While technology continues to advance, so do methods of learning. In post-secondary education during the twentieth century, the traditional classroom setting was geared toward auditory instruction and face-to-face peer interaction. Not only was this the most efficient means of instruction for the time period but the only means. Along with the advent of communication technology came the concept of Web courses. Web courses have expanded the means by which students can experience course lectures and have beckoned the use of updated media by which such lectures can take place. Such media include threaded discussions, chat rooms and e-mail. At the University of Central Florida, the gradual change from WebCT to Webcourses offered students more direct contact with updated threaded discussions and more centralized communication on the whole. The quality of such communication measures has been in question, though, and the effectiveness of such online communication methods is the focus of my research.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the use of a course management system in a University learning environment and the factors that affect students' attitude and performance in such environments and to study the relationship between these factors. The course management system that was used in the research studies in this thesis was WebCT. Three in-field studies were carried out to achieve the aim of this research thesis. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used in the studies. Data from participants were collected via questionnaires, interviews, and numerical data from the WebCT tracking system. First the relationship between the students' attitude towards using WebCT and their module leaders' attitude towards using it was studied. Then, the relationship between students' cognitive styles and their satisfaction, their achievement, and their way of using WebCT was investigated. Finally, a model of the critical factors affecting students‟ attitudes to WebCT, use of WebCT and achievement was developed and tested. The model is divided into three main dimensions. The three dimensions are 1) The learner dimension: students' interaction with their classmates, students' capability of using the internet, students' capability of using WebCT. 2) The instructor dimension: Instructor's technical competence, instructor's way of presenting materials on WebCT, interaction between students and their instructor. 3) The technology dimension: usefulness, ease of use, flexibility, quality. The results suggested that students have a positive attitude towards using a course management system (WebCT) on their courses. Also, the results indicated that students' use of WebCT is a positive indicator of their academic achievement (in terms of performance on specific modules). It was also found that instructor attitude and way of using WebCT affects students' attitude and performance when using WebCT. The Technology dimension was found to be a positive indicator of students' attitude and use of WebCT. The Instructor dimension was also found to be a positive indicator of students' attitude and achievement in WebCT. Moreover, the Learner dimension was found to be a positive indicator of students' attitude, use of WebCT and achievement.

Este trabalho está inserido no projeto AdaptWeb, voltado para autoria e apresentação adaptativa de disciplinas integrantes de cursos EAD na Web. Esta pesquisa visa colaborar na definição de uma sistemática para autoria adaptativa e na especificação de uma ferramenta para autoria. Está ferramenta possibilita ao autor oferecer um mesmo conteúdo adaptado para diferentes perfis de usuários. Através da sistemática de autoria, o autor organiza e reestrutura o material instrucional de forma hierárquica, onde inicialmente classifica o material como uma estrutura de conceitos. Após a organização dos conceitos, define-se uma lista de conteúdos adicionais classificados como exemplos adicionais, exercícios e material complementar para cada conceito. Ao termino da organização do material, o autor faz uso da ferramenta de autoria, onde efetua o cadastro da disciplina e dos cursos relacionados. Na próxima etapa ele cria a estrutura de conteúdo organizado através da sistemática de autoria e relaciona o material identificado para cada conceito. Para cada item da estrutura o autor especifica para quais cursos deseja disponibilizar acesso ao conteúdo. Durante a fase de autoria toda a estrutura do conteúdo programático é armazenada em estrutura de dados em memória, sendo posteriormente armazenada em formato XML, onde são aplicados filtros para apresentação do conteúdo adaptado ao modelo do usuário. Através da sistemática e da ferramenta de autoria, é possível apresentar o conteúdo adaptados na apresentação e durante a navegação. Esta proposta foi validada através de um estudo de caso real, envolvendo a disciplina de Computação Algébrica e Numérica da Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). O conteúdo desta disciplina é oferecido para três cursos universitários: Matemática, Engenharia e Ciência da Computação. Para cada curso, o autor configura uma seqüência de conceitos, com seus respectivos níveis de profundidade, bem como exemplos, exercícios e material complementar apropriado. / This work is included in the AdaptWeb project, focussed toward authoring and adaptive presentation of disciplines in different courses for Web learning. This research defines a systematic for adaptive authoring and for the specification of an authoring tool, which enables the author to offer a learning content adapted for different user's profiles. Through this authoring systematic, the author organizes the learning material in a hierarchical form, classifying the material as a concepts structure. After the concepts organization, the author defines a list of additional material, as examples, exercises and supplementary material for each concept. Finally, the author uses the authoring tool, registering disciplines and courses. In the next stage, he or she creates the structure of organized content and relates the material identified for each concept. For each course structure element identified the author specifies to which courses the access to the specific content will be avaliable. The educational content structure is stored in XML format, presentation filters associated with the specific user model are applied. With the help of the authoring system and the authoring tool, it is possible to present the adapted content in the presentation mode and to customize the navigation. This proposal was validated through a real case study, involving disciplines of Algebraic and Numerical Computation at Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). These disciplines are offered to three university courses: Mathematics, Engineering and Computer science.

