ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Goal Orientation and Academic Performance in Adult Distance Education
Author: Neroni, Joyce
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Goal Orientation,Academic Achievement,Distance Education,Adult Education,Adult Learning,Adult Students,College Students,Questionnaires,Regression (Statistics),Foreign Countries,Predictor Variables,Nonparametric Statistics,Statistical Analysis,Correlation,Open Universities,Longitudinal Studies

Research has shown the importance of goal orientation in predicting academic performance for children, adolescents, and college students in traditional educational settings. Studies on this relationship within adult distance education, however, are lacking. To fill this gap, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between goal orientation and academic performance in adult distance learners. A sample of N = 1128 distance university students (age 18-75 years) filled out an online questionnaire. Their exam grades were collected from the files of the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL). A mixed model regression showed performance approach goal orientation to be a positive predictor of academic performance, whereas performance avoidance and work avoidance were negative predictors of academic performance. Non-significant results were found for mastery approach as well as for mastery avoidance. Implications of these results are discussed.
Applying Learning Analytics to Explore the Effects of Motivation on Online Students&apos; Reading Behavioral Patterns
Author: Sun, Jerry Chih-Yuan
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Motivation,Student Behavior,Reading,Behavior Patterns,Data Analysis,Learning,Graduate Students,Multivariate Analysis,Electronic Learning,Foreign Countries,Differences,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Observation,Interviews

This study aims to apply a sequential analysis to explore the effect of learning motivation on online reading behavioral patterns. The study's participants consisted of 160 graduate students who were classified into three group types: low reading duration with low motivation, low reading duration with high motivation, and high reading duration based on a second-order cluster analysis. After performing a sequential analysis, this study reveals that highly motivated students exhibited a relatively serious reading pattern in a multitasking learning environment, and that online reading duration was a significant indicator of motivation in taking an online course. Finally, recommendations were provided to instructors and researchers based on the results of the study.
Free Digital Learning for Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees in Europe: A Qualitative Analysis of Three Types of Learning Purposes
Author: Castaño Muñoz, Jonatan
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Refugees,Immigrants,Educational Technology,Qualitative Research,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Social Integration,Employment,Higher Education,Semi Structured Interviews,Focus Groups,Educational Resources,Foreign Countries,Access to Education,Interviews,Health,Literacy,Online Courses,Handheld Devices,Telecommunications,Blended Learning,Independent Study,Social Media

The increasing number of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe places new demands on European education systems. In this context, the role that free digital learning (FDL) could play in fostering inclusion has attracted renewed interest. While the existing literature highlights some general design principles for developing FDL for migrants and refugees, there is little information on the use of FDL at specific education levels, or for specific learning purposes. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study that was carried out as part of the Moocs4Inclusion project of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) between July and December 2016. The study, which has a European focus, disaggregates the analysis of FDL initiatives by what were identified as its three most common purposes: (a) language learning, (b) civic integration and employment, and (c) higher education. For each of these topics, the study sheds light on the approaches used by a wide sample of initiatives, users' levels of awareness of what is available and take up, and migrants' and refugees' perceptions of the current offer. In order to collect the information needed to cover different approaches and perspectives, semi-structured interviews with 24 representatives of 10 FDL initiatives and four focus groups with 39 migrants and refugees were carried out. The results show that there are indeed overlaps between the purposes of FDL initiatives and their design principles. Specific recommendations on how to better design FDL initiatives for migrants and refugees, taking into account their specific purposes, have also been identified.
Creating and Collaborating: Students&apos; and Tutors&apos; Perceptions of an Online Group Project
Author: Donelan, Helen
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Cooperative Learning,Group Activities,Part Time Students,Distance Education,Student Developed Materials,Web Sites,Computer Mediated Communication,Focus Groups,Tutors,Student Attitudes,Electronic Learning,Student Projects,Design,Skill Development,Learner Engagement,Open Universities,Student Evaluation,Undergraduate Students,Coding,Data Collection,Barriers

