Peeping into the Learning World of Secondary Teacher Trainees: Can their Academic Success be Predicted?

The study investigated the styles of learning and thinking, study habits, achievement motivation of teacher trainees along with their attitude towards teaching and perception for B.Ed. course. It also explored the predictors that may determine the academic success of these pre-service teachers. The data were analyzed by employing product moment correlation, factor analysis and multiple regression. Findings showed that a total of 29.7% variance in marks in theory papers may be explained a total of 29.7% variance was explained by eight measures whereas five measures contributed towards the explanation of 29.5% variance in skills in teaching. But only three predictors emerged that accounted for 13.1% variance in their aggregate marks in B.Ed. The major predictor for overall academic success was participation of these trainees in dramatics in their colleges. Attitudinal variables were ineffectual in determining the overall academic success of pre-service teachers

Transformation of Rural Teachers Earning Graduate Degrees

This study tells the stories of four successful graduate students within a cohort of learners who were earning graduate degrees in technology for education and training by distance. The students were practicing teachers in the Dakota Interactive Academic Link (DIAL) consortium. Courses were offered by the University of South Dakota, using videoconferencing through the statewide Digital Distance Network (DDN) and WebCT asynchronous discussions. Mezirows 1991 theory of transformative learning suggests that adult learners may experience a transformational experience. Results showed that the four study participants experienced major changes in their way of thinking about learning and themselves. Conducting longitudinal studies in which adults are interviewed throughout their graduate school experience is recommended

Teaching Distance Education In Library Science: A Comparative Study Of Faculty Satisfaction, Teaching Effectiveness, And Support Services

The purpose of this study was to determine whether distance education technologies, institutional support services and/or faculty demographics have a relationship to the job satisfaction of faculty teaching in American Library Association (ALA) accredited master of library and information science programs (MLS) delivered through online distance education. A better understanding of faculty satisfaction in these areas will allow universities to more effectively select technologies and design/maintain support services that can contribute to faculty morale, teaching effectiveness, and program quality in distance education. The researcher studied faculty in MLS programs because the discipline of library science interconnects academe, information collection and dissemination, and technology assisted teaching and learning. The study was framed by the notion of measuring levels of faculty satisfaction with technology and other support services provided to enhance teaching. In this study, descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage) and inferential statistics (Pearson rho correlation, chi-square test) were used to examine ordinal and nominal variables in the data. The research was conducted using an electronic survey, which was distributed electronically to faculty teaching in ALA accredited master of library and information science programs in the contiguous 48 states of the United States. Findings of the study showed various significant faculty perspectives regarding support services for distance education teaching. The data indicated a statistically significant relationship between faculty support services and perceptions of satisfaction with online teaching. The findings further revealed a significant number of the faculty perceived insufficient technical training and support for faculty teaching online courses. Finally, the study found no statistical significance between several demographic characteristics (age, ethnicity, gender) and teaching employment status, perceptions of teaching effectiveness, and perception of support services. The study did reveal a strong significance between years of teaching distance education and quantity of distance education courses taught over the previous year

A Quantitative Assessment and Comparison of Conceptual Learning in Online and Classroom-Instructed Anatomy and Physiology

Online and virtual technologies have allowed higher education institutions to expand educational opportunities to a broader range of students. The number of students enrolling in online courses is rapidly accelerating, and therefore performance-based evidence of the effectiveness and equivalence of such courses to enhance student learning is necessary, especially in lab-based science courses – where research is currently lacking. This study compared conceptual learning of online and on-campus students in a two-semester anatomy and physiology course sequence. Two terms of students (N=397) completed standardized pre-test and post-test assessments designed to assess content knowledge and conceptual learning based on change scores before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics were calculated to provide information on the background and equivalency of the groups with respect to certain learner variables, and a multiple regression model was used to assess the influence of learner variables on the knowledge-based assessment outcomes. The analysis showed that GPA significantly predicted performance on the learning assessment for the online treatment group, and GPA and the number of employment hours significantly predicted performance on the learning assessment for the on-campus control group. An Analysis of Covariance was used to examine the effect of course modality on learning. Both online and on-campus participants significantly improved their performance on the post-test, and there were no significant differences in learning gains between the groups. The results of this study suggest, and support previous research regarding online learning, that both online and on-campus instructional modalities can achieve the same conceptual learning goals in anatomy and physiology. The results of this study can be used to inform the ways in which learning in online anatomy and physiology courses parallels that of its physical on-campus counterpart, and prompt further research in this area. One of the most salient consequences of the present findings is the potential implications for higher education institutions regarding research, support, and transfer of online courses in the natural sciences, and further exploration of the potentials of such courses to attract and retain students

