The purpose of the study was to examine organizational structural, cultural, pedagogical, and economic (reward system) elements of a traditional research-oriented university for influences on faculty adoption of computer-mediated learning technologies (CMLTs). Emergent driving and restraining societal and organizational influences (Lewin, 1951) on faculty members adoption of CMLTs were examined. Faculty members perceptions of the extent to which university policies and practices were aligned to support the successful design, development, and implementation of CMLTs were explored. <p>A case study of faculty members, who had led CMLT development teams in a provincially funded Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) initiative at one university between 2000 and 2005, was conducted in four stages. In the first stage of the study, focus groups and members checks were held with instructional designers in order to identify potentially information-rich CMLT projects. Findings from this included an examination of the social negotiation process among members of CMLT development teams, and provided the bases for selecting faculty members to invite to participate in the study. Stage Two was a pilot of the faculty interview protocol that resulted in protocol refinement. In Stage Three, seven faculty members and one graduate student participated in interviews and members checks of the results. Faculty members were asked to describe their motivations for adopting CMLTs into teaching praxis, any resultant changes to their scholarship of teaching, the compensation they received for time invested in pedagogical and technological innovation, and the extent to which institutional structures, cultures, and policies had supported or impeded their efforts. Stage Four involved an environmental scan of institutional and provincial documentation of the TEL initiative as an avenue to corroborating interview data.<p>In this study, it was found that faculty motivations for CMLT adoption included individual responses to departmental initiatives, curricular renewal and standardization activities, personal-professional development, integrating research into teaching, enhancing student learning, increasing the flexibility of student access to learning opportunities, and improving communications with students. Participants reported a variety of resultant changes to their scholarship of teaching: (1) a shift away from traditional lectures and toward learner-focused tutorials, small group and peer-to-peer discussions, and independent learning opportunities for students accessing electronic learning resources; (2) a new or renewed interest in using innovative instructional strategies and learning environments; and (3) a new or heightened interest in researching educational effectiveness. Organizational support for CMLT projects included fiscal support from the TEL program, and in some cases, additional funding provided by departments or colleges; project management support from the institution; pedagogical support from instructional designers; technical and aesthetic support from information technologists, media developers, graphic artists, and a medical illustrator. Organizational and cultural impediments to successful completion of projects varied across college settings. Lack of sufficient time to devote to CMLT development projects, balancing competing research, teaching, and administrative responsibilities with project activities, and therefore, coping with a mismatch between tenure and promotion requirements and necessary time commitments to CMLT projects were pervasive. Difficulties in coordinating large development teams, the slow pace of acquiring approvals for new programs, problematic project management models, and colleagues skepticism about and fear of integrating technology into teaching were common themes. <p>This study surfaced implications for organizational change that could better enable faculty efforts to adopt CMLTs. Expanding tenure and promotion criteria to include CMLT development work (Archer, Garrison, & Anderson, 1999; Hagner & Schneebeck, 2001) and revising intellectual property policies for CMLT artifacts to better acknowledge faculty efforts (Hilton & Neal, 2001; Tallman, 2000) could do much to encourage the integration of technology into teaching. Promoting educational effectiveness research studies (Chyung, 2001), and bringing CMLT efforts in from the margins to become a core activity in the scholarship of teaching (Bates, 2001) could erode current skepticism and fear about technologies displacing faculty members (Olcott & Schmidt, 2000). <p>Finally, in this study, theoretical implications for organizational change were posited. Traditional centralized and bureaucratic management styles are not well suited to supporting CMLT initiatives in higher education (Bates, 2001). A more distributed approach to leadership (Knapper, 2006) could better support necessary efforts to innovate, experiment, prototype, evaluate in order to incrementally improve project outcomes (Suter, 2001), create synergies between teaching and research activities, and garner faculty commitment to integrating computer-mediated learning technologies into contemporary teaching praxis.

Instructional evaluation is essential for assessing the effectiveness of learning events. In today's economy, corporations are under great pressure to reduce expenses, and training budgets often feel the effects. The closure of in-house training programs, combined with the reduction of training budgets, could be seen as evidence of training professionals' inability to prove their worth in terms of organizational benefit. To solidify their value to an organization, training departments must assess the effectiveness of their programs and provide evidence that they are supporting the organization's goals. The purpose of this study was to determine how employer-sponsored training is evaluated in the financial services industry by firms affiliated with DALBAR, Inc., using Kirkpatrick's four-level evaluation model as a framework. The total population for this study consisted of all financial services organizations providing education and training. The target population was limited to the financial services organizations that subscribe to the services provided by DALBAR, Inc. Affiliation with DALBAR was considered an indicator of interest in raising standards of excellence within the financial services industry. Therefore, DALBAR affiliation was believed to represent organizations whose training personnel had current knowledge of industry practices and thereby would report higher usage of evaluation than the total population of other entities. Data was collected using a modified survey instrument. Patterns, trends, models and methods of training evaluation among these financial services organizations were examined. Finally, barriers to implementation of training evaluation were identified and explored. Recommendations for practice include increasing training department staff members' knowledge of evaluation theories and techniques, as well striving to make training evaluation a priority for the organization as a whole. Among the recommendations for future research is the execution of a qualitative study to be conducted through in-depth interviews with selected respondents to explore in greater detail the relationships between organizational characteristics and the implementation of higher levels of evaluation.

