Distance Education University Research Articles

Student disciplinary policies at a distance and online university in South Africa

Academic integrity is at the core of the academic project and is threatened if universities and the academics and students in them, do not take the quest of achieving academic integrity seriously. If other universities, businesses, and the general public lose trust in a specific university due to a perceived lack of academic integrity in the institution and its qualifications, this creates a threat to the sustainability of the university. In this paper I evaluate the student disciplinary policies and codes of a distance education university against the core elements of an exemplary academic integrity policy (Bretag, Mahmud, Wallace, Walker, James, Green et al., 2011). The five core elements identified by Bretag et al. (2011) are access, approach, responsibility, detail, and support. The university’s policies were evaluated against these elements and rated on whether each one has been achieved or not. This analysis is done at the policy level and also encompasses the policy experiences of this university during COVID-19, by unpacking how these policies played out when a major challenge was applied to them. Apart from the policy analysis, this paper is based on 10 months of fieldwork undertaken during 2021 when 28 people were interviewed; an analysis of policies; and an analysis of five years’ worth of records from student disciplinary procedures. I argue that the five elements for effective student disciplinary policies need to be present for the institutionalisation of academic integrity to occur.

고학력 성인학습자가 기대하는 대학교육의 학습성과 탐색

This study aimed to examine the growing trend of adult learners with bachelor's degrees or higher returning to university education, prompted by the widespread accessibility to higher education. Additionally, it sought to explore the learning outcomes they expect from their re-engagement with university education. To achieve this goal, the perceptions of the importance of 16 learning outcomes and the current performance of universities were investigated among adult undergraduate students enrolled at a 4-year distance education university. The responses of 841 participants were analyzed using IPA(Importance-Performance Analysis), Borich Needs Assessment, and the Locus for Focus model. The analysis revealed that while there were high expectations for higher-order thinking skills, information technology proficiency, writing skills, and fostering civic awareness, there was a need for intensive improvement efforts by universities as they were not rated highly in current performance. Conversely, degree or certification attainment, achieving high grades, and acquiring general knowledge were identified as areas where universities are overly focused compared to the expectations of highly educated learners, indicating a need for improvement in university education strategies. Based on these findings, discussions and implications are presented.

Design and implementation of an interactive virtual laboratory in distance education in Argentine universities

<p>The adoption of distance education (DE) in Argentine universities has long been in practice and was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of online learning (OL) in such situations has contributed a lot, but it has limitations, especially in delivering practical laboratory-based education. Interactive virtual laboratories (IVLs) are being designed within the framework of this attempt in order to address these types of issues. The purpose of these virtual laboratories is to provide learners who have recently graduated from DE courses in science and engineering with the potential to get hands-on training. The layout and creation of an IVL application that attempts to recreate face-to-face laboratory experiences within an online environment is the subject of examination among the researchers of the current research. This method of HE focuses on integrating college-level teaching with real-world use to provide learners with a complete education subject to their physiological limitations. The program’s goal is to address immediate challenges and provide an architecture for Argentina’s higher education (AHE) system’s constant evolution.</p>

대학원격교육지원센터(UDEC) 학습 콘텐츠 현황 분석 및 발전을 위한 제언

대학원격교육지원센터(UDEC) 학습 콘텐츠 현황 분석 및 발전을 위한 제언

The use of WCAG and automatic tools by computer science students: a case study evaluating MOOC accessibility

