Educational Technology Commons^™

Exploring Fit For Nonlinear Structural Equation Models, Phillip Isaac Pfleger

Theses and Dissertations

Fit indices and fit measures commonly used to determine the accuracy and desirability of structural equation models are expected to be insensitive to nonlinearity in the data. This includes measures as ubiquitous as the CFI, TLI, RMSEA, SRMR, AIC, and BIC. Despite this, some software will report these measures when certain models are used. Consequently, some researchers may be led to use these fit measures without realizing the impropriety of the act. Alternative fit measures have been proposed, but these measures require further testing. As part of this thesis, a large simulation study was carried out to investigate alternative fit …

Implementation Of The Instructional Practices Inventory – Technology Process With Fidelity: The Impact On Technology Use And Student Cognitive Engagement, Mekca Rae Wallace-Spurgin

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to determine if students were using the recently purchased Chromebooks as well as if they were cognitively engaged when using the technology. Data collected using the IPI-T process suggested teachers were typically the users of the technology, students were often disengaged, and teachers were asking students to participate in lower-order surface activities. Missing from the process was the implementation of the faculty collaborative sessions.

The writer scheduled dates to collect data three times during the 2018-19 school year. In addition, faculty collaborative sessions were planned and facilitated within one week of collection data. Participating in …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring The Adoption Of Social Networking Platforms To Achieve Digital Literacy For All Learners, Anila Sweitzer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this proposed phenomenological study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of teachers, administrators, and instructional technology professionals during integrations of social networking platforms for educational purposes to enhance classroom instruction focused on improved academic achievement and digital literacy. Specifically, the study focused on understanding the experiences of teachers, administrators, and instructional technology professionals within K-12 public school districts responsible for having implemented 21st-century technology skills into classroom instruction with the use of online interviews. This study was grounded on Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework with social networking platforms being the innovation.

The study …

Acceptance And Diffusion Of Educational Technology Innovations: Change Agency Of Instructional Support Professionals, Robert Wayne Jones

Theses and Dissertations

National narratives pushing distance education, online courses and degree programs, and a competency-based education have led to enlarging staffs of instructional support professionals (ISP) that accompany significant technological shifts to aid in diffusion and support. This study investigated the influence of ISP roles on behavioral intentions of college of business faculty to adopt educational technology generally as, 1) whether change agents provide value in the decision process, 2) how change agency contributes to the overall acceptance of educational technology, and 3) the effect of including change agency in acceptance models. The study design was a quantitative, non-experimental correlational survey as …

Designing, Developing, And Implementing Real-Time Learning Analytics Student Dashboards, Robert Gordon Bodily

Theses and Dissertations

This document is a multiple-article format dissertation that discusses the iterative design, development, and evaluation processes necessary to create high quality learning analytics dashboard systems. With the growth of online and blended learning environments, the amount of data that researchers and practitioners collect from learning experiences has also grown. The field of learning analytics is concerned with using this data to improve teaching and learning. Many learning analytics systems focus on instructors or administrators, but these tools fail to involve students in the data-driven decision-making process. Providing feedback to students and involving students in this decision-making process can increase intrinsic …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of The Proceedings Of The Association For Educational Communications And Technology (Aect) For The 1979-2009 Period, Vandy L. Pacetti-Donelson

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional journal analysis for the identification of disciplines is limited in developing areas of study due to the lack of journals specific to that area of study. Identifying knowledge domains worthy of study for the identification of developing disciplines has been difficult.

Conferences are at the forefront of building knowledge in scientific communities, particularly in technology related sectors, but less than 10% of conference proceedings are available in conventional knowledge databases. As a result, conference proceedings as a previously unconsidered knowledge domain, may provide the knowledge domain worthy of analysis to identify developmental and incremental change within developing areas of …

An Investigation Of Faculty Perceptions About Mobile Learning In Higher Education, Serena Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate instructor perceptions about mobile learning among instructors in higher education. The study included the areas of influences of mobile technologies over the approaches of teaching and learning, use of mobile learning technologies to develop class instruction, use of mobile learning for professional learning, influences of mobile learning over the restrictions of time and space when acquiring knowledge anytime, anywhere, and mobile learning to facilitate teacher-student communications. An additional objective of this study was to add a more current literature source to the existing literature addressing instructor perceptions about mobile learning in higher education. …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Benefits And Barriers About The Use Of Technology Within Individual Classrooms, Jodi Head

