This thesis explores the lived meaning of requiring, requesting and receiving information and communications technology (ICT) assistance for international students with limited or no background with ICT. The anecdotes and reflections shared by the participants delve into a range of feelings, from uncertainty, distress and condescension to fascination, determination and affirmation. They reach into places where the participants built their sense of competence and potential with and through ICT and felt indebted to their help providers in the process. The participants help seeking with ICT emerged as being a self-conscious search for discrete, non-judgmental, patient demonstration and guided practice, reliant upon the formation of reciprocal, helping relations with others. As a phenomenological study involving 10 participants, analysis sought for depth of meaning, contemplated in relation to philosophy, literature, art and personal experience. The theme of being lost in the logic of ICT and the maze of help seeking in a foreign environment emerge as a potent metaphor to guide tactful ICT help provision in diverse, post-secondary institutions marked by ubiquitous ICT integration.

Technology literacy is the latest achievement benchmark for 8th grade public school students under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Although necessary for contemporary academic and professional success (Selfe, 1999; Pearson & Young, 2002), this benchmark is at odds with the legacy and current state of social inequities within American public education, as all students have not been provided with equal opportunities for engaging and safe learning environments (Kozol, 1991; Darling-Hammond, 2006)—much less technology enabled ones. The purpose of this qualitative study was to design culturally informed technology activities for urban middle school students in the Computer Assisted Debate (CAD) after school program and then observe the consequences of these activities within the community. The guiding research questions are: (1) What occurs in a CAD program community when an ethnographic approach to instructional design is implemented? (2) What is the impact of the culturally informed technology activities on the students and faculty within the CAD program community? Taking an ethnographic approach to instructional design, the researcher observed and participated in CAD after-school sessions at one urban middle school for 7 months. Data sources for the study included field notes, student artifacts, student and faculty interviews, and surveys. Evidence regarding their existing technology literacy knowledge base revealed varying levels of skills among the debate students, and that students themselves may not be able to calibrate what they know versus what they do not. Findings also revealed that the introduction of the activities influenced student participants’ technology literacy by allowing them to demonstrate web-based research skills. Other emergent topics regarding impact of the activities included classroom management, faculty curriculum materials, and visual instruction. Among other recommendations, the researcher found that activities should be designed to elicit a high level of student engagement and motivation, which tend to be unique for distinct student groups. The research findings contribute to scholarly literature regarding (1) developing innovative educational technology strategies to help urban kids learn and (2) instructional strategies within urban debate. Future studies should more closely examine consistent technology supported instruction over time and within urban debate, and debate faculty experiences regarding teaching with technology.

This study used a two-phased explanatory mixed-methods design to explore in-depth what factors are perceived by Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) professionals as impacting instructional design practice, how these factors are valued in the field, and what differences in perspectives exist between IDT managers and non-managers. For phase 1 of the study, one hundred and sixteen corporate IDT professionals (managers and non-managers) responded to a web-based survey that was designed and developed from: (a) The results of an exploratory study of the practices of corporate instructional designers, (b) the results of an extensive literature review into the theory and practice in the field of IDT, and (c) other survey instruments developed, validated and used in prior studies. Analysis of the data collected in phase 1 of the study resulted in the development of an Evaluation Model for IDT Practice that was used as a framework to answer the research questions. Quantitative analysis included the use of Hotelling’s T2 inferential statistic to test for mean differences between managers and non-managers perceptions of formal and informally trained groups of IDT personnel. Chi squared analysis test of independence, and correlation analysis was used to determine the nature and extent of the relationship between the type of training and the professional status of the participants. For phase 2 of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected participants and analyzed using the constant comparative method in order to help validate the findings from phase 1. Ensuing analysis of the survey data determined that, both managers and non-managers generally agreed that both formal and on the job training was valuable, and that their peers who were formally and informally trained were competent instructional designers. The qualitative phase of the study and a closer examination of effect sizes suggested the potential for some variation in perceptions. In addition, a statistically significant correlation showed that IDT managers who completed the survey were more likely to be formally trained. Recommendations based on the results included future studies with a larger, more diverse population; future studies to refine the Evaluation Model for ID practice; and that academic ID programs work more closely with practitioners when designing and delivering their curricula.

