As one of the most critical elements in distance learning, interaction has been identified empirically as increasing learner motivation, satisfaction, participation, communication, and achievement. Fostering pedagogically effective interaction is a major challenge for educators in distance learning. In response to this challenge, the goal of this research was to develop a theoretically- and empirically- grounded framework for guiding interaction design in distance learning. It is anticipated that this framework can assist educators and instructional designers in designing quality interaction in distance learning. This study employed a design and developmental research methodology with three phases: analysis, development and evaluation, and revision. Findings from a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed interaction theory and research in distance learning as well as expert review informed the building of a three-phase framework for guiding interaction instructional design in distance learning. / Ph. D.

Organizations in the private and public sector provide employee training for different reasons and cover a variety of subject and skill areas. In some cases, training is provided without implementing the complete instructional design process, omitting the needs assessment and analysis step, which can result in less than desired training outcomes. Research details challenges that private and public sector organizations encounter related to needs assessments, along with the benefits of assessing needs prior to the design of a training program. This development study and research supports these details. As a part of this research, a needs assessment tool was designed to assist instructional designers and training managers gather key information to better determine if training is needed and to identify the best means for moving through the instructional design process. An expert review of the needs assessment tool validated the tool and provided feedback for further development of the tool. This study presents the challenges and benefits of identifying needs, describes the development of a needs assessment tool, analyzes and summarizes expert review and feedback, and suggests potential revisions to the tool. / Doctor of Philosophy / Organizations in the private and public sector provide employee training for different reasons and cover a variety of subject and skill areas. In some cases, training is provided without implementing the complete instructional design process. The complete instructional design process involves conducting a needs assessment, analyzing the needs assessment, designing a learning plan, developing the instruction based on the learning plan, implementing the instruction, and evaluating the instructional outcomes. When the first step, conducting the needs assessment is omitted, in some cases this may result in less than desired training outcomes. Research details challenges that private and public sector organizations encounter related to needs assessments, along with the benefits of assessing needs prior to the design of a training program. This development study and research supports these details. As a part of this research, a needs assessment tool was designed to assist training developers, instructional designers, and training managers gather key information to better determine if training is needed and to identify the best means for moving through the instructional design process. A group of individuals who work in the training and instructional design field, also referred to as expert reviewers, reviewed and validated the needs assessment tool and provided feedback for further development of the tool. This study presents the challenges and benefits of assessing needs, describes the development of a needs assessment tool, analyzes and summarizes the expert review and feedback, and suggests potential revisions to the tool.

Students of all abilities and ranges of achievement have become familiar with a variety of hypermedia-based settings which offer information on virtually any content area. The concept of self-regulation implies that learners can initiate processes to facilitate learning regardless of their perceived learning ability or environment, two learning characteristics once thought to be immutable forces. The purpose of the study was to design and implement hypermedia components that provide various levels of user support based upon known self-regulatory learning strategies. The components were applied within an existing web-based learning environment which combined class lecture and presentation with web-based components. Student input provided impetus for the revision of existing components and suggestions for new components designed to promote regulatory behavior within the web-based environment. Through participant observation, student desires for hypermedia components which promote self-regulatory behaviors are described and compared with the actual usage patterns of these components. Significant differences were found in measures of students perceived level of self-efficacy for performance and learning, metacognitive self-regulation, and test anxiety. In addition, one of the added components was rated as "highly effective" by the participants and the second-most-used component of the web site. Discussion incorporates student input to provide support for incorporating components which promote self-regulatory learning strategies in a hypermedia instructional environment and offers generalizations for educators and instructional designers based on these findings. / Ph. D.

