Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-113).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-154). Also available online.

Advocates of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a cross-cultural phenomenon that has attracted public attention throughout the world, portray them as an equalizing force in international higher education; but researchers have noted discrepancies in how learners from different countries have engaged with them. The number of MOOC learners in China is growing rapidly, and Chinese learners are enthusiastic about the unprecedented freedom they now have in selecting courses and accessing resources from the best international universities. However, they have a significantly low completion rate and may experience unique challenges about which little is known. This study took into account the diversity of MOOC learners and proposed changes to its course design to make it more inclusive for Chinese students. I used a mixed method—including document analysis, surveys, and interviews—to investigate the Chinese experience of taking Western MOOCs and also to explore the educational theories and design principles of MOOCs that have been discussed in the Western and Chinese literature. My analysis of the literature revealed issues of contextualization that may play a critical role in improving the MOOC experience for Chinese students. Drawing on theoretical educational frameworks—including motivation, community of inquiry, self-regulated learning, and social identity—my analysis of surveys and interviews identified common themes in the Chinese experience of Western MOOCs. In accordance with the results of my analysis, and also in line with interaction equivalency and situational principles, this study provided suggestions for adapting MOOCs to Chinese learners, such as enhancing content quality, improving learner–learner and learner–instructor interactions, providing social support, and collaborating with local universities and agencies in providing technical and credentialing support.

abstract: High school students with high-incidence disabilities and struggling writers face considerable challenges when taking high-stakes writing assessments designed to examine their suitability for entrance to college. I examined the effectiveness of a writing intervention for improving these students’ performance on a popular college entrance exam, the writing assessment for the ACT. Students were taught a planning and composing strategy for successfully taking this test using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model. A randomized control trial was conducted where 20 high school students were randomly assigned to a treatment (N = 10) or control (N = 10) condition. Control students received ACT math preparation. SRSD instruction statistically enhanced students’ planning, the quality of their written text (including ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use), the inclusion of argumentative elements in their compositions, and the use of transition words in written text. Limitations of the study, future research, and implications for practice are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2017

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O objetivo do presente estudo foi desenvolver uma discussão teórica acerca do projeto varguista que pôde ser percebido como uma tentativa de criação de um "Estado de bem-estar" no Brasil. Uma ampla base teórica traz elementos de análise sobre Estado de bem-estar, como contribuições sobre o processo de engajamento do Estado na constituição de estratégias para lidar com a "questão social", os motores desse engajamento, os atores envolvidos e o peso de seus papéis, os objetivos dos projetos de Estado de bem-estar e as consequências na instituição dos welfare states. A partir da proposta de Esping-Andersen de compreensão de diferentes regimes de welfare state - conservador, liberal e social-democrata - análise do projeto varguista resultou como enquadrado no modelo conservador. A saída corporativa, com a construção de políticas sociais - marcadamente trabalhistas -, apresentou-se como novo marco de coesão social, pelo qual poderia ser permitida a participação da classe trabalhadora. Assim como no modelo conservador sistematizado por Esping-Andersen, os direitos sociais brasileiros tiveram um reduzido potencial desmercantilizador se verificados na relação com a ideia de "cidadania regulada", pois indica uma cidadania orientada apenas para grupos ocupantes de categorias profissionais reconhecidas legalmente e pela qual a relação salarial foi traduzida em direitos e garantida constitucionalmente. As políticas sociais apresentam-se como verdadeiras políticas de formação de classe: a cidadania regulada transformava-se em promessa de inclusão, moldando as perspectivas e aspiração da classe trabalhadora e assim, legitimando a luta pela sua própria efetivação. / The aim of this study was to develop a theoritical discussion on the Vargas Project that could be perceived as an attempt to create a welfare state in Brazil. A broad theoretical basis brings elements of walfare analysius, such as academic contributions on the process of engagement of the state in setting up strategies to deal with the social question, the engines of engagement, the players involved and the weight of their roles, the goals of the welfare state projects, and the impact of their implementation. From the Esping-Andersons understanding of different welfare state regimes conservative, liberal and social democratic the analysis of the Vargas project resulted as framed in the conservative model. A corporatist option, with the building of social policies specifically labor ones , rose as the new landmark of social cohesion, allowing workers participation. As in the conservative model systematized by Esping-Anderson, Brazilian social rights had a reduced decommodification potential. That is a result of the regulated citizenship, that indicates a citizenchip which was available only to holders of legally recognized occupational posts and that constitutionally guaranteed wage relation and converted it into rights. Social policies are presented as true policies of class formation: a regulated citizenship would become a promise of inclusion, shaping the views and aspirations of the working class and thus legitimizing the struggle for theis implementation.

