Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Student Perceptions Of The Use Of Multimedia For Online Course Communication, Jaclyn Krause, Laura Portolese, Julie Bonner

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

A great deal of research exists in the use of multimedia communications in online classrooms as a means of furthering student engagement. However, little research exists that examines the perceptions of students when such technologies are used. Additionally, it is unclear that students are likely to engage in the use of such technologies when available. This research explores the perceptions of 69 students taking both online and hybrid undergraduate project management courses. Specifically, the study seeks to explore how students experienced the use of multimedia by their instructor and classmates in both online announcements and discussions, as well as whether …

Pedagogical Considerations For Effectively Teaching Qualitative Research To Students In An Online Environment, Sara Bender, Karlie Hill

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Qualitative research aims to understand both individual meaning as well as complex systemic interactions as they apply to social problems or individual experiences. This method of research is both inductive and flexible, allowing for a holistic approach that facilitates a rich understanding of the content examined. Past research identifies a number of challenges associated with teaching qualitative methodology to undergraduate students, including: the research skills and values maintained by the instructor, the prestige associated with qualitative research in particular, as well as a number of other interpersonal and environmental factors. These challenges are further complicated, it seems, when extended into …

A Comparative Study Of Competency-Based Courses Demonstrating A Potential Measure Of Course Quality And Student Success, Jackie Krause, Laura Portolese, Christopher Schedler

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

While competency-based education is growing, standardized tools for evaluating the unique characteristics of course design in this domain are still under development. This preliminary research study evaluated the effectiveness of a rubric developed for assessing course design of competency-based courses in an undergraduate Information Technology and Administrative Management program. The rubric, which consisted of twenty-six individual measures, was used to evaluate twelve new courses. Additionally, the final assessment scores of nine students who completed nine courses in the program were evaluated to determine if a correlation exists between student success and specific indicators of quality in the course design. The …

Online Instructor's Use Of Audio Feedback To Increase Social Presence And Student Satisfaction, Laura Portolese, Robert Trumpy

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

This study investigates the impact of written group feedback, versus audio feedback, based upon four student satisfaction measures in the online classroom environment. Undergraduate students in the control group were provided both individual written feedback and group written feedback, while undergraduate students in the experimental treatment group were provided both individual written feedback and audio group feedback. Using a one-tailed t-test, the four student satisfaction measures were analyzed and one was found to be significant for students’ perception that the instructor seemed genuinely concerned with whether students learned. The authors believe the study, when combined with their previous research, has …

Asynchronous Use Of Engineering (Materials) Education Videos, Craig Johnson, Arthur D. Morken

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Engineering education delivery is dynamic and increasingly asynchronous. An observation that students had very different levels of knowledge and skills as they progressed through our programs, led the authors to use audio/visual media as a leveling intervention. In this effort the authors collected data to determine if audio/visual media can be used to increase performance in the development of a program related task and guide students to higher levels of learning on Blooms Taxonomy through the development of student created learning aids.

One specific need was reflected in the disparate skills of our majority component of ‘transfer’ students in our …

Is Identical Really Identical? An Investigation Of Equivalency Theory And Online Learning, Ruth Lapsley, Brian Kulik, Rex Moody, J. B. (Ben) Arbaugh

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This study investigates the validity of equivalency theory among 63 students by comparing two introductory upper-division human resource management courses: one taught online, the other in a traditional classroom. Commonalities included same term, same professor, and identical assignments/tests in the same order, thus allowing a direct comparison of course outcomes. MANCOVA results supported equivalency theory, and further suggest that the online learning pedagogy may be superior in its overall effect on student performance.