This article reports on four United States studies of how rewards systems, extrinsic and intrinsic, could play an important role in providing incentives for university faculty to teach (or remain teaching) electronic and distance education courses. The first three studies conducted prior to 2003 reported faculty were inherently motivated to teach e-learning and distance education. The fourth study in 2003 reported key findings that differed from the earlier studies. Using a principal components analysis, the researchers found nine indicators of motivation to participate or not participate in electronic or distance education. The implications from the fourth study indicated that, while faculty members were inherently committed to helping students, faculty members wanted their basic physiological needs met by university administration through extrinsic motivators, such as salary increases and course releases.The success of electronic, web-based, courses (e-courses) depends not only upon the schools and universities, but also on the faculty and adjunct instructors who teach these courses. Yet few studies have addressed what motivates or deters the faculty who create and teach e-courses beyond the acknowledgment of their overarching intrinsic motivation to help others achieve an education. Two studies conducted prior to 2002 and two conducted after 2002 were assessed in order to look at which factors were identified by faculty members as influencing their participation or nonparticipation in electronic learning (e-learning) and distance education (DE) courses (Beggs, 2000;Betts, 1998;Gannon-Cook, 2003;Schifter, 2000). These studies used the same (in three instances) or similar (in one study) self-report instrument to measure the intrinsic and extrinsic faculty motivators and demotivators in four university settings. The One of the most well-known behavioural psychologists for his work in motivational theory was Abraham Maslow (1954). His hierarchy of needs theory was based on the basic motivations that govern human behaviour. Needs are prioritised, ranging from the most basic needs of food, water and sleep; to self-actualization needs that include the desire for self-fulfilment and the realisation of one's potential (French, 2001). Once the person's basic physiological needs are met, food shelter, safety and money, then one moves on to desire the next level of needs, those of acceptance, love, higher self-esteem and self-actualisation. The final levels of needs intrinsically motivate a person to perform 150
Lev Vygotsky's research presented individual mental processes as being determined by one's historically developed activity, both on a physical level (through labor) and on a mental level (through the use of psychological tools). In this study, the author reviews the translated research of Vygotsky and compares his use of the term psychological tools with research in the areas of metaphors and semiotics. Could these semiotic psychological tools be included in media sound bites and computer software to facilitate and enhance learning? Because the author's research interests are in the area of instructional technology, the intention is to explore psychological theories, such as those of Vygotsky, to see how instructional technologists might use these theories. The ideal would be to incorporate theories into their design and create innovative technology programs that affect learning positively both in the United States and in other countries and cultures. Vygotsky's LegacyThe body of research initiated by Vygotsky offered the basis for a culturally grounded theory of cognition, with common units of analysis that could even transcend the limitations of professional and political boundaries. His concept of mediated tools linked culture to the functions of consciousness. His theory of the zone of proximal development provided a foundational underpinning to constructivist philosophy and to the field of education. It also offered insight that would later become beneficial in instructional technology because that philosophical zone has evolved beyond the zone of proximal human development to what is now virtual infinity. Vygotsky was also a proponent of sociocultural studies and believed that that field of study should extend across professional as well as national boundaries.The traditional dictionary meaning associated with the word tool is &dquo;anything which assists a person to do manual or nonmanual work&dquo; (New Lexicon Webster s Dictionary, 1989). Vygotsky used the word tool in a similar context, assigning it meaning in relation to work. But Vygotsky's tools also consisted of metaphors, semiotic and symbolic representations of communication, such as auditory/vocal and visual expressions, body talk (kinesthetics), touch (proxemics), and prostheses (extensions of limbs). Vygotsky's definition, accordingly, would include technological instruments-tools such as video recordings, computers, and telecommunications (Wertsch, 1985). MetaphorsMetaphors are figures of speech that attribute a similar quality or name to something that is not literally applicable to it (New Lexicon Webster s Dictionary, 1989). By reasoning through metaphors, the anchoring of information can occur, which facilitates understanding of new ideas (Gallini, Seaman, & Terry, 1995). Metaphors are verbal, so stories told as metaphors, along with speech patterns and method of story delivery, all play a part in the successful understanding of the metaphor. Metaphors conjure up images and emotions, for example, bittersweet thoughts of love from the metap...
Keywords: Developmental Research, Distance Learning, Instructional Technology
Criteria may vary across public, private, and for profit universities for online courses around the world, but despite differences, there seem to be some successful lessons that could be shared across universities with respect to certain factors that increased student online course completion rates among certain universities’ courses. This study looked at an associate dean’s search for strategic factors that could contribute to increased online course completion rates at his university and more effectively address problems on a timely basis to improve those course completion rates. The associate dean’s collaboration with a researcher led to their conducting representative model research that revealed best practices and assessments from a number of universities and provided insights into which factors could be applied to online courses at his university. Future research could look at whether there was a substantial increase in student retention in the online courses implementing these factors to see if there may be best practices that could be generalized to other universities around the world.
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