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.

Increasingly the perceived benefits of using networked computers, software applications and computer simulations in learning activities are being exploited at all educational levels and within all curricula areas. As web-based and online software applications such as browsers, search engines, communication tools and data-bases mature, so does educator's use of this medium for teaching and learning. How we can investigate the impact of these technologies upon the educational experiences of learners was the fundamental concept addressed by this thesis. The study reports on the design, development and validation of a web-based survey instrument for use in online learning environments in tertiary education. The thesis investigated both previous psychosocial learning environment instrument development studies and the nature of environments created by the use of information and communication technologies. The research followed a two-phased instrument development process. Phase one focused on content validity, identifying salient scales and items and piloting the instrument with a limited audience. Phase two focused on construct validity, conducting an extensive field test with a web-based form and performing statistical analysis on the online data collected. Principal components analysis, with oblique and orthogonal rotations, confirmed the structure of a 35-item 7-scale instrument. The thesis concludes by confirming the new instrument, the Online Learning Environment Survey (OLLES), will allow conclusions to be drawn about student perceptions on the interactions occurring in their online environments in an economical and efficient manner.

The purpose of this study was to explore early-career faculty&rsquo / s needs on teaching related issues and examine the effectiveness of an online environment that was designed as a support to a graduate course on teaching in higher education. The study was carried out through two phases including a needs analysis and evaluation of the online environment. Findings of the needs analysis were used as input data in designing the online environment. An exploratory mixed design was employed to investigate graduate assistants&rsquo / perceptions about the effectiveness of the online environment in general, and the components specifically. Results of the first phase revealed that early-career faculty (n=53) were highly willing to participate in faculty instructional development activities, mostly through workshops and internet-based systems. Having students&rsquo / active participation into class was found to be one of the biggest concerns of new faculty. The second phase of the study provided descriptive data related to graduate assistants&rsquo / (n=10) use of an online environment incorporating a discussion forum, exemplary V teaching case and informative videos. Interaction with people from different academic fields helped the graduate assistants to experience and gain different perspectives about teaching. The graduate course itself raised graduate assistants&rsquo / awareness with regard to the teaching aspect of their profession. Online components generally provided the graduate assistants with different perspectives on teaching, and contemplate their future teaching. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that online technologies have a potential to support faculty instructional development through incorporating visual media and communication tools.

The rapid growth in online learning opportunities and online courses in K-12 education is well documented in the literature. Studies conducted by various researchers that have focused on the K-12 population of online learners demonstrate that certain online learner characteristics and online learning environment characteristics may impact the likelihood of students passing or failing online courses. Research has produced models that predict online course success with measurable degrees of accuracy. This descriptive study examines characteristics of students enrolled in online high school courses provided by a virtual learning program administered by a single Virginia public school district. The study determined that students’ prior academic success; confidence in their technology skills and access to technology; confidence in their ability to achieve; and strong beliefs in their organizational skills proved to have a significant statistical relationship with online course success. The study developed a model with these factors that predicted success in online courses with a high degree of accuracy and predicted failure with a moderate degree of accuracy.The study has policy implications for public school leaders in Virginia as they implement recent state legislation requiring students to successfully complete a virtual course to graduate from public high school. The study indicates that additional research is warranted to further delineate learner and learning environment characteristics producing a model that more accurately predicts failure in online courses. Additional research is warranted with larger samples from single district virtual programs.

This thesis investigates personal knowledge development in online learning environments and the impact that personal values have on it. Personal knowledge development was investigated from the perspective of Nonaka’s SECI model of organisational knowledge creation. This model served as the basis for an adapted model that conceptualises personal knowledge development in online learning at the individual level. The personal value types of the Schwartz Value Survey and the Portrait Values Questionnaire were adopted to measure personal values and their impact on personal knowledge development in online learning environments. Three data collection approaches were used. First, an exploratory study was conducted which elicited online learners’ experiences of their personal knowledge development in online learning; this study used online discussion forums for data collection. Second, a Delphi study was carried out. Experts were asked which of the ten individual-level value types by Schwartz are likely to be particularly relevant in the context of online learning. Third, an online survey was created. Its aim was to measure the impact that personal values and background variables, such as gender and age, have on personal knowledge development in online learning. A measurement instrument was devised that measures three of the SECI modes, namely Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation. This instrument measures the magnitude of online learners’ Externalisation and Combination activities as well as their level of Internalisation, i.e. the outcomes of personal knowledge development. Results of the exploratory study show that there are widely diverging experiences of personal knowledge development in online learning. The literature review suggests that the cultural situatedness of an online learning environment is an important influencing factor on personal knowledge development. The results of the Delphi study suggest that Self-Direction, Stimulation, and Achievement are particularly relevant value types in the context investigated here. Finally, the online survey confirms this view, as all three value types were found to be positively correlated with Externalisation, Combination, and Internalisation, with the exception of the Achievement-Combination relationship. A modified version of the SECI model is proposed, which extends the applicability of the original SECI model from the organisational to the individual level. It is argued that this model is suitable to describe personal knowledge development in the context of online learning. The study also contributes to closing the gap in research on the impact of personal values in the context investigated in this study. Moreover, a measurement instrument was created that can be used to measure Externalisation and Combination, i.e. personal knowledge development processes, and Internalisation, i.e. personal knowledge development outcomes.

Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) courses are critical for any computer science curriculum. DSA courses emphasize concepts related to procedural dynamics and Algorithm Analysis (AA). These concepts are hard for students to grasp when conveyed using traditional textbook material relying on text and static images. Algorithm Visualizations (AVs) emerged as a technique for conveying DSA concepts using interactive visual representations. Historically, AVs have dealt with portraying algorithm dynamics, and the AV developer community has decades of successful experience with this. But there exist few visualizations to present algorithm analysis concepts. This content is typically still conveyed using text and static images. We have devised an approach that we term Algorithm Analysis Visualizations (AAVs), capable of conveying AA concepts visually. In AAVs, analysis is presented as a series of slides where each statement of the explanation is connected to visuals that support the sentence. We developed a pool of AAVs targeting the basic concepts of AA. We also developed AAVs for basic sorting algorithms, providing a concrete depiction about how the running time analysis of these algorithms can be calculated. To evaluate AAVs, we conducted a quasi-experiment across two offerings of CS3114 at Virginia Tech. By analyzing OpenDSA student interaction logs, we found that intervention group students spent significantly more time viewing the material as compared to control group students who used traditional textual content. Intervention group students gave positive feedback regarding the usefulness of AAVs to help them understand the AA concepts presented in the course. In addition, intervention group students demonstrated better performance than control group students on the AA part of the final exam. The final exam taken by both the control and intervention groups was based on a pilot version of the Algorithm Analysis Concept Inventory (AACI) that was developed to target fundamental AA concepts and probe students' misconceptions about these concepts. The pilot AACI was developed using a Delphi process involving a group of DSA instructors, and was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument to gauge students' understanding of the basic AA topics. / Ph. D. / Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) courses are critical for any computer science curriculum. DSA courses emphasize concepts related to how an algorithm works and the time and space needed by the algorithm, also known as Algorithm Analysis (AA). These concepts are hard for students to grasp when conveyed using traditional textbook material relying on text and static images. Algorithm Visualizations (AVs) emerged as a technique for conveying DSA concepts using interactive visual representations. Historically, AVs have dealt with portraying how an algorithm works, and the AV developer community has decades of successful experience with this. But there exist few visualizations to present concepts related to algorithm efficiency. This content is typically still conveyed using text and static images. We have devised an approach that we term Algorithm Analysis Visualizations (AAVs), capable of conveying efficiency analysis concepts visually. In AAVs, analysis is presented as a series of slides where each statement of the explanation is connected to visuals that support the sentence. AAVs were tested through a study across two offerings of CS3114 at Virginia Tech. We found that students using AAVs spent significantly more time viewing the material as compared to students who used traditional textual content. Students gave positive feedback regarding the usefulness of AAVs to help them understand the efficiency concepts presented in the course. In addition, students using AAVs demonstrated better performance than students using text on the efficiency part of the final exam. The final exam was based on a pilot version of the Algorithm Analysis Concept Inventory (AACI) that was developed to target fundamental efficiency concepts and probe students’ misconceptions about these concepts. The pilot AACI was developed through a decision making technique involving a group of DSA instructors, and was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument to gauge students’ understanding of the basic efficiency topics.

