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1

Afsaneh, Afsaneh Sharif. "Quality of Online Courses." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/277385.

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Aquest estudi té una visió integral dels elements clau per al disseny de cursos en línia de qualitat en el camp del disseny d'instrucció mitjançant l'anàlisi dels elements bàsics del disseny eficaç de les directrius i criteris de referència existents, tenint en compte l'impacte dels contextos culturals i educatius dels dissenyadors instruccionals . La investigació també analitza els factors clau per a assegurar la qualitat de la formació en línia en les diferents fases del procés de desenvolupament del curs. Per comprendre millor les formes en què els dissenyadors desenvolupen la seva tasca i treballen per obtenir un resultat de bona qualitat, es van utilitzar diferents tècniques d'investigació . Es va utilitzar un enfocament quantitatiu, que va incloure l'aplicació d'un qüestionari a direrents grups, per determinar els indicadors que 52 dissenyadors defineixen per a determinar que entenen per un disseny de qualitat. Els qüestionaris es van aplicar a a dos grups, a Espanya i al Canadà, per examinar l'impacte de la cultura sobre els elements bàsics de disseny instruccional. Un enfocament qualitatiu, utilitzant com a eina de recollida de dades l'entrevista, i aquest va ser l'objectiu principal d'aquest estudi: explorar els punts de vista dels dissenyadors a l'hora de definir un curs de bona qualitat. L'estudi dels antecedents teòrics i les experiències de vuit dissenyadors d'instrucció així com els seus punts de vista d '"un curs ideal" ha permès definir els principals indicadors de qualitat. L'estudi i l'observació de l'evolució de la tecnologia, els rols dels instructors i dels dissenyadors (de les dues cultures) i la percepció dels alumnes han facilitat el desenvolupament d'una guia de per al disseny de cursos flexibles i en línia. La guia es pot trobar a http://wiki.ubc.ca/Design_Quality_OnlineCourse. L'estudi també proporciona informació valuosa sobre l'aprenentatge en línia i com un bon curs en línia es pot desenvolupar a través de l'avaluació continua i l'èmfasi en els elements clau en cada fase del disseny i dels desenvolupament del curs .
Este estudio tiene una visión integral de los elementos clave para el diseño de cursos en línea de calidad en el campo del diseño instruccional mediante el análisis de los elementos básicos del diseño eficaz de las directrices y criterios de referencia existentes, teniendo en cuenta el impacto de los contextos culturales y educativos de los diseñadores instruccionales. La investigación también analiza los factores clave para el aseguramiento de la calidad de la formación en línea en las diferentes fases del proceso de desarrollo del curso. Para comprender mejor las formas en que los diseñadores desarrollan su labor y trabajan para obtener un resultado de buena calidad, se utilizaron diferentes técnicas de investigación. Se utilizó un enfoque cuantitativo, que incluyó la aplicación de un cuestionario a direrentes grupos, para determinar los indicadores que 52 diseñadores definen para determinar que entienden por un diseño de calidad. Los cuestionarios se aplicaron a dos grupos, en España y en Canadá, para examinar el impacto de la cultura sobre los elementos básicos del diseño instruccional. Un enfoque cualitativo, utilizando como herramienta de recolección de datos la entrevista, y ese fue el objetivo principal de este estudio: explorar los puntos de vista de los diseñadores a la hora de definir un curso de buena calidad. El estudio de los antecedentes teóricos y las experiencias de ocho diseñadores de instrucción así como sus puntos de vista de "un curso ideal" ha permitido definir los principales indicadores de calidad. El estudio y la observación de la evolución de la tecnología, los roles de los instructores y de los diseñadores (de las dos culturas ) y la percepción de los alumnos han facilitado el desarrollo de una guía de para el diseño de cursos flexibles y en línea. La guía se puede encontrar en http://wiki.ubc.ca/Design_Quality_OnlineCourse. El estudio también proporciona información valiosa sobre el aprendizaje en línea y como un buen curso en línea se puede desarrollar a través de la evaluación continua y el énfasis en los elementos clave en cada fase del diseño y del desarrollo del curso .
This study takes a comprehensive look at the key elements for quality online courses within the field of instructional design by examining the core elements of effective design in existing guidelines and benchmarks while taking into consideration the impact of instructional designers’ cultural and educational backgrounds. The research also explores key factors for a quality online course in different phases of the course development process. To gain a better understanding of the ways in which designers approach their work and strive for a good-quality result, different research methods were used in this study. A quantitative approach, which included surveys in different steps and locations, was used to gather the elements that 52 designers focus on and find critical in their quality design. The surveys were conducted in both Spain and Canada to examine the impact of culture on core elements of design. A qualitative approach, an interview, was the main focus of this study and was used to explore the views of a good-quality course, examining the backgrounds and experiences of eight instructional designers and their views of “an ideal course”. The study and observation of the evolution of technology, instructors and learners’ roles, and designers’ cultural and educational differences led to development of a flexible online course development guideline within this field. The guideline can be found at http://wiki.ubc.ca/Design_Quality_OnlineCourse. The study also provides valuable insight into online learning and how a good online course can be developed through ongoing evaluation and emphasis of key elements in each phase of course development.
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Shaw, Donna Carole. "Academic dishonesty in traditional and online courses as self-reported by students in online courses." [Johnson City, Tenn. : East Tennessee State University], 2004. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/896.

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--East Tennessee State University, 2004.
Title from electronic submission form. ETSU ETD database URN: etd-0331104-152112. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via Internet at the UMI web site.
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Gazi, Yakut. "Discourse indicators of culture in online courses." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1304.

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4

Gulati, Shalni. "Learning during online and blended courses." Thesis, City University London, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.433652.

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Pisutova, Katarina. "Collaboration in online courses in Slovakia." Thesis, Open University, 2012. http://oro.open.ac.uk/49152/.

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Comprehensive analyses of online and collaborative learning methods in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe are nearly non-existent. Yet, these nations typically have authoritarian teaching and learning traditions which present unique and significant challenges to the development of these methods, and which are poorly understood at present. This thesis provides a thorough examination of how collaborative activities are used in online courses, and of student and teacher perceptions of these methods, in the Slovak Republic (Slovakia), and postulates that its findings are relevant and valuable for the many newly open societies in the region that are now entering the online teaching world. Research involved case studies of two Slovak higher education institutions, and interviews with administrators and teachers from a number of Slovak educational institutions. Findings can be summarized as follows: • Collaboration is rarely used as a teaching method in Slovakia, particularly in online settings • Students do not expect to be asked to participate in discussions, but when asked they seem to have no problem embracing the method. • Instructors at many Slovak institutions lack the motivation and training to promote and use collaborative methods in their online courses • The few instructors who make the effort to implement some of these methods use mostly asynchronous discussions. Further analysis of data and findings leads to suggestions for improving the use of collaborative methods in online learning on three key levels: the course level, the institutional level, and the national policy level.
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Merena, Penny S. "Increasing retention in online distance education courses." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file 1.51 Mb., 84 p, 2006. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3221128.

