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U MI

A Discussionof the Productio nandDelivery ofaGraduate Course in MathematicsEducationDeliveredUsingE-mail,Listserv and World Wide

WebFacilities.

by

Derek Maxwell Howse,B.Ed, B.Se.

Aproject reportsubmittedtotheSchool of Graduate Studiesinpartialfulfillmentcf tbe

requirementsofthedegree of MasterofEduca tio n

Faculty of Educatio n Memorial Universi tyof Newfoundland

199 8

St.John' s Newfo undlan d

AIlSTIlACT

Developers of distance education course materialsrccogniz.ethepossibili tiesthat existwithin the framework ofemerging computerandcommunicati onstechnologiesand how they mightbeappliedtofuturedistance educationcourses. Thisprojectmoni tored thedevelop mentof anexisting graduate leveleduca tion courseintoa distanceeducatio n courseintegrating thetechnologiesof theWorldWide Web andasynchronous computer confermcingthrough theuseof alistserv.Ananalysis ofthecoursewasconductedand basedon four separate evaluation too ls:asetofthreeonline questionnaires. areflec tive journalkepcbytheauthor,aninterviewwiththeinstructorof thccourse,andan analysis ofboththestudents'andinstructor'spostings tothelistserv.

Theresultsof thisprojectindicatedthatthe students foundthe coursetobe satisfac toryandthat the technologiesusedwere adequateforthe transmissionof course contentandviewpoints inspiteof someinitialtechnical difficulties.Problemsoccurred withstudentvisualizati on of someof the posed problemsand subsequentsolutionssince descriptionsweresolely textbased.Studen tsalsobaddifficultyinsendingattachm ents withe-mails,Itwasnotedtha1.despitethestudeDts'feelingthataccess to theinstructor wasadequate andthattheresponse timetoalImessageswasprompt. therestill existed a feelingofisolation. Studentsmissedthe face-to-fac einteracti onsandsense of collegial itythat occursinthe traditionalclassroomsetti ng.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wouldlike totake thisopportunity tothankthe many people who helpedme asI pursued thisdegreeandindulgedinlearnin g.

I would liketo thank Dr.DavidReid for hisguidance.patienceand insightful comments asIwaded through thisprojectandreport.Hisenthusiasm andexcitement for teachingandlearning has been an inspiration to me.

Iwould liketothankDr.GeorgeHachefor histimeinreadingthedraftsof this report and for offering some of the most difficult critiquesof mywork.

Iwouldespecially liketo thank my wifeRoxannefor her tireless supportin reaching thisgoal.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES.

LISTOF ABBREVIA nONS USED.. CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF PROJECf REPORT. ProjectBackground and Rationale . Definitions..

ProjectActivities

..iii vii .viii

...•1

•..1 ..2 ....4 CHAPTER2

EFFECTIVEOIST ANCEEDUCAnONAND THEROLE OF

TECHNOLOGY ...9

Introd uctio n. ...9

Learning. ... . ..9

Student Motivation ..14

Attri buti on Theory. . ....14

Self-efficacyTheory. ...15

Transfonningthe DistanceEducation Learning Environme nt..17 Emerging Technologies in DistanceEducation . . ..18 Effectiveness of Technology UseinDistanceEducation 21

Swnmary ..24

CHAPTER 3

AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH MODEL. Questionnaires...

Listserv and E-MailEvaluation. Instructor'sComments. Reflecti veJournal CHAPTER 4

RESULTS OF THE FOURDATASETS..

Questionnaire Results . Initial (Profile) Questionnaire

Student Background iv

. ..27 ..28 ...31 ..32 ...32

..33 ..33 .. ..33 ..34

.. ... ..35 . ... ..37 ...J7 . ... 39 40

· .40 .43 ..43 ..44 ..45 .. .45 ...45 .47 ...47 . ...48 .50 .. . 51 ....52 . ..54 . .. .55 ..55 ..56 ...58 ...59 .. .. 60 .... 61 ..62 ..63 ....64 .65 ...66

·.67

·.68

·.69

. 69

TechnicalIssues . Midte:nnQuestionnaire .

Overall lmpressions Technical Difficulties .. WebDesign••.•

CourseCompo nents. FinalQuestionnaire Results. Overall Impressi on. TechnicalProblems CourseComponents. CourseEvalua tion ListservandE·MailCorrespo ndence Instructor'sCommen ts

Course Development . Techn.ica1issues..••... Visuali23tion rLming Teachingstyle...• •. • • Assignments.

Project Experiences: A Critical,ReflectiveJownal InitialPlanningeftheProject:April.1996 CAOEConfemtce;May.1996..

6634Course Developm ent:May. 1996 Peer EvaluationoftheWebSite:Octo ber,1996 Pre-courseLogistics:November. 199 6. WeekI.

Week 2. Week) Week 4 WeekS . Week6. Week 7 WeekS Week9.

Week10 .

CHAPTE R S

DlSCUSSIONOF QUESTIONNAIRE AND LISTS ERV

RESULTS ..72

Discuss ion of QuestionnaireResults. ..72

StudentProfile ..72

... • •.• ..• • • • • •••73

. 74

•••75

. 76

. 76

77 78 ... . .79 . ...8\

..82 .82 . ..83 . ..83 87 .88 ..89 Distance Edueatioo Backgrmmd.

Student SkillSet

Cormect:i.vityQuestions ..•. •...

StudentSatisfaction...•• •. . .. ..

WebDesign. . .• • ..• ••• ••• . ••• ••. VisualContaet ... ...• • • . . .. . . . Visualizati onProblems

CourseComponents... . ..• • • .. CourseEvaluation.... . . . .• • • ListservDiscussion ... . . . .... ... .• . E-mailCorrespondence....••. TeachingFonnat .. . .. ... . . • . . Sizeof Conttibution... ...•

StudentTime Investment.... Class Size..

Sunun ary.•. .•• . • .... ..••...•.

CHAPTER6

RECOMM ENDATIONSANDCONCLUS IO N 90

Recommendations.. 90

Conclusion ..101

BmLlOGRAPHY ... . . .104

AP PEND IXA

Course descriptionsent toallpotential graduate students. . ..108 APPENDIX B

Copy ofooJinequestionnaires.. .... ... ... . .... .. .... . ..110 APPENDIXC

Copy oflener ofpmnissionsenttoeachregistered student. ...127 APPEND lXD

Copy ofstudentdataintabularformaL.. .. . .129

vi

LJSf OF TABLES

TableI-Num berof Correspondences forthe Term. Table2 - On LineTimeInvestmentRequired.

vii

.46

. 84

CADE- CD-ROM -

GIF- JPEG- WWW-

LIST OFABBREVIAnONS USED

Canadian Association ofDistaneeEducation Compact Disk Read Only Memory Graphics InterchangeFormat Joint Photographic Experts Group World WideWeb

viii

CHAPTER . OVERVIEWOF PROJE CT REPORT

Proj ect Backgro undandRationale

Memorial University ofNcwfoundl and, Newfoundland and Labrador's only univers ity.has in recentyeanhadtodealwithfundingcutbacksandincreased operating costs.Anumber of different strategieswereimplementedbythe university administratio ntotryand cope withthisfiscal challengeincluding:the offeringof early retirementpackages to faculty andstaff,increasin g studenttuitionfees .andthe imp lementationof anew hiring scheme.Thenum ber ofcourses abletobeoffered by the indi vidual schoo lsdecreased as aresultoftbe drop in available teac hing facuJty.

