Records: 322
Amy Gonzales Jessica McCrory-Calarco Teresa Lynch
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APA Citation
Gonzales, A. L., Calarco, J. M., & Lynch, T. (2018). Technology Problems and Student Achievement Gaps: A Validation and Extension of the Technology Maintenance Construct. Communication Research, 47(5), 750-770. doi:10.1177/0093650218796366
Annotation
“Communication and sociology students (n=748) were recruited from an introductory communication course on social media and one sociology course a large, public, 4-year, doctoral granting university. Sample overrepresented higher SES (over half parent’s paid their tution) and higher parent education achieved (3/4 parents received some college education). Study measured SES variables, tech maintenance variables (achieving tech-who bought it/how did they get access and sustaining . . . tech-quality/how well it works), and school work/grades. Conducted focus groups to explore SES’s impact on student’s experience with tech maintenance on campus. A majority of students owned a laptop (97.8%) or a smartphone (94%), students also reported owned a flip-phone (36%), tablet (36%), and/or printer (40%). 60% owned laptops purchased by someone else, whereas 19% had purchased the laptop themselves; similarly 58% owned smartphones purchased by someone else where 20% purchased themselves with 72% not paying for monthly cell services and 11% paying the entire monthly bill. Most students were happy with how their laptop functioned; however 21% reported laptop problems disturbed their work once a month or more and 16% once a year. Half of the students borrowed tech from a friend or family member when theirs did not work and 39% used the campus computers. SES had no relationship to technology access; however high SES were less responsible for the cost of their tech or monthly bills with students of color more likely to bear the financial responsibility than whites. SES was clearly associated with sustaining access; students with less educated parents were more likely to experience weekly breakdowns and students of color had more problems with functionality and breakdowns than white students. High SES students were more likely to borrow technology or ask for money for a replacement whereas students of color were more likely to need to use the limited campus computers and were less able to get a loan to cover the cost of new tech. Students who paid fees themselves had higher GPAs, students who had more poorly functioning laptops or laptops that often broke down had lower GPAs and gave examples of missing important notifications or missing assignment deadlines due to laptop malfunctions, suggesting technology maintenance struggles may negatively impact achievement. Students commented on how stressful it is when their phones or laptops don’t work when they cannot afford a new one. Conclusion: Students from high SES backgrounds experience less disturbances and can more easily adapt to technology challenges in the form of borrowing or replacing technology whereas students from lower SES while often still owning a laptop or phone, tend to have lower quality or older technology that frequently breaks limiting the access needed to be successful in their courses, with less option when facing challenges (can only use campus computers less able to replace tech). Students with poorly functioning technology tended to have lower GPAs and vocalized the stress of trying to navigate these challenges.
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APA Citation
Blanc, V. (2018). The experience of embodied presence for the hybrid dance/movement therapy student: A qualitative pilot study. The Internet and Higher Education, 38, 47-54. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2018.05.001
Annotation
Qualitative focus group study examining the perceptions and experiences of students in a blended low residency dance movement therapy program at a private four year university. Data was coded for thematic connections across groups and additional labeled themes. The program was blended using a three week residency on campus followed by online course work including online videos, discussion boards, blogs, private journals, and synchronous meetings. This same format was followed for the entirety of . . . the three year program, hybrid courses that began in the summer on campus and continued completely online for the remainder of the year. Students expressed they learned best when actively involved in the learning process yet were unique as to how they preferred to participate with some preferring to participate verbally, in written discussion, or expressed feeling reserved in face to face portions of the classes but felt an increased opportunity to post and participate online. Students reported feeling like they got more out of the class due to working harder to communicate their learning in the virtual space. Students expressed highly valuing the face to face residencies reporting they pull from those experiences in their course work for the remainder of the year. Students found the multi-modality of learning in the online portions of the courses to be helpful explaining synchronous sessions, course readings, and individual assignments challenging them to understand and apply material in multiple ways. Despite students reporting overall positive experiences, students did report technological issues and extensive written work took away from their learning. Students reported technology issues often led them to submit videos or work they felt was subpar which led to some temporary disengagement. Further, students reported extensive ‘forced’ discussion posts felt authentic and led to ingenuous learning as they were trying to post a certain number of comments to meet an required number and the sub-comments led to in authentic discussion. Overall, students perceived both the face to face and online portions of their program positively and expressed both formats offered unique benefits to each student’s learning and skill growth, all of which the student’s perceived as highly helpful in preparing them for future careers.
