Leadership theories have evolved since their inception and leadership development should also evolve in response to the changing needs of their organizations. There is a gap in the literature on the functionality of the various 360-feedback platforms that are mentioned in literature which makes it difficult to understand what reporting functionality is available in existing systems. The goal of this study was to examine participants' views of a newly developed Adaptive Learning 360-feedback (AL360) treatment platform for leadership development with a focus on self-directed learning for improved accountability. Participants were asked to share their learning development experience in the areas of person, process, and context with suggestions for improvement and how did this development compare to any other leadership development that they had experienced in the past. The AL360 platform was built by applying the research findings of scholars in the areas of leadership, 360-feedback leadership development and educational technologies. The treatment was applied in a business setting for all levels of leadership development. The case study identified creation of leadership of self-awareness and accountability for development without significant intervention of an executive coach. The research findings also list improvement opportunities, limitations, and future considerations.

A case study was used to survey 308 teacher trainees in western Kenya to investigate the extent to which pre-service teachers in two Kenyan teacher training colleges are prepared to integrate technology in teaching. . The study uses the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework to understand the knowledge needed by the pre-service teachers to integrate technology effectively. Data was gathered using the Survey of Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching and Technology and three open-ended questions. Data from the survey does not distinguish the TPACK variable among the respondents. The data suggests that the pre-service teachers rate themselves highly on the other six TPACK subscales of technological knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and technological content knowledge. Further, the data suggests that the respondents' personal use of technology, to a large extent, influences how they use technology in classrooms. Lastly, the data indicates that the survey instrument is inadequate in capturing all the TPACK subscales in this population as it shows weak internal consistency. These findings imply that faculty in these colleges need to be more intentional and deliberate in teaching the trainees how to integrate technology in lessons. Policymakers and college administrators may …

This study explores the phenomenon of computational thinking indicated by the use of Bloom's taxonomy's cognitive domain verbs in the Scratch community, the online, collaborative environment for the Scratch Visual Programming Language (VPL). A corpus of 660,984 words from three Scratch community sub-forums provide the data for this study. By semantically aligning cognitive domain verbs of Bloom's revised taxonomy to computational thinking (CT) dimensions, the occurrences of the verbs in Scratch community sub-forums are used to indicate instances of computational thinking. The methodology utilizes qualitative coding and analysis with R® and RStudio®. The findings show language attributes such as expressions of imagination, sharing of creative details, collaborative development ideas, teaching, modeling, innovating, solutions focused, and technical support to be indicative of computational thinking and CT dimensions. The computational thinking dimension referred to as computational perspectives occurs most frequently within Scratch community participant discourse. The environmental factors found to contribute to computational thinking and the CT dimensions are supporting tools, personalized learning, supportive organizational culture, social learning, and organizational support. Common among the three computational dimensions is the contributing environmental factor described as supportive organizational culture, with the computational perspectives dimension prevailing among the corpora. The characteristics of computational perspectives and …

This dissertation seeks to determine the differences between veteran and non-veteran students' mental effort and task difficulty within undergraduate online courses in Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) programs at three public Texas universities. The BAAS program is geared toward non-traditional students, which includes veterans. The courses are delivered in flexible formats, including online courses, face-to-face courses, and blended courses, which use a combination of online and face-to-face courses. After reviewing literature and utilizing both the cognitive theory of multimedia learning and the cognitive learning theory, a survey was conducted using undergraduate students enrolled in BAAS programs at three public Texas universities. The data was analyzed by conducting a factorial ANOVA and Pearson correlation to determine if there was a difference between veterans and non-veteran students' mental effort and task difficulty within online courses within the BAAS programs. The results indicated that that all three hypotheses failed to reject the null hypotheses that: (1) there is no difference in mental effort of students who had military service, versus those who did not have military service, (2) there is no difference in mental effort of students who had military service, versus those who did not have military service, and (3) …

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if WebVR enhances the knowledge retention regarding mechanical components of high-risk moving machinery, specifically elevators. There were 23 participants divided into a treatment group and comparison group. The treatment group used WebVR to take a virtual elevator machine room tour while the comparison group studied printed images of the same elevator machine room. These alternative activities were conducted prior to a field trip to a real elevator machine room. Gains in knowledge pre to post were measured and compared between the treatment and comparison groups. The research findings showed an overall gain in knowledge for the participants in the elevator bootcamp. More in depth analysis showed the treatment group exhibited significant gains for six of the ten knowledge areas while the comparison group exhibited significant gains in three of the ten targeted knowledge areas. The treatment group gained more knowledge on components higher than eye-level while the comparison group scored better on components that were below eye-level or on the floor. Both groups were seen actively engaged in the field trips. The treatment group members exposed to the virtual reality elevator machine room frequently referred to what they saw in the …

