Education Commons^™

Investigating The Effect Of Universal Design For Learning On Learner Performance, Engagement, And Self-Efficacy, Ana Elizabeth Redstone

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study sought to address the gap in knowledge about the effect of UDL features on asynchronous online postsecondary learners’ achievement, engagement, and self-efficacy. The study also described a process for redesigning an online course to incorporate UDL components and provided specific examples of the implemented UDL guidelines. The study was conducted in a three-phase multimethod research design, which included quantitative and qualitative data collected from the participants, the learning management system (LMS), and the course instructor.

In collaboration with the course instructor, the researcher redesigned an existing asynchronous online university Computer Science course using UDL guidelines to address learning …

Assessing The Impact Of Substituting Interaction Types: An Empirical Study Of The Interaction Equivalency Theory, Scott Alan Hauert

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Multimedia technologies allow instructional designers to transform interpersonal interactions into interactions between learners and content. These learner–content interactions are more scalable in online, asynchronous distance education (DE) than interactions between learners and the instructor or interactions among learners. Additionally, learners sometimes prefer interactions with course content over interactions with their peers and instructor. Studies on learner–learner and learner–instructor interaction provide insight into the preferences and perceived effects of interaction types. However, the literature has not directly discussed the impact on performance resulting from substituting learner–content interaction for learner–learner interaction. This study examined the impact of substituting interaction types on perception …

Community College Academic Advisors’ Considerations Of Ethical Issues Related To The Use Of Learning Analytics, Anna Elizabeth Jones

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Learning analytics is an emerging trend in American community colleges brought about by technological advancements, institutional accountability, and external pressure on institutions to substantiate and improve learning. Learning analytics can potentially improve student engagement, retention, and success but also possess inherent ethical and legal challenges like student privacy and confidentiality violations and users’ bias and discrimination. Researchers know little about the ethical considerations of advisors who serve diverse student populations enrolled at community colleges, and there is a need to better understand various users’ experiences to mitigate poor ethical use and to protect multiple stakeholders. This multiple case study employed …

Lms Problem-Posing Academic Relationships Between Faculty And Students: A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Study Of Dialogical Relationships In Asynchronous Online Courses, Sheri L. Prupis

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Drawing on Freire’s Engaged Pedagogy as a theoretical framework, I investigated the manifestation of dialogical relationships between faculty and students in fully asynchronous online courses. Employing a post-intentional phenomenological methodology, I examined how students and faculty held varying expectations for relationships in asynchronous online courses. The findings revealed that while students preferred transactional exchanges, faculty aspired to foster more profound and more enduring relationships with their students. This divergence can be partly attributed to the transactional exchange structure of Learning Management Systems (LMS), which heavily influences how faculty design and deliver courses and how students participate.

Teaching Higher Education During A Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study Of Instructor Decisions Associated With Switching From Face-To-Face To Online-Only Sessions, Steven M. Miner

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, university instructors were required to shift their course delivery from face-to-face to online-only presentations with two weeks of preparation. Volunteering instructors were interviewed via a semi-structured interview protocol regarding their actions to maintain instructor presence in an online-only setting. The term emergency remote teaching (ERT), defined by fellow researchers as the adoption of just-in-time remote teaching practices that would otherwise be offered face-to-face, aligned with the actions taken by interviewees. The data indicated that given an event requiring ERT, instructors should: overcome technology issues for themselves and their students to verify communication pathways, and exhibit …

Near Transfer After Direct Instruction: An Experimental Inquiry Within Aviation Technician Training, Francis Eamonn Powers

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study put forth two instructional interventions set within a direct instruction (DI) framework specific to an aviation maintenance context. To evaluate the effectiveness of these two training interventions a criterion was established to measure near transfer during a performance evaluation on a live aircraft. Information learned within this study indicates that DI can be highly effective in technical training environments. This study also articulates how VR experiences may be included within these types of training contexts and discusses the factors and affordances that come with utilizing VR in instructional activities.

Additionally, this study revealed experiential characteristics of a DI …

Using Ozobots To Learn Character Traits, Kimberly Dawn Eure

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Technology is utilized in everyday life. As such, teachers can employ educational robots and technology to assist in growing skills in collaboration, communication, computational thinking, and problem-solving. Educational robots also appear to increase engagement and motivation in students to participate in lessons. This study employed design-based research (DBR) to explore the use of Ozobots in teaching character traits in a fourth-grade classroom. Together with fourth-grade teachers, a set of lessons was created that employed Ozobots to engage students in learning character traits. Two technology integration frameworks, technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) and Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR), were …

The Creation Of Successful Student Subjects: Foucault’S Power/Knowledge Framework And The Danger Of Failing Early Alert, Sue Ann Cecilia Curran

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of learning analytics is to improve and optimize learning using student data (Siemens, 2013). An early alert warning is learning analytics designed to promote student success (Baneres et al., 2019; Foung, 2019; Lawson et al., 2016; Villano et al., 2018). An early alert has an intervention component that includes, at minimum, an email that provides information about college resources to address the issue (Arnold & Pistilli, 2012). Some early alert interventions include a personal outreach by a staff member at the college through a phone call or text message (Choi et al., 2018).

