scholarly journals Motivations and Experiences in a Distance Learning-Based Degree Programme: A Case Study from a Community College

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Luis M. Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Associate Degree ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The United States ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Degree Programme ◽  
Learning Behaviours

Due to the development of the technologically-assisted teaching and learning approaches and the change of learning behaviours of students, many students decided to start their education in a distance learning-based degree programme at a community college in the United States. Based on the lens of the Social Cognitive Career Theory, the researcher collected qualitative data from 46 traditional-aged students who are currently enrolled in a distance-learning degree programme at a community college. One research question was concerned, which was why would high school graduates (i.e. traditional-aged students) decide to enrol in a distance learning-based associate degree programme at a community college instead of a traditional senior university? The results indicated that financial considerations, and academic and career interests were the biggest concerns of these groups of participants. The outcomes of this study provided the human resources, curriculum development, and workforce plans for government agencies, policymakers, department heads, school leaders, and NGO leaders to reform their policy and regulation in order to absorb the advantages of these groups of future workforces.   Received: 29 November 2020 / Accepted: 25 January 2021 / Published: 5 March 2021

Distance Learning Programmes as Alternative Learning

2022 ◽  
pp. 49-69
Author(s):  
Luis Miguel Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
College And University ◽  
University Development ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Learning Behaviours ◽  
Students Satisfaction

This study aims to understand the satisfaction and experience of programme-seeking students in a community college in the United States. In order to improve the satisfaction, experience, and teaching and learning procedures of distance learning courses and programmes, it is important to understand the students' feedback and ideas. Based on the case study methodology, the researcher collected data from 1,857 inductive surveys and 11 focus group activities. This research allowed the researcher to gain knowledge and understanding about students' satisfaction, experience, and potential enrolment in degree programmes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, the results provide recommendations to school leaders, instructors, government leaders, and policymakers about current and future college and university development regarding changes in teaching and learning behaviours.

Insights into Teachers’ Experiences Implementing Garden-Based Learning: Characterizing the Relationship between the Teacher and the Curriculum

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Selmer ◽  
Melissa J. Luna ◽  
James A. Rye
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teacher Participation ◽  
Curriculum Materials ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Teachers Experiences

Background/Context This study seeks insights into teachers’ experiences implementing Garden-Based Learning (GBL) in an elementary school. The breadth of studies supporting the use of GBL in K–8 schools in the United States alongside the paucity of studies specific to teachers’ experiences implementing GBL highlights the importance of this work. Purpose Our study uses Remillard's framework for characterizing and studying teachers’ interactions with curriculum materials specifically in the context of GBL. We believe that exploring the dynamic relationship between teachers and a GBL curriculum may help those involved in supporting teachers in implementing GBL to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the teacher/GBL curriculum relationship. This research examined teachers’ GBL implementation experiences in order to answer the following research question: How do we describe and characterize teachers’ interactions with GBL curriculum materials? Research Design Twenty teachers employed from one elementary school were interviewed using a semistructured task-based protocol resulting in a teacher-created diagram of supports and challenges he/she encountered while implementing GBL over the past year. The diagram was used as a tool to stimulate and access teachers’ thinking about these supports and challenges in order to provide insight into the teacher and curricular resources at play when implementing GBL. Findings/Results Using a grounded theory analysis of each participant's diagram, we characterized each teacher's participatory relationship with GBL. We found 13% of supports and challenges elicited from all teachers had a teaching and learning focus. On an individual level, supports and challenges had a substantial teaching and learning focus for only two teachers. Thirteen teachers were characterized as having a pragmatic focus. Of the seven teachers characterized to have an experiential focus: supports and challenges focused more so on what students were doing for four teachers and more so on what teachers were doing for three teachers. Conclusions/Recommendations We used Remillard's framework to investigate and characterize the participatory relationship between teachers and the GBL curriculum. The resulting characterizations provide insight for supporting GBL teacher learning contexts and will help guide future research. Based on this study, it is critical that individuals involved in educational change continue trying to understand and develop spaces for teacher learning. These spaces should move beyond traditional professional development focused on teacher participation toward experiences focused on teacher learning within and across their teaching contexts.

scholarly journals INTERROGATING THE CONCEPT ‘OPENNESS’ IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING (ODL)

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosmas Maphosa ◽  
Sithulisiwe Bhebhe
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Entry Requirements ◽  
Open And Distance Learning

<p>Scholars in Open Distance Learning (ODL) often refer to distance education as ‘open’. The concept 'openness' on open and distance learning is very fluid and often misunderstood. It is the purpose of this desktop survey to review relevant literature and make interrogation of the concept 'openness'. We advance questions such as; How open is open and distance learning. In what aspects is ODL open and to what extent is the openness. We discuss openness concerning targeted potential students and entry requirements in ODL institutions, the openness of teaching, and learning approaches as well as openness concerning communication, the flexibility of curricula, and assessment. We conclude by answering whether or not ODL institutions are open as well as suggesting measures and ways of enhancing openness in ODL institutions.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0674/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

scholarly journals A STUDY REVIEW OF ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS' LEARNING MOTIVATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-15
Author(s):  
Ubabuddin
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Active Learning Strategies ◽  
Active Learning Strategy