This study explored evidence-based education in health professions education through three interrelated manuscripts. First, a scoping review of evidence-based medical education examined the use of the term “evidence-based” in the literature and the presence of evidence-based practices. The review analyzed numerous studies to understand how evidence-based education is defined and applied within the medical education community, highlighting key trends, gaps, and inconsistencies in the application of evidence-based principles. Next, a study employed an agile evidence-based instructional design (AVIDesign) model to create an evidence-based course in palliative care for medical students. This model integrated iterative development processes with evidence-based educational strategies, emphasizing flexibility and responsiveness to feedback. Utilizing transdisciplinary collaboration between faculty and instructional designers (ID), the study examined the use of the model to develop a course for medical students in palliative care. Results include faculty and ID perspectives on using the model, along with student and expert feedback on the materials developed for the course. The final study utilized the AVIDesign model to develop interactive branching case scenarios for a pediatric nursing course. These scenarios were designed to provide nursing students with evidence-based learning experiences that simulate the complexities of pediatric care. By incorporating interactive elements and multiple potential outcomes, the cases aimed to enhance clinical reasoning skills. The study involved continuous collaboration with pediatric nursing experts and instructional designers to refine the scenarios, ensuring they were both educationally effective and engaging for students. Together, these manuscripts illustrate the effectiveness of employing evidence-based design, agile methodologies, and collaborative input to create effective educational interventions in the health professions. They underscore the importance of acquiring, appraising, and applying evidence in developing effective learning interventions.

This study provided reliability and validity evidence to substantiate the Implementation Profile Inventory II's (IPI-II) use as a measure of a user's perceptions of Ely's (1990a) eight conditions of change. To establish the psychometric properties of the IPI-II, three alternative factor structure models for Ely's conditions were compared. A confirmatory approach was used for the analysis of the evidence. A four-factor structure hypothesized by Ensminger et al (2004) appears to fit reasonably well; however, this study provided stronger evidence for a fifth underlying construct as a better model for the IPI-II's structure in a sample of 252 university faculty and staff. Perceptions of conditions that influence implementation of innovations are important measures of success and can serve as a planning guide for the instructional designer (Ely, 1990a, 1990b, 1999a, 1999b; Ensminger and Surry, 2002; Ensminger, 2005). The IPI-II is a revised scale (Ensminger and Surry, n.d.) designed to measure a user's perceptions of the importance of Ely's eight conditions of change. Psychometric information was obtained and reported on the measure's dimensionality, reliability, and validity. Recommendations are offered to facilitate the revision of questionnaire items to achieve a stable, well-defined solution for the factor structure (dimensionality) of the IPI-II. This study represented the first psychometric evaluation of the IPI-II and the first confirmatory study in the development cycle of the Implementation Profile Inventory. / Ph. D. / This study provided reliability and validity evidence to substantiate the Implementation Profile Inventory II’s (IPI-II) use as a measure of perceptions of Ely’s (1990a) eight conditions of change. Perceptions of conditions that influence the decision to use a new technology are important measures of success and can serve as a planning guide for the instructional designer (Ely, 1990a, 1990b, 1999a, 1999b; Ensminger & Surry, 2002; Ensminger, 2005). The IPI-II is a revised instrument (Ensminger & Surry, n.d.) designed to measure a user’s perceptions of the importance of Ely’s (1990a) eight conditions of change to their decision to use a new technology. These eight conditions are Dissatisfaction with Status Quo, Knowledge and Skills, availability of resources, availability of time, a rewards or incentives program, participation in the form of shared decision making and communication, visible and vocal commitment by key players and stakeholders, and leadership that provides encouragement and support for the new technology. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was the primary statistical procedure used to determine the ability of the IPI-II to accurately measure perceptions in a sample of 252 university faculty and staff. Recommendations are offered to facilitate the process of revising the IPI-II to increase the reliability of the results yielded by the instrument. This study represents the first psychometric evaluation of the IPI-II and the first confirmatory study in the development cycle of the Implementation Profile Inventory.

Augmented reality (AR) is a promising learning tool that has the potential to improve learning experiences in unique ways. While AR has been extensively studied in terms of learning outcomes, relatively little has been researched about the qualitative aspect of the learner experience and how that may inform better instruction. This multi-article, journal-ready dissertation addresses this gap. The first article is a review of the literature on what researchers have learned about AR in learning, systematically identifying six areas that appear salient yet underrepresented in the literature. The second article expands further upon this theme by conducting a qualitative study of learners' experience using AR in a sequence of instruction. This study identified several themes that aligned with those of the literature review and also uncovered some different and interesting aspects that had not been emphasized. The third article is a practitioner guide that recommends design and implementation practices for instructional designers and others based on the first and second articles. Spanning all three articles is an emphasis on the engaging nature of AR in education and how to further enhance this benefit to facilitate learning.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop an initial formal ontology of competencies needed by instructional design professionals in higher education. The ontology was constructed using the domain ontology design process. The initial ontology was then validated by eight expert instructional design professionals in higher education using an online survey. The quantitative responses were analyzed using descriptive statics to describe general trends in data while constant comparative coding method was used to identify themes in the data. Three themes emerged from the study: an expansion of instructional design competencies; the addition of a diversity, equity, and inclusion competency; and the removal of the programming competency. The findings are discussed and proposed changes to the ontology are provided.

