Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Synchronous And Asynchronous Online Learning In A Tefl Course: An Investigation Of Student-Teachers’ Perceptions, Sumer Salman Abu Shaban, Mohamed Ali Shaat

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية للبحوث في التعليم العالي

هدف البحث الحالي إلى تسليط الضوء على رأي الطلبة المعلمين في جامعة الأزهر-غزة بالتعلم المتزامن وغير المتزامن والذي تم استخدامه من خلال نشاطات في مساق طرق تدريس اللغة الإنجليزية، وإيجاد هل لمتغير الجنس والمستوى الأكاديمي أثر على آرائهم. اعتمد الباحثان المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، حيث شارك 13 طالباً معلماً و36 طالبة معلمة من كلية التربية في تعبئة الاستبيان. استخدم الباحثان استبيان يحتوي على ثلاثة أقسام لمعرفة رأي المشاركين بالتعلم المتزامن والتعلم غير المتزامن واقتراحاتهم لتحسينه، وتضمنت النتائج أن الطلبة المعلمين في جامعة الأزهر-غزة كانت لديهم اتجاهات إيجابية نحو التعلم المتزامن وغير المتزامن وأن هذا النوع من التعلم عبر الإنترنت يعزز ممارساتهم …

2025 Nsu Graduate Commencement Program, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Commencement Programs

• College of Psychology
• H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship
• Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice
• College of Computing and Engineering
• Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center

Understanding The Persistence And Retention Factors Among First-Generation Online College Students: A Comprehensive Study, Lakeeta Q. Prunty, Tana Palafox

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

This qualitative descriptive study examined the impact of internal institutional support on retention, as perceived by first-generation Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) online undergraduate students at a private Christian university. Institutional support encompasses academic advising, tutoring services, mental health counseling, career guidance, financial aid, diversity and inclusion programs, faculty support, and technological resources for online learning. The virtual learning environment presented unique challenges, particularly for first-generation BIPOC students, who navigate multiple layers of identity requiring specialized institutional support. Factors influencing online student attrition, including school policies, instructional methods, and personal circumstances, warrant collaboration among administrators, advisors, and faculty …

Fostering Inclusion And Belonging In Virtual Learning Environments: Strategies From Faculty Members For Enhancing Online Student Engagement, Tara Franklin, Tina Patterson

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

Despite the convenience and accessibility offered by online education, disparities persist in access, engagement, and success rates, disproportionately affecting all students, especially students with disabilities and neurodivergent learners. This difference highlights the barriers and challenges students with disabilities face on virtual learning platforms. Encouraging an inclusive and supportive environment where students feel comfortable disclosing their disabilities is essential for improving completion rates and fostering a sense of belonging in virtual learning environments. The study aimed to identify strategies faculty members use to foster inclusion and belonging for students enrolled in online courses. A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect information …

Letter From The Editors, Jennifer Butcher, James Wiser, Cicely Ward

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

No abstract provided.

Creation Of An Open Access Textbook, Sue Ann Gardner

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Slide presented during the PRCA Research Celebration, June 3, 2025, in the University Libraries, University of Nebraska-Lincoln titled Creation of an Open Access Textbook, about the development and publication of Concepts in Animal Parasitology, co-edited by Scott L. Gardner and Sue Ann Gardner and published by Zea Books (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA) in 2024.

The Library Is Open: Making The Case For Academic Libraries As The Planning Hub For Frederick Douglass Day, Shaina V. Anderson

Urban Library Journal

This case study showcases the value of having a library act as the central planning and event location at a public, land-grant university. Frederick Douglass Day is a hybrid day of “…collective action for Black history” (Center for Black Digital Research, n.d.) that was founded by Dr. Jim Casey, an African American Studies faculty member at Pennsylvania State University. It is a day where students and community members from higher education institutions, archival institutions, and museums from around the world log onto a transcription program and participate in transcribing historical documents. Some of the participants are assigned to be “transcribers” …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Investigating Social Presence In Collaborative Keys For Asynchronous Courses, Lily P. Cook

Master's Theses

Asynchronous virtual courses have become increasingly popular in the years following the global Covid-19 pandemic. These courses, with no set meeting schedule, offer flexibility to both students and instructors, but pose challenges for developing a collaborative learning environment. The Community of Inquiry framework (Rourke et al., 1999) identifies three essential components in an online course necessary to foster a collaborative environment- teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence. Social presence is especially impacted in asynchronous learning settings, which presents challenges for the students to display their personalities and connect with the community. This study investigates Collaborative Keys (CKs), structured collaborative …

Improving Student Outcomes, Brenda Burton

Education Theses and Dissertations

This improvement science dissertation in practice was conducted to make an improvement in education practice to positively affect student outcomes. Plan -> Do -> Study -> Act cycles (Bryk et al., 2015) were employed to identify a specific problem of practice, determine root cause(s), advance change theory, and define potential solutions. Many stakeholders were consulted and the initial phase evaluated the existing condition. Results informed the design of an intervention which was then implemented and evaluated in a second phase. Findings showed that a novel way of communication, the introduction of video technology, was correlated with improved student perceptions, self-regulation, …