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7

Davis, Antoinette M. "Measuring Student Satisfaction in Online Math Courses." UKnowledge, 2014. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/edc_etds/10.

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Colleges and universities worldwide have struggled to find a way to measure student satisfaction in online courses. This study examined the growth of math courses that are delivered in the online format. This study aims to address many gaps in the research literature concerning distance education using technology. In particular, it is the intention of this study to investigate satisfaction and performance of students as a result of taking online courses. There has been an expanding concern over whether students are satisfied and can perform well in courses taken in an online environment. Satisfaction and performance in distance education have always been examined in comparison with traditional education that implements instruction through face-to-face interactions. A careful examination of the research literature also indicates that researchers apply vastly different ways to measure satisfaction and performance. This situation may well be responsible for the inconsistencies among empirical studies in the research literature. The first purpose was to develop and validate an instrument that measures satisfaction regarding taking online courses. The second purpose was to predict student satisfaction (measured through the developed instrument) from the learning characteristics of an online environment. The third purpose was to predict student performance from student satisfaction (measured through the developed instrument) in an online environment. A deductive approach was adopted for this research project and utilized a quantitative research design including surveys. Survey data was collected from adult students who were students in the online College Algebra course at a certain Community & Technical College. The instrument was developed and found to be reliable through confirmatory factor analysis. Using multiple regression for the second question, it was found that age (of students) demonstrated statistically significant absolute and relative effects on satisfaction with online mathematics courses. In other words, satisfaction with online mathematics courses depended on age both individually and collectively. Lastly, using multiple regression and ANCOVA to answer question three, it was found that gains from pretest to posttest did not depend on individual characteristics, learning preferences, and online (learning) environment. Meanwhile, gains from pretest to posttest did not depend on satisfaction with online mathematics courses.
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Poe-Greskamp, Marlene. "Pedagogical issues in online nursing graduate courses." CardinalScholar 1.0, 2010. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1560836.

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One of the core issues in distance education has been the adequacy of assessment of student experiences and the interaction between faculty and students. This challenge has become even greater with the increase in the numbers of online courses in nursing. Distance education programs that are delivered totally online have many advantages and some disadvantages. Masters level nursing students are choosing online programs for convenience, flexibility, and quality. The purpose of this study was two-fold: to describe Masters nursing students’ perceptions of online courses between 2005 and 2009, as expressed through word data in a web evaluation survey; and to analyze the student perceptions of the online learning environment for trends and themes. The questions of this investigation were the following: 1. What perceptions do Masters nursing students have of their online courses (2005-2009) as expressed through word data in a web evaluation survey? 2. What recommendations can be made for continuous improvement and best practices in programming and evaluation methods based on student perceptions. This research utilized Constructivist Theory as a theoretical model. There were 1625 student comments and 903 suggestions that were analyzed for themes and placed in categories. A qualitative analysis approach was utilized to create categories and look for trends in the data. There were six categories gleaned from the comments and six more that were found as a result of reviewing the suggestions that were made for future course offerings. The researcher found that there was some overlap between the categories of the comments and those of the suggestions. The perception of the students regarding their online course experience in the graduate nursing program was very positive. The flexibility and independence that the online environment offered was appreciated. Blackboard was viewed very positively and students felt that it was easy to use. Students enjoyed the interaction with peers and with faculty and felt it was a valuable learning experience. Recommendations were identified, based on the findings related to the use of technology, recruitment and retention of faculty, and teaching strategies and learning styles.
Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only
Department of Educational Studies
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Taylor, Colin S. M. (Colin J. ). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Stopout prediction in massive open online courses." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91699.

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Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2014.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 121).
Imagine your favorite college professor standing behind a podium in the center of Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, lecturing 109,000 students. Though that sounds like an unlikely scenario, Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs, have practically made that a reality by offering previously exclusive classes to mass audiences. However, as the barriers to entry for MOOCs are very low, student dropout, referred to as student `stopout' [2], is very high. We believe that studying why students stopout will enable us to more fully understand how students learn in MOOCs. This thesis applies a variety of machine learning algorithms to predict student persistence in MOOCs. We built predictive models by utilizing a framework that went through the following steps: organizing and curating the data, extracting predictive, sophisticated features, and developing a distributed, parallelizable framework. We built models capable of predicting stopout with AUCs¹ of up to 0.95. These models even give an indication of whether students stopout because of predisposed motivations or due to course content. Additionally, we uncovered a number of findings about the factors indicative of stopout. These factors are presented in Chapter 10. Through the prediction framework we hope to help educators understand the factors of persistence in MOOCs and provide insight that prevents stopout. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth, accurate prediction of stopout in Massive Open Online Courses.
by Colin Taylor.
M. Eng.
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Russell, Jae-eun Lee. "Supporting students' motivation in college online courses." Diss., University of Iowa, 2013. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2620.

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Students' motivation has been identified as a critical factor for meaningful engagement and positive academic achievement in various educational settings. In particular, self-regulation strategies have been identified as important skills in online learning environments. However, applying self-regulation strategies, such as goal setting, strategic planning, and reflect performance takes significant effort. Without motivation, students will not enact these types of strategies. Autonomous self-regulation has been investigated in traditional classroom settings and there is ample empirical evidence of a significant relationship between autonomous self-regulation and engagement and academic achievement. However, such research was limited in online learning environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affected students' autonomous or self-determined forms of regulation as defined in self-determination theory (SDT). The study examined the relations between students' self-regulated motivation and four other variables (students' interests in the course, students' perception of their instructor's interaction type, students' technology self-efficacy, and students' perception of the degree to which their online learning environment used constructivist-based pedagogy), and the interactions among these variables in college online courses. In addition, the study examined the relationship between students' autonomous forms of regulation and their engagement, learning achievement, interaction behaviors, and satisfaction in the online course. For students' interaction behaviors, the total number of authored and read messages, the total number of visits to the content page, the total number of visited topics in the content page, and total duration spent in the content page were examined. One hundred forty students in 19 online courses participated in this study. The results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed: (a) Both environmental factors, instructors' autonomy-supportive interaction and learning environments using constructivist-based pedagogy predicted students' autonomous self-regulated motivation (b) Students' autonomous self-regulated motivation predicted students' self-reported engagement, achievement, and satisfaction (c) Two personal factors, interest in the course and technology self-efficacy did not predict students' autonomous self-regulation (d) Students' autonomous self-regulated motivation did not predict any interaction behaviors. The findings from this study are largely congruent with prior theory and research in the fields of academic motivation, self-determination, and online learning, which note that environmental factors, instructors' autonomy-supportive interaction and constructivist-based pedagogy significantly affect students' autonomous self-regulation in online learning environments.
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Worley, Cynthia Dawn. "Student Perceptions of Connectedness in Online Courses." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1429.