This thesis explores the lived meaning of requiring, requesting and receiving information and communications technology (ICT) assistance for international students with limited or no background with ICT. The anecdotes and reflections shared by the participants delve into a range of feelings, from uncertainty, distress and condescension to fascination, determination and affirmation. They reach into places where the participants built their sense of competence and potential with and through ICT and felt indebted to their help providers in the process. The participants help seeking with ICT emerged as being a self-conscious search for discrete, non-judgmental, patient demonstration and guided practice, reliant upon the formation of reciprocal, helping relations with others. As a phenomenological study involving 10 participants, analysis sought for depth of meaning, contemplated in relation to philosophy, literature, art and personal experience. The theme of being lost in the logic of ICT and the maze of help seeking in a foreign environment emerge as a potent metaphor to guide tactful ICT help provision in diverse, post-secondary institutions marked by ubiquitous ICT integration.

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of public health faculty, who developed and taught online courses, at one particular school of public health from 2006 to 2009. The goal was to explore and document the experiences of faculty involved with this phenomenon. A criterion sample was used to identify and select participants. Five public health faculty participated in the study. Data were analyzed in two ways. Written narratives, observational field notes, and artifact data were analyzed using the inducted grounded analysis technique. Interview data were analyzed using the phenomenological data analysis method, Stevic-Colazzi Keen Method. Findings revealed that the experiences of public health faculty, who develop and teach online courses were similar to those in other subjects and were described as difficult, daunting, painful, and time consuming, leaving the public health faculty feeling frustrated and exhausted. While negative feelings described the experience pertaining to the development of online courses, the experience in the teaching phase was seen as positive, enjoyable, joyful, refreshing, and fun. These experiences were found to be contingent upon instructional and organizational support, availability and quality of resources and faculty development and training. Three overarching themes emerged from the study in relation to the experience. These themes included the rhetoric of fear, transformation, and support. The rhetoric of fear described the participants’ sense of being afraid or apprehensive toward developing and teaching online courses. Transformation described the transition participants made as they emerged as online instructors. Support described the structures needed to engage in the activities of developing and teaching online courses. The study also revealed five types of barriers to developing and teaching online courses at this particular school of public health. These barriers included psychological, organizational, technical, instructional, and time barriers. Benefits for developing and teaching online courses were identified. They included availability for students, access and penetration into global markets, instructional innovation, design innovation, and new methods of instructional delivery. This study provides data that can be used by institutions and faculty as they design and implement social, political, and technical infrastructures to support the activities of online teaching.

This study employed a design-based research methodology to develop a theoretically sound approach for designing instructional treatments. The instruction of interest addressed the broad issue of physician wellness among medical school faculty, with particular emphasis on physician self-diagnosis and self-care. The theoretically sound approach comprised a domain theory and design framework. The domain theory was posited subsequent to an examination of the literature, and subjected to expert examination through three cycles of instructional treatment development. The design framework for crafting the treatment was created from components of existing frameworks, and evolved with the cycles of development. The instructional treatment was designed to be delivered to a web browser from a server using a Python microframework to preserve the anonymity of the end user. Experts in three relevant knowledge domains verified that the instructional treatment embodied the domain theory, and was suitable for use as a practical instructional treatment. Subsequently, a limited-time pilot deployment was initiated among practicing faculty physicians (N=273) to solicit user feedback. Responses were obtained through a survey instrument created for the purpose and hosted on a remote website. Although the response rate was low (12%), the responses were encouraging and useful for guiding future research and treatment development.

Field managers have a complex job that requires coordinating a large number of variables that affect construction work. This makes their job primarily abstract, which complicates the observation of their activities; in turn, their knowledge is usually organized in a way that does not adequately consider the relationships between these work variables. As such, practical approaches to aid field managers’ work have often neglected these relationships and have been insufficient to aid practitioners’ coordination tasks. For example, many information tools have been developed to support decisions in the field, but their tendency to separate work activities makes it complicated to integrate the tools into work. Similarly, education programs often focus on individual concepts and tasks, which do not match the practical organization of work activities in the field. This dissertation presents the development of comprehensive cognitive models of field managers to gain insight into the approaches of expert practitioners to address the relationships between the major variables of work. Using the Applied Cognitive Work Analysis (ACWA) technique, it is possible to model work in terms of goals, decisions and information requirements of the job. These components are utilized to explain how the variables of work relate to each other and how they contribute towards attaining the objectives and responsibilities of the job. In particular, the inclusion of activities and tools as part of this set of variables gives insight as to how goals are attained through such means. The cognitive model obtained is applied to, first, analyze the integration of information tools into field managers’ work and, second, analyze the utilization of cognitive models to develop instructional programs and tools. As such, this dissertation makes three main contributions. The first contribution is the development of thorough cognitive models of field managers’ work. The second contribution is the use of these models to consider cognitive and behavioral aspects of adoption of information tools in the field. And the third contribution is the use of these models to present field management learners with the opportunity to use the knowledge and approaches of field managers in a robust learning environment. / text