Exploring Effective Institutional Strategies To Retain Adult Learners In Undergraduate Online Programs At A Faith-Based Institution, Fernando Rodriguez-Ramos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this qualitative research study was to identify dynamic advising and high-impact educational practices employed by advisors and faculty that prevent dropout and improve online adult learners’ performance and retention in undergraduate courses at a 4-year private, faith-based institution in the southwestern United States. This study explored the impact of these practices from the students’, faculty’s, and advisors’ perspectives to provide suggestions for improvement that would help retain these students in the classroom and the institution. The problem this study explored was that adult learner dropout from online higher education institutions is a persistent and increasing issue faced …

When Avatars Go To School: The Effect Of Virtual Reality On Learning And Error Correction, Lauren Barack

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The pandemic in 2020 led to an increasing dependency on technology particularly in learning environments. National educational assessments in the proceeding years have indicated steep, measurable learning loss. While a fully virtual learning environment is not the norm today, we chose to investigate how virtual reality (VR) environments influence learning in college students.

Our primary research goal was to look at how students learn and remember information gathered in virtual spaces. In particular, we examined whether sensory inputs in the VR environment, including spatial audio and haptic feedback, such as vibrations felt in a handheld controller, would help to better …

Creative Coding Communities: Exploring The Relationship Between Scratch Use And Child Well-Being, Nikita Khalid

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This international study assessed the relationship between the use of Scratch, the world's largest coding community for children, and child well-being. Specifically, the study focused on the presence of well-being indicators in the RITEC-8 framework (RITEC, 2024) including creativity, relationships, competence, and autonomy within Scratch users’ behaviors. The participants (N = 17,315) included children aged between 8 and 16 who used Scratch in 2023 and came from 29 countries. The study examined trends in Scratchers’ behaviors including project creation, sharing, studio curation, and socialization based on their country of origin, gender and age. The data were used to construct user …

Remote Teacher Retention: A Phenomenological Study Applying The Jobs Demands-Resource, Jasser Jacob Khalifeh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of current and former United States (U.S.) K-12 remote instructors. The problem is that educator retention is at a crisis point in the U.S. To help combat the severe and persistent teacher shortages plaguing America, leaders must capture the genuine perceptions of the virtual teaching experience. The guiding theory for this investigation is the Jobs-Demand Resource (JD-R) Model and the influence of job characteristics on teacher well-being, motivation, and retention. The central research question driving this study is, “What are the lived experiences of remote instructors?” A qualitative …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence In Education To Drive Cross-Sector Innovation, Brent Terwilliger, John Faraca

Publications

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes educational practices, particularly in technical fields such as uncrewed systems, robotics, and aviation/ aerospace, its integration raises promise and complexity. This exploratory study features an investigation of the impact AI tools adoption has on instruction, curriculum support, and workforce preparation, with a focus on online learning environments. Drawing from pilot survey data across aviation and aerospace education stakeholders and hands-on evaluation of AI video production platforms, findings reveal diverse applications, perceived benefits, and critical concerns, including ethical, pedagogical, and institutional challenges. Additionally, the analysis explored how AI-enabled education intersects with broader industry and government innovation …

Leading Through Crisis: San Diego County Schools' Response To The Social Emotional Needs Of All Students, Johana Bielma

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented school closures, forcing administrators to take decisive action to radically change the educational system. The imperative to switch to remote learning transformed the dynamics of teaching and learning, leading to both immediate and long-term academic and social emotional consequences for all stakeholders. When schools reopened, administrators faced the challenge of reintegrating students into in-person learning while addressing the pandemic’s lasting effects on academics, mental health, and school safety. While academic regression was evident, the extent of students’ emotional struggles was less anticipated. Many students exhibited increased irritability and mental health issues such as depression …

Enhancing Online And Blended Course Design Through Conversations And Observations: The Role Of Stakeholders, Chris Smith, Darlene Schaefer, Geetanjali Soni, Thomas Cooper, Meghan Mcgrath

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Online course enrollment for K-12 students has increased dramatically since the early 2000s. This has resulted in promising opportunities for students with disabilities but also requires careful consideration of accessibility in course design and instructional delivery. This mixed-methods study investigated how stakeholder feedback influences the design of blended courses at North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS), a graduation pathway for students with disabilities requiring significant support. Data was collected through surveys of NCVPS online teachers and co-teachers, analysis of course history documents, and the NCVPS student registration system. Findings revealed that educators often modify course templates to accommodate diverse learning …

The Role Of Popular Culture In Decolonial Transformative Learning: A Racially Minoritized Adult Educator's Journey, Riyad Shahjahan