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated teachers’ perceptions of the use of technology within individual classrooms and how benefits and barriers in education affect their beliefs. The researcher conducted the study within a public, elementary school within the state of Georgia. A mixed methods approach was used to conduct the research, in order to collect the data. The quantitative method used was a Likert-type survey that was submitted to the researcher anonymously. The qualitative method used was a single, focus group with the participants that took part in the survey. They were asked a series of questions that pertained to the survey results. …

Online Composition Assignments: A Guide For Ap Language And Composition Teachers, John Robert Havel

Theses and Dissertations

This online assignment guide defines the researched best practices for online assignment creation for Advanced Placement Language and Composition teachers, an audience with a traditionally high number of college-bound students. Following the research about online assignment creation sample assignments are provided. These sample assignments provide clear examples of how to compose online assignments for a high school audience.

Instructional Technology: An Alternative Solution To Promoting Achievement In Remote Rural High Schools, Eva Mitchner Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

The inauguration of federal government policies assuring that all students attending public schools in the United States have equal access to a highly qualified education, sparked national attention on improving the performance of rural schools and districts. Consequently, one in ten students is educated in remote school districts, and a large number of remote rural districts serve students that are minorities and poor. In many instances, the talents and abilities of the students served in rural schools and districts are less likely developed or noticed when compared to urban and suburban school districts. For administrators of remote rural high schools, …

A Comparative, Phenomenological Study Of The Impact Of Teacher Participation In Virtual Communities Of Practice On The Level Of Professional Capital Within Their Respective Organizations, John Patrick Klocek

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this comparative, phenomenological, qualitative study is to evaluate the perceptions of expert teacher practitioners and their administrators on the impact that their participation in VCOPs has had on what Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) coined the Professional Capital of their organizations. How has the teachers’ development of a PLN or their participation in a VCOP fostered their growth as individuals or their Human Capital? How, in turn, has the expert teachers’ increased knowledge base furthered instructional practices, promoted the development of next practices, and enhanced their organization’s Social Capital? Finally, how has this new knowledge impacted the decisions …

Examining The Relationship Between Virtual School Size And Student Achievement, Sherrill Waddell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between virtual school size and student achievement in virtual schools in a southwestern state. Enrollment size and the following areas were studied in an attempt to determine student achievement: STAAR English Language Arts/Reading, STAAR Math, STAAR Science, and STAAR Social Studies testing scores in regards to race. This quantitative study used nonexperimental research utilizing a distribution approach. The effect of virtual school size on student achievement in a southwestern state was examined. Specifically, student achievement was defined by student passing rates on individual tests of the STAAR examination. This research …

Comparison Between Computer Assisted Instruction As A Laboratory Strategy, And Traditional Lab Instruction As Applied To Teaching Physical Science To Suburban High School Students, Marty F. Hayward

Theses and Dissertations

One of the major components of reforming today’s education is the use of technology. Effective use of technology must be supported by significant investments in hardware, software, infrastructure, professional development, and support services, over the last decade, we as a nation have invested more than $66 billion in school technology (Lei, J.2010).

Educators are expanding classrooms with virtual environments and simulations, and students are seeking choices outside the brick and mortar school building, even opting to take the entire class online. This trend aligns with this research due to the laboratory experiences being moved to an online format. This research …

How And Why Are Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade Public School Teachers Using Social Media For Professional Development?, Sherry Kerr Huckaby

Theses and Dissertations

Social media has revolutionized technologies used today. While social media was originally developed for personal use, it has also permeated the professional world. Teachers are among those who are embracing social media for professional purposes. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate how and why kindergarten through twelfth grade public school teachers were using social media for professional development. The participants were 78 teachers from a rural school district in the southeastern United States. All participants completed a social media questionnaire, and the researcher conducted fifteen individual interviews and a focus group interview for follow-up.

