This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study aimed to investigate how undergraduate students' everyday texting experiences related to their social connectedness. This research was conducted through a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. The quantitative phase involved a survey distributed to a sample of undergraduate students,…

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of undergraduate students enrolled in four asynchronous online agriculture education courses during the Fall semester of 2023 offered at one southeastern United States four-year public post-secondary institution regarding the use of X (formerly Twitter) during the first four weeks of…

As online programs grow, so should attempts to create a better virtual asynchronous learning experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of video-based online learning activities in increasing components of social, teaching, and cognitive presence, among interprofessional healthcare students of various age groups. Studying this…

Online education in the United States continues to experience significant growth. As research suggests, online instruction is as effective as traditional, face-to-face instruction. As the number of students studying in online doctoral programs continues to grow, research has primarily focused on undergraduate- and master's-level online programs,…

Online education and virtual learning spaces have become increasingly incorporated into the educational landscape. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic closed most institutions in 2020 for in-person learning, online education was growing rapidly. As the world emerged from the pandemic, online education and virtual learning environments of all types…

The purpose of this action research study was to understand and strengthen the learning culture of one curriculum specialist team working remotely at Newco (pseudonym). The study participants were curriculum specialists who claimed they had little time to learn independently or share knowledge with teammates due to the isolation of remote work and…

This research study delves into the multifaceted realm of social presence in online education, encompassing the existence and manifestation of social presence indicators in students' engagement with discussion boards within asynchronous online courses. Social presence manifests when individuals perceive themselves to be simultaneously present with…

Throughout the development of online courses within higher education, subject matter expert (SME) faculty often rely on an instructional designer's (IDs) expertise and leadership to produce high-quality learning experiences for their students. Although IDs guide the creation of online courses and programs, instructional design is a profession that…

Drawing on a feminist poststructural theoretical framework, this study examined how students perform gender in the online classroom and how that performance impacts their understanding of and navigation of gendered power structures. There is a scarcity of feminist poststructural research in online learning; most online learning research relies on…

Research suggests there is no significant difference in outcomes for online learners and on-campus learners. Several decades of online learning have also consistently demonstrated online students are less likely to persist than those students attending on campus. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework describes social presence, teaching…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional K-12 education worldwide, forcing a rapid shift to emergency remote teaching and learning. This dissertation utilizes a three-article approach and investigates the multifaceted impact of the pandemic on urban charter high school students and their principals in under-resourced communities. The first…

As an important form of self-disclosure, sharing positive events is related to increased positive affect and reduced negative affect, i.e., affective well-being. The act of communicating a positive personal event to another person and reaping the intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of such communication is termed capitalization in social…

This study explored the factors that shape the power relationships that form through interactions within a given network. Specifically, this study examined the relationship between students' gender, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, their sense of agency, their posting time in online discussions, and the power status that each participant…

Success in higher education is a concept that has been researched for years and is especially critical in relation to the shift to online higher education. Online learning is inevitably a part of the future landscape of higher education, but success rates in online courses are often lower than in traditional courses. To contribute to the existing…

Interaction in online learning (OL) has been extensively studied over the past few decades. Today, courses following social constructivist (Vygotsky, 1997) based designs are widespread throughout higher education. These course designs place an emphasis on interpersonal interaction, which is largely viewed as beneficial to online learners, as a…