Matching Items (29)
Description
Distance education has grown over the past several years due to the integration of technology and its advancements. The flexibility, convenience to the learner, and cost-effectiveness of online learning contributes to this rise in popularity (Boling et al., 2012). Consequently, U.S. colleges and universities are quickly establishing a vast array of distance learning programs and initiatives (Ernest et al., 2013; Jones & Wolf, 2010; Northcote et al., 2015). Communication in these colleges and universities among professors and students is vital, but it is especially critical in an online learning environment where social relationships are formed from the information conveyed by computer-mediated communication (Tu, 2000). Communicating immediacy between the instructor and student, facilitating reflection, and furthering discourse can build rapport while allowing the student to engage with the course content (Tu, 2000; Swan et al., 2008). Further, communication between the professor and the student enhances a sense of belonging, individuality, and intimacy in online learning environments (Boling et al, 2012). Online professors operate in a unique digital space where they provide guidance, instruction, and support to their online students without being in the same place and time. The purpose of this action research study was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate students regarding the strategies that can be used to improve the professor-student communication within the online educational setting. I explored this phenomenon using the theory of transactional distance and the social presence theory. This action research study involved the intervention of a Communication (COMM) Suite along with the participation of undergraduate students who have experienced online learning using both synchronous and asynchronous platforms. I collected data using a Likert scale survey accompanied by individual semi-structured interviews.
ContributorsMayo, Idris (Author) / Sampson, Carrie (Thesis advisor) / Henriksen, Danah (Thesis advisor) / Sutton, Jann (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The purpose of this study is to explore the literacy practices members of an online fan community engage in to participate in the space and to question what learning happens through that participation. This dissertation is the product of a two-year virtual ethnographic study of The Sims Writers' Hangout (SWH), a discussion forum website established by fans of The Sims to support members' interests in creating and sharing Sims fan fiction. Affinity space theory informs an understanding of SWH's organization, and a definition of literacies as situated, social practices also frames the study. Data were collected following a discourse-centered online ethnographic approach, which guided systematic observation and interactions with eight key informants. The data corpus includes hundreds of pages of discussion forum posts, member profiles, moderator-created norming texts, numerous digital, multimodal Sims fan fiction texts, virtual interview responses from informants, field notes, and additional virtual artifacts, such as informants' websites and Flickr® photostreams. Study results are presented within three separate manuscripts prepared for publication and presentation, each exploring different lines of inquiry related to SWH. Chapter 3 focuses on tensions visible in the forum discussions to argue for an expansion of affinity space theory that accounts for the “hanging out” members do in the space. Chapter 4 analyzes one informant's literacy practices using a Design perspective. This analysis reveals the collaborative nature of Sims fan fiction literacies. The final manuscript (Chapter 5) offers an analysis of SWH pedagogy using Bernstein's pedagogic device concept. Data illustrate how pedagogic discourse in this online, informal learning space aligns with and challenges Bernstein's theory. Finally, Chapter 6 offers conclusions about how these three analyses expand our understanding of adolescent literacies and 21st century learning. This chapter also contains implications for theory and practice, recommendations for future research, and reflections on lessons learned.
ContributorsLammers, Jayne Catherine (Author) / Marsh, Josephine P (Thesis advisor) / Hayes, Elisabeth R. (Committee member) / Gee, James P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Depression is one of the top mental health concerns among undergraduatesand disproportionately affects students who are underrepresented in science. As
such, understanding how emerging science learning environments, such as online
science courses, affect students with depression is integral to creating a more
inclusive scientific community. In this exploratory study, I interviewed 24
undergraduates with depression who were pursuing an online BS degree in
biological sciences at a research-intensive institution. I assessed how students
perceived depression affected their learning, and in turn, how online science
courses affected their depression. Using a hybrid approach of deductive and
inductive coding, I found that students’ reported depression negatively affected an
array of cognitive domains when learning science online, including students’
effort, focus, and time management. Students reported that the fast pace of online
courses, the lack of needing to show up to a class in person, and difficulty
developing relationships with other students commonly exacerbated their
depression. Conversely, the flexibility of completing coursework when and where
students wanted, developing a relationship with the instructor, and the ease of
having questions answered online positively affected students' depression. This
study provides insight into ways to create inclusive online learning environments
for students with depression.
ContributorsMohammed, Tasneem (Author) / Cooper, Katelyn KC (Thesis advisor) / Brownell, Sara SB (Committee member) / Collins, James JM (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Online communities have created such an outpouring of new media that academia has not had the time to catch up. Creepypasta is a genre of online horror short story that began in the early 2000’s on the forums 4chan and Something Awful. In the twenty-two years since its inception, the academic discourse around it has sprouted but not flourished. Creepypasta as a genre is perhaps one of the newest and least understood offshoots of horror and the gothic. Thus far there have been no full-bodied attempts at defining the genre or looking at the works as a whole, instead there is only focus on the parts. This thesis will be attempting to define the genre and will undertake this by first analyzing the components that define the genre, its origins, claims to authenticity, and publishing routes, as well as the folkloric connections which have been the focus of the majority of the literature thus far. This will move into an analysis of a single example of the form, Accounts from a Lonely Broadcast Station, to demonstrate the application of the definition of the genre, but also to show the wide breadth of potential of this genre in being analyzed academically.
