This paper brings together some data on student retention in distance education in the form of graduation rates at a sample of distance institutions. The paper suggests that there is a "distance education deficit" with many distance institutions having less than one-quarter of the graduation rates of conventional institutions. It looks…

The introduction of a planetary science topic into teaching provides an opportunity for teachers to broaden the science base and offer an enrichment activity outside the National Curriculum. It enables students to undertake independent learning by engaging in a scientific investigation relevant to the real world. Here, more able students are given…

Using effective assessment techniques can improve an instructor's understanding of student needs and support learner-centered classrooms. Evaluating student learning takes on a new meaning in online classroom environment where students and instructors do not share physical proximity. According to Garrison (2011), the assessment strategies used to…

The two cross-national indices with gender-differentiated data introduced by the UNDP in 1995, as well as several other such indices developed subsequently, are an important resource for researchers and policy makers interested in gender disparities. Yet questions remain regarding how these indices should be interpreted and how valid they are.…

Objective: Preparing for a definitive randomized clinical trial (RCT) of neurofeedback (NF) for ADHD, this pilot trial explored feasibility of a double-blind, sham-controlled design and adherence/palatability/relative effect of two versus three treatments/week. Method: Unmedicated 6- to 12-year-olds with "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of…

Special educators are required to use evidence-based academic and behavioral interventions in their classrooms (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). No rigorous and comprehensive database currently exists to support educators. Within the field of special education, single-subject research is the primary research methodology (Horner, Carr, Halle,…

This paper examines the role of Big Data Analytics in addressing contemporary challenges associated with current changes in institutions of higher education. The paper first explores the potential of Big Data Analytics to support instructors, students and policy analysts to make better evidence based decisions. Secondly, the paper presents an…

Education planning provides the policy maker and the decision maker a logical framework in which to develop and implement education policy. At the international level, education planning is often confounded by both internal and external complexities, making the development of education policy difficult. This research presents a discrete event…

Data in many growing fields has an underlying network structure that can be taken advantage of. In this dissertation we apply data and network science to problems in the domains of systems biology and healthcare. Data challenges in these fields include noisy, heterogeneous data, and a lack of ground truth. The primary thesis of this work is that…

In some instances, intentionally or not, study designs are such that there is clustering in one group but not in the other. This paper describes methods for computing effect size estimates and their variances when there is clustering in only one group and the analysis has not taken that clustering into account. The authors provide the effect size…

As we witness the prosperity of the social media in the past few years, and feel the explosion of "user-generated content" on the Internet, there is little question that we have entered an era of Big Data. Those social media sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora and Twitter have been important sources for a wide spectrum of users.…

Athletic trainers work in clinical settings such as secondary schools, colleges and universities, sports medicine clinics, professional sports, hospitals, and other healthcare environments. However, with the rapid expansion of athletic training education programs (ATEP) over the years, another role for the athletic trainer has developed, the…

The growing ubiquity of the Internet has changed the way we conduct many of our meaningful activities, occupations, today. Despite the changes in technology, human needs haven't changed as radically, we still need connection, involvement, information and avenues of expression, but what has changed are the myriad ways in which we do those things.…

The purpose of this study was to remedy the paucity of knowledge about higher education's conflict resolution practice of online dispute resolution by providing an in-depth description of mediator and instructor online practices. Telephone interviews were used as the primary data collection method. Eleven interview questions were relied upon to…

Objective: This study examined whether and to what extent researchers addressed intervention fidelity in research of after-school programs serving at-risk students. Method: Systematic review procedures were used to search, retrieve, select, and analyze studies for this review. Fifty-five intervention studies were assessed on the following…