At Care Community College, when …

Leadership Competencies For Instructional Designers: Identifying Critical Incidents Used To Lead Design Projects That Improve Performance, Heidi Elaine Kirby

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Even though an instructional designer may not have formal authority or direct reports, to be successful, they need leadership skills. Although the literature calls for instructional designers to possess several critical leadership skills, it does not consistently present the same important skills and often defines them very broadly. Further, authors who have argued that leadership skills are not taught to instructional designers in a sufficient way often call for more education on leadership competencies in graduate school, but the literature does not state where these skills are currently being learned and fostered.

This qualitative research study used methods of grounded …

An Instrumental Case Study Of Confirmative Evaluation In The Continuous Improvement Of Online Remote Leaders’ Work, Chad Lawrence Mclane

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Confirmative evaluation is often noted as an important element of models of Human Performance Technology and Performance Improvement, but there exists confusion around what is and what is not confirmative evaluation. A significant issue limiting the use of confirmative evaluation is the Performance Improvement field’s inability to clearly classify confirmative evaluation in terms of its purpose and scope. Additionally, the performance improvement field lacks sufficient examples of confirmative evaluation in the literature necessary to adequately define confirmative evaluation and demonstrate its use. Without sufficient examples of confirmative evaluation, practitioners of performance improvement are left without a clear path of how …

Active Military Student Persistence In Online Courses At California Community Colleges, Stephanie E. Gernert

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The diversity of higher education institutions is changing, and more post-traditional students, including those associated with the military, are engaging in higher education. Almost every post-secondary institution in the United States has military students. In 2020, $11.5 billion was spent on over 875,000 eligible military students. Military students often prefer online courses at community colleges due to flexibility around their military career, open-access, and affordability.

Yet, few studies examine active military servicemembers alone and, when research is performed, a lack of thorough data collection exists. Therefore, this study focused on active military students in online education in California Community Colleges. …

Metacognitive Supports In Online Community College Learners, Bethany L. Emory

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges provide educational, social and professional lifelines for students. Community college students are often characterized by their need to balance school amidst conflicting life needs, such as employment and family. As a result, many community college students struggle to find time to commit to on campus classes. Asynchronous online courses offer these students flexibility. Without the ability to self-regulate their learning, this mode of learning has been shown to be more challenging, resulting in students who succeed and persist in coursework less consistently.

This quantitative, quasi experimental study involving 92 asynchronous online community college participants from the southeast, explores …

A Case Study On Targeted Support Using Tpack Model For Newly Hired Secondary Mathematics Teachers, Kristin Leigh Mckitrick-Rojas

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

As teachers plan for instruction, technology integration is an important factor in the planning and implementation process. This is become imperative in a virtual learning environment for instructors to be competent (Gregory & Lodge, 2015). Problems exist with integrating technology that aligns with teaching and learning in content areas. Among the many possible factors that contribute to these problems is lack of understanding of technology, lack of support for teachers with technology, everchanging technology tools, inadequate training alignment to instruction, technology training that is not content-specific, lack of support with the integration of technology, pedagogy, and content (Koehler et al., …

Factors Promoting And Inhibiting The Practice Of Needs Assessment By Human Performance Practitioners, Christopher D. Adams

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Needs assessment is an essential activity for human performance improvement practitioners. This qualitative study employed the critical incident technique to determine factors, encountered by practitioners during needs assessment, which promote or inhibit successful needs assessment by exploring practitioners work across 50 incidents. Using extreme cases representing practitioners’ most and least successful needs assessment experiences allowed participants to recall rich detail of their process and the context in which they were working. Participants were also asked to reflect on what criteria they used to select most and least successful examples. From that basis, the study explored three research questions and associated …

Closing The Contextual And Chronological Gap: A Design And Development Study Of A Systematic Tool For The Selection Of Learning And Performance Support Interventions, James Knapp Iii

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Gaps in human performance resulting from a lack of skills and knowledge require solutions – interventions. The process of selecting the most effective intervention (solution) for closing a skills and knowledge gap—such as classroom training, e-Learning, Structured on-the-job Training (SOJT), or job-aid—is a fundamental and vital practice for Human Performance Technology (HPT) practitioners. Unlike other activities in the Performance Improvement/HPT (PI/HPT) model, the activity of intervention selection is ambiguous. Meaning, there is currently no systematic process or tool in place for selecting learning and performance-improvement solutions that is reflective of the learning science. Consequently, the critical activity of intervention selection …