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been the de facto standard for Web accessibility evaluation for more than two decades and therefore have been introduced into legislation and university curriculum in Computer Science. At The National Distance Education University (UNED) in Spain, we have been teaching the guidelines for the last 15 years but learning how to apply WCAG criteria is complex. In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of students’ performance in applying accessibility heuristic evaluation of an online resource (a Massive Open Online Course – MOOC) using WCAG. The experiment was carried out over two academic years to evaluate how accurate and easy it is to understand and use WCAG criteria by trained students as well as their perceptions of usefulness to evaluate accessibility barriers using automatic tools in combination with manual evaluation. Results from the study show that errors identified are aligned with accessibility evaluation literature: 65% of success criteria in WCAG do not reach 80% of agreement among raters which confirms the complexity of WCAG conformance. In total 62 (86%) criteria are marked as not being correctly addressed by automatic tools with an overlap of those showing false positives, and 25 criteria (34%) are indicated as difficult to evaluate manually. While all areas where raters disagree are potential opportunities for WCAG improvement, this research reinforces that WCAG evaluations are complex and difficult even with current automatic tools, and that the possible solutions for the way forward are: (1) a well-defined evaluation protocol including a combination of automatic tools and manual evaluations; (2) better training and professional development opportunities.

A Model of Adaptive Assessment for Mobile Learning in an Open and Distance Education University of Pakistan

The use of technology has become inevitable in every field of life including the education. The distance learning is also shaping towards smart online learning, therefore, posing many challenges of content development and delivery through the smart devices. One of the challenges is the development of adaptive assessment for anytime and anywhere mobile learning. The COVID-19 has posed an extra requirement of reshaping pedagogies on hand-held devices. The current study takes up these challenges and proposes a model of adaptive assessment for mobile learning. The Item Response Theory has been employed to estimate the learning ability and tailor a personalized learning trajectory. The model was implemented on a bachelor level course offered by an open university of Pakistan. A mobile application was developed and one hundred and eighteen students were enrolled. They used the app in addition to other traditional activities for a duration of one semester. The result of final examination of adaptive batch was compared with the previous same course offered through the traditional distant learning mode. The result showed sizeable improvement in the knowledge level of the distant learners. This research opens up an avenue of anywhere and anytime learning through the use of smart devices. It can help policymakers, educationists and technologists to align their online learning practices during the current pandemic. 

Student adaptation to distance learning: An analysis of the effectiveness, benefits and risks of distance education from the perspective of university students

The research study provides an analysis of the effectiveness of distance education from the perspective of university students and contributes to the reflection of the current trend of introducing combined studies in higher education. The research was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, when most of the higher education was primarily shifted to distance learning. The aim was to identify factors influencing students' adaptation to this “new” learning model. The findings of the mixed (qualitative and quantitative) investigation, in which students commented on two open-ended questions focusing on the positive and negative effects of distance learning via an online survey form, were processed using content categorical analysis. The frequencies of responses by category were then evaluated using binary logistic regression based on odds ratios. Ordinal and cardinal data were assessed using both descriptive and inductive statistical analysis.The results showed that, in addition to teaching methods and content, the adaptation of the students themselves to distance education plays an important role and that there are significant differences in this adaptation among students depending on gender, type of study programme and their learning preferences. We also found that contact with teachers remains a key element of student success, and that maintaining communication with teachers is essential for setting an adequate pace of learning and for minimizing student frustration. We identified key factors of adaptation that influence student success in distance education, such as personality profile, motivation, study skills, and self-study competences. An important outcome of this study was the finding that it is necessary to specify educational contents that can be taught at a distance and those that require only face-to-face instruction. This appears to be a key prerequisite for the effective implementation of distance education in universities. The study also points to the need to evaluate the effectiveness of different teaching methods for learning in terms of their impact on student success in distance education mode. Based on the results obtained, we consider it necessary for universities to invest sufficiently not only in technical equipment and in training teachers in the use of available technologies, but also in strengthening the pedagogical and psychological competences of all teachers.

Higher education, and the future of distance teaching and perceptions of academics; An investigation in Turkey

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyze distance education and explore the implications for tourism education from the perspective of academics in the higher education system. Design - This study was designed as exploratory research in order to measure its effects on the university academics. Methodology - A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data. A total of 408 questionnaires from participants were found to be a satisfactory sample. Simple random sampling technique was used by selecting a sample of academics who were teaching distance education in universities in Turkey, of which 228 were from tourism and the rest were from other social science departments. Findings - The system entails an excessive workload for faculty to provide satisfactory preparation, while some technical problems such as interruptions and disconnections occurred frequently. It was also found that the system is less interactive, does not provide control over students’ examination, and it is difficult to keep students interested in active participation. This system was found to be less effective and impractical than traditional on-site instruction in subject areas, especially where hands-on practice is required. Originality of the research - This study reveals the views of instructors during and immediately after the Covid 19 pandemic, and it is also one of the first studies to examine instructors’ opinions on distance education, including suggestions for professionals as their scholarly and applicable contributions.