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Students who obtain college degrees have a higher earning potential and greater likelihood of employment. Although researchers have found that student enrollment and performance in online college courses has increased, attrition has also risen at a higher rate than in face-to-face courses. The problem of declining persistence in online courses at a rural community college in the Southeastern United States was addressed in this study. The community of inquiry framework was used in this qualitative case study to explore perceptions of 10 experienced online learners. The research questions were focused on students' perceptions of the roles of connectedness and student engagement as well as the techniques and strategies used to maintain connectedness. Data were collected through semistructured online audio interviews that were recorded, transcribed, open coded, and analyzed thematically. Findings indicated that students perceived the presence of engaging materials, elevated instructor presence, established social presence, and confirmed learning as promoters of cognitive presence and students' online course persistence. The resulting project consisted of a hybrid workshop series designed to enhance instructors' pedagogical practices to promote engagement and persistence in online courses. The workshop evaluation provided both formative and summative feedback from the workshop participants. The project contributes to social change through the ability of educators and program developers of online courses to garner new knowledge, as well as contributions to the continued viability of the focus institution and long-term economic stability for students.
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Attilee, Sheryl. "Multicultural Competency in Online Counseling Courses: Before and After a Multicultural Counseling Course." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6302.

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The importance of multicultural counseling training received much attention for decades, however, studies on effective training focused on multicultural counseling training in a face-to-face environment with minimal focus on online training environments. These studies found that face-to-face interactions had the most impact on multicultural training. Therefore, the current study was an evaluation of online master's counseling students' and graduates' multicultural attitudes to determine the effectiveness of online multicultural training using Banks' transformative approach. The research questions focused on the significant difference in participants' recalled multicultural attitude scores (know, care, and act) before an online multicultural counseling course as compared to recalled multicultural attitude scores after an online multicultural counseling course as measured by the Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE). A quantitative survey design was used with a convenience sample of 129 students enrolled in online counselor education programs to measure their multicultural attitude changes before and after a multicultural counseling course. Results were analyzed using MANCOVA with group designs and interpreted using a one-tailed F-test to determine if there were statistically significant differences in the multicultural attitude scores of students before and after completing an online multicultural counseling course. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in Knowledge scores (F(1, 112) = 59.23, p < .001) and Care scores (F(1, 112) = 73.57, p < .001) from before as compared to after taking the course. Ultimately, the results established the effectiveness and reputation of online counselor education programs and multicultural counseling training.
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Epps, Susan Bramlett. "Taming the Online Beast: Conversations on Student Pet Peeves with Online Courses." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/2561.

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As faculty we probably have strong feelings about online teaching and we certainly have pet peeves about our students. What if we were to ask our students what their pet peeves about us or our online classes are? (The student assessment of instruction at my own institution doesn’t include a question this direct). And yikes! once we ask, what do we do with that information? Whether you are new to online or an experienced online instruction, come join the conversation and together we will discuss ways to ‘tame the online beast.’
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Han, Fang M. Eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Modeling problem solving in Massive Open Online Courses." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91817.

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Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 101).
.Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) have presented a completely new style of learning and teaching that also brings us a massive amount of student behavioral data. Some of this data is exclusive to the MOOC environment. It opens up many possibilities for educators to study a question they have always wanted to answer: how do students solve problems? In this thesis, we present and address some of the numerous challenges one encounters during the process of mining MOOC data to answer this seemingly simple question. We describe in detail, using the data from MITx's 6.002x Spring 2012 course offering, a large scale, mixed automated and manual process that starts with the re-organization of MOOCdb source data into relevant and retrieval-efficient abstractions we call student resource trajectories and answer type transition matrices. This step must be interleaved with meticulous and painstaking automatic and manual curation of the data to remove errors and irrelevancies while aggregating redundancies, reducing noise and assuring meaningful, trustworthy variables. Regardless, only an estimation of student resource usage behavior during problem solving is available. With all student trajectories for every problem of 6.002X extracted, we demonstrate some analyses of student behaviors for the whole student population. These offer some insight into a problem's level of difficulty and student behavior around a problem type, such as homework. Next, in order to study how students reached the correct solution to a problem, we categorize problem answers and consider how student move from one incorrect answer to their next attempt. This requires extensive filtering out of irrelevancies and rankings. Detailed knowledge of resources, as would be expected of an instructor, appears to be crucial to understanding the implications of the statistics we derive on frequency of resource usage in general and per attempt. We identify solution equivalence and interpretation also as significant hurdles in obtaining insights. Finally, we try to describe students' problem solving process in terms of resource use patterns by using hidden Markov modeling with original variable definitions and 3 different variable relationships (graphical structures). We evaluate how well these models actually describe the student trajectories and try to use them to predict upcoming student submission events on 24 different selected homework problems. The model with the most complex variable relationships proves to be most accurate.
by Fang Han.
M. Eng.
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Van, Schyndel Jennie L. "Nursing students' perceptions of presence in online courses." Thesis, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3737835.

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Lack of presence in online courses can result in perceived isolation leading to student dissatisfaction with the learning experience. The purpose of this study was to measure nursing students’ perceived extent of teaching, social and cognitive presence and course satisfaction in an online undergraduate nursing course, and whether relationships and associations existed between the three presences, course satisfaction, student demographic, academic, and technology variables, and selected instructional strategies.

The Community of Inquiry theory was the framework used in this descriptive correlational study of RN-BSN students (n= 76). Variables were measured using the Community of Inquiry Survey and the Perceived Student Satisfaction Scale instruments, and a researcher developed survey.

Findings indicated students’ perceived teaching and cognitive presence were present to a greater extent than social presence. Significant positive correlations (p < .01) were found between teaching and cognitive presence (r =.79), cognitive and social presence (r =.64), teaching and social presence (r =.52), satisfaction and the teaching (r =.77), social (r =.63), and cognitive (r =.52) presences. There were no significant findings associated with age, ethnicity, race, number of online courses taken, expected course grade or GPA and perceptions of the three presences and course satisfaction. There was a significant difference (p ≤ .05) with gender and perceived social presence with male students reporting stronger levels. Students experiencing course technology difficulties reported significantly ( p ≤ .05) lower perceptions of teaching presence than those experiencing no difficulty. Significant differences (p ≤ .05) were found between specific course instructional strategies and each presence and course satisfaction. The findings provide faculty with an understanding of online course management and teaching/learning strategies that may increase students’ perceptions of presence in online courses and improve student satisfaction with online learning.