abstract: This study empirically evaluated the effectiveness of the instructional design, learning tools, and role of the teacher in three versions of a semester-long, high-school remedial Algebra I course to determine what impact self-regulated learning skills and learning pattern training have on students' self-regulation, math achievement, and motivation. The 1st version was a business-as-usual traditional classroom teaching mathematics with direct instruction. The 2rd version of the course provided students with self-paced, individualized Algebra instruction with a web-based, intelligent tutor. The 3rd version of the course coupled self-paced, individualized instruction on the web-based, intelligent Algebra tutor coupled with a series of e-learning modules on self-regulated learning knowledge and skills that were distributed throughout the semester. A quasi-experimental, mixed methods evaluation design was used by assigning pre-registered, high-school remedial Algebra I class periods made up of an approximately equal number of students to one of the three study conditions or course versions: (a) the control course design, (b) web-based, intelligent tutor only course design, and (c) web-based, intelligent tutor + SRL e-learning modules course design. While no statistically significant differences on SRL skills, math achievement or motivation were found between the three conditions, effect-size estimates provide suggestive evidence that using the SRL e-learning modules based on ARCS motivation model (Keller, 2010) and Let Me Learn learning pattern instruction (Dawkins, Kottkamp, & Johnston, 2010) may help students regulate their learning and improve their study skills while using a web-based, intelligent Algebra tutor as evidenced by positive impacts on math achievement, motivation, and self-regulated learning skills. The study also explored predictive analyses using multiple regression and found that predictive models based on independent variables aligned to student demographics, learning mastery skills, and ARCS motivational factors are helpful in defining how to further refine course design and design learning evaluations that measure achievement, motivation, and self-regulated learning in web-based learning environments, including intelligent tutoring systems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Technology 2013

Il est aujourd’hui reconnu que la réussite des étudiants à l’université repose sur leurs capacités à autoréguler leur apprentissage, c’est-à-dire à 1) fixer des objectifs adaptés à la tâche, 2) déployer des stratégies d’apprentissage efficaces et 3) vérifier régulièrement si ces objectifs ont été atteints. Or, lorsqu’ils apprennent des documents complexes, ceux-ci ont tendance à traiter passivement l’information et à surestimer la qualité de leur apprentissage. Cette thèse vise à déterminer si le fait d’insérer des tests d’entraînement au sein d’un document multimédia amène les étudiants à traiter plus activement les informations. Pour ce faire, nous avons réalisé quatre expériences au cours desquelles des étudiants recevaient ou non des tests d’entraînement pendant qu’ils apprenaient un cours de neurosciences. Afin d’évaluer les effets des tests sur l’activité cognitive et métacognitive des participants, nous avons combiné un questionnaire d’estimation de l’apprentissage à un protocole de verbalisation. Nos résultats montrent que les participants qui bénéficient de tests estiment plus précisément la qualité de leur apprentissage et obtiennent de meilleures performances que les participants non testés. Par ailleurs, ces meilleures performances s’expliquent par un déploiement de stratégies d’apprentissage plus adaptées à l’exigence de la tâche. Enfin, ces effets bénéfiques disparaissent lorsque l’exigence des tests d’entraînement diffère de celles de l’évaluation finale. L’ensemble de nos résultats permet de mieux comprendre les mécanismes sous-tendant l’effet des tests sur l’apprentissage ainsi que d’identifier les conditions qui favorisent leur efficacité. / It is generally accepted that students need to effectively self-regulate their learning to succeed in university, that is to 1) establish appropriate goals, 2) use effective learning strategies and 3) frequently monitor if their goals have been met. Unfortunately, when students learn complex document, they tend to process the information in a passive way and be overconfident regarding the quality of their learning. The purpose of this thesis is to study if inserting regular practice tests in a multimedia document can promote a more active learning. To pursue this thesis’ aim, four experiments were conducted whereby students were exposed to a neuroscience course and were provided with or not, different types of practice tests. We used a judgment of learning questionnaire and a think aloud protocol to assess the impact of practices tests on cognitive and metacognitive processes. Results showed that, compared with control groups, participants in the practice testing groups were significantly less overconfident in their ability to recall recently learned information and performed better on a post-test questionnaire. Furthermore, enhanced learning performance was explained by the use of more efficient learning strategies. However, when test requirement mismatched those of the final test, practice tests brought none of these beneficial effects and was therefore unhelpful for students learning. Overall, the studies’ results gave us a better insight into the psychological mechanism underlying the testing effect on learning and identify the conditions that favor it.

