Self-efficacy as an evaluation measure for programs in support of online learning literacies for undergraduates

This study evaluated an intervention for building undergraduates' technological literacies for higher education in support of use of the learning management system and desktop applications. Self-efficacy scores between a control group and a treatment group were compared. Relationships between scores and demographic/experiential variables were also analyzed. The study failed to find (with limited strengths) significant differences between control and treatment. Differences between exempted and control students were found. Relationships between age, gender, and experience with online learning were rejected; however a relationship between experience with computers and scores was not rejected. For treatment learners, mastery experience and physical/emotional response to task performance were stronger self-efficacy sources than were verbal persuasion and vicarious experience. Results indicated that design might be improved by increasing sources of verbal persuasion and vicarious experience. The study also highlighted a need to monitor students' diverse backgrounds with technology.     

An investigation of the effectiveness of computer simulation programs as tutorial tools for teaching population ecology at university

In this paper, we tested the effectiveness of computer simulation programs in enhancing the familiarity of biology students with ecological modelling and ecological concepts. We compared students' performance before and after the introduction of computer simulations into the teaching procedure. Computer simulations improved the comprehension of ecological processes expressed in mathematical form, but they do not allow a full understanding of ecological concepts. Thus, a balanced teaching procedure, involving both simulation programs and textbook-based lectures, is considered more appropriate for the teaching of ecological theory.     

A theoretical framework for building online communities of practice with social networking tools

This paper proposes a theoretical framework as a foundation for building online communities of practice when a suite of social networking applications referred to as collective intelligence tools are utilized to develop a product or solutions to a problem. Drawing on recent developments in Web 2.0 tools, research on communities of practice and relevant theories of learning, and the authors' own action research experience in collaborative knowledge creation utilizing Web 2.0 tools, this paper discusses a learning community's spiraling process as it moves from a given sociocultural context through discourse, action, reflection, and reorganization toward socially mediated metacognition.

Un cadre théorique pour construire des communautés de pratique en ligne en utilisant des outils de maillage social

Cet article propose un cadre théorique sur lequel édifier des communautés de pratique en ligne lorsqu'on utilise, pour mettre au point un produit ou des solutions à un problème, une série d'applications destinées à la construction de réseaux humains et connues sous le nom d'outils d'intelligence collective. En s'appuyant sur les évolutions récentes des outils Web 2.0, sur les recherches sur les communautés d'usage et les théories de l'apprentissage pertinentes ainsi que sur l'expérience propre aux auteurs en matière de recherche action sur la création collaborative de savoir en utilisant le Web 2.0, le présent article examine le processus en spirale d'une communauté d'apprentissage qui part d'un contexte socio culturel donné et qui passe par le discours, l'action la réflexion et la réorganisation pour atteindre la métacognition reposant sur la médiation humaine.

Ein Theorierahmen für den Aufbau von “Online‐Communitives of Practice” mit Hilfe von Anwendungen für Social Networking

In diesem Beitrag wird ein theoretischer Rahmen als Grundlage für den Aufbau von Online‐Praxis‐Gemeinschaften vorgestellt, wenn eine Reihe von Social Networking Anwendungen, auf die man sich als kollektive Intelligenz‐Tools beziehen kann, benutzt wird, um ein Ergebnis oder eine Problemlösung zu entwickeln. Wenn man den neuesten Entwicklungsstand bei den Web 2.0 tools mit einbezieht, die Forschung im Kommunikationsbereich, die relevanten Lerntheorien und die eigenen Forschungen und praktischen Erfahrungen des Autors in der Benutzung von Web 2.0‐Anwendungen auf dem Gebiet der gemeinschaftlichen Wissensermittlung, belegt dieses Papier den spiralförmigen Prozess beim Bewegen von einem bestimmten soziokulturellem Kontext aus durch Diskurs, Aktion, Reflektion und Reorganisation hin zu sozial vermittelter Metaerkenntnis.

Un marco teórico para la construcción de comunidades de práctica en línea con herramientas de creación de redes sociales

Este artículo propone un marco teórico como base para la construcción de comunidades de práctica cuando se utiliza una serie de aplicaciones sociales en redes (conocidas como herramientas de inteligencia colectiva) para desarrollar un producto o solucionar tal o tal problema. Basandose en las evoluciones recientes de las herramientas Web 2.0, en las investigaciones sobre las Comunidades de Uso y las teorías del aprendizaje más pertinentes así como en la experiencia propia de la investigación/acción por parte de los autores sobre la creación colaborativa de conocimiento a través del uso de herramientas Web 2.0, este artículo examina la evolución « en espiral » de una comunidad de aprendizaje que sale de un contexto socio cultural determinado y pasando por el discurso, acción, reflexión, alcanza la metacognición basada en la mediación humana.     