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Vonder, Haar Christine M. "Understanding learner engagement and the effect of course structure in massive open online courses." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129929.

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Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, February, 2020
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 44).
In this thesis, we analyze learner performance in two edX programming courses. We look at many dierent types of learners, such as learners who have taken both intro and advanced courses, learners who opt to pay for certification, learners who take the experimental self-paced course, learners who eventually become community teaching assistants, and learners who take the course after the implementation of gating. In particular, we focus on repeat learners, or learners who have taken the course multiple times. When courses undergo a change from semester to semester, for example changing the pacing of the course or making certain content only available to paid users, it can be very useful to look at learners who were in the course before and after this change. Our goal is to gain a baseline understanding of how dierent factors affect learner behavior and how a few changes that edX has made to courses affect learner performance. With the best understanding of how learners interact with and complete courses, edX instructors will be able to provide the best possible online education experience for their learners.
by Christine M. Vonder Haar.
M. Eng.
M.Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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Blundell, Gregory Edgar. "A DISRUPTION OF ONLINE LEARNING COURSE DESIGN:COMPARING SELF-REPORTED LEVELS OF FACULTY SATISFACTION WITH ONLINE COURSES CREATED APPLYING THE 2011-2013 EDITION OF THE QUALITY MATTERS™ RUBRIC STANDARDS TO THOSE ONLINE COURSES CREATED WITHOUT." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1426268368.

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Flores, Diego Gonzalo. "Evaluation of a French 202 Website Used in a Traditional Face-to-face Environment." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2010. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2382.

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The Center for Teaching and Learning, Independent Study, and the Department of French and Italian at Brigham Young University collaborated to develop the French 202 Website to be used with the French 202 course. Currently, the French 202 Website is used with the French 202 Independent Study course and with the traditional face-to-face course. This evaluation focused on the French 202 Website as it is used with the traditional face-to-face course. This evaluation was conducted in conjunction with the Center for Teaching and Learning at Brigham Young University (BYU). Based on the information collected, the evaluator found that (a) faculty used the website to supplement the face-to-face French 202 course, (b) students indicated that the website appears to function according to the criteria for this evaluation, and (c) students felt that because they used the website they were better able to achieve the learning outcomes of the course.
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Sandoe, Cheryl. "Measuring transactional distance of online courses the structure component /." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2005. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0001204.

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Neider, Xyanthe Nicole. "Evaluation criteria in online courses : student and instructor perceptions /." Online access for everyone, 2005. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Fall2005/x%5Fneider%5F111105.pdf.

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Jennings, Amy B. "Searching for student success| Implementing immediacy in online courses." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3571831.

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Growing demand for higher education has contributed to the popularity of online education. While online courses can be effective in terms of student learning and success, and there are many potential benefits, there are also still areas that can be improved. There is evidence that students can experience online courses as impersonal and lacking interaction. They can feel isolated, less satisfied, less successful, and are more likely to withdraw. Thus, one of the challenges facing online education is to find ways to increase connection and interaction between students and faculty.

One means for addressing the sense of isolation students might feel in online courses might be instructor immediacy. While instructor immediacy in traditional classes has been shown to motivate students, create a sense of connection, and support their learning and success, it is not known whether or how immediacy can help students in a fully online course.

The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental intervention study was to examine the effectiveness of faculty immediacy on undergraduate student engagement and success in an online course. Students in an upper division psychology course were randomly assigned to either a redesigned high immediacy section or a 'regular' section. The study's hypothesized framework suggested that instructor immediacy would enhance student engagement, and thereby influence student success.

A survey measured immediacy and student engagement; success was measured by total points earned. The sample included 215 students enrolled in the course in the fall 2012 semester. Independent samples t-tests, correlations, multiple regression, and repeated measures ANOVA were the statistical tests used.

The findings revealed no significant differences between the high immediacy (intervention section) and low immediacy (regular nonintervention group) sections of the course. Immediacy and engagement were highly correlated. Engagement was a significant predictor of student success. Age, units completed, and gender were also significant predictors of student success in this study. These results provide insight into the relationship between immediacy and engagement. Implications and recommendations based on the findings of this study are given. Further studies are recommended to further study the relationship between immediacy and engagement.

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Coleman, Cody A. "Identifying and characterizing subpopulations in massive open online courses." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100300.

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Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2015.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [105]-115).
The large and diverse student populations in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) present an unprecedented opportunity to understand student behavior and learn about learning. A tremendous amount of information on students is collected by logging their behaviors. However, despite this wealth of data, little has been done to identify important subpopulations and understand their strengths and weaknesses. This thesis focuses on the potential of various learner subpopulations to succeed and contribute to the course. First, I investigate teacher enrollment in 11 MITx MOOCs showing that teachers represent a potentially large and untapped resource. Depending on their expertise, teachers could provide additional instruction or guidance to struggling students or a way to extend the reach of MOOCs into traditional classrooms. They could also provide MOOCs with another source of revenue through accreditation opportunities. Second, inspired by the phenomenon widely known as the "spacing effect," I look at how students choose to spend their time in 20 HarvardX MOOCs in order to identify observational evidence for the benefits of spaced practice in educational settings. While controlling for the eect of total time on-site, it is shown that the number of sessions students initiate is an important predictor of certification rate, particularly for students who only spend a few hours in a course Finally, by adapting Latent Dirichlet Allocation, I discover probabilistic use cases that capture the most salient behavioral trends in a course. Not only do these use cases provide insights into student behavior, they also serve as an eective method of dimensionality reduction for additional analysis and prediction. Together, the studies in this thesis represent a step forward in digital learning that illuminates subpopulations that are important to the future success of MOOCs.
by Cody A. Coleman.
M. Eng.
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Jesse, Edel. "Student Attitudes Toward Use of Massive Open Online Courses." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1573740761560753.

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Sandoe, Cheryl. "Measuring Transactional Distance in Online Courses: The Structure Component." Scholar Commons, 2005. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/844.