Este trabalho está inserido no projeto AdaptWeb, voltado para autoria e apresentação adaptativa de disciplinas integrantes de cursos EAD na Web. Esta pesquisa visa colaborar na definição de uma sistemática para autoria adaptativa e na especificação de uma ferramenta para autoria. Está ferramenta possibilita ao autor oferecer um mesmo conteúdo adaptado para diferentes perfis de usuários. Através da sistemática de autoria, o autor organiza e reestrutura o material instrucional de forma hierárquica, onde inicialmente classifica o material como uma estrutura de conceitos. Após a organização dos conceitos, define-se uma lista de conteúdos adicionais classificados como exemplos adicionais, exercícios e material complementar para cada conceito. Ao termino da organização do material, o autor faz uso da ferramenta de autoria, onde efetua o cadastro da disciplina e dos cursos relacionados. Na próxima etapa ele cria a estrutura de conteúdo organizado através da sistemática de autoria e relaciona o material identificado para cada conceito. Para cada item da estrutura o autor especifica para quais cursos deseja disponibilizar acesso ao conteúdo. Durante a fase de autoria toda a estrutura do conteúdo programático é armazenada em estrutura de dados em memória, sendo posteriormente armazenada em formato XML, onde são aplicados filtros para apresentação do conteúdo adaptado ao modelo do usuário. Através da sistemática e da ferramenta de autoria, é possível apresentar o conteúdo adaptados na apresentação e durante a navegação. Esta proposta foi validada através de um estudo de caso real, envolvendo a disciplina de Computação Algébrica e Numérica da Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). O conteúdo desta disciplina é oferecido para três cursos universitários: Matemática, Engenharia e Ciência da Computação. Para cada curso, o autor configura uma seqüência de conceitos, com seus respectivos níveis de profundidade, bem como exemplos, exercícios e material complementar apropriado. / This work is included in the AdaptWeb project, focussed toward authoring and adaptive presentation of disciplines in different courses for Web learning. This research defines a systematic for adaptive authoring and for the specification of an authoring tool, which enables the author to offer a learning content adapted for different user's profiles. Through this authoring systematic, the author organizes the learning material in a hierarchical form, classifying the material as a concepts structure. After the concepts organization, the author defines a list of additional material, as examples, exercises and supplementary material for each concept. Finally, the author uses the authoring tool, registering disciplines and courses. In the next stage, he or she creates the structure of organized content and relates the material identified for each concept. For each course structure element identified the author specifies to which courses the access to the specific content will be avaliable. The educational content structure is stored in XML format, presentation filters associated with the specific user model are applied. With the help of the authoring system and the authoring tool, it is possible to present the adapted content in the presentation mode and to customize the navigation. This proposal was validated through a real case study, involving disciplines of Algebraic and Numerical Computation at Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). These disciplines are offered to three university courses: Mathematics, Engineering and Computer science.

