<p> An online curriculum about biological evolution was designed according to the <i>Promoting Evidentiary Reasoning and Self-regulation Online</i> (PERSON) theoretical framework. PERSON is an attempt to develop online science instruction focused on supporting evidentiary reasoning and self-regulation. An efficacy study was conducted with 80 suburban high school biology students using a design-based research approach to develop a curriculum to promote biological evolution understandings, evidentiary reasoning, and self-regulation. Data sources and instruments included (1) the Biological Evolution Assessment Measurement (BEAM); (2) the modified <i>Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire</i> (MSLQ); (3) discussion forum posts; (4) formative assessments of evidence based reasoning; (5) <i> Prediction, Monitoring, and Reflection</i> forms (PMR); (6) the <i> Online Instruction Questionnaire</i>; and (7) field notes. Findings revealed that BEAM posttest scores were significantly greater than pretest scores for items designed to measure biological evolution content knowledge and evidentiary reasoning. Students tracked in a lower level biology course showed improvement in biological evolution understandings and evidentiary reasoning. It was found that performance on daily evidentiary reasoning tasks strongly predicted BEAM posttest scores. However, findings revealed that students did not meet local standards for performance on items designed to measure evidentiary reasoning. Students expressed a variety of opinions about their learning experiences with the online curriculum. Some students expressed a definite preference for traditional learning environments, while others expressed a definite preference for online learning. Self-regulatory ability did not significantly predict BEAM gain scores. Further, self-regulatory ability was not demonstrably improved as a result of this intervention. Implications for designing science instruction in asynchronous online learning environments to support evidentiary reasoning and self-regulation are discussed.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose.</b> The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine the factors that influence students&rsquo; intentions to continue to use digital texts. Specifically, the purpose was to investigate what impact the external factors of instructor modeling and instructor expectation to use had on the intention to continue to use digital textbooks as well as how the internal factors of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction with the digital textbook impact students&rsquo; intentions to continue to use digital textbooks. </p><p> <b>Theoretical Framework.</b> The theoretical framework for this study is the Technology Adoption Model (TAM). This user acceptance model was developed by Fred Davis (1986) and is used extensively to provide an understanding of user acceptance processes as well as theoretical insights into the design and implementation learning technology. </p><p> <b>Methodology.</b> This study used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey instrument based on the E-Book Adoption Scale (Jin, 2014b), an instrument that was tested for reliability and validity using a Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha test. </p><p> <b>Findings.</b> Students&rsquo; perceived ease of use and usefulness of the digital text predict student satisfaction with the digital text. Students whose instructors did not provide resources for using a digital text were more likely to be satisfied with the digital version of the textbook yet, there is no significant relationship between instructor expectations and intervention to students&rsquo; intentions to continue to use digital textbooks. </p><p> <b>Recommendations.</b> The ease of use of a digital interface is the aspect most likely to impact student satisfaction. College student purchasing patterns of digital texts are significantly influenced by the perceived ease of use of the text and the perceived usefulness of the text. Perceived ease of use is related to the interface of the text. Publishers who clearly apply this field of research to their product development will provide digital texts that students are more likely to be satisfied with and to adopt as a preferred learning platform. Institutions that develop support systems to help their faculty members make the most of the digital features of the texts will better support students.</p><p>

<p> Within some areas of traditional legal education there has been discussion of and advocacy for greater acceptance and integration of online technology. This study addresses the enormous gap in the legal literature concerning perceptions of online legal education and adds to the robust body of literature concerning perceptions of online education in general, with a focus on a specific type of institution: law school. This qualitative exploratory study involved the collection and analysis of perceptions among 15 recently retired full-time faculty members from traditional brick-and-mortar law schools regarding online legal education. Through a process of examination and coding, this research identified and clarified topics and patterns in the data. Perceived benefits of online learning in law school included its facilitation of a diversity of learning styles, improved accessibility, and a reduction of fear and pressure. Critical perceptions included worries over the loss of physical face-to-face presence, reduction of fear and pressure, and possible incompatibility with clinical legal education. Other concerns involved engagement/discipline in online (and live) education, the approach of some for-profit institutions, technological issues, cheating, and class size (in live and online settings). The findings suggest a relationship between exposure to and appreciation of online learning and an anomalous relationship (with caveats) between faculty gender and appreciation of online learning. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of all forms of delivery of legal education, with emphasis on whether online education is used to replicate traditional law school education or to accommodate different learning styles through distinct pedagogies.</p><p>

