scholarly journals Promoting distance learners’ cognitive engagement and learning outcomes: Design-based research in the Costa Rican National University of Distance Education

Author(s):  
K. P. Joo ◽  
Carmen Andrés ◽  
Rick Shearer

<p>To explore effective learning design for students’ cognitive engagement, a design-based case study was conducted in a quality control course in the Costa Rican National University of Distance Education between the 2011 and 2012 academic years. The course was revised for the 2012 provision in terms of the assignment structure, the number of face-to-face sessions, and facilitation strategies. This study documents how the course redesign impacted the distance learners’ cognitive engagement and learning outcomes. Theories of cognitive engagement and transactional distance informed the design-based investigation. Research findings indicate that the design revisions positively influenced both students’ cognitive engagement and learning outcomes within this distance higher education context; however, the student performance represented by their assessment grades might not always reflect this improvement.</p>

Author(s):  
James Birt ◽  
Emma Moore ◽  
Michael Cowling

There is growing evidence that the use of simulation in teaching is a key means of improving learning, skills, and outcomes, particularly for practical skills. In the health sciences, the use of high-fidelity task trainers has been shown to be ideal for reducing cognitive load and leading to enhanced learning outcomes. However, how do we make these task trainers available to students studying at a distance? To answer this question, this paper presents results from the implementation and sustained testing of a mobile mixed reality intervention in an Australian distance paramedic science classroom. The context of this mobile mixed reality simulation study, provided through a user-supplied mobile phone incorporating 3D printing, virtual reality, and augmented reality, is skills acquisition in airways management, focusing on direct laryngoscopy with foreign body removal. The intervention aims to assist distance education learners in practising skills prior to attending mandatory residential schools, building a baseline equality between those students who study face to face and those at a distance. Outcomes from the study showed statistically significant improvements in the use of the simulation across several key performance indicators in the distance learners, but also demonstrated problems to overcome in the pedagogical method.


EAD em FOCO ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorcas Janice Weber ◽  
Lia Raquel Oliveira

A inserção da educação a distância nos processos educativos formais apontou possibilidades de formação em nível superior para aqueles que estão distantes dos centros de formação e, para além disso, desvelou objetos de investigação. Um exemplo disso são os materiais didáticos, tão necessários para a efetivação da aprendizagem na modalidade a distância. A gama de materiais é grande e, por isso, é interessante conhecer o modo como eles vêm sendo desenvolvidos e utilizados por aquelas instituições que ofertam cursos nessa modalidade. É sabido que há necessidades distintas entre os alunos da educação a distância e os de cursos presenciais, que precisam estar contempladas nos materiais didáticos. Mas de fato estão? Considerando a organização do espaço de estudo como importante no processo pedagógico, como os espaços dos materiais didáticos vêm sendo organizados? Que elementos têm sido utilizados para o desenvolvimento de layouts para materiais didáticos utilizados em cursos a distância? Tais questões são tema deste escrito, que busca, a partir de um estudo de caso, observar materiais didáticos produzidos para cursos brasileiros a distância. Um olhar transversal sobre tais materiais aponta semelhanças com os produtos elaborados para a educação presencial, tão conhecida por muitos.Palavras-chave: Educação a distância; Materiais didáticos; Layout.?Didactic Materials for Distance Education: Observing LayoutsAbstract The inclusion of distance education in formal educational processes pointed training opportunities in higher education for those who are distant from training centers and, in addition, unveiled research objects. An example of this are the didactic materials, as necessary for effective learning in the distance. The range of materials is large and therefore it is interesting to know how these are being developed and used by those institutions that offer courses in this modality. It is known that there are different needs among students of distance education and presence courses that need to be addressed in didactic materials. But actually are? Considering the organization of study space as important in the educational process, as the spaces of didactic materials have been organized? What elements have been used to development layouts for the materials used in distance education courses? This questions are theme of this this written that will, with a case study, observe didactic materials produced to Brazilian distance courses. That observation shown us that analyzed materials have similarities with didactic products for face to face education.Keywords: Distance education; Didactic materials; Layout. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1012-1034
Author(s):  
Moses Segbenya ◽  
George Kwaku Toku Oduro ◽  
Fred Peniana ◽  
Kwesi Ghansah

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the proximity of study centres to the students of College of Distance Education, University of Cape Coast (CoDE/UCC) and whether further studies of distance learners who were teachers and employees could lead to absenteeism in their workplaces. Design/methodology/approach A sequential explanatory strategy was used. A self-administered questionnaire and unstructured interviews as well as observation guides were employed to collect data from 2,077 students pursuing business and education programmes of CoDE in all study centres across Ghana. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and pattern matching of content analysis. Findings The study found that few teachers and other workers pursuing the distance education do absent themselves from the workplace or classroom on Fridays preceding their face-to-face session because they embarked on their journey to the study centres on Friday morning. Some teachers also absented themselves from work on Mondays after face-to-face sessions for a lack of means of transport on Sunday after lessons. The absenteeism of these respondents directly and indirectly affected their employers, students and customers. Practical implications It was therefore recommended that management of CoDE/UCC should open more study centres in all the regions especially Western, Ashanti, Upper East, Northern and Upper West Regions to reduce number of hours spent by students to their study centres and consider introducing the business programmes at the existing district centres to reduce average distance covered by these students to commute from their places of work to their respective centres in the regional capitals. It was also recommended that online/electronic learning and audio versions (impersonal communication) of the study modules should be introduced so that students would not necessary have to travel to the study centre to participate in lectures/face-to-face sessions. Originality/value The findings of this study will help managers and administrators of both public and private distance educational providers. In addition to providing basis and areas for establishing study centres for geographical proximity, findings of the study should prove helpful for designing and delivering electronic and audio versions of distance education modules to reduce the level of absenteeism in workplace for the students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumarno Sastro Slamet