Sustainable school projects as the education tool for delivering sustainability

In the past ten years, many exemplar projects are completed in China to encourage the sharing of knowledge and experience of sustainability. Many of these projects are landmark buildings, and because they can attract more public attentions, they raise more awareness of sustainable development. However, school projects are rarely mentioned in the news and annual inspirational project lists. The fundamental point of this paper is to challenge the common concept in China that school buildings are only used exclusively by children in formal education. According to the paper’s review of the school schemes in England and Wales, not only the inspirational sustainable schools created the opportunities and responsibilities to accelerate positive changes, but also they developed a vision of an asset that supports lifelong learning and sustainable lifestyles for the whole community. In this paper, the definition of a ‘sustainable school’ is summarised by comparing the statements and concepts in England and Wales. Moreover, a wide range of benefits gained by project stakeholders and communities are also demonstrated through case studies. In the end, lessons and innovations which can be learnt by Chinese school projects are concluded. The illustrations provided by this paper do not aim to solve all issues of promoting a sustainable school in China, but to open people’s minds to the impacts of their actions, and to build the knowledge and cooperative framework to promote public sustainable projects.     

Institutional assessment tools for sustainability in higher education: strengths,weaknesses, and implications for practice and theory

This paper analyzes recent efforts to measure sustainability in higher education across institutions. The benefits of cross-institutional assessments include: identifying and benchmarking leaders and best practices; communicating common goals, experiences, and methods; and providing a directional tool to measure progress toward the concept of a “sustainable campus”. Ideal assessment tools identify the most important attributes of a sustainable campus, are calculable and comparable, measure more than eco-efficiency, assess processes and motivations and are comprehensible to multiple stakeholders. The 11 cross-institutional assessment tools reviewed in this paper vary in terms of stage of development and closeness to the “ideal tool”. These tools reveal (through their structure and content) the following critical parameters to achieving sustainability in higher education: decreasing throughput; pursuing incremental and systemic change simultaneously; including sustainability education as a central part of curricula; and engaging in cross-functional and cross-institutional efforts.     

Critical features of professional development programs: Comparing content focus and impact of two large-scale programs

By comparing two large-scale professional development programs' content and impact on student achievement, we contribute to research on critical features of high quality professional development, especially content focus. Even though the programs are conducted in the same context and are highly similar if characterized according to established research frameworks, our results suggest that they differ in their impact on student achievement. We therefore develop an analytical framework that allow us to characterize the programs’ content and delivery in detail. Through this approach, we identify important differences between the programs that provide explanatory value in discussing reasons for their differing impacts.     

网络教育之网上报名系统的研究

本文归纳了国内外网络教育中关于网上报名系统的两种建设模式,即凸显商业化的网上超市模式和富有教育性的入学顾问模式,并分析了两种模式的特点.在借鉴了国外一些成功经验的基础上,本文提出了网上报名系统的第三种可能的建设模式,即商业性与教育性结合的模式.最后文章针对国内网络教育和学习者的特点,提出了建设第三种网上报名系统的方法,希望能够对实践有一定的指导作用.     

An investigation of hope, academics, environment, and motivation as predictors of persistence in higher education online programs

Predictors of persistence previously found useful in distinguishing successful from unsuccessful distance learners were assembled in a 60-item survey. The survey was completed by 259 learners enrolled in associate's, bachelor's, or master's level distance learning courses in accounting, business administration, information services, criminal justice, nursing, management, and education. The survey measured variables related to academics, environment, motivation, and hope as predictors of persistence, where persistence was defined as continuing beyond the first three classes in one of the three degree-granting programs. Persisters (N = 209) tended to score higher on environmental measures of Emotional Support, Self-efficacy, and Time and Study Management than non-persisters (N = 50). Surprisingly, high scores on a measure of Learner Autonomy (independent learning) were associated with non-persistence in the online programs. The findings were interpreted in the context of the cohort model used in the online programs attended by the students surveyed in the study.     

The impact of study attitudes and study behaviour on satisfaction of online students with the implementation of online study programmes

The main objective of the research was to analyse the study attitudes and study behaviour of online students at DOBA Business School. Furthermore, the aim was to evaluate the interrelationship between study attitudes and study behaviour and to assess the predictive value of the two sets of variables for students’ general satisfaction with the study programmes. A total of 331 students participated in the web survey. Participants expressed the most positive attitudes towards the use of technology and flexibility of online learning, while the absence of personal contacts was also perceived as highly favourable. Average scores for both deep and strategic approaches were quite high, while the surface approach was much less prominent . Participants were highly engaged with their teamwork assignments, whereas proactive communication was somewhat less developed . Study attitudes seem to be far more powerful predictors of general satisfaction than study behaviour, which is not surprising. Satisfaction is thought to be the result of the complex subjective evaluation of all relevant aspects of the study programme implementation, as they were measured by attitudinal subscales.     

