Distance education

The purpose of this research was to identify the impact of students’ choice of time
of day for class activity and their sleep quality on academic performance in
multidisciplinary distance education courses at a southeastern U.S. state college. The
research addressed the relationship of other individual student characteristics (i.e., age,
gender, race/ethnicity, educational background, or course workload) and external factors
(i.e., marital status, hours of employment, part-time or full-time status, or caretaker
responsibilities represented by the number of children and/or elderly that the student was
actively caring for in their home) to the students’ academic performance and to the
students’ choice of time of day for class activity and sleep quality. This study analyzed
distance education students’ Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) Global Sleep Quality Scores, their demographic and external factor survey responses, a test grade, and the time of day that the student submitted their test. This study targeted the distance education student population, as they are part of a rapidly growing sector within higher education, and they had previously not served as the primary subjects in research regarding sleep quality and external factor impacts on academic success. Analyses of 208 distance education students resulted in the following research findings: sleep quality was found to be related to academic success, with significant findings of, for example, poorer sleep quality correlating with a lower test grade (r = -0.15; p = .03), likewise the number of hours spent working was related to academic success, with a significant finding of more hours spent working correlating with a lower grade (r = 0.377; p = .008). In this study most other factors were found to have no significant relationship with a students’ grades (age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational background, or course workload, marital status, or caretaker responsibilities). These research findings may enlighten students of the potential impacts of taking distance education classes if they anticipate having to work extensively or if they have, or expect to have, poor sleep quality. Additionally, educational institutions and faculty can learn ways to design better distance education courses and provide improved guidance for students to encourage academic success.

The thesis describes the development of SoftBoard, a Web-based application sharing system. The main goal is to create a convenient tool for conducting virtual office hours for distance education over the Internet. It has been reported in the recent research papers that the current Internet is still not suitable for supporting collaborative tools such as audio/video conferencing and some advanced application sharing features as proclaimed by developers. However the Internet can be used to a lesser degree to fulfill needs of smaller application sharing systems which are not very network bandwidth intensive. SoftBoard is designed to be used over today's Internet, and can be easily invoked from a standard Web browser. It is developed in Java and is implemented using Java's Remote Method Invocation (RMI) for networking. A light pen can be used with SoftBoard to provide a convenient way for creating non-textual contents free hand. The thesis is part of the ongoing research work at Florida Atlantic University's Center for Innovative Distance Education Technologies (CIDET). Research work has been done to validate the present Internet for its capabilities to hold a true distance education program using various available collaborative tools.

In the past few years many US institutions of higher education have established virtual classrooms where learners pursue higher education via the Internet. The true challenge in Distance Education however remains; how do students perform real lab experiments--such as electronics over the Internet? To examine this challenge, a survey was conducted on over fifty Web-based educational environments, to assess the shortcomings of laboratory facilities currently available on the Internet. The survey revealed that contemporary labs touted to be virtual environments are merely software simulations. Hence the new idea of a facility that will realistically provide lab experiments over the Internet. With this aim, an innovative system is designed using object-oriented methodologies in Unified Modeling Language to include all aspects of software and hardware. Java/RMI is used as the system's development tool. An experiment to measure the "VI characteristics of a Resistor" is built using National Instruments' DAQ systems. The students can logon through the Internet, register, and perform experiments by sending various current values, and measure the corresponding voltages across a resistor. The results are submitted for grade and the teaching assistant can grade the student after observing the input and output values over the Internet.

Advanced system bus architectures such as the Micro Channel and the EISA bus support what is called bus-mastering that allows the I/O subsystems attached to the bus to arbitrate and take control of the bus to perform data transfers independent of the system processor. I/O subsystems that can control/master the system bus are called Bus-Masters. The IBM Subsystem Control Block (SCB) architecture defines interrupt-driven as well as peer-to-peer I/O protocols for performing data transfers to/from the bus-masters. In previous studies, the performance of the SCB protocols is evaluated in network server environments using simulation models. The main drawback of these studies is that the server system is modeled in considerable detail but the network and the clients are not considered. In this study, we developed models to simulate a complete network file server environment where a single file server based on the SCB architecture provides file service to a variable number of clients on a token-ring network. We then evaluate the performance of the SCB protocols using the results obtained from the simulations.