Submitted by Guilherme Scotto Sassi (sassi.guilherme@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-06T15:02:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_dissertação_Guilherme_Sassi.docx: 298615 bytes, checksum: a45422de56487eef92103c248862e385 (MD5) / Rejected by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br), reason: Prezado Guilherme, Arquivo em PDF e ano da apresentação 2013 e não 2012. Att. Suzi 3799-7876 on 2013-03-06T15:25:30Z (GMT) / Submitted by Guilherme Scotto Sassi (sassi.guilherme@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-06T15:29:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_dissertação_Guilherme_Sassi.pdf: 759311 bytes, checksum: 9605a3c55746dc8f6262b47b5b6b1dde (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2013-03-06T18:15:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_dissertação_Guilherme_Sassi.pdf: 759311 bytes, checksum: 9605a3c55746dc8f6262b47b5b6b1dde (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-03-06T18:20:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_dissertação_Guilherme_Sassi.pdf: 759311 bytes, checksum: 9605a3c55746dc8f6262b47b5b6b1dde (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-04 / Economists have argued that regulation is the appropriate approach to maintain output in its economically efficient level in a natural monopoly, and that can be achieved by submitting these companies to regulatory agencies’ decisions. The autonomous agencies are, however, not free in an absolute sense, and it is important to ask what the priorities of the new administration are. One answer is that it is designed to give leeway and powers of discretion to unbiased professionals with expertise in their field. In practice, however, professional experts might often be politically motivated. The objective of this study is to investigate whether political nominations to the presidency of regulatory agencies, rather than technical appointments, affect the level of regulatory risk. In order to achieve this purpose, an event study was performed, where the regulatory risk in a political nomination will be compared to a technical nomination, in terms of abnormal return.

In this phenomenological case study, I elicited the perspectives of first-year community college second language (L2) students enrolled in an online general education course, Studies in Applied Ethics. Four L2 participants narrated their lived experiences and impressions of distance learning via Skype interviews at early, mid, and end-of-semester junctures. The Distance Education instructional model Community of Inquiry (COI) served as the theoretical framework for the inquiry. The multilingual participants suggested the COI components Teaching Presence (design and facilitation of the course) and Learning Presence (self-regulated learning behaviors) led to Cognitive Presence (the understanding of and ability to demonstrate content knowledge). Social Presence, the concept of collaborating with classmates in a virtual community, seemed less desired or effectual for the L2 participants in this general education online course. Discoveries in this phenomenological case study add qualitative data and diverse perspectives to the extant research on Community Colleges, Online Teaching and Learning, Writing Across the Curriculum, and English for Academic Purposes