Reflections of COVID-19 on Teacher Education: A Metaphor Study for Distance Education

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, distance education replaced face-to-face education in the 2019-2020 academic year in Turkey. This basic qualitative study was conducted to show the metaphorical perceptions of teacher candidates about synchronous distance university education. In this study, 178 teacher candidates, including 79 secondary mathematics, 49 science, and 50 elementary teacher candidates studying in a public university in the Central Anatolia Region in the 2019-2020 academic year, were selected with the convenience sampling method. The data were collected online due to the pandemic with an online form which includes the phrase “Distance university education is like… because…”. The teacher candidates provided 173 well-structured metaphors about distance education. The content analysis method was used for data analysis. The findings obtained in this study showed that comfort, YouTube, home, incomplete, comfort, holiday, and emptiness metaphors were particularly used. Metaphors used by teacher candidates were collected under 17 different categories as "hardware", "satisfaction", "interaction", "future", "need", "complex", "comfort", "obligation", "motivation", "spiritual", "virtual", "systemic", "responsibility", “accessibility”, “suitability”, “efficiency” and “time”. The content analysis results revealed thatmetaphors differed according to the needs and nature of the departments. It is recommended to create solutions specific to the departments and prefer distance education methods suitable for the lessons.

Speaking Personally – with Otto Peters

ABSTRACT Professor Otto Peters (*06 May 1926 in Berlin, Germany) is one of the leading pioneers and scholars of distance education and founding rector of the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. Professor Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Otto Peters’ last doctoral student, conducted the interview. Otto Peters talks about how he first came into contact with distance learning as a student during World War II. While working at the German Institute of Distance Education, as head of the department for distance education abroad, he invented the term “distance education.” He talks about the development of distance education in Europe, the establishment of the FernUniversität in Hagen, and how he was appointed as the first rector of the new distance teaching university in Germany. Finally, Otto Peters reflects on the impact and reception of his theory of distance education as the most industrialized form of education, which has made him a globally recognized theorist in the field of distance education research.

Teachers’ teaching and professional competences assessment

This research is part of a project led by the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil (Ecuador) and the National Distance Education University - UNED (Spain) aiming at designing a teaching/professional competences training model for teachers. The purpose of this study is to assess the meaning of professional competences and their significance within teachers’ teaching and training processes. Using the mixed methods approach, an ad hoc questionnaire was designed and given to discussion groups, achieving participation of more than a hundred teachers. Quantitative data analysis was carried out using the Logit model while Atlas ti 23 allowed analysis of the qualitative data. The results evidenced high scores in the competences evaluated, being leadership and research the lowest. In general, the teachers value, preferably, planning, communication, evaluation, methodology, digital, and tutoring competences, with a lower value among teachers ranging from 25 to 30 years old; those older than 55 stressed the importance of digital and innovation competences. Thus, it is recommended that training programs for teachers should focus on the set of related competences, especially on the digital competence, considering the challenges represented by investigation and pedagogical leadership.