Data analysis …

Exposing Second Year Medical Students To The Clinical Reasoning Process Prior To High Fidelity Simulation Learning, Phondie Simelane Simelane

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical reasoning is a highly complex process that is both difficult to impart and acquire (Bowen 2006, Custers 2005, Merriënboer 2010, Schmidt 2015). Second year medical learners appear to lack strategy to effectively step through the presented scenarios (Allen, personal communication, March 2, 2015). Though possessing a degree of background knowledge, immature clinical reasoning skills make data collection (focused history, focused review of systems and focused physical assessments) a challenge to efficiently navigate. As oppose to discriminating their line of questions, learners sweep through a wide range of information. Consequently, problem solving takes on a shot gun approach resulting in …

The Effect Of Different Written Task Instructions On Students’ Scores In A Physical And Virtual Environment, Ademola Amida

Theses and Dissertations

Electronic laboratory activities offer opportunities to help students learn about concepts and develop practical competencies in electronic circuit systems. Evidence in the literature suggests that the effectiveness of laboratory activities might be affected by the type of instructions provided (explicit or implicit), and the lab environment (physical or virtual) in which the activities were performed.

This study investigated the effect of different written task instructions (explicit versus implicit) and lab environment (physical versus virtual) on students’ scores in an electronic circuit task. This study was a quantitative experiment that used a repeated measure factorial design to determine how the written …

Implementation Of Web 2.0 As An Instructional Tool: Experiences Of Language Arts Teachers, Elizabeth Wyatt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the integration of Web 2.0 tools in language arts classrooms and teachers’ beliefs about the value of Web 2.0 tools as well as their beliefs about the effectiveness of technology-based professional development. Cross-sectional surveys were administered to language arts teachers to identify how they were using Web 2.0 tools in their classrooms, their beliefs in the value of Web 2.0 tools to enhance instruction and student learning, and to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of technology-based professional development. The major findings in the study were that the majority of teachers …

Developing Collective Learning Extension For Rapidly Evolving Information System Courses, Faysal Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Due to rapidly evolving Information System (IS) technologies, instructors find themselves stuck in the constant game of catching up. On the same hand students find their skills obsolete almost as soon as they graduate. As part of IS curriculum and education, we need to emphasize more on teaching the students ‘how to learn’ while keeping the curriculum up to date. Toward this direction, we develop collective learning extension leveraging social media and implement in three IS courses at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Collective learning extension is adaptable to existing learning paradigms. Collective learning extension is not a …

The Use Of An Ipad To Support Mathematics Instruction For Students With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Telea Davis

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Attitudes, Gender, And Beliefs Of Adolescent Students Concerning Interactive Technology, Courtney L. Teague

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to provide insight about the perceptions of middle school students attending a Title I school about technology use and careers. Using a mixed methods approach, the researcher explored the beliefs and circumstances that affect attitudes and behaviors in technology usage by eighth-grade boys and girls. The research questions for this study included: 1) female Title I middle school students' perceptions of interactive technology, 2) male Title I middle school students' perceptions of interactive technology, and 3) gender differences towards interactive technology. Data were collected from six focus group participants and 226 students who completed a …

Instructional Technology Integration 2.0: Teacher Training And Socially Enabled Help Resources, Diane K. Lafferty

Theses and Dissertations

The shift in technology to user-centric, social, collaborative mediums has effected education in profound ways. However, the amount of technology available for use in the classroom and the quantity of related instructional materials has eclipsed teachers' ability to effectively trouble shoot and integrate 2.0 tools into their students' learning experience. Creating a help 2.0 resource center for a specific body of faculty not only alleviates information management difficulties but provides a model of a socially enabled 2.0 sustained tool to help educate educators.

Applying The Fifth Outcome: Techno-Planking The Composition Classroom, Jacob William Craig

Theses and Dissertations

In 2008, the Council of Writing Program Administrators (C-WPA) passed an amendment to their Outcomes Statement, a fifth section that expresses a new expectation, students' ability to compose in digital environments. To create teaching practices that meet the expectations of the amendment, I have adopted a framework designed for teaching writing in the twenty-first century classroom, spaces that are characterized by an abundance of writing tools, shifting notions of contexts, nuanced learning goals, and interdisciplinary content, creating unique problems for student writers and writing instructors. The C3T framework, a model comprised of rhetorical concepts designed by Johnson-Eilola and Selber to …

Absence Of Sense Of Community In E-Learning Courses: Can The Implementation Of Tools Used By Facebook Help?, Stacy Marie Harter

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at whether or not a sense of community in e-learning classes can be created by implementing tools such as those used by the social network Facebook. E-learning is convenient for many students, but lacks the same feeling of community found in traditional classroom courses due to the absence of body language and face-to-face communication. Body language is a form of non-verbal communication that allows for a person's feelings and/or ideas to be expressed without the use of spoken language. These elements are missing from online conversation thus hindering meaningful communication and the creation of the sense of …

The Internet As A Tool To Enhance School-To-Home Communication And Parent Involvement, And Student Achievement, Wanda Lynne Dardenne

Theses and Dissertations

Research has documented numerous benefits of parent involvement in children's education including increased attendance, increased test scores, and better behavior. Access to increased and meaningful communication between school and home enhances parental involvement. The utilization of technology through use of the Internet and e-mail for school-to-home communication is growing rapidly as an additional means of two-way communication between school and home. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of emerging technologies, specifically school and teacher websites and e-mail in enhancing communication between schools and parents and to determine if schools where teachers use such technology to a …

Student Perceptions Of Streaming-Media Effectiveness, Sara Floyd Baber

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate cognitive-load theory as applied to the design of streaming media. In this study, student learning preferences and cognitive style were measured on a visualizer-verbalizer scale to determine the perceived importance of visual and audio components of streaming media used to supplement classroom instruction. Additionally, this study investigated cognitive-load theory by assessing attitudes regarding the importance of learner control when accessing streaming media files. The writer used 4 existing visualizer-verbalizer instruments in combination with 1 original survey that was designed to gather student perceptions and attitudes regarding the effectiveness of streaming media …

Student Perceptions Of Concomitant Learnings Of East Lab In A Small, Rural Arkansas School District, Judith Lane Bynum

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to study the evidence of concomitant learnings that are a result of a technology-rich, project-based learning environment; the empowerment of the student by these learnings; and their worth in better preparing high school students for college success. This qualitative, phenomenological study used interviews of present and past EAST Lab students from a small, rural Arkansas school district as its data. The interview questions focused on comparison and contrast of the learning environments of the students' classes, affective and cognitive knowledge gained from these environments; and student opinions concerning the influence of the EAST experience …

The Effect Of Interactivity And Instructional Exposure On Learning Effectiveness And Knowledge Retention: A Comparative Study Of Two U.S. Air Force Computer-Based Training (Cbt) Courses For Network User Licensing, Matthew J. Imperial

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) currently employs the use of computer-based training (CET) across a host of requirements. One such requirement is in the Information Assurance (IA) arena and involves the training/licensing of over one-million computer network end-users. USAF use of CETs has been shown to possess a potential for substantial fiscal savings. However, studies investigating the learning outcomes of learning effectiveness (initial learning) and knowledge retention (sustained learning) associated with USAF CETs are lacking.

A Common Characteristic Profile For Leveraging E-Rate Acquisitions In Arkansas, Drew Mashburn

Theses and Dissertations

The study investigates how four school districts in Arkansas maximized their E-rate discounts and leveraged their acquired E-rate services toward educational improvements. The purpose is to provide a common characteristic profile of school districts that leveraged their E-rate discounts toward effective technology integration. The findings contribute to an increased understanding of how schools benefit from the discounts produced by E-rate. In addition, these implications can be utilized by other school districts for an increased understanding of effective E-rate application strategies and technology integration efforts. The qualitative data provide a common characteristic profile that identifies attributes each district shared. Evidence of …

The Development Of A Noncommercial Community Television Delivery System: A Model For Small Rural Community Colleges, Rudolf H. Timmerman

Theses and Dissertations

Information can empower as well as unite people. A primary source of information was found to be the media, specifically television. The literature indicated that in rural areas the information provided by the media was not germane to the residents and, considering the rather broad mission of community colleges, the investigator proposed the development of a noncommercial television delivery system using the assets of the college. It was further hypothesized that this development could serve as a model for other rural colleges. While the literature supported the proposition that local television access had a positive effect on the community, little …

An Analysis Of Information Technology Training Effectiveness: The Impact On Trainee Reactions, Learning, And Performance, Joseph H. Scherrer

Theses and Dissertations

Through its "Global Reach", the Air Force operates globally and in environments that are potentially dynamic, competitive, and lethal. "Information Dominance" has assumed a central role in such environments. In order to achieve Information Dominance, the Air Force must have trained and skilled personnel able to perform highly intensive activities using information technologies. Therefore, it is crucial that information technology training be able to deliver the requisite skills personnel need to attain and sustain performance on these systems. The importance of training gives rise to the need to determine how information technology training can be continually improved to maximize return …