ContributorsRamirez, Makayla (Author) / Justice, George (Thesis advisor) / Zarka, Emily (Committee member) / Baldini, Cajsa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Research suggests there is no significant difference in outcomes for online learners and on-campus learners. Several decades of online learning have also consistently demonstrated online students are less likely to persist than those students attending on campus. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework describes social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence as components of a quality online learning experience, and research links these three constructs to student retention. Using the lens of the CoI framework, this mixed methods action research study sought to increase social presence and teaching presence in asynchronous online courses at Davenport University using embedded video feedback mechanisms, in support of student persistence and retention. The Community of Inquiry survey instrument was used to quantitatively measure the changes in social presence and teaching presence between courses with and without the video feedback mechanisms. Qualitative research interviews were conducted to probe for meaning and a greater understanding of both student and instructor experiences in the courses. Results of the study indicated small but significant gains in teaching presence, but other quantitative measures showed no changes with the introduction of the videos. Qualitative analysis suggests that students who watched the instructor videos reported higher levels of teaching presence for several subconstructs of teaching presence and social presence. However, the qualitative analysis also suggested that many students did not watch the instructor videos, and thus did not benefit from any increased presence. Student discussion response videos yielded similar results qualitatively, with benefits demonstrated by those students who watched the videos but none by those who abstained.
ContributorsMiller, Brian John-Suydam (Author) / Salik, Steve (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Nyambane, Gerald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
ABSTRACT Trauma-informed parenting programs for families experiencing adversity including forced migration have the potential to reduce mental health difficulties within the family system and improve child outcomes, yet few resources are available for refugee and immigrant families and even fewer programs have been contextually adapted for refugees. For many displaced parents, parenthood is accompanied by various challenges at different stages of migration. Pre- and peri-migration trauma and adversity leave parents at risk of psychopathology such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and de-pression which can interfere with effective parenting. In a post-migration context, they face additional stressors as a result of intercultural contact - acculturative stress - including the loss of social networks, poverty, and discrimination (Osman, 2016). Parenting in the Moment (PIM) is the first online parenting program for forcedly dis-placed families seeking to assist parents adjust to parenting in a new culture via evidence-based parenting practices. This study aimed to understand is to understand factors related to acceptability of the program for immigrant and refugee populations. Results indicated that PIM is culturally and generally acceptable to both immigrant and refugee populations. No significant differences were identified in acceptability between immigrant and refugees. This is preliminary evidence that parenting programs may be contextually adapted and acceptable to multiple cultural groups.
Keywords: refugees, immigrants, parenting, acceptability
ContributorsMuldrew, Lynn (Author) / Gewirtz, Abigail Dr. (Thesis advisor) / Wolchik, Sharlene Dr. (Committee member) / McNeish, Daniel Dr. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2026
Description
Previous research used the context-free Big Five model of personality traits to predict social media behaviors. The perspective implicit in this research assumes that expression of the Big Five is free of situational context. This thesis challenges this assumption to address whether people express the same Big Five on social media as offline. In two studies, this thesis addressed three issues: (1) whether there are self-reported differences in the Big Five between social media/online and offline contexts, (2) whether a five-factor structure replicates in the offline and social media context reports, and (3) whether the predictive validity of the Big Five is the same between offline and social media contexts. College students (total N = 2102) reported their offline and social media Big Five. Main findings reveal that, first, all of the Big Five have lower expressions in social media/online than offline, except for those in the lowest quartile of offline trait expressions; possible explanations include regression towards the mean or the environmental impact of social media. Second, a similar factor structure appeared with openness, extraversion, and neuroticism items being the most robust between offline and social media contexts. However, some conscientiousness and agreeableness items did not apply across offline and social media contexts. Third, the Big Five had different predictive patterns of social media behaviors depending on the context. These findings inform that future research may better serve to specify the context of Big Five expression to understand social media behavior.
ContributorsBunker, Cameron James (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis advisor) / Edwards, Michael C. (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
This research examines the similarities and differences between relationships developed through interpersonal interactions within online fandom communities and those relationships developed through traditional in-person interactions such as those found within education or the workplace. Beyond the similarities and differences between the two forms of relationships, I discover phenomenologically what happens in the moment that two online friends meet in-person. To be precise, I analyze how individuals within fandoms categorize their relationships in terms of their willingness to confide in each other, their perceived honesty of themselves, and their mental image of one another and how it may have changed over the course of their relationship. We might expect that individuals maintaining a relationship through interactions within online fandom may maintain idealized images of their respective partners due to the aspect of self-censorship that is derived from asynchronous communication. Additionally, we might expect that while trust may be built upon this exaggerated image of one’s partner, a disruption in this image formed through an in-person interaction could potentially result in said trust crumbling. Using a qualitative analysis of three individuals participating within various fandom communities. Thus, we predict that individuals within online relationships take steps to build an idealized version of oneself that might not fully reflect an individual’s actual physical or mental character.
ContributorsLewkowitz, Aidan Alexander (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Williams, Wendy (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Innovations in undergraduate education have increased the prevalence of active learning courses, online education, and student engagement in the high-impact practice of undergraduate research, however it is unknown whether students with disabilities are able to engage in these innovative learning environments to the same extent that they are able to engage in more traditional learning environments. Universities, disability resource centers, and instructors are mandated to provide accommodations to students with disabilities for the purposes of prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Are accommodations being adapted and created for these new types of learning environments? This dissertation reports findings from four studies about the experiences of students with disabilities in these three learning environments, specifically examining the challenges students with disabilities encounter and the emerging recommendations for more effective accommodations. I find that students with disabilities experience challenges in each of these learning environments and that the current suite of accommodations are not sufficient for students with disabilities. I argue that institutions need to consider modifying student accommodations and the process for obtaining them to better support students with disabilities in these evolving learning environments. I also provide recommendations for the ways in which undergraduate science education can be made more accessible and inclusive of students with disabilities.
ContributorsGin, Logan Eugene (Author) / Brownell, Sara E. (Thesis advisor) / Cooper, Katelyn M. (Thesis advisor) / Collins, James P. (Committee member) / Stout, Valerie (Committee member) / Zheng, Yi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021