As online learning is an important part of higher education, the effectiveness of online learning has been tested with different methods. Although the literature regarding online learning effectiveness has been related to various factors, a more comprehensive review of the factors may result in broader understanding of online learning effectiveness. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among online learning effectiveness, interactivity, collaboration, communication media, and group trust. A student survey based on online learning effectiveness, interactivity, collaboration, communication media, group trust, and demographic information was used in this study. All these variables were used as predictor variables. A total of 401 responses were received during summer 2013 from a southeastern university. Different models were compared by using multiple linear regression. Results of the best predicting model showed interactivity was the strongest predictor of online learning effectiveness, followed by previous online grades, age, employment status, number of online courses taken, and ethnicity. These predictors explained 38% of the variances in online learning effectiveness. Findings of this study provide valuable information for online instructors and university administrators.

Inter-group social trust is one of the main elements for peacebuilding and, as a common feature of civil wars, Forced Internal Displacement is creating further complexities and challenges for post-war inter-group social trust. However, research revealed that among the internally displaced people, some tend to have a higher level of post-war inter-group trust compared to the other IDP. Surprisingly, an analysis based on this topic revealed that only a small number of studies are focusing on the condition of Internally Displaced People’s post-war intergroup social trust in the long run. This study examines the inter-group social trust of internally displaced people to provide a theoretical explanation for the following question; under what conditions the internally displaced people tend to trust more/less the conflicting party in the post-war context? With an examination of the social psychology research, this thesis argues that under the condition of postwar the IDP who have experienced continuous pre-war inter-group contact the post-war intergroup social trust will be stronger than the IDP who do not have such inter-group contact experience. The reason behind this expectation is the expected effect of inter-group contact on eliminating the prejudices and promoting the ‘collective knowledge’ regarding the war and displacement, thus promoting inter-group trust. This research is collected data from two groups of internally displaced people of Cyprus; IDP displaced from heterogeneous areas and homogenous areas, using the method of qualitative single case analysis. The findings show strong support for the expected causal relationship.