This thesis proposes the use of remote laboratory experiments in distance education. Remote labs combine both the convenience of distance education and the effectiveness of the traditional physical campus labs. Moreover, this research studies the different hardware and software technologies that would make remote lab experimentation feasible in terms of cost and quality. The focus in this thesis is how to use BS2 with Microsoft ASP and COM technologies to build a remote lab experiment with minimum hardware and software cost, while maintaining satisfactory on-line experiment quality. Remote labs is a creative innovation in the world of distance education. This thesis is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Alhalabi and Dr. Hamza.

This thesis proposes the use of remote laboratory experiments in distance education as a tool to add a reality factor to the distance learning process, thus combining the convenience of distance education with the effectiveness of the traditional physical campus, through its laboratories and technological resources. Moreover, this research studies the different aspects of distance education and remote labs and then provides a proposition to develop an effective remote laboratory setup. Furthermore, it introduces and discusses the different components of a general remote lab experiment and applies the proposed process to an actual remote lab experiment, namely 'The Characteristics of a Resistor'. Remote labs is an invention of creativity in the world of distance education. This thesis is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Alhalabi and Dr. Hamza.

The purpose of this study was to develop a predictive model for satisfaction of adult learners enrolled in a Web-based distance education course and intent to participate in other Web-based distance education courses. Implicit in this purpose was an examination of the relationships between and among the personal and experiential variables which are potential predictors. Personal variables examined include: age, gender, computer self-efficacy, academic self-concept, and academic status (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education student). Experiential variables examined include: years of computer use, frequency of computer use per week, computer training, Internet experience in a class, and participation in a workshop for a Web-based distance education course. The subjects (n = 235) of this study were adult learners who were currently taking a Web-based distance education course from five universities. The instrument used in this study consisted of four sections: Background Information, Attitude Toward Computers (Computer Self-Efficacy Scale), Reaction to Web-based Distance Education Courses, and Academic Self-Concept Scale. Predictive models for satisfaction (p < .001) and future participation (p = .003) of adult learners in Web-based distance education were developed based on the results of multiple regression analyses. Further analyses were performed to investigate relationships between and among predictor variables and criterion variables. Computer self-efficacy was the only predictor variable which was statistically significant in both predictive models. This study also demonstrated a positive relationship between adult learners' satisfaction with their Web-based distance education courses and their intent to participate in additional Web-based distance education courses.

The purpose of this study was to describe the influences that impact upon an individual faculty member as he or she makes the decision whether or not to participate in technology-based distance education. A two-site, qualitative case study design was used and the primary sources of data were interviews, document analysis, and researcher non-participant observations. The sample of 20 included ten higher education faculty members who currently are teaching courses using distance learning technology and ten who are not, five from each category at each of the two sites. Findings were grouped and addressed by seven areas of influence: trappings of the job, instructional quality, pioneering spirit, leadership, student needs and capabilities, supporting students, and competition and image. Within the seven areas, 21 specific influences were identified and described. Strong enhancers were an interest in emerging technology, desire to improve the current situation, changing student demographics, need for increased flexible access to educational opportunities, technology training and assistance for students, student to student support systems, distance-friendly student services, competition with other institutions, and collaboration. Detractors included extra workload, tenure and job security fear, love of the traditional classroom paradigm, lack of a reliable technology infrastructure, lack of administrative direction and support, and a negative image of distance education. Acting both as enhancers and detractors were student readiness, match of technology with learning sought, ability to create an interactive learning community, and ability of students as independent learners. The conclusion is drawn that faculty members at these two institutions are more likely to decide to use technology-based distance education if they hold four primary beliefs: (1) that it can produce a quality learning experience, (2) that it will better meet student needs, (3) that they personally are capable of developing and/or delivering it effectively, and (4) that it is to their advantage to develop and/or deliver it. These four beliefs are in their order of importance as voiced by the participants in this study. Recommendations are offered to administrators, in the form of specific actions to take to encourage participation by faculty members at their institution.