Abstract This study focuses on the process of self-regulated learning by investigating in detail how learners engage in self-regulated and strategic learning when studying in g/nStudy learning environments. The study uses trace methods to enable recognition of temporal patterns in learners’ activity that can signal strategic and self-regulated learning. The study comprises three data sets. In each data set, g/nStudy technology was used to support and trace self-regulated learning. In the analysis, micro-analytical protocols along with qualitative approach were favoured to better understand the process of self-regulated and strategic learning in authentic classroom settings. The results suggested that the specific technological tools used to support strategic and self-regulated learning can also be used methodologically to investigate patterns emerging from students’ cognitive regulation activity. The advantage of designing specific tools to trace and support self-regulated learning also helps to interpret the way in which the learning patterns actually inform SRL theoretically and empirically. Depending on how the tools are used, they can signal the typical patterns existing in the learning processes of students or student groups. The learning patterns found in the students’ cognitive regulation activity varied in terms of how often the patterns emerged in their learning, how the patterns were composed and when the patterns were used. Moreover, there were intra-individual differences – firstly, in how students with different learning outcomes allocated their study tactic use, and secondly, how self-regulated learning was used in challenging learning situations perceived by students. These findings indicate log file traces can reveal differences in self-regulated learning between individuals and between groups of learners with similar characteristics based on the learning patterns they used. However, learning patterns obtained from log file traces can sometimes be complex rather than simple. Therefore, log file traces need to be combined with other situation-specific measurements to better understand how they might elucidate self-regulated learning in the learning context. / Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan oppilaiden itsesäätöisen ja strategisen oppimisen ilmenemistä oppimisprosessin aikana. Tutkimuksessa hyödynnetään g/nStudy- oppimisympäristöä, jonka avulla on mahdollista tukea ja jäljittää oppimisen strategista toimintaa. g/nStudy-oppimisympäristö tallentaa lokidataa, joka on tarkkaa ajallista informaatiota siitä toiminnasta, jota oppilas tekee työskentelynsä aikana. Toisin sanoen, lokidatasta on mahdollista jäljittää ne tiedot, jotka reflektoivat strategista – ja itsesäätöistä oppimista. Erityisenä mielenkiinnon kohteena oli selvittää miten lokidatasta voi löytää strategisia oppimisen toimintamalleja, ja miten nämä strategiset oppimisen toimintamallit vaihtelevat oppilaiden, oppilasryhmien ja erilaisten oppimisen tilanteiden aikana. Väitöstutkimus muodostuu kolmesta erillisestä tutkimusaineistosta. Jokaisessa kolmessa aineistossa on hyödynnetty g/nStudy-teknologian mahdollisuuksia tukea ja jäljittää itsesäätöistä oppimista. Tutkimusaineiston analyysissä hyödynnetään mikroanalyyttista lähestymistapaa sekä laadullista tutkimusotetta. Tutkimuksen analyyttinen lähestymistapa antaa mahdollisuuden ymmärtää itsesäätöisen- ja strategisen oppimisen ilmenemistä aidossa oppimistilanteessa. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että oppimisympäristöön sisällytettyjä teknologisia työkaluja voidaan käyttää tukemaan itsesäätöistä ja strategista toimintaa. Sen lisäksi samoja työkaluja voidaan käyttää myös menetelmällisenä välineenä tutkittaessa itsesäätöistä – ja strategista toimintaa erilaisissa oppimistilanteissa. Tutkimus -tulokset osoittavat, että oppimisen strategiset toimintamallit vaihtelivat oppilaiden – ja oppimistilanteiden välillä. Oppimisen strategisissa toimintamalleissa oli myös laadullisia eroja sen suhteen, miten usein ne ilmenivät oppimisprosessin aikana ja mistä strategisista toiminnoista ne koostuivat. Johtopäätöksenä voi todeta, että lokidatan käyttäminen tutkimusmenetelmänä edesauttaa paljastamaan opiskelun strategisia toimintamalleja oppilaiden – ja oppilasryhmien välillä. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että strategiset toimintamallit voivat olla hyvinkin monimuotoisia. On tärkeää tunnistaa, missä tilanteissa ja milloin näitä toimintamalleja käytetään ja erityisesti mikä on niiden vaikutus oppimisen laatuun.