Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Physical Activity and Educational Services

Distance education in formal undergraduate and graduate programs is the fastest growing segment of adult education, and many institutions and instructors are placing learning opportunities on the World Wide Web. Yet many adult learners do not possess the skills required to successfully complete Web-based courses. Although learning at a distance has been in existence for over 100 years, there are very few pedagogical theories on learning at a distance. The purpose of this study was to propose a conceptual model of learning in Web courses and to test this model is a specific setting: a large Midwestern university offering courses taught via the Web. The model suggested that computer technology would mediate learner autonomy, that learner autonomy would effect the required level of course structure, and that there would be a linear relationship between learner autonomy and course structure to explain a significant portion of the variance in satisfaction with perceived learning in the fourteen Web courses included in the study. 240 randomly sampled students were asked to complete the questionnaires. A total of 68 (28%) usable responses were completed online. The Learner Profile questionnaire included a previously developed scale (Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Pintrich, Smith, Garcia & McKeachie, 1991), and a modified version of Stein & Wheaton's (2000) Computer Technology Scale. Course structure was assessed by three independent instructional designers using the Course Structure Rubric, developed for this study. Correlation coefficients were utilized to examine the relationships between course structure, learner autonomy, computer technology experience and satisfaction with perceived knowledge gained in a Web-based course. Results partially supported the model, as computer technology experience was found to be related to learner autonomy, and learner autonomy was found to be related to satisfaction with perceived knowledge gained. Satisfaction with pe (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Stein (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2022, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Online course persistence at community colleges is a serious issue, with students being between 3 and 15 percentage points more likely to withdraw than those taking the on-campus equivalent (Xu et al., 2019). Despite the continued growth in distance education, quality online course design is a concern throughout the literature. This quantitative, causal-comparative study aimed to investigate the existence of a statistically significant relationship between online course templates, using Quality Matters Specific Review Standards, and online course completion rates at one Midwestern Community College. An ex post facto causal-comparative method was chosen for this study because the Midwestern Community College progressively implemented Quality Matters Specific Review Standards over three Fall academic terms providing an opportunity to investigate increasing quality standards through online templates, retrospectively, in a naturally occurring environment. Descriptive Statistics, Linear Regression, and a One-Way ANOVA were employed in the data analysis. The study results revealed a statistically significant relationship between online course completion rates and online course templates using QM Specific Review Standards.

Committee: Niccole Hyatt (Committee Chair); Joel Gardner (Committee Member); Matthew Barclay (Committee Member) Subjects: Community College Education; Community Colleges; Education; Higher Education; Instructional Design

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

Many college students struggle financially, and student debt continues to grow in the United States. Students that complete a degree can have high monthly student loan payments, and those that do not complete a degree can struggle financially even more. There is a growing amount of research examining methods to reduce these financial challenges. Since financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviors have been studied as to how they impact student debt, the purpose of this study was to examine financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of community college students and consider an educational intervention as a possible way to impact those variables. The intervention was in the form of exposing students to a series of short, specific, digital learning objects. The research objectives of this study were to describe community college students' financial knowledge, financial attitudes, planned financial behaviors, and actual short-term financial behaviors in the areas of budgeting/saving, credit, and student loans, before and after exposure to the digital learning objects. There was a statistically significant treatment effect for financial knowledge, but not for financial attitudes. For financial behaviors, six unique intended and actual financial behaviors were examined, with half of them showing a significant difference after exposure to the digital learning objects. Planned and actual behaviors in the areas of budgeting, saving, and payment behavior were most effected. Certain ages and racial groups reported salient results in some areas. Students identifying as Black/African American had lower than average scores and lessor treatment effects for financial knowledge, higher than average rates of behavior and higher treatment effects for monthly budgeting, and lower rates of behavior and lower treatment effects for positive payment behaviors. Students under 25 years old reported below average behaviors and treatment effects for monthly budgeting, savin (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Zirkle Dr. (Committee Chair); Caezilia Loibl Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); Melena Whittington Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Community College Education; Education Finance; Educational Technology; Finance; Teaching; Technology

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2007, Curriculum and Instruction: Educational Technology

Course management systems (CMS) are widely used in higher education to deliver courses completely at a distance. Although research suggests learning is influenced by social interaction, there is comparatively little research on why and how students enrolled in a CMS-based, fully online course interact with their peers. A review of the literature suggests the history of distance education is primarily constructed of applied practice, largely unchanged throughout periods of technological innovation. The purpose of this study is to discover students' perceptions of social interaction among peers enrolled in a university-level, fully online, CMS-based course. An online survey provided an objective measure of peer interaction. The results revealed hierarchical patterns in reasons for interaction, communication methods used, and the perceived value of interaction in academic success. The study also revealed significant demographic differences regarding reasons for interaction and communication methods used. Content review suggests students have a strong interest in how instruction is provided online. Improvement in learning skills, communication literacy, and information literacy are recommended to increase online learning outcomes. Additional research is suggested to expand the knowledge of distance education.