Application of Decision Tree Classification Algorithm in Quality Assessment of Distance Learning in Colleges

INTRODUCTION: The quality assessment technology of distance education in colleges and universities, as the critical technology for identifying the quality of distance education in colleges and universities, is conducive to the improvement of the quality of distance teaching and the progress of the existing means and methods of distance education, which makes the means of distance teaching in colleges and universities rich in science.
 OBJECTIVES: Aiming at the evaluation methods of higher education institutions, there are problems such as insufficient objectivity and comprehensiveness of the evaluation system, single process, and inadequate quantitative analysis.
 METHODS:Proposes a decision tree and intelligent optimization algorithm for the college distance teaching quality assessment method. Firstly, the kernel principal component analysis method is used to carry out dimensionality reduction analysis on the index system of college distance teaching quality assessment; then, the decision tree parameters are optimized through the marine predator algorithm to construct a college distance teaching quality assessment model; finally, the robustness and efficiency of the proposed method are verified through simulation experimental analysis.
 RESULTS: The results show that the proposed method improves the accuracy of the assessment model.
 CONCLUSION: The problem of insufficient objective and scientific evaluation and low precision of distance teaching quality assessment methods in colleges and universities is solved.

대학 원격교육에서 학습관리시스템(LMS) 품질이 학습자 만족도에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relative impact of LMS quality recognized by learners in university distance education on learner satisfaction, and to analyze whether there were differences depending on the media used. To this end, a survey was conducted on 669 D university students, and multiple regression analysis was conducted. The results of the study that analyzed the data are as follows. First, it was found that there was a positive correlation among LMS system quality, information quality, service quality, and learner satisfaction. Second, the three factors explain 73.9% of learner satisfaction. Information quality, service quality, and system quality were found to have an effect in order. Third, Third, there was a difference in the effect on learner satisfaction by medium. Therefore, in order to increase learner satisfaction, LMS quality factors should be comprehensively improved.

Factors to consider for inclusive distance education

Distance education is a modality that has come to change people's perception of university education, since it has brought opportunities to a great number of people who had not had them in the classroom. However, just because it is distance education, it cannot be said that it is a modality that is one hundred percent inclusive. For this article and from the author's perspective, several factors or variables must be addressed and put into action by the universities in order to really talk about inclusive education. Each of these factors is approached very generally, although a much broader analysis could be given for each of them in future writings. Inclusive education must be established from the mission of the university. From there, the objective of seeking greater equality, equity and above all justice for those people who have fewer resources and opportunities, and greater problems of access to university education begins. In the same sense, the purpose of this work is to provide insights into the factors that distance education universities must consider in providing inclusive education. What is stipulated here is the author's experience and the different outcomes of distance education academic activities, forums, and conferences attended by students and officials. The conclusion drawn is that universities must develop a guide to implement the strategy of the 15 factors mentioned above, and carry out corresponding control and evaluation, as well as comprehensive and clear management of universities to achieve inclusive distance education.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for International Journal of Social Science Studies, Vol. 11, No. 4

International Journal of Social Science Studies (IJSSS) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether IJSSS publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue.Reviewers for Volume 11, Number 4Aurora Pestaño, University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR), PhilippinesDaniel Tia, University of Félix Houphouët-Boigny Abidjan, GRATHEL , Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)Encarnación ABAD ARENAS, National University of Distance Education (UNED), SpainFahri ÖZSUNGUR, Adana Science and Technology University, TurkeyJean Patrick Mve, Hohai University-China, CameroonJehu Onyekwere Nnaji, University of Naples II,Italy and Globe Visions Network Italy, ItalyJulia M. Mack, Gannon University, USAMd. Nasir Uddin, Prime Minister’s Office, BangladeshMei-Ling Lin, National Open University, TaiwanMOHD NORAZMI BIN NORDIN, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MalaysiaNAZIAH ABD. KADIR, Universiti Selangor, MalaysiaSana Ali, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, PakistanYao Jingwu, Business School of Yulin Normal University, China James YoungEditorial AssistantOn behalf of,The Editorial Board of International Journal of Social Science StudiesRedfame Publishing9450 SW Gemini Dr. #99416Beaverton, OR 97008, USAURL: http://ijsss.redfame.com

Getting them done: a qualitative study of characteristics of mentors successful in graduating online students in a distance education context

Many doctoral students in online distance education programs are nontraditional students who require mentoring needs that may be different from traditional students. Additionally, time to completion is becoming more important as student debt is a growing public concern. The purpose of the study was to allow faculty (N = 22) in a for-profit, distance education university who have demonstrated ability to work at scale and have an excellent record of graduating doctoral students to give voice to the characteristics they felt were important to the mentoring relationship. 5 themes emerged: (a) regular and proactive communication; (b) building a trusting and empathic relationship with students; (c) timely, substantive, and specific feedback; (d) accountability; and (e) expertise in research, scholarly writing, and knowledge of internal and external resources. Several characteristics of excellent mentors are provided that can be used as a tool for faculty development and training.