Michael Moore's theory of transactional distance, developed in the age of correspondence schools, contributed greatly to theory building in distance education. The theory needs revision, however, when applied to web-based learning environments, specifically by defining transactional distance to include students' relationships with other elements in the learning environment that prohibit their active engagement with learning. The new theoretical model of transactional distance has four dimensions: transactional distance between student and student (TDSS), transactional distance between student and teacher (TDST), transactional distance between student and content (TDSC), and transactional distance between student and interface: online course management system (TDSI). A preliminary item pool of more than 200 items to measure the constructs of TD, TDST, TDSS, TDSC, and TDSI was generated and sent to a panel of experts for review. Items that the reviewers considered weak or very weak in terms of relevance to the constructs and/or clarity and conciseness were eliminated. After a pilot test and further revisions, the proposed scale of transactional distance was administered to a sample of 100 college students. Confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory analyses indicated that the measurement models, especially after modifications, possessed good fit for the data, and the modified scales possessed factorial validity. Reliability analyses indicated that the scales possessed strong internal consistency, with Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from 0.8169 to 0.9530. Structural equation modeling procedures tested for the causal relationship between the four dimensions and students' general sense of transactional distance in web-based courses. Results indicate that the proposed model of transactional distance is acceptable. The strongest factor that affected students' sense of transactional distance and engagement with learning was found to be transactional distance between student and students (TDSS), followed by transactional distance between student and teacher (TDST), and then by transactional distance between student and content (TDSC). The findings have implications for the development of a revised theory of transactional distance in online education, and provide strong support for constructivist learning theories and social learning theories, reinforcing the importance of establishing learning communities in online learning environments.

In a learning community, conventional discussion forums are integral to webbased interventions in traditional classrooms as well as on-line learning environments. Despite popular belief that they are a great success in fostering deep and meaningful discussions and support active learning; research has found that there are millions of messages posted by users to express such an opinion, but it is hard to be directly delivered to all users. Finally there are millions of postings in databases across the country stored away and never reused. This thesis introduces a PhD student’s current research work. It proposes a distributed intelligent discussion forum system dedicated to supporting both students and teachers. The system is developed with the primary goal of reducing the number of problems associated with conventional discussion forum systems in web-based environments and improving the effectiveness of dialogue between students with each other and with teachers so that it can enhance each individual student’s ability to share and learn knowledge.

Submitted by Josimara Dias Brumatti (bcgdigital@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-04-07T14:44:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE-COMPLETA-M_AparecidaMoreira.pdf: 9543959 bytes, checksum: bdb8d0b73270a8e24f0556710d3f0e8b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josimara Dias Brumatti (bcgdigital@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-04-07T14:50:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE-COMPLETA-M_AparecidaMoreira.pdf: 9543959 bytes, checksum: bdb8d0b73270a8e24f0556710d3f0e8b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-07T14:50:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE-COMPLETA-M_AparecidaMoreira.pdf: 9543959 bytes, checksum: bdb8d0b73270a8e24f0556710d3f0e8b (MD5) / O presente trabalho narra a trajetória de um ciclo de aprendizagem expansiva, concebido sob a forma de um projeto pedagógico de criação, experimentação e implementação de um ambiente virtual de aprendizagem (AVA) para complementar e expandir as aulas de língua inglesa do 8º e 9º anos do Ensino Fundamental de uma escola pública, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A pesquisa teve como objetivo suscitar reflexões sobre como a adoção de uma tecnologia da Web 2.0 contribuiu para a construção de um novo modelo para o sistema de atividade aulas de inglês na escola. Tal modelo consiste de uma situação híbrida de ensino e aprendizagem que, além de conjugar a experiência virtual com a presencial, também oferece a alunos e professor a experimentação de novas formas de ensinar e aprender pautadas na interação social e na colaboração, elementos que fundamentam o paradigma da Aprendizagem Participativa, em contraponto ao Paradigma da Aquisição que ainda predomina nos ambientes escolares (SFARD, 1998). O projeto foi descrito e analisado dentro da ótica da Teoria da Atividade Sócio-histórico-cultural (TASHC) e segue o modelo do ciclo da Aprendizagem Expansiva de Engeström (1987), caracterizada como a 3ª geração da referida teoria. A TASHC se mostrou um caminho viável para o acompanhamento e a compreensão do processo de transformação promovido pelo projeto na prática pedagógica. Conceitos desenvolvidos dentro desse referencial teórico, como contradição e agência, orientaram tanto o próprio ciclo de aprendizagem quanto a interpretação dos dados por ele gerados. Os dados revelaram indícios de que as oportunidades promovidas pelo projeto resultaram na emergência de um modelo híbrido de aprendizagem, ainda que incipiente. Foi possível também observar entre os alunos que se engajaram no projeto a emergência de uma nova modalidade de agência que os conduziu à reconceitualização do objeto da atividade aulas de inglês na escola. Por fim, o ciclo expansivo fez emergir novas contradições, sobretudo aquelas originadas pelo conflito entre os dois paradigmas de ensino e aprendizagem mencionados acima. Tais contradições apontam para a necessidade de continuidade do referido ciclo. Desse modo, a minha expectativa é de que o presente trabalho possa contribuir para estimular a reflexão sobre o potencial inovador que as novas tecnologias oferecem ao ensino de língua inglesa no país, quando sua adoção é compreendida dentro do contexto histórico e social dessa prática pedagógica. / This study describes the trajectory of a cycle of expansive learning prompted by a school project of creation, experimentation and implementation of an online learning environment to extend and expand my teaching of English to Elementary classes in a Federal school in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. It addresses the question about how the use of Web 2.0 technologies can contribute to the construction of a new model for the English classes at school, understood as an activity system. This model encompasses a blended situation which conjugates not only online and face-to-face classes but also experiences with new ways of learning and teaching, framed within the Participation paradigm (SFARD, 1998). This new notion of teaching and learning brings about conflicts with the Acquisition paradigm, which prevails in most school settings. The study deploys the concepts of the Cultural-historical Activity Theory (CHAT), specifically Engeström’s model of Expansive Learning (1987). These conceptual frameworks proved to be a viable means to understand the transformation process triggered by the school project. Concepts such as contradictions and agency guided both the trajectory of the expansive cycle and the interpretation of the data generated throughout the project. The findings indicate that the opportunities promoted by the project resulted in the emergence of a rudimentary form of blended learning, a new model for the activity. A new type of agency was also observed among some of the students who participated in the project, leading to the reconceptualization of the object of the activity “English classes at school”. Finally, the expansive cycle provoked the emergence of contradictions, due to the interface between the old and new model of the activity. These contradictions indicate new directions for the expansive cycle. The study demonstrates that the innovative potential of the new technologies to the teaching of English may be better fulfilled when it is accompanied by an understanding of its social and historic context of the activity where it is introduced.

