning theories (MacLellan, Harpstead, Patel, & Koedinger, 2016). To support these investigations, I present the Apprentice Learner Architecture, which posits the types of knowledge, performance, and learning components needed for apprentice learning and enables the generation and testing of alternative models. I use this architecture to create two models: the DECISION TREE model, which non- incrementally learns when to apply its skills, and the TRESTLE model, which instead learns incrementally. Both models both draw on the same small set of prior knowledge for all simulations (six operators and three types of relational knowledge). Despite their limited prior knowledge, I demonstrate their use for efficiently authoring a novel experimental design tutor and show that they are capable of achieving human-level performance in seven additional tutoring systems that teach a wide range of knowledge types (associations, categories, and skills) across multiple domains (language, math, engineering, and science). I show that the models are capable of predicting which versions of a fraction arithmetic and box and arrows tutors are more effective for human students’ learning. Further, I use a mixedeffects regression analysis to evaluate the fit of the models to the available human data and show that across all seven domains the TRESTLE model better fits the human data than the DECISION TREE model, supporting the theory that humans learn the conditions under which skills apply incrementally, rather than non-incrementally as prior work has suggested (Li, 2013; Matsuda et al., 2009). This work lays the foundation for the development of a Model Human Learner— similar to Card, Moran, and Newell’s (1986) Model Human Processor—that encapsulates psychological and learning science findings in a format that researchers and instructional designers can use to create effective tutoring systems.

<p> <b>Purpose.</b> This purpose of this correlational study using Joo&rsquo;s (2008) financial wellness framework was to determine the impact of an online financial literacy workshop on student subjective knowledge, dependent on indicators of stress, behavior, and objective knowledge, when controlling for demographic differences at a large public university. </p><p> <b>Methodology</b>. A quantitative correlational research design was used to interpret how student indicators of financial wellness explain subjective knowledge gained as a result of participating in the financial workshop when controlling for demographic and background characteristics. The sample population for this archival study included 2,550 university undergraduate students who participated in the Financial Literacy 101 online financial education system as a pilot program from November 2012 to January 2017. </p><p> <b>Findings.</b> All variables were run as a single model hierarchical multiple linear regression to control for variables and closely look at the relationships of the independent variables of interest in this study&mdash;financial stress, credit card behavior, and objective knowledge&mdash;and students&rsquo; subjective financial knowledge. Analyses of the research questions revealed mixed results. There were significant individual contributions to the model for the independent variables of gender-female, Hispanic/Latino, financial stress, and objective knowledge. Credit card behavior was not a significant predictor of students&rsquo; subjective financial knowledge. </p><p> <b>Conclusions.</b> The Financial Literacy 101 online education program was effective in increasing student subjective knowledge. Students who had higher financial stress levels before the workshop or who scored higher on the objective knowledge quiz scores were more likely to rate their subjective knowledge gained from the financial workshop positively after controlling for all other variables; there were no significant differences in students&rsquo; subjective knowledge dependent on credit card behaviors before the workshop. </p><p> <b>Recommendations.</b> Redesigning the instrument to better capture measures of financial wellness and to allow institutions to design data-informed customized interventions for their specific populations will magnify the program&rsquo;s impact. The possibilities for informing the financial education community with large scale research could be significant because the product is used by over 100,000 students annually.</p><p>

<p> Online learning has become a significant component of the long-term strategy for leading universities into the future. The rapid growth of online learning forces the need for academic accountability. The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine factors affecting student perceptions of online course quality using benchmarks in the design principles of Teaching/Learning, Course Structure, and Student Support in online courses. Furthermore, the study aimed to discover whether the interaction of a social presence was perceived as important to the quality of the student&rsquo;s online learning experience. The elements of benchmark categories, social presence, and student perceptions provide a great perspective of the educational experiences in fully online courses. Two hundred forty-five students were surveyed and eleven students participated in follow-up interviews. Results indicated that interaction between students and the instructor was a key element in their perceptions of a quality learning experience. Teaching presence was identified as very important to the quality of online courses. Benchmark standards measured in this study are important components to the design of online courses. These measurements act as an indicator to administrators, faculty, and instructional designers about the importance of designing courses that include the benchmark standards, especially instructor interactions as well as student-to-student interactions and social presence.</p><p>

<p> This study investigated whether use of the Achieve 3000 differentiated reading internet program correlated with increased incidence of ELL students achieving proficiency and/or with improvement in reading and literacy scores. It also examined attitudes among district ELL teachers. Results supported DI and CALL methods as instructional approaches. Achieve 3000 was most strongly related to improved literacy among students who completed 80 activities or more. Number of activities scoring at least 75% was the strongest predictor of improvement. Lexile score was related, but Lexile growth was not. When not used according to company recommendations, correlations were much weaker. Only 4.2% of district ELL students followed those recommendations. Relationships did not hold true for the lowest, beginning English proficiency students. </p><p>

<p> Despite legislation in the U.S.A requiring the use of assistive technology in special education, there remains an underutilization of technology-based speech intervention for young students who require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The purpose of this Policy Delphi study was to address three guiding research questions that relate to the feasibility of using mainstream mobile technology, facilitative actions, and stakeholder roles for implementation and utilization of AAC in elementary school settings. Data were collected in two rounds of questionnaires given to experts in special education, assistive technology and speech and language pathology, with experience in AAC. Round 1 included 19 participants, 14 of whom also completed the Round 2 questionnaire. The results indicated that a very strong case can be made that mainstream mobile devices have several advantages over traditional AAC systems, not only in their affordability, but also transparency and social acceptance by providing an ideal medium for inclusion in mainstream settings. A challenge that confronts AAC innovations is the tendency to focus on the technology instead of pedagogical, social and therapeutic goals. Until a perfect AAC system becomes available for mainstream mobile devices that meet individuals&rsquo; communicative, educational and physical needs and personal preferences, it is apparent that multimodality will continue to be the model. The utilization of mainstream mobile technology for AAC necessitates certain facilitative actions and stakeholder responsibilities. Team collaboration is essential in supporting AAC use and, when applicable, facilitating the inclusion and mainstreaming of students who use AAC in the general education setting.</p><p>