Education Commons^™

Engaging The Adult Learner: An Action Research Study On Delivering Effective Online Learning Experiences, Amanda Nolan

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Since the pandemic of 2020, there has been a vast increase of adults learning online. Today, online learning is the most popular learning approach among adult learners. However, many adults have faced obstacles and challenges when learning online, resulting in a poor learning experience. Online learning is a modality that has become the forefront of learning in our society and continues to grow more and more popular, which makes it a critically important research area. This paper discusses adult learners and their most common challenges and obstacles when learning online and suggestions on how to avoid them. A positionality statement …

Standalone, Supplemental, And Embedded Microlearning Development Alternatives For Federal Programs During A Pandemic, Tod M. Hebenton

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Microlearning has been studied since the early 2000’s. Comparisons of microlearning and eLearning are found throughout the research. Some research has presented developing microlearning as an alternative to developing eLearning courses. However, this action research paper is written in support of developing microlearning to be implemented alongside or as a component of eLearning. Microlearning benefits learners because it can be developed as standalone, supplemental, or embedded course content. A literature review and close examination of a series of microlearning videos developed for a federal program will highlight how microlearning can be developed as standalone or supplemental course content that can …

A Competence-Based Online Learning Video And In-Situ Simulation To Improve Perioperative Anesthesia Nurse Practitioner Self-Efficacy In Responding To Anesthesia Emergencies, Sara Durgerian

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are broadly educated to the population-based role in which they practice. Further education in subspecialties is essential as more NPs are working autonomously in highly specialized care areas.

Problem: In the Department of Anesthesia at a large urban hospital, perioperative anesthesia NPs lack formal training in the subspecialty of anesthesia, which contributed to a lack of self-efficacy when responding to anesthesia emergencies.

Methods: An asynchronous multimodal brief instructional video accompanied by an in-situ simulation of an anesthesia emergency was developed to increase knowledge and confidence in perioperative anesthesia nurse practitioner response to anesthesia emergencies.

Results: A …

Esl A2 Optional Class For 7th Grade Students, Judit Szabó

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This paper describes an A2 level English class for 7th-grade students. The 10-week course focuses on vocabulary building, speaking, and reinforcing A1/A2 level grammar.

The needs analysis plan is described to provide context for the course and was used as a basis for the course design and instructional choices. The main body of the paper discusses instructional strategy and detailed course design. Key course aspects include scaffolding, relevance, and emphasis on active engagement and interaction. Class materials for Weeks 1-3 are worked out in detail and included in Appendices A and B.

Guidelines For Effective Adaptive Learning: A Meta-Analysis, Jennifer C. Dahlmann

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Adaptive learning adjusts to the student’s needs to improve learning outcomes, but adaptive learning platforms approach this goal in vastly different ways. When tested, these platforms also show varying levels of success in improving learning. The goal of this meta-analysis is to develop guidelines for the creation and implementation of adaptive learning based on studies where adaptive learning was utilized.

Asynchronous Training For Online Teaching Assistants, Jason Snellings

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

The University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) eLearning and Instructional Design (eLID) team provides technical support to faculty and teaching assistants (TAs) as they teach online courses. There is currently a lack of support for TAs to properly train them to handle the technical tasks designated to them by faculty. This lack of education results in an increased workload on the eLID team in responding to TAs. Research was conducted to determine what the common duties of TAs are and what roles they should be able to fulfill at UMB. In addition, research was used to determine the best method of …

Adaptive Analytics: It’S About Time, Charles Dziuban, Colm Howlin, Patsy Moskal, Tammy Muhs, Connie Johnson, Rachel Griffin, Carissa Hamilton

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This article describes a cooperative research partnership among a large public university, a for-profit private institution and their common adaptive learning platform provider. The focus of this work explored adaptive analytics that uses data the investigators describe as metaphorical “digital learning dust” produced by the platform as a matter of course. The information configured itself into acquired knowledge, growth, baseline status and engagement. Two complimentary models evolved. The first, in the public university, captured end-of-course data for predicting success. The second approach, in the private university, formed the basis of a dynamic real-time data analytic algorithm. In both cases the …

Foreword: Implementing Adaptive Learning At Scale, Karen Vignare

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

What follows is the second of now two Specials Issues of the CIEE journal to have been produced and guest edited by the Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Both special issues feature important research resulting from university initiatives to launch, implement and scale up the use of adaptive courseware and the strategies of adaptive learning. The Personalized Learning Consortium has been working with institutions for more than five years to improve student success in high enrollment undergraduate courses. Using a combination of active learning and adaptive courseware, many universities are reporting higher …

Current Issues In Emerging Elearning, Volume 7, Issue 1: Aplu Special Issue On Implementing Adaptive Learning At Scale

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

The second of two Specials Issues of the CIEE journal to have been produced and guest edited by the Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), featuring important research resulting from university initiatives to launch, implement and scale up the use of adaptive courseware and the strategies of adaptive learning.

