No description available.

No description available.

Problem Based Learning (PBL) has been fully or partly adopted by several medical and dental schools throughout the world, but only few attempts have been made to adjust this method to Distance Learning (DL) environments. It appears that the interaction demands of PBL could not be easily facilitated by the technologies used for DL in the past. The recent introduction of Virtual Learning Environments or Virtual Classrooms, is suggested by many as the development that could allow Distance Learning to utilise highly structured collaborative learning methods such as PBL. A literature review and two pilot studies were undertaken, in an attempt to investigate the possibility of adjusting an existing in-classroom PBL model to Internet-based environments for distance learning. There is a strong need of a conceptual theoretical framework and research results to support the function and effectiveness of distance learning in health education. Drop-out rates are still high in all kinds of distance education. Accreditation, team-work and personal contact, appear to be factors of importance for increasing motivation and minimising drop-out rates in distance learning. During the pilot studies it was evident that both postgraduate and undergraduate students were very positive towards the PBL method, as they experienced it while working over the network. However, it is very difficult to introduce inexperienced students to PBL through distance. Students? competence with computers seems to be an important factor for the success of a virtual classroom and their computer literacy has to be objectively assessed prior to any course. Significant differences were identified between in-classroom and over the Internet communication. These differences, although measured in the quantity of interaction, appear to influence the quality and depth of discussion as well. Tutor involvement was higher in the Internet discussions than the in-classroom ones. It was concluded that an entirely Internet-based PBL course is possible, if properly organised. However, such a model might constitute a compromise over the quality standards of in-classroom PBL, at least with the currently available Internet technology. A hybrid approach, which will combine personal contact with network-based interaction, might be the safest and most beneficial option right now. / <p>Note: The papers are not included in the fulltext online.</p>

This study is a qualitative examination of community college students' experiences taking on-line courses. The study addresses the research question, "How do community college students construct their on-line experiences?" In order to answer this question, the following foci were examined: What are the characteristics of students taking online courses?, Why are they taking on-line courses?, What are facilitative or debilitative dimensions or features that promote or inhibit success in on-line courses?, and, How does the community college infrastructure support students taking web-based courses? The results of the study were grouped into 4 categories: Interpersonal Support, Student Characteristics, Course Issues, and Infrastructure Support. All but 2 of the findings of the PRCC Study are supported by research. The first factor not mentioned in the literature is that some students choose to take a course on-line if they are not interested in the content of the class. The second finding not implicated in the research is that electronic distractions of Instant Messaging™ and the lure of surfing the Web seem to be more debilitating than interruptions from other sources such as family and work. Other implications of this study involve concerns that are common to both on-line and on-site instruction, as well as the connection between constructivism and on-line learning. Facilitative and debilitative dimensions or features that promote or inhibit success in on-line courses imply that faculty and institutions need to be adapting to the demands of teaching and learning on the Web. Implications of the Study examine improvements to the study and ideas for future research. / Ph. D.

