Katrina Meyer

• University of Memphis

This paper focuses on an assessment of an online certification program in K–12 library media which has a near-perfect record of retaining students. Students and graduates of the program were asked to identify reasons for enrolling (and staying enrolled) in the program as well as functions that faculty performed well. These reasons were drawn upon t...

This article presents the results of a national study of 39 higher education institutions that collected information about their evaluation procedures and outcome measures for faculty development for online teaching conducted during 2011-2012. The survey results found that over 90% of institutions used measures of the faculty person’s assessment of...

This article presents the results of a national study of 39 higher education institutions that collected information about their practices for faculty development for online teaching and particularly the content and training activities used during 2011-2012. An instrument of 26 items was developed based on a review of literature on faculty developm...

This article presents the results of a national study of 39 higher education institutions that collected information about their practices for faculty development for online teaching and particularly the content and training activities used during 2011-2012. This study found that the most frequently offered training content (97% of the institutions...

This article presents the results of a national study of 39 higher education institutions that collected information about their cost measures used to evaluate faculty development for online teaching as well as decisions they would make to expand, keep, scale back, or eliminate various faculty development activities and contents in a budget-cutting...

Eleven experienced community college faculty members were interviewed to elicit examples of how they improved student learning productivity in their online courses. The 11 faculty members represented eight different states, nine different fields or disciplines, and all were permanent or full-time faculty members at community colleges in the souther...

This article presents the results of an extensive review of the published literature on faculty development for online teaching. This review included 68 articles and five books, which were reviewed to identify elements of the training and the findings (e.g., theoretical bases, training aims and organization, content of training, nature of sample (n...

This study asked graduate students enrolled in higher education programs at two institutions to ascertain whether and to what extent they experienced nine flow-related conditions in two settings: online courses or surfing or gaming online. In both settings, flow was experienced “sometimes,” although no significant difference in mean frequency was f...

For this study we used institutional web sites to examine the mission statements of 80 higher education institutions for messages about diversity. Of the 80 institutions, 59 (75%) referenced diversity in their mission statements; but only 19% defined diversity in racial or ethnic terms. In addition to mission statements, 52 (or 65%) of the 80 insti...

This study investigated how well institutions were communicating their commitment to diversity within position announcements for presidential openings and whether or not this communication reflected best practices in forwarding the diversity agenda for institutions. The sample included 70 institutions that advertised for a new campus president in T...

As co-editors of this special issue on faculty development for online teaching, we would like to make a few points before readers engage in the articles included in the issue. First, we intended the special issue to include research on faculty development programs, especially research that was based on an appropriate theory. These studies seem espe...

Ten faculty members with experience teaching online were interviewed about their motivation for teaching online and the effect of teaching online on their teaching and research productivity. They represented nine different states and 13 different fields, and all were tenured or tenure-track at master’s or doctoral institutions. All ten mentioned pe...

The graduate students admitted to the online and blended programs in higher education at Texas Tech University and the University of Memphis were surveyed about their respective university websites, or the institution’s “virtual face.” A total of 42 students rated 30 web-based services as “must have,” “nice to have,” “delighted to have (but not n...

This study investigated how higher education institutions support their distance learning initiatives through their institutional websites - their "virtual face." The population was 40 institutions, of which 10 each were doctoral/research, master, baccalaureate, and community college, located in 40 different states. Using a researcher-developed ins...

This chapter reviews the research on the CoI framework and student retention and relates the CoI framework to existing retention theories developed for the pre-Internet world and for online learning. The ability of the CoI framework to improve student retention is discussed as well as the relative impact the framework may have on retention, given o...

In recent years, change has become a common catch phrase. The mantra of change ushered in America's first African American president and reawakened within Americans a call to social and civic awareness as well as engagement not seen since the 1960s and 1970s. Key constituents to the change movement were college students whose experiences in higher...

Ten experienced online faculty were interviewed to elicit examples of how they improved student learning productivity in their online courses. The ten faculty represented nine different states, 13 different fields or disciplines, and all were tenured or tenure-track at master's or doctoral level higher education institutions. Based on a thematic an...

Faculty and staff are participating in blogs and online discussions in greater numbers, but this involvement is poorly understood. This study used content analysis to evaluate 40 online discussions hosted on The Chronicle of Higher Education website. The majority (n=22) of discussions had as their main topics the personal and professional lives of...

This study investigates how graduate students experience their university websites, or the institutional “virtual face.” The sample included graduate students admitted to online and blended higher education programs at Texas Tech University and the University of Memphis. A total of 42 students provided open-ended answers to questions about informat...

Adult, professional students in a doctoral-level course used Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, and online discussions to develop answers to six “Big Questions” related to higher education finance and also produced a research paper that used original data or the research literature to improve understanding of a specific topic. At the close of the...

Given the explosive growth of online communications, new forms of discourse are an intriguing topic of study. This research focused on ten online discussions hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education, using content and discourse analysis of the postings to answer several questions. What is the “conversational scaffolding” used by posters in highe...