Nicholas Colvard Edward Watson Hyojin Park
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APA Citation
Colvard, N. B., Watson, C. E., & Park. H. (2018) The impact of open educational resources on various student success metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262-276.
Annotation
Conducted at a 4-year, public, doctoral granting university.This study evaluated historical student performance data from 8 different introductory level courses across multiple departments (biology, history, sociology, and psychology) that adopted OpenStax OER textbooks over a 6 year period. The data compared students in OER and non-OER sections of the courses under study. Data was evaluated first for performance of all students pre and post OER adoption before analyzing for differences in . . . performance between pell and non-pell students, and finally analyzing result based on student demographic data (ethnicity and registration status). Two sample t-tests were used to compare OER and non-OER courses before running two way ANOVAs to compare SES, ethnicity, and registration status in OER/non-OER courses. Overall the DFW rate decreased 2% (from 10.87% 50 8.19% respectively) and the % of A’s for the course increased 5.5% for students overall, however Pell recipients so an even greater improvement with their rate of A’s increasing 5.5% and DFW rate decreased 4% after implementing the OER. When looking at white and non-white students after OER adoption, white students averaged a 7.09% increase in average grade whereas non-white students saw a 13.13% increase in average grades with a 5.13% decline in DFW grades.The shift to higher grades and the drop in DFW rates was more pronounced in part time students, seeing an 12.5% increase in A’s and a 10% decrease in DFW when compared to full time students after OER was implemented. Overall part time students saw a 53.12% increase in average course grade and a 29.54% decrease in DFW rates.Conclusion: OER adoption to replace pricey textbook or text/tech packages in large entry level courses has a statistically significant impact on all student grades and withdrawal rates, but is more statistically significantly impactful for ethnic or racial minority students, pell-grant receiving students, and part time students.
Laura Rodríguez Amaya Tania Betancourt Kristina Henry Collins Orlando Hinojosa Carlos Corona
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APA Citation
Amaya, L. R., Betancourt, T., Collins, K. H., Hinojosa, O., & Corona, C. (2018). Undergraduate research experiences: Mentoring, awareness, and perceptions—a case study at a Hispanic-serving institution. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(1), 1-13. doi:10.1186/s40594-018-0105-8
Annotation
Quantitative study conducted at a 4-year, Hispanic Serving Institution examining the effects of ethnicity, gender, first-generation status, and student classification on participation in research and mentoring experiences and the awareness and perceptions of research. Data was collected via a student survey during an undergraduate STEM open house event. The data was analyzed using multivariate analysis, regression analysis and crosstabs. Classification and ethnicity were statistically . . . significant predictors of undergraduate research experiences, and while not significant, gender and first generation status showed interesting relationships. Women were far less likely (7%) to agree with the idea that research is a lonely activity when compared to men (23%). Student classification resulted in strong correlations with 50% of the indicators in the awareness construct namely: university research, professor’s research, awareness of research conferences, and research outside of the university. Ethnicity predicted student’s research experiences, and had a strong association with perceptions. LatinX and Black students talk about their career aspirations with faculty far less than White students and LatinX students were more likely to believed research activities are only for future scientists. Crosstab analysis showed first generation students were more aware of their professor’s research than non-first-generation students. Overall, student classification and ethnicity were the strongest predictors of undergraduate research experiences, and while not statistically significant, first generation status and gender strongly associated with awareness and perception constructs.
Charles Dziuban Patsy Moskal Constance Johnson Duncan Evans
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APA Citation
Dziuban, C., Moskal, P., Johnson, C., & Evans, D. (2017). Adaptive learning: A tale of two contexts. Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, 4(1), 26-62.