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Online or web-based courses have become prolific in our educational environment over the past several years. The development of these courses can be guided by systematic design models to ensure quality instructional design. Transactional distance, the theory that claims the distance an online student feels is more of a pedagogical distance than a geographic one, consists of three factors: structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy. Accurate measurement of these three factors is needed in order to substantiate its claims and to best determine the delivery implications. This study produced an instrument that measures the structure component of the transactional distance theory as it pertains to the online environment. A total of 20 online courses were evaluated using the Structure Component Evaluation Tool (SCET). Experts in the field validated the instrument and reliability was determined by calculating Cronbachs alpha as well as examining inter-rater reliability. The SCET also excelled in a comparison to other instruments in the field in terms of its ability to produce rich, valid information about the structure of online courses.
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Hunn, Niares. "The Role of Online College Courses in Rehabilitating Offenders." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/282.

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Research and testimonial evidence indicate the importance of postsecondary education in the rehabilitating inmates and in decreasing reoffending. However, limited research exists on improving critical thinking skills and cognitive processing among inmates. The purpose of this quantitative study was to (a) examine the influence of a psychology course on the critical thinking scores for individuals who took an online psychology course and to (b) analyze how the scores of inmates and other students in the course differed. Using a social cognitive theoretical framework, pretest and posttest scores were compared using a paired t test of statistical analysis of secondary, archival data (n = 25).Secondary data analysis using ANOVA was used to examine the effect of the course on inmates' test scores after course completion. Results indicated that critical thinking skills improved for all students; there was no significant difference based on incarceration status. The outcomes of this study, as well as future data on graduation and recidivism rates, need to be integrated into policy and programs developed for correctional facilities, collegiate classrooms, and for other professionals. It is recommended that correctional facilities, colleges, legislators, and other organizations with direct impact on inmates should collect and analyze these specific variables in a longitudinal study. The results can be used to improve the delivery of online courses offered to inmates, thereby improving opportunities for inmates, easing reentry into society at large, and resulting in positive social change.
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Collins-Brown, Elaine Toledo Cheri. "Aspects of online courses that are more effective and successful than traditional, face-to-face courses." Normal, Ill. : Illinois State University, 2006. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1225152501&SrchMode=1&sid=5&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1177271488&clientId=43838.

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006.
Title from title page screen, viewed on April 22, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Cheri A. Toledo (chair), Adel T. Al-Bataineh, Charles D. Dziuban, Vicky L. Morgan, Wendy G. Troxel. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-244) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Papoulias, Lambe Bobby. "Determining the dominant learning style of millennial students enrolled in online business courses to help instructors apply the appropriate teaching methodology in online courses." Thesis, Pepperdine University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10131798.

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A student’s ability to achieve his or her goal in an online course depends on the quality of the material presented by the instructor, and the motivational aspect of the student before committing to an online course. However, neither of these can be reached to their maximum if the dominant learning styles of students are not uncovered prior to enrolling in an online course. With the quick expansion of online learning in higher education, proper protocol has not been taken in order to help millennials reach their full potential, by allowing instructors to help identify methods to communicate with the students through an online platform. To maximize the impact of these two aspects, the dominant learning styles of millennials must be uncovered. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the dominant learning styles of millennials enrolled in an online business course, on order to provide instructors with insight of how to present course material to students in an online platform. The population consisted of 37 millennials enrolled in three separate online business courses at a California State University. Data were collected using one research instrument, the Building Excellence (BE) Learning Style Survey, consisting of approximately 120 questions. The survey instrument was used to measure the dominant learning styles of the participants among 28 different elements among six categories (perceptual, psychological, environmental, physiological, emotional, and sociological). The study looked into the perceptual category to reveal a strong necessity of millennials preferring to learn material by having it presented using visual images, and/or visual text. By improving the method of instruction in an online business course to incorporate with these learning styles, instructors can maximize their ability to teach students.

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Cheng, Hsiu-Jen. "THE PERCEPTIONS OF TAIWANESE COLLEGE STUDENTS TOWARD THE ENGLISH COURSES USING AN ONLINE COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1177709445.

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Cheng, Sheng-Lun. "The Relationships Between Perceived Course Structures, Conscientiousness, Motivational Beliefs, and Academic Procrastination in Online Undergraduate Courses." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565872460207536.

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30

Guglielmo, Letizia. "Feminist Online Writing Courses: Collaboration, Community Action, and Student Engagement." Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University, 2009. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/english_diss/40/.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2009.
Title from archive page (Digital Archive@GSU, viewed July 16, 2010) Lynee Lewis Gaillet, committee chair; Baotong Gu, Beth Burmester, committee members. Includes bibliographical references.
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Ulmer, Loreta H. "Increasing student interaction in online courses at Old Dominion University." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file, 112 p, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1362536221&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=8331&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

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Robichaud, Wendy. "Student Perceptions of A Comprehensive Orientation Program for Online Courses." Thesis, Nova Southeastern University, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10016459.

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This dissertation presents a qualitative case study of students enrolled in online courses and how they perceived the orientation program they completed before starting these courses. The study was based on the perspectives of students enrolled in a fully online program at a small community college in western Maine. They were interviewed individually to find out: (a) what are the perceptions of participants toward the materials presented in the orientation after completing their first semester; (b) what aspects of the orientation resonate most with participants when it comes to completing a course (nature of online learning, how to use course management system, technical requirements or learning skills and motivation). Besides the interviews, data was collected from the college’s learning management system.

The results of the study show that participants were satisfied with the content of the orientation; however, more information pertaining to specific aspects of the learning management system should be included for additional satisfaction. Participants requested additional information concerning navigating courses, turning in assignments, and posting on discussion boards. The information provided in the interviews was consistent with the theory presented by Rovai’s (2003) persistence model. Participants’ perceptions fell into tow categories, personal and technical. These results were consistent with the current literature pertaining to online courses, orientations, and persistence.

The results and findings of this study add to the body of knowledge concerning what materials in an orientation program are most effective in helping students complete online courses. The participants in this study perceived information about the use of the learning management system to be most important. Academic Deans and Student Services coordinators can learn more about what students’ perceive to be the important elements of an orientation program. The study also contributes to the existing literature on attrition, persistence, and retention.

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Stewart, Brian Alan. "POTENTIAL INDICATORS OF LEARNER READINESS FOR ONLINE NURSING EDUCATION COURSES." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/610474.

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The purpose of this study is to identify potential indicators of learner readiness, also referred to as student preparation, for online nursing courses. A sample of 38 articles including learner readiness assessments, discussions, and research provided the source for this exploratory content analysis. This study used a conceptual content analysis process that included multiple coders and experts to increase the reliability and validity of the findings. The indicators were also checked to see if they were referenced in relation to online nursing students or all online students, and to see if they were noted as mandatory for online programs. The results found 42 potential indicators of learner readiness. Of the 42 indicators 6 were noted as mandatory, and none were referenced in relation to online nursing students. These potential indicators serve as a foundation for additional research to validate each individual indicator as an actual predictor of learner readiness.
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Ruiz, Claudia A. "Job Satisfaction of Adjunct Faculty Who Teach Standardized Online Courses." Scholar Commons, 2015. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5770.

