Supporting Academic Integrity in a Fully-Online Degree Completion Program Through the Use of Synchronous Video Conferences

Since 2012, we have used synchronous, web-based video conferences in our fully-online degree completion program. Students are required to participate in four live video conferences with their professor and a small group of peers in all upper division online courses as a minimum requirement for passing the class. While these synchronous video conferences create some challenges in implementation, they address concerns about academic integrity in three important ways. First, they provide a structured space for faculty to be present with students in a face-to-face manner. Second, they provide important checks to avoid impersonation schemes which are a common concern with online coursework. Third, they assist students in keeping up on the course material, which may mitigate the temptation to cheat. As distance learning courses and online programs have exploded in number, the issue of academic integrity has taken center stage for program design. In this paper, we share a case of a program built to address academic integrity issues through the regular and highly structured use of small group video conferencing as a requirement for all courses. We describe the video conferencing protocol of our online program and suggest best practices for using video conferencing to address concerns about online coursework/programs. We examine this protocol from a theoretical perspective of the Social Shaping of Technology in order to highlight the importance of viewing video conferencing as a social and technical practice

Proctoring : reto para la enseñanza del siglo XXI

Este paper muestra los nuevos sistemas de evaluación y certificación de competencias, capacidades y conocimientos realizados sin la presencialidad del alumno en el centro educativo, utilizando las técnicas de Proctoring y monitoreo que aseguran la calidad de la evaluación a pesar de encontrarse estudiantes y examinadores en lugares diferentes

Strategies to Assist Distance Doctoral Students in Completing Their Dissertations

Completing doctoral dissertations is difficult work and may be harder for distance students physically separated from institutional and collegial supports. Inability to complete independent research contributes to doctoral student attrition. Factors impacting completion include institutional factors, student characteristics, and supervisory arrangements (Manathunga, 2005). This paper shares proactive strategies used by a Midwestern university in the United States to support distance doctoral students. Strategies and technology tools are described that (a) cultivate a shared culture of responsibility and commitment, (b) increase effective communication between researchers, and (c) grow departmental and institutional services and technologies for faculty and students. This paper suggests the use of a specific framework to help students develop a shared culture of responsibility. This framework encourages students to discuss their social network, as well as teaches students how to manage their split life by using a tool which evaluates a student’s readiness for the dissertation process and maps out where dissertation skills and knowledge are developed throughout the program. Strategies for effective communication include availability, effective feedback, trust, and humor. Services and technologies provided to build capacity include the use of online and library resources, campus-wide use of research software, writing and research services, and department supports and processes to promote student research. These mechanisms for accountability, mentoring, training, and trust increase the likelihood of success

Educational evaluation in times of Covid 19

Con el advenimiento de la pandemia suscitada por el COVID 19, muchas cosas cambiaron en el mundo y el sistema educativo no fue la excepción. Dentro de la educación se modificaron paradigmas, desde el sistema de enseñanza-aprendizaje hasta la evaluación educativa. Nadie en el mundo estaba preparado para que dé un momento a otro, se transformara de una educación presencial a una virtual en un 100%. Sin embargo, los profesores se vieron en la necesidad de encontrar soluciones para poder continuar con sus procesos, pero se dieron cuenta que el trabajo colaborativo entre los estudiantes, los padres y los docentes eran la clave para llegar al éxito en esta materia. En este ensayo llevado por la línea de investigación, educación y sociedad, pretende mostrar cómo se debieron modificar no solo los mecanismos de enseñanza sino también implementar nuevos procesos evaluativos que llevaran a la verificación de los aprendizajes planteados en los objetivos iniciales de los programas. El reto más grande fue la capacitación de los profesores y del estudiantado para afrontar estas nuevas tecnologías aplicadas al aprendizaje y a la evaluación. En este ensayo se hace un recorrido con el ánimo de mostrar cómo se puede cambiar un modelo establecido previamente y ajustarlo a una nueva realidad como fue el caso del confinamiento por Pandemia.With the advent of the Covid 19 pandemic, many things changed in the world and the educational system was no exception. Within education, paradigms were modified, from the teaching-learning system to educational evaluation. No one in the world was prepared for the fact that from one moment to another, education would be transformed from on-site classes to a 100% virtual one. However, teachers were faced with the need to find solutions to be able to continue with their processes, but they realized that collaborative work between students, parents and teachers was the key to success in this matter. In this essay carried out by the line of research, education, and society, it is intended to show how not only the teaching mechanisms had to be modified but also to implement new evaluation processes that would lead to the verification of the learning proposed in the initial objectives of the programs. The greatest challenge was the training of teachers and students to face these new technologies that were applied to learning and evaluation. In this essay, a journey is made with the purpose of showing how a previously established model can be changed and adjusted to a new reality, as was the case of the Pandemic confinement.Especializació

Differences in Engagement of Online Doctoral Students Based on Gender and Race

Student engagement is considered to be one of the most important indicators for success at all levels of education. Engagement in doctoral students is poorly understood, and the least researched area of engagement. As online programs become increasingly available, it is important to have insight into doctoral engagement and interventions which improve academic success while decreasing attrition. The purpose of the present study was to understand differences in engagement based on gender and race/ethnicity. Students in the dissertation phase of their doctoral candidacy in an online program based at a private, mid-Atlantic, Christian university were invited to participate anonymously. Self-reported responses to survey questions from the Online Student Engagement scale were analyzed using a Two-Way Analysis of Variance to measure differences in engagement scores based on participants’ gender and race/ethnicity. Significant differences were found in engagement scores based on gender. No differences in scores were detected based on race/ethnicity, and there was no significant interaction detected between the main factors. Results and implications are discussed, with suggestions made for future research

An exploration of graduate students’ perceived social presence and media richness of a synchronous videoconferencing learning environment

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Educational LeadershipRoyce Ann CollinsAlthough online course enrollments have increased over the past two decades (Berry, 2017), low retention rates persist (Muilenburg & Berge, 2005; Ng, 2019) due to students feeling isolated and a lack of social connection with their instructor and classmates (Baxter, 2012; Lowenthal, 2009; Pinsk et al., 2014). High dropout rates have been reported (Muilenburg & Berge, 2005; Ng, 2019; Shelton et al., 2017), with a lack of social presence being a barrier to students engaging in and completing online courses. In April 2020, approximately 43% of the world population was in lockdown due to COVID-19 (Marinoni et al., 2020). Lockdown and social distancing measures immediately affected higher education, which required instructors to switch from teaching face-to-face to an online hybrid style that incorporated synchronous videoconferencing into the course delivery (Skulmowski & Rey, 2020). The communication theories of social presence and media richness were applied to better understand the relationship between the communication medium (videoconferencing) and the interactions within the mediated environments (e.g., Zoom). Looking through the lens of social constructivism, this correlational cross-sectional study explored graduate students’ perceived social presence and media richness of a synchronous videoconferencing learning environment by investigating how strongly and in what direction social presence, social space, sociability, and media richness were related. The Pearson correlation analysis indicated a strong, positive correlation between Social Presence and Social Space (Positive Group Behavior); Social Presence and Sociability; Social Presence and Media Richness; Social Space (Positive Group Behavior) and Sociability; Social Space (Positive Group Behavior) and Media Richness; and Sociability and Media Richness. A moderate, negative correlation was indicated between Social Space (Negative Group Behavior) and Social Presence; Social Space (Negative Group Behavior) and Sociability; and Social Space (Negative Group Behavior) and Media Richness