Annotation
Quantitative study conducted comparing student learning experiences with Realizeit at a public 4-year doctoral granting university (UCF) and a public 4-year doctoral granting technical college (CTU). 1,680 students in courses across multiple disciplines including, psychology, general education, business, information technology, and criminal justice responded to a survey at the end of their course. Participant ethnicity was reported at UCF as 6% Asian, 12% Black, 17% Hispanic/Latino, 3% . . . Multi-Racial, 30% White, and 30% not reporting. CTU reported student ethnicities as 2% American Indian/Alaska Native, 1% Asian, 28% Black, 5% Hispanic/Latino, 4% Multi-racial, 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 52% White, and 8% not reporting. Data was analyzed with contingency tables and Monte Carlo probabilities and then were factored with Guttman’s image analysis. Results showed the UCF students saw the sequence of items and learning material as significantly easier than CTU students; however, CTU students found the guidance panel easier to use. In both institutions, responses were strongly positive with the majority of students responded they felt adaptive learning helped them learn better than if they had not had adaptive learning, instructions were clear, that adaptive learning increased their engagement, and the platform was overall easy to use. Only one of the categories dropped below the 70% agreement level, which was that the adaptive learning became personalized to me over time at UCF, and no CTU agreement category dropped below 75%. Noteworthy differences in other aspects of the experience were that 75% if UCF students indicated less interaction with peers compared to about 39% of CTU students reporting less interaction, with 53% indicating they interacted with other students at the same rate. Each group took different approaches toward adaptive learning with 53% of UCF students reporting they often or always followed the suggested next steps, with 18% reporting they rarely or never followed suggestions, in comparison to 79% of CTU students reporting often or always and only 5% reporting they rarely or never followed suggestions. Learning environment was the dominant factor comprised of eleven variables reflecting a wide range of student reactions to adaptive learning including: assessment/grades, engagement, accurate ability levels, effective personalization, ease of use, effective support, and a willingness to re-engage in adaptive learning. The second factor common to both institutions was the guidance path, composed of learning material, the questions asked, and the sequencing of items. The third factor signifies student concerns with an accurate index of their progression through course material, with UCF students being more positive about the effectiveness of the guidance path than CTU students.
Tarah Ikahihifo Kristian Spring Jane Rosecrans Josh Watson
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APA Citation
Ikahihifo, T. K., Spring, K. J., Rosecrans, J., & Watson, J. (2017). Assessing the savings from open educational resources on student academic goals. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(7), 126-140. doi:10.19173/irrodl.v18i7.2754
Annotation
“This study was conducted at a 2 year, public community college in Virginia as a part of the Textbook Costs and Digital Learning Resources initiative in the Virginia Community college system aimed at supporting the high proportion of low income students in their system. 11 courses (17 sections) implemented OER, 12 f2f, 5 distance ed. Students were sent a survey about their perceptions of the course materials, analyzed using descriptive statistics and student comments were thematically coded. 87% . . . of students preferred the OER to traditional textbook or believed it to be as good as a traditional textbook. Common positive perceptions were improved content, reduced costs, greater accessibility, and easier to comprehend. Access to internet to get to course materials was found to be the greatest challenge. Conclusion: A majority of the students believed the OER were as good as, if not better than, a traditional textbook stating they felt the content was improved, it was more accessible and easier to comprehend and engage with the course. The major drawback found in this study was finding internet to access the OER.
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Carlos Asarta James Schmidt
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APA Citation
Asarta, C. J., & Schmidt, J. R. (2017). Comparing student performance in blended and traditional courses: Does prior academic achievement matter? The Internet and Higher Education, 32, 29-38. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2016.08.002
Annotation
This study compared student academic performance between blended and traditional offerings of an introductory level business/economics course at a large, 4-year public institution. The data came from 604 students; 347 students were in the blended class and 257 were in the traditional class. The blended version of the course used flipped and flexible instructional modes, in which only online lectures were available, class periods were used for complementary learning activities, and there was no . . . punitive attendance policy. Baseline academic performance levels were established through analyzing a combination of GPA, performance on a math prerequisite (Calculus 1), and a math quiz. Predictive modeling showed a statistically significant impact on prior GPA and class performance. Conclusion: Students with lower overall GPAs (below 2.80) performed worse in this blended learning classcompared to traditional learning classes; students with higher GPAs (3.35 and above) performed better compared to a traditional class. Students with an average GPA (2.81-3.34) showed no statistically significant difference in performance between the two delivery methods.
