Hasan Cakir

Research in online learning environments: Priorities and methodologies

Due to increasing demand for education and training in the information age, online learning and teaching is becoming a necessity in our future. However, lack of research goals to understand impact of online learning environments on students is a problem in research on online learning environments. We identified four main research goals to pursue in online learning environments based on their impact on learner achievement, engagement, and retention (opposite of attrition). Those goals are (a) enhancing learner engagement & collaboration, (b) promoting effective facilitation, (c) developing assessment techniques, and (d) designing faculty development programs. Current promising work in those areas is presented. Four methods that are common in the instructional technology literature are recommended to pursue those goals. Formative research and developmental research are relevant for all four. Although appropriate for any of the goals, experimental research is a better fit for goals b and c, and activity theory is useful for goals a and b.

Effects of teacher professional characteristics on student achievement: an investigation in blended learning environment with standards-based curriculum

Use of different teaching materials and curriculum for the same subjects is always a confounding factor in studies investigating teacher characteristics and student achievement. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of different teacher qualities on student achievement in high schools with a standards-based curriculum delivered over a blended learning environment. Utilizing quantitative research approach, this study investigates the effects of teacher characteristics and teaching practices in a course offered through Cisco Networking Academy, which has a standards-oriented curriculum delivered online. Participants in the study were 226 teachers and 3299 students from Networking Academies located in the USA. The findings suggest that certain teacher characteristics such as teaching experience, degree, and primary teaching field do not have effects on student achievement.

Student Achievement in the Cisco Networking Academy: Performance in the CCNA1 Course

This paper examines the student, program delivery and school factors that influenced student achievement in the Cisco Networking Academy. The Academy uses the Internet to distribute a centrally developed curriculum and standards-based online testing, and combines that with local instructors who teach classes to students. This study, conducted with 10,371 students at 1,651 schools, found that individual student ability, gender, age, and motivation were the most important influences on student achievement. Instruction quality was also important, but unlike prior studies, the impact of school level factors was small. We conclude that this combination of centralized curriculum, standards-based testing, and local instruction worked equally well in a variety of environments and enabled students to reach their own potential.

Innovative Educational Technology for Special Education and Usability Issues

The purpose of this study is to introduce educational technology project, OZTEK, for special education students and present usability issues related to those developed technologies. With the OZTEK, the researchers intend to develop innovative, technology enhanced learning environments to support the education of children with such special needs and to investigate effectiveness of such learning environments.

Students and school characteristics related to elementary school students' views of the nature of science

The purpose of this study is to investigate student- and school-level factors that help to explain the difference in the nature of science (NOS) views. Overall, the design of this study is correlational. The sample consisted of 3062 students enrolled in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades of elementary schools in Turkey. A hierarchical linear modelling was selected as a modelling technique. This study has established the importance of the students socioeconomic background, learning approaches undertaken, self-efficacy, and motivational goals in the formation of their NOS views. The findings reveal that quality of both the physical infrastructure of schools and the educational resources in schools, parent educational levels, student achievement, self-efficacy, experience of meaningful learning, and learning goal orientation are positively related to different dimensions of student NOS views. Additionally, performance goal orientation and rote learning approaches have a negative relationship with different dimensions of student NOS views.

Participation in online courses from the students’ perspective

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to uncover factors that affect participation in online classes from the student’s perspective. Interest in the online environment has been increasing and renders the opinions of students participating in online courses more important since the opinions of students in this environment are closely related to interaction. It has been seen that lack of interaction creates a sense of loneliness, which causes students to drop their classes. For this reason, a qualitative study has been conducted about student experiences on the use of methods that increase interaction in an online environment and participation. Participants were given tasks based on collaboration, special attention was paid to make sure that the setting in which the participants found themselves was in accordance with the principles of the community of inquiry, computerized equipment was used to facilitate online interactions. 15 students worked based on collaboration and 15 students worked individually. Data was collected with interviews and reflection reports. Open, axial and selective coding was made by using the theorizing method. At the end of the study, it was determined that participation in online environment was affected in both groups by factors such as personal approaches, changing variables, mediated attributes.