Despite widespread use of web-based e-learning applications, insufficient attention is paid to their usability. There is a need to conduct evaluation using one or more of the various usability evaluation methods. Given that heuristic evaluation is known to be easy to use and cost effective, this study investigates the extent to which it can identify usability problems in a web-based e-learning application at a tertiary institution. In a comparative case study, heuristic evaluation by experts and survey evaluation among end users (learners) are conducted and the results of the two compared. Following literature studies in e-learning - particularly web-based learning - and usability, the researcher generates an extensive set of criteria/heuristics and uses it in the two evaluations. The object of evaluation is a website for a 3rd year Information Systems course. The findings indicate a high correspondence between the results of the two evaluations, demonstrating that heuristic evaluation is an appropriate, effective and sufficient usability evaluation method, as well as relatively easy to conduct. It identified a high percentage of usability problems. / Computing / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Technology and especially Internet has advanced rapidly during the last ten years. Universities have been in the forefront with access to Internet, but are only now beginning to wake up to the opportunities that exist within the technological arena. Unfortunately Universities have been slow to accept the possibilities of the World Wide Web and its uses within the classroom. Student demographics are changing and their requirements are changing. The Students of today are no longer studying full time and in their early twenties. They are older, are working part-time and need to arrange their study-time to accommodate their work schedules. Universities have to adapt some of their courses or lose out to the competition, which has become global due to technological advances. Web based learning is a perfect answer to the problems working students face, but the mindset of lecturers and even students need to be changed to accept this new form of learning. Many universities have already started distance-learning projects, which are perfect for certain parts of the world and certain students, generally in the Western world. The best ways to start changing perceptions is by combining webbased learning and traditional classroom education and then gradually move on to a full online virtual classroom scenario. In this project a software package called WebeT was used to move a People Management MBA course, which was previously only presented via a traditional classroom into the realm of a virtual classroom. This was achieved by giving the students online access to all information they would traditionally get physically, such as course information. The move of classroom information onto WebCT resulted in file downloads, questionnaires and other information becoming available online. As a direct result the traditional classroom contact for the People Management course was shortened from twelve sessions to seven sessions. The course is close to becoming a complete online course. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tegnologiese ontwikkeling en veral die gebruik van die Internet het gedurende die afgelope tien jaar baie gevorder. Universiteite het reeds 'n geruime tyd toegang tot die Internet, maar begin nou eers besef watter voordele hierdie tegnologiese era vir hulle inhou. Ongelukkig was Universiteite stadig om die potensiaal van die 'World Wide Web" binne die tradisionele klaskamer te ontgin. Die demografiese profiel van studente het in die laaste paar jaar baie verander. Die hedendaagse student is nie meer 'n voltydse student in sy vroeë twintigs nie. Studente is nou ouer, werk deeltyds en hul studietyd moet kan aanpas by hul werkskedules. Universiteite sal of hul kursusse hierby moet aanpas, of studente aan die kompetisie verloor, wat weens die tegnologie nou globaal is. Web gebaseerde onderrig is die perfekte antwoord vir die probleme wat werkende studente ervaar. Die persepsie van die lektor en ook die student moet egter verander om hierdie nuwe vorm van onderrig te aanvaar. Universiteite het alreeds met afstand onderrig begin, wat baie goed werk in sekere lande en met sekere studente. Die doeltreffendste manier om persepsies te verander, is.deur web gebaseerde onderrig en tradisionele klaskamer onderrig te begin kombineer. Hierna kan daar stelselmatig beweeg word na 'n volle virtuele klaskamer scenario. In hierdie projek is 'n sagteware program WebCT gebruik om 'n MBA-kursus in Mensebestuur, wat tradisioneel 'n klaskamer gebaseerde kursus is, te omskep in 'n virtuele klaskamer kursus. Dit is bewerkstellig deur die kursus informasie, wat tradisioneel in fisiese notas aan die studente oorgedra is, direk aanlyn beskikbaar te stel. Die gebruik van WebCT het tot gevolg gehad dat studente nou informasie kon aflaai en vraestelle beantwoord op die Internet. Die tradisionele klaskamer sessies van die Mensebestuurkursus is hierdeur verkort van twaalf sessies na sewe sessies. Hierdie verandering het veroorsaak dat hierdie kursus bykans geheel en al in 'n virtuele klaskamer kursus omskep is.