During thisperiodone:of the twomathematicseducation faculty memberswithin theSchoolofEducatio n retired. Complicating manc:rs further,theremaining fac uJty mem ber wasscbeduIed tobe:outoftheprovinceand eventuall y.outof the countryduring theWmter semesterof 1997.In aneffort tocontin ue to provide atleastonecourse offerin g tograduatestudentsinmathematicseducationduringtheWinter semest erof 1997.thefaculty mc:m.berinvestigatedthe possibilityof providing a graduatecourse:

throughdistan ce education.The scheduledcourse.Teaching and Learning(0Solve MathematicsProblems.had been taught thepreviousyear bythesame facultymember andtheauthor was a member ofthatclass.The facultymember decidedto offer the

courseinadistancefonnat.makingmodifications to the deliverybutnotto the course

Recent widespreadandinexpensive access to the Internetfor both facultyand students ofmanypostsecondaryinstitutions bad provided a new means for interacting withstudentseverdistance (Brooks. 1997;Besser.1996;Hansen. 1996).Howev er.as Besser (1996)cautioned, notall curricul arsubjects and pedagogjcal stylesare appropriate forthesenewmedia.Heproposed that eachnewlearningsitua tion beanalyzedto determinethetypeof implemen tatio n that will providethe student with themost rewardinglearningexperienc e.Whileitisimpossibletopre-determinea student 's experience in a new educational setting.itwas feltbythecourse instructorthata learner- centeredenvironmentanda combinatio noftraditional printmedia.fistserv,e-mailand theWo rld Wide Web (WWW)mightprovetobe effective .

This project reportprovides anovervi ew oftheeffortstaken bythe faculty memberandthe authorthrough the stages ofdevelopment,implementationand evaluation.Byinvestigating theprocessfollowedfuturecoursesdevel opedalongsimi lar lines might benefitfromthisexperience.

Definitiou

Thisproject paper used terminology specificto some of the eme rgingmediaand.

as such,may not bepanof eachreader'svocabulary.Thefollowingare definitionsthat maymakethereading of thispaperadearerexercise. The definitions were taken from

the Int ernetliteracyConmltants glossary of lntemetterms(199 7)thatwere available at http:// www.matisse..octlfileVglossary .html

Brow ser A Clientprogram(software)thatisused toloo k.atvariouskinds oflntemct

=<>W<eS.

E-mail (ElectronicMail)- Messages, usuallytext. sentfrom onepersonto another viacomputer.E-mailcanalsobesent automatical lyto alarg enumberof addresses (Mailinglist).

Hom e Pag e(or Homepage)

Severalmeanings.Originally , thewebpage thata browseris settouse whenit startsup.Themorecommo n meaningrefers tothe main web page fora business.organization,person orsim ply themainpage outofacollectio nof webpages,e.g,"Chec kout so-and-so' snew HomePa ge."Another slo ppie r useofthetenn refers to practicallyanywebpage asa "homepage,"e.g."That web sitehas65homepagesandnoneofthemareinteresting."

HTTP (Hyper TextTransportProtoco l)- The protocolfor movin g hypertext files acrosstheInternet. Requires aH1TPclientprogram ononeend.and anH1TP serverprogramon theotherend. HTTPisthe most important protocolusedin the WorldWideWeb(WWW).

Intern et (UppercaseI)Thevast collection of inter-connectednetworksthatall usc the TCPIIPprotocolsandthatevolvedfromtheARPANETof thelate 60' sand early70' s.

Lisuerv ThemostcommonIcindof mailIisL

Maillisl (orMailing List) A(usuall y automated)systemthatallowspeopleto send e-mail to oneaddress,whereupontheirmessag e is copiedandsent toallofthe other subscri berstothernaillist.Inthis way,people whohave many different kindsofe-mailaccesscan participateindiscussions together.

Mos aie ThefirstWWWbrowserthatwasavailablefortheMacin tosh,Window s,and UNIXallwith thesame interface.Mosaicreallystart ed thepopularityofthe Web.Thesource-code toMosaichas been licensed.by severalcompani es and thereareseveralother pieces ofsoftwareas goodorbetterthanMosai c,most notably,Netscape.

Netseap e A WWWBrowserandthenameofacompany.TheNetscape (tm)browser wasoriginallybased00theMosaicprogram developed atthe NationalCenter forSupercomputingApplications (NCSA) .

Netwo rkTwo ormore computers connected together sothatthey can share resources.

Two or morenetwor ks connected togethercomprise an internet.

Posting A singlemessageentered into anetwo rk communications system. E.g. A singlemessage postedlOanewsgro up or messageboard.

Serve r A computer,or a software package,thatprovides a specific kind of service to clientsoftware running00other computers. The term canrefer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWWserver,ortothemachineonwhichthe software is running,e.g.Ourmailserver isdowntoday. that's why e-mailisn' t getting out.Asingle servermachine couldhave several different server software packagesrunningon it, thus providing many different servers to clients on the network.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - The standard wayto give the address of any resource on theInternet that ispanof the World WideWeb (WWW).AURL lookslike this:

http ://www.matisse .netlseminars.html

WWW (World Wide Web) - Two meanings-First,loo selyused:thewhole constellationof resources that can be accessed using Gopher.FfP.HTIP.

telnet,USENET.WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of hypertext servers (HTrP servers)which are the servers thatallow text.

graphics, sound files, etc.to be mixed together.

ProjectActivities

ntis project reported onthe application ofa listserv anda WWW site to a graduate class in mathematics education offered using distance delivery.This included.

inconsultationwith the course instructor,the followingactivities:

designing and developinga WWWsiteappropriatefor the course, providingtechnical help with problemsas they came up during the course.

monitoring the listservactivityof allparticipants.

designingandimplementing online qucstionnain::sfor the gatheringof studentfeedbackonthecourse.

describing and analyzingthecourseandits development.and writingthisreport.

Designinga WWWsiterequiredaninfonnalreview oftllecowseasithad existed whentaughtinafacetoface manner.Initiallyquestionswerediscussedfromthe pointof viewof adistance educationcourse:

Wouldthenew formatprevent the inclusionof any aspectof the course?

How might the new format changethe mannerinwhichthe courseis approachedbythe instructor?

Howwouldthecourse evaluationbe affectedbythechange in methodology?

Intheend.the instructordecidedthat the course objectivesneed notbe changed simply because ofthe changeinteaching mode.However,thecourse evaluationwas modifiedslightly to provide more emphasis onthediscussioncontribw ionsofeach student, Also.inordertoachievea sense of practical application.students wererequired to developa problem solvingunit for one of the mathematics classesthey werecurrently teaching. implementthe unit, and thenreportonthe success of theunit,

AlI potential participants were maileda description(see AppendixA) ofthe course,the formattobeused,and what hardwareandskills they should have in orderto beableto fully participateinthis course. Thelist of potentialstudentswasobtained from

theScboo lof GraduateStudiesandwas assumed toinclude allinterested registrants for thecourse.

Four data setswerecollectedduringtheproject and aredescribedasfollows:

Threequestionnaires (see Appendix B), one at the beginning, oneinthe middle andoneattheendoftheterm.,weeposted ontheWWWin order to record studentimpressions of the course.1bethreequestionnaireswereadapted from two questionnaires developedandusedbyDr.MichaelCollins of Memorial University of Newfound landto gatherstudentimpressions on an undergraduate courseinBiologythatwasoffered using e-mailand theWWW.

It. A recordofaI l listse rv interacti onswaskeptandanalyzed fornumber,frequency andsize of postings perstudent andfacultymem ber.Permissiontousethe data containedwithin both thequestionnairesandthe Iistserv was obtained from each student withthe conditionthateachstudentremainanonymous (see Appendix C).

In order[0preserv e stUdentanonymity nameswereomitted from the body ofthis paper.Inthe questionnaire data set (see Appendix D) student names were replaced withletters ofthealphabet.

III. Theinstructor's views ofthe course formatand its effectivenesswasalso recorded.Thefacultymemberwasasked toprovide a personal viewof the variouscompo nentsof the courseafterthecompletio nof thecourse.These includedtopics similar tothosecontained within thequestionnairesfilled out by thestudents.

IV. Theauthor kept a penonaljoumal during the designanddelivery phases of the course toprovide anotherdataset.This jownal highlighted the activitiesinvolved in modifying the course from anon-sitetoa distance deliveryformat.Italso included comments and observations ofme course.

The data setsweredesigned to help provide some insightintothe following questions:

What overallimpression did thestudentshave ofthecourse as delivered?

Whatwerethestudents'opinions of the deliveryformat in general ? Wouldthe studentspre ferto see other graduatelevel courses follow the same orsimilar model?

Whatare the students'recommendations forfuturedistance deliverycourses offeredinthis format?

Whatwas the i.nstructor's impression of the development and presentationof thecourse?

What was the instructor's opinion of the deliveryformatingeneral?

What are the recommendations of the instructor for any future courses that may be offered foUowinga similarmodel?

