News from the IDD&E Faculty (Spring 2017)

 We have been running a Monday morning research session for the last two semesters with doctoral students who are working on their research apprenticeships (RAP). Each includes conducting field research in online environments. One is studying asynchronous online discussions, one studying Spanish language learning in online community college courses, and one is looking at student's thoughts and valuing of learning resources. Other participating students are looking at synchronous discussions in online business courses and exploring the impact of visualized concept map of the research process and graduate students understanding of research. Each of the RAP and other projects have a focus on developing evidence-based findings to support RIDLR's mission (Learn more about these projects. ). The sessions have been attended by other doctoral students who learn about the RAPs in progress, field research in online environments, and are able to share their ideas about their own research. The conversations we have range from discussing theoretical and conceptual ideas, to describing data collection and analysis activities, to reviewing initial results and discussing findings, to reviewing drafts of the papers being written. 

Smith, N. L. (2017). On the origins and defining characteristics of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society (EERS). Remarks for the 40th Anniversary Presidential Panel at the annual meeting of the Eastern Evaluation Research Society, April 3, Galloway, New Jersey.

Dr. Jing Lei has been leading an internal funded project, Achievements and Challenges of MOOCs: A Research Synthesis. This synthesis research project intends to rigorously examine and code the literature to conceptualize the landscape of the theoretical frameworks of MOOC approaches, investigate the essential features of the MOOC learning environment, identify the opportunities and challenges of MOOCs, and most importantly identify the effective instructional design features in MOOCs and the most effective practices that are associated with successful student learning through a meta-analysis. Doctoral students Jiaming Cheng and Tianxiao Yang, and a visiting student from Southern China Normal University, Xiaotong Yang, have been working with Dr. Lei on this project. Thus far the team has finished searching and selecting literature, coding and calculating effect sizes, and is currently working on data analysis and manuscripts. A research proposal has been accepted for presentation at AECT 2017.