Hype-On-Campus: A Pilot Online Learning Program Designed For Helping Youth On The Path To Employment (Hype), Sam P. Lenox

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Helping Youth on the Path to Employment (HYPE) is a research-based program housed at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The program aims to provide support and services to young adults with mental health conditions as they identify meaningful career paths and achieve goals for sustained employment. HYPE has developed a multi-stage trial program called Hype-On-Campus (HOC) that will expand the HYPE model to colleges and universities across the United States beginning with the fall semester of 2020. Graduate-level Student Practitioners, selected to participate in the initial HOC feasibility trial, will be enrolled in an HOC online distance training program …

Finding Pathways: Best Practices For Ongoing Learning In Toastmasters, Veronica Brown

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Toastmasters International, an educational organization consisting of an international network of public speaking clubs, has developed a sophisticated elearning educational program called Pathways as an update to a simpler program, published in booklets, that was nearly a century old. Reactions from club members have been mixed and the transition has required a great deal of training and support efforts at all levels of the organization. This research seeks to identify best practices Toastmasters clubs and members can use to successful transition to Pathways. The hypothesis of the research is that Toastmasters, as a community of practice (CoP), is a connectivist …

Ilt To Mobile Elearning Design For At-Risk Populations, Jacqueline R. Tomrdle

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This capstone assisted a non-profit company to produce mobile learning for the vulnerable, at-risk population they serve. A fellow University of Massachusetts Boston Instructional Design Program graduate created an eLearning visual brand guide laying the foundation for a consistent accessible brand for the company. As a result, this author used the tools of analysis, instructional design, development, implementation and evaluation to create deliverables of six workshop modules. The non-profit company is one-step closer to their goal of online support for their graduates and promotion of their program to a larger audience reach in Massachusetts.

A Case Study On A Grassroots, Student-Led Facebook Community For Online Graduate Students And Alumni, Caroline E. Frankel

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This case study explores the evolution of a grassroots, student-led Facebook graduate student community to support graduate students within the University of Massachusetts Boston Instructional Design Program. The study explores literature supporting social presence construction within formal course environments, informal learning networks, and how social media can help bridge the gap between the formal and informal course space. A questionnaire administered to graduate students and alumni within the Instructional Design Facebook community suggests that a grassroots model has been highly effective at helping students feel more connected to each other. Conclusions and recommendations provided by this study will help inform …

Team Building & Coaching, Daniel Kelley

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

A supervisor’s ability to make proper hires and coach existing employees is related to the creation of a pipeline of future supervisors. As corporations grow, so does its personnel. As the personnel grows, so does the need for more leaders that can appropriately manage personnel without human resource intervention. This paper discusses the need for an internally designed program created to help existing supervisors build a bench of future company leaders. Background information of the company is discussed along with the importance of staff development in achieving its mission. A literature review was performed to determine the benefits of an …

A Shift In Reality: Virtual And Augmented Systems In Higher And Medical Education, Brian Meyer

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Virtual and augmented technologies provide a seamless solution for merging traditional, theoretical learning with practical application in context. Unlike traditional teaching pedagogies, in which lessons are restricted in terms of the use of additional apparatus, pedagogies that involve the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies enable educators to build upon taught concepts to demonstrate the application of those concepts in practice, and allow educators to generate multiple atypical scenarios in order to build competence in practical fields of endeavour. In medical education, virtual and augmented reality tools provide an especially important opportunity for preparation before treating patients in actual …

Meaningful Engagement Via Robotic Telepresence: An Exploratory Case Study, Tommy Lister