Gagne (1985) and Marzano (2004), state that one of the important activities in effective learning is giving feedback on the results of evaluations or assignments that students work on. This study aims to examine the effect of providing feedback on learning outcomes (understanding and application of concepts) to students who have different achievement motivations in learning Pancasila and Citizenship Education in SMK. This study uses a quasi-experimental research design (Quasi Experiment). The subjects of this study were 126 students of SMK Negeri 5 Malang. The research instrument used to collect data was an achievement motivation questionnaire and a test of understanding and applying concepts. The research data were analyzed using the MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance) method with 2x2 factorial. The research findings are: (1) there are differences in learning outcomes (understanding and application of concepts) between groups of students who are given direct (immediate) and indirect (delayed) feedback treatment; (2) there are differences in learning outcomes (understanding and application of concepts) between groups of students who are low and high achievers and (3) the interaction of feedback with achievement motivation does not have a simultaneous effect on the learning outcomes of understanding and application of concepts in teaching PPKn in SMK.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Pramila Devi

<p>This study developed a model for evaluating the ability of ICT-based modes of communication to foster an effective learning environment, by creating telepresence, flexibility, interaction and collaboration, for distance learners at the University of the South Pacific (USP). The model is formulated on the basis of the educational relationship triad developed by Hall and Kidman (2002). Concepts and attributes from foundations of distance education; new models of distance education; and learning theories, which build on the educational relationships are identified and integrated into the ICT-based distance education model developed in the thesis. The study employed a multi-perspective evaluation design with survey questionnaires as the main technique of data collection. Interviews and online conferencing data was used in triangulation to support the main technique of data collection. Nine ICT-based modes of communication used for distance education at USP were assessed in this study. These are video broadcast, audio conferencing, video conferencing, the Web, email, and WebCT-based homepages, text chat, mail and discussion boards. There are two key findings of this study. The first set of findings reveals that the ICT-based distance education model developed in the thesis provided a useful framework for the evaluation of ICT-based modes of communication at USP. The second set of findings shows that distance learners at USP found the use of ICT-based modes of communication fostered an effective learning environment for them, by enhancing telepresence, flexibility, interaction and collaboration. The extent to which the four key attributes were enhanced in each course was influenced by the use of varying modes of communication, the pedagogical design of the course, access to Internet facilities, and the age,  occupation and cultural background of distance learners.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (01) ◽  
pp. 145-154
Author(s):  
Nur Sholikhati ◽  
Muhaimi Prayogo ◽  
Joko Santoso

Distance education is an organized educational process that bridges the separation between students and educators mediated by the use of technology and minimal face-to-face meetings. Distance education evolved from correspondent education to education through e-learning across time and space. Currently, in Indonesia, even in all countries in the world there is an outbreak of Covid-19 which results in learning in the field of education having to change from face-to-face learning to distance learning. The purpose of this study was to determine how the effect of distance learning for children with special needs in inclusive schools in the new era of normality. The method used in this research is qualitative research with online interview data collection techniques, documentation, and literature studies related to children with special needs during the COVID 19 pandemic. Qualitative data analysis was carried out through the stages of data reduction, data presentation, concluding, and verification. Based on the purposive random sampling technique, this study involved 15 informants consisting of classroom teachers and Special Advisors from 12 inclusive schools in all districts in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The results of the study revealed that distance learning which is applied in inclusive elementary schools in Yogyakarta is learning that is carried out online by utilizing various learning media both using the internet network and not Course materials are distributed online, communicated also carried out online, and all forms of examinations are also carried out online. The result of implementing distance learning in inclusive elementary schools is that learning the Indonesian language that is carried out remotely has a positive effect in the form of increased mastery of reading, listening, writing, and speaking competencies for children with special needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. The learning component that has the most influence is the selection of the learning media used. The more interactive the media used, the more effective the learning outcomes obtained by students. Even though online learning also encountered some obstacles, teachers continued to strive to improve the effectiveness of distance learning for children with special needs by collaborating with parents or guardians of students.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Cavanaugh ◽  
Stephen J Jacquemin

