Including Online Courses Research Articles

What influences Chinese undergraduates’ time management in online groupwork? An empirical investigation

The present investigation examines models of factors influencing time management in online groupwork for Chinese undergraduates. Multilevel findings showed that time management was positively related to five individual-level variables, including online courses taken previously, learning-oriented reasons, arranging the environment, help-seeking and feedback. Furthermore, at the group level, time management was positively correlated with feedback and learning-oriented reasons. Our investigation suggests that results concerning feedback and arranging the environment have the potential to be applicable in cross-cultural settings. It further suggests that time management may be influenced by cultural differences (eg value of education and polychromic time orientation). Finally, our result concerning help seeking lends empirical support to the theoretical claim that seeking help may serve to enhance individuals’ efforts to manage their work, in the context of Chinese undergraduates’ time management in online groupwork.

An Examination of Interprofessional Team Functioning in a BScN Blended Learning Program: Implications for Accessible Distance-Based Nursing Education Programs

In this study, the perceptions and experiences of an interprofessional team responsible for the development and delivery of the Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) Blended Learning Program at Nipissing University were examined. In this program, RPNs can acquire a BScN through distance-based part-time study, including online courses and clinical practicum. In three years, the program has grown from an initial intake of 60 students to a current enrolment of over 600 students (Fitzgerald, Beattie, Carter, & Caswell, 2014).The success of the program is attributed to three factors: a part-time curriculum that permits students to work as they study; partnerships with hospitals and other clinical facilities to support the nurse-learner’s clinical placements; and the performance of a highfunctioning interprofessional team. This study of teamwork will benefit nursing and adult learning educators as well as e-learning professionals involved in the development and delivery of flexible programs for working nurses.

What it means to receive the UEG Rising Star Award.

What it means to receive the UEG Rising Star Award.

LearnLab's DataShop: A Data Repository and Analytics Tool Set for Cognitive Science

In What Should Be the Data Sharing Policy of Cognitive Science? Pitt and Tang (2013) make the case for an open data-sharing policy in Cognitive Science and highlight the use of online data repositories to store and share raw research data. One such data repository is the LearnLab DataShop (http://pslcdatashop.org) hosted at Carnegie Mellon University. DataShop is part of LearnLab, a NSF-funded Science of Learning Center started in 2004. DataShop is a major resource for researchers in educational data mining and the learning sciences, including the educational arm of Cognitive Science. DataShop is both an open repository of learning data and a web application for performing exploratory analyses on those data. DataShop specializes in data on the interaction between students and educational software, including online courses, intelligent tutoring systems, virtual labs, online assessment systems, collaborative learning environments, and simulations. As of March 2013, DataShop offers 385 datasets under 116 projects. Across these data sets, there are 97 million software-student transactions, representing over 238,000 student hours. A key feature relevant to the Cognitive Science community is DataShop's set of tools for exploring cognitive models both visually and statistically. In DataShop, a cognitive model is a mapping between hypothesized “knowledge components”—a more general term for skill, concept, schema, production rule, misconception, or facet—and steps in the procedural completion of an online activity. A researcher can define a hypothesized model in a spreadsheet and upload it to DataShop, where it becomes available for analyses. Visual analyses include learning curves and an error report, while statistical analyses include a logistic regression model that describes how well alternative cognitive models predict student learning. DataShop has been valuable to both primary and secondary researchers in the learning sciences fueling over 100 secondary analysis studies and associated papers. For researchers who add their data to DataShop, access controls allow them to keep the data entirely private, share selectively, or make the dataset accessible to all registered users. DataShop enables secondary research by allowing registered users to view public datasets and request access to private ones. Researchers in the Cognitive Science community have used DataShop data and tools in their analyses. For example, at least eight papers from past Cognitive Science proceedings or journal articles make use of data in DataShop (see http://pslcdatashop.org/about/cogsci.html). We would be happy to support greater use of LearnLab's DataShop within the Cognitive Science community. More generally, DataShop provides examples of open data-sharing strategies and policies that could be the subject of community reflection toward the goals expressed in Pitt & Tang (2013).

Considerations for Faculty Preparing to Develop and Teach Online Criminal Justice Courses at Traditional Institutions of Higher Learning

Criminal justice programs at traditional institutions of higher learning have been moving toward offering courses online and, in some cases, placing entire programs online for the better part of the past decade. In competition with for‐profit institutions, many traditional colleges and universities have expanded their distance education programming to include online courses and programs to attract students. As a result, the number of criminal justice students has increased, as have the profits for home institutions. With this growth in the online education market, the criminal justice faculty member has been thrust, willingly or unwillingly, into the world of online teaching—a method of instruction foreign to many instructors. From the authors’ experience at their current (and in the case of the lead author a second) institution, this paper addresses many issues that must be considered by faculty members before embarking on this type of time‐intensive initiative.

Innovative Strategies for Incorporating Gerontology Into BSN Curricula

To prepare nurses in providing competent care to older adults, schools of nursing at the Otterbein College and the Florida International University, supported by American Association of Colleges of Nursing/John A. Hartford Foundation, developed innovative strategies for incorporation of gerontological content into their BSN curricula. Both nursing programs integrated these innovative gerontological learning experiences into sophomore-, junior-, and senior-level baccalaureate courses; developed independent gerontology courses, including online courses; supported the development of faculty expertise and sensitivity in elder care; and established new and/or enhanced existing community partnerships. The program objectives, planning, and implementation procedures for each of the two schools evolved similarly. Faculty development strategies and examples of community and international partnerships are presented. Finally, lessons learned from the implementation of these projects and recommendations based on these initiatives are presented.

CPT coding for the allergist

CPT coding for the allergist