<p> The ethics training program of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Alaska District, a recipient of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) 2010 Education and Communication Award, was studied to determine if the training fostered employee awareness of unethical situations within the workplace. The study fills a gap in scholarly literature in that never before had a peer-review study been done to examine how ethics training fosters awareness within an award-winning federal agency. The method and design used for collecting the data was the qualitative exploratory case study. Seven data sources were analyzed using NVivo 10 ^&reg; software and Microsoft Excel and conclusions drawn by use of data source triangulation. Two primary data sources used were responses from two sets of interview questions: one set with 15 employees and another set with two ethics training coordinators. The other five sources of data evidence used were the OGE 2009 Education and Commission Awards Announcement, the OGE 2009 Education and Communication Award Application Form submitted by Alaska District to OGE, samples of the <i>Ethics Monthly Treats,</i> and comments made by the interviewees on the 2-minute ethics video (<i>Secret Ethics Man</i>), and brownbag lunches. The framework for this study was Gagne&rsquo;s theoretical instructional design model. The three emerging themes were: ethics information was distributed frequently, innovative delivery methods, and content of ethics instruction. The results of the study indicate that the design, delivery, and components of the training program may have been effective in fostering employee awareness of unethical situations within the workplace.</p>

<p>Leaders in business, government, and education have sought to improve students&rsquo; ability to think critically. While research on professional learning communities (PLCs) suggests PLCs positively impact standardized test scores and teacher efficacy, there is little evidence of how PLCs using inquiry protocols influence teachers&rsquo; perceptions of instructional design for critical thinking and understanding students&rsquo; critical thinking. Demands for critical thinking instruction rather than test preparation, plus teachers&rsquo; misunderstanding of their students&rsquo; critical thinking, support the purpose for this case study. This study examined how PLCs using inquiry protocols influence teachers&rsquo; perceptions of instructional design for critical thinking and understanding students&rsquo; critical thinking. The theoretical framework for this study drew from several theories, its emphasis was on constructivism in PLCs&rsquo; use of inquiry protocols and critical thinking. PLC participants from an existing PLC agreed to join the study when asked during a PLC meeting. Eleven voluntary participants taught in 3 different grade levels and 8 subject areas. An inductive analysis of participant field notes, transcripts from PLC sessions, and group interviews indicated a divergence in participant understanding. Participants reflected either clarity or confusion in designing critical thinking projects and understanding students&rsquo; critical thinking. Implications for a positive social change develop as the PLC becomes a model for other classroom teachers seeking to teach beyond state testing mandates. This study addressed the district&rsquo;s perceived need to advance instruction for critical thinking. PLC stakeholders seeking to maximize teacher clarity and minimize teacher confusion around critical thinking may use this study to identify actions to emulate as well as actions to eliminate. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the types of online tools and strategies used with problem-based learning. The target population for this study consisted of instructional designers who were currently working in the field and have four or more years of experience in designing problem-based curriculum using synchronous and asynchronous tools in an online environment. A modified Delphi method was used in this study that provided insights and consensus to answer the research question and sub-question by obtaining relevant information from expert instructional designers using three Delphi iterative rounds of statements. The findings of this study suggested that the combination of synchronous and asynchronous tools used in a problem-based environment could provide learners with a wider range of opportunities to learn and interact with their peers and instructors. The results of the study suggested certain synchronous and asynchronous tools may be more effective when supporting problem-based learning in an online training environment. The results of the study also suggested there were challenges using synchronous and asynchronous tools that supported problem-based learning.</p><p>

<p> This study examined two questions related to the effectiveness of project-based learning (PBL) instruction. First, is PBL more effective than a textbook-based instructional model, and second what are teacher perceptions related to PBL methodology? Student growth scores in the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment for reading and math, as measured within one school year, fall to spring, for students in PBL and non-PBL classes were compared. A teacher survey was conducted to measure teacher perceptions of PBL and textbook-based instructional program strengths and weaknesses. Additional data on effective instructional strategies can provide further direction for educators to continue the full implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that call for students to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of grade level standards. The study was located in a large urban school district in Northern California. The overall findings of this study were that the MAP assessment data reflected higher annual growth scores for reading and math in six of the eight grade levels studied. Teacher survey participant responses reflected consistent support for a textbook-based instructional program over a PBL instructional program, due in large part to the additional time teachers spent in preparing for PBL lessons.</p><p>

