Postgraduate research plays an important role in the knowledge economy, yet attrition rates among postgraduates remain a global concern. Numerous studies have cited anxiety around academic writing as a primary cause for declining completion rates, particularly among L2 students. Further exacerbating the problem is the acceleration of academic life…

Blended synchronous learning has the potential to increase students' co-presence and improve upon the flexibility and accessibility of course offerings if designed well. This method of instruction, however, has yet to realize that potential. This exploratory study used qualitative methods to iteratively design, assess, and refine the technological…

The present study explored the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, a theoretical structure identifying processes leading to effective online learning, within one particular learning context. Drawing from research supporting the significance of three presences--teaching, social, and cognitive--this study augments a line of research on a potential…

The purpose of this case study was to examine how a professional graduate program in higher education administration developed seminar-style courses in a blended format. Blended courses involved two extended in-person weekend sessions with synchronous online sessions, and other asynchronous coursework in between. This study explored the importance…

The principal concern of this research was to learn more about effective designs of learning activities in online environments. A questionnaire was administered in three sections of a not-for-credit intensive blended graduate seminar in university teaching. The online activities included readings, videos, discussion forum activities and other…

In face-to-face conversations, speaker transitions (or hand-offs) are typically seamless. In computer-mediated communication settings, speaker hand-offs can be a bit more challenging. This paper presents the results of a study of audio communication problems that occur in an online synchronous course, and how, and by whom, those problems are…

This paper reports on a case study investigating distance learners participating in graduate-level hybrid synchronous instruction. This research helps inform the design of hybrid synchronous instruction in which face-to-face and distance learners engage in class sessions. Data were collected using electronic journals, individual interviews, and a…

Blended learning, which combines online and face-to-face pedagogy, is a fast-growing mode of instruction as universities strive for equitable and alternative pathways to course enrollment, retention, and educational attainment. However, challenges to successfully implementing blended instruction are that "social presence," or students'…