Distance Education Graduate Research Articles

How Do Transnational Distance Education Graduate Students Perceive Quality?

Driven by competition amongst higher education institutions, increasing recognition of the benefits of international academic mobility, and the global pandemic, transnational distance education has accelerated in recent years. Despite its many advantages, quality assurance issues can pose significant obstacles to success. Using a collaborative autoethnography approach, this study aimed to conceptualize quality dimensions from the perspectives of three Greek graduate students shaped by their collective experience at an open university in Canada. The findings suggest that quality encompasses accessibility, learner-centred instructional design, social-emotional support, and applying acquired knowledge and skills in local contexts.

Opinions of Students Who Educate in The Distance Education Program on Distance Education

Araştırma 2019-2020 Bahar Dönemi’nde Anadolu’da bulunan bir vakıf üniversitesinde uzaktan eğitim lisansüstü programında öğrenim gören 42 katılımcı ile yürütülmüştür. Bu çalışmanın amacı, uzaktan eğitim lisansüstü programında öğrenim gören öğrencilerin almış oldukları eğitim ile ilgili görüşlerinin değerlendirilmesidir. Çalışma kapsamında nitel araştırma tekniklerinden durum çalışması kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada elde edilen veriler araştırmacılar tarafından hazırlanan görüş anketi ile toplanmıştır. Araştırmada görüş anketi kullanılarak çalışma grubunun 15 haftalık uzaktan eğitim dersleri ile ilgili değerlendirme yapmaları istenilmiştir. Araştırmada yer alan katılımcılardan %22,4’ü zaman tasarrufu, %19,4’ü zaman esnekliği, %14,9’u kolay erişim, %1,5’u ise ekonomiklik gibi yönlerden uzaktan eğitimin kendilerine faydalar sağladığını belirtmektedirler. Ayrıca Araştırmada yer alan katılımcılar tarafından uzaktan eğitimin olumsuz yönleri olarak %20 uygulama yapma yetersizliği, %20 motivasyon eksikliği ve dikkat dağınıklığının fazla olması ve %4 ders süreliğinin kısalığı ve beden dili kullanımının kısıtlı olması gibi durumlar belirtilmektedir. Katılımcıların %16,8’i çift yönlü iletişim ile öğrenciler daha aktif hala getirilirse uzaktan eğitim derslerindeki başarının artacağını beyan ettiği görülmektedir. Katılımcıların uzaktan eğitimin özellikle kendilerinin meslek gelişimlerine katkısı olduğunu belirttikleri tespit edilmiştir. Çalışmada elde edilen veriler sonucunda uzaktan eğitimin günümüzde eğitimin vazgeçilmez bir parçasını oluşturduğu, teknik problemlerin aşılarak, içeriklerin etkin hale getirilmesi ve öğrencilerin derslere aktif katılımının sağlanmasının önemli olduğu değerlendirilmektedir. Uzaktan eğitim uygulamalarında ders sürelerinin artırılması ile özellikle mesleki gelişim programları için yüz yüze eğitime göre tercih edilebileceği değerlendirilmektedir

Distance education psychosocial learning environment and graduate students' academic satisfaction during the pandemic

The closure of universities in the year caused by the pandemic that originated the COVID- determined the Peruvian government to impose distance The closure of the universities in the year caused by the pandemic that originated the COVID determined the Peruvian government to impose distance education. This required the enactment of regulations to ensure continuity of services and access to quality education adaptable to the distance learning modality. However, the psychosocial learning environment of this study modality has a social structure that differs from that of a face-to-face class, which could have a considerable impact on learning outcomes and therefore on students' academic satisfaction. For this reason, the objective of the study was to determine the relationship between the psychosocial learning environment of distance education and the academic satisfaction of graduate students during the pandemic. The methodology used was a quantitative approach with correlational design. The sample consisted of The sample consisted of graduate students of a public university, who were administered two questionnaires; the first to measure their perception of the psychosocial factors affecting their psychosocial learning environment of distance education during the pandemic, using the Sp-DELES scale; and the second to measure academic satisfaction using the SA scale.

