Browsing by Subject "Distance learning"
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Item Factors affecting faculty use of technology-enhanced instruction at research universities(2011-05) Thomas, Carolyn Dianna; Reyes, Pedro, 1954-; Ashcroft, Judy C.; Ovando, Martha N.; Rice-Lively, Mary Lynn; Sharpe, Jr., Edwin R.In traditional models of university education, students gather in classrooms, listen to instructors lecture on specific topics, and take notes with limited time for interaction. Students are then expected to spend additional time outside of the classroom reading textbooks, completing assignments, and preparing for tests. Instructors are viewed as experts providing information to students in much the same manner that they learned the content as students in college. The advent of the World Wide Web in 1991 allowed a dramatic change in the way students and faculty gather information, conduct research, and publish ideas. Internet-based technologies can transform traditional classroom experiences. Student participation can be increased by promoting group and collaborative learning online, and by the use of tools such as e-mail, discussion boards, and synchronous chat sessions. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine which factors affected faculty members’ use of technology integration in their instruction, and 2) determine what effect the integration of technology had on the role and teaching styles of faculty members. The study employed a mixed-methods research methodology. A survey instrument was developed and sent to faculty members at the five largest, public research institutions. The level of technology integration was calculated on a scale ranging from nonuse to full integration. The scale included practices such as providing online discussion areas, allowing/requiring students to use the Internet for assignments, and using anonymous online surveys to gather student feedback. Faculty members were then asked to elaborate on their answers. After the quantitative and qualitative survey results were analyzed, a select group of faculty members at one campus were interviewed to verify or dispute the findings. The survey results revealed the factors that significantly contributed to the overall level of technology integration were: instructional resources, professional and personal computer use, level of class, gender, title, and type of online teaching experience. One of the most significant factors was the level of instructional resources. Instructors with a facilitative teaching style were most likely to integrate technology into their instruction. This information can inform institutions when creating faculty development programs and budgeting limited resources.Item Faculty perspectives on online learning : a comparative study of Palo Alto College and San Antonio College of the Alamo Community college District(2008-05) Garza, Robert Lee; Kameen, Marilyn C.; Northcutt, NorvellEnrollments in distance education courses continue to rise and faculty members continue to teach them. In some cases, student demand for distance education courses exceeds the number of courses offered by the institution. Additional faculty members are needed to teach distance education courses to meet the increasing student demand. As institutions begin relying on adjunct faculty to teach distance education courses and move toward more progressive distance education programs, the involvement of the stakeholders in decision making becomes increasingly important to student success. The Purpose of this study is to identify factors that online faculty members from a small and large community college perceive as important to the success of online programs. The study also identifies characteristics of successful online course design, faculty responsibilities, student responsibilities and the responsibilities of the administration. The dissertation contains five chapters. Chapter I provides an introduction, statement of the problem, collegiate study: Palo Alto College and San Antonio College, the purpose of the study, research questions, selection of methodology, significance of the problem, definitions of distance education and terms and limitations of the study. Chapter II provides a review of the literature on distance education. Chapter III provides an overview of the methodology (Interactive Qualitative Analysis) utilized in the study. Chapter IV provides an overview of the results of the study to include data collection and analysis process, college selection process, faculty selection for the study, the focus group, individual interviews, and Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA). Chapter V includes an overview of the Interpretations and Recommendations for the study. The study identifies several considerations for implementing a distance education program to include 1) Planning and organizing 2) Determining the organizational structure of the distance education program (sole-responsibility, dual-mode or consortium) and 3) Determining the institution’s ability to provide financial support for a distance education program. An institution should also implement policies that will help students succeed in online learning. A few of the recommended policies include 1) Limiting class size to 24 students in online courses 2) Providing proper technical support and training and 3) Providing a reliable student survey for online courses.Item Satisfaction of graduate students with their distance learning experiences(Texas Tech University, 2008-05) Ellis, Kathleen A.; Maushak, Nancy; Borrelli, John; Olivarez, Arturo; Beruvides, Mario G.The US is not developing its knowledge capital at the rate of many other nations. While other nations are dramatically increasing their knowledge base by increasing the percentage of their population with graduate degrees, the US level of citizens with graduate degrees is remaining stagnant (Hicks, 2004). To have the most immediate effect on levels of US workers with graduate education and to reach the greatest number of workers who have left academia and have established themselves in careers, education must be delivered in a manner that is the least disruptive to their lifestyles. The difficulty in availing themselves of campus-based learning may make distance education the most desirable option for graduate students due to its convenience. To develop our employment workforce with the graduate education that is required, we must address student satisfaction. This study surveyed graduate students across a research-intensive university taking distance courses in the fall of 2007 to address their satisfaction with the constructs of management, organization, membership, and instruction. The response rate was 47.2 percent. The demographic factors of age, external responsibilities, personal technical capability, and proximity to campus were included in a Manova to measure the effect of those factors on satisfaction with the five constructs. Age categories, levels of external responsibilities and commitment, and proximity to campus were not significant in predicting satisfaction among adult graduate students with their distance learning experience. The level of prior experience with distance learning was the only significant predictor of satisfaction.Item Virtually speaking : comparing foreign language speaking performances in distance education and face to face classes(2010-08) Volle, Lisa Marie; Abrams, Zsuzsanna; Horwitz, Elaine K.; Moore, Zena T.; Resta, Paul E.; Schallert, Diane L.The purpose of this study was to investigate the performances on speaking assessments in a first semester Spanish course to determine if there are differences among four sections based on required speaking tasks and mode of class delivery. Two of the classes were conducted online in a distance education delivery mode and two of the classes were conducted in the classroom. One section of delivery mode was required to fulfill speaking tasks throughout the semester while the alternate sections were offered the same speaking tasks as optional activities. Furthermore, the study investigated testing items repeated prompts versus new prompts to determine if there were differences in performance. Finally, the study investigated student performance confidence and beliefs about course materials. The data were collected through quantitative methods (oral rubric scores) and qualitative methods (open-ended questions). A total of 64 students participated in the study. Eight students completed the distance education course with optional speaking tasks. Thirteen students completed the distance education course with required speaking. Eighteen students completed the classroom course with optional speaking, and 24 students completed the classroom course with required speaking. In general, all classes made improvement between the first assessment and the second assessment. However, the mean performance scores for three of the four speaking prompts did not show significant difference among the four classes. In addition, there were no significant differences in mean scores of performances at the introduction of the two new speaking tasks on the final assessment. Only with one speaking repeated measure was there a significant difference. The significant difference was between the classroom with required speaking section and the distance education with optional speaking section. With an analysis of the Target Language Use, it was determined that the differences were due to lexical complexity and morphological complexity. In general, the self-report of confidence levels on the final oral assessment showed no significant differences among the four classes. There was a significant drop in confidence on one of the two new assessment prompts for all classes. Student comments indicated that there were frustrations with cognitive overload and dealing with ambiguity.