This study investigates the effectiveness of an inquiry-based learning curriculum for middle school students with learning and/or attentional disabilities (LD and/or ADHD). The main questions asked were: To what extent can an inquiry-based learning curriculum focused on digital responsibility impact: (1) well-being; (2) smartphone usage; and (3) smartphone awareness among adolescents with LD and/or ADHD? Fifty middle school participants with LD and/or ADHD were divided into two groups, an experimental group and a control group. Findings showed a significant increase both in positive affect and in awareness of personal smartphone usage for experimental, but not control, participants, suggesting that inquiry-based learning may be an effective approach for teaching digital responsibility to students with LD and/or ADHD. Other findings indicated that social connectivity is a high priority for today's adolescents. Additional insights and implications are discussed.

This dissertation uses a three-manuscript style, and the ultimate purpose was to support critical thinking teaching in K-12 education from a systematic view concerning the lack of critical thinking in the young generation. The three manuscripts included in this dissertation were entirely or partly adapted based on three published or submitted research papers. The first research paper is a literature review article with an introduction to a development framework of nine principles, which provided a new view to developing critical thinking in younger children based on conceptual understanding of critical thinking. The second research paper is a study I coauthored with J. Michael Spector, which calls for more attention to the development of human intelligence given the rapid development of artificial intelligence and proposed that developing inquiry and critical thinking is a key to develop human intelligence. The third research paper reports an investigation over middle school educators' conceptualization of critical thinking and its alignment with the established theory and research. The major purpose was to connect the established theory and research with educational practices regarding what critical thinking constitutes. The significance of this study is to reveal the issues behind the abstract understanding of critical thinking and address the …

MakerBuses are travelling makerspaces that deliver hands-on tools and resources to community-wide locations to foster 21st century learning and development. Often found in K-12 schools, MakerBuses provide accessible and tangible learning opportunities for all learners, even in the most underserved communities. This single, typical case study provided a foundational look at how one MakerBus started as a simple idea and evolved into a learning experience used throughout the community it serves. Through discovery it was evident that accessibility, community outreach, tool distribution, and active learning were the critical elements that made this makerbus a unique tool for education.

This study investigates the effects of sketchnoting, a visualized approach of notetaking, on learning strategies. The main questions asked were: What are the effects of sketchnoting on learners' learning strategies, including cognitive strategies (rehearsal, elaboration, organizational) and metacognitive strategies? Forty-eight undergraduate participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group, and a control group. Findings demonstrated a significant increase in cognitive learning strategies and metacognitive strategies in the experimental group. Other findings revealed that the aesthetic appeal of sketchnoting is the major reason motivating participants' sketchnoting behavior and the corresponding connection between design strategies and the learning strategies is the key of positive impacts of sketchnoting on learning strategies. Additional insights and implications are discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped off decades of educational gains in the developing world and added 24 million more children to 775 million illiterates in the world. To counteract such a huge predicament, human learning agility comes into action. This human characteristic of knowing what to do when one does not know what to do, invokes the Soft System Methodology (SSM) approach to analyze illiteracy as the worst of all pandemics since it infiltrates into generations. After evaluating different effective teaching methods and utilizing the SSM approach, this paper proposes suitable pedagogies to educate deprived students. It examines Massive Online Open Courseware (MOOC) as a viable solution for K-12 students and compares it with a more robust educational technology model of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). Using artificial intelligence, the ITS tailors the instructional content framework and teaching strategies after evaluating students' pre-existing knowledge, learning habits, & styles. The ITS engages the student with the lesson with a two-way dialog while providing customized instruction and immediate feedback. An ITS requires no human intervention and could be a suitable replacement for an inadequately qualified teacher or no teacher. Hence it could be a practical tool in tackling the global literacy catastrophe. A comprehensive …

The technology acceptance model (TAM) was used in this study to evaluate the faculty's perceptions of online learning. This study adopted a deductive approach that involved a move from theory formulation to data gathering. This study utilized a descriptive, correlational design to describe the study variables, which included the participants'' perceptions and attitudes. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of technology have statistically significant correlations with technology competence levels of technical college faculty members, influencing their behavioral intentions to use online learning. Specific strategies that bolster perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of technology in learning should be prioritized. These strategies include improving technological infrastructure, offering technology competency training, instituting facilitative technology use policies, and improving teacher-student motivation to use technology in learning.