If higher education is a right, and distance education is the avenue for making higher education universally available, then who shall pay? This article asks (1) can state governments in the United States afford to fund this initiative and (2) can public higher education institutions in the U.S. fund this effort through capitalizing on cost-efficie...

This study used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate a hybrid teaching format that incorporated an online tutoring system, ALEKS, to address students' learning needs in a graduate-level introductory statistics course. Student performance in the hybrid course with ALEKS was found to be no different from that in a course taught in a traditional face-...

This research investigated the availability of 15 data and/or services of interest to minority students through an analysis of the websites of 40 higher education institutions; 10 each from doctoral/research, master’s, baccalaureate, and community colleges drawn from 40 different states. This descriptive study answered 3 research questions: (a) How...

The Western Governors University underwent a change in mission during its early years.

This chapter provides new definitions or descriptors for different types of virtual universities that have been proposed by several authors.

Many research questions about virtual universities need answers.

This paper focuses on an assessment of an online certification program in K-12 library media which has a near-perfect record of retaining students. Students and graduates of the program were asked to identify reasons for enrolling (and staying enrolled) in the program as well as functions that faculty performed well. These reasons were drawn upon t...

Based on earlier studies using the 1999 and 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) data [1, 2], a causal model explaining faculty technology use was constructed. Path analysis was used to test the causal effects of age, gender, highest degree, discipline (health science or not), recent research productivity, and teaching load on facul...

This research investigated the current copyright policies of 21 education journals published by academic societies, universities and university presses, and commercial publishers. For the sample I chose only journals with a copyright policy on the journal or publisher web site, and I then analyzed the content of the policies in order to answer thre...

The project described in this article was an attempt to uncover the principles of financial sustainability for online programs and to align these with a guide to managing online programs. An initial team of experienced online educators developed draft principles, which were then reviewed by an external consultant and revised; the revised principles...

This research investigated the availability of information on higher education institutions through the web sites of 40 higher education institutions; 10 each from Doctoral/Research, Master’s, Baccalaureate, and Community Colleges drawn from 40 different states. This descriptive study answered two research questions: (1) How accessible is informati...

This study investigated the performance of graduate students enrolled in introductory statistics courses. The course in Fall 2005 was delivered in a traditional face-to-face manner and the same course in Fall 2006 was blended by using an online commercial tutoring system (ALEKS) and making attendance of several face-to-face classes optional. There...

This research attempted to test whether the granting of points for receiving the most votes as the "best post" would affect the quality of subsequent postings to online discussions. Five online discussions were held in a small graduate-level course in leadership theory, and postings were coded into Bloom's taxonomy. Quality was defined as the perce...

This research investigated the use of home pages by 40 higher education institutions, of which ten each were Doctoral/Research, Master’s, Baccalaureate, and Community Colleges. The institutions were also grouped by region and were drawn from 40 different states. Using an instrument based on criteria for evaluating web sites (Gurak 2001), the descri...

What is the capacity of online programs? Can these types of programs enroll more students than their face-to-face counterparts or not? This article looks at research on achieving cost-efficiencies through online learning, identifies the parts of an online program that can be changed to increase enrollments, and discusses whether a program's capacit...

Teaching Strategies in the Online Environment is directed toward individuals in adult education who are interested in teaching online. The chapters provide an overview of several useful issues, including the process by which courses are designed as well as specific online teaching strategies suited to the adult learner. For the newcomer to online l...

This study examines factors related to technology use in teaching by university faculty. An EFA analysis of multiple questions of technology use in the classroom found two factors: one loaded with Web use and the second with email use. Therefore, three research questions were asked: What factors explain faculty use of the Web or email? Are these fa...

This study answered questions about which faculty come to use technology in their teaching and used a novel statistical analysis to develop a model that captures the primary factors influencing faculty technology use. It used a sample of 16,914 faculty within the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to explore explanations for faculty techn...

Feedback theory proposes that feedback influences the behavior of a system and its parts and that is governed by rules. This exploratory study attempts to test this theory in a graduate-level class on leadership theory. Twelve students were asked to participate in five online discussions, each lasting one week. The questions for each discussion wer...

Thirteen students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: Diversity, Academic Freedom, Political Tolerance, Affirmative Action, and Gender. Students read materials on each topic and generated questions for discussion that were categor...

Ten students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: diversity, academic freedom, political tolerance, affirmative action, and gender. Upon completion of each discussion, they assessed their comfort, honesty, concern for others’ feeli...

In addressing how to evaluate online discussions, this paper will describe several concepts, tools, or frameworks that have been used in evaluations and discuss differences in approach based on instructor purpose, be it research, assessment, or learning. Then several common problems are described, including use of content analysis, identification o...

This chapter develops the rationale for several best practices in the assessment of online discussions. It provides instructors with an introduction to the differences between face-to-face and online discussions, how to evaluate online discussions, how to perform these assessments, and how to use assessment information to improve future online disc...

