Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education and Dept. of Psychology. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in education and psychology." Advisor: Linda S. Garavalia. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed March 12, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-134). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-106). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-106). Also available on the Internet.

Mathematics has been singled out as a challenging discipline to teach fully online (FO). Yet both the demand for and development of FO mathematics courses is increasing with little known about the quality of these courses and many calling for research. Whereas most research has investigated the nature of these courses by examining instructional outputs such as student grades this research seeks the same insight but by examining instructional inputs. Specifically, it seeks to investigate the nature of current assessment practice in FO mathematics courses. To conduct this investigation, deep learning (Marton & S??lj??, 1976a, 1976b) is used as the principle theoretical framework. From the growing body of literature associated with deep learning, two studies are selected to investigate current FO mathematics instructors assessment practices. An additional framework based on empirical findings related to the use of different kinds of feedback is also used. In total, six study measures are used to conduct a mixed methods study in two parts. The target demographic and course context are tertiary instructors from Western nations that teach introductory level mathematics (particularly statistics and calculus). The first study explores current FO mathematics assessment practices using an online survey (n=70) where the majority of participants originate from US higher education institutions. In the second study six of the US survey participants are interviewed about how their assessment practices and approaches used in their FO mathematics courses differ from those used in their face-to-face (F2F) mathematics courses. This study represents the first known attempt to investigate the nature of tertiary FO mathematics instructors assessment practices using appropriate theoretical frameworks. In particular, it investigates mathematics instructors experiences of the affordances and constraints of the FO course context when adapting their F2F practice to this new environment. Findings suggest the FO course context is a challenging environment for instructors to orient their teaching and assessment practice in a way that helps develop students understanding of mathematics. Analysis of interview responses suggests the problem lies with the nature of interactivity provided in the FO course context.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Freire de Sa.pdf: 4240233 bytes, checksum: 06ef1e221cf0f7acabf1372c05cd5b06 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research aims to describe and interpret a phenomenon of human experience: tutoring action developed by virtual tutors teachers in virtual learning environments in he context of the educational network called Rede E-Tec Brazil; so trying to understand, under the bias of the complexity presented by Morin, the manifestations of this phenomenon from the subjects who experience it, in the case, virtual tutors. Mentoring is a word in the context of distance education which has named the educational activity that teachers spend developing in virtual environments and has been the subject of studies and discussions in Brazil, from different perspectives, especially as a variation of the traditional teaching activities . However, most studies focus on this theme in the context of higher education, labor relations or responsibilities and regulations involving this form of mediating student learning in virtual environments. In order to contribute from the specifics of Professional Technical Education and the perspective of those who perform the tutoring action in this mode, this research aims to discuss the fragmentation of pedagogical action and hence the division of teaching involving the transformation of autonomy and profession. Developed within the framework of contemporary Applied Linguistics, aimed to investigate experiences and social practices revealed through language, this study takes as its starting point the reports, interpretations and reflections of those who live virtual mentoring, a teaching modality that has cultures and particular identities. From the reality experienced by the subject virtual tutor, we seek to articulate an interpretation of experiences in virtual learning environments, materialized by language, with studies on virtual teaching and studies about virtual mentoring, linking them with the theoretical vision of teaching. Drawing up as a qualitative-interpretative research, this work is methodologically oriented by Hermeneutic-phenomenological approach and complexity that allows the description and interpretation of human experience considering also the theoretical contributions of hermeneutics and phenomenology in the light of complexity by Morin. This methodological approach has allowed to develop research in the field of Applied Linguistics, considering language as revealing interface that embodies the experiences that are textualized under the hermeneutic phenomenological bias. The collection of textualized reports from the five tutors, the essence of mentoring phenomenon action in virtual environments, object of the present study, is revealed from the hermeneutic-phenomenological themes: challenges; difficulties, questions; concerns and relationships that present themselves as relevant to think about the teachers of distance education, especially within the technical vocational education / A presente pesquisa objetiva descrever e interpretar um fenômeno da experiência humana: a ação de tutoria desenvolvida pelos professores-tutores virtuais em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem no contexto da Rede e-Tec Brasil; dessa forma, buscando compreender, sob o viés da complexidade apresentada por Morin, as manifestações desse fenômeno a partir dos sujeitos que o vivenciam, no caso, os tutores virtuais. A palavra tutoria, no contexto da educação a distância, tem nomeado a ação educativa que os sujeitos professores passam a desenvolver nos ambientes virtuais e tem sido tema de estudos e discussões no Brasil, a partir de diversas perspectivas, especialmente como uma variação das atividades da docência tradicional. Entretanto, a maioria dos estudos foca essa temática no contexto do Ensino Superior ou no das relações trabalhistas ou das responsabilidades e prescrições que envolvem essa forma de mediar a aprendizagem dos alunos nos ambientes virtuais. Visando contribuir, a partir das especificidades do Ensino Técnico-Profissionalizante e pela perspectiva dos sujeitos que realizam a ação de tutoria nessa modalidade, essa pesquisa pretende problematizar a fragmentação da ação pedagógica e, consequentemente, a divisão do trabalho docente, que implicam nas transformações da autonomia e da profissão. Desenvolvendo-se no âmbito da Linguística Aplicada contemporânea, que possibilita investigar experiências e práticas sociais reveladas por meio da linguagem, este estudo tem, como ponto de partida, os relatos, as interpretações e as reflexões de quem vive a tutoria virtual numa modalidade de ensino que possui culturas e identidades particulares. Ao partir da realidade vivida pelo sujeito tutor virtual, busca-se articular uma interpretação das experiências vividas em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem, materializadas pela linguagem, com os estudos sobre a docência virtual e com os estudos acerca da tutoria virtual, articulando-os com a visão teórica de docência. Desenhando-se como uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa-interpretativa, este trabalho tem, como orientação metodológica, a Abordagem Hermenêutico-Fenomenológica e Complexidade que possibilita a descrição e a interpretação das experiências humanas considerando, igualmente, os aportes teóricos da hermenêutica e da fenomenologia, à luz da complexidade de Morin. Essa abordagem metodológica tem permitido desenvolver pesquisa no âmbito da Linguística Aplicada, tendo a linguagem como interface reveladora que corporifica as experiências vividas que são textualizadas sob o viés hermenêutico-fenomenológico. A partir da coleta de textos oriundos dos relatos de cinco tutoras, a essência do fenômeno ação de tutoria em ambientes virtuais, objeto do presente estudo, se revela a partir dos temas hermenêutico-fenomenológicos: desafios; dificuldades, questionamentos; preocupações e relações que se apresentam como relevantes para pensar os sujeitos professores da educação a distância, especialmente no âmbito da educação profissional técnica