Distance Education Master Research Articles

Determination of the relationship between the Vocational Qualifications and Academic Programs on a Perceived Competencies Basis Approach: A Case for Geographical Information Systems

GIS education and training activities become widespread as GIS utilization inevitably increases worldwide. Besides, vocational standards and qualifications are developed to form a quality assurance basis for GIS-related jobs and services and the employment of qualified personnel. From this perspective, this study aims to examine to what level the graduates of GIS associate degree, master, and doctorate programs have gained the necessary knowledge and competencies defined in the GIS Specialist (Level 6) National Qualification throughout their academic education. Within this context, an online survey was developed based on 43 performance criteria derived from the vocational qualification units (A1, A2, A3). The respondents were asked to self-evaluate the achievement of the given criteria during their academic education on a 5-point Likert scale. It was detected that 39.1% of the 174 survey participants have associate degrees, 61.7% have master's degrees (with thesis, without thesis, and distance education), and 6.9% have doctorate degrees. In comparison, 3% of them completed the GIS certificate program. The results showed that the competency achievement perceptions in the A3 section increased following the education level of the graduates. No significant difference was determined for A1, while an insignificant difference was detected for the A2 unit between the graduates of doctorate and distance education master's degree programs. The results are expected to be adopted by the relevant parties to align the GIS education programs with the sectoral needs and vocational qualifications.

An Evaluation of Educational Administration Distance Education Master’s Non-thesis Programs From The Viewpoints of Instructors

The purpose of this study is to assess the distance education master’s non-thesis programs in the field of educational administration based on the opinions of instructors. Research data were collected using semi-structured Instructor Interview Form, with 16 academics. Data were analyzed through content analysis. The results of the analyses indicate that most of the instructors find it inadequate, and have a pessimistic opinion about the future of educational administration as a field. Most of the instructors who participated in the study stated the opinion that the programs are initiated with commercial agendas, and have no contribution to the educational administration field. The participants indicated that quality standards that are accredited by independent accreditation organizations have to be established in order to ensure quality in these programs, and emphasized that permission has to be denied to institutions that lack the required technical infrastructure and competent instructors.

Examining the Relationship between the Levels of Digital Citizenship and Social Presence for the Graduate Students Having Online Education

The aim of this study is to determine the levels of digital citizenship and social presence of the graduate students having distance education and to reveal the relationship between these two variables. The research was carried out with 50 women (35%) and 93 men (65%) graduate students enrolled in distance education master programs of Karadeniz Technical University. Individual Information Form, Social Presence Scale and Digital Citizenship Scale were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used in the study to determine the levels of digital citizenship and social presence of the students. Correlation analysis for the relationship between variables and linear regression for the predictive power were used. The results indicated that graduate students enrolled in distance education master programs had high levels in digital citizenship and social presence. Furthermore, the mentioned levels were comprehended to have significant and positive relationship among themselves. While the levels of digital citizenship and social presence didn’t differentiate significantly in terms of gender, social presence levels differentiated in favour of Educational Sciences Insitute. Also the level of social presence for the graduate students was concluded to be significantly predictive for digital citizenship level.

Distance Education Master of Engineering in Acoustics from Penn State

The Graduate Program in Acoustics at Penn State provides online access to graduate level courses leading to the M.Eng. degree in Acoustics. Lectures are broadcast live via Adobe Connect to students scattered around the world, while archived recordings allow working students to access lectures at their convenience. Students earn the M.Eng. in Acoustics degree by completing 30 credits of coursework (six required courses and four electives) and writing a capstone paper. Since 1987, more than 135 distance education students have completed the M.Eng. degree in Acoustics. Many other students take individual courses as non-degree students. Courses offered online include elements of acoustics and vibration, elements of waves in fluids, electroacoustic transducers, signal processing, acoustics in fluid media, sound and structure interaction, digital signal processing, aerodynamic noise, acoustic measurements and data analysis, ocean acoustics, architectural acoustics, noise control engineering, nonlinear acoustics...

Constructively aligning technologies with learning and assessment in a distance education master’s programme

This paper reports on an action research study investigating the use of online learning activities or “e-tivities” to enhance the learning and assessment experience of students on a distance master’s programme. The study suggests that to be successfully integrated in a programme, such activities need to be carefully aligned with learning outcomes and assessment practices, and their value needs to be clear both to students and staff. The paper describes how e-tivities were designed, adopting a constructive alignment approach, to introduce more flexible and innovative approaches to learning and assessment. The e-tivities used a range of technologies (e.g., voice-based discussion boards, podcasts, wikis and blogs) to carry out group-based reflective activities. The study provides some evidence that such e-tivities, particularly voice-based activities, can help provide earlier, more detailed formative assessment, stimulate a more collaborative approach to learning and motivate students to engage more broadly with course content.

Virtual Mobility as an Inclusion Strategy in Higher Education: Research on Distance Education Master Degrees in Europe, Latin America and Asia

Mobility of higher education students is one of the main indicators of competitiveness among universities, and a key aspect for quality in education. Colleges with virtual and distance methodologies include student mobility programmes. Within this context, the Active Projects (Erasmus MUNDUS Programme, EC: Net-Active and Active-Asia) compare and evaluate the feasibility of Virtual Mobility programmes for students in distance learning courses at institutions in Europe, Latin America and central Asia. The methodological information, organisation and content of 256 master's degrees offered in distance learning programmes at universities from the three regions were analysed. This article presents and discusses the main results, particularly convergences and divergences among these regions, the issues affecting online and distance higher education, focusing on the development and delivery of postgraduate studies (MSc courses) and, especially, the possibilities of inter-institutional collaboration through Virtual Mobility. One of the main conclusions is that in order to advance towards internationalisation, higher education study plans should offer master's degrees comparable, understandable and consistent with other academic offerings. This article is the result of research conducted over six years by a team of scholars and experts from Europe, Latin America and central Asia.