Whatare somegeneral principlesthatmaybederi ved from the course: as deliveredthatmight makefuturedevelopm entand implementationofcourses followinga similarmodel more effective?

The above questionswerereviewed by the instructorofthe courseandwere judgedtobeappropriate forboththeproject andtoproducedatathatcouJdbefunher usedforcourseimprovemen L

CHAPTER,

EFFECTIVE DISTANCE EDUCA nON AND THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

Introduction

Tbeevolutionof distance education fromthe originaJprint-based correspondence coursewareto themultimedi amodelmaybeatleastpartiallyattributedtodevelopm ents intheelectro nics.,comm uni cations andcomputing industries.Thispastdecadehasseen developmentsintheareas ofdigitaland videocompress ion. anincreaseinpersonal computeruse.as well as[he widespread use oftheWWWandthelntemeLAccording[0 Bailey(1994) and Hansen(1996),thesedevelopmen tsprovidednew areasof investi gation forthedistance educato randdeveloper ofdistance educati on materials.

Effectivelyapplyingthese technologiesrequiresre-visiting basiceducationaJpedagogies.

includingthe conceptsofleamin g.motivation.andlearningenvironmenttheoriesand issues.

Learning

Piaget(1954)hassuggested tbatleamingis not a smoothandcontinuousprocess but rather occurs sporadicallyinresponse to new informatio n. Whena person is confrontedwithnew informationthisinformation is eitherassimilatedinto anexisting mental structure or thestructureshiftsto fonn a new accommodating structure.Until the infonnation is incorporated into the cognitive snucture thepersonexistsina mental state

of flux.Astheprocessof incorporationproceeds through either assimilationIX"

accommodationthe state ofdiscquilibrilDDshiftstowards equilibrium.

AccordingtothePiagctianviewof cognitive development.it isnecessary forthe learnerto be mentallyactiveinIrisIX"her environmentin order toacquirenew knowledge andto ascribemeani ng towsnewknowledge.Tbemindmustorganize the perceived realityandactuponit. Accordingly,thelearner isnot anemptyvesselto be filledwith factsand figuresbut must activelypartici pateand integrate theenvironmental stimuli provided. How theknowled gehasbeen presented orused and wha texisti ngmental stru cturesarecurrently inplacewillinfluencethelearn e r'smental conc ep tio nofthe knowledge.

Winroc:kand AJesandrini(1990)proposed thatthesynthesi sofnew knowledge is directlydependent on theabilityofthe student togene raterelatio nshi ps betweenpartsof theknowledgebase.Theseconnectio ns maybe internal. betweenvariouspartscf the new knowledge, orexternal,betweenparts ofthenewknowledgeand existing knowledge.

Winroc:k's (1989)investi gations havesuggestedthatthisability to generate conn ec tio ns betweentopics appearstobe a characteristicseparating good and poor learners,A numberof other studies(Seifert,1994;Bean, Searles.SingerandCo wen, 1990;Wittrockand Alesandrini,1990;Peters and Levin. 1986;Malone and Dekkers . 1984 ) have suggestedthat alack ofleaming strate gies may alsobeII.significant characteristic of studentswithleamingdifficulties .Learning strategiesthat maybeused

10

to help cultivate the generation of internal andextemaIeoeeeecoes include:summarizing the material; making analogies to topicsa1rcadycogn.itivelydigested;aeating a coecept mapto visuallyandphysicallyrepresent the connections withinandwithout thetopic;

usingmnemonicstrategies.

ThecognitivetheoriesofPiaget are echoedin theinstructional theoriescfBruner (1960).Bruner subscribed to Piaget'slearnin g theorythaIlearningisan activeprocessin which learners construct new ideas based00Cl.II'l'eI1tknowledge.The learnerselectsand transforms information, constructs hypotheses,and makesdecisions.relyingon a cognitivestructure to do so.Cognitive structures provide meaning and organizationto experi ences and allowthe individual to explore beyond thescope of the given information..

Accordingly,Bruner(I966)suggestedthatinstructorsshouJd approachteaching from a discovery pointofview.Learners shouldbeencouragedtottyand develop their own principles.Anactivedialogueshould be maintainedbetween thestudentandlhe instructor to checkthesrudent's leve lofunderslaoding,tocorrectanymisconcepti o ns thatmayoccur,andtocontin ueto presentthestUdentwithDeWlearningactivities(Eato n.

Anderson and Smith, 1984 ).Curriculumshouldbeorgani.zedsuchthat new learning activities reinforce conceptsalready discussedanddiscovered.

Bruner(1966) suggested that course developers and teachers shouJdbe aware of the following four points when designing instructional activities:

students'predisposition towards learning.

"

thewaysinwhichabodyof knowledgecanbestr\ICt1.lm:isothatitcanbe most: readily grasped bythe learner.

themost effective sequencesinwhichtopresentmaterial.

the nature and pacing ofrewardsand punish.ments.

Forlhe developerofdistance educationmaterials,investigatingthese four points may influence bowthecourseispresented.whattypesof mediamight be most effective .and evenwhetherornota course willbeeasilyandeffectively presen tedinadistan ce educa tio nformat.

Ausu bel(1963 )suggestedthatlearningmaybeenhancedthroughanactive environme ntwhich emphasizesthe use ofquesti o nin g techniques before.duringand after the instructional activity.Thisis echoedinthe workofSeifen(1994)who suggestedthai a student'sundemanding and recall of informationisenhancedthroughtheuse of questi o ning. The questi o nin ggoes beyond the simple recitation offactsbut ratherseeks tohavethe student reach a higher level ofthinking by asking"Why...?'"or-How...;. Such questions helptobuild new infon:nationeerwcrksandconnections. Theyaidthe processes of assimilationandaccomm odati onthereby bel ping the studentlearnthe material.

For the distance edueato rthese theories suggest a need forthe activeparticipation ofthe student, They also suggesttheneedfor a contin uedemp hasisoninteractions betweenstudentsandinteractionsbetweenthe studen ts andteacher.Thedevelo per of distan ce educatio ncourses shoulddeterminewhether such interactions maybe

12

accommo datedthrough various confereneing systems and which of the systems is most appropriate for aparticular course.

Jonassen(1991) has suggested that knowledge is constructed andthat there isno such thingas anobjectivestore of knowledgethatcan be transmitted exactlyfrom teacher tolearner. "We allconceiveof the external realitysomewhatdifferently, based on our unique set of experienceswith the world andour beliefs about them" (Jonassen,1991,p.

6).He suggestedthatconstruction of the internallinkages and structures required to assimilate new knowledgeare influencedby the unique set of previousknowledge, personal motivations,aptitudes, experiences, and metacognitive strategies thathave been developedbythe learner. Suchlearning theoriessuggest thatideallearning environments are thosewhichemphasizeself-directed learning, problem solvingsessions, interactions betweenthe students,and interactionsbetweenthestudentsandtheinstructor. Recent developmentsinthe fieldsof computersand communicationshave opened the door to a higher qualityin distance educationby providing mechanismswhereby suchlearning environmentsmay be established(Bailey,1994).

The task for designers ofdistance educationmaterials is a formidable one. They must find ways to engage students in authentictasks, to assiststudents in develop ing flexibleknowledge basesthat promote use of information, and encourage diversity of thought. They must build learning communities thatlinkstudents to others students and promote meaningfulleamingratherthan credentia ling.

13

Student Moti vati on

Manning (1990)has suggested thatpersonal motivation is animportan t elementin the learning process.This is particularlytrue for the distance education student who must contend....-itha senseof both physicalandintellectual isolation.This isolation may lessen the student's desiretoput forth the effort anddisc ipline required to successfullycomplete a distanceeducat ioncourse. Reiber(1992)has suggestedthat designers of distance ed ucationcourses shouldtrytohelpthestudent byprovid inga meaningfu lcontext base wh ichsupports intrinsicallymotivatingandself-regulatedlearning.

Attribution Theory

Weiner(1984)attemptedtolink personal attributes tomoti vation in learning.He suggested that every attributebeginswith acerta in actionon the part of the student. The outcome of this action.either success orfailure.maylead to some generalemotional reaction basedon three characte ristics:locus of control.constancy,and the abilityto controlthe action.