Committee: Robert Sullivan (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Higher

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, ED Policy and Leadership

This dissertation is a comparative study, using a criterion-group design, examining the effectiveness of a blended instructional model and a distance instructional model in the teaching of a learning and motivation strategies class. Course effectiveness was determined based upon changes in student grade point averages over time from prior to course enrollment to one term beyond course completion. In addition to grade point averages, other student characteristics and demographics were examined for commonalities and differences between and among students in the two different instructional methods. Characteristics and demographics considered include: procrastination scores, Preferred Learning Orientation, age, gender, ethnicity and academic ranking. The course used in this study is a college-level, credit-bearing elective course. The data used in this study suggests there is no significant difference between the blended version and the distance version of the course in terms of student GPA. In addition, there appears to be no significant differences in demographics. While students in the distance course are older and further advanced academically (this being consistent with other findings in distance education), the male-female ratio, ethnicity distributions, and scores on self-administered procrastination and learning orientation surveys are all approximately the same in the blended version as in the distance version of the course.

Committee: Bruce Tuckman (Advisor); Anita Woolfolk-Hoy (Committee Member); Leonard Baird (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2006, Secondary Education

This investigation was guided by Moore's theory of transactional distance (1993). The purpose of this study was to assess the effect that student attributes such as learner autonomy (LA) as measured through its independent constructs of desire to learn (DL), learner resourcefulness (LR), learner initiative (LI) and learner persistence (LP); online technology self-efficacy (OTSE), as well as course structure and dialogue (CSD) have on student satisfaction (SS) and performance (SP) in online learning environments. Students enrolled in asynchronous, distance learning courses offered through the Allied Health Program at a Midwestern university were surveyed to determine the effect of LA, OTSE, and CSD on students' satisfaction and performance in online course environments. Students' performance was measured using final course grades. The learner characteristics and distance learning experience questionnaire and the short form of the learner autonomy profile (LAP-SF) (Confessore & Park, 2004) were used as survey instruments. The learner characteristics and distance learning experience (LCDLE) questionnaire included items to solicit information including demographics along with a number of items adapted from published research instruments including the online technologies self-efficacy scale (OTSES) by Miltiadou (2001), the survey of student experiences in online courses (SEOC), published by Lan, et al.(2003), items evaluating student satisfaction and level of interaction with faculty and students (dialogue) adapted from the work of Swan (2001), and items evaluating students' perception of the course structure by Huang (2002). General conclusions drawn from this investigation included the following: Course structure-dialogue was a significant predictor of students' satisfaction with the online courses investigated. Course structure-dialogue was negatively correlated with students' impact scores indicating that technology related problems had less effect on students' learn (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Hirschbuhl (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Higher

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2023, College of Education

This dissertation presents a qualitative research single case study to describe the state of social-emotional development of educationally-disadvantaged students at SM Elementary School (pseudonym) in the aftermath of remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand the students' state of social-emotional development, students from SM Elementary School were interviewed on their lived experiences with remote learning during three specific time periods (pre-remote learning, during remote learning, and post-remote learning). Drawing upon the purposeful criterion sampling strategy, 12 students from SM Elementary School who are considered educationally disadvantaged were selected to participate in the interviews. All students were from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and eligible for the free and reduced school lunch program. The primary form of data collection was in the form of semi-structured interviews. Demographic data was also collected from the participants through the use of questionnaires. The analytical framework approach was used to describe the content of the interviews and then the content analysis was used to explain why the patterns or themes that emerged were important. The study's findings provide insight into the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences that students had with remote learning. The data from this research study indicates that in the aftermath of remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students are still struggling with overcoming obstacles and barriers to their learning, specifically in the area of mathematics and understanding important math concepts. All of the factors of disadvantage, challenges, traumatic experiences, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and experiences that students experienced while remote learning have had long-lasting impacts on students' well-being, development of social-emotional skills, and social-emotional health and could be contributing factors to students' ability to learn and achieve i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Judy Alston Dr. (Committee Chair); Constance Savage Dr. (Committee Member); Peter Ghazarian Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Elementary Education