The objective of this study was to locate and describe the learning affordances used within research studies on instructional design. Allowing an instructional designer to see what was used and how applicable it might be for future design would assist with better course creation. Current and past literature supported the importance of this concept after examination of how course creation has evolved within the field of instructional design. Further, the findings elucidated how to help the field evolve in the future by expanding knowledge about learning affordances and providing the broadest set of conceptual definitions by the academics working in the field to include them in their research and instructional designs.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Field dependent and field independent cognitive styles are contrasting ways of perceiving and processing information. This study investigated how the cognitive styles of field dependence (FD) and field independence (FI) affect the achievement levels of distance learners. Cognitive style refers to the manner in which an individual perceives and processes information. As described by Allport style is the "particular manner of execution which permeates any highly integrated volitional activity" (Allport, 1937, p. 494). In distance education, spontaneous learner-instructor interaction is frequently neither as flexible nor as timely as it would be in conventional instruction. This research examined the effects of matching or mismatching the design of asynchronous distance education to the field dependent and the field independent learner. Horn's construction of Information Mapping© (Horn, R.E., 1989) was employed to add structure compatible with the Field Dependent learner. Subjects were administered the GEFT, a measure of field dependence-independence. Only those in the first and fourth quartiles of the resulting distribution participated the study. The first quartile was comprised of Field Dependent (FD) subjects and the fourth quartile was comprised of Field Independent (FI) subjects. Half of each group was randomly selected to receive asynchronous online instruction designed to match their cognitive style, and half received asynchronous online instruction designed to mismatch their cognitive style. Analysis of the results showed that matching the cognitive style of the FD asynchronous distance learner resulted in significant differences between the pre and post test scores. However, an analysis of the test results for the FI learners whose instruction was designed to match their cognitive style showed no significant differences from pre to post test. The FI learners whose instruction was designed to mismatch their cognitive style did show a significant difference from pre to post test. A two-by-two factor analysis showed a significant effect for the design of the modules, but no effect for cognitive style or the interaction of cognitive style and module design. Matching the FD cognitive style, in asynchronous distance education had a positive impact on achievement for both Field Dependent and Field Independent learners as measured from pre to post test. / 2999-01-01

abstract: The problem under investigation was to determine if a specific outline-style learning guide, called a Learning Agenda (LA), can improve a college algebra learning environment and if learner control can reduce the cognitive effort associated with note-taking in this instance. The 192 participants were volunteers from 47 different college algebra and pre-calculus classes at a community college in the southwestern United States. The approximate demographics of this college as of the academic year 2016 – 2017 are as follows: 53% women, 47% men; 61% ages 24 and under, 39% 25 and over; 43% Hispanic/Latino, 40% White, 7% other. Participants listened to an approximately 9-minute video lecture on solving a logarithmic equation. There were four dependent variables: encoding as measured by a posttest – pretest difference, perceived cognitive effort, attitude, and notes-quality/quantity. The perceived cognitive effort was measured by a self-reported questionnaire. The attitude was measured by an attitude survey. The note-quality/quantity measure included three sub-measures: expected mathematical expressions, expected phrases, and a total word count. There were two independent factors: note-taking method and learner control. The note-taking method had three levels: the Learning Agenda (LA), unguided note-taking (Usual), and no notes taken. The learner control factor had two levels: pausing allowed and pausing not allowed. The LA resulted in significantly improved notes on all three sub-measures (adjusted R2 = .298). There was a significant main effect of learner control on perceived cognitive effort with higher perceived cognitive effort occurring when pausing was not allowed and notes were taken. There was a significant interaction effect of the two factors on the attitude survey measure. The trend toward an improved attitude in both of the note-taking levels of the note-taking factor when pause was allowed was reversed in the no notes level when pausing was allowed. While significant encoding did occur as measured by the posttest – pretest difference (Cohen’s d = 1.81), this measure did not reliably vary across the levels of either the note-taking method factor or the learner control factor in this study. Interpretations were in terms of cognitive load management, split-attention, instructional design, and note-taking as a sense-making opportunity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2018