Thesis (Ph. D., Mathematics)--University of Idaho, July 2009. / Major professor: David A. Thomas. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-152). Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Min Liu. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-146).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 208 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-72).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisors: Lowell J. Bethel and Betty J. Skaggs. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2006. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James E. Knight. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-44).

The thesis investigates online teaching and learning and in particular, the role of the 'e-moderator' as pedagogical leader in relation to e-learner capabilities. The research builds upon a number of existing models including that of Bass and Alvolio (1996), their 'transactional/task-giving' and 'transformational/motivational' behaviours, and applies these to e-moderator work. Secondly, a review of the research literature provides further concepts applicable to e-learner online behaviour - collaborative capability and knowledge construction ability. These are utilised to create a new model, the 'model of Pedagogical Variation', where online teaching is viewed as situational, and e-learners of varying degrees of capability can be given opportunities to maximise their online learning. A hypothetico-deductive methodology, following the work of Karl Popper (2002), is adopted as the theoretical framework. The research sought to corroborate the proposed pedagogical model, which was successfully achieved with experienced e-moderator practitioners adapting Kelly's (1955) personal construct psychology using the six elements: socialising, scaffolding, knowledge construction, weaving, summarising and archiving. In accordance with the hypothetico-deductive approach, an evaluation was then conducted with the objective of refuting the basic underlying assumptions of the Pedagogical Variation model. The model did withstand attempts at falsification, but is presented here as provisional, open to further scrutiny, testing and comparison. Future research could be in the development of diagnostic tools for e-moderator evaluation of e-learner capabilities and on e-learner preferences regarding the selection of a particular online learning environment. It is suggested that effective online teaching is dependent not only on e-learner context but also on e-moderators' pedagogical leadership. The model for Pedagogical Variation is an attempt to show how adaptations in design and delivery can be made in asynchronous learning networks in order to motivate and facilitate successful outcomes for e-learners, whether they are digital natives or digital immigrants (Prensky,2001 ). Online course providers and developers may also use the Pedagogical Variation model as a blueprint for exploring creative ways of implementing new emerging learning technologies fit for the 21st Century.

Although much has been written about learning in online discussion, the research literature reveals the need for further empirical research to be carried out.  For example, the use of online discussion is often seen as a means by which students can engage in a socially constructivist approach to learning, (Pena-Shaff et al., 2005; Hudson et al., 2006; Schrire, 2006) whilst others raise questions about the depth of engagement and the preparedness to learn in this socially constructivist context (Hawkey, 2003; Roberts and Lund, 2007).  The need to gain further understanding of learning through discussion is raised by Ravenscroft (2005); McConnell (2006); Goodyear and Ellis (2008).  This study adds to empirical research by exploring students’ engagement with online discussion at an individual and course level. Two key research questions are: What are the different approaches taken by students when responding to learning activities which ask them to engage in online discussion?  What are students’ perceptions of how their engagement in online discussion impacts on their learning and the learning of others?  The study is qualitative, phenomenographic in nature drawing on six case studies of Higher Education students’ engagement with online discussion.  A rich set of empirical data is gathered within the case studies.  A grounded approach to data collection and analysis is used, including the analysis of interview data in order to hear the students’ voices about their experiences.  The findings from the analysis of the case studies reveal different strategies that students use when engaging in online discussion, and diverse students’ views of learning through online discussion, even from within the same course context.  A framework for learning through online discussion emerges from the discussion.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / This thesis reports on the development and testing of a framework for making sense of the collective professional learning of primary Science and Technology teachers in an elearning mediated context. Web-based networks and collaboratories are playing an increasingly prominent role in private and public sector knowledge building and innovation. In Education, online communities now frequently support teachers’ professional learning. However, despite the pervasiveness of this network zeitgeist, such studies rarely describe or analyse (let alone theorise) teachers’ collective learning, focusing paradoxically instead on the learning of individuals, albeit in group contexts. Without a clear understanding of collectivity, the design of initiatives for systemic professional renewal is significantly impeded. This investigation addresses this urgent need to describe, analyse and theorise teachers’ collective learning. Serendipitously, an Australian Research Council Linkage Project, DESCANT (SciTech), provided a context that confronted those ethical, theoretical and pragmatic challenges necessary to make collective learning both possible and likely. Cohorts of primary Science and Technology teachers, supported by consultants, Education Department officers and University researchers, worked together, in networked ways, to conceive, prototype and trial an e-learning environment for the professional development of cohorts of their peer teachers. Democratic participation was assured, a generative theory of learning adopted and pragmatic steps taken so as to establish a principled, yet experimental, trial for studying collective learning. Group learning at every stage of this process was documented, and examined for ethical, theoretical and pragmatic evidence of collectivity. That is, judgements were made as to whether the learning that occurred at each stage of the project could be understood as a complex, dynamic learning ecology. The study’s findings reveal that collective professional learning did occur, to a greater or lesser extent, at every stage of the DESCANT process. Furthermore, the collective learning of these teachers could be well described and explained by considering how those ethical, theoretical and pragmatic challenges - the pillars of the learning ecology framework developed here - were met. The account makes clear just how complex, dynamic, highly nuanced and ecological in nature collective learning is. It was then a small step to theorise systemic professional renewal in terms of collective conceptual movements on an adaptive (learning) landscape and, in the light of what occurred, to extrapolate, speculatively, from the generative theoretical pillar with which the study began. Of course, this study has acknowledged limitations. Nevertheless, its successful small-scale piloting of a learning ecology framework for making sense of collective, networked professional learning demonstrates that the framework has a range of epistemic benefits - not least, internal and external coherence. As well, it provokes thinking about key characteristics of networked approaches to collective professional learning. Above all, this study suggests the worth of continuing to test and refine this learning ecology framework in those diverse settings where systemic renewal is critical.