EDD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the higher education undergraduate student body and the structure of course offerings have drastically changed. As we continue to transition from emergency remote courses to quality online learning experiences, we must respond thoughtfully as well as empirically. The purpose of this study was to examine quality learning experiences as perceived by students in online courses and use the new knowledge generated to add to current research and enhance practice. Through qualitative data collection, I intended to answer the following research questions: (a) What do students perceive as quality learning experiences in their online courses? and (b) How can understanding the student experience and perception of quality in their online learning environments improve course development procedures in online courses? Eight participants were interviewed regarding their experiences of quality in online courses. Results of the study determined Barriers, Interaction, Structure, and Community are the themes that students identify when defining quality online learning experiences. It was also indicated that students were more satisfied with their high quality online learning experiences. Implications and recommendations for improved practice and action steps are also provided. The researcher contends that these findings demonstrate the need to systematically build quality into online courses, which will offer students better learning experiences.

Committee: Elizabeth Kenyon (Committee Chair); Enrico Gandolfi (Committee Member); Christina Collins (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Technology

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Business Administration

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged student success and the ability of colleges to deliver the education students need for the workplace. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation case study was to investigate how the organizational resiliency of a Midwest community college impacted student success during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the contributions of static and dynamic resiliency characteristics and dimensions. Exploration and analysis of the resilient characteristics and dimensions of student success focus on the key factors of instructional modality, instructor-student engagement, and socioeconomic influences. Conclusions are based on thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the college's senior leaders triangulated with information from public documents and a student survey. The researcher concludes that the college's static resiliency components of solid planning and infrastructural preparation for probable events, a longstanding collaborative commitment to achieving key elements of student success, and effective internal communication processes produced the robust capacity for flexibility and innovation that distinguishes dynamic resiliency. Innovations that accelerated decision processes, faculty and staff encouraged to experiment based on regular feedback, and energetic action on non-academic stresses had positive effects on student success during the COVID-19 pandemic. One result was that for the fiscal year 2021-2022, the college awarded the highest number of degrees in its history to all students and to African American males, with 99 percent of students rating the quality of their education as good to excellent.

Committee: Charles Fenner (Committee Chair); John Nadalin (Committee Member); Gary White (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

MA, Kent State University, 2021, College of the Arts / School of Art

With this study I want to use contemporary technology and a hybrid Flipped approach to teach culturally relevant community-based art education utilizing distance learning in rural Appalachia. “The interchange of information differentiated curricular, and teaching strategies relevant to teaching artistically talented students in rural areas will benefit not only students and teacher, but local communities as well” (Clark & Zimmerman, 1999, p. 95). With this study I will try to do what Clark and Zimmerman indicate. I used contemporary teaching strategies like a hybrid Flipped Classroom to teach students in remote rural areas of Appalachia using local artists and community-based art as a source to create an environment where students learning virtually and students learning in brick-and-mortar classrooms can communicate and connect on a more even ground. Questions that guided this research included: Do these new methods improve the virtual students' educational experience? Do these new methods improve the brick-and-mortar students' education experiences? Do they feel more connected to their community, each other, and their teacher? Is communication improved? Are they more motivated with a hybrid Flipped Classroom compared to their previous art instruction, other online classes, or traditional in-class instruction?

Committee: Linda Hoeptner-Poling PhD (Advisor); Robin Vande Zande PhD (Committee Member); Juliann Dorff MA (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Educational Studies