The availability and sophistication of visual display images, such as simulations, for use in science classrooms has increased exponentially however, it can be difficult for teachers to use these images to encourage and engage active student thinking. There is a need to describe flexible discussion strategies that use visual media to engage active thinking. This mixed methods study analyzes teacher behavior in lessons using visual media about the particulate model of matter that were taught by three experienced middle school teachers. Each teacher taught one half of their students with lessons using static overheads and taught the other half with lessons using a projected dynamic simulation. The quantitative analysis of pre-post data found significant gain differences between the two image mode conditions, suggesting that the students who were assigned to the simulation condition learned more than students who were assigned to the overhead condition. Open coding was used to identify a set of eight image-based teaching strategies that teachers were using with visual displays. Fixed codes for this set of image-based discussion strategies were then developed and used to analyze video and transcripts of whole class discussions from 12 lessons. The image-based discussion strategies were refined over time in a set of three in-depth 2x2 comparative case studies of two teachers teaching one lesson topic with two image display modes. The comparative case study data suggest that the simulation mode may have offered greater affordances than the overhead mode for planning and enacting discussions. The 12 discussions were also coded for overall teacher student interaction patterns, such as presentation, IRE, and IRF. When teachers moved during a lesson from using no image to using either image mode, some teachers were observed asking more questions when the image was displayed while others asked many fewer questions. The changes in teacher student interaction patterns suggest that teachers vary on whether they consider the displayed image as a "tool-for-telling" and a "tool-for-asking." The study attempts to provide new descriptions of strategies teachers use to orchestrate image-based discussions designed to promote student engagement and reasoning in lessons with conceptual goals.

The focus of this study is to examine the factors that comprise convenience for distance education students. The prevailing assumption regarding student selection of distance education is that the choice is directly related to convenience and the ability to control the time and place of their learning. Students are selecting and repeatedly taking distance education courses; this research sought to understand the reasons behind this selection. The premise of this study is there are many bundles that underlie the convenience in distance education and they are related to factors other than anywhere, anytime learning. Previous studies have relied on the use of survey data regarding students' preferences regarding distance education. This study utilized a qualitative approach to allow the students to tell their own stories. Nine distance students attending community college were interviewed for this research. The student stories and experiences provide the data and basis for the findings of this study. Implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the persistence of adult students in online undergraduate courses at the community college level. Quantitative analysis of survey results from 476 students enrolled in on-line courses at two community colleges indicate that desire to complete the degree, previous experience in on-line courses and assignment completion are the strongest predictors of course completion. The findings from this research also provide the basis for making recommendations for future research and improving policy and practice. Finally, the results of this study suggest the basis for developing new models for understanding persistence in on-line courses.

Includes bibliographical references. / The following calls for research into the ways in which South African university students use technology for peer-to-peer learning (Czerniewicz and Brown, 2005). This study aims to explore the ways in which students mediate one another's learning and the ways in which they use (and don't use) information and communications technology (ICT) to do so. This study provides a snapshot of eleven University of Fort Hare students' peer-to-peer learning strategies. In exploring this phenomenon in context, the social and cultural factors are analysed using Activity Theory, most notably building on the work of Sharples et al (2007). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students identified as early adopters of ICT for peer-to-peer learning, selected from 375 respondents to the Access and Use Survey questionnaire (Czerniewicz and Brown, 2007). An analytical framework was developed using categories developed from high-level Activity Theory concepts. Sub-categories were developed using key concepts from Sharples, Taylor and Vavoula (2007), Laurillard's (2003) work, as well as, inductively and deductively in relation to the data, following Hardman's (2008) approach. Three key peer-to-peer learning patterns were identified: A group of students preparing for an exam or a test were found to adopt cooperative learning strategies, while students working together towards a tangible output, such as an assignment, adopted collaborative learning strategies. Peer-to-peer tutoring was found to occur where one student is assisted by a moreable peer. Most interviewees' peer-to-peer learning activities were found to occur face-to-face, and the extent and level of interviewees' ICT use was less than anticipated. The findings are not generalisable beyond this small sample, but serve to advance understanding of the processes involved in students' peer-to-peer learning practices.