As tensões do início da carreira docente

Este artigo analisa narrativas de cinco professores em início de carreira, que cursaram Pedagogia na modalidade de Educação a Distância (EaD). Visa analisar o processo reflexivo do professor, sua profissionalidade e as tensões vividas no processo de inserção na carreira docente. Para a produção dos dados, utilizou-se a entrevista narrativa tangenciada pelo método biográfico. O ingresso na profissão é acompanhado por situações que geram tensões e inseguranças sobre como realizar as atividades diárias inerentes à docência. Revela também o trabalho solitário do professor e até mesmo o desprestígio por parte dos professores mais experientes em relação ao graduado em EaD.

Online Professional Skills Workshops: Perspectives from Distance Education Graduate Students

<p class="3">While many online graduate students are gaining academic and scholarly knowledge, the opportunities for students to develop and hone professional skills essential for the workplace are lacking. Given the virtual environment of distance learning, graduate students are often expected to glean professional skills such as analytical thinking, self-awareness, flexibility, team-building, and problem-solving inherently through informal means (Cleveland-Innes & Ally, 2012). The goal of this study was to evaluate the experiences of online graduate students participating in synchronous online professional skills workshops. Students attended the sessions from the various graduate programs at an online Canadian university. The discussions from the focus group held at the end of the project were used to achieve the research goals. This paper used a phenomenological lens to accomplish its research goals. The participants reported that they experienced a “sense of community” and learned skills that were not included in their academic programs.</p>

Student-to-Student Interaction in Distance Education Classes: What Do Graduate Students Want?

This research sought to determine if graduate students taking distance education classes desire student-to-student interaction. Over 200 graduate students who completed one or more distance education graduate classes in agricultural and extension education from North Carolina State University during the past three years were surveyed. While some students desired student-to-student interaction, the majority of the respondents do not particularly like or want student-to-student interaction. When various sub-groups of the population (disaggregated by gender, personality type, age, work status, and student status) were examined, the results were the same. None of the sub-groups embraced student-to-student interaction in distance education classes.

Attitudes of Preschool Teachers towards Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

The aim of the study is to determine the attitudes of preschool teachers towards using technological tools and to analyze it in terms of different variables. The research was conducted based on descriptive study model. Working group was consisted of 103 teachers working at kindergartens in city center of Kirsehir and Malatya in the fall semester of 2014-2015 academic years. A personal information form created by researchers and “The Scale of Attitudes towards Using Technological Tools in Preschool Education developed by Kol (2012) were used to collect data. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used in order to analyze the data T-test for independent samples and one-way variance analysis were used in order to determine the relationships between variables. As a result of the study, the teachers showed a very positive attitude towards using technological tools. It was found out that preschool education graduate teachers showed a more positive attitudes towards using technological tools as comparing with the distance education graduate preschool teachers.

Analytics of communities of inquiry: Effects of learning technology use on cognitive presence in asynchronous online discussions

This paper describes a study that looked at the effects of different technology-use profiles on educational experience within communities of inquiry, and how they are related to the students' levels of cognitive presence in asynchronous online discussions. Through clustering of students (N=81) in a graduate distance education engineering course, we identified six different profiles: 1) task-focused users, 2) content-focused no-users, 3) no-users, 4) highly intensive users, 5) content-focused intensive users, and 6) socially-focused intensive users. Identified profiles significantly differ in terms of their use of learning platform and their levels of cognitive presence, with large effect sizes of 0.54 and 0.19 multivariate η2, respectively. Given that several profiles are associated with higher levels of cognitive presence, our results suggest multiple ways for students to be successful within communities of inquiry. Our results also emphasize a need for a different instructional support and pedagogical interventions for different technology-use profiles.

MUHASEBE EĞİTİMİ ALAN ÖĞRENCİLERİN MUHASEBE MESLEĞİNE BAKIŞ AÇILARININ DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ: MUĞLA SITKI KOÇMAN ÜNİVERSİTESİ ÖRNEĞİ

The main objective of this study is evaluation of the students' viewpoints to the accounting profession in graduate, undergraduate, distance education undergraduate and distance education graduate programs at business administration department of Mugla Sitki Kocman University. In this study, the questionnaire technique was used to collect data. The population of the research is 938 students at business administration department of Mugla Sitki Kocman University in 2014-2015 academic year. 360 valid questionnaires were evaluated. According to the results, affecting factors and lessons front to the accounting profession of business administration students was evaluated according to students’ demographic characteristics. It is observed that factors and accounting lessons affect front to the profession vary dependent on students’ demographic characteristics.

