The introduction of this thesis is an essay examining the poem Homage to Paul Cezanne by Charles Wright. Claiming that the capacity to serve as intersection of the singular and universal is poetry's means to transcendence, the essay uses the Charles Wright's poem to demonstration this capacity, identifying poetry's ability to access the primitive: its connection to the base of what humanity is and can be, as the means by which that transcendence is possible. Placing the discussion within the context of the Romantic Movement and furthering the literary ideals of the paralleling interior human Nature, to external nature. Following this introduction is a four section collection of poetry, unified by the philosophy of the essay which precedes it.

This research was a triangulated study of student attitudes towards instructors' rapport-building traits and their preferences amongst instructors' rapport-building practices in online learning environments. Participants were undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in courses within an educational technology program at a central Texas university. The study employed a mixed-methods approach involving the Likert-item assessment of learners' attitudes, the identification and prioritization of learner preferences through pairwise comparisons, and semi-structured interviews that provided richer, more detailed information. Findings indicated a strong preference for instructor-based traits and practices over pedagogically-based ones. These traits and practices loaded into the components of social presence, enjoyable interaction, and personal connection.

Higher education is undergoing rapid changes brought about by the ongoing financial crisis, globalization, and the rapid advancement of information technology. This scholarly personal narrative will apply assemblage theory and system dynamics to analyze the financial, cultural, and political constraints hampering change processes at traditional institutions of higher learning. Using this analysis as a starting point, the author will describe an open learning organization that addresses these issues, and how these principles have been applied to create Oplerno, LLC.–a new kind of higher educational institution.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Dean A. Zollman / The work described here represents an effort to design, construct, and test an interactive online multimedia learning environment that can provide physics instruction to students in their homes. The system was designed with one-on-one human tutoring in mind as the mode of instruction. The system uses an original combination of a video-based tutor that incorporates natural language processing video-centered lessons and additional illustrative multimedia. Our Synthetic Interview (SI) tutor provides pre-recorded video answers from expert physics instructors in response to students’ typed natural language questions. Our lessons cover Newton’s laws and provide a context for the tutoring interaction to occur, connect physics ideas to real-world behavior of mechanical systems, and allow for quantitative testing of physics. Additional multimedia can be used to supplement the SI tutors’ explanations and illustrate the physics of interest. The system is targeted at students of algebra-based and concept-based physics at the college and high school level. The system logs queries to the SI tutor, responses to lesson questions and several other interactions with the system, tagging those interactions with a username and timestamp. We have provided several groups of students with access to our system under several different conditions ranging from the controlled conditions of our interview facility to the naturalistic conditions of use at home. In total nearly two-hundred students have accessed the system. To gain insight into the ways students might use the system and understand the utility of its various components we analyzed qualitative interview data collected with 22 algebra-based physics students who worked with our system in our interview facility. We also performed a descriptive analysis of data from the system’s log of user interactions. Finally we explored the use of machine learning to explore the possibility of using automated assessment to augment the interactive capabilities of the system as well as to identify productive and unproductive use patterns. This work establishes a proof-of-concept level demonstration of the feasibility of deploying this type of system. The impact of this work and the possibility of future research efforts are discussed in the context of Internet technologies that are changing rapidly.

Approximately 50% of doctoral students in social science, humanities, and educational doctoral programs fail to earn the Ph.D. This number is 10% to 15% higher for students enrolled in online or limited-residency programs. Using in-depth interviewing and qualitative data analysis techniques, this study examined participants' recollections of their experience as students in a limited-residency doctoral program and their reasons for withdrawal. The study addresses the following question "What is the nature of the participants' experiences of doctoral attrition in a limited-residency doctoral program?" The use of a grounded theory analysis helped identify obstacles that ultimately cause students to withdraw from limited-residency programs. The elucidation of these barriers led to the development of a theoretical model comprised of three components; each clarified relationships between attrition and a support issue (i.e., advisor support, dissertation support and program support). These components were then combined into a single theoretical model that identified the nature of participants' experience of attrition. The theoretical model helps identify steps faculty and administration could take in order to reduce attrition. The study's findings are presented in a discussion of themes found throughout the participant's narratives. Recommendations for effective doctoral education practices from existing literature are supported in the findings of this study. The limited-residency doctoral program may consider offering several forms of support to improve doctoral retention. Additionally, the program should give close attention to the relationship between the advisor and the student. Recommendations were made regarding significant program factors, accountability measures for dissertation committees and chairperson, improved monitoring of attrition, and improving the overall communication with the dissertation students. The concluding chapter includes implications of the findings and recommendations for further research regarding doctoral student attrition.