Although collaboration skills are highly valued by employers, convincing students that collaborative learning activities are worthwhile, and ensuring that the experience is both useful and enjoyable, are significant challenges for educators. This paper addresses these challenges by exploring students' and tutors' experiences of a group project where part-time distance learners collaborate online to create a website. Focus groups were conducted with students who had recently completed the project, and discussion forums were used to gather feedback from tutors who supported students and marked their group work. The research showed that students' attitudes towards the group project on completion were generally favourable. Findings highlighted key aspects for successful online group projects and for motivating students to participate fully. These included: the design of authentic tasks, with skills development relevant to the workplace; careful attention to how the group work is assessed; and enabling students to develop websites they could be proud of. Frustrations for students were associated with the lack of engagement of fellow students and with limitations of the tool provided for building the website. Tutors found marking the work a time-consuming and complex process. Tutors were also unconvinced of the value and fairness of assessing students partly on a group, as opposed to an individual, basis.
Instructional Delivery and Students&apos; Experiences with Distance and Online Learning of Undergraduate Mathematics in Nigeria
Author: Reju, Comfort O.
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,College Mathematics,Student Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Distance Education,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Mixed Methods Research,Online Courses,Barriers,Questionnaires,Access to Computers,Semi Structured Interviews

This paper examines the students' experiences with instructional delivery (ID) of distance and online learning of undergraduate mathematics in two major Nigerian universities. Purposive sampling was used in the study to select mathematics students from University of Lagos Distance Learning Institute (DLI) and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Data were collected through mixed-methods and a one-sample binomial test was employed to analyse the quantitative data. Furthermore, narrative and content analyses were done to explore how respondents make sense of their experiences of learning mathematics through the distance and online mode. Among others, the results of the study suggest that the abstract nature of mathematics was not appropriately addressed in the course content and that the absence of helpful and visible tutors for the subject complicated the challenge of understanding abstract mathematics even further. Among the many challenges, the abstract nature of mathematics and the absence of qualified tutors points to the need for improvement in the design, development, and provision of mathematics course materials and programmes for distance and online mathematics learning.
Quality Assurance for Online Higher Education Programmes: Design and Validation of an Integrative Assessment Model Applicable to Spanish Universities
Author: Marciniak, Renata
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Quality Assurance,Higher Education,College Programs,Program Evaluation,Models,Educational Quality,Electronic Learning,Validity

The quality assurance of online Higher Education online programmes is one of the great challenges faced by Spanish universities. Regular assessment of these programmes is essential in order to take actions to improve their quality. The said assessment should be complex and include all of the components of the programme, as well as its planning and implementation stages and its effects. The purpose of this paper is to present a model designed to assess the quality of online Higher Education online programmes that includes the assessment of the quality of the programme itself, as well as its continuous assessment. In order to design the model, the author conducted a bibliographical analysis of different standards, models, and guides developed in Spain and other countries to assess online education. The model was validated by 23 international online education experts. The results of the validation were triangulated with specialized literature, thus allowing the author to make decisions regarding whether to change the model by keeping, reformulating, or removing a dimension or indicator. As a result, two variables, fourteen dimensions, and 81 indicators were obtained. In order to verify the utility of the model it was applied in the assessment of four online programmes. The model guides the persons in charge of the implementation of online programmes and allows to conduct a more comprehensive assessment of the programme in order to discover its strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities for its improvement. The model can be also applied by online programme designers as a guideline for creating other, high quality programmes.
Online Course Enrollment in Community College and Degree Completion: The Tipping Point
Author: Shea, Peter
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Enrollment,Community Colleges,Graduation,At Risk Students,Two Year College Students,Electronic Learning,Educational Attainment,Predictor Variables,Data Analysis,Regression (Statistics),Graduation Rate,School Holding Power,College Graduates