Through the centuries, institutions of higher education, and the people who labor in those institutions, have helped countless millions to learn—to stretch their boundaries, to think creatively, to find joy in discovery, and to create new knowledge that benefits the world in a myriad of ways. Yet while the knowledge produced through our educational process has transformed the world, the process of teaching and learning within these institutions has remained largely unexplored and unchanged over the centuries (Bass, 2009; Duderstadt, Atkins, & Van Houweling, 2002; Woolsey, 2008). In recent years, the advent and rapid development of information technology has provided us with a previously unimaginable opportunity to rethink how teaching and learning take place in higher education. In order to make the most of potential gains in teaching and learning, academic technology initiatives require both technological and pedagogical expertise. However, while the need for effective collaborations between the groups responsible for these two areas, the Offices of Academic Computing and Centers for Teaching at institutions of higher education has been articulated (Albright & Nworie, 2008; Allison & DeBlois, 2008; Woolsey, 2008), the mechanisms for developing and maintaining such collaborations are not clearly understood (Albright & Nworie, 2008; Ives & Steinbrenner, 2005). In an effort to fill this gap in knowledge, this study focuses on generating a portrait of successful collaborative efforts between academic technology professionals and pedagogical specialists. Using multiple case studies as a methodological approach, this study examines the characteristics of collaboration at three universities, including their history; factors that lead to the successful establishment of collaborations; challenges and barriers and how these are approached; and whether there is evidence that collaborations result in better outcomes in the implementation of academic technology. The study is particularly timely given that information technology is playing an increasingly central role in every aspect of higher education. A better understanding of the characteristics of inter-group collaborations around academic technology, including the barriers to creating effective collaborative relationships, will help institutions respond to the challenge of harnessing technology’s potential to positively transform the process of teaching and learning in contemporary higher education.

This study tested the effectiveness of an inservice training program for (1) teaching telecommunication skills to teachers who were relatively inexperienced in the use of computers, and (2) assisting teachers in designing and implementing telecommunications activities in their curriculum. Nine elementary teachers participated in an innovative telecommunications project between two local schools. Three of the teachers completed the four session model training program in which they learned the skills necessary for using a telecommunications Bulletin Board System. During the six-week initial implementation phase, a coaching strategy was employed, in which the teachers were observed and assisted while practicing telecommunications. The teachers developed a degree of expertise in using telecommunications and they were able to implement this technological innovation in their curriculum as indicated by the activities and impact upon student learning. During the first cycle of use the teachers were becoming stabilized in the use of telecommunications as they began to refine integration of this media in new areas of their curriculum. The coaching the teachers received was evaluated as being most helpful in assisting teachers in the implementation process. Perceived future barriers to implementation relate to the lack of phone lines and the scarcity of support assistance in the schools. This study has considerable implications for policy makers responsible for the incorporation of technological innovations in school curricula. The results indicate that teachers given an extensive system of training and implementation support are able to effectively integrate telecommunications activities in their curriculum.

The past decade brought dramatic increases in numbers of microcomputers available for use in schools with high expectations for their potential to improve education. Much of the current literature shows little change in spite of the potential. Successful implementation of technological innovations does not just happen. This is a study of the implementation of microcomputer activities for instruction in selected elementary schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, essentially a case study approach with some tabulation, it attempts to describe and analyze how implementation is taking place. A survey of 41 computer using educators and 6 in-depth interviews provided the data. Analysis was based on implementation models defined by Anderson (1989), and Hall's (1989) Concerns Based Adoption Model (C-BAM) concepts to identify evidence of the models, examples of strategies and levels of success of various approaches used to provide sufficient hardware, software, training, technical assistance and time needed to get educators using the technology. The findings describe the roles of the people involved, conditions in their schools, perceptions of support, problems or concerns, suggestions for successful implementation strategies, and criteria for software selection. The data also show that many different staff members shared the responsibilities for computer related tasks. These educators had microcomputer hardware available to use in classrooms and computer labs. The most prevalent model identified is that of the Single Person. The interviews indicate that most schools had more than one model functioning at various times during the growth of the innovation. An analysis of problems or concerns revealed that most people were functioning at the Task Level, concerned with managing the innovation and its consequences for their students. More research needs to be done to understand and utilize the contribution of the Single Person Model and how to make it more effective for schools. Educators need to develop better methods to determine strategies which will move teachers to higher levels of use as well as to spread the innovation to more groups of teachers.