In this thesis, learning refers to the intelligent computational extraction of knowledge from data. Supervised learning tasks require data to be annotated with labels, whereas for unsupervised learning, data is not labelled. Semi-supervised learning deals with data sets that are partially labelled. A major issue with supervised and semi-supervised learning of data streams is late-arriving or missing class labels. Assuming that correctly labelled data will always be available and timely is often unfeasible, and, as such, supervised methods are not directly applicable in the real world. Therefore, real-world problems usually require the use of semi-supervised or unsupervised learning techniques. For instance, when considering a spam detection task, it is not reasonable to assume that all spam will be identified (correctly labelled) prior to learning. Additionally, in semi-supervised learning, "the instances having the highest [predictive] confidence are not necessarily the most useful ones" [41]. We investigate how self-training performs without its selective heuristic in a streaming setting. This leads us to our contributions. We extend an existing concept drift detector to operate without any labelled data, by using a sliding window of our ensemble's prediction confidence, instead of a boolean indicating whether the ensemble's predictions are correct. We also extend selective self-training, a semi-supervised learning method, by using all predictions, and not only those with high predictive confidence. Finally, we introduce a novel windowing type for ensembles, as sliding windows are very time consuming and regular tumbling windows are not a suitable replacement. Our windowing technique can be considered a hybrid of the two: we train each sub-classifier in the ensemble with tumbling windows, but delay training in such a way that only one sub-classifier can update its model per iteration. We found, through statistical significance tests, that our framework is (roughly 160 times) faster than current state of the art techniques, and achieves comparable predictive accuracy. That being said, more research is needed to further reduce the quantity of labelled data used for training, while also increasing its predictive accuracy.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The purpose of this study was to determine whether a match between a participant's learning style and type of online instruction improved learner performance on tests measuring comprehension and retention. Learning style was measured by the Self-Directed Leamer Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and the Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scale (GRSLSS) and online instruction varied among online courses, recorded online courses, and computer-based tutorials. The setting for the study was a high tech machine vision company in Massachusetts and online users of its products were the participants. Three groups of learners participated in the study: employees, high school students, and customers. All three groups were comprised of engineers or engineering students. All 106 participants completed a survey that measured their preference for self-directed and collaborative learning style with the standard instruments SDLRS and GRSLSS. Participants completed 323 pre- and post-tests for 46 live online courses, recorded online courses, and computer-based tutorials during the data collection phase of the study. Those participants learning in their preferred learning style had the highest mean improvement from pre- to post-tests. Those participants with average or below average scores for self-directed and collaborative learning style showed the least improvement. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that matching the type of activity, collaborative or self-directed, to the learner's preferred learning style improved performance. The study included ten research questions. / 2031-01-01

abstract: This study aims to gain an understanding of higher education interventions taking place in refugee camps around the world that implement hybrid online and on-site models. Through an archival, database study, this uncovers the most salient characteristics of 8 international interventions (Australian Catholic University, Borderless Higher Education for Refugees, Jesuit Worldwide Learning: Higher Education at the Margins, InZone, Kepler, Mosaik, Global Border Studies, and Education for Humanity) in regard to logistics, academics, technology, and pedagogy. The study found multiple ways in which these programs seek to increase inclusion and success of refugee learners. These techniques include (1) free tuition, (2) nutrition, security, and transportation accommodations, (3) gender equity provisions, (4) course accreditation, (5) preparatory courses, (6) student support and development, (7) durable solutions related to employment, (8) tailored curricula, (9) flexibility of course structure, (10) critical thinking & reflection, (11) hybrid, adaptable, and portable course delivery, (12) on-site technology support, and (13) accommodations related to electricity and internet connectivity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Justice Studies 2019