Comparisons of grade based learning outcomes between online and face-to-face course formats have become essential because the number of online courses, online programs and institutional student enrollments have seen rapid growth in recent years. Overall, online education is largely viewed by education professionals as being equivalent to instruction conducted face-to-face. However, the research investigating student performance in online versus face-to-face courses has been mixed and is often hampered by small samples or a lack of demographic and academic controls. This study utilizes a dataset that includes over 5,000 courses taught by over 100 faculty members over a period of ten academic terms at a large, public, four-year university. The unique scale of the dataset facilitates macro level understanding of course formats at an institutional level. Multiple regression was used to account for student demographic and academic corollaries—factors known to bias course format selection and grade based outcomes—to generate a robust test for differences in grade based learning outcomes that could be attributed to course format. The final model identified a statistical difference between course formats that translated into a negligible difference of less than 0.07 GPA points on a 4 point scale. The primary influence on individual course grades was student GPA. Interestingly, a model based interaction between course type and student GPA indicated a cumulative effect whereby students with higher GPAs will perform even better in online courses (or alternatively, struggling students perform worse when taking courses in an online format compared to a face-to-face format). These results indicate that, given the large scale university level, multi course, and student framework of the current study, there is little to no difference in grade based student performance between instructional modes for courses where both modes are applicable.


Author(s):  
Kim Holmberg ◽  
Isto Huvila

A course in information studies was partly held in the virtual world of Second Life. Second Life was used as a platform to deliver lectures and as a place for organizing group assignments and having discussions. Students' opinions about Second Life were studied and compared to their opinions about more traditional methods in education. The results show a lower threshold for participation in lectures. According to the students, Second Life should not replace face-to-face education, but it could serve as an excellent addition to other more traditional methods and platforms used in education. The students also considered that lectures held in Second Life were much more "fun" than those using other methods. This particular aspect, and its effect on learning outcomes, requires further research. This research demonstrates that Second Life has potential as a learning environment in distance education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 619
Author(s):  
Fengliang Li ◽  
Liang Wang

Job match has always been the focus of educational research. However, current empirical studies are limited to the analysis of face-to-face education, and there’s no empirical study focusing on the job match of distance education. To fill the gap in this research field, this study analyzes the distance learners in China to demonstrate the relationship between distance education and job match by using the data from a nationwide household survey. The empirical results involve two significant findings. Firstly, distance learners and face-to-face learners have no significant difference in job match. This study attempts to explain this with the human capital theory, that is, distance learners and face-to-face learners have no difference in obtaining their specific human capital, so they both prefer to work on a position characterized by job match. Secondly, job mismatch has no significant negative effect on the income of distance learners. This study attempts to explain this with the screening theory, that is, though distance education would improve the learners’ specific human capital, it still acts as a diploma signal, to some extent, in China, thus making it impossible for the specific human capital obtained by distance learners to transform into a superiority in income.


2017 ◽  
Vol 06 (03) ◽  
pp. 219-231
Author(s):  
Durairaj Ponraj

Teaching and learning of human anatomy involves cadavers, bones, histology slides, plastinated body parts, anatomy models, visualizing pictures, drawing and memorizing many new Latin terminologies. It is very challenging for faculty members to teach and difficult to learn for any year one student doing medical or health science courses. This paper provides an insight into the use of a blended learning pedagogy using Computer Based Teaching [CBT] along with other tools to create e-Leaming materials for teaching and learning of human Anatomy with better learning outcomes. We focus on four CBTs developed in-house for blended learning by the biological sciences department, namely HistoBox, BoneBox, Heart & Coronary Artery Disease [CAD] and Neuro atlas for Anatomy and Physiology. The survey result on students learning using CBTs showed significant improvements in their learning behavior and assessment grades. The students preferred blended e-Leaming using HistoBox compared with traditional lecture and practical using microscopy, p<0.001. Our student survey revealed that 93% of the students agreed that the BoneBox CBT helped them to understand and learn the subj ects better than the traditional methods. About 88% of the students also agreed that the BoneBox used in blended learning helped them to improve in their practical test grades. 98% of the students rated the BoneBox CBT pedagogy as good and excellent approach for learning with interactive features. The case-scenarios and assessment quizzes used in the CBT improved the higher order critical thinking skills. One interesting finding of the survey showed that students preferred interactive quizzes and assessment tools than game based learning activity. The tools used in our blended learning are YouTube videos, e-books, mobile apps, kahoot, socrative, padiet and articulate storyline2. We use these tools for both synchronous and asynchronous learning activities. Most of the online learning materials are administered online using the “Blackboard” learning management system [LMS]. The department of biological science over time gradually moved away from the traditional 100% face-to-face classroom teaching to at least 30% of online blended learning methods using the CBTs and other e-Leaming materials. We compared the student module evaluation feedback and the students’ performance grade over the past 12 years and found that the use of blended e-Leaming has improved our student module delivery rating and student performance grades. Our module delivery ratings improved from 92.6% in 2004 to 96.4% in 2010 and finally to 99.85% in 2016 There is also a corresponding drop in student failure rates from 14.1% in 2004 to 8.5% in 2010 and finally to about 1.3% in 2016. We propose the use of blended learning pedagogy for teaching and learning Anatomy over traditional 100% face-to-face teaching to improve module delivery and students’ learning outcomes.


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