Recent research indicates that certain students are at risk of lower levels of academic performance in online settings when compared to peers who study only in the classroom. Community college students have been a population of particular concern. In this paper, we hypothesize that online course load and institutional quality may impact outcomes for such students at risk for lower levels of degree attainment. Using comprehensive data from the 30 community colleges (n = 45,557) of the State University of New York (SUNY), we conducted a state-wide study to examine whether there is a &quot;tipping point&quot; at which online course load becomes problematic for community college learners seeking to attain a degree through a mix of online and face-to-face coursework. We also test the conjecture that some institutions may excel at supporting online learner success among more at risk populations who choose online study. Results indicate that community college students who take more than 40% of their courses online begin to lose the benefits of enhanced degree completion conferred through a mix of online and face-to-face enrollment. Moderating variables are also identified and discussed.
Best Practices Article: Gradually Increasing Individuality: Suggestions for Improving Alternative Teacher Education Programs
Author: Henning-Smith, Jeff
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Alternative Teacher Certification,Program Improvement,Best Practices,Student Teaching,Field Experience Programs,Summer Programs,Preservice Teacher Education,Educational Strategies,Mentors,Team Teaching,Student Teachers,Student Responsibility,Models

The purpose of this article was to examine the use of a gradual release of responsibility (GRR) model (Pearson &amp; Gallagher, 1983) embedded in a coteaching framework (Heck &amp; Bacharach, 2016) during the student-teaching portion of an alternative teaching licensure program. The goal was to improve an already existing student-teacher field experience summer residency program at a large Midwestern university by better attending to its desire to help all teachers become better equipped with their selection of teaching strategies.
The Impact of Environmental Resource Learning Applied to Geometry in Education for Power and Citizenship
Author: Morales, Roosevelt Barros
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Geometry,Environmental Education,Geometric Concepts,Parent Surveys,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Mathematics Instruction,Qualitative Research,Citizenship

This article is based on education for power and citizenship and related educational and social problems, where the axis of the issue is the environmental resources applied to learning geometry. These have a great impact on the teaching process, as it is currently considered that education should be interactive with respect to the environment. In recent years, the educational system has been able to perceive that, in scientific areas such as geometry, students have been limited to the role of receivers of conceptual contents from texts and websites, leaving aside the interaction by the learner with the surrounding environment. Studies using surveys conducted based on a Likert scale and administered with questions in simple language that is easily understood by the respondents have shown us that if the utility of environmental resources can be successfully merged with scientific areas, the result is greater knowledge acquisition and interest among students, especially in the area of geometry. This proposal is based on a change in the current educational model, employing a more attractive design, in which young people achieve greater proximity to subject being studied.
Leisure Activities for the Development of Creative Intelligence in Mathematical Problem Solving
Author: Castro, Angélica Mercedes Tumbaco
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Leisure Time,Creative Thinking,Intelligence,Mathematics Skills,Problem Solving,Pretests Posttests,Experimental Groups,Control Groups,Recreational Activities,Middle School Students,Grade 9,Likert Scales,Statistical Analysis

The present work studies the influence of leisure activities on the creative intelligence of the students. An experimental pre- and post-test design was carried out with individuals selected in a sampling process. The design identifies the ease of students to place themselves in possible contexts and solve them mathematically through Polya's phases. Two target groups were then located, one of which was applied the independent variable. The results were verified using the variable contrast statistical method, which concluded that leisure activities affect creative intelligence in positive terms, since the experimental group of post-test presented greater success in the entelechy of possible scenarios, facilitating the solving of mathematical problems related to different topics.
Empirical Analysis on Factors Impacting on Intention to Use M-Learning in Basic Education in Egypt
Author: Ali, Reham Adel
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Intention,Electronic Learning,Handheld Devices,Performance Factors,Expectation,Social Influences,Personal Autonomy,Educational Quality,Questionnaires,Student Surveys,Higher Education,Secondary School Students,Statistical Analysis,Least Squares Statistics

It is apparent that m-learning will continuously have a massive role in terms of development in teaching and learning methods for education. Student's intention to use this technology is the main factor that eventually leads to a success in implementing m-learning. The objectives of this particular research are to come up with the development and examination towards a research model to uncover the factors that have important effects on the intention to use mobile learning for basic education in Egypt. A research model was developed through extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) by incorporating two additional factors namely; learners' autonomy (LA) and content quality design (CQD). A quantitative approach based on cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from 386 respondents.. The methodology used in this study was a Partial Least Squares (PLS) that was expected to test the model empirically. The results showcased that learners' autonomy (LA), performance expectancy (PE), facilitating conditions (FC), and social influence (SI) are significant in relation to behavioural intention (BI) to use m-learning while effort expectancy (EE) did not show the impact on intention to use mobile learning. The research also found that content quality design (CQD) affects significantly on performance expectancy (PE) and effort expectancy (EE). The possible development in future research and the limitations of the findings are also discussed later in this paper.
Development of Reading Comprehension with Graphic Organizers for Students with Dyslexia
Author: Lopez, Jacqueline
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Comprehension,Instructional Materials,Dyslexia,Foreign Countries,Mixed Methods Research,Learning Disabilities,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Reading Difficulties,Reading Skills,High School Students,Decoding (Reading),Phonemic Awareness,Observation,Interviews