Locus of contr ol refersto whetheror not successorfailure is dependentonfactors whichare internal orexternaltothe student. Internalfactors includeperceived abilityand person ality whereas externalfactorswould includethedegreeofdifficultyof the task. If thelocusisinternaland successoccurs , thenit might be expectedthata positiveattribute wouldoccur sincesuccess would be attributedto somepersonalcharacteristic.Failure underthe same locus may produce a negative attribute.For example.if a studentsubmits

14

an assignment latebecause ofpoor timemanagement ontheirpartthenthisfail uremay be attributedtoafaul tintheir character,lftbesubmissio nilllatedue totechnical difficultiesthen a negativeattitude maybe produced towardstechnologybuta positive reinforc em en tofpersonal prqwednessmay occur.

Thesecond facto rproposedbyWeiner(1984) isthatofconstaney.Different perceptionsofsuccessand failureoccurdepending on whe therthefac to rsinvolvedare chan geable orset.Borkowski.Carr.Rellinger and Pressley (1990)sugg estedastrong connecti on between attribution andself-esteem. Fai lure as aresult of a lack of effort• somethingwhichisvari able-mey notaffectfuturesuccesses. However,failureduetoa lackof perceived abilitymaylead to a beliefinfuture failureandalo we rin g of self-

Finally.Weiner(1984) describestheability to controltheactio nasthethin:l.factor inhisattributiontheory.Amount ofeffon and timespent are examplesofthistypeof control lab lefactor.Ho wthe student mayreactto suchfactors isnoteasyto predict. for example. astudentthatexpends agreaterthanaverage amount oftimeto reachananswer toatypicalproblem may experienceeitherariseinself-esteem,since theproblem was solved,or alowering of self-esteem,since ittook alonger time.

SeU-efficacy Tbeory

Sch unk's(1985 )self-efficacytheo ry referred to astudent's perceivedabilityto successfull ycomplete anactivity based onthe outcomesof similar past performancesand

IS

how thesepastperformanceshave affectedthebeliefinones abilitytosuccessfully com plete atask..Locusof contro landstabldunstable factors are also cited as influenc ing thisperception.Inordertosucceedata task, students mustbelievetheyare able to completeitinorder tobemotivatedtothe pointof investingeffort andriskin gfailure.

Thelinkbetweeneffortandsuccessisimportanl inself-efficaeytheory.While success at a particular problemmayincrease a student's senseofself-efficacyinthisarea.

the magnitude of the increase maybetempered ifa seeminglyundueamount ofeffortis investedinthe problem.Infact,laboring for prolon ged periods maynegatively affect the sense of self-efficacy.With this connection between perceivedabilityandeffortinmind.

Schunk(1985) pointedoutseveral areas that ateachershouldbeaware of in the learning enviro nm ent. Thesehavetodowith appropriateandeffectivemethods ofinfonnation presentation, theteachingoflearningstrategies,feedback on evalua tion,goalsetting and the influences ofpeerperceptions.

BothSchunk(199 5)andAmes(1992 )arguedthatteachersmustbe careful in setting appropriate goalsand rewardssuchthata healthy blendofeffortleadin g[0abigb rate of successisincludedinthe learningenviro nment,Settinggoals too high maylead todiscouragement while settingthegoals too low maylead tosuccess without effort.

Student rewards shouldbereflective of both the amountofeffon invested and the goals attained.Rewarding on the basisof solely one or the otheris detrimental toself-efficacy.

Ames(199 2) also pointed outtheimportance of allowingstudents controlover dec isions .A sense of autonomy,a positiv eself-perceptionand an internallocus of

16

controlare important factorsinthedevelopment of a mastery stude nt. Givingstudents control inthelearn ing env ironmen tmay leadtothe support ofthese ideas. Amesstated thatthesedecisionsshouldbe allowedonlyif theyare positively influencing a student's decisionmaking process. If the decisio nsmade are an effortto avoidfailure or minimize effort,then suchdecisio nsshould notbe supported.

Collaborativeand cooperativelearn ing strategies are proposed by both Ames (1992)andSchunk(1985)as alternat ivesto the risk-taki ngventuresof individua l assignments.Inthis manner learn ers would work together to accomplishshared goals, leaning on andlearningfrom the expertise of otherstude ntswithinthe learning environme nt.Thesesmallgroup efforts mayhave bothsocial andinstructional benefits.

Recentdevelop ments in comp uterandcommunicationstechnologyallowfor theuse of group workindistance educatio ncourses despitethephysicalseparation of studentsand instructor.Studentsare ableto sharefilesbothasynchronouslythrough e-mail or speak directly with one another through audioconferenc ing,or chatfacilities.

Transforming the DistanceEducationLearning Environment

Beyond the central ideas oflearningtheory and motivationa ltheory,another variablethat affects the qualityofa student'slearn ing isenvironment. Oliverand Reeves (1996) have suggestedthatthe effectiveness of any learning environmentis dependenton the provisionof activities whichstimulatethelearners'cognitive and metacognitive activityat ahigh level.It was suggested that suchactivitiesare most effective when they

17

presentthelearner with personally meaningfulandrelevantcontent. Thelearnershould alsohave an opportunity for reflection duringthisprocess.a chance toprocessthe presentedor experi encedsituation and come toapersonal understandingofthe information.

Thegenerati ve learningprocessis maximized by creatin g learni n g environments inwhichthe studentisableto controltheexposureto new educationalstimuliand have timeto process it.Oliv erand Reeves (1996)havesuggested that activelearning environm e ntsengaging the students inpersonallyrelevant content areparticul ar ly effective.Jo nas sen (1991)andOliver andReeves (1996) have also suggestedthatsel f- directed exploration.problemsolvingand knowledge manipulationare characteristics of learningenviro nments which areconducive tothe construction aCknowled g e.

Eme rging TechDologi esillDis taD« EdUc:atiOD

Withinthepastfewyean advancesincommunicati o nsand compute rtechnology haveincluded:asynchronous computercccfereociag,audio-ccnferencing, aud io-graphics.

audio-tapes.cabletele vision.computer disksandCD-RO M.des k-top vid eo- cenferenciag , interactive laser disks,one-way satellite communication.two-way satelli te co mm uni ca tio n,sync hro no us computer conferencing,videotape,voice mail and e-mail.

Intern et and WWW (lbachand Murphy.199 5).Each of theseprovidesthe user with a potentialglobalcommunityoflearne rs.Withsoman y technologiesevolving and availablefortheteac her tochoose from there is often atend ency forthe technologyto

18

drive the developmentof distance education coursewareasopposedto the pedagogical justifi cati on forits use (Ely,1996).Comeaux (1995)hassuggested Ihat some present usesof lCChnology,particularl ytwo-wayvideoandaudio,inthedistance education environmentmaybeobtrusiveandpsychologicallywmervingtothe student,According toComeaux, thelearningenvironmentshould bedesignedtotranscendgeographicalas wellaspsychologicalbarriers,

Ely(1996 ) has statedthatthe most successful distanceeducatio n programs are thosewhich respondtorealneeds;they offeranalternativeto learningthatwould otherwisebedeniedorbeprohib itiveinterms of cos! and time.Elysuggestedthaithe followingquestions beasked before deciding whether to developadistance education

Whatisthepurposeof thecourse?

Forwhomis the courseto becreated?

Whyisthe distanceeducatio nfo mwbeingconsidered?

Willdistanceeducationimprovethequality andenhancethe benefits 10 learners?

What will thedevelo pment ccsr?

When dec iding on thetypeof technologies toinco rporate in thedistance educationcourse,Ely (1996 ) also suggestedthat developersloo k.at the reasons forthe inclusio nofeach oftheproposed technologiesusingthe followi ngques tionsas potential guidelines:

19

Doesthe rec:hnologymake sense from an educationalstandpoint?

Will thetechnologyreallyadvancestudent learningandscholarship?

Doesthetechnologymake sense financially?

Will allstudentsandfaculty haveaccess tothe tec hno logyandunderstand howtouse thetechno logy?

Ely (1996 ) has suggestedthat each of these questions have apositive answer for the technology to be includedintheproposedlearning environment.

Thenecessity that the design ofme distan celearnin genvironment be driven by educational deman ds and not technological concerns was echoed byAnnstrong (1996).