Information-Seeking Behavior and Library Use by Distance Education Graduate Music Education Students

During 2013, the Performing Arts Library at Kent State University conducted a survey with graduate students in the School of Music’s online Master of Music in Music Education program. Eighty-two respondents answered questions about their awareness and use of library services, non-library resources, and desired means of obtaining help, as well as their opinions about the most important services University Libraries offer. The results afforded insights into the needs, preferences, and information-seeking behaviors of students in an online program, and have informed the library’s approach in revising its supporting materials for the distance education program.

A Turkish Study of Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Graduate Distance Education

The aim of the study to assess nurses’ attitudes towards graduate distance education in nursing. This descriptive study was conducted in a medical center in July- October 2012 in Turkey. The study sample included total 238 nurses. A questionnaire that was developed by authors was used to collect data. The mean of the participants’ age is 32.72+6.07 and the mean duration of working as a nurse was 11.59+6.64 years. Of them 37.4% work in a internal medicine clinic, and 69.7% of them work as a clinic nurse. 56.7% of them stated that they follow developments related to distance education in nursing. More than fifty percent of participants think that distance education in nursing would be easier than current education and give an opportunity to take education independently, wherever they want. On the other hand, considerable amount of participant have some concerns about lack of a role model and feedback that may lead to poor and unqualified education. It is important that nursing differs from other disciplines in that it is practice-oriented; hence, distance education in nursing should be evaluated separately.

Successes and Challenges of a Distant Faculty Model

The planning, implementation, and evaluation of a 2-year pilot project for a distant faculty model is presented through the reflections of the distant faculty member and other stakeholders. A school of nursing with a 15-year history of offering distance education graduate programs served as the setting for this project. Overall, the distant faculty model was successful. It is anticipated that new opportunities to explore the distant faculty role will exist as the university expands its current online campus initiatives. This distant faculty model can be adopted by other schools of nursing interested in employing faculty at a distance and provides an opportunity to manage faculty shortage.

A Higher Education Leadership Distance Ph.D. Program: An Assessment Using Blocher’s Ecological Learning Theory

This study utilized a case study approach to discuss the issues of distance education in the delivery of doctoral education. The case study provided abroad background to the issues of distance education graduate programs and an assessment of the case. Blocher’s (1974) Ecological Learning Theory is applied to the case to provide for analytical generalization. The results support the need for distance delivery of academic programs to consider both the content and the program’s delivery structure as important components in realizing student success.

Developing intercultural competence through global link experiences in physical education

Background: Recognition of the importance of the development of intercultural competence (ICC) has placed intense pressure on teacher education programs to infuse a global perspective into their programs. Several studies have proposed integration of global elements into teacher education programs. Although the use of online tools for telecollaboration with students and teacher educators from other countries has positively influenced certain aspects of students' ICC, there have been limited research studies which have focused on promoting ICC in physical education (PE).Purpose: This study was designed to examine the development of the ICC of PE graduate students after completion of a seven-week global link with Korean students. Deardorff's Process Model of ICC served as the foundation for gaining understanding of the development of ICC. Student responses were examined in terms of the following: types of learning, perspectives toward partners and their cultures, influences on teaching practices, and presence of the elements included in the Process Model of ICC.Participants and setting: The 14 Caucasian Americans (F = 5, M = 9) were participated in this study. They were enrolled in one distance education graduate course focusing on professional issues in PE offered by one of the higher education institutions in the USA. Participants were engaged in a global link project in which each participant was matched with one Korean student. All participants held a teacher license, and 10 participants were teachers with 2–11 years of K-12 teaching experience. The four remaining participants were employed in university graduate assistance (N = 2) or community youth sport programs (N = 2).Data collection: Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Qualitative data included open-ended questionnaires, which were collected twice, and reflection reports, which were collected at the end of the global experience. Quantitative data were collected prior to and after the global link project using the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS). The global link project consisted of five weeks of individualized interactions and two weeks of group video conferencing. Participants were engaged in individualized interactions with their partners through technology tools (e.g. email, social networking, etc.) and via presentations that focused on particular educational issues in PE through video conferencing.Data analysis: Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed by using content analysis and multivariate analysis of variance, respectively. Triangulation across data sources and between the investigators, peer review and debriefing, and member checking between investigators and participants were utilized to maintain trustworthiness and credibility of the findings.Findings: Four themes emerged from the qualitative findings: (a) openness to other cultures, (b) expanding cultural knowledge, (c) clarifying cultural views, and (d) accommodating behaviors. The CQS data showed improvement in all dimensions (e.g. motivation, knowledge, and behavior) except the metacognitive dimension and significant improvement in the behavior dimension after the seven weeks of global link experiences.Discussion: The global link experiences promoted development of ICC including critical elements of ICC such as: attitude, knowledge/skills, and behaviors. This study recommends university teacher educators actively revise their program to incorporate a global view.

