An Exploration of Student and Teacher Social Presence in Asynchronous Discussion in an Online Advanced Placement Course for Rural High School Students

This study used a social presence construct derived from the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework, with cohesive, affective, and interactive components, to explore online discussion in an Advanced Placement course for rural high school students. The COI is based on the underlying theoretical framework of social constructivism, where interaction is a key component of learning. The study focuses on the contributions of students and online teachers to social presence in online discussion, and explores student dropout through the lens of social presence. Teacher social presence behaviors tended to be cohesive in nature, while students' social presence behaviors were primarily affective and interactive in nature. The study found that compared to their peers who completed the course, many students who dropped the course were more likely to use sarcasm, complain, or disagree with other students. Each teacher demonstrated unique patterns of social presence behaviors. There were also distinct patterns of student dropout characteristics associated with high social presence and low social presence teachers.Doctor of Philosoph

Polypharmacy in older adults: The effective design of an online information resource

Polypharmacy--problems associated with a regimen of multiple drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter--is a major problem in the elderly (65+), and will become increasingly prevalent over the coming decades as the U.S. population ages. Polypharmacy is associated with increases in mortality, hospital ER admissions, auto injuries, falls, cognitive deterioration, adverse drug reactions, drug regimen non-compliance and nursing home admissions. While the patient has ultimate responsibility for taking medications as prescribed, there are many steps that physicians and pharmacists can take to increase drug compliance and decrease polypharmacy. This project designs and implements a Web site aimed primarily at an audience of older adult users that provides information of the topic of polypharmacy. The site also includes a subsection for healthcare professionals and a bibliographic database of polypharmacy research

Learner-centered social support: enhancing online distance education for underserved rural high school students in the United States

Over the past decade, federal programs in the United States have largely addressed the well-documented problem of differences in basic access to technology between rural schools and their suburban and urban counterparts. Consequently, rural schools are better able to prepare their students for post-secondary education and the workplace where digital literacy is essential. As technology access improves, online distance education (ODE) is seen as a solution to significant challenges faced by rural schools, including a lack of highly-qualified teachers and declining population. However, ODE has high attrition rates, partly because participants’ social needs are often neglected. Additionally, students' success depends on their abilities to engage in self-regulated learning, effective time management and self-reflection, skills that many high school students are still developing. This paper describes an experimental research study funded by the U.S. Department of Education, currently underway in rural high schools across the U.S. The research adds to a growing body of work that attempts to expand understanding of the digital divide. Increasingly, schools realise that this is no longer an issue of mere access to equipment; education technology projects should incorporate strategies that ensure the success of previously marginalised communities. Our intervention, based on the APA’s Learner- Centered Principles, involves training on-site facilitators to provide social support for students involved in ODE. Preliminary findings indicate that the intervention group has a significantly lower dropout rate

Supporting Online Learning for Advanced Placement Students in Small Rural Schools: Conceptual Foundations and Intervention Components of the Facilitator Preparation Program

This paper examines the need for interventions to support students who are taking advanced placement courses in small rural districts and describes the Facilitator Preparation Program (FPP) as a strategy to address this need. Issues in the delivery of Online Distance Education (ODE) in small rural schools are summarized and the conceptual foundations and service delivery considerations of the FPP are outlined. Future research needs are also considered

Using a journal availability study to improve access

Purpose: Identify journal collection access and use factors. Setting and Subjects: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Health Sciences Library patrons. Methodology: Survey forms and user interactions were monitored once a week for twelve weeks during the fall 1997 semester. The project was based on a 1989 New Mexico State University study and used Kantor's Branching Analysis to measure responses. Result: 80% of reported sought journal articles were found successfully. Along with journal usage data, the library obtained demographic and behavioral information. Discussion and Conclusions: Journals are the library's most used resource and, even as more electronic journals are offered, print journals continue to make up the majority of the collection. Several factors highlighted the need to study journal availability. User groups indicated that finding journals was problematic, and internal statistics showed people requesting interlibrary loans for owned items. The study looked at success rates, time, and ease of finding journals. A variety of reasons contributed to not finding journals. While overall user reports indicated relatively high success rate and satisfaction, there were problems to be addressed. As the library proceeds in redesigning both the physical space and electronic presence, the collected data have provided valuable direction