Instructional designers are often discouraged from testing their learning products due to the challenges faced when attempting to apply the traditional approaches of usability testing. As a result, scholars have been trying new methods to overcome those challenges. Remote usability testing, often operated by crowdsourcing websites, is one of those…

Despite the importance of advising experiences, very little is known about the interpersonal communication dynamics of these interactions. This study addresses that knowledge gap by providing an analysis of audio recordings of advising sessions as they occurred in the offices of five academic advisors who met with undergraduate advisees (n= 28).…

The first purpose of this study was to identify procedural and heuristic knowledge used when creating web-based instruction. The second purpose of this study was to develop suggestions for improving the Heuristic Task Analysis process, a technique for eliciting, analyzing, and representing expertise in cognitively complex tasks. Three expert…

Improving Web accessibility for disabled users visiting a university's Web site is explored following the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act rules for Web page designers to ensure accessibility. The literature supports the view that accessibility is sorely lacking, not only in the USA, but also…

The purpose of this research study was to understand the construct of usability from the perspective of 74 students enrolled in six online courses offered by one online and distance learning program at a large, public university in the Midwest. Six courses, designed and developed by two different groups, professional and nonprofessional…

This thesis is about a design process for creating "educationally relevant" tools. I submit that the key to creating tools that are educationally relevant is to focus on ensuring a high degree of alignment between the designed tool and the broader educational context into which the tool will be integrated. The thesis presents methods and processes…

Using a theoretical framework of adolescent social capital, this study examines what one middle school does or does not do to help the students at the school make friends and acquaintances. After reviewing the related literature on adolescent social capital, social network theory, social goal motivation, and best practices middle school…