Using diagrams as tools for the solution of non-routine mathematical problems

The Mathematics education community has long recognized the importance of diagrams in the solution of mathematical problems. Particularly, it is stated that diagrams facilitate the solution of mathematical problems because they represent problems’ structure and information (Novick & Hurley, 2001; Diezmann, 2005). Novick and Hurley were the first to introduce three well-defined types of diagrams, that is, network, hierarchy, and matrix, which represent different problematic situations. In the present study, we investigated the effects of these types of diagrams in non-routine mathematical problem solving by contrasting students’ abilities to solve problems with and without the presence of diagrams. Structural equation modeling affirmed the existence of two first-order factors indicating the differential effects of the problems’ representation, i.e., text with diagrams and without diagrams, and a second-order factor representing general non-routine problem solving ability in mathematics. Implicative analysis showed the influence of the presence of diagrams in the problems’ hierarchical ordering. Furthermore, results provided support for other studies (e.g. Diezman & English, 2001) which documented some students’ difficulties to use diagrams efficiently for the solution of problems. We discuss the findings and provide suggestions for the efficient use of diagrams in the problem solving situation.     

Community-level environmental projects as learning tools for planners: a case study of graduate planning students

Despite the potential environmental impact of urban planning, there is little research on Environmental Education (EE) in the context of urban planning curricula. This study follows graduate planning students’ learning experience during group projects assigned as part of a planning course at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. These participatory projects, characterized as project-based learning and service learning, took place in several communities in Israel. We examined the types of learning impacts the projects engendered by analyzing the reported experiences of the students using parameters from the field of EE. The main goal of this research is to understand the contribution of such practical, hands-on project exercises to the course curriculum for inculcating environmental education themes. Findings indicate that projects helped students acquire and/or improve professional tools. They enhanced motivation to consider environmental concerns in their work and in some cases changed students’ personal environmental behavior.     

Critical pedagogy and teacher professional development for online and blended learning: the equity imperative in the shift to digital

Educational technology research and development - This paper provides a response to the work of Philipsen et al. (Educ Technol Res Dev 67:1145–1174, Philipsen et al., Educational Technology,...     

在线学习系统的研究与设计

系统采用B/S模式设计,结合dotNET技术和SQL2005数据库进行开发,本系统实现在线学习视频,包含图片和文本内容,自动对学员的有效学习时间进行记录,并折算成学分,管理所有学员信息,该文对在线学习系统的功能、结构原理、关键技术及安全性进行了探讨。     

Consensus among stakeholders about success factors and indicators for quality of online and blended learning in adult education: a Delphi study

Quality models for online and blended learning (OBL) have mainly been developed in higher education. The literature indicates that these models are often conceptualised from the providers’ perspective. What is important for the quality of OBL from the students’ perspective has recently received increased attention in the literature. Consensus among stakeholders about students’ quality needs is useful to support dialogue between professionals to strategically adopt OBL and to ensure that the needs of students are met. This study aims to validate a quality instrument for OBL, taking a set of 74 quality indicators and analysing them in terms of seven success factors (credibility, accessibility, transparency, flexibility, interactivity, personalisation, productivity). The Delphi method was selected as most suited. Participants from adult education were asked to indicate on a 7-point Likert scale to what extent the indicators add to OBL quality to meet students’ needs. After four Delphi rounds, the participants agreed on definitions of success factors and 30 indicators. The results are useful for institutions, ministries of education and external quality assessment agencies to assess the quality of OBL and can support institutions to implement improvement actions to ensure that the needs of students are met.     

在线课程质量观和质量要素的质性研究--基于专家、实践者和学习者的视角

本文采用扎根理论研究方法,通过对学术专家、实践者和学习者三类相关群体的访谈,调查高等教育和继续教育在线课程相关人群关于在线课程的质量观与对质量构成的认识,探索在线课程质量框架与要素,以期为促进人们对在线课程质量的共识,为改进和优化现有在线课程质量标准提供参考。研究通过对20位受访者累计22万字访谈文本的编码分析,发现四种质量观--服务质量观、系统性质量观、目标性质量观和增值性质量观,并定义出设计开发与实施运行两大类的九个在线课程质量要素--课程目标、课程内容、学习过程、学习支持服务、学习评价、媒体与技术环境、实施效果、改进发展和社会影响。其中,课程目标、学习内容与实施效果被定义为核心要素。本文基于TF-IDF关键词统计方法对三类群体的在线课程质量观差异进行了分析,并结合已有远程教育质量观和在线课程质量标准相关成果对本研究发现和定义的在线课程质量观、质量框架和质量要素进行了讨论与反思。     

Expansive framing as pragmatic theory for online and hybrid instructional design

Educational technology research and development - This article explores the complex question of how instruction should be framed (i.e., contextualized). Reports from the US National Research...