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Defining Learning Affordances Based on Past Research Uses (open access)

Defining Learning Affordances Based on Past Research Uses

The objective of this study was to locate and describe the learning affordances used within research studies on instructional design. Allowing an instructional designer to see what was used and how applicable it might be for future design would assist with better course creation. Current and past literature supported the importance of this concept after examination of how course creation has evolved within the field of instructional design. Further, the findings elucidated how to help the field evolve in the future by expanding knowledge about learning affordances and providing the broadest set of conceptual definitions by the academics working in the field to include them in their research and instructional designs.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Dolliver, Elizabeth Anne
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship of Teacher Attitudes to Levels of Integration in Technology-Rich Learning Environments (open access)

The Relationship of Teacher Attitudes to Levels of Integration in Technology-Rich Learning Environments

This mixed methods study examined teacher attitudes towards technology and their relationship to the integration of technology in technology-rich learning environments.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Steiner, Ron
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analyzing the Principal Perspective to Lead the Implementation of Learning Technologies in Public Schools: A Multi-Strategy Study (open access)

Analyzing the Principal Perspective to Lead the Implementation of Learning Technologies in Public Schools: A Multi-Strategy Study

As technologies for learning become increasingly available in K-12 schools, the role and responsibilities of campus principals continue to evolve. Incorporating technologies in schools requires shifts in practices, the development of new skills, and in some cases, changes in the mindset of stakeholders. Schools should be capable of absorbing the knowledge and creating the systemic structures required for the implementation ICTs. The purpose of this study was to research the principals' perspective to lead the implementation of ICTs for learning in public schools. As campus leaders, principals are increasingly required to support the utilization of ICTs for classroom instruction. It is of particular importance, therefore, to study and explore the needs school principals identify to lead the implementation of technologies for learning. More specifically, the goal was to gather relevant data to analyze topics that campus principals believe positively and negatively influence the implementation of ICTs in schools.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Orta, Nelson A
System: The UNT Digital Library
Putting the Pieces Together: Using Learning Analytics to Inform Learning Theory, Design, Activities, and Outcomes in Higher Education (open access)

Putting the Pieces Together: Using Learning Analytics to Inform Learning Theory, Design, Activities, and Outcomes in Higher Education

The goal of learning analytics is to optimize learning and the environments in which it occurs. Since 2011, when learning analytics was defined as a separate and distinct area of academic inquiry, the literature has identified a need for research that presents evidence of effective learning analytics, as well as, learning analytics research that is conducted in conjunction with learning theory. This study uses Efklides' metacognitive and affective model of self-regulated learning (MASRL) to define cognitive, metacognitive, and affective variables that can explain students' learning outcomes in hybrid/online sections of Calculus I in the 2020-21 academic year. Cognitive variables were measured according to the cognitive operational framework for analytics (COPA). Metacognitive variables were defined according to the ways in which students interacted with the course content in the learning management system (LMS) and supplemental instruction, and affective variables were measured by ways students gave evidence of their affective states, such as in discussion board posts. All variables were compared across the course learning design, activities, and outcomes. Binary logistic regression revealed five significant variables: two cognitive, one metacognitive, and two affective. Thus, this study provided a learning analytics, evidence-based link between self-regulated learning theory and learning design, activities, and outcomes. …
Date: December 2021
Creator: Goodman, Amy Graham
System: The UNT Digital Library
Examining the Barriers and Benefits of a PhD Nursing Program Using a Systems Construct Approach: A Case Study (open access)

Examining the Barriers and Benefits of a PhD Nursing Program Using a Systems Construct Approach: A Case Study

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study is to describe the formation of a graduate enrollment evaluation system (GEES) to capture and explore the perceptions of key stakeholders to critically examine the barriers and benefits of a PhD nursing program at a large, public designated high research institution. As the research suggest, there is a current need for increased enrollment for nurses into nursing doctorate programs to further meet the patient's expanding demand, to expand the science of the nursing profession, and to increase the pipeline of qualified nursing faculty. Without a pipeline of qualified nursing faculty, fewer new nurses can be trained for the nursing workforce that already experiences a critical deficiency in staffing.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Johnson, Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
Examining Usability, Navigation, and Multimedia Learning Principles in an Intentionally Designed Asynchronous Online College Course: A Usability Study (open access)

Examining Usability, Navigation, and Multimedia Learning Principles in an Intentionally Designed Asynchronous Online College Course: A Usability Study

This qualitative study examines an asynchronous online course from a private university utilizing a template model for all online courses to provide students with consistent navigation and course structure throughout their degree program. The asynchronous online courses are purposely created using three criteria of quality course design: navigation is intuitive, information is chunked, and instructions are written clearly. A two-part usability test was conducted with three internal and three external participants. The two-part usability test focused on course navigation and examined the signaling, segmenting, and coherence principles applied to course content page layouts. Transcripts from the usability tests and observational field notes were coded through an iterative process in Nvivo. Through emic and etic coding, seven main categories were identified: user experience, cognitive load, multimedia learning principles, page design and layout attributes, course navigational attributes, course attributes and information, and participant navigational behavior. The findings for first-day navigation, general navigational behaviors, and perceptions of design elements used to implement the signaling, segmenting, and coherence principle are discussed. Course design recommendations for creating a positive usability experience and suggestions for future research are provided.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Surrency, Monica J
System: The UNT Digital Library
Teaching through the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences and Perspectives of United States Lower Elementary Teachers (open access)

Teaching through the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences and Perspectives of United States Lower Elementary Teachers

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study is to identify and describe the perceptions and experiences of lower elementary public-school teachers in the United States teaching with educational technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a demographic survey and semi-structured interviews, teachers shared their experiences regarding the barriers they encountered teaching and learning with educational technologies in face-to-face, remote, and hybrid classrooms. The multi-phase coding process used emic and etic codes to analyze the data. This study identifies and describes the existing barriers teachers face with learning technologies in the classroom before COVID-19 and the new obstacles they have encountered due to the pandemic. The results of this study are discussed, and recommendations are provided to help researchers identify the essential supports educators need for future emergencies.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Kinard, Widad S.
System: The UNT Digital Library

Usability Testing for e-Portfolio Websites in an Academic Environment: A Qualitative Study

Many academic institutions are tasked with trying to improve the usability of their online educational support technologies such as ePortfolios, intelligent websites, and other interface technology to make them as efficient as possible to meet the requirements of their end users. This is particularly important for the academic institutions during times and situations when they may not have a live human presence available to respond to various inquiries from their end users about the technology. The challenges of an academic institution in making its ePortfolios viable can cost itself, its end users, as well as its other stakeholders, money, time, and confidence in the technology. This study is about usability testing for improving the user-interface for ePortfolios. This is a qualitative study using the think-aloud protocol (TAP) for data collection and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) for data analysis.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Reborn, Jaime
System: The UNT Digital Library