Dual-layer MOOCs are an educational framework designed to create customizable modality pathways through a learning experience. The basic premise is to design two framework choices through a course: one that is instructor centered and the other that is student determined and open. Learners have the option to create their own customized pathway by…

A small number of programs provide training on scientific and environmental topics to early- and midcareer journalists across the globe. Yet there are questions about the effectiveness of these programs: Do they make a difference in science reporting quality or quantity? What aspects of training are most impactful? Do journalists find the training…

Conducted on French Language Teaching students, this research aims to determine the causes of writing anxiety. Designed in accordance with the mixed method, a writing anxiety inventory, a language proficiency exam, a retrospective composing-process questionnaire, a writing attitude scale and semi-structured interviews were used. After identifying…

The concept of energy serves biologists as a powerful analytical model to describe phenomena that occurs in the natural world. Due to the concept's relevance, educational standards of different countries identify energy as a core idea for the teaching and learning of biology and other science subjects. However, previous research on students'…

To address the need to increase STEM faculty member expertise in STEM education research I developed a faculty community of practice (FCP) focused on increasing knowledge and experience in STEM education research. The STEM Education Research Scholars Group (SERSG) met every other week during the academic year to study and engage in education…

Recent research supports the benefit of students' construction of relevance through writing about the connection of content to their life. However, most such research defines relevance narrowly as utility value--perceived instrumentality of the content to the student's career goals. Furthermore, the scope of phenomenological and conceptual…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of analysing online discussion and argue for the merits of mixed methods. Much research of online participation and e-learning has been either message-focused or person-focused. The former covers methodologies such as content and discourse analysis, the latter interviewing and surveys.…

A wide variety of research is being completed and published in geography education. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of the different types of methodologies, research designs, and techniques used by geography education researchers. Analyzing three geography education journals, we found 191 research articles published…

The authors discuss the relationship between information seeking and epistemic beliefs--beliefs about the source, structure, complexity and stability of knowledge--in the context of collaborative information-seeking discourses. They further suggest that both information seeking, and epistemic cognition research agendas, have suffered from a lack…

Objective: To examine whether and to what extent relevant and meaningful discussions of weight loss occurred in the Weight Watchers' online community, and whether and to what extent the online community is designed for fostering such discussions. Methods: A multimethod approach was used here. First, a quantitative content analysis was conducted on…

The purposes of the research were to (1) examine the relationships between faculty behaviors that promote critical thinking and the resulting critical thinking within peer interaction and (2) identify specific faculty behaviors that result in the highest levels of critical thinking within peer interactions. Using a concurrent embedded mixed…

This article reports on an exploratory study of giving medals as part of a peer rating system in a question-and-answer (Q&A) study group on Python, a programming language. There are no professional teachers tutoring learners. The study aimed to understand whether and how medals, awarded to responses in a peer-based learning environment, can…

Professional development (PD) opportunities for teachers most commonly take place outside the classroom and are typically designed to address specific components of teachers' instruction or curriculum. However, there are other activities that take place within the classroom that may have a profound impact on the PD of a teacher. We sought to gain…

Protecting children online from sexual predators has been a focus of research in psychiatry, sociology, computer science, and information systems (IS) for many years. However, the anonymity afforded by social media has made finding a solution to the problem of child protection difficult. Pedophiles manipulate conversation (discourse) with children…

This action research study explored attitudes and expectations of faculty at a Midwestern university who taught at least one fully online course during 2014. The study focused on instructor perceptions toward and experiences with web-based instruction, particularly in the critical areas of assessment and feedback; course organization; interaction…