This study aimed to observe measurement invariance between community college students and university students in response to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey instrument. Most studies of the CoI survey instruments have recorded and validated the instruments considering undergraduate or graduate students. This study sought to validate and prove the survey tool as a reliable instrument for the community college population. The study employed SEM and meta-analytic procedures to observe measurement invariance between a Monte Carlo generated general university sample population and the community college survey population. The findings are discussed, as well as the implications for CoI studies in the community college.

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.

As social media evolves, educators and other professionals have taken advantage of it as a teaching resource. This research focused on exploring the role of Instagram as a learning technology on health and fitness. In this research, there are references to literature that document the impact of social media on health and fitness. This study also highlights several features found on Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, and other similar platforms to deliver learning content in real time. Several articles in this dissertation mentioned how social media content can influence the audience and their thoughts on health and fitness. Social media presents the opportunity to access information, impart knowledge as well as other forms of interaction.

Education and academic related services have become as important as manufacturing and, in some cases, even more important. Considering the importance of these services as it relates to manufacturing, a problem exists. Products such as education and academic services are far less specific in value when comparing with manufactured goods, even though their quality depends on resources which can be measured, such as funding. At the same time, we must be able to quantify them and compare their values with predetermined expected levels for each area of expertise, as well as with each other. The quality of the services provided, specifically academic services, is an intangible concept that can be assessed through various methods. This research study applies the Academic Services Experience Survey, a modified version of SERVQUAL, to solve a complex and multifaceted problem of assessing and improving the quality of academic services in higher education institutions.

This study employed Kirkpatrick's training evaluation model to better examine the reactions and learning experiences of a group of pharmaceutical industry sales professionals who participated in pandemic-related virtual compliance training in spring 2020. The field of learning technologies has few examples and limited knowledge regarding the evaluation of virtual training in the context of pandemic-related compliance training in the biopharmaceutical sector. This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from industry participants, allowing an examination of their experiences relative to the first three stages of Kirkpatrick's training evaluation framework, namely the reactions of the trainees, the knowledge transferred to the trainees, and the performance as it relates to the trainees' changed behaviors because of their participation in virtually delivered training.

Libraries can have a significant impact on today's students and the schools of today and tomorrow. The way students learn is changing as technology changes: rapidly. The knowledge and skills that today's librarians carry can influence the students immensely, including their use of technology. However, with many districts suffering budget cuts, one of the first positions to cut is the certified librarian, replaced by a library paraprofessional. These budget cuts will impact what the libraries can offer students. It is vital that districts support their library program and the person in charge, whether a paraprofessional or certified librarian, to positively impact the students for their future. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of library programs within a technology-rich school district that utilizes paraprofessionals supported by a certified librarian.

The purpose of this study was to identify the status and challenges of online distance education programs in post-secondary institutions in Ghana. This study was a replication of a similar study conducted in Kenya in 2009, at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. This present study was conducted with an online survey using Google survey assessment. The survey requested responses from six post-secondary institutions in Ghana. Out of a total of 450 projected student responses, 309 responses were received with a 69% participation rate. A total of 14 responses were received for instructors out of a projected 30 resulting in 47% participation rate. And for administrators, 8 responses were received out of a projected 12 resulting in a 67% participation rate. Overall the study revealed that Ghana post-secondary institutions have established and incorporated online distance education into their programs, offering both online and blended courses. Some of these institutions established regional centers across the country and incorporated foreign instructors into their programs. The survey also revealed that students were satisfied with the overall online distance education program in their institutions which included the level of instruction, feedback and evaluation. However, there were still challenges revealed from the study that …

This empirical exploratory study quantitatively analyzed content similarity indices (potential plagiarism) from a corpus consisting of 360 dissertations and 360 published articles. The population was defined using the filtering search criteria human resource development, training and development, organizational development, career development, or HRD. This study described in detail the process of collecting content similarity analysis (CSA) metadata using Turnitin software (www.turnitin.com). This researcher conducted robust descriptive statistics, a Wilcoxon signed-rank statistic between the similarity indices before and after false positives were excluded, and a multinomial logistic regression analysis to predict levels of plagiarism for the dissertations and the published articles. The corpus of dissertations had an adjusted rate of document similarity (potential plagiarism) of M = 9%, (SD = 6%) with 88.1% of the dissertations in the low level of plagiarism, 9.7% in the high and 2.2% in the excessive group. The corpus of published articles had an adjusted rate of document similarity (potential plagiarism) of M = 11%, (SD = 10%) with 79.2% of the published articles in the low level of plagiarism, 12.8% in the high and 8.1% in the excessive group. Most of the difference between the dissertations and published articles were attributed to plagiarism-of-self issues which …