Hiding In Plain Sight: Building Community Social Capital In Distance Education Graduate Programs

There is an increasing global demand for a broad range of academic programs to be offered by distance education. The development of flexible online technology has made studying for a degree anywhere and anytime possible and this option has significant appeal for many people. However, there is limited knowledge available to guide faculty in the strategic development of supportive learning environments for distance education students that fosters connectedness for academic success. The purpose of this three-phase study was to introduce the concept of community social capital to a cohort of graduate nursing students (N=97) and then track implementation and impact in their on-line academic learning environment. Understanding social capital at the onset of graduate school can lead to an improved sense of how students can utilize and grow social capital, enhance bonding, and increase their academic advantage. The findings inform future education curricula, innovative strategies, and educational research agendas by suggesting that social capital awareness is beneficial to students enrolled in distance education.

Comparisons Of Proctored Versus Non-Proctored Testing Strategies In Graduate Distance Education Curriculum

The authors studied the testing pattern grades in four e-campus courses at Troy University with 76 graduate students. In their research, the authors found significant differences in average test grade scores between tests taken electronically without a proctor as compared to those administered using a live or a remote proctor overall. To control for differences among courses, a statistical test was solely conducted on the courses which had the same instructor, same text, and similar tests with comparable results; students scored significantly lower on proctored exams versus non-proctored exams. To enhance the quality of courses in the online environment, the researchers recommend several “best practices” pedagogical strategies based on their findings and an extensive literature review.

Intersecting communities of practice in distance education: the program team and the online course community

This article is a case study that aimed at understanding the dynamics of two complementary communities involved in a distance education graduate program: one community of practice formed by the instructors and instructional developers, who designed and developed the program, and another created by the students and instructor in one of the online courses. The relationship between both communities and the evolution that occurred within the online course are analyzed. Emergent themes are discussed and recommendations are made for similar contexts and communities.

Using Courseware Discussion Boards to Engage Graduate Students in Online Library Workshops

ABSTRACT Librarians at Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries used the discussion board features of Blackboard courseware to create an interactive experience for graduate students at a distance who could not attend the on-campus “Literature Review Workshops.” These recently developed workshops have been extremely popular with graduate students across the disciplines and have generated a growing demand from distance education graduate students and faculty to offer similar information online. Reluctant to simply deliver content via an online tutorial, librarians sought to duplicate the workshop atmosphere by making the sessions available for a short time-period online, asking participants to respond to discussion questions at specific points in the workshop, and offering audio-mediated online demonstrations of tools and resources. Student feedback and follow-up requests for more workshops support the perception that this approach offered a rewarding learning experience that addressed their specific adult learning needs.

How a Learning Community Enhances Individual Learning in a Graduate Distance Education Program

Little empirical research is currently available on Jewish distance learning, a nascent but growing field of practice. By way of qualitative case study methodology, this research explored the learning experience of a group of adult learners participating in a Jewish education Master's degree program that is offered by way of videoconferencing technology. A key finding was that the learning community constituted an informal learning context, fostering openness to new perspectives, appreciation of collaborative learning, and critically reflective thinking. The study sheds light on the unique cultural vestiges that enhance Jewish learners' shared spirit or desire for community, and their motivation and ability to create it in a distance learning program, as well as on what facilitates and/or hinders learning. The principle recommendation was that to enhance learning, educators in videoconferencing programs should work toward making the learning community a visible entity, and should facilitate collaborative learning opportunities for students both within and across sites.

Online Distance Education Graduate Courses in Physics Especially for High School Physics Teachers

Online Distance Education Graduate Courses in Physics Especially for High School Physics Teachers