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Recent advances in robotic telepresence have created new opportunities for students that are unable to engage in traditional classroom environments physically. Although these technologies are still being tested in application, early indicators support the idea that robotic telepresence enhances the learning experience by allowing greater autonomy and depth of engagement with peers. This exploratory case study examines the experiences of a fifth-grade student who was limited in her ability to attend school due to illness. It utilizes a qualitative investigation into the experiences of robotic-telepresence from the perspectives of the remote student, peer students in the classroom context, and the …

Reimagining First-Year Experience: Strategies For Supporting The Success Of The 21st Century Community College Student, Jennifer A. Puniello

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Across the nation, higher education institutions are assessing and redesigning their first-year experience as efforts to retain students. Community colleges, especially, are piloting and implementing evidence-based practices that have proven to be successful at four-year institutions. Bristol Community College, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is among one of these community colleges. While the research presented in this Capstone does not address non-cognitive issues, as critical as they are to understanding student attrition, this Capstone, backed by primary research and empirical data, focuses on curricular and co-curricular pedagogy imperative to the success of first-year community college students. Using Bristol as a subject, …

Insurance Claims Adjuster Remote Training Initiative, Pamela Wieboldt

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

This paper contains a full training plan initiative to correct a knowledge gap among remote marine insurance adjusters. The problem originated from a longer claims handling process among remote adjusters dealing with Maritime Law claims. In an assessment in the analyze phase this knowledge gap was confirmed. Through analysis there were three major areas of maritime law that adjusters on staff did not test well on. The modules developed will follow the theory of micro learning due to the staff members having limited time to commit to learning each day. As the employees are remote, all of the learning events …

Resilience Training For Va Primary Care Providers, Elizabeth A. Recupero

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Physician burnout syndrome is epidemic within the U.S. healthcare system. Burnout is defined by three main criteria: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a low sense of personal accomplishment, and its prevalence is highest among primary care providers. The VA’s All Employee Survey (AES) demonstrates that more than 50% of physicians working for the VA Healthcare System exhibit at least one of these symptoms. The literature discusses that this syndrome can be improved by increasing physician resilience. This capstone project first analyzed the need for resiliency training among VA primary care providers. After the needs analysis, an online training that encompassed mindfulness …

New Hire Training For Development Employees, Frances Pickles

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Children’s Cancer Charity employs development staff members in field offices across the country. These new hires require a specialized training for their role within the organization. The existing new hire training consists of a sales training and a week-long training held quarterly at the Executive Office. The current training lacks a foundational understanding of the various fundraising programs that exist at CCC and the training on the soft skills required to be successful in a development role. Two training series were designed to meet the needs of development new hires: Fundraising Program Training and Business Skills Training. The program training …

Adaptable Selectivity: A Case Study In Evaluating And Selecting Adaptive Learning Courseware At Georgia State University, Megan M. Tesene

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

In the summer of 2016, the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) awarded Georgia State University with a $515,000 grant to adopt, implement, and scale adaptive learning courseware in undergraduate general education courses. Georgia State’s approach to the three-year grant is both data-driven and collaborative, focusing on the exploration and piloting of adaptive courseware prior to scaling out the technology across five high-impact courses. This article highlights the work conducted at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) during Year 1 of the grant. CETL’s Adaptive Learning Program Manager and Director of Learning Technology review the systematic and …

Aplu Adaptive Courseware Grant, A Case Study: Implementation At The University Of Mississippi, Patti O’Sullivan

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Learning Management Systems (LMS) have been the main vehicle for delivering and managing e-learning courses in educational, business, governmental and vocational learning settings. Since the mid-nineties there is a plethora of LMS in the market with a vast array of features. The increasing complexity of these platforms makes LMS evaluation a hard and demanding process that requires a lot of knowledge, time, and effort. Nearly 50% of respondents in recent surveys have indicated they seek to change their existing LMS primarily due to user experience issues. Yet the vast majority of the extant literature focuses only on LMS capabilities in …

Adaptive Learning Courseware As A Tool To Build Foundational Content Mastery: Evidence From Principles Of Microeconomics, Karen Gebhardt

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Adaptive courseware has the potential to increase content mastery through assessment and personalized remediation. In this study, content mastery is determined by assessment items developed in alignment to learning outcomes using Bloom’s Taxonomy. This study tracks freshmen and sophomore students enrolled in the foundations course, Principles of Microeconomics at Colorado State University. The researcher finds that students who complete adaptive assignments show higher mastery on formative assessments.