This phenomenological study explored and described the lived experiences of high school biology teachers from a school district in one of the states in the USA concerning the use of online platforms in online biology teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study interviewed teachers to evaluate the teacher experiences, challenges, and opportunities that online platforms presented in biology instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also analyzed students' perspectives based on the teachers' responses and district data obtained from the student engagement survey administered to all high school students at the school district every year. The findings of the study indicate that students experienced issues such as lack of engagement, unsuitable home environment to support learning, and poor attendance due to minimal monitoring when learning shifted to fully online. Teacher-related factors included inadequate preparedness to use technology to enhance teaching, limited content delivery, and increased teacher collaboration. In conclusion, the study recommends that school districts sufficiently prepare teachers to improve adaptability to different teaching and learning models, emphasizing the use of diverse educational technologies. Future studies should conduct quantitative or mixed studies to establish the extent and degree to which such factors as poor learner engagement contributed to …

The current study was conducted with foreign language students enrolled in the summer course at Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS), an intense foreign language program. The study measured and analyzed students' preferences toward mobile applications for learning a foreign language. Survey questionnaires were used to collect data on students' preferences of mobile delivery modes for learning a foreign language. The research design deployed was single-case design at two points-in-time, called repeated measures design in the t-test statistics, where effects-over-time of treatment (i.e., using a technological device) were tracked. The effects-over-time of using a mobile device for learning foreign language skills were significant and the magnitude of differences in students' attitudes between Weeks 2 and 8 was also significant. Students must have felt that their performance had changed at Week 8 and that using a smartphone could have been the difference. The structure and the research methodology of having null hypotheses that are tested statistically are both clear enough to provide a template for a replication of the study with a different sample. The statistical tests used by this study can be replicated with different research problems or a different audience.

Companies are becoming increasingly dependent on teams to drive creativity and innovation, which usually involves multiple teams working together to solve complex problems However, the first problem is that work teams do not always manage creativity and innovation well, especially when partnering with other work teams on highly complex projects that demand greater interdependence and collaboration, which can constitute as much as 90% of today's organizational projects. The second problem is that researchers struggle to define and measure creativity and innovation for the past decade resulting in significant variation both within and between creativity and innovation scales that have restricted meaningful theoretical discoveries and advances. The current study is significant because it introduces a novel instrument derived by John Turner that measures team creativity and innovation processes as a single unit, thereby raising the level of theoretical sophistication and leading to better practical applications. After conducting factor analysis, the current study validates six factors, including 36 indicators, and measures team creativity and innovation processes as complex adaptive systems (CAS). The current study recommends deploying the new instrument in other sectors beyond the IT sector and using multilevel techniques that include the individual and executive/organization levels of analysis.

This study examined if using mobile technology-based activities would increase student performance in biological science courses. The study compared two groups of students in lectures and labs. Each group had about 20 students. The mobile group had mobile technology-based activities and the non-mobile group received conventional instruction. The mobile group used links to the website, or a QR Code to access the activities. The non-mobile group had handouts and worksheets over the same content. The research methodology for this study was mixed method. The study was a quasi-experimental design that used instruction method as the independent variable between two groups. The study used formative and summative assessment to compare the performance of the mobile group and non-mobile group in lecture and lab. The student in the mobile group had statistically significantly higher lab exam scores than students in the non-mobile group. Additionally, Students were surveyed about their performance expectancy and effort expectancy using mobile technology for learning, and they were asked about their self-management of learning. Analysis indicated that both groups had similar performance and effort expectancy using mobile technology for learning, but the two groups differed on self-management of learning responses to the survey. Focus groups from the mobile …

Organizations rely on their training departments to deliver adequate training for effective use of knowledge on the job to new and tenured employees. The transfer of learned knowledge and skills yields many positive outcomes for the employees, the trainers, and the organization as a whole. Such outcomes include improved productivity and efficiency, increased morale, work enjoyment, improved customer service, and improved shareholder satisfaction. In order to achieve these outcomes, training departments must employ skilled training personnel knowledgeable about curriculum design and creative with training delivery and learning environments. These requirements implementation will depends heavily on the experience level of training professionals. Training professionals need to understand their own learning styles and how to appropriately utilize strategies to target the various learning styles that exist in the classroom. Instructors must constantly monitor the learning environment and be able to make immediate changes to meet the needs of the participants when necessary. Participants themselves play an integral role in the effective transfer of learning from the classroom to the job. Learners’ backgrounds, life experiences, and motivation to learn are important considerations for designing a positive learning experience. When training programs cater to learners’ preferred learning styles with an appropriate learning environment in …