Covid-19, Technology, And The Math Classroom: Changes, Obstacles, And Victories Integrating Digitally, Lauren Fifield Bellamy

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Secondary math teachers faced new experiences and struggles this past virtual school year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nine secondary math teachers from a school division in southeastern Virginia participated in this qualitative single case study. Data collection included individual semi-structured interviews and technology integration artifacts. Through a three round coding process, ten themes emerged to answer the following three research questions: 1) In terms of curriculum, teaching methods, and assessments, how did teachers describe their pedagogical change in virtual learning? 2) How do teachers perceive student performance has changed within the virtual learning space? 3) From teachers’ perspectives, …

Use Of An Innovative Simulated-Virtual Training To Improve Dental Hygiene Students’ Self-Reported Knowledge, Attitudes, And Confidence In Providing Care To Child Patients With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kimberly Frances Cenzon

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Problem: As the diagnosis prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) increases, it is important for dental hygiene students to be knowledgeable and comfortable in providing care to children with ASD. However, limited clinical experiences can result in decreased confidence in the ability to interact with children diagnosed with ASD in a clinical setting. Methodology: A convenience sample of 34, second-year dental hygiene students were recruited from a 4-year entry-level Dental Hygiene program. A simulated-virtual training (SVT) module was developed as an interactive approach for educating dental hygiene students on providing care to a child patient with ASD in a clinical …

Towards Failure-Based Instructional Design: A Phenomenological Study Of The Perceptions Of Drone Pilots About The Use Of Simulations To Promote Failure-Based Learning, Nikisha Watson

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Simulations have become increasingly popular in many contexts, particularly for performance optimization, testing, and safety (Aldrich, 2003). By nature, simulations immerse the learner in an environment that is an approximate imitation of the situation or process to be learned (Baek, 2009). In the literature, there is a lack of qualitative research on the perceptions of learners regarding the use of failure-based learning in simulations. The idea of learning through failure experiences is not a new concept, yet, to date, no instructional design models have discussed how to employ failure strategically within education (Tawfik, Rong, & Choi, 2015).

This study utilized …

Perceptions Of Burden In Needs Assessment: An Exploration Of Measurement Creation And Validation, Kim N. Pinckney-Lewis

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Needs assessment is a valuable tool in the instructional designer and performance improvement practitioner toolbox. However, it is often avoided due to perceived burdens associated with the needs assessment process. The current research explores needs assessment participants’ perceptions of four proposed components of burden, including: 1) duties, obligations, and responsibilities; 2) cost; 3) needs assessment facilitator skills; and 4) needs assessment facilitator systemic sensitivities. The researcher also developed and tested a Perceived Burden for Needs Assessment Participants Survey (PBNAPS) as a potentially reliable and valid measure of this phenomena. The PBNAPS proved to be both internally consistent (a= 0.86) and …

The Pursuit Of Equitable Virtual Learning: District Leaders’ Understanding Of The Influences On Designing 100% Virtual Learning Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kathleen Wolfe Maxlow

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam required all schools to close their doors from March 13, 2020, through the remainder of the school year, causing districts in the Commonwealth to create distance learning plans for PreK-12 education within a matter of weeks. The continued fluctuation of COVID-19 positive case numbers throughout the spring and summer led to several school districts choosing to open the 2020-2021 school year using a 100% virtual model for all students. This qualitative, grounded theory study sought to determine how superintendents understood the influences on the design of their district’s 100% virtual learning plans. …

Investigating Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Virginia Computer Science Standards Of Learning: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study, Valerie Sledd Taylor

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Computer science education is being recognized globally as necessary to better prepare students in all grade levels, K-12, for future success. As a result of this focus on computer science education in the United States and around the world, there is an increased demand for highly qualified teachers with content and pedagogical knowledge to successfully support student learning. As a result, there is a call to include and improve the computer science training offered to pre-service teachers in their educator preparation programs from methods courses to practicum and student teaching experiences. Thus, it is important to understand how pre-service teachers …

Concept Maps As Sites Of Rhetorical Invention: Teaching The Creative Act Of Synthesis As A Cognitive Process, Amy Lee Marie Locklear

English Theses & Dissertations

Synthesis is one of the most cognitively demanding practices novice writers must undertake, and research demonstrates that first-year students’ synthesis writing practices result in more knowledge telling rather than knowledge creation and transforming. Pedagogies used to teach synthesis often focus on developing text-building strategies but lack explicit instruction on the more cognitively demanding conceptualizing behavior. To explore alternative pedagogies and heuristics, this study looks beyond composition scholarship to incorporate studies in neuroeducation and rhetoric to define synthesis as an ongoing, generative act of cognitive invention, effectively shifting pedagogical focus from text-centered product to student-centered cognitive processes that inform development of …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Digital Badging On Workplace Self-Directed E-Learners' Achievement, Persistence, And Self-Regulation, Emma Awuor Agola

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Despite the advantages and increase in popularity of self-directed e-learning, this mode of learning is still reported to suffer from low voluntary enrollment rates, high learner dropout rates, as well as low retention of learning. Although there is a paucity of motivation research with regard to self-directed e-learning, a considerable number of studies identify shortfalls in factors related to learner motivation as the most prevalent factor contributing to these pitfalls.