Building onconstructivist andactivelearnin g principles .Annstrongarguedthatthese learnin g environmentsmust emphasizethemaximizationof studentjnteractivitywith other studen tsandbetweenstudents andteachers.Activelearning strategies should be sought outandimplemen tedbytheteacher.YakimoviczandMurphy(1995)have suggestedthattheconstructivist approac hisavali d andappropriate learning format when teaching adults sincetheybringtothe course backgrounds richina variety of experiences.

The roleoftheteac herinsuch a learning environment might shift tothatof facilitator ratherthanthetransmitter of information. Withsuch technologies as the Internetpro vidi ng studentswithpotential access toexperts in many differentfields .the teacher shouldno longerbeviewed asthe soleauthorityon the subject,Ely (1996)has suggested that teachersremainsubject experts butshould alsobetechnologyexperts,

20

teachingexperts.andindustJyexperts.

ThachandMurph y(199 5) have suggestedthatthe top ten competencies of the distanceeducation professiooalshould be:

proficien ciesin interpersooal communication.

plannin gskills.

collaborationandteamwo rkskills.

lan guage of instruction.

writingskills.

organizationalskills.

feed bac kski lls,

knowledge of the distance educationfield.

basictechnologyknowledge,and technologyaccess knowledge.

Thisset of skillshas partic:ular implicationsfortheleve landtypeofprofessional developmentthatmighthepursuedbythe proposed instructors.

EffKtivenesJor TechnologyUseinDista nceEdUcatiOD

According to Armstrong (1996).thereare anum ber ofeleme ntsthatlead to the develo pme nt of a successful Internet co urse:

institutio nalsuppo n forprovidingresources and teacherreleas etime.

developme ntbyaproject teamcontainingtherequisite skills.

21

teachers or pedagogies acting as the driving force and not the technologies, strategic approach in deciding which courses to offer via distance, an emphasis on good design to maintain student interest, maximize information retrieval and not information dissemination, the focus is on a model of course delivery and not on a specific course, immediate,sympathetic,good quality technical support is provided, professional development and time release is given for teachers, and teachers exhibit continual improvement,responsiveness and innovation in their teaching approaches to best fit the type of student and the particular subject.

Armstrong (1996) has suggested that the Internet represents a revolution in communication.Since teaching may be described as an exercise in communication, then the Internet may also represent a revolution in teaching. Students should be able to absorb information from the exchange of ideas and questions over listservs.New interactions and social protocols have been developed including the use of "smileys''to show humor in a media where body cues arc not evident(Mende,1996).

In comparing the use of the Internet in the delivery of a distance education course with a more traditional format, Armstrong (1996) found that the Internet has the capability of providing immediate contact with the instructor and other students thereby maximizing student involvement in class activities. Group projects are possible even though group members themselves may be thousands of miles apart.The sense of

22

isolatio nisgreatly diminished.StudyingcoUaborations ontheInternet, Yakimovicz and Murphy (1995) foundthatstudents'persooaJexperiences served toenrich the learnin@

situati o nandhelped tofosterthe conmuctioD. of personal knowledge.Watabe, Hamalainenand \\1Unston(199 5) foundtba1group

won.

on tbeInternetis motivating.

Thegroupatmosphereisoften a secure environment in which students try their best so as (0notlet downthe rest of tile group.However.theyarealsoempoweredbythehelp given bythe othe rgroup members.BergeandCollins(1995) foundthat graduate student discussio ns on theIistservweremost oftenemployedforeitherinforma tio nsharingorfor dec isionmakingpurposes.The outcomeof these exchangesis anincreased personal understan dingafthe materialand theconstructionof a sharedmeanin g.

Watabe,Hamalainen.andWhinston(1995)havesuggestedthatthereare limi tatio ns primarily due to the constricting nature of text based communication.

Misunderstandingsmay occurand the time and effonrequiredto inputenough informati on to ttyandavoidthesemisunderstandinissignificanL McHemyandBazik (199 5) have suggestedthatthereare some problemsunique to the distance education format andwhichneedtobe considered in thedevelop mentphase.These include:

difficulties in meeting deadlines.

material distribution,and technological etique tte.

In ordertohelpthestud ent understand therole ofthe studentinthediscuss ion list.

Friedman,Hafeze, Keating,Mullen.Patrick,Plo tkin andStrenski(199 5)gave anum ber 2J

whichmay includeappropriatefunctionalityand ease of use.Educationaldemands should drivethedesign ofthecourseandDOttechnologicalconcerns.Active learning strategiesaresuggested by Yakimovicz.andMurphy as being appropriate models for a distance education environment, Armstrong suggestedthatthe use oftechnology should maximize the interactiviry of tileCOW'Se.

The effectivenessofa particularimplementati on of atechnologydepends on how responsiveand ablethe instructorisinadaptingteac hin g stylesand incorpo ratingnew technologiesinnewteachin g enviro nments. Theeffectiveness mayalso be infl ue ncedby the students whoshouldbemadeawareoftheir ownresponsibili tieswhen workingwith newtechnologiesinadistance education environment.Itis possibletoenrich the distancelearning environmentthrough theuseof group projectsandpresentations. Such projects may helpto increasethepersonalunde rstanding ofthemateri al as wellas helpto construct asharedmeaning.

26

CHAPTERJ

AN OVERVIEWOF THERESEARCH MODEL

Aspreviouslystated.theintentofthis project wastoprovidesomeinsightinto the followingquestions:

Whatoverallimpression didthestuden ts haveofthc courseas delivered ? Whatwerethestudents' opinionsofthe deliveryformatingeneral?

Wouldthe studentspreferto seeothergraduatelevelcoursesfollow thesame orsimilar model?

Whatarethestudents'recommendatio nsforfuturedistance deliverycours es offeredinthis (annat?

Whatwasthe instructor'simpressionoCthedevelopme ntand presentati on of thecourse?

Whatwastheinstructor'sopinion ofthe delivery forma tingeneral?

Whatare the recommeodatioosof the instructorfor anyfuturecoursesthat maybeoffered followinga similar model?

Whatarcsome general principlesthatmaybederived from the course as deliveredthat might makefuturedevelopment andimp lementati onof courses followinga similar model moreeffecti ve?

In ordertoaddressthesequestions fourdistinctitemswere evaluated : I the presenting ofthreequestionnaires tothestudents.one at thestartof the

27

term, the secondinthemiddleandthefinalattheendof meterm.

IT an analysis of the electronic correspondencesthatoccurredduringthe semester.including general mailings to theentireelassviathelistserv, mailingstotheinstructorasprivatememos.and mailingstothetechni cal advisor.

lItthe instructorwasaskedto provide feedbackonhis ownexperi enc es with the

IV aspanof thereflecti ve componentoftheMasters project.ajourn alwas kept bythe authorduringthe entire process.

QuestioDDaires

The questionna.itesiden tifi ed in Appendix Bwereoriginal ly developed fora distanceeducationundergraduatecourseinBiology developedatMemorial University of Newfo undl andbyDr.MichaelCollins.TheBiology courseusedboth e-mailandthe WWWtopresentthecourseware.Dr.Collinsagreedtothe modification of the questio nnaires foruseinthisproject.

Some of themodifications were a result of the different modes of presentation betweenthetwocourses.Theunder grad uate biologycourse usedthe WWWexte nsively forthe presentationofcourseco nte ntincludingbothtext andimages where appropriate.

As such.,theoriginal ques tionnaire includedquestionsconcerning thetimerequired to do wnl oad the WWWpages. theeffectivenessof theimagesused,andtheamountof

28

detailcontainedinthe images.Sincethegraduate course used the WWW siteprimarily for disseminating text-based informationotherthanCOW"Secontent, nolll usrrati o nswere necessary.Hence theassociatedquestions were removed.

Thefirstquestionnairewasdesigned to give feedback on the students'personal andeducational background. their levelofexperienceinusingthe im plemented technologies.andtheirexperiencewithprior distance educationcourses.Italso focused on thetypeand avail abili ty of computer theywereusingfor theco urse .whether theyhad prior knowledgeasto thenatureofthecourse andalsoho wtheylearn edabout theco urse .