Web-based instruction provides a new medium for the presentation of instructional activities. In the development of web-based instruction, the designer must realize that the instructional media are merely vehicles for the exchange of ideas. The medium has the capability of addressing individual preferences and styles of learning through its structure and the use of multiple forms of media. Through careful design and adherence to the objectives of instruction and to learners' needs, web-based instruction can provide a successful environment for a variety of learners. In web-based instruction, the design should not be transferred just from one medium to another, but the experience should be redefined with the capabilities of the new medium utilized. Instructional designers must capitalize on the new opportunities that the web provides to learners--to access information from remote locations, to interact with the instruction, to access the instruction at their own pace, to visualize the instruction, and to see the complex relationships in the instruction (Alexander, 1995). Factors in the hypermedia environment, such as visualization, as well as individual student characteristics, such as goal orientation, achievement, and perception, must be taken into account, so the design of web-based instruction enhances the educational opportunities of the learners. ThermoNet was envisioned as a comprehensive supplement for introductory mechanical engineering students. Utilizing many forms of visual media, such as animations, graphics, and video, students would have unlimited access to an interactive web-based environment. This study had four objectives: (1) to determine what students’ characteristics predicted achievement in thermodynamics, (2) to determine what student characteristics predicted the amount of time students spent engaged in ThermoNet, (3) to determine what characteristics impacted students' perceptions of ThermoNet, and (4) to explain the benefits of a web-based instructional environment. The results of this study reveal that web-based instruction may not have a direct impact on students, but the students' goal orientation and preferred mode of learning may impact their achievement. Also, these student characteristics may impact the learner's perception of web-based instruction. More importantly, the results divulge important insights into how web-based instruction can be designed to be a successful learning environment. / text

The increased growth of online instruction has been well documented by various studies. As the result of the proliferation of online instruction, students from outside of the United States are now able to obtain an American education without having to leave their home country. While online course designs have been well researched and documented to identify best methods and practices to enable optimum learning achievement, providing online instruction to non-US educated students generates the question of how a culturally diverse student body adapts and/or adjusts to an American-style instruction. The purpose of this study is to conduct an exploratory qualitative research to investigate how students from an Asian learning culture adapt to an American online learning environment and to determine whether the various instructional design theories and practices that are widely accepted as best practices in the United States and incorporated into the instruction designs for this Marketing Management hybrid course are also as well-received by students from a different learning culture. From the five categories emerged from the research data: (1) students’ background, (2) perceived benefits, (3) essential skills, (4) supports expected and/or received, and (5) sense of community, the researcher proposed a framework that encompasses the students’ process of adapting to online learning. Within the process of adapting to online learning, conditions such as students’ backgrounds and expectations influenced the various learning strategies that students adopted in order to realize the benefits from the online learning experience. Information gathered from this study may provide those involved in online education - decision makers in academic, business, and professional organizations considering an overseas online instruction strategy - an added awareness of how different learning cultures may influence the quality of an online learning experience. Additionally, for a specific target audience, this research study may further validate the learner-centered approach for instruction designs. For students who may be contemplating online learning as an option, this study may provide a deeper understanding of what is entailed in an online learning environment - the contributing actors and factors that affect the quality of an online learning experience. / text

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if students learn clinical judgment as effectively using computer-based simulations as when using high-fidelity mannequin simulations. There was a single research questions for this study: What is the difference in clinical judgment between participants completing high-fidelity human simulator mannequin simulation or computer-based simulation? A convenience sample of 50 associate degree nursing students in the last medical-surgical nursing course of their program were invited to participate in this study. Analysis of the demographic data confirmed the similarity of the two groups in terms of the potentially important confounding variables such as age, sex, education and prior healthcare experience. The score for each participant from the computer-based simulation (Simulation 2) and the percent of interventions completed in the high-fidelity human simulator simulation (Simulation 3) by each participant was added together to obtain an aggregate clinical judgment score for participants in Group C and Group M. Two-tailed <i> t</i> test for independent means was used to determine if a significant difference existed between the aggregate clinical judgment score for Group C and the aggregate clinical judgment score for Group M. Results from the test indicated that there was no difference between groups at the 95% confidence interval. The similarity of the clinical judgment scores of the computer-based simulation group to the scores of the high-fidelity mannequin simulation group indicates similar utility of the two instructional methods. The use of carefully planned and well-designed computer-based simulations can allow students to practice skills and develop confidence, self-efficacy and clinical judgment independently, freeing faculty for other instructional tasks.</p>