The current study investigated the effect of digital badges, an extrinsic reward, on learning effectiveness, persistence and self-regulation in a corporate self-directed e-learning environment. The study employed an experimental between-subjects …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Educational Technology, Matthew Joseph Fugere

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

Technology integration in modern classrooms continues to be an important aspect of teaching. However, even if long standing barriers to technology like access and funding are lifted, teachers do not always integrate technology in their classrooms. This action research study collected interview data from a single high school English Language Arts (ELA) department. Teachers were interviewed over Zoom using an interview protocol that contained 14 semi-structured questions. The interview questions asked teachers questions about how they perceive the technology they use in their day-to-day work and if that technology provides their students with meaningful learning experiences. The results of the …

Global Language Variation In Online Writing Instructional Spaces: English As A Lingua Franca Among Global Participants In A Massive Open Online Course, Angela May Dadak

English Theses & Dissertations

Two vectors of the internationalization of US higher education—online courses and student diversity—intersect at a point where a broad mix of culturally and linguistically diverse students enroll in online courses, including writing courses. This study applies an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) lens to examine language in an online writing environment in order to understand how the participants use their linguistic resources to communicate in English across varieties and around the world. This study employs discourse analysis to two discussion forums from a US-based composition MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). More than three quarters of the MOOC participants came …

How Principals Learn To Be Technology Leaders: A Critical Incident Qualitative Study, Leon R. Edwards Ii

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate how principals learn to be technology leaders by examining the different ways principals learn and exploring the skills principals perceive are needed. The study also examines what principals do differently to develop a successful technology integration (or not). Using the critical incident method, 18 principals were interviewed from across the state. The in-depth interviews were transcribed for all participants interviewed and then analyzed using coding and theming with the aid of memos. From this, three predominant categories emerged: learning, skills, and challenges.

The findings from the study reveal that principals learn primarily …

Measuring The Additive Effects Of Multimedia Social Cue Principles On Learners’ Cognitive Load, Emotions, Attitude, And Learning Outcomes, Smruti J. Shah

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Multimedia principles are developed and employed to design effective multimedia instructions that foster learning. Specifically, multimedia principles such as personalization, voice, and embodiment principles are developed based on social cues to promote deep learning. Most researchers in the past have investigated the individual effects of these principles on learning. The goal of the present study was to investigate the additive effects of these abovementioned principles on learners’ perceived cognitive load, emotions, attitude, and learning outcomes (i.e. retention and transfer of knowledge). Sixty college students participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete two short instructional modules and a short …

The Effect Of Standardised Learning Diaries On Self-Regulated Learning, Calibration Accuracy And Academic Achievement, Avanelle Joseph-Edwards

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The online learning environment is a dynamic yet complex learning modality. Students are physically separated from their peers, they grapple with feelings of isolation, and they may be unable to self-regulate their learning. Studies have shown that self-regulation is related to academic achievement and student metacognitive monitoring in online settings. The present study investigated the effects of a standardized diaries on students’ self-regulatory behaviors, calibration accuracy and academic achievement within an online learning environment. Using this self-monitoring and evaluation tool, forty online graduate students enrolled in a research methods course at a southeastern university in the United States participated in …

Virtual Classrooms Bridging Homeschooling To Public Schools, Dennis I. Norman

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

This research explored the preliminary results that show how technology through virtual classrooms has bridged the home and public-schooling systems. The research invites further reflection on the ways by which the home-learning process improves through the inclusion of other parameters such as the e-learning framework. Online education has been discussed extensively as a way of enabling the home-schooling with increased access to better teachers and learning materials.

The research identified the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a means of determining how new technologies in the online learning process compared to the virtual classroom learning experience. The research explored a case …

An Examination Of Personality Traits As A Predictor Of The Use Of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies, Jacqueline L. Bruso

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Each learner brings a unique mix of personality traits, preferences, and talents to the educational setting. These factors can influence the extent to which learners are able to effectively deploy skills and strategies to achieve their academic goals. Gaining a deeper awareness of how specific personality traits play a role in the choice and deployment of SRL strategies provides opportunities to anticipate which learners might be ineffective self-regulators. Doing so would enable instructional designers, educators, or higher education administrators to better plan and deliver effective educational experiences for a wide range of learners. The purpose of this study was to …