APA Citation
Blau, G. & Drennan, R. (2017) Exploring difference in business undergraduate perceptions by preferred classroom delivery mode. Online Learning, 21(3), 222-234. doi: 10.24059/olj.v21i3.973
Annotation
“Study conducted via survey at a large, 4-year, public, urban university, surveyed students currently in an online or hybrid course, to measure perceived favorability of online/hybrid courses, intent to recommend online/hybrid courses, perceived learning, and timely graduation. MANCOVA was used to test the questions in fall and spring survey samples comparing preference for online, hybrid, and f2f courses. Online and hybrid preferred delivery modes had a higher perceived favorability of . . . online/hybrid courses and their intent to recommend online or hybrid courses to their peers than those students preferring f2f. No impact of course delivery mode on perceived graduation. Inconsistent results were found for preferred delivery modes and preferred level of learning (for the spring sample online and hybrid was significant for higher perceived learning but insignificant in the fall sample). It was also found that there were no differences on any perceived outcomes between the online versus hybrid preferred classroom delivery mode samples. Conclusion: Students who prefer online or hybrid courses view them more favorably and are more likely to recommend them than students who prefer f2f, but delivery mode does not impact student’s perceived time to graduation and is inconclusive on perceived learning.
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Kristine Manwaring Ross Larsen Charles Graham Curtis Henrie Lisa Halverson
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APA Citation
Manwaring, K. C., Larsen, R., Graham, C. R., Henrie, C. R., & Halverson, L. R. (2017). Investigating student engagement in blended learning settings using experience sampling and structural equation modeling. The Internet and Higher Education, 35, 21-33. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2017.06.002
Annotation
” Data collected from students in six different blended learning courses across two medium sized public universities. Each blended learning course met at least once a week for 16 weeks and used online course content to reduce time spent in f2f class by at least one day. 5 of 6 classes were general education courses. F2f class time was typically used for lecture, class discussions, and small group work while online time was saved for online videos, reading articles, tests, essays, and critical . . . responses. Students completed surveys twice a week (one after f2f class and one after online learning activities) and structural equation modeling was completed. Student’s self-efficacy had the greatest impact on cognitive engagement and student’s initial subject interest had the greatest impact on emotional engagement. Online activities were more cognitively engaging than f2f interaction. F2f or online activities did not have a significant impact on emotional engagement but choice of activity had a significant positive impact on emotional engagement but not cognitive engagement. Peer interaction activities regardless of mode had a significant positive influence on cognitive but not emotional engagement. Student perceptions revealed ‘feeling like they were learning something’ had the greatest impact on both emotional and cognitive engagement followed closely by perceiving the learning activity as important to them. The more social students felt during an activity the higher their emotional and cognitive engagement. Relating the activity to something students already knew positively impacted both cognitive and emotional engagement but the level of challenge students perceived had a positive effect on cognitive but a large negative effect on emotional engagement. Multitasking had a significant negative effect on both cognitive and emotional engagement. Conclusions: The location of the activity has less of an impact on engagement than the activity type itself, peer interaction activities increased cognitive but not emotional engagement however feeling social at the time of the activity had a strong positive impact on both cognitive and emotional engagement. Lower levels of emotional engagement were associated with active learning activities and challenging activities suggesting that student enjoyment is not always possible during learning experiences that increase their skill and knowledge.
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Alex Kumi-Yeboa Guangji Yuan
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APA Citation
Kumi-Yeboah, A., Dogbey, J., & Yuan, G. (2017). Online collaborative learning activities: The perceptions of culturally diverse graduate students. Online Learning, 21(4), 5-28. doi:10.24059/olj.v21i4.1277
Annotation
” This study used semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and observation to understand diverse grad student’s perceptions of online collaborative learning activities. Each student was interviewed and materials from their online courses (assignments, discussion boards, presentations) were collected and reviewed. All 20 participants were a part of focus group interviews totaling 2 hours. Each student was observed in their online courses for 2 semesters to observe interactions with . . . peers, instructor support, the student’s interactions, instructor feedback etc. The research team transcribed all of the interviews and underwent constant comparative thematic analysis. After initial coding and systematic categorization, themes were then refined by removing redundancies and re-examining data via member checking. Students like online collaborative activities because they allow them to contribute to the knowledge making process and share or lead discussions with their peers. Diverse students prefer to work in smaller groups rather than whole group and expressed facing challenges with cultural differences in communication, popular references, and a lack of multicultural inclusion in the curriculum or understanding of the instructor. Conclusion: Diverse students expressed that they like online collaborative learning activities that were in small groups and allowed them to lead or take greater part in discussions, yet commented that they regularly face challenges in dealing with cultural differences surrounding communication and lack of multicultural understanding of their instructors.
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