<p> This study explored the experiences of professors and instructional designers as they interact to design and develop a distance learning course. Six professors from several different universities who reported that their pedagogy improved after these interactions during the conversion process were identified and interviewed, along with the instructional designers with whom they collaborated, to determine what elements of the interaction led to the change in their pedagogical practices. The study used a Hermeneutics phenomenology approach employing a universal instructional design model (Merrill, 2013) and a threat regulation model of trust (Williams, 2007) to shape data collection and analysis. Analysis of the data showed that principles from the instructional design model (Merrill, 2013) were used by the instructional designers to communicate good teaching practices. Strategies from the trust-building model (Williams, 2007) were employed by the instructional designers as well as some of the faculty to reduce threats to collaboration. Faculty reported incorporating a more student-centered approach to their subsequent teaching, based primarily on improved student outcomes in these courses, including satisfaction, engagement, and retention of new knowledge. Four conclusions emerged from the findings: (a) Merrill&rsquo;s First Principles (2013) is a useful model for explaining student-centered practices in higher education, particularly the principle of using real-world problems in course design, (b) Williams&rsquo;s trust-building model explains some of the success of the professor/instructional designer interactions, (c) professors valued pedagogical support from experienced instructional designers, who facilitated changes in their thinking about pedagogy, and (d) professors were more likely to make changes in pedagogy when they could anticipate improved learning outcomes. Universities are recommended to implement the use of professional instructional designers and quality frameworks to introduce faculty to student-centered teaching practices. As change agents in the universities, instructional designers should take advantage of the opportunity to impact teaching practices in universities. Further research might explore how faculty incorporate new knowledge acquired as a result of interacting with instructional designers into their teaching. In addition, future studies could examine the incorporation of those features of instructional design that are not reflected in active learning methods, particularly the use of backward design to create connections between learning activities.</p><p>

<p> The aim of this multiple and independent quantitative and qualitative methods study was to investigate the relevance of Facebook groups for doctoral students during their dissertation process. A&nbsp;convenience sampling approach was used to survey quantitatively the Texas A&amp;M Ed.D. online doctoral students who met the inclusion criteria. The participants completed a valid, web-based survey using the Doctoral Student Connectedness Scale (DSCS, Terrell et al., 2009). Purposeful sampling was used to recruit a sub-sample of participants who subsequently responded to semi-structured interview questions via web conferencing. Quantitative data analysis involved descriptive statistics using SPSS for Mac. Content analysis of the qualitative data was performed using QSR NVivo 11 software. Ethnographic and Thematic analysis used Salda&ntilde;a&rsquo;s (2013) two-stage eclectic coding, where emergent themes helped explain the quantitative analysis results. These results revealed that student-to-student regular communications was the only DSCS indicator proven to be statistically/practically significant. While the quantitative results of this study were inconsistent with the results of previous studies, the qualitative data provided additional understanding of the indicators regarding the student-to-student connectedness factor and the CoP by offering their theoretical themes and their emerging themes described as alternate communications. These preferred forms of communication added perspective to low-quality relationships by further explaining that students abandoned the cohort Facebook group due to an institutional procedure designed to divide the cohort into smaller thematic groups. Because the success expressed by the doctoral student cohort group failed to be reproduced in the smaller thematic groups, it is recommended that newly structured thematic constructs incorporate the student input presented in this study.</p><p>

<p> Accelerated courses and programs are becoming more common in higher education institutions. The rapid rate of change in the 21st century requires people to react quickly and adapt to consistent shifts in their environments. This shift toward an accelerated pace of life has caused a growing demand for accelerated and intensive classes in which students still need to achieve deep levels of learning. A gap seems to exist in the literature regarding how to design accelerated learning environments to support deep learning. The published research on accelerated learning contains a variety of studies across a variety of institutions and disciplines using a broad array of methodological approaches that produce variable results as to how accelerated courses impact student learning compared to the impact traditional courses have on learning. The fundamental research questions that guided this study asked, (a) Which instructional design strategies do expert instructional designers utilize to promote deep learning in online accelerated learning environments across various disciplines? and (b) How do expert instructional designers decide which instructional design strategies to utilize to promote deep learning in accelerated learning environments? This study utilized an online modified Delphi method to provide insight into the research questions. Fourteen members of a professional organization focused on educational technology participated in the study. Quantitative data provided descriptive statistics to determine the average consensus per statement per round. Qualitative data identified patterns and themes in written responses from the expert panel. The experts reached consensus on 59 statements (73%) in beliefs about effective instructional design strategies, 30 statements (59%) on deep learning strategies, and 21 statements (70%) on accelerated learning strategies. The study provided clear guidelines on effective strategies to promote deep, accelerated learning. </p><p>

Abstract not available.