Thesecond questi onn airewas brokeninto four sub-pans and focused on the students' impressions of the coursetodate.technicalprobl ems . webdesign and course components. Alon g withhaving the studentsgive adegree ofsatisfactio n rating to the course.they were also asked whethertheywould recommendthe course to a friendand alsowhetherthey would considertaking another course ofasimilar format.Thethree questions along withthe request for a description ofthepositiveandnegativeaspectsof thecourse helpto clarify the experience of the student, The second section of this questionnaire concerneditse lfwiththenarureoftechnical problems encountered. how long the problempersisted,whohelpedthestudentin ftnding a solutiontotheproble m.

andwhatcompu ter skillsthestudent feltwere essentialinthis course format, Web desi gnques tio ns wereco ncerned with theease ofuse and organization ofthe website. A comment sectio n was also provided toallow students theoppo rtunity to expandonany pointthatmayhavebeen missed.

29

Questionsinthecoursecompooentsectiondealtwithstudentimpressions cooa:mingthe appropriateness ofthereadings.the \'Olumeofreadingrequiredand suggestions forim provement.nusparticularaspectdealsmo rewiththecoursecontentas opposed to howthe coursewaspresented. Questio ns concernin gthelistservande-mail dealt withtypesof mailings.their quantityandfrequency.

Thethird questionnairevariedonlyslightlyfromthe second.This wasused primarily10determinewhether orDOtthe students' impressionsof the coursehad changed throughout the semester.Anaddedaspect was a questionontheevaluationscheme used.

Insettingupthe course therewassome deliberation astowhat measuringinstrum ents mightbeused10evaluatethe students.This questionprovidedanopportunity forthe studenttoprovid efeed bac k onthistopic.

Inkeep ingwith the onlinefonna t of the course,allthreeof theques tionnaires werepostedas formsontheWWW.Stud ents weregiven theaddress of eachform only atthe appropriatelime of theterm.Students were stronglyencouragedto completethese formsbut were also awarethattheircompletio nwasa voluntary act on theirpart.The formswerecompletedandsubmined onlinedirectlytothe author.

In agreeingtoparticipateinthis project, students wereassuredof theiranonymity.

Accordingly,studentnameswerechanged tolettersof thealphabetwithconsistent letters used throughout thisreport.

30

Listserv andE-MailEnluatioD

A combinationoflistservande-mailwereusedby both thestudentsandthe instructortodiscuss

me

course materials.Stulknts wen: asked to submit commentson coursereadings andinstructorprompts while atthesame timeprovidin gpersonalinsights into the coursematerial.Assignmentsweresubmitted as anached files tothe instructor.

Ananalysisof tbeamoun tofe-mail traffic wascarried out in aneffortto determine:

an appropriate classsizesforsuch courses,

the amount oftime requiredbytheinstructorandstudents to create.submit.

read andrespondtoweeklycorrespondence s,and

whether a listservprovidesaneffective meansfordiscussing course content.

Messag esweresorted by weekto determinethe level of activityandby authorto determioc:the personal amountofe-mail activity.Sizeofthe e-mailmessagewasusedas an indicatoroftheamountoftime spent bythe student in this activitybothincomposing andwriting messagesandinreading messages.The sizeofthe messagewasmeasuredin terms of the numberof words containedtherein(notiocludingquotes fromprevio us messages).Eachmessag ewascopiedinto aword-processorwhichprovidedan accurate countofthewordspermessage.Atallywaskeptperstudent,

Determining theamount of timerequiredof the stude nt.bothtoreadandcompose messages,was a moresubjec tive exercisesince thetyping spee dandreading speedsper studentwas notknown..

31

Instrador's Com mrnts

Areflective 8CCOW'Itofthe course was obtained fromtheinstructorusingan intervi ew process.Thisprovidedinsightsintothe instructor's opini o n ofthe course deve lopmen tprocess,thewayinwhichthecourse proceeded.and whatchangesmightbe Incorporatedintothecourseifitis offered again through the distancemode.

ReOediveJournal

Thereflectivejournal provided an accountof the processbywhic h the course evolvedfrom a traditional.face-to-facemodeto an onlinedistanceed uca tio ncourse.It includedpersonalcomments.ins ights. andsuggestionsforfuturedevelopers ofsuch

32

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS OFTIlE FOUROATA SETS

This chapter provides anovervi ew ofthe results of the data gathered fromthe questionnaires.thelistservande-mailcommunications oftbe students.theinstructor's commentsandthe reflectivejourna1.Itreports onobservations obtained from the eight stude nts whoinitiallyregisteredfor this course.Onestudentdroppedthecourseafter four weeks.Thereasongiven by thestudentwasthat ofno t beingable 10devote enough time to othercourses.

Questionna ire Resu lts

OCthe sevenremainingstudents.sixrespondedtotherusttwo questionnaire formsandfour responded to thefinalquestionnaire form.E-mai lmessages were sent reminding. requesting andencowagingstudents to complete the fonns.

Initial (profile)QuestioDnaire

Thefirstquestionnairewasusedtoobtain information regarding:

student background.

technical proficicnc ies broughttothe course.and

whetherornot stude nts knew aboutthe course fo rm atand were satisfiedwith theformat.

33

Slud~nlBackground

Ofthe six students thaiansweredthe questionnaire. five were well establishedin their course worktowards their Masters ofEducationdegreeprogramhaving comp leted between 8 and 16 credits.Allfivesrudcnts were enrolledinthe area ofTcachingand Learning, a su b-specialtyoftheMastersof Education degree at Memorial Univers ity of Newfoundland.The sixthstudent wasnotregisteredinanyMastersProgramand had completedonlyone othercourse credit at the graduate level.

All five ofthemoreexperienced students learned about the formatandcourse offering from the instructorof the course having been members ofan on-siteclass taught the previous term by the same instructor.Thesixthstudent foundout about the course fromthe Facultyof Educationand was not infonnedoftheformatof the course nor of the requirementsin termsofavailablecomputertechno logyanddegree of technical awarenessuntilafter havin g registeredfor the course.

Four ofthe students had prior experience with at least onedistance education COutSC.Their experiences included courses whichhaduseda varietyofcommunication mediaincludin g print-based materials, video-tape. audio-tape. e-mail.teleconferencing, listservsandcomputer confcrcncing.

Threestudents decided to take this course because oftbedistanceformat ofthc course. The factthat they wouldnot have to make a difficultand sometimes impossible commute 10classwasgiven as a reason for their participation .One ofthescstude nts stated time conve nienceasapositiveaspectof the course format.

34

Two oftheremainingthreestudentsDOtinfluencedbytheformatoftheeocrse statedtheywereenjoyingtheformataspresented,Theywould havetakenthe course regardlessofthefannat.

TechnicalISJ~s

Atthe timeofthisproject,most teachersintheNewfo und land and Labrad or regionhadaccesstoa computerwithin the school.Mostschoolswereconnectedtothe Internetvia the backbonesetupbySTE M- Ne t Also.forthe teachersenrolledinthe Mastersprogramand locatedatthemainSt John'scampus.eachwas issue da computer accountandhadaccessto computerla bs. Eachof the labswasnetworked to the Internet allo wingtheuser access to e-mailaccounts and

www

sues.

Accesstocomputerswith the appropriateconnectionsdid not appeartobea problemfortherespondents.Fiveoftbesix studentshadcom putersatbomeandthe sixthbadaccess to computersbothattheworkplaceandattheuniversity.Theccmpcters hadaminimumconfigurationofanIBMcompatible486 computer.

Technical expertisevariedgreatlyfromstudent tostudent Studentswere askedto indicatetheirpersoDalleve lof proficiencyinfile management,word processing.graphics packages.spreadsheets,e-mail.WWWuse.andcomputerconferencing.Anoppo rtunity forthe studenttoaddother particularareas of computerliteracywas provided.Results indicatedthateach ofthe studentshadat least alittle knowledgeineachofthe listed categories.Lesser knowledgewasingraphicspackagesandspreadsheets.Twostudents

3S

claimed to haveDOskillsinthe use ofspreadsheetsandone ofthesetwoalsoclaimed to havenoskillsinthe useof graphicsapplications.Forthepurposes of the course. these latterskills werenota requirementandwere neverfonnal lyused,Threeoflhe responden tslisted themselves asbeingproficientinthe use of e-mail whiletwodescribed themselvesas beingscmi-proficicntinits use.Theremaining studentreportedhaving littleskill in thearea. Most of the students usedtheircomputersfor educational purposes and primarily forwordprocessing.