Scope: Learning approaches that are considered effective and feasible to be applied in the current learning process are active learning strategies. By using an active learning strategy, students will be invited to always be involved and motivated to do their best in each learning process, so that students will become excited in participating in learning. Objective: This qualitative study presented the results of literature reviewed gathering from various theories, including national, international journals, books, internet and other literature to answer the problem formulation. Method: A serial of literature on active learning strategies that actively applied in most modern education were reviewed and presented to answer the research question. Findings: based on many experts in the fields of teaching and learning, the findings of this study were First, Active learning starts with questions, card short, the power of two, jigsaw, Index card match, picture and picture, cooperative script, problem based instruction, students team achievement devision, etc. Significance: The findings of this literature rewiewing has promoted students better thoughtful and understanding on material presented as participants engaging themselves with the lesson cores not simply just follow teacher's instruction. These findings are also so useful insight to keep student's concentration and improving learning achieving to the higher learning outcomes as demanded by instructional curriculum. Recomendation: Monotonous and teacher-focused learning is increasingly in demand and continues to be abandoned because it makes students bored and boring. With an effective approach it is hoped that learning objectives can be optimally achieved.

The Effect of Earning an Associate Degree on Community College Transfer Students’ Performance and Success at Four-Year Institutions

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Xueli Wang ◽  
Yating Chuang ◽  
Bo Mccready
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Transfer Students ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Associate Degree ◽  
Degree Attainment ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact

Background/Context As the cost of postsecondary education continues to rise, more students begin their postsecondary careers at a community college with the ultimate goal of upward transfer. However, there is limited evidence regarding how earning an associate degree prior to transfer shape transfer students’ eventual success at baccalaureate institutions. The existing literature on this topic either draws on data from single states or does not address self-selection. Purpose In this study, we seek to understand whether transfer students’ performance and attainment at 4-year institutions vary based on whether they achieved an associate degree prior to pursuing a baccalaureate degree. This study attempts to provide clearer evidence by using national data and robust quasi-experimental designs to investigate the effect of pretransfer associate degree attainment on posttransfer success. Research Design We drew upon data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) and its supplementary Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS:09) to answer our research question. To address self-selection, we employed two complementary quasi-experimental approaches in our study: propensity score matching (PSM) and instrumental variable (IV). The results were compared with baseline analyses using ordinary least squares (OLS) and probit regression. Findings In the baseline analyses that did not deal with potential selection, we found that, compared to their counterparts who did not earn an associate degree prior to transfer, transfer students who had an associate degree showed no statistically significant differences in bachelor's degree attainment, retention, or GPA, but earned significantly fewer credits at 4-year institutions. The results from the PSM are substantively similar to those from the baseline models. Using an IV approach, we found no impact of earning an associate degree on any of the aforementioned educational outcomes at 4-year institutions. Our study suggests that, based on a national dataset, students transferring upward to a 4-year institution from a community college are likely to have similar outcomes regardless of whether they earned an associate degree pretransfer. Conclusions The uncovered null effect may not mean that earning an associate degree has no impact within specific state contexts; instead, it may mean that the impact varies across contexts, but aggregates to be null. Given that earning an associate degree at least does not hurt later transfer success, community colleges may wish to encourage pretransfer credential attainment as a way to better capture their success with these students and illustrate their contribution to the growing national effort to increase degree completion.

scholarly journals Comparative Analysis of Pedagogical Strategies Across Disciplines in Open Distance Learning at UnisaODL at Unisa

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kemlall Ramdass ◽  
Fulufhelo James Masithulela
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
The University

<p class="Style2">Re-engineering technological strategies in teaching and learning in an open distance learning (ODL) environment is paramount as the demand for access to quality higher education escalates drastically on a year to year basis. The organisational framework requires change in order to accommodate the increasing number of students. In view of the changing higher education landscape and the increase in the number of students qualifying for higher education acceptance, open distance education has been opened to residential institutions. Despite the fact that demands is greater than supply in the higher education sector, the University of South Africa (Unisa), in reaction to the “competitive threat,” has embarked on the re-evaluation of ODL as a component of its teaching and learning methodology. Unisa focussed on its pedagogical approaches as a primary means of maintaining its competitive edge.  The challenges in the higher education sector are also attributed to the basic education sector that does not prepare students sufficiently for higher education. ODL, if applied appropriately, could be a strategy to address the issues of access, equality, and equity in a democratic South Africa. Pedagogical strategies that are functional and appropriate need to be applied in the higher education sector. Hence the research question is to determine what ODL strategies can be implemented to ensure that students are on par with traditional universities. Therefore, this paper explores the pedagogical strategies that colleges may use with the intent to improve delivery of teaching and learning in an ODL environment.</p>

Promoting Sustainable Collaborative Mobile Learning Approaches for Remote Work Practices

2021 ◽  
pp. 219-236
Author(s):  
Alaa Al Amoudi
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Teaching Models ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Global Pandemic

The main goal of this chapter is to learn more about the sustainability of collaborative mobile learning approaches. As for utilising the available resources on mobile devices for developing didactic programmes for pre-service teachers involved in remote or distance learning, the role of sustainable collaborative learning is also explored. Additionally, the chapter illustrates a new and effective pedagogical technique as a means to increase their usage and usage among instructional developers. A teaching model that can be utilised in a variety of environments is proposed, like in the current global pandemic in the form of remote work and distance learning. Such teaching models can therefore help to optimise online learning materials to help students follow the teaching and learning process in the absence of traditional classroom activities.

