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The retention literature concerning online education suggests a dropout crisis among most institutions offering online courses and programs. Despite the fact that online courses and programs are making it easier than ever before for students to have access to college education, students are dropping out of online classes at a much faster pace than the traditional brick and mortar or on-ground classes. It would benefit these institutions to understand why students are not finishing their courses in an effort to improve persistence and therefore retention in online education. Furthermore, to increase program retention in online education, it is important to determine what factors are related to course completion and non-completion so that at-risk students can be identified and offered support services. The characteristic of self-direction is an important concept in understanding student readiness for online education. The purpose of this study was to analyze the difference in self-direction, as measured by the Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory (OCLI), between students who persist and those who don't persist in an undergraduate online asynchronous program. The data were gathered from undergraduate students at a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting college that has both an online campus and on-ground campuses across the United States. Although self-directed learning as measured by the total score on the OCLI was not statistically significant, the foundation was laid in this study for important future research. GPA and how the student connects to the internet from home were statistically significant. Further research is needed to ascertain (1) whether self-direction is in fact related to persistence in online programs and (2) what other variables are related to student persistence. Institutions may be able to implement some mechanisms within the online course with the intention of increasing student persistence and therefore retention in asynchronous online programs. / Ph. D.

This descriptive case study investigated the effects of widespread availability of information technology in a fifth grade classroom using a constructivist paradigm. The same computer configuration that students used in the classroom was provided for them at home, along with an Internet dial-up connection. The technology was used as an adjunct to the classroom and was utilized when appropriate. In addition to general classroom observations, four students were chosen for closer study. Their progress was monitored throughout the year with respect to three emerging themes related to information technology use: self-directed learning, collaboration, and social interaction. The results of this study were organized into individual student stories with each theme explored. The results showed that the students used the available technology both in the classroom and at home. There was a natural fit between the requirements of the fifth grade class and the available tools. Students chose to utilize the available technology and derived new ways of doing so, particularly at home where they were totally self-directed. For the students in this study, learning became a two-way process. Skills students developed on their own were shared with their teachers and other classmates. / Ed. D.

Organizational commitment has been recognized as a multiple foci phenomenon with two of the more important foci being the work team and the organization as a whole. That organizational and team commitment can vary differentially has been established. However, research has not attempted to determine the antecedents that may cause them to do so. At the same time, a number of constructs that have been explored as antecedents of organizational commitment have also been recognized as having particular salience in a self-directed work team environment. The purpose of this research is to test a model in which it has been hypothesized that certain antecedents will have differential effects on organizational commitment and team commitment. The model was developed employing constructs that are antecedents of commitment in the workplace and are of particular importance in a self-directed work team environment. All but one of the hypotheses were supported indicating that factors that are important in a self-directed work team environment have differential effects on organizational and team commitment. The results are discussed in terms of both theory and praxis. Implications for practicing managers and future research are presented along with the limitations of the study. / Ph. D.

Stagnant student achievement in science education in the United States has placed an increased emphasis on teacher professional development. Since many elementary educators could benefit from improved science content knowledge—and given the challenge of providing this at a level scalable and sustainable through face-to-face delivery alone—this study sought to understand what types of online self-directed content-interaction strategies are of greatest learner satisfaction and provide the highest learning impact for teachers in grades three–six. Employing Anderson's Equivalency of Interaction Theorem, and looking at age, years teaching experience, and learning preferences via Kolb and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory 3.1 (2005), this descriptive study non-randomly sampled 85 educators who passed a series of self-paced interactive web modules to rate their preferences for five different types of content-interactive strategies: (a) simulations, (b) interactive reference, (c) hands-on, (d) personal feedback, and (e) pedagogical implications. Using an online survey and a pre- and postassessment instrument it was found that (a) as age and years teaching experience increase, teachers' preferences for personal feedback, interactive reference, and simulations increased, (b) teachers' content knowledge increased significantly after completing the web modules, (c) teachers' learning style moderately aligned with their preferences for content-interaction strategies, and (d) teachers least preferred the pedagogical implications component. Instructional designers and education administrators selecting professional development for teachers may find this informative. Data from this research support Anderson's theory that if the content interaction is rich, human interaction may be provided in diminished capacities. / Ph. D.

The purpose of my dissertation study is to better understand the educational experiences of undergraduate engineering students within non-curricular learning environments, specifically in the form of extracurricular engineering groups or programs. I first conducted a content analysis of engineering education literature to identify where engineering design learning occurs, and to synthesize the implications of studies regarding engineering design learning. Aiming to fill a gap in the literature regarding non-curricular learning contexts, this study investigated what extracurricular groups and programs can educationally provide undergraduate engineering students by observing and interviewing students engaging in these environments. This study also aimed to identify if and how engineering students find navigational flexibility within engineering curricula, and how non-curricular learning environments might provide navigational flexibility. With regard to where engineering design learning occurs, the literature points to various educational contexts that effectively deliver engineering design education. Strategies that involve authentic and longer-term engineering design experiences tend to be the most impactful in terms of student outcomes and perceptions, however those experiences are not always implementable at larger scale. More traditional educational approaches to engineering design learning, though less impactful, are still effective delivery methods for introducing key aspects of engineering design education (e.g. modeling, global/societal/economic/environmental factors, communication skills). However, there was limited literature regarding more non-curricular learning experiences, such as learning in designed settings, outreach learning, learning media, and everyday informal learning. This literature review is one of the first attempts towards synthesizing where and how engineering design learning occurs, and has identified a significant gap in the literature regarding non-curricular educational settings. Addressing the identified gap in engineering education literature regarding non-curricular learning experiences, this dissertation study investigated five non-curricular engineering learning sites for undergraduate engineering students at a large research-driven state institution. Informed by the preliminary findings of a pilot study, I first investigated the salient features of engineering-related non-curricular activities from the students' perspectives using a self-directed learner autonomy framework to guide the study. Students participating in extracurricular engineering environments exhibited strong attributes of self-directed learners, particularly a willingness and ability to be challenged and to learn. The educational environments of the extracurricular opportunities cultivated these self-directed learning attributes by providing students a space to be exposed to an engineering community, authentic engineering work, and accessible resources. Findings from this portion of the dissertation indicated necessary modifications to the self-directed learner autonomy framework used to guide this study. The modified framework contributes a possible approach towards future assessment or research pursuits regarding non-curricular learning experiences in engineering. I also investigated the role non-curricular activities play in providing engineering students navigational flexibility through engineering curricula. Extracurricular engineering environments afford navigational flexibility by offering students opportunities to work on motivating challenges with and among supportive communities. By providing a space for students to express their engineering selves in primarily self-directed ways, extracurricular engineering experiences cultivate students' drive to find and pursue personally meaningful curricular and non-curricular educational experiences. However, institutional barriers, particularly time constraints and institutionally recognized achievements, stifle students' flexibility and willingness to pursue personally meaningful experiences. The findings of this study have helped uncover the various affordances non-curricular learning experiences provide engineering students, but more importantly, have identified the institutional barriers that prevent students from taking full advantage of non-curricular learning experiences. Based on these findings, I recommend that university and program level structures be reevaluated to encourage and provide students with more flexibility to find personalized learning experiences in and out of the classroom. / Ph. D.