There is a growing interest in socially engaged engineering, which emphasizes the consideration of social, cultural, environmental, and economic factors to broadly benefit society. However, current workforce training and engineering education programs do not adequately support skill sets needed to link complex societal needs and contexts to design…

This action research dissertation provides an overview of inquiry based learning in online general chemistry course. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many science course have been converted to an online format. In order to increase student learning and attitudes in online chemistry class, two inquiry based learning activities were developed and…

Providing students with access to mentoring is now a national priority, as demonstrated by the prevalence and diversity of formal mentoring programs at postsecondary institutions (Crisp, 2017). The proliferation of formal mentoring programs has resulted in postsecondary institutions designing and implementing eMentoring programs. Despite their…

Corporations have become increasingly global over the past number of years. The rapid development and usage of communication technology has allowed global corporations to more readily form virtual teams to take advantage of the skills of its global workforce. Having skilled workers on teams helps to make them more productive. Productive teams tend…

Prior research on volunteer training suggests that in-person options are the best way to support volunteer skill development and motivation. Until fairly recently, face-to-face training was the only choice for volunteer training beyond individual self-study through books and manuals. Due to lack of resources and an increased accessibility of…

Online learning is one of the fastest growing trends in education. A practical problem faced by instructional designers and online instructors is how to design an interactive learning activity that benefits content mastery without adding technological barriers. The online discussion forum provides quick solutions because it is usually ready for…

The cognitive apprenticeship framework melds situated, authentic learning with social learning theory. The learning strategies included in a cognitive apprenticeship are modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration. Previous research indicates that the most beneficial strategy for the learner is coaching, and is also…

Early career special educators serving in low socioeconomic communities are at risk of leaving the profession unless they receive specialized support to address unique challenges. The purpose of this study was to examine an intervention developed to increase teacher sense of efficacy. Self-efficacy, adult transformative learning through critical…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine pre-service teachers and their use of online community. This study explored four focal participants enrolled at Benedictine College and their perceptions about online community. The participants were completing their student teaching block during the spring 2016 semester. The data sources…

This dissertation examined how an asynchronous video reflection tool impacted learners' perception of social presence and their feeling of community in an online learning environment. More than ever before learning in postsecondary education takes place online through computer mediated communication, as almost all colleges and universities offer…

This study investigated the effects of example-postings on students' cognitive load and performance in online discussions. Cognitive overload was assumed had caused the problem of the lack of reflective and thoughtful contributions in student discussions. The theoretical foundation supporting the use of example-postings aiming at reduce…

As online education continues to expand, colleges are demanding faculty to keep up with the pace and add new online classes. Oftentimes, online instructors rush the course creation process by focusing more on the course content than creating a sense of human presence in the virtual online community of learners. It was theorized that by simply…

The transition from preservice teacher to classroom teacher occurs rapidly, requiring that teacher candidates assimilate into the field quickly. In order to do so, these teachers must demonstrate appropriate language development as it relates to the teaching profession. Not only do novice teachers need to be able to articulate what they and their…

This study explores the potential for the band rehearsal setting to be a reflectively collaborative space. School bands are traditionally large, performance-centered ensembles where discussions between director and student are limited by time and the size of the group. Recognizing the need to base rehearsals less on the conductor's…

The development of preservice teacher beliefs is a complicated, non-linear process. It has been suggested that preservice teacher beliefs are highly impacted by their past histories as students, and that these beliefs act as a filter for interpreting the coursework and ideas in their teacher education programs. Understanding the way preservice…