The importance of a high school diploma continues to increase. Still, certain student at-risk factors have been identified across the research literature that negatively impact likelihood to finish school and may increase prevalence of school dropout. That is, for students identified as at-risk, more maladaptive profiles of risk factors often lead to lower academic performance. However, these risk factors are typically non-adaptive, stable constructs endemic of prior experiences or external family-focused factors often uncontrolled by students; as such, transforming student achievement just by addressing this risk-performance relationship is insufficient. This study targeted this limitation by focusing on virtual learning environments. In online virtual-based learning, several important variables more amenable to change are posited to be important for student success in this study. These include mathematics self-efficacy, technology self-efficacy for online learning, and effective time management planning and monitoring. Combining these adaptive student personal characteristics with risk factors, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student at-risk factors and mathematics achievement in the context of one online charter high school. Further, the study examined how student personal characteristics, which are often amenable to change and intervention, impact the relationship between risk and mathematics achievement. Using multiple linear regression, this study explored how at-risk factors interacted with student personal characteristics to influence mathematics achievement. Thus, the priority was to interpret the statistical mechanisms by which these student personal characteristics influenced the risk to achievement relationship. Results show that student performed at an average level in their Algebra 1 course. Further, students' age, likely coinciding with the grade level they took the courses negatively and significantly predicted cours (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kui Xie (Advisor); Ann O'Connell (Committee Member); Azita Manouchehri (Committee Member) Subjects: Demographics; Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Technology; Mathematics Education; Secondary Education

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2020, Engineering (Computer Science)

In this study, an Intrusion Detection system (IDS) is designed based on Machine Learning classifiers and its performance is evaluated for the set of attacks entailed in the UNSW-NB15 dataset. This dataset is comprised of 2,540,226 realistic network data instances as well as 49 features. Most studies reported in the literature employ a representative subset of this dataset with predefined training and testing subsets, and containing a total of 257,673 records which this study also used. In light of relatively lower than expected performance of Machine Learning or Statistical classification algorithms tested on this dataset and as reported by others in the literature, this dataset was subjected to visual data analysis to explore potential reasons or issues which likely challenge Machine Learning classifiers. The consequent observations demonstrated the presence of class representation imbalance with respect to pattern counts and class overlap in feature space, which makes preprocessing strategies indispensable before this dataset can be meaningfully employed for data-driven model development for intrusion detection. For preprocessing, we implemented min-max scaling in the normalization phase followed by the application of Elastic Net and Sequential Feature Selection (SFS) algorithms. We employed ensemble methods using three base classifiers, namely Balanced Bagging, XGBoost, and RF-HDDT, augmented to address the imbalance issue. Parameters of Balanced Bagging and XGBoost are tuned for the imbalanced data, and Random Forest is supplemented by the Hellinger distance metric to address the limitations of default distance metric. Two new algorithms are proposed to address the class overlap issue in the dataset and applied during training. These two algorithms are leveraged to help improve the performance on the testing dataset by affecting the final classification decision made by three base classifiers as part of the ensemble classifier which employsa majority vote combi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gursel Serpen (Committee Chair); Ahmad Y. Javaid (Committee Member); Mohammed Niamat (Committee Member); Richard G. Molyet (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Engineering; Computer Science; Engineering; Mathematics; Statistics

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Higher Education Administration

The purpose of this study was to provide a phenomenological description of peer interaction and to explore the sense of community experienced by online learners in an accelerated online course delivered asynchronously. Though research indicates the importance of peer interaction and community in online learning, and online learners indicate their desire to feel a sense of community in online courses, there is a gap in literature that qualitatively details the essence of peer interaction and online learners' perception of community. To address this gap, I interviewed six post-traditional online learners regarding their experiences interacting with peers and the way those experiences contributed to their sense of community in an accelerated online course. Five main themes emerged based on participants' experiences and perceptions: (1) Routine, (2) Technology, (3) Course Design, (4) Perceptions of Interaction, (5) Sense of Community. The findings represented throughout this research align with the two research questions that guided this study: (1) How do students describe their experiences interacting with peers in an accelerated online course? (2) How do students describe their experiences of interacting with peers as contributing to their sense of community in an accelerated online course? This research contributes to a deeper understanding of factors that shape peer interaction and the sense of community felt in an accelerated online learning context. The findings evidence implications for online pedagogy, learning management systems, and for the implementation of the Community of Inquiry framework. Future research that focuses on the experiences and perceptions of online learners who share similar or different demographic characteristics through various methods would enhance understanding of peer interaction and community in online learning contexts. The need for such research is evident as diverse student populations' exposure to learning through distance, onl (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kenneth Borland Ph.D (Advisor); Marlise Lonn Ph.D. (Other); Ellen Broido Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jessica Turos Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Continuing Education; Education; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Social Research; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2020, College of Education and Human Services

