While enrollment has been declining across higher education over the last decade, online education is one sector consistently enjoying enrollment gains, making its success indispensable to many institutions. Transactional distance theory has been used to study the experiences of online students and faculty and asserts that dialogue reduces the…

With the increase in pressures related to teaching online, counselor educators are experiencing greater amounts of burnout. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative survey study was to assess for significant differences and correlations between synchronous and asynchronous communication modes on online counselor educators' job…

This research is an examination of the success rates of students in different course modalities (face-to-face, online only, and hybrid) to understand if there is a correlation between the type of interaction (synchronous or asynchronous) and student success in college composition courses. For the purpose of this study, student success is measured…

What is interesting is virtual learning seems to go against the very nature of teachers and teaching. For example, many teachers are in the profession to change the lives of students, to have an impact, for interaction, to motivate and aspire students. Some teachers find that these are all diminished and even sometimes eliminated in the virtual…

The problem presented by this study was reduced synchronous instruction in online learning environments often causes students to disengage by not participating in coursework or completing assignments. Additionally, a reduced amount of synchronous instruction opportunities yielded a reduction in coursework progress, decreased interaction, and…

This dissertation conducted a science classroom intervention using two instructional approaches, computational modeling and paper-based pictorial modeling, in the context of food webs. A series of research papers were written on the impact of the intervention on students' attitudes and learning, and on teachers via professional development and…

This work approaches the concept of social media engagement through a lens of participation theory. Following the work of Goffman (1981) and others, this dissertation uses the concepts of the participation framework and the participant role to explore engagement as a function of participation in interaction. The purposes of this dissertation are…

Each year witnesses an increased number of students with disabilities participating in online schools. Unfortunately, most online courses fail to provide adequate learning outcomes for students with special needs. Currently, there is a deficit in the literature relating to efficacious practices for K-8 students with disabilities in online learning…

The purpose of this study was to reveal whether there is a relationship between students' volume of text messaging and formal writing performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test writing section. The study also examined gender as a contributing variable in this measure. As a supplementary correlation, student text message volume was also compared…

The number of online courses in higher education is on the rise; however, empirical evidence elucidating best practices for synchronous online instruction is needed to implement these courses. The purpose of this dissertation was to perform a mixed-method investigation into the relationships between instructor prompt and student engagement in 5…

Much of the research literature on learning technologies and distance education has concentrated on achievement, with little to no emphasis on factors pertaining to motivation. This lack of research is a concern given the high enrollment and low retention rates in distance education programs. The focus of this comparative study was to investigate…

There is a national shortage of school-based Speech Language Pathologists (SLP). Schools located in rural and geographically remote areas are often impacted by the shortage, and as a result students with an autism spectrum disorder may not receive services that are mandated by their Individual Education Plan. This study examined the use of…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between students' emotional intelligence, social bond, and their interactions in an online learning environment. This study examined emotional aspects of online interaction in both synchronous and asynchronous online learning environments. A conceptual framework was developed based on…

The study investigates whether the informal interactive written discourse in instant messaging (IM) is permeating the more formal writing of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) college students, and how students' identities are constructed in terms of English multiliteracies in Taiwan. The study is designed as a qualitative case study. The…

This correlation study examines the relationship between participation in online embedded professional development communities and student achievement gains in a College Algebra course taught by high school teachers to high school students for college credit. The participating teachers met weekly through a web-based meeting format using…