Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

Exploring Intrinsic Gender Identity Using Second Life

Virtual worlds (VWs) provide an environment to understand and explore notions of gender and identity, particularly given the ability for users to experiment with gender in online worlds. Our study analyses gender identity using the virtual space of Second Life (SL) to explore experiences and responses to gender in an avatar. We introduced 46 novice […]

Online and Face-to-Face Language Learning: A Comparative Analysis of Oral Proficiency in Introductory Spanish

The primary resistance to online foreign language teaching often involves questions of spoken mastery of second language. In order to address this concern, this research comparatively assesses undergraduate students’ oral proficiency in online and face-to-face Spanish classes, while taking into account students’ previous second language experience. The sample consisted of 90 undergraduate students, both online […]

Logic Models as a Way to Support Online Students and Their Projects

As online enrollment continues to grow, students may need additional pedagogical supports to increase their likelihood of success in online environments that don’t offer the same supports as those found in face to face classrooms. Logic models are a way to provide such support to students by helping to model project expectations, allowing students to […]

Impact and Nonimpact of Online Competition

Paper finds growth of fully online degree programs led to increased spending and falling enrollments at some place-based colleges, but had little impact on tuition rates. Inside Higher Ed

Using ePortfolios to Assess Applied and Collaborative Learning and Academic Identity in a Summer Research Program for Community College Students

We evaluate the extent to which ePortfolios can be used to assess applied and collaborative learning and academic identity among community college students from underrepresented minority groups who participated in a summer research program. Thirty-eight students were evaluated by their research sponsor and two or three naïve faculty evaluators. Faculty sponsors evaluated students based on […]

Empowering Students to Make Sense of an Information Saturated World: The Evolution of Information Searching and Analysis

How well students conduct research online is an increasing concern for educators at all levels but especially higher education. The paper describes the evolution of a course that grew from a unit within a course to a whole course that examines confirmation bias, information searching and the political economy of information as keys to becoming […]

Supervision on Social Media: Use and Perception of Facebook as a Research Education Tool in Disadvantaged Areas

This exploratory study investigates how a typically disadvantaged user group of older, female learners from rural, low-tech settings used and perceived a Facebook group as a research supervision and distance learning tool over time. The within-stage mixed-model research was carried out in a module of a part-time, advanced midwifery education course in rural South Africa. […]

From On-Campus to Online: A Trajectory of Innovation, Internationalization and Inclusion

This paper presents a study focused on a trajectory for developing an online operating mode on a campus-based university in the area of Massachusetts, USA. It addresses the innovation process and the changes and challenges faced by faculty and administrators. Methodologically-speaking, a mainly ethnographic approach was used for a systematic process of collecting data in […]

Review of Online Programming Characteristics and Pricing at Private Not-for-Profit Two Year Col leges in the United States

Online programming has expanded greatly within higher education and much attention has been spent on public two year colleges (more commonly known as community colleges) and both private and public four year institutions. This research seeks to expand understanding of the small market of private not-for-profit two year colleges within the United States. The research […]

Adjuncts Matter: A Qualitative Study of Adjuncts’ Job Satisfaction

The extrinsic factors that influence the workplace experiences of 27 adjuncts teaching online were explored. In this qualitative research study, the adjuncts’ lived experiences were examined through in-depth interviews. The results indicated three emergent factors which influenced the participants’ workplace experiences, and the alternative methods adjuncts employed to ensure their professional well-being. The emergent extrinsic […]