Research suggests that supportive programmatic structure can assist online doctoral student success, including time to complete the dissertation. However, completely online doctoral students have unique characteristics and needs and are underrepresented in the research literature; therefore, research exploring programmatic factors as related to…

Grounded in self-determination theory, this exploratory quantitative study investigated motivational profiles of bachelor's degree-seeking students at an online, for-profit university. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct motivational profiles (internally and externally regulated) of 158 students enrolled in a bachelor's degree program. The…

This study extends prior research by investigating the relationship of synchronous, one-on-one academic coaching with program completion, comparing a random sample of students who participated in academic coaching to a matched sample of students who did not receive academic coaching in fully online graduate courses. The findings indicate that a…

It is widely recognised that the development of higher order thinking skills is a fundamental goal of higher education. There are a variety of online tools that assist the development of student higher order thinking. In this paper, a process of scaffolding for the writing of higher-order questions enabled through peer learning activities is…

Modern internet technologies have revolutionized traditional education by providing flexible and resourceful e-learning opportunities in all fields of life. Programming is an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum in computer sciences where an adequate level of programming expertise is expected from the graduates. In this paper, we explore…

The Professional Learning Community (PLC) has been used in higher education to provide a platform for faculty members to discuss challenges and build professional skills. While the virtual PLC (VPLC) is becoming a more acceptable delivery mechanism for faculty professional development, successful practices for designing these learning environments…

Students' re-enrollment in the subsequent semester after their first semester at a four-year institution is a strong predictor of retention and graduation. This is especially true for students who transfer from a community college to a four-year institution because of the many external or non-academic factors influencing a student's decision to…

A team of instructional designers, educators, and the School of Liberal Arts (SLA) academic program coordinator from a nonprofit online college, collaborated on producing short voice-over videos with interactive elements that address the most common technology frustrations of beginning students. These videos were inserted into the "Start…