Online Learning and the Process of Change: The Experiences of Faculty and Students at a Two-Year College

This phenomenological case study examined the process of change at a rural two-year college migrating from traditional face-to-face instruction to an online learning environment and its effect on faculty and students. Instructors and support staff were concerned about the move to online learning due to the diversity of the student body, including a large proportion of academically disadvantaged students. The institution, however, was pressured to make the change to online learning due to low enrollment and loss of state funding. Instructors were required to change to an online learning environment rapidly with little or no training or support provided by the institution. Interviews conducted with instructors, students, and tutors revealed the change process was necessary for institutional survival, despite their personal discomfort associated with the transition to online learning. As faculty progressed through the change and began receiving more institutional support and training, they developed pedagogical strategies to increase student learning outcomes in the online classroom. Additionally, due to the large proportion of academically disadvantaged students at the institution, faculty adopted support strategies to engage students and create a sense of community. Faculty and students appeared to transition successfully to online learning and teaching over the course of this study. Students, including those considered academically disadvantaged, were successful in online learning. Faculty attitudes regarding online learning changed and they grew to appreciate the opportunities it provided for students and the institution as a whole. Theoretical frameworks informing this study included theories related to institutional and individual change, effective online pedagogical practices, and community building.

A COMPARISON OF FIRST-SEMESTER ORGANIC CHEMISTRY STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES AND MASTERY OF CURVED-ARROW FORMALISM IN FACE-TO-FACE AND CYBER PEER-LED TEAM LEARNING

The cyber Peer-Led Team Learning (cPLTL) workshops are a synchronous online adaptation of the educational intervention PLTL, in which students, under the guidance of undergraduate peer facilitators, collaboratively solve problems in small groups. The purpose of this parallel convergent mixed methods study was to assess the impact of implementing cPLTL in an organic chemistry course on students’ workshop experiences, performance, and development of curved arrow formalism skills. Statistical analyses revealed comparable attendance rates, distribution of course grades, and achievement on American Chemical Society First-semester Organic Chemistry Exams. However, plotting workshop grades by AB, C, and DFW grade groupings revealed that PLTL students earned more successful grades than their cPLTL counterparts. Utilization of a new curved arrow formalism analytic framework for coding student interview artifacts revealed that cPLTL students were statistically less likely to successfully draw the product suggested by the curved arrows than their PLTL classmates. Both PLTL and cPLTL students exhibited a comparable incidence of relational to instrumental learning approaches. Similarly, both PLTL and cPLTL students were more likely to exhibit a common Scheme for Problem-Solving in Organic Chemistry (SPOC) than having dialogue that could be characterized by Toulmin’s Argumentation scheme. Lastly, implications for faculty are suggested, including: developing more explicit connections concept, mode, and reasoning components of understanding curved arrow formalism for organic chemistry students; optimizing graphical collaborative learning activities for online learners; and developing online students’ sense of community

UNDERSTANDING EDUCATORS’ EXPERIENCES DURING LONG-TERM SCHOOL CLOSURES

In the spring of 2020, many public places closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most public schools in the United States suddenly closed buildings as educators and students scrambled to adapt to distance education. This phenomenological, qualitative study holistically explores elementary educators’ experiences during the extended school closures. The 18current elementary educators who participated in individual interviews, served rural, elementary students. Individual interviews allowed participants to discuss and explain their experiences concerning methods, materials, time commitments, and communication with colleagues, parents, and students. They also discussed how they used feedback to alter their teaching. The interviews were conducted during the closures instead of after the closures, without the benefit of hindsight. They provided insight to challenges and hopes for future changes. The research is conducted within a P-20 context. Educators were required to be innovative as they gathered and created resources to meet the needs of their rural students. Educators demonstrated leadership in communicating needs and working together with parents, colleagues, and stakeholders to provide educational requirements of students. Educators were able to implement new technology and structure to their teaching. The educators were in a position that allowed them to understand the diverse situations and needs of their students as they worked in the challenging COVID-19 response. Some educators were able to shift their pedagogy to meet the dynamic situation, others were not. This study does not discuss the effectiveness of the response, it examines the experience during the response