This academic work has the aim of analyzing the impact of graphic organizers in the development of reading comprehension accordance with the level of English of each student. The theoretical foundation is constructed by the contents previously defined in the problem; with specific bibliography for the scientific content. Statistical analyses of information were taken into consideration. The implementation of this research will permit the creation and design of a handbook with easy-to-read stories that would increase students receptive abilities in a foreign language in the learning process, especially for students with learning disabilities (dyslexia). These analyses determined the importance of the application of a handbook that would include a short and a long text, vocabulary in context, strategies to improve reading skills, and unit assessments to evaluate the knowledge of students in each unit. This will let the students to develop multiple skills with the guidance of the teacher. This innovative material has as a main target to help the learner to decode phonemes and to identify structures of the story through charts and pictures.
Visionary Leadership in the Administrative Staff of the Guapan Educational Unit
Author: Molina, Oscar Antonio Martinez
Date: 2018-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Leadership Styles,Administrators,Educational Administration,Questionnaires,Teacher Administrator Relationship,Administrator Attitudes,Administrator Surveys,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Surveys,Information Technology

The purpose of the present study lies in determining the visionary leadership manifest in the administrative staff of the Guapan Educational Unit, with the research taking the form of a positivist descriptive research study that will deepen the knowledge of the variable that concerns us: visionary leadership. Through the application of field designs, the information was obtained directly from interaction with the subjects, who made up a population of (62) subjects, among whom were (07) administrators and (55) educational professionals, with the sample consisting of 38 instructors. The instrument used was an 18-item multiple-choice questionnaire (Almost always, Sometimes and Almost never), which was validated by three experts, with a reliability of 0.97, which demonstrates that it is highly reliable. The consolidation of this research showed with its results that the administrative staff engages in visionary leadership in the Guapan Educational Unit. The opinion of the instructional staff, however, shows just the opposite, judging that the administrators show weakness in visionary leadership. For this reason, guidelines are offered to the administrators of the state-funded private school located in the Cañar province, Azogues district, Guapan parish.
Online Hunting, Gathering and Sharing--A Return to Experiential Learning in A Digital Age
Author: Petrovic-Dzerdz, Maristela
Date: 2018-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Virtual Universities,Distance Education,Teaching Methods,Experiential Learning,Group Activities,Cooperative Learning,College Students,Persuasive Discourse,Debate,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Online Courses,Computer Mediated Communication,Integrated Learning Systems,Databases,Foreign Countries

Learning through a collective experience by taking part in group activities, such as hunting, gathering, and sharing, has always been a natural, &quot;organic,&quot; and &quot;experiential&quot; process where new skills and knowledge, if benefitting the whole group, are accepted, shared, and propagated. Nevertheless, in industrialized societies where specific knowledge and skills are an economical and societal necessity, the learning economy has largely moved to a model where the teachers &quot;harvest&quot; selected knowledge and &quot;put it in a basket&quot; from which students are expected to take from and learn. This learning model has permeated the 21st century digital world, where the main promoted advantage of these new learning environments is still the &quot;individualization of learning,&quot; which can result in a very solitary and isolated endeavor; however, it doesn't have to be the case. An example of a successful online university course suggests that carefully crafted online instructional design strategies can contribute to a flexible and rich experiential learning environment. Although they might be physically disconnected, it is possible for learners and a teacher to remain closely interconnected, engaged, and accountable for both individual and group success in knowledge &quot;hunting, gathering, and sharing&quot; activities in a digital age.