The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement and completion rates of students in traditional face-to face classrooms to that of students in the same courses, taught by the same instructors, via the Internet using WebCT as the learning management system. The possibility of a mediating effect of subject matter area, student age, race, gender and previous college experience was also examined. Subjects for the study were 796 students enrolled in general education courses that were offered in the traditional classroom setting and in the distance learning format. The three general education courses chosen were American History, English Composition and Mathematics for Liberal Arts. Approximately half of the students participated in each format; 50.5% were in distance learning courses and 49.5% were in the traditional face-to-face courses. Student achievement was determined by final course grade and tested using an independent two-sample t-test. Completion rates were calculated for both groups and the difference between groups was tested using a two-sample z-test. To study the impact of subject matter, age, race, gender and previous college experience on student achievement and completion rates in both methods of instruction, a series of two-way ANOVAs were conducted for each group and each variable. A post-hoc analysis using the Tukey HSD procedure was conducted on any variables that tested to have a statistically significant effect on the academic achievement or completion rate in either delivery method. The findings of this study indicate that there was no difference in student achievement as measured by final course grade between distance learning and traditional classroom delivery methods. The main effect for age, race, gender and previous college experience was statistically significant on student achievement. The interaction effect was statistically significant for subject matter and previous college experience on student achievement. There was a statistically significant difference between completion rates of students enrolled in traditional face-to-face courses compared to those in distance learning courses. The traditional courses have a higher completion rate than the distance learning courses. The variable with the greatest mediating effect on academic achievement and completion rates between delivery methods was subject matter area.

The purpose of this study was to examine some the differences between students in traditional face-to-face courses and those in distance learning courses. Differences in teaming strategies, motivation, and demographics were examined. The study used an online version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) to assess the motivation and learning strategies used by college students. The instrument was administered to 111 students at a 4-year, public university in the southeast region of the United States during the Spring of 2003. The subjects included 64 students enrolled in the traditional campus-based version of Applied Educational Technology and 47 students enrolled in the distance learning version of the same course. The study found significant differences in the demographic characteristics of both groups. Chi-square tests revealed that 6 of the 10 demographic variables (marital status, class level, ethnicity, household income, number of distance learning courses previously taken, and the number of hours per week spent studying for the course) demonstrated statistical significance. Independent samples t tests were used to explore differences in motivation and learning strategies in the two groups. Of the six motivation variables tested (intrinsic goal orientation, task value, control for learning beliefs, self-efficacy, and test anxiety), only two demonstrated statistical significance (p < .01). Distance learning students reported higher levels of intrinsic goal orientation and control for learning beliefs. The study found few differences in the learning strategies reported by the subjects. Of the nine learning strategies tested (rehearsal, help seeking, metacognitive self-regulation, organization, critical thinking, time and study environment, effort regulation, and peer learning), only one demonstrated statistical significance (p <; .01). Students participating in the traditional campus-based course reported higher levels of help seeking behavior than their distance learning peers. A model was developed to predict student choice of distance learning courses using demographic, learning strategies, and motivation variables. Using discriminant analysis, the model correctly classified 75.7% of the cross-validated cases. A second discriminant analysis, using only the variables found to be significant in the t tests and chi-square analysis was also conducted. This model correctly classified 79.3% of the cross-validated groups. As distance learning becomes more prevalent in higher education, it is important to examine the characteristics of students participating in distance education courses. The results of this study indicated that differences existed between the distance learning group and the traditional group. An understanding of those differences may lead to improved design and delivery of distance learning courses.