Avec le développement fulgurant des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication, les méthodes classiques de diffuser, d’accéder et de partager l’information ont été repensées.Actuellement, les TIC dédiées à l’éducation sont en plein essor, permettant à l’être humain des nouvelles manières pour se former en toute autonomie et pour tracer son propre parcours d’apprentissage. L’e-Learning, comme nouvelle forme d’apprentissage facilite, à la fois, l’accès à des ressources pédagogiques et l’échange et la collaboration à distance. Afin de remédier les contraintes liées à l’interopérabilité des dispositifs e-Learning et de garantir la qualité de l’apprentissage, l’application des référentiels normatifs doit toucher tous les aspects d’un dispositif d’apprentissage (les profils des apprenants, les méthodes de suivi et d’évaluation, les outils et les fonctionnalités de communication...). Le travail proposé dans cette thèse a pour but d’examiner l’état d’application de référentiels normatifs dans l’Université Virtuelle de Tunis. A travers une étude de terrain, nous avons étudié d’une part, la réceptivité de l’UVT aux intérêts des référentiels normatifs dédiés à l’éducation, et d’autre part, nous avons repéré les outils de communication intégrés dans la plateforme Moodle permettant au tuteur d’assurer le suivi, l’évaluation et le soutien. / With the significant growth of Information and Communication Technologies, the traditional methods of disseminating, accessing and sharing information have been reshaped.Currently, the ICT dedicated to education are thriving, enabling learner human new ways to train independently and draw their own learning paths. The e-Learning is a new form of learning facilitates both, access to educational resources, sharing and remote collaboration.To overcome the difficulties related to interoperability of e-Learning systems and guarantee the quality of learning, the application of normative references must apply to all aspects of a learning device (learner’s profiles, methods of monitoring and evaluation, communication tools and capabilities ...). The work proposed in this thesis aims to examine the state of reference standards application in the Virtual University of Tunis. Through a case study, we examined on the one hand, the receptivity of the VUT on regarding the interests of normative references dedicated to education, on the other hand; we identified the communication tools integrated in the platform Moodle allowing the tutor to follow up, evaluation and support.