Exploring Strategies to Improve Oral Communication Engagement Online According to Higher Education Instructors

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Dawn DiPeri
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Online Public Speaking

This chapter addresses the following problem: the strategies higher education instructors need to strengthen the oral communication skills of online undergraduate students have not yet been identified. The exploratory design used semistructured interviews that queried the experiences of 10 undergraduate online higher education instructors tasked with teaching a course with an online public speaking assignment. The population in the study was geographically disbursed and worked remotely within the United States. The conceptual framework guided the study and focused on the general research problem and the ways in which management can improve practices related to teaching and learning. The theoretical construct that was most closely examined was andragogy. The research question asked: What are the strategies higher education instructors need to strengthen the oral communication skills of online undergraduate students? The results of the semistructured interviews uncovered five themes but this chapter examines the theme of student engagement.

Compassionate, Spiritual, and Creative Listening in Teaching and Learning

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 2763-2776
Author(s):  
Jim Garrison
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
The United States ◽  
Good Teaching ◽  
Sympathetic Response ◽  
Basic Ideas ◽  
Background Context ◽  
Objective Research

Background/Context Listening is largely overlooked in cultures constituted on the basis of the freedom of speech, such as we find in the United States and elsewhere. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The article explores compassionate listening as a creative spiritual activity. Such listening recognizes the suffering of others in ways that open up possibilities for healing and transformative communication. It is particularly important for a caring profession like teaching and critical for good teaching and learning relationships. Research Design Relying on philosophical reflection, the article mixes some of the basic ideas of Eastern thought revolving around the image of the Bodhisattvas as they who constantly ameliorate suffering. The article concentrates on the Bodhisattva “Perceiver of the World's Sounds.” Conclusions/Recommendation We can only relieve suffering if we attend carefully to the needs, desires, interests, and purposes of others and respond in terms of their best possibility in the situation. Such self-eclipsing allows caregivers to avoid the horrors of conditional love. Such listening lies beyond theory and ideology in the immediate, directly involving sympathetic response, but not pity. It is not the kind of sympathy that assumes that the pain in others has the same characteristics or source as our own.

scholarly journals International Curriculum and Conceptual Approaches to Doctoral Programs in Leadership Studies

10.28945/4254 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 325-350
Author(s):  
Petros G Malakyan
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Motivation For Learning

Aim/Purpose: This study explores the various teaching and learning approaches, curriculum design, and program requirements for 70 doctoral programs in leadership. Background: Early research indicates that few studies have addressed learner-centred and process-based approaches to leadership studies among doctoral programs in leadership worldwide. This study is the first complete review of programs in the interdisciplinary field of leadership. Methodology: A qualitative method approach through internet-mediated research was employed to identify explicit and implicit textual data on learning approaches of doctoral programs in leadership. The sample represents a list of 70 doctoral programs in leadership studies and organisational leadership (62 programs are in the United States and eight in Europe, Canada, Philippines, and South Africa). Contribution: This study provides an overview of doctoral program characteristics, delivery methods, coursework and research requirements, discipline-relevant teaching and learning approaches, and process-based approach to leadership. It may serve as a resource and a roadmap to assess teaching and learning approaches of doctoral programs in leadership for program reviews and improvement. Findings: The significant findings of this study are: (a) 91.4% of doctoral programs are coursework-driven, leaving little room for original research. (b) 46% of programs show lack of evidence to context-based approaches to learning (learning as a social activity served outside of classroom environment where learning tools and the context intersect with human interactions). (c) Various teaching and learning approaches, including those prescribed to constructivist, interactionist, situated, and action-based learning approaches. Recommendations for Practitioners: Leadership cannot be understood or learned without social interactions in context. In order to produce experts and “stewards of the field,” a clearer learner-centred strategy to doctoral education, including context-based experiences, should be considered. This pedagogical approach needs to be explicitly articulated (on the public website) to enable students to make an informed decision about doctoral programs in leadership. Recommendation for Researchers: In order to produce theoreticians and “stewards of the discipline” (Golde & Walker, 2006), doctoral curricula design and implementation should seek a balance between coursework, independent research, and creation of collaborative learning environment between students and faculty. Further, due to the shift from the leader-centred to the process-based understanding of leadership, doctoral programs in leadership should consider the relationship process between leaders and followers as one academic inquiry or continuum. Impact on Society: Doctoral programs in leadership that utilise more learner-centred and context-based approaches for knowledge acquisition (epistemologies) as well as studying the leadership phenomenon as a relationship process are more likely to become more impactful and sustainable in society. Future Research: More research seems necessary to identify the extent to which learner-centred approaches within doctoral programs in leadership positively impact on doctoral students’ motivation for learning, program completion, retention, and personal and professional development.

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