Dans un contexte de prévention secondaire, les interventions motivationnelles brèves (IMB) effectuées par les infirmières ont le potentiel de réduire les facteurs de risque cardiovasculaires. De par sa flexibilité, la formation en ligne s’impose aujourd’hui comme une méthode pédagogique essentielle au développement des habiletés cliniques des professionnels de la santé. Le but de ce projet était d’évaluer la faisabilité, l’acceptabilité et l’effet préliminaire d’une plateforme de formation en ligne sur les IMB (MOTIV@CŒUR) sur les habiletés perçues et l’utilisation clinique des IMB chez des infirmières en soins cardiovasculaires. Pour ce faire, une étude pilote pré-post à groupe unique a été menée. MOTIV@CŒUR est composée de deux sessions d’une durée totale de 50 minutes incluant des vidéos d’interactions infirmière-patient. Dans chaque session, une introduction théorique aux IMB est suivie de situations cliniques dans lesquelles une infirmière évalue la motivation à changer et intervient selon les principes des IMB. Les situations ciblent le tabagisme, la non-adhérence au traitement médicamenteux, la sédentarité et une alimentation riche en gras et en sel. Il était suggéré aux infirmières de compléter les deux sessions de formation en ligne en moins de 20 jours. Les données sur la faisabilité, l'acceptabilité et les effets préliminaires (habiletés perçues et utilisation clinique auto-rapportée des IMB) ont été recueillies à 30 jours (± 5 jours) après la première session. Nous avons recruté 27 femmes et 4 hommes (âge moyen 37 ans ± 9) en mars 2016. Vingt-quatre des 31 participants (77%) ont terminé les deux sessions de formation en moins de 20 jours. À un mois suite à l’entrée dans l’étude, 28 des 31 participants avaient complété au moins une session. Un haut niveau d’acceptabilité a été observé vu les scores élevés quant à la qualité de l'information, la facilité d'utilisation perçue et la qualité de la plateforme MOTIV@CŒUR. Le score d'utilisation clinique auto-rapporté des interventions visant la confiance était plus élevé après les deux sessions qu’avant les sessions (P = .032). Bien que tous les scores fussent plus élevés après les deux sessions qu’au début, les autres résultats n’étaient pas statistiquement significatifs. En conclusion, l’implantation d’une plateforme de formation en ligne sur les IMB est à la fois faisable et acceptable auprès d’infirmières en soins aigus cardiovasculaires. De plus, une telle formation peut avoir un effet positif sur l'utilisation clinique d’interventions motivationnelles visant la confiance face au changement de comportement de santé. / Nursing interventions that target motivation to adopt healthy behaviors, such as brief motivational interviewing (MI), can help reduce cardiovascular risk factors. While face-to-face MI training lacks accessibility, e-learning use for MI training is promising because of the flexibility it offers. The objective was to assess the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effect of a web-based e-learning platform for brief MI (MOTIV@CŒUR) on cardiovascular nurses’ clinical use and perceived skill in brief MI. A single group pre-post pilot study was conducted to evaluate MOTIV@CŒUR with nurses working in a coronary care unit. The web-based e-learning platform consists of two sessions with a total duration of 50 minutes based on videos of nurse-patient interactions. In each session, a theoretical introduction of brief MI is followed by role playing based on real life clinical situations in which a nurse practitioner evaluates patients’ motivation to change, and intervenes according to the principles of brief MI. The clinical situations target smoking, medication adherence, physical activity and diet. Nurses were asked to complete both training sessions online within 20 days. Data on feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects (perceived skills in brief MI and self-reported clinical use of conviction and confidence interventions) were collected at 30 days (± 5 days) following the first session. We enrolled 27 women and 4 men (mean age 37 ± 9) in March 2016. Twenty-four out of 31 participants (77%) completed both sessions in less than 20 days, and at one month, 28 had completed at least one session. The training was found highly acceptable, with information quality, perceived ease of use, and system quality scoring the highest. The score of self-reported clinical use of confidence interventions was higher after the two sessions than before the sessions (P = .032). While all scores increased from baseline, other results were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the implementation of a web-based e-learning platform for brief MI is both feasible and acceptable among cardiovascular care nurses. Moreover, it can have a positive effect on self-reported clinical use of confidence interventions towards health behaviour change.

<p>There have been calls both from the government and private sector for Higher Education institutions to introduce programmes that produce employable graduates whilst at the same time contributing to the growing economy of the country by addressing the skills shortage. Transformation and intervention committees have since been introduced to follow the extent to which the challenges are being addressed (DOE, 1996 / 1997 / Luescher and Symes, 2003 / Forbes, 2007). Amongst the list of issues that needed urgent address were the skills shortage and underperformance of students particularly university entering students (Daniels, 2007 / De Klerk, 2006 / Cooper, 2001). Research particularly in the South African context, has revealed that contributing to the underperformance of university entering students and shortage of skills are: the legacy of apartheid (forcing certain racial groups to focus on selected areas such as teaching and nursing), the schooling system (resulting in university entering students to struggle), the home language and academic language. Barrell (1998), places stress on language as a contributing factor towards the performance of students. Although not much research has been done on skills shortage, most of the areas with skills shortage require Mathematics, either on a minimum or comprehensive scale. Students who have a strong Mathematics background have proved to perform better compared to students who have a limited or no Mathematics background at all in Grade 12 (Hahn, 1988 / Conners, McCown &amp / Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1998 / Nolan, 2002).The department of Statistics offers an Introductory Statistics (IS) course at first year level. Resources available to enhance student learning include: a problem-solving component with web-based tutorials and students attending lectures three hours per week. The course material and all the necessary information regarding the course including teach yourself problems, useful web-sites and links students can make use of, are all stored under the Knowledge- Environment for Web-based learning (KEWL). Despite all the available information, the students were not performing well and they were not interested in the course. The department regards statistical numeracy as a life skill. The desire of the department is to break down the fear of Statistics and to bring about a perspective change in students&rsquo / mindsets. The study was part of a contribution to ensuring that the department has the best first year students in Statistics in the Western Cape achieving a success rate comparable to the national norm.</p>

No description available.