Uzaktan eğitim sistemi için veri ambarı altyapısının geliştirilmesi

The use of a data warehouse (DW) in e-learning applications helps us evaluate students from different perspectives. Depending on user behavior, we may change the content or appearance of the e-learning platform to achieve the best results. The aim of this study is to build a data warehouse infrastructure, which is a central information system for Anadolu University's distance education system. Thanks to the data warehouse project, all learners’ activities in the Learning Management System (ÖYS: Anadolum e-Kampüs) will be recorded regularly. Various analytical reports were obtained about students' study styles, preferred e-learning resources, and the time spent in the system. Additionally, the data warehouse system regularly pulls information from other information systems, such as the student information system related to the open education system. Data warehousing is designed to combine data from multiple sources into a single unified view, rather than performing operational operations like a database. Generally, data warehouses are used for analytical processing as opposed to transaction processing. They are used to analyze historical data and trends, as well as to identify patterns and insights that can aid in informing business decisions. When analysis and reporting is done in a different environment using data warehousing, there is no additional load on the database, which is already busy with daily operational processes. The data warehouse has made it easy to obtain student analytics for various periods, including daily, monthly, and yearly. The reports provided through this infrastructure are used in studies to increase the quality of the LMS system.

Social and educational evaluation of University Distance Education" (A Comparative Study of the Theoretical and Practical Faculties At Ain Shams University)

Social and educational evaluation of University Distance Education" (A Comparative Study of the Theoretical and Practical Faculties At Ain Shams University)

A network approach to understanding distance learners’ experience of stress and mental distress whilst studying

Research has shown that learners’ stress and mental distress are linked to poorer academic outcomes. A better understanding of stress and mental distress experiences during study could foster more nuanced course and intervention design which additionally teaches learners how to navigate through to protect their academic performance. The current study draws on data collected via validated self-reported questionnaires completed by final year undergraduate students (n = 318) at a large distance education university. We examined how common features of stress, depression and anxiety link to each other using a network analysis of reported symptoms. The results included findings demonstrating the symptoms with the greatest relative importance to the network. Specifically, these included the stress symptom ‘I found it difficult to relax’ and the depression symptom ‘I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything’. The findings could help institutions design interventions that directly correspond to common features of students’ stress and distress experiences.

Analysis, Evaluation and Reusability of Virtual Laboratory Software Based on Conceptual Modeling and Conformance Checking

Virtual laboratories have been increasingly used in tertiary education for natural and applied sciences, especially due to the COVID pandemic, generating a substantial investment in corresponding software applications, including simulation experiments and procedures. However, it is expensive and time-consuming to analyze, understand, model and implement the virtual experiments, especially when it is necessary to create new ones from scratch, but also when they must be redesigned and addressed to an audience in a different educational setting. We use UML Activity Diagrams and Petri nets to model experimental procedures and then apply conformance checking to detect possible nonconformities between expected model behavior and actual model execution. As a result, we provide an estimation of the conceptual proximity between experiments performed in different educational settings using the same virtual laboratory software, assisting educators and developers in making informed decisions about software reuse and redesign by providing a systematic and formal way of evaluating software applicability. A virtual microscoping experiment was used as a case study for validation purposes. The results revealed that the specific virtual lab software can be ported, without modifications, from tertiary to secondary education, to achieve learning outcomes relevant to that education level, even though it was originally designed for a distance education university. The proposed framework has potential applications beyond virtual laboratories, as a general approach to process modeling and conformance checking to evaluate the similarity between the specification of experimental procedures and actual execution logs can be applied to various domains.