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Current institutional and technological innovations are challenging face-to-face, college- and university-based teacher preparation programs as never before. Among those innovations are two emerging phenomena: New graduate schools of education (nGSEs) and fully online teacher preparation programs. nGSEs are new independent graduate schools that are not university-based but are state-authorized and approved as institutions of higher education to prepare teachers, endorse them for initial teacher certification, and grant master’s degrees (Cochran-Smith et al., 2019). Fully online teacher preparation programs are programs that relocate teacher preparation from the physical environments of the brick-and-mortar university to the digital environments of the internet and provide prospective teachers with flexible alternatives to face-to-face pathways. While both fully online teacher preparation programs and nGSEs have garnered enthusiastic media attention and critique, there is a very limited amount of in-depth knowledge about fully online teacher preparation programs and virtually no independent research on nGSEs. This dissertation helps to address those gaps in research. The central purpose of this dissertation was to examine the intersection of fully online teacher preparation and the phenomenon of teacher preparation at nGSEs by investigating teacher preparation at TEACH-NOW Graduate School of Education, a fully online, for-profit, nGSE headquartered in Washington, D.C. and rapidly expanding as a provider of initial teacher education. Intended to be descriptive and interpretive, this qualitative case study sought to understand the phenomenon of teacher preparation at TEACH-NOW from the perspectives of its participants. Based on qualitative analysis of multiple sources of evidence, the main argument of this dissertation is that TEACH-NOW operated at the nexus of a complex tension between the push to be innovative and the pull to be legitimate. Findings suggest that TEACH-NOW skillfully navigated that tension by establishing tight coherence around three key indicators of innovation (business model, technology, program structure) and by achieving major accepted markers of credibility within the larger teacher education organizational field. This dissertation also argues that TEACH-NOW’s approach to teacher preparation necessitated that teacher candidates self-manage their program experiences in accordance with their individual needs, circumstances, and preferences. The dissertation concludes with discussion of important themes and specific research, practice, and policy implications. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / Education in NSW reflects world-wide trends that promise changed practices through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), to assist students attain capabilities expected of an educated population in contemporary society. Most recently, the use of the Internet has become a major priority for NSW government schools, with the expectation that students will increasingly participate in online learning activities. As educators grapple to find evidence of changed practices and extended or enhanced learning experiences for students, attention has turned to new forms of activity that have emerged within the online environment. This thesis explores the implementation of online projects as one such emergent form. The study focuses on the experiences of students and the practices of classes, with a view to asking how the online projects reconstruct the learning environments and activities of classes, how they contribute to the learning achievement of students and to the effective use of Internet technologies in K-12 school settings. A collective case study approach was used to reveal multiple views of online projects implemented in five NSW schools. Particular value is attached to the viewpoints of students and to professional dialogues with teachers that contributed insights into what was occurring in the classes and what was achieved as a result. Meanings have been drawn from each case to build a better understanding of the phenomenon of online projects as a whole. The study draws on social constructivist and project-based theoretical perspectives, with their widely accepted claims to benefits for students of authentic, learner-centred, participatory learning. The thesis argues that online projects can stimulate and support learning activities that produce these known benefits, while recognising constraints that exist in every-day classes. The online projects present a disruptive force within classes, changing the nature of activities and forcing a shift in the roles of both teachers and students, and of the technology itself, making it subservient to the learning intentions. Findings for students relate both to participation and learning effects. Strength of student engagement and the value of authentic learning activities emerged as notable features of the online project experience. Rather than accepting these claims as sufficient outcome of the projects, this thesis identifies attributes that promote student engagement. It examines what constitutes authentic activity for school students, especially younger ones, and how a sense of authenticity is established in learning tasks. It particularly explores the contribution of online presentation of the projects to the benefits and constraints identified. The study has significant implications for education systems and teachers, and for the design and implementation of online projects as part an effective online learning provision for schools. In the highly conflicted area of investment in ICT and the search for purposeful learning uses of the Internet, online projects present a teaching and learning approach that can deliver some of the much-acclaimed potential – primarily because they promote changes in practice that are concerned with much more than just the use of the technology.