Online learning education in K-12 districts across the United States has continually grown in the United States (Barbour & Kennedy, 2014). Research from online course studies of adult learners suggests several factors influence successful course completion. However, discrepancies exist as to whether the findings can be generalized to 9-12 E-learning students. Literature exploring the learner characteristics associated with successful secondary students in online studies is limited. The research on online education identifies students who are highly motivated, high-achieving, and self-starting as those that are most likely to complete online courses successfully (Barbour & Reeves, 2009). High schools across Ohio employ online learning education to support graduation pathways of all diverse learners. This study explored differences that exist between subgroups when learner characteristics in the online learning environment are compared with course completion percentage. Archival records of students who had attempted credits towards high school graduation through online learning coursework were collected from four participating school districts. The sample for this study was drawn from inner-ring suburban school districts in Northeast Ohio with an urban boundary. The subjects of this study included 214 high school students, grades 9-12, enrolled in online courses pursuing credits toward high school completion. Standard linear regression was calculated to predict course completion percentages based on gender, race, grade level, and grade level according to expected age as the independent variables. The results of this study provided evidence related to online learner characteristics that exist in digital learning environments. Positive results indicate students in upper-grade levels, and female students are more likely to be successful in earning credits in virtual learning environments. The analysis produced favorable outcomes for students who are at gr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Harper (Committee Co-Chair); Frederick Hampton (Committee Co-Chair); Mark Freeman (Committee Member); Dakota King-White (Committee Member); Elizabeth Domholdt (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Education; Secondary Education

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Information Technology

The purpose of this study is to analyze patterns of gender-based grade disparity in undergraduate information technology (IT) courses at a public research university. The study was conducted in an effort to understand factors in IT education that may contribute to the IT gender gap in higher education and careers. The study followed a learning analytics methodology developed and used by previous studies of gendered based performance differences in STEM courses at other universities. This research adds to a base of information on gender performance in IT courses. Results indicated that on average IT courses have gendered performance differences with the majority of courses favoring males. In addition, results found that on average course delivery method doesn't impact gender performance. A surprising result is that in the senior level courses, on average the courses favor females. The recommendations for expanding the study by examining additional course factors such as: (a) add additional course factors such as instructor gender, class size, and number of females in the course to determine the impact, (b) expand the data set to include additional computing disciplines, (c) expand the study to other universities. This study will lead to a research path to understanding gender neutral IT course instruction.

Committee: Hazem Said Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Chengcheng Li Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Information Technology

Master of Education, Cleveland State University, 2018, College of Education and Human Services

Critical thinking is widely accepted as a primary goal of higher education. The skills and dispositions of critical thinking have much in common with those of information literacy, and instruction librarians could improve their information literacy instruction by integrating critical thinking. However, it is not currently clear to what extent instruction librarians encourage critical thinking in their teaching. Moreover, rather than credit-bearing courses, much of library instruction currently consists of either “one-shot” (single class period) sessions or online learning objects which students complete asynchronously. This study focuses on online learning objects, which are often created with great effort, have long-lasting value, and may serve as a substitute for classroom learning for distance students. This study attempts to determine the ways and extent to which online information literacy learning objects follow best practices for teaching and assessing critical thinking. To accomplish this, the researcher examined a sample of information literacy online learning objects archived in the Academic and Research Library Association's (ACRL's) repository of peer-reviewed information literacy online instruction materials, PRIMO (Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online). A representative sample of PRIMO online learning objects from the five years preceding this study was assessed against a rubric of best practices for teaching and assessing critical thinking in online information literacy learning objects. The rubric was developed based on a thorough literature review. The resulting analysis provides evidence of the extent to which information literacy online learning objects adhere to best practices for teaching and assessing critical thinking. While not all critical thinking instructional and assessment strategies were well-suited to asynchronous online learning object platforms, some strategies were used creatively and effectively in online learning ob (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Wendy Green (Committee Co-Chair); Catherine Hansman (Committee Co-Chair); Frederick Hampton (Committee Member); Mary McDonald (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Education; Educational Technology; Educational Theory; Information Science; Information Technology; Instructional Design

