Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006. / Title from title page screen, viewed on April 22, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Cheri A. Toledo (chair), Adel T. Al-Bataineh, Charles D. Dziuban, Vicky L. Morgan, Wendy G. Troxel. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-244) and abstract. Also available in print.

Marshaling Resources| A Classic Grounded Theory Study of Online Learners

<p> The number of online courses in higher education is on the rise; however, empirical evidence elucidating best practices for synchronous online instruction is needed to implement these courses. The purpose of this dissertation was to perform a mixed-method investigation into the relationships between instructor prompt and student engagement in 5 areas based on the 7 Principles of Good Practices in Undergraduate Education using recorded chat, video, and audio transcripts of two recent fully online nutrition courses. A total of 25 previously recorded synchronous sessions including oral and textual chat interactions were transcribed. Every line of student interaction was determined to be either superficial or containing evidence of at least one instance of engagement. Every line of instructor interaction was concurrently coded for at least one of the following forms of prompt: social, organizational, intellectual. Inter-tester reliability of coded interactions was determined to be excellent (Cohen's kappa = 0.91) on a 5% sample of the entire dataset before comprehensive analysis continued. In total, 172,380 words were exchanged through 13,394 oral and text interactions across all class sessions. With 54% of student interactions deemed superficial the remainder produced a total of 8,906 student engagements. There were 4,125 instructor prompts composed of 48% intellectual, 30% organizational, and 22% social cues. Pearson correlations were performed to investigate relationships between prompt and engagement across class sessions. Intellectual prompts were the best predictor of faculty interactions, active and collaborative learning, and academic challenge (<i>r</i> = 0.77, <i>r</i> = 0.78, <i>r</i> = 0.54 respectively); organizational prompts were the best predictor of enriching academic experiences (<i>r</i> = 0.72); and social prompts were the best predictor of supportive campus environments (<i>r</i> = 0.79) with all of these being significant (<i> p</i> &lt; 0.01). No category of engagement was significantly correlated to class performance. Online synchronous class sessions can promote high levels of student engagement. A variety of instructor prompts must be used in order to promote student engagement across a number of different categories. Finally, care should be taken in order to craft and facilitate learning activities in synchronous online class sessions in order to achieve desired learning outcomes.</p>

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Steven Aragon. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-158) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

<p> The introduction of technological tools has created a paradigm shift in the field of education. As such, online learning has become a popular method for students to access educational courses. Due to the increased demand by learners for online classes, administrators at American institutions of higher learning are faced with the challenge of moving faculty members to an online environment. However, transitioning to an online environment requires a role change for faculty members. Specifically faculty members must shift their instructional methods from on-ground lecturer to online mentor, which can be challenging. Indeed many faculty members transition to online instruction without the necessary training, support, or skills needed to be successful. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to develop a better understanding of how higher education faculty members transition from a face-to-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format. Participants included nine faculty members, representing different colleges and universities, who teach at post-secondary institutions within the United States. Participants had taught face-to-face classes for one year or more, and had taught at least three classes using an online format. An in-depth, open-ended, semi-structured interview format was used to gather data. The data provided by the participating faculty members were collected, coded using a line-by-line format, and the codes were compared to one another with the goal of finding a pattern. The development of conceptual categories and data analysis continued until saturation was achieved. Based on the data analysis, <i>transforming</i> was the conceptual theme for how higher education faculty members transition from a face-to-face (i.e., on-ground) teaching format to an online teaching format. Three transitioning skills were also identified as integral components for faculty members transitioning from face-to-face to online instruction. Future areas of research include: 1) how foreign language instructors develop asynchronous communicative collaborative activities and 2) how administrators could add specific subject area needs into their training programs or workshops.</p>

<p> Colleges and universities are now part of an ecosystem that includes educational technology companies. As more faculty adopt Web 2.0 technologies, institutions of higher education must seek sustainable methods to support faculty and this may involve collaborations with ecosystem partners. The purpose of this action research study was to improve the support resources provided by the VoiceThread organization, a Web 2.0 tool provider, to its higher education users. This study was guided by three questions: a) is there a significant difference in faculty perceptions about the pedagogical benefits of VoiceThread between faculty who examine VoiceThread in an eBook and faculty who examine VoiceThread through a webinar; b) how can an eBook be designed to support the diverse needs of 21^st century faculty; and c) what are the support needs of faculty who teach with VoiceThread? A purposeful sample of 53 full-time and part-time faculty from 2-year and 4-year institutions was randomly assigned to a control or treatment group. Quantitative data was collected through a pretest and posttest survey. Qualitative reflection and interview data was also collected. The study found that the eBook did not have a more significant impact on faculty perceptions than the webinars. Findings also show that eBooks used to support faculty should incorporate a blend of technology and pedagogy, include real-world teaching examples, discuss instructional design strategies and student perspectives, be accessible from anywhere at any time, include hyperlinks to videos and other resources, and incorporate illustrations and icons. Flexible, online faculty support services support faculty more effectively than on-campus workshops. The findings show that supporting faculty involves more than access to resources, however. Faculty who teach with VoiceThread feel isolated from their peers and see the eBook as a vehicle that may facilitate conversations about teaching with VoiceThread with peers, influence increased adoption on campus, and improve the likelihood of acquiring a site license. This study encouraged the VoiceThread organization to re-examine the value of the eBook to its higher education users and, as a result, will now provide the eBook as a free resource to all faculty, as opposed to institutions with a site license. Additional research should consider how free, open eBooks co-created through faculty and Web 2.0 company partnerships support part-time and full-time faculty across multiple institutions.</p>

<p> This study was initially planned to be a single study using the Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) by Conti (1978), surveying students and alumni of a four-year university. These plans were redirected to conducting a meta-analysis, utilizing 30 years of dissertations that utilized the PALS instrument.</p><p> The motivation for this study was to determine if educators might be a collaborative resource to aid corporate trainers in developing a learner-centered training program. College instructors could become corporate consultants if they reinforced the learner-center approach. A learner-centered instructor would inquire and recognize the inconsistencies in the trainer&rsquo;s teacher-centered training materials. This motive was based on first-hand experience with Acme Corporation.</p><p> There were 108 dissertations identified. Eighteen were not retrieved, and 35 dissertations did not meet the inclusion criteria. Fifty-five dissertations were used with nearly 5,300 subjects. A complete list was provided by name and ProQuest number with exclusion reasons.</p><p> The retrieved dissertations were grouped: (a) four-year colleges; (b) two-year colleges; (c) other educators. The third group consists of educators with a Masters or a Doctorate degree and teaches adult students outside of the traditional college environment.</p><p> The results showed that PALS composite mean was statistically significant for each group, and within one standard deviation of the norm mean (<i> M</i> = 146). Conti and Welborn (1986) categorized these as intermediate teacher-centered. The seven factors were analyzed, and the mean was less than one standard deviation and teacher-centered and several factors were not significantly different from the factor&rsquo;s norm mean. No scores were found to be learner-centered. Linear regression analysis was performed over three decades of dissertations to determine if there was a trend towards learner-centered style. The results indicate no correlation exists.</p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between six factors of student satisfaction and intent to continue with online education in a sample of older adult learners. Participants were chosen using a stratified random sampling of students enrolled at Mercer University and South University online programs to ensure a proportional mix of qualifying learners. The randomly selected qualifying online students received an email inviting them to participate in the study. An online survey adapted from the technology acceptance model (TAM), the Student e-learning Satisfaction Instrument (SESI), along with demographic questions were used to gather the data. The data were analyzed using logistic regression. This study involved the investigation of the relationships between the perceived satisfaction of older adults with online technologies in an educational setting, as measured by the SESI instrument with the criterion variable of intent to continue online learning. Overall, mean scores for the six predictor variables were somewhat stable across the variables, ranging from the lowest for Personalization (<i>M</i>=3.65, <i>SD</i>=0.61) to the highest for Learner Interface (<i>M</i>=3.81, <i>SD</i>=0.77). Results of binomial logistic regression analysis indicated that the variable of e-learning satisfaction is a statistically significant predictor of the odds that older adult learners intend to continue online learning (&beta;=1.205, <i> p</i>=0.006). None of the perceived satisfaction scores averaged below 3, indicating that a majority of the participants affirmed that they were satisfied with technology. The practical recommendations suggest that to ensure the success of older adult learners in the online environment, learners must be able to adopt new techniques for effective teaching and learning in an online environment. The online teaching instructor should also design the programs based on the needs of the leaners. Future research recommendations include a qualitative analysis of the research problem could produce results that substantiate the findings of the current study.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine best teaching practices utilized by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors through a qualitative content analysis of distance education journals, dedicated virtual school blogs, and electronically-documented surveys completed by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors. Two theoretical perspectives informed this study, socio-constructivism and activity theory. Socio-constructivism provided a lens addressing factors contributing to the implementation of best practices, while activity theory functioned as a descriptive means for considering the implementation of best practices within the context of varying activity systems (Vygotsky, 1978; Engestrom, 1987; Leont&rsquo;ev, 1978; Luria, 1976). The sample consisted of 5 distance education journals, 4 dedicated virtual school blogs, and 11 electronically-documented surveys completed by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors. The qualitative content analysis revealed that in following best practices virtual K&ndash;3 instructors were responsible for setting clear expectations, personalizing instruction, accommodating diverse learners, building a community of learners, implementing evidence-based teaching practices, using technology effectively in the online classroom, participating in professional development activities, and actively working with parents and administrators to improve the learning environment for virtual K&ndash;3 students. </p>