本研究旨在探討各種不同種類網路閱讀活動對不同程度學生的回應，進而研究受試者對不同種類網路學習活動對於英文閱讀能力的實際影響。 本研究的實驗對象是十七位台北市信義區一所職業學校的高一學生。在研究初期，研究者以北市職校全民英檢考題之閱讀能力部分測試學生並將他們分出高、中、低三種程度，繼而讓學生接受為期將近四個月不同種類網路閱讀活動訓練。實驗過程中，每項活動後均以各種不同簡單的讀後測驗、練習、筆記或作業來檢視學生利用網路培養閱讀能力之可行性。在學期近結束前，再以另一份北市職校全民英檢考題之閱讀能力測驗題作為本實驗的後測。研究是藉由背景問卷調查以及回饋問卷調查中瞭解不同種類網路閱讀活動對於學生之影響。 本研究採用質與量的分析方法。質的分析涵蓋：（一）實驗對象對於不同種類網路閱讀活動的回應﹔（二）實驗對象應用網路學習對於英文閱讀及網路技巧的影響。量的分析根據SPSS來統計：前後測數值的差異。 根據以上的研究結果發現：（一）學生對於本研究所採用的四種網路閱讀活動（兒童英語學習、網路字彙查詢、網路資料搜尋與設計—WebQuest、教學式的網路會議）感到有趣，尤其是教學式的網路會議﹔（二）網路閱讀活動引起學生主動使用各種不同網路工具來解讀文章內容及找尋有益的英語學習網站﹔（三）經過訓練後，教學成效方面，以高等程度學生進步最多，中等學生次之，低程度學生幾乎看不出進 步。最後，本研究提出一些英文教學上之建議：（一）應選擇有趣、有幫助的網路閱讀活動提升學生的閱讀興趣與閱讀理解能力﹔（二）應藉由網路字典所提供的快速搜尋功能輔助學生找回閱讀英文的信心﹔（三）應盡量利用課後網路閱讀活動，如改良式的網路會議，以提升同儕及師生間的互動並培養自學習慣。希望本研究能提供目前台灣職業學校教師及學生在閱讀教學與學習方面一些啟示與方向。 / This research aims mainly at the effect of different types of web-based reading tasks on different levels of students’ English reading comprehension ability, reading attitude, and motivation. Seventeen vocational high school students were involved in this research. All the participants were given the TVHSGEPT (Taipei Vocational High School General English Proficiency Test) as a pre-test in the beginning of the first semester of the 2005 school year. The participants were then categorized into three proficiency levels—high, middle, and low—based on the scores of the test result. A less than four-month Web-based reading program was then introduced to the participants. During this process, every task was examined through tests, exercises, note taking, or homework to understand the practicality of using web-based tasks to cultivate students’ reading ability. At the end of the semester, another TVHSGEPT was given to the participants as a post-test. However, the research chiefly used background and feedback questionnaires to understand the effects of different web-based reading tasks on the participants. This research adopted both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The qualitative analysis consisted of (1) the students’ responses to different types of web-based reading tasks and (2) the improvement of the participants’ English learning and computer and Web-use skills. By executing SPSS program, the quantitative analysis included the difference of statistical values between the pre-test and post-test. According to the findings, first, the students were interested in the four types of web-based reading tasks (online children’s reading websites, online dictionaries, WebQuest, and modified web conferencing). Second, the web-based reading tasks helped the students to actively find different web-based tools to comprehend reading content and search for new and helpful English-learning websites automatically. Third, high-proficiency students gained the most, then middle-proficiency students; the low-achievers showed very little obvious progress. This research offers some suggestions: first, teachers may select interesting and helpful web-based reading tasks to enhance students’ interest and reading comprehension. Second, through the use of online dictionaries with their quick search functions, students can regain their confidence in learning English. Third, after-school web-based reading tasks such as modified web-conferencing are a good motivator; they also help in cultivating cooperation and relationships among peers and between the teacher and students. In conclusion, this research offers pedagogical implications for vocational high school English teachers who are considering using web-based reading tasks and effective teaching strategies.