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

While a growing body of literature examines the role of popular culture in transformative learning, much of it centers on fostering transformative experiences among learners, rather than educators themselves. This paper addresses that gap by exploring how popular culture enhances transformative learning for racially minoritized adult educators. Drawing from my experiences as a graduate instructor at a predominantly white institution, I reflect on how engaging with popular cultural texts facilitated my own transformative learning within my teaching practice. Grounded in decolonial theory, which emphasizes the inclusion of Indigenous and marginalized knowledges while confronting contemporary colonial oppressions, my reflexive approach highlights …

Enhancing Online Education Through Sentiment Analysis And Complex Systems Modelling, Helen Josephine V L, Sharad Gupta, Rosewine Joy, Manjari Sharma

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

This research explores the application of sentiment analysis through the lens of complex systems modelling to enhance the quality of online certification courses, with a particular focus on global platforms such as Coursera. The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed significant growth in online learning, creating an urgent need for adaptive and student-centric approaches to ensure relevance and effectiveness. Leveraging unstructured textual data from student reviews of courses, this study integrates methodologies from systems science, computer science, and education to address real-world challenges in online education. By employing both lexicon-based (SentiWordNet and VADER) and supervised machine learning techniques (Multinomial Naive Bayes, Support Vector …

Benefits And Applications Of Learning With Virtual Reality, Michael W. Timm

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Education is a fundamental pillar of society. It equips students for employment and interpersonal relations. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a transformative technology in the field of education. The aim of this paper is to synthesize existing research in order to determine the benefits of utilizing virtual reality in a variety of education settings, such as K-12 classrooms, universities, and workplace training. This paper observes significant benefits of virtual reality in constructivist and experiential learning, gamified learning, and tailored practice. This analysis also finds that virtual reality is advantageous for educational accessibility, particularly for absentee students and impoverished students. …

Recent Trends In Medical Education To Sustain An Effective Practice - A Systematic Review, Sharon Pricilla Jeevan Kumar Leela Ms., Amtuz Zehra Dr, Ayesha Siddiqhha Mukthar Ms

International Journal of Health and Allied Sciences

Learning processes in medical practices in medicinal schools put more emphasis on the hard sciences than they do on developing soft skills like empathy and communication. For this reason, the medical humanities emerged to provide a "different" take on the creative process. Medical ethics, the doctor-patient relationship, clinical research, mental illness, and professionalism are just a few of the topics that have been utilized to discuss in medical school. A strong connection between classroom learning and clinical experience is crucial for medical school graduates. Students graduating from a medical program are expected to have experience with patient care, clinical procedures, …

Development Of Interactive Games On An Affordable Braille Display, Daniel Tsivkovski, Dylan Ravel, Maryam Etezad

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Developing an affordable and STEM learning-focused Braille display addresses a significant disparity in the market for Braille displays, where most fail to provide a cost-effective, accessible, and education-oriented solution. This research aims to bridge this gap through innovative hardware and software development, offering a comprehensive learning experience to elementary school children (K-6) who are blind/visually impaired. The hardware features a piezo-electric tactile display that displays up to six Braille characters at once or a shape in an 8x8 pin array configuration. The educational software includes a user-friendly website packed with engaging STEM activities specifically designed for blind/visually impaired children. The …

Guidance And Lessons Learned For Instructors Seeking To Add Video Creation To Their Skill Set, Wendy A. Swenson Roth

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here.

Videos have entered the classroom, whether for online asynchronous courses or as supplementary information in synchronous classes. COVID-19 accelerated the pace of online and video learning but left instructors with little time to explore the optimal use of this technology. Nonetheless, videos are here to stay, raising questions about what unique choices faculty must make when implementing them and what new skills are required as videos become additional content delivery sources. The following article provides implementation guidance and lessons learned for instructors seeking to add video creation to their skill set.

Spring 2025 Introduction, Nichelle Frank

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here.

An introduction to the Spring 2025 issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence.

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 9, Issue 1, Spring 2025

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2025 issue (Volume 9, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The issue includes five articles addressing challenges in higher education: faculty-student interactions with Generation Z students, experiences of first-generation single-mother college students, implementation of an interdisciplinary museum studies course, guidance for creating educational videos, and a book review on resistance to change in higher education. The journal emphasizes practical strategies for effective teaching, inclusivity, and innovative approaches to pedagogy across various educational contexts.

Call For Manuscripts, Michele J. Koomen, Thomastine Sarchet-Maher, Jessica Williams

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Call For Manuscripts, Michele J. Koomen, Thomastine Sarchet-Maher, Jessica Williams

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

From The Editors, Michele J. Koomen, Thomastine Sarchet-Maher, Jessica Williams

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

JSESD remains a venue for the dissemination of research and practice related to the education of students with disabilities in the science classroom and laboratory since 1998. Volumes #1 through 11 were published in a print format. Starting with Volume #12, the journal has been published online and Open Access. Having JSESD in the Open Access format maximizes access for readers and authors and allows the journal to remain economically sustainable.

Copyright, Michele J. Koomen, Thomastine Sarchet-Maher, Jessica Williams

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Remote Teaching During A Pandemic, Jennifer B. Sample

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

No abstract provided.