Este trabalho está inserido no projeto AdaptWeb, voltado para autoria e apresentação adaptativa de disciplinas integrantes de cursos EAD na Web. Esta pesquisa visa colaborar na definição de uma sistemática para autoria adaptativa e na especificação de uma ferramenta para autoria. Está ferramenta possibilita ao autor oferecer um mesmo conteúdo adaptado para diferentes perfis de usuários. Através da sistemática de autoria, o autor organiza e reestrutura o material instrucional de forma hierárquica, onde inicialmente classifica o material como uma estrutura de conceitos. Após a organização dos conceitos, define-se uma lista de conteúdos adicionais classificados como exemplos adicionais, exercícios e material complementar para cada conceito. Ao termino da organização do material, o autor faz uso da ferramenta de autoria, onde efetua o cadastro da disciplina e dos cursos relacionados. Na próxima etapa ele cria a estrutura de conteúdo organizado através da sistemática de autoria e relaciona o material identificado para cada conceito. Para cada item da estrutura o autor especifica para quais cursos deseja disponibilizar acesso ao conteúdo. Durante a fase de autoria toda a estrutura do conteúdo programático é armazenada em estrutura de dados em memória, sendo posteriormente armazenada em formato XML, onde são aplicados filtros para apresentação do conteúdo adaptado ao modelo do usuário. Através da sistemática e da ferramenta de autoria, é possível apresentar o conteúdo adaptados na apresentação e durante a navegação. Esta proposta foi validada através de um estudo de caso real, envolvendo a disciplina de Computação Algébrica e Numérica da Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). O conteúdo desta disciplina é oferecido para três cursos universitários: Matemática, Engenharia e Ciência da Computação. Para cada curso, o autor configura uma seqüência de conceitos, com seus respectivos níveis de profundidade, bem como exemplos, exercícios e material complementar apropriado. / This work is included in the AdaptWeb project, focussed toward authoring and adaptive presentation of disciplines in different courses for Web learning. This research defines a systematic for adaptive authoring and for the specification of an authoring tool, which enables the author to offer a learning content adapted for different user's profiles. Through this authoring systematic, the author organizes the learning material in a hierarchical form, classifying the material as a concepts structure. After the concepts organization, the author defines a list of additional material, as examples, exercises and supplementary material for each concept. Finally, the author uses the authoring tool, registering disciplines and courses. In the next stage, he or she creates the structure of organized content and relates the material identified for each concept. For each course structure element identified the author specifies to which courses the access to the specific content will be avaliable. The educational content structure is stored in XML format, presentation filters associated with the specific user model are applied. With the help of the authoring system and the authoring tool, it is possible to present the adapted content in the presentation mode and to customize the navigation. This proposal was validated through a real case study, involving disciplines of Algebraic and Numerical Computation at Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL). These disciplines are offered to three university courses: Mathematics, Engineering and Computer science.

The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the events of the first iteration of the Media Technology and Diversity course with an in-depth analysis of its electronic discourse. In conceptualizing the viable alternatives for delivering college-level distance education via on-line technologies, Harasim (1990) cautions that the mere introduction of computer mediated communication "does not in itself improve learning; design (or method) is crucial" (p. xx). The role of instructional design as the cornerstone of all effective instruction is relevant as new technologies are used in teaching and learning. The MTD distance education course content was delivered via the World Wide Web, where the course homepage was the on-line classroom and e-mail and Webchat communication supported participants' interaction. The participants of the study were the instructors and teaching assistants, as well as the undergraduate and graduate students who took the course. The electronic archive data, student assignments, and follow-up interviews with participants provided multiple data points for analysis. The Webchat archive data was analyzed using the NUD.DIST qualitative research software to sort and produce descriptive statistics. The analysis of e-mail and Webchat discourse revealed that participant interaction differed between media types and between asynchronous and scheduled the Webchat discussions. The differences were temporal, topical, and structural. Student initiated thought-provoking Webchat dialogue yet on-line content delivery, course structure, and reliability of computer systems reduced student participation in on-line discourse and course activities. Significantly, lessons learned from the design of the MTD experience indicate that on-line course development requires advance technical skill and accessible instructional technologies. Instructional designers should develop course materials with the end-users' lowest common denominator technologies to increase participation and learning opportunities. The lessons learned from the electronic discourse analysis indicate that the WWW is a very complex instructional environment that requires carefully designed pedagogical activities and interaction. Research results indicate that where as asynchronous Webchat discussions encourage students to initiate conversation topics, the overall participation in on-line discourse is low. On the other hand, scheduled Webchat discussions promote lengthy and more thought-provoking discussions, but students generally respond to instructor-posted questions or topics. / Ph. D.