Engaging With Issues of Cultural Diversity and Discrimination Through Critical Emotional Reflexivity in Online Learning

The purposes of this article are to describe the adult learners' emotional experiences as a result of engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination, and to interrogate the ways in which critical emotional reflexivity emerges in the online format. The analysis is done in the context of an online course on diversity, inequality, and multicultural education; this course is part of a distance education master's level program in Educational Studies and the participants are primary and secondary school teachers. The findings provide evidence of (a) how adult learners respond and constantly negotiate their learning practices and the ways they feel about cultural diversity and discrimination, and highlight the different ways in which they reflect critically on their understanding of cultural/ethnic/social differences; (b) how online learning, contrary to popular belief, can be a useful medium to express difficult emotions related to racism, prejudice, and discrimination.

An online survey of chiropractors' opinions of continuing education

BackgroundContinuing Education (CE) for chiropractors is mandatory for licensure in most North American jurisdictions. Numerous chiropractic colleges have begun collaborating with universities to offer master's degree programs. Distance education master's degree programs may be desirable to allow full-time practicing doctors to further their post-graduate education. The present survey sought to answer three questions. First, what is the level of satisfaction of chiropractors with their continuing education? Second, what is the level of interest of chiropractors in online master's degree programs? Lastly, what is the response rate of chiropractors to an online survey?MethodsAn online survey consisting of 22 multiple choice questions was e-mailed to 1000 chiropractors randomly selected from the mailing list of an online chiropractic newsletter. Upon completion of the questionnaire, participants' answers were saved on a secure site. Data analysis included evaluation of the demographic characteristics of the respondents, their opinions of and patterns of taking CE including online education, preferred learning formats, and their interest in proposed online master's degree programs. A survey response rate was determined.ResultsNearly 86% of respondents felt their previously completed CE courses were either somewhat or extremely satisfactory. Over ninety percent of respondents who had completed online or distance CE coursesfound them to be somewhat or extremelysatisfactory. Almost half the respondents indicated that they most preferred online distance learning, while 34.08% most preferred face-to-face interaction. Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated an interest in starting a master's degree program; however 70.46% of respondents were interested in an online master's degree program that would offer CE credit. A response rate of 35.8% was obtained.ConclusionSatisfaction among chiropractors with CE programs is high. The notion of completing a part-time online master's degree (or online combined with face-to-face interaction) appears to be popular among respondents, with a M.Sc. in Chiropractic Sciences being the most popular of those mentioned. Online surveys are a viable method of obtaining opinion in a cost and time efficient manner; there are some sources of bias involved in this type of research, and numerous steps need to be taken to obtain a suitable response rate.

Getting on the Fast Track, or How to Get an MLIS Through Distance Education, with a Specialization in Medical Librarianship

The article describes an innovation in MLIS education for medical librarianship, with an introduction to the FastTrack, the distance education program at the University of Pittsburgh's library and information science school, together with an overview of a model program linking the biomedical library at Vanderbilt University with the School of Information Sciences in Pittsburgh. Admissions requirements and specific curriculum for the distance education master's degree are detailed in an FAQ format.

Examining the Impact of a Distance Education MPH Program

This article addresses the critical issue of measuring impact of a distance education Master of Public Health degree program on public health practitioners. It is based on an online survey of the 49 graduates of the Public Health Leadership Program at the School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The survey was carried out 1-year postgraduation and had a 73% response rate. Results indicated that graduates continued to have a high level of satisfaction with the program; 97% of respondents indicated they would recommend the program to others, and 75% said that their overall opinion about the program had increased since graduation. On a scale of 1 to 10, 79% of respondents rated the program with a score of 8 or higher in terms of the impact of the program on their ability to do their current job. Regarding new opportunities, 75% of respondents reported that they had new professional affiliations or service commitments, and 31% had job promotions since graduating. The methodology and results reported here may be a model for assessing the impact of a distance learning degree program for mid-career professionals. These results support the viability of a distance-education format for providing necessary training at the master's level for the public health workforce.

Technology in Education: TechEd 2004 Conference

Reports on some of the sessions held at the ninth annual Technology in Education International Conference and Exposition held in March 2004, the theme of which was “Leading and learning in the digital age”. Sessions outlined include one on a new national distance education master’s degree program, an examination of successful connections between industry and education, and advances in technology which allow us to see how the brain processes information during the learning process.

Learning project management skills online

Project management, once the preserve of the construction industry, is now increasingly sought after by all types of business worldwide. Construction training organisations are thus looking at how they can deliver their services to this much wider market and, not surprisingly, the internet looks set to play a major role. This paper reports on a small pilot study to investigate student perceptions of traditional and online learning as part of the University of Ulster's plans to develop a new distance-education master's course in project management for overseas students. It concludes that online education can be just as effective as traditional teaching but that stimulating course material and high-quality software are critical to success.