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The present study investigated the job satisfaction of 205 adjunct faculty teaching standardized online courses at a private university in the United States. The extent of the relationship between demographic, motivator, and hygiene factors associated with adjunct faculty job satisfaction were identified. Results from this study indicate that adjunct faculty value work recognition, technical and instructional technology support, and take pride in their teaching. Important faculty satisfaction predictors based on analyses of hierarchical regression models were motivator factors recognition, achievement, and work itself, and hygiene factors policy and administration and salary.
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Martin, Anna M. "The Impact of Instructor Qualities in Higher Education Online Courses." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1510782448483627.

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Jain, Pawan. "Building learning communities facilitating interaction in computer mediated online courses /." Laramie, Wyo. : University of Wyoming, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1799869821&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=18949&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

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Cherry, Shirley J. "Radiography Faculty Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Asynchronous Online Courses." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2501.

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The purpose of this study was to assess radiography faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of asynchronous online courses. Learning effectiveness in a web-based virtual learning environment (VLE) was the conceptual framework for this project (Piccoli, Ahmad, & Ives, 2001). For the purposes of this study, learning effectiveness was defined as the quality of learning being comparable between online and traditional courses (Moore, 2011). Ten research questions were used to guide this study, and statistical tests were conducted to evaluate 17 null hypotheses. The statistical tests included use of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlations, and single-sample t-tests. Ten of the 17 null hypotheses were rejected. Research findings indicate that the effectiveness of online courses is not significantly affected by faculty position, type of institution, faculty age, or years of teaching experience. Faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of online courses increase with years teaching online courses, number of online courses taught in the past 5 years, and perceived competence with use of technology.
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Massey, Daniele Ann. "Teacher's Implementation of Engaging Activities in Online High School Courses." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6239.

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Student engagement is critical to student success, graduation rates, and retention in both face-to-face and online learning environments. In an online environment, the teacher is responsible for implementing engaging instructional activities. The problem examined in this qualitative case study was the inconsistent teacher implementation of engaging instructional strategies in online courses at a school serving U.S. military-connected students. The purpose of the study was to investigate the motivation of teachers to support student engagement opportunities. Self-determination theory (SDT), which has autonomy, competence, and relatedness as main constructs, was used as the conceptual framework and the basis for the research questions. The research questions focused on influence of teacher's motivation on implementation of engaging instructional activities. Seven online high school teachers were selected as participants. Data sources consisted of interviews with participants and assessments of the courses. Data was analyzed using open and axial coding based on SDT. Findings showed that motivation to implement the activities was positively influenced by autonomy, competence of content knowledge, and relationships. Motivation was negatively influenced by a lack of competence in technical skills in the online environment. As a result of the findings, a professional development workshop was developed to increase teacher's understanding of student engagement and provide the instructors with an opportunity to collaborate with colleagues to create a resource toolbox for future use. The findings promote positive social change by adding to the body of knowledge on online learning in secondary schools and providing online high school teachers with insight about online course development and student engagement strategies they can use to positively affect student learning.
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Hrubik-Vulanovic, Tatjana. "EFFECTS OF INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEMS IN BASIC ALGEBRA COURSES ON SUBSEQUENT MATHEMATICS LECTURE COURSES." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1373337020.

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40

Scheick, Amy. "VIRTUAL VISTAS: HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DESCRIBING THEIR EXPERIENCES IN ONLINE COURSES." Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2007. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4012.

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Current research indicates that distance education courses can be as effective as traditional courses when the method and technologies used are appropriate to the instructional tasks. The number of states, counties, and school districts that provide online courses for high school students has rapidly expanded during the last ten years. The number of students, who enroll in these courses, has often grown by double digits each year. Understanding K-12 students' experiences in, and expectations of, online learning is important for many reasons. Online learning is certainly growing and may become a graduation requirement in more states. Currently Michigan requires every student must participate in some form of online learning as a high school graduation requirement. High school students enrolling in online courses may have a measurable influence on higher education courses in the future, as students become more experienced with online learning. A great deal has been written about the development of virtual high schools, some of the issues surrounding them and basic student demographics. There are only a few studies that have interviewed students in detail as to why they have chosen to participate in a virtual school and examined how this choice has impacted them. The purpose of this study was to describe from the student's perspective, why they had enrolled in online courses and allowed them to characterize their experiences. Further, this study sought to identify the personality types and traits of the students enrolled in online high school courses and reported on one measure of the student's cognitive style or cognitive tempo. Forty-three students who were enrolled in a state sponsored virtual high school participated in this study. The study used three online instruments to collect data. The Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 was used to measure the impulsive or reflective responses of the students. The Long-Dziuban Reactive Behavioral Survey was used to determine the students' personality types. The third instrument was an online questionnaire of open-ended questions asking the students about their online experiences. In addition, twelve students participated in follow-up interviews. The study found that the students enrolled in online courses for a variety of reasons; students were concerned about and wanted control over the timing and pacing of their learning. Students' comments suggested that there may be a relationship between cognitive tempo as classified by the MFFT-20, and the students' preference for pacing through the online course materials. In addition, the distribution of personality types and cognitive styles represented in this sample were different from the general school population suggesting that perhaps some students are more interested in online learning than others are. After reviewing the results of the students responses to the MFFT-20, it may be that students may are becoming faster at processing visual information with fewer errors. More research is needed in this area. There does seem to be a trend in this direction and this could have implications for students enrolled in virtual high school courses. Finally, the students in this study characterized their online learning experiences as positive but did not feel that online learning should be a high school graduation requirement for all students.
Ph.D.
Department of Educational Research, Technology and Leadership
Education
Education PhD
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41

Cleugh, Christina. "Sense of community in post-secondary online blended courses| Importance of, opportunities and implications for course development." Thesis, Pepperdine University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3601445.

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The need to belong and connect with others is universal among human beings. Technological advances make connecting and belonging possible via technologies, without face to face interaction. This new ubiquitous way of belonging and connecting is seen in all areas of communication, including work, schools and social environments. Online learning programs pose new challenges and questions. The purpose of this study was to learn more about the importance of sense of community within blended online programs and to determine whether there are specific learning activities that either enhance or detract from a sense of community. This information will inform course developers as to how to build community enhancing learning activities into blended online courses.

Forty-three graduate students enrolled in three different blended online programs from one University participated in an online survey process. The Classroom Community Scale (CCS) was used to assess an overall sense of community as well as 2 subscales; connectedness and learning. Overall, 86% of the subjects reported a sense of community within their educational program. Specific learning activities were assessed for use as well as student perceptions regarding whether the activity enhanced or detracted from the sense of community. Learning activities that were both collaborative in nature and synchronous were those rated by students as enhancing the sense of community. The most utilized learning activities were reading, synchronous discussions, collaborative assignments, writing and asynchronous discussions. Enhancing activities included face to face orientation pre-program start, collaborative projects, synchronous virtual sessions and group presentations.

To enhance community in online programs, it is recommended that an initial pre-program face to face session can best serve to build the initial community and support more effective learning. Additionally, course developers should incorporate synchronous and collaborative learning activities as much as possible within the structure of the course. Finally, faculty could use the CCS to measure connectedness and learning as a way to understand the learning and community preferences of the students in order to determine options and alternatives for learning and assignment completion.

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42

Harbeck, Julia Dedrich. "Community College Students Taking Online Courses: The Student Point-of-View." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26119.

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A qualitative examination of community college studentsâ 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 Messagingâ ¢ 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.
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McKlin, Thomas Edward. "Analyzing Cognitive Presence in Online Courses Using an Artificial Neural Network." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2004. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/msit_diss/1.

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This work outlines the theoretical underpinnings, method, results, and implications for constructing a discussion list analysis tool that categorizes online, educational discussion list messages into levels of cognitive effort. Purpose The purpose of such a tool is to provide evaluative feedback to instructors who facilitate online learning, to researchers studying computer-supported collaborative learning, and to administrators interested in correlating objective measures of students’ cognitive effort with other measures of student success. This work connects computer–supported collaborative learning, content analysis, and artificial intelligence. Method Broadly, the method employed is a content analysis in which the data from the analysis is modeled using artificial neural network (ANN) software. A group of human coders categorized online discussion list messages, and inter-rater reliability was calculated among them. That reliability figure serves as a measuring stick for determining how well the ANN categorizes the same messages that the group of human coders categorized. Reliability between the ANN model and the group of human coders is compared to the reliability among the group of human coders to determine how well the ANN performs compared to humans. Findings Two experiments were conducted in which artificial neural network (ANN) models were constructed to model the decisions of human coders, and the experiments revealed that the ANN, under noisy, real-life circumstances codes messages with near-human accuracy. From experiment one, the reliability between the ANN model and the group of human coders, using Cohen’s kappa, is 0.519 while the human reliability values range from 0.494 to 0.742 (M=0.6). Improvements were made to the human content analysis with the goal of improving the reliability among coders. After these improvements were made, the humans coded messages with a kappa agreement ranging from 0.816 to 0.879 (M=0.848), and the kappa agreement between the ANN model and the group of human coders is 0.70.
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Gibson, Patricia K. "Instructor Training and Instructional Design in Online Courses using Group Work." Thesis, Northcentral University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3571493.

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The purpose of this exploratory multi-case study was to examine the role of instructional design and instructor training on student learning outcomes and student satisfaction within the online class using group work, a form of collaborative learning. Group work has been strongly recommended for online classes. Data allowing insight into contemporary events in context were collected via an online survey, personal interviews, and document examination. Students were given a link to an online survey with both selected response and open-ended questions. Instructors were interviewed either face-to-face or via voice over Internet protocol (VOIP). Syllabi and class handouts were collected and examined using content analysis. These different sources of data were triangulated during the analyses. The participants in the study were undergraduate students and four instructors at a state supported institution of higher education in the southwestern United States. Data collected revealed that those instructors using group work who had the most training and assistance from the Instructional Technology Support in the design and facilitation of classes using group work had the highest level of student satisfaction as well as the highest student perception of good learning outcomes. The data show that when the instructional design using group work is well done and the class is well conducted, student satisfaction and student learning are good. The data show that the amount of instructor training undertaken had a major impact on how students reacted to the classes. The students' perception of learning outcomes differed from that of the instructors. The instructors perceived the classes as being generally successful; however, the students' perceptions were less positive. The levels of training applied by each of the faculty to the design of their online class shows that the more training, the higher the level of satisfaction. Both student success and learning outcomes suffer if the class is not designed and taught with best practices for online group work. Further research needs to be done on the use of online group work in graduate classes and lower division undergraduate classes as all of the studied classes were upper division.

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Taylor, James Young. "Environmental Literacy Development| A Comparison between Online and Traditional Campus Courses." Thesis, Grand Canyon University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3665401.

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As traditional educational efforts expand into the online environment, academic research is needed to determine if effective environmental education could be replicated in the virtual classroom in higher education. Although previous research showed that the online course delivery could be an effective means of teaching environmental facts, what had yet to be determined is if there was a significance difference in the development of an environmental literacy, represented by attitudes and behaviors between online and traditional campus students, at a university within the Western United States. To determine if there was a measured statistical difference in environmental literacy following course completion this causal comparative quantitative study built on the theoretical foundations of environmental literacy development and used the Measures of Ecological Attitudes and Knowledge Scale and New Ecological Paradigm. From a sample of 205 undergraduate environmental science students it was determined, through the use of two tailed t tests at the 0.05 significance level, that no statistical difference in environmental knowledge, actual commitment, and global environmental awareness were evident. However, statistical differences existed in verbal commitment and emotional connection to the environment. Both the online and the traditional campus classroom are shown to be effective in the development of environmental literacy. As technology continues to be incorporated in higher education, environmental educators should see technology as an additional tool in environmental literacy development. However, the identified differences in emotional and verbal commitment should be further investigated.

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Helbert, Justin (Justin C. ). "Methods for observational studies using data from massive open online courses." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106126.

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Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 51).
Measuring the effect of a course component in online classes present an opportunity to use propensity score methods. Propensity score methods aim to balance the effect of self-selecting biases and other confounding variables that arise in observational studies like this, as each student decides what components they engage in throughout the course. This method is applied to an edX course, 6.002x, to estimate the effect of attempting homework and other assessments on students' final exam performance.
by Justin Helbert.
M. Eng.
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Kumar, Swapna. "Integrating asynchronous online discussions into the classroom in web-enhanced courses." Thesis, Boston University, 2007. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/32786.

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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.
Internet access and the increased use of course management systems to supplement classroom instruction in higher education in the last decade (Green, 1996; 2006) present instructors with opportunities to combine online and classroom instruction to enhance student learning. Computer-mediated communication tools like e-mail, discussion forums, and chat rooms available in course Web sites make it possible to continue course discussions beyond the time and space of the classroom. The interactions resulting from instructor use of the discussion board - an asynchronous communication tool available in most course management systems - in two web-enhanced courses that used Blackboard TM are investigated in this study. The most important finding of this study was the interaction and synergy between online and classroom discussions that resulted in several benefits for the professors and students. Semi-structured interviews with the professors and 26 students as well as classroom observations indicated that online and classroom discussions influence each other in web-enhanced courses, and that combining online discussions with classroom discussions can benefit both instructors and students. High student participation in classroom as well as online discussions, additional opportunities for engagement with course content, high instructor-student and student-student interaction, reflection on course readings, and exposure to multiple student perspectives were some benefits cited by both students and professors in the study. The professors reported additional benefits such as insight into students' understanding of readings and time saved planning, structuring, and grading course discussions. Based on the findings, two models for the integration of online discussions in the classroom are presented and the role played by instructional design, instructor participation, instructor feedback, and instructor use of online discussions in crafting a comprehensive learning experience are highlighted in this research. The findings of this study reinforce the importance of choices that instructors make when using technology to achieve their goals and learning objectives. The report concludes with recommendations for instructors wishing to integrate online discussions into the classroom in higher education and directions for future research.
2031-01-01
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48

Finley, Lacey. "Undergraduate business students perceptions of teaching presence in online business courses." Diss., Kansas State University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/32640.

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Doctor of Education
Curriculum and Instruction Programs
Rosemary S. Talab
The purpose of this case study was to explore Teaching Presence in the undergraduate online Business course environment. This study explored the following three Research Questions: 1. How do undergraduate Business students perceive Teaching Presence in online courses? 2. What Teaching Presence components do undergraduate Business students find valuable in online courses? 3. How do exemplary undergraduate online Business course faculty demonstrate Teaching Presence in online instruction? The population of this study consisted of 20 undergraduate Business students and 3 student-nominated Business faculty. Participants included Business students enrolled in online Business courses. Based on the student interviews, the faculty most often nominated by the students as demonstrating effective methods of Teaching Presence in online Business courses served as faculty participants. Interviews of students and faculty were conducted during the Fall 2015 semester. There were 101 units identified for Research Question 1, with 46 units for the theme of "Direct Instruction", 36 for the theme of "Discourse Facilitation", and 19 units for the theme of "Design and Organization". The major findings from these research questions were that undergraduate Business students perceived online course Teaching Presence most through Direct Instruction. Students perceived prompting student engagement in discussions and encouraging student participation as important elements of the "Discourse Facilitation" theme. Students perceived good course design methods as being important to Teaching Presence. There were 245 units identified for Research Question 2, with 93 units for the theme of "Design and Organization", 88 units for "Discourse Facilitation" and 64 units for Direct Instruction". The major findings were that the "Design and Organization" theme was found to be most valuable to undergraduate Business students in the form of designing methods and establishing time parameters. Setting a climate for learning within the "Discourse Facilitation" theme and confirming understanding within the "Direct Instruction" themes were important to students when discussing what Teaching Presence components they found valuable in online Business courses. There were 81 units identified for Research Question 3, which consisted of faculty interviews focused on how exemplary online Business course faculty demonstrated Teaching Presence. The themes that were found in the faculty interviews were 30 units for the "Design and Organization" theme, 26 units for the "Discourse Facilitation" theme and 25 units for the "Direct Instruction" theme. The major findings were that the "Design and Organization" theme was found to be of the utmost importance to exemplary faculty when discussing the demonstration of Teaching Presence in online Business courses. Within the "Discourse Facilitation" theme, faculty emphasized the importance of drawing in participants and prompting discussion. Confirming understanding was found to be the most important aspect of the "Direct Instruction" theme. Recommendations for the research setting were in the areas of learning activity clarity, the use of integrated video lectures, enriched student-instructor interaction strategies, and technological tools to identify student comprehension struggles. Recommendations for future research including a study of Teaching Presence in different academic disciplines and in different academic environments, the efficacy of various technologies in enhancing Teaching Presence, and instructor attributes influencing Teaching Presence.
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49

David, Alicia Bailey. "Motivated Learning in Introductory Online College Courses: Do Motivational Messages Matter?" NSUWorks, 2013. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/130.

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Abstract:
Supporting retention, student success, and online enrollments are some of the most significant and challenging topics in higher education today. Students who fail to succeed early in their studies are less likely to be retained, and students in the online environment are more likely to fail than their campus counterparts. Motivational techniques have been shown to support course retention and success, but studies of online motivational course support methods are limited. Some evidence exists that motivational messages can affect student performance in online courses, but the message format that is most effective has yet to be definitively established. A survey research design was employed and quantitative and qualitative data were collected to determine how motivational messages and message type affect student performance and retention in an introductory online community college course. The population consisted of students in three sections of an introductory online IT course. The data included student course grades, final course scores, responses to three surveys, and the researcher's reflexive journal of motivational message design decisions made throughout the course. Due to low course participation levels and low survey return rates, only the descriptive data were reported. Additional exploration of the literature to explain low participation was sought. Potential causes for low survey return rates included low course participation, survey length, the number of survey contacts, inaccurate estimates of survey completion time, and the number of surveys deployed. To explain the low course participation, best practices with regard to online course design were identified in the literature and compared to the design of the course used in this study. Qualitative survey results and a reflexive journal of the researcher's design decisions are also presented. The results suggest that students liked the motivational messages. The reaction was stronger for the personalized messages than for the general, but this was not a conclusive finding. To the contrary the findings suggest that motivational messages (regardless of type) are not by themselves effective at engaging and retaining students and should not be used as a stand-alone motivational technique.
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50

Follis, Chad. "Variables predicting the retention of community college students in online courses." Thesis, University of Missouri - Columbia, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10182606.

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Community colleges have seen large increases in students enrolling in online courses nationally. This trend does not appear to be slowing down, in-fact, the number of students enrolling in online courses is increasing. A number of these first-generation students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. This study attempted to isolate variables that can best predict a community college student's chance of successful completion in the online environment.

Ten variables were studied at one community college in Missouri (MOCC) during academic years 2010-2012. The variables were; College division, age, gender, academic semester, academic level, prior remediation, prior online course, grade point average, financial assistance, credit hours enrolled. The study used archived data with 9,540 individual cases. A chi-square analysis was used on the dichotomous and categorical variables and continuous variables were analyzed using an independent t-test. Once significance had been established the variables were analyzed again using a forced entry logistic regression to determine the statistical probability of the variables. All variables except prior remediation showed significance using the three analysis methods. The predictive abilities of logistic regression showed that students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, enrolled in a Career and Technology field of study, male, receiving financial aid, enrolled in 10.5 credit hours in the summer and an age of 30 were the most likely to successfully complete online courses at MOCC.

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