Background: It has been proved that bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) saves lives; however, which training method in CPR is most instructive and whether survival is affected by the training level of the bystander have not yet been fully described. Aim: To identify the factors that may affect 7th grade students’ acquisition of CPR skills during CPR training and their willingness to act, and to describe 30-day survival from outof- hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) after bystander CPR and the actions performed by laymen versus off-duty medically educated personnel. Methods: Studies I–III investigate a CPR training intervention given to students in 7th grade during 2013–2014. The classes were randomized to the main intervention: the mobile phone application (app) or DVD-based training. Some of the classes were randomized to one or several additional interventions: a practical test with feedback, reflection, a web course, a visit from elite athletes and automated external defibrillator (AED) training. The students’ practical skills, willingness to act and knowledge of stroke symptoms, symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and lifestyle factors were assessed directly after training and at 6 months using the Laerdal PC SkillReporting system (and entered into a modified version of the Cardiff test scoring sheet) and a questionnaire. The Cardiff test resulted in a total score of 12–48 points, and the questionnaire resulted in a total score of 0–7 points for stroke symptoms, 0–9 points for symptoms of AMI and 0– 6 points on lifestyle factors. Study IV is based on retrospective data from the national quality register, the Swedish registry of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 2010-2014. Results: A total of 1339 students were included in the CPR training intervention. The DVD-based group was superior to the app-based group in CPR skills, with a total score of 35 (SD 4.o) vs 33 (SD 4.2) points directly after training (p<0.001) and 33 (SD 4.0) vs 31 (SD 4.2) points at six months (p<0.001). Of the additional interventions, the practical test with feedback had the greatest influence regarding practical skills: at six months the intervention group scored 32 (SD 3.9) points and the control group (CPR only) scored 30 (SD 4.0) points (p<0.001). Reflection, the web course, visits from elite athletes and AED training did not further increase the students’ acquisition of practical CPR skills. The students who completed the web course Help-Brain-Heart received a higher total score for theoretical knowledge in comparison with the control group, directly after training: stroke 3.8 (SD 1.8) vs 2.7 (SD 2.0) points (p<0.001); AMI 4.0 (SD 2.0) vs 2.5 (SD 2.0) points (p<0.001); lifestyle factors 5.4 (SD 1.2) vs 4.5 (SD 2.0) points p<0.001. Most of the students (77% at 6 months), regardless of the intervention applied, expressed that they would perform both chest compressions and ventilations in a cardiac arrest (CA) situation involving a relative. If a stranger had CA, a significantly lower proportion of students (32%; p<0.001) would perform both compressions and ventilations. In this case, however, many would perform compressions only. In most cases of bystander-witnessed OHCA, CPR was performed by laymen. Off-duty health care personnel bystanders initiated CPR within 1 minute vs 2 minutes for laymen (p<0.0001). Thirty-day survival was 14.7% among patients who received CPR from laymen and 17.2% (p=0.02) among patients who received bystander CPR from off-duty health care personnel. Conclusions: The DVD-based method was superior to the app-based method in terms of teaching practical CPR skills to 7th grade students. Of the additional interventions, a practical test with feedback was the most efficient intervention to increase learning outcome. The additional interventions, reflection, web course, visit from elite athletes and AED did not increase CPR skills further. However, the web course Help-Brain-Heart improved the students’ acquisition of theoretical knowledge regarding stroke, AMI and lifestyle factors. For OHCA, off-duty health care personnel bystanders initiated CPR earlier and 30-day survival was higher compared with laymen bystanders.