Interviews conducted with individuals involved in the early development and current operation of the Western Governors University allowed identification of 12 themes concerning early, formative decisions and decision-making processes. These themes were subsequently grouped into 5 categories: (1) politics, (2) organizational models, (3) changing mis...

This article explores some of the common metaphors used to illuminate the Web and its application to distance education. Using the work of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as a foundation for understanding and categorizing metaphors, the advantages and dis- advantages for our future of such metaphors as the ''Web,'' ''Information Highway,'' ''virtual,'' '...

This article proposes a framework that can help institutions break down and analyze the costs of online learning so they can make decisions about how to improve the cost-efficiencies of online education. The framework involves looking at costs across elements (which include the two stages of development and delivery plus administration of the enter...

This study looks at online discussions within the context of a group endeavor and attempts to evaluate three assertions: 1) students in an online discussion proceed through higher levels of thinking; 2) Online conversations follow an "ebb and flow" pattern; 3) The level of the first posting to the discussion influences the level of subsequent posti...

Is it possible that recent research into the brain can open the “black box” of student thinking? This review of recent findings from brain researchers can help online educators design better learning experiences for students.

This study uses four different "frames" to analyze 17 online discussions that occurred in two doctorallevel classes in educational leadership. Two of the frames were developmental models: King and Kitchener's Reflective Judgment Model and Perry's model of intellectual and ethical development. Two of the frames captured levels of thinking: Garrison'...

Administrators of distance learning are faced with the challenge of encouraging reluctant faculty to consider online teaching. Is it possible that supporting faculty to conduct modest research studies is such an avenue? Currently, many research studies compare student grades or scores from an online course to a more traditional one, ignoring confou...

This study compares the experiences of students in face-to-face (in class) discussions with threaded discussions and also evaluates the threaded discussions for evidence of higher-order thinking. Students were enrolled in graduate-level classes that used both modes (face-to-face and online) for course-related discussions; their end-of-course evalua...

The study focuses on the impact of various policies (e.g., faculty compensation, workload, intellectual property, geographic service areas) on distance education enrollment growth. Five cases were developed based on data submitted in response to a survey sent to institutions that are members of the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunicat...

Whole issue. Incl. bibl., index.

This report reviews the literature and discusses issues concerning college faculty workload and productivity. Section 1 reviews the situation in the United States, noting increased interest in faculty workload issues as a result of population pressures, faltering economies, and the rising costs of higher education, especially of personnel. Section...

A review of major grantsmanship and research proposal guides identified common themes for the preparation and writing of the literature review: completeness, currentness, discussion of results and methodology, critical nature, organization, and uniqueness. It is suggested that much of the advice given is anecdotal and should be tested for efficacy....

Examines the effects of the following variables on the adolescent achievement and postgraduation plans of 4,587 Washington high school students: (1) mother's socioeconomic index; (2) father's socioeconomic index; (3) family socioeconomic status; (4) mother's education; (5) father's education; (6) number of siblings; and (7) Grade Point Average. (BJ...

A survey of 4,317 secondary school students in Washington State produced findings that differential labor market opportunities for adolescent students exist for groups with different characteristics. Specific findings include the fact that adolescent females experience the same wage gap as their older counterparts. (CH)

Survey data from 4587 Washington State high school students were used to investigate relationships among students' employment status and family structure, socioeconomic position, and adolescent academic success. Employed students were more likely to have higher GPAs, be from higher socioeconomic families, or have a mother or father employed in a hi...

This study compares the experiences of students in face-to-face (in class) discussions with threaded discussions and also evaluates the threaded discussions for evidence of higher-order thinking. Students were enrolled in graduate-level classes that used both modes (face-to-face and online) for course-related discussions; their end-of-course evalua...

This study uses four different "frames" to analyze 17 online discussions that occurred in two doctoral-level classes in educational leadership. Two of the frames were developmental models: King and Kitchener's Reflective Judgment Model and Perry's model of intellectual and ethical development. Two of the frames captured levels of thinking: Garrison...

he critics of e-learning seem espe- cially gleeful these days, as one after another of the dot-coms and virtual universities announces layoffs (eCollege, UNext), buyouts (Hungry Minds), bankruptcies (Pensare, ecam- pus.com), or closure (U.S. Open Uni- versity, Fathom). What interests most of us is, why the failures? Did these orga- nizations make m...

This article presents information drawn from research on brain processes that impact perception, memory, learning, and understandings about the world. This information is related to the use of interactive video and the Web in distance education through a discussion of how best to enhance learning - or mitigate problems caused - through the use of t...

Graduates of the National Writing Project (NWP) speak of their experience with marked fondness. They attribute the Project with "transforming" their profes-sional lives, reigniting their "passion for teaching," and "changing my life." With comments such as these, it is no wonder that teachers and others with an interest in improving education might...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1984. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [119]-128).

Whole issue. Incl. bibl., index.