Theability to attachfilestoe-mail messageswas consideredby the course design erstobean uncommonskill.Anareaon the course website was created.

outlining,withlheaidof diagrams, the fullprocedureinanticipation of student problems in thisarea.Despitethese instructions,a numberoftechnicalquestions werepresented concerni ng the methodofattaching filestoe-mailmessagesduring the firstthreeweeks oflhe course.Students also soughtbelp from friends and familyonthistask,Two ofthe students experienced difficultiesinsubmittingtheir assignmentswithone student having eventually to useafriend'smachine.Theotherstudent used thepostalsystem and mailed anassignmentto the instructor.

Five ofthesix respondentsusedthe STEM-Net serviceastheirInternet service provider.Connection timewaslimitedtoten hourspermonth sotheuserhadto be carefulinits use.Thesixth studentdecidedto accessthecoursethrough acomme rcial Internet providerso thattheten bourtime constraint would notbea worryduring the durationof the course.Unfortunately the provider' saccessprovedtobeunreliableand

36

thetechnicalserviceW35slow.As thestudentstated:

~Manytimes(couldDOtconnect.It{thetrouble]W35DOt onmyside:butwith[the lIltemet proyjder ].Whencalled.

theywouldtellmethattheywouldcbeckonitlater or the nextday.Onetimeitwent on foraweek....(C.final questionnaire )

MidtermQuestio nna in

The seco nd questionnaireW35designed(0evaluatethesttJdentimpressi o ns of the course at themidway point.approximatel yseven weeksintothe course.It",115thought bytheauthorthatafterseven weeks studentswould havesettledintotheroutinecf the course.andthattechnicalbugswouldhave been worked out of the system.

aw,.alllmpr-essions

Five of the six respondentsreported thatilieyweresatisfiedand onereported tobe vet)' satisfiedwiththeformatofthecourse.All repoodentswouldrecommendthis course toafriend and also considertakinganother course usingasimilarformat. Tbese resultswouldappeartoindicatea high degreeofsuccessintheformerof the coursefor providing an enricbing aod satisfyingenvironmen L

Studentswere askedtocomment onwhatthey consideredtobe the positi ..'e and negativeaspectsof tilecourse todate.Tuneconvenience and thelack of travelwere quoted by a numberof studen ts aspositiveaspects.Onestuden t commented onhow supportivetheinstructorandother students were concerningtec hnical problemsand

37

course contentquestions.The studentstated furtherthat this support helpednegate feelin gs of isolation normallyfound inotherdistanceeducat ioncourses.Onestudent comme nted thattherequirement forallstudentsto participate in the general class discussions in a formal, writtenmanner was a positive outcome of the distance format.

One studentstated that the feelingof isolationwaslessthanthat of otherdistance educationcoursespreviouslytakenbythe student. The samestudentstill felt,however, a desireforface-to-faceconversations. This sentimentwas echoed bytwo otherstudents.

Visualization of the comments and problemsposed appeared to cause problems for a numberof students. Statements such as "difficult to communicateas visualization isa problem"(0,midterm questionn aire)and"difficultto explain thoughts" (0,midterm questionnaire)wouldseem indicatethat othermeans of communicationmightprovide a better medium.

Whilesomeofthe studentscommentedon the lackofisola tion, one of the studentscomme nted on feelingleftout.Asa numberof thestudents had attendedan on- site coursetogetherduring the previous semesterwiththe same instructor,an opportunity to converse with one another,associate personalities with names and get a "feel" for the instructorhad beenachieved. However aparticular student thathadnot beena member. of the previous course conveyedfeelingmore isolated from theothers. No specific indication was given within any of thee-mailmessages suggesting a conscious isolation of thisstudentbythe other students.

38

TechnicalDijficullies

Studentswereaskedto comment on technical problemsencountered.Tbe questionnairewasdividedintothefirst week ofclassandthecourseto date.Twoofthe sixrespondents reported having technical problemsduringthefirstweek.of thecourse.

Both studentsn:portedthe same problem,thatof notbeingabletoconnectto the web sit e. and bothwere fixedby the studentwithhelpfromthe author.Oldversions of web browsers werereplacedwithnewversions ofthe software.

Fiveofthesixstudentsindicatedhavingtec hni cal diffic ultiesatotherpoints duri ng theterm.Threestudentsreported troubleco nne cting totheInte rnetdue toInternet provide r difficultiesandthreestudents reportedtroublesending attached fileswith e-mail documents.Fivestudentswereunableto read a document sent bythe other student becauseofsoftwareversionincompatibilities.Oneof the students encountered a computer virus.These problemswere overcome withthehelpof friends and family, work mares, MemorialUniversi ty of Newfoundlandfacultyandstaff.and an Internet service provider.

Threeofthestudents thought that they were experiencingsome,ifnotallof these problemsdueto a lack of experiencewiththe technology utilizedinthe course.They suggestedthatexperienceinatleast e-mailand a knowledgeof the Interne twouldbe im po rtan t skillsto havefor this type of course. Othe rsuggestedareas were in word processing and an abil ity to use agraphics packag e . As suggested byone student:"Know enough nottopani c.Enoughto get yourselfoutof trouble."(E, midte nnquestionnaire)

39

Web Design

Stud entsalso provideda critiq ueofthedesign oftheweb site.Onestudentfound the page lengthtoolong."Thestudentalsofeltthatoctenoughguidancewasgivenonthe pageshowing thestudent what to do next. In general,however,thestUdentsfound the site tobe wellorganized,easytoread.easytodelcnninewhereyou wereins ide theweb site,bad an understandableorganizatio n, containedsufficien t informationforthecourse, waseasy to navigatethrough. quicklydownloaded, andlooked neat.

CourseComponents

Studentswere asked10 commentODa numberofdifferentaspectsof thecourse including:

thecoursestructure.

their ownuse ofe-mail, theinstructor'suseofe-mail,and theWWW links includedinthewebsite.

Ingeneralthe studentsindicatedthatthetimetablefeature:usedinthecourse was easy10 understand andfollow.Allstudents,except one,foundtherequiredreadings 10be appropria te andaided in theirunderstanding of the course content.All students found the readings to be interestingandonly onestudent found the amount of readingtobe extensive. Onestudentfeltthatfurtherreadingsprovidin gadifferentperspective on the subjectshouldbeadded.

40

In addition to usingtheIistserv, students sent e-mailto theinstructor as well as e- mailto each other on an individual basis.Ind ividual messages,however, were notsent as oftenas messages on the listserv. Onlythree students indicatedthat theye-mailedthe instructor concerning help oncoursecontent: onestudentindicatedthree times; two otherse-mailedonce. Two of this group of three studentsalso indicated having e-mailed other students for helpon course content: one four times; the other twice. One other student alsoe-mailed studentsconcerningcontentonce. Fivestudents contactedthe instructo rforhelp on technical matters.One studentcontactedhim three times,another twice andthe otherthree students onceeach.Onlyone studentcontactedanotherstudent for technicalhelp.This occurred once. Four ofthe five students hadreason to e-mailthe instructorfor administrativereasons and twofound it necessary to e-mail otherstuden ts for the same reason.

The use ofe-mai lsforpurelypersonalreasons waslow. Three of the six students sent personalmail to the instructor:one four times, anothertwice and thelast once.

Studentinteractionswere rare withonly three of the six recordingthatthey used e-mai l for personalpurposes: one fourtimes, another three times and the final student onlyonce.

Allof the studentsfelt thattheyhad adequate access to theinstructor. Weekly discuss ionpromptswereprovidedbythe instructorand e-mailed questionswere answered quickly.Onlyonestudentfelt that the instructor shouldhavehad a greater level of course related activityon thelistserv.

The students considered a replyto an e-mail to be prompt if it occurred withinat 41

most 48ho urs of their original posting.Four ofthe sixstudents felt that 24 hours would be sufficient lag timebetween question and answer. Considering that the students check theire-mailat least once a day and sometimes mice a day, this means that the students checktheire-mail.send a question and expect to have a response the next time they log in.