PHD, Kent State University, 2015, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Faculty satisfaction with designing online courses matters a great deal, for a number of reasons. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether applying the Quality MattersTM Rubric [QMR] as a foundation for online course design increases faculty's self-reported levels of satisfaction with online courses designed using the QMR, in comparison to faculty's self-reported levels of satisfaction with online courses that were not designed using the QMR. The local and national importance of this study is fully underscored by an increased emphasis from government, employers, and other stakeholders, on the rigor and role faculty play in creating efficacy through the medium of instruction, particularly online instruction. This study explored and answered the question: Does the design mode make a difference to faculty's self-reported levels of satisfaction in terms of online course design? The Online Faculty Satisfaction Survey [OFSS], originally developed by Bolliger & Wasilik (2009), was augmented as the Online Faculty Satisfaction Survey-Revised [OFSS-R], and was distributed throughout private higher education institutions in the state of Ohio. There is a clear link between an increased level of faculty satisfaction and an increased level of student satisfaction in their experiences throughout online course. Therefore, it was important for this researcher to establish whether the QMR provided different levels of satisfaction when compared to other instructional design models, and the hypotheses were established to test these differences. However, analysis found no significant difference in faculty self-reported satisfaction levels between the QMR and other instructional design methods in terms of designing online courses. For this researcher, this shall be a matter of future study.

Committee: Mark, A Kretovics PHD (Committee Chair); Susan, V. Iverson PHD (Committee Member); Victor, L. Berardi PHD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Technology; Instructional Design

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, Judith Herb College of Education

The aim of this study was to allow both college instructors and students an opportunity to give their perspectives on distance learning in the college mathematics classroom. Participants included an eclectic group of college students and instructors with varying years or experience and differing skill sets. Surveys were implemented to gain insight on participants' views on distance learning, while interviews were secondarily implemented to gain deeper understanding. Gaining access to participants was difficult, but ultimately 82 instructors and 143 college students were surveyed using SurveyMonkey®. Thirteen instructors and 14 students were then interviewed, using several different methods including: face-to-face, Skype, telephone, and email. Analysis of the surveys was used to determine both the necessity of implementing the interviews and the nature of the questions involved in the interviewing process. Both the surveys and interviews aided in finding that while both instructors and students believe distance learning will have a large presence in the future, they perceive there to be issues relating to integrity and communication. Concerns about methods which should be implemented to ensure students are honest and trustworthy while taking a course without parameters in place to ensure this is happening was a concern. In addition, both instructors and students were uneasy about communication in online classes. Instructors stressed the importance of the motivation of college students, while students were concerned about gaining deep understanding of content. Additional research in areas regarding integrity, communication, motivation, and deep understanding are encouraged, as these perspectives were most prominent in this research.

Committee: Dr. Robert Schultz (Committee Chair); Dr. Barbara Moses (Committee Member); Dr. William Weber (Committee Member); Dr. David Meel (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Technology; Mathematics Education

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2014, College of Education

A growing amount of research and literature supports a relationship between student success at the college level and the implementation of student-centered learning. Millennial students report higher levels of persistence and satisfaction in institutions that understand and try to adapt to their unique learning style, which is unlike the learning styles of their Boomer and Generation X faculty and administration (Debard, 2004; Noel & Levitz, 2009; Oblinger, 2003). What are institutional members of organizations such as the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) doing to understand and adapt to the change in generational trends and attitudes toward learning? Recent literature consistently indicates Millennial students have certain expectations about learning. Organizations must address these expectations so Christian higher education institutional effectiveness does not experience negative consequences in our changing global society.

Committee: Ann Shelly PhD (Committee Chair); Carla Edlefson PhD (Committee Member); Dan Lawson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Higher Education; Religious Education; Technology

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2003, Education : Curriculum and Instruction

This is an in-depth qualitative case study to gain insight into one instructor's efforts to teach two distinct bodies of students the same curriculum using two different mediums-classroom and online. The relationship between the use and beliefs of instructional strategies in face-to-face and online instruction are described in terms of patterns in the behaviors and beliefs of the instructor. There are three outcomes of this study. The tensions that exist in the instructor's behaviors and beliefs when considering two instructional mediums are identified; the multiple levels of converting instruction from face-to-face to online are identified and described; and strategies for online instruction that can be used for professional training are provided. Tensions include 1) familiarity versus unfamiliarity with students, 2) direct versus indirect instruction, 3) collaborative versus cooperative learning, and 4) synchronous versus asynchronous communications. The tensions were instrumental in understanding and creating the Developmental Levels of Conversion. Training techniques and strategies relate directly to each tension. An outcome of this study is the identification of multiple levels when converting instruction from face-to-face to online; currently five levels have been identified. Each level of conversion requires training for the instructor and students along with more sophisticated technology. Data collected in this study clearly identifies two levels-Level I and Level II. Inferred are three additional levels of conversion.

Committee: Dr. Janet Bohren (Advisor) Subjects: