Education Commons^™

Evaluating The Quality Of Online Courses: Challenges And Strategies For Success, Stephanie Boss Dr., Dana Hilbert Dr., Mary Dzindolet Dr., Jennifer Dennis Dr.

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The department chairs of Education, Sports & Exercise Science, and Psychology and their dean, share their process for evaluating the quality of online courses with faculty in existing and newly developed courses. Training, internal and external reviews, and implementation strategies will be discussed in this session.

Nursing Distance Learning Course Comparison Of Assignments And Examination Scores, Jennifer Mundine

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nursing programs have embraced distance learning in their curricula, but discussion is ongoing about course assignments and grading criteria to increase examination scores in nursing distance learning courses. Because course examinations are a predictor of success on the postgraduate licensing examination (NCLEX-RN), the purpose of this study was to determine whether differences existed in student examination scores between nursing distance learning courses with and without points aligned to assignments. The theoretical framework was Knowles's theory of andragogy, which highlights adults' motivation and self-direction to succeed. The quantitative causal comparative study included a convenience sample of 164 students to compare archival …

Concept Mapping As A Tool For Enhancing Self-Paced Learning In A Distance Scenario, John Allen Richbourg

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have determined that concept maps serve as effective tools in the traditional science classroom. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate concept mapping as a tool for student knowledge acquisition in 10th grade science for students in distance learning situations. Research questions were designed to investigate the influence of concept mapping on rate and quality of student knowledge acquisition and retention. This study was a pretest-posttest 2-group comparison study, constructivist in nature and based on the theory of cognitive learning. Participants included 36 students in the 10th grade at an inner-city school in the United States. Control …

Impacts On Faculty Workload During A Learning Management System Transition, Karla Page Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Management professionals at many colleges are transitioning to new learning management systems (LMS), such as Moodle, for reasons such as lower costs, greater outreach, and student preference. Transitioning to a new LMS may result in faculty problems with learning a new technology platform in addition to teaching. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact that an LMS transition had on faculty attitudes, experiences, and workload. The conceptual framework of the study was the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the diffusion of innovation theory. A phenomenological design was employed with a purposeful sample of …

Online Attrition At A Community College In Rural Appalachia: A Phenomenological Approach, Victoria Sue Ratliff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The education attainment level of residents in rural Appalachia has consistently ranked below the remaining populous of the United States. Although distance education initiatives have attempted to bridge the disparities between rural Appalachia and the rest of the nation, online community college students in this region are likely to drop out or fail their classes. To understand the phenomenon of online attrition in rural Appalachia, a phenomenological study was conducted to determine what students experienced from the time they chose to enroll in online classes through the point of failure or withdrawal from their courses. This triangulated study utilized surveys, …

Faculty Creativity In Distance Learning: A Phenomenological Study To Understand How The Online Learning Environment Impacts Faculty Creativity, Annaleah Demetra Morrow

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

What is the experience of expressing creativity for creative faculty teaching in the online environment? The literature regarding online learning covers topics relating to faculty and student satisfaction with distance learning, and faculty frustrations with the increased time required of online classes versus on-ground classes. Although the impact to creativity could be inferred in some cases, there is a void in studies focused specifically on understanding the experience of creative faculty expressing their creativity in the online environment. This study is intended to gain a deeper understanding of how teaching in the online environment affects the expression of faculty creativity …

Designing Successful Online Courses - Part 2, Kathleen P. King

Kathleen P King

Once again, our major goal is to provide faculty with consistent guidance through the many instructional decisions and design steps they need to pursue in this process. This process is a fantastic opportunity to craft a virtual learning space in which people can engaging in learning beyond the constraints of time and space.

Designing Successful Online Courses - Part 2, Kathleen P. King

Leadership, Counseling, Adult, Career and Higher Education Faculty Publications

Once again, our major goal is to provide faculty with consistent guidance through the many instructional decisions and design steps they need to pursue in this process. This process is a fantastic opportunity to craft a virtual learning space in which people can engaging in learning beyond the constraints of time and space.

Revelations Of Adaptive Technology Hiding In Your Operating System, Kathleen P. King

Kathleen P King

Pre-publication version of a chapter about the assistive technology tools and resources available for free in Windows OS and Mac OS. Introducing higher education faculty to free resources, features and programs which they can recommend to their students or perhaps use for themselves (for instance for fading eyesight or hearing). In addition, the chapter briefly shares strategies and examples of how they might be used. The book will have an entire chapter dedicated to assistive technology as well. This is a popularized assistive technology chapter for generalist, NON special education, faculty to become acquainted with readily available and free resources. …

Revelations Of Adaptive Technology Hiding In Your Operating System, Kathleen P. King

Leadership, Counseling, Adult, Career and Higher Education Faculty Publications

Pre-publication version of a chapter about the assistive technology tools and resources available for free in Windows OS and Mac OS. Introducing higher education faculty to free resources, features and programs which they can recommend to their students or perhaps use for themselves (for instance for fading eyesight or hearing). In addition, the chapter briefly shares strategies and examples of how they might be used.

The book will have an entire chapter dedicated to assistive technology as well. This is a popularized assistive technology chapter for generalist, NON special education, faculty to become acquainted with readily available and free resources. …

Exploring Pre- And Post-Admission Characteristics Of Retained First-Year Students Enrolled In Non-Proximal Distance Learning Programs Within Public, 2-Year Colleges, Laurie Hillstock

All Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to explore pre- and post-admission characteristics of retained first-year students enrolled in non-proximal distance learning programs within a public, 2-year college environment. Pre-admission characteristics included student attributes, such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, GPA, and technology experience. Post-admission characteristics included lifestyle variables (i.e., employment status, family obligations, and finances) and student perceptions regarding institutional variables (i.e., academic integration, commitment and technology access). The sample for this study consisted of 197 first-year students enrolled in non-proximal distance learning programs from among five, public, 2-year colleges in Virginia during the 2008-09 academic year.
A quantitative data …

Harnessing Innovative Technologies In Higher Education, Kathleen P. King, Joan K. Griggs

Kathleen P King

This publication is an attempt to capture the evolution of distributed higher education over the last decade by tracing the applications of new technologies funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). As FIPSE surveyed the current state of distance/distributed education, there existed an opportunity to help post econdary education make the transition to this new generation of distance education made possible by the explosive growth of the Internet and other new technologies. These technologies created the potential for students to access learning that was interactive, customized, and self-paced; to more easily merge lifelong learning with the …

Harnessing Innovative Technologies In Higher Education: Access, Equity, Policy & Instruction, Kathleen P. King, Joan K. Griggs

Leadership, Counseling, Adult, Career and Higher Education Faculty Publications

This publication is an attempt to capture the evolution of distributed higher education over the last decade by tracing the applications of new technologies funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). As FIPSE surveyed the current state of distance/distributed education, there existed an opportunity to help post econdary education make the transition to this new generation of distance education made possible by the explosive growth of the Internet and other new technologies. These technologies created the potential for students to access learning that was interactive, customized, and self-paced; to more easily merge lifelong learning with the …