When asked to comment on the benefitof the listserv,studentsrepliedthat it replaced thephysica l classroom ,linkedthe individualstudenttothe otherparticipantsand decreasedthefeelingofisolation.Discussions occurredasthey would in a classwith individua lstudentssharing theirideas and concepts with the class as a whole. One stude ntfeltoverwhelmedbythe amountof e-mail that had to be read.

While the amount of e-mail may have been viewed as substantial. students were stillselective about the choice of topic when e-mailing a response.The questionnaire responses indicated that availability of time was a limiting factor in the amount of e-mail generatedby the students.Other professional and social responsibilitieswere reported as having a higherprioritylevelthan the coursework. When students had timeto compose aresponse theywereselective as to what they wrote depending on what had alreadybeen saidon thetopicandwhether theyhad anything further to add.Otherfactors report ed as having influence d the student'sdesiretocom pose amessage were whether they were interested in the particu larthreadof conversation,and whether theyhad other assignmentsinthecourse whichneeded theirattention.

A numberofWWWlinkswere included in the web site as an aid in finding other 42

resourceson the course topic.In generalthe studentsfound these extema llinksto be helpful, appropriate and interesting.They commented that a greater number of links would be desirable. Most students exploredbeyond the given pages. Despite a note on this web page asking students to help inthe expansion of the page by providing the web address of any new and usefullinksthat they may come across,none wererecei ved .

FinalQuestio nnaire Resul ts

Thefinal questionn air ehadonlyfour respond ents.There weresome technic al difficulti esattheendofthe termwhich preventedthe studentsfromanswering the quest ionna ireon-linefor about a week,priortowhich only three studentshad submitted the questionnaire. The difficulties were repaired and all students were e-mai ledadvising them that the form was again working properly.Despite this advisory,only one more studentresponded .

OverallImp ression

All four respondents indicated being eithe rsatisfied orvery satis fiedwiththe courseoverall. All respond ents would recommendthe course to afriendandwouldtake anothercourse ifoffered in the sameorsimilarformat.Conve nience in terms of time,the abilityto "attend" class when time permitted,andconvenienceoflocation wereindicated as being positive aspects of the course format. Oneof the respondents also indicated that the writing aspect of the course required the student to be more aware of what others had

43

beenwritingintermsofexamplesanddirections.This.intum. required thestudent to be organized.sequential and coherentinthinking and deliberateinwordchoice(G.final questionnaire).Another student indicated thattheneed to use a computerforthe course forcedthe student to become more adeptin the use of the computer(E.,final questionnaire).

Allstuden ts indicatedthat,whiletheyenjoyedthe course and fonnatof the course.theystillmissedtheface-to-face interaction thatoccurswithintheon-site classroom.One student indicatedthatbecauseof this physical separationbetweenthe studentsthen"Topics. concerns ere not talked about spontaneouslythrough the computer"(E.[malquestionnaire).Anotherstudentwasconcernedabout the quantity andqualityofe-mai lbeingsent, statingthat thelength ofthemessa geswasnot warranted bythe lo wqualityof what wasbeing said (G.[malquestionnaire).Yet anothe rstudent felt that more timewas spentdealingwith the requirementsnecessarytoaccess andshare coursecontentthan ifshe bad actUallybeeninclass(0.[malquestionnaire).

T~chnicalProb/~ms

Twoofthe four respondents hadtechnical difficulties sincethemidtenn questionnaire.One stude ntreportedcontinuingproblemswiththecommercialInternet servi ce provider .Theothe r stude nthaddifficulty sending the finalassignmentasan attachment on e-mai l. Theproblem was solvedwith thehel p of a friend.

44

COUTS#!COmpoM nlS

No ne ofthe students indicatedthattheybadcontactedtheinstructor forhelpon eitherthe coursecontent or fortee bnicalhelp.However . two of the fourcontactedthe instructorforadministrativeandpersonal reasons,

Twoofthe students contactedotherstudents aboutthecourse conten t butno one contacted anotherstudent toask for technicalhelp.OnestUdentused e-mailtospeak with anotherstudentconcerningan administrativeconcernandone other studentusedit to chat to other students.

Studentsindicatedthat course workloadandlackof comp uteraccess,duetoboth connectionproblemsandstudentlocation problems. suchasbeingout of townoroutof thecountry.restrictedthe amount oftimethattheycouldspendincontributin gtothe Iistserv.One studentfeltthatcontributio ns would havebeen greaterhadthepromp ts given bythe instructor.andthe responses ofthe other students. beenmorestimulating.

COUTS#! Eroluarion

Studentsindicatedlbatthey weresatis fiedwiththe course evaluationformat as presented.Noalternate formsofevaluationweresuggestedby any ofthestudents.

Lutu",andE-MailCorrespondence

Studentshad theopportunitytowritetothe class inge ne ral usingtheIistserv established for thiscours e. DataprovidedinTableIshowsthat the numberofpostings

45

varied coosiderablyfrom week toweek,Thestudentswere underDOobligation lOposta certain nwnberofrespoosesper week.butpartofthefinalm.ark was basedon the contributionsofthestudmttothelistserv.

Throughoutthesemestertheinstructorpostedwed.JypromptstotheIistservinan etfontohelpstimulateandguidediscussionactivity.There weretwoweekswhen these promptswere notposted.Oneweektechnicaldifficultiespreventedtheposting and during anotherweekr.b.e instructorwasoutof thecountryandunabletoconnecttothe Iistserv.ListservconDibutionsonthepartof thestudentsdroppedduringthesetwo weeks.

Table1-Nwnberof Correspondences fortheTerm

ts\

^{A BC 0 E F G H StudentTotallo-}

^T_

lns1nJCtOl"'s

..-tag.

of_

Wee,

1

, , ,

1

,

1

,

0 7 3 '0 30%

2 t 0

.

^{2 0 0 5 a 21}

·

²⁵

^""

3

• ,

5 7

• " • ^ts

⁷⁰

•

⁷⁶

."

· ^•

⁷

^• •

⁵

· ^•

^{1231 000000}

.

²

^,

⁰⁰⁰

^• ·

¹⁰

^{, ,} ·

¹²²⁰⁰

· ·

⁷

•

²²

· ·

²³²²

^•

^{23021 371220}

^te

¹⁰⁷

^{, •}

²²³⁰

^.

^56222'

^" "

⁷

^34"

^29%

^{"" ""}

^9%0%

10 0 0 2 3 0 0 3 2 10

• I . .. ^"

11

·

^{0 3 3 0 0}

· ^•

²⁰

^,

^{21 5%}

12 2 0 3 10

•

¹³⁰

• ..

⁰

..

^0%

13 2 0 3

•

^{2 0 0 3}

" •

^{23 39%}

A 3 0 2 3 2

·

³

·

^{22 5 27 ,,%}

Duringtheterm. atotalof351 messagesweresenttothelistserv -an average of twenty sevene-mailmessages perweek,Twenty twooftbese messageswere.on average,fromstudents while fivecarnefromthe insttuctor.

Instru ctor' sComments

The insttuetor'sviews onteaching strategiesemployedandconcerns about the structureofthis course form anintegralpartof thisreport,Anopportunitywasprovided fortheinstructor tosharehisobserva tions.concemsand suggestionsforfuturedistance educatio ncourse developmentinthis format.

CouneDevelopmen t

This reportfoc use s notonly onthe course deliveryand student reactions but also on theprocessanddevelopmentof thecourse intoa distanc edeliv eryformat. The instructor providedsome thoughts00thistopic.

Developmen t was largelya matterofmodifying assignmentssothattheycouldbedooeindependently.I chose tomakethis coursemyfirstdistancecoursebecause itwas already close tobeingina suitableform.My main concernswerearoundma.k:ingthecouneaccessible(which determinedthatwewould use a listserv insteadof WebFonnnorsomeother resourcehog).anduseful(which determinedthatthe new assignment wouldinvolve somethin g immediatelyapplica ble).The distanceformat also offeredsomethin gthelocal course didn't have:the opportunity to relatethe courseimm ediately to school practice.andto reflectonthatinthe COUISC.Becauseat least somestudentsina local course arelikelytobeaway

47