A Preliminary Examination Of Adaptive Case Studies In Nursing Pathophysiology, Julie F. Hinkle, Patsy Moskal

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Case studies are a valuable instructional tool frequently used in nursing to allow students to analyze clinical problems based on real-world scenarios. This study examines the use of the Realizeit adaptive platform to create case study scenarios for pathophysiology, a course required in the undergraduate nursing curriculum. The data gathered as students progressed through the adaptive content--time on task, number of times cases accessed, and scores on each case--provided valuable information on student behavior and engagement with the three case studies. Results of this preliminary study indicate that adaptive case studies are promising for pathophysiology and system analytics confirmed that …

Foreword: Leveraging Adaptive Courseware And Adaptive Learning, Noreen Barajas-Murphy

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This special edition ofCurrent Issues in Emerging eLearningcomprises new empirical research focused on strategies for implementing and scaling personalized and adaptive courseware solutions. A special call for studies related to adaptive courseware implementation was announced broadly.

The Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) was solicited for research originating from institutions who participated in a postsecondary success initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As evidenced in the research in this edition, high-enrollment foundation or gateway courses are of particular interest for pioneering initiatives regarding adaptive courses, given these courses have been …

Achieving A Scaled Implementation Of Adaptive Learning Through Faculty Engagement: A Case Study, Constance Johnson, Emma Zone

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This paper presents a case study describing the implementation of adaptive learning at Colorado Technical University (CTU) with a focus on faculty adoption. A number of barriers to the adoption of technology will be discussed and more importantly, how CTU overcame these barriers. A description of the key elements of faculty support including training will be outlined as well as the information about the adoption of faculty using data to inform teaching strategies. The authors argue that if given the choice, faculty at CTU would prefer adaptive learning technology in their courses and welcome the use of technology and data …

Passing The Baton: Digital Literacy And Sustained Implementation Of Elearning Technologies, Lauren Herckis

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Evidence-based eLearning tools have proliferated in recent decades, but adoption at scale remains elusive. Educator buy-in is important for successful implementation of eLearning tools, and is often engaged through peer discussion, learning communities, and other educator network engagement. These non-expert sources of motivation and support for adoption, however, rarely embed specific implementation-related knowledge which eases initial phases of adoption and pedagogical integration. Such information is rarely missed but often missing from casual, technological, and pedagogical support. This represents a special kind of digital literacy which is integral to successful dissemination of educational innovations. The presence of implementation models or detailed …

Current Issues In Emerging Elearning, Volume 5, Issue 1: Special Issue On Leveraging Adaptive Courseware

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This special edition of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning comprises new empirical research focused on strategies for implementing and scaling personalized and adaptive courseware solutions. A special call for studies related to adaptive courseware implementation was announced broadly.

The Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) was solicited for research originating from institutions who participated in a postsecondary success initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As evidenced in the research in this edition, high-enrollment foundation or gateway courses are of particular interest for pioneering initiatives regarding adaptive courses, given these courses …

One Team’S Journey With Irubrics, Danan Myers, Amy Peterson, Angela Matthews, Miguel Sanchez

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This study explains the process of incorporating electronic grading rubrics into multiple sections of one Digital Literacy course at one online university. Researchers share their experience transitioning from paper rubrics to electronic iRubrics linked directly into each assignment, a process that involved evaluating existing course rubrics, revising them to align with assignments and institutional learning outcomes (ILOs), running pilot courses using the automated iRubrics tool, and training faculty on the use of these new rubrics and the iRubrics tool. The experiences suggest that using iRubrics instead of paper rubrics can significantly increase the efficiency of grading and offer quick access …

How Mooc Reality Informs Distance Education, Online Learning, And Connectivism, Adelina G. Hristova, Fernanda C. Bonafini, Kathryn W. Jablokow, Rebecca Y. Bayeck, Eunsung Park

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

In this paper, we draw from our experience as designers, instructors, and researchers in the second edition of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) called Creativity, Innovation, and Change (CIC) 2.0 to discuss MOOC interactions. Since the CIC 2.0 MOOC was inspired by the tenets of connectivism, we employed connectivism and its four main conceptual components (autonomy, diversity, openness, and connectedness) to discuss these empirical findings from a theoretical perspective. We build our argument on the four levels of interactions (interactions with instructors, learners, course materials, and the interface) traditionally used in the field of distance education and online learning …