Communicating the Christian ethos of Christian institutions constitutes a significant portion of the effort and monies of these institutions. Included in the purview of ethos enablers are faculty input and advising, student services, required chapel/worship, ministry formation/field experiences, admissions procedures, and opportunities for…

This article reviews content analysis studies aimed to assess critical thinking in computer-mediated communication. It also discusses theories and content analysis models that encourage critical thinking skills in asynchronous learning environments and reviews theories and factors that may foster critical thinking skills and new knowledge…

This study investigated the differences between demographic, enrollment, academic, and self-directed learning characteristics of completers and noncompleters in online courses at one community college. The study also obtained students' self-reported reasons for not completing their coursework. No significant differences were found in the…

This study examined the use of ARCS-based, motivational mass e-mail messages designed to improve the motivation and retention of students enrolled in an online, entry-level, undergraduate computer applications course. Data from the Course Interest Survey, based on Keller's ARCS model, were gathered and analyzed for two online groups (one treatment…

This article presents an interview with Mark David Milliron, board chair of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, a trustee with Western Governors University, and a member of the advisory board for the University of Texas (UT) TeleCampus. He is also president and CEO of Catalyze Learning International, a private…

The ability to perform a laboratory experiment as a nonhands-on observer, such as in a distance education context, has been questioned by some educators who ponder whether distance education lab courses are as effective as those held in a physical laboratory environment. This article examines this issue and compares the performance of distance…

This article addresses the intersections between online education and special education in terms of instructional design. The relevant elements of online instructional design, which require particular attention when teaching students with special needs, are examined. The overall finding is that contemporary courses generally include design…

This study examined the teaching styles of online instructors at Florida's 28 community colleges in an effort to determine if the instructors had adopted the learner-centered model touted in the literature. The Principles of Adult Learning Scale was the primary instrument used to collect data from 292 online instructors. The study revealed that…

Although difficulties that characterize distance learning (DL) clearly have differential effects on different learners, links between barrier research and individual differences remain relatively unexplored. This study examined the relationship between cognitive style, based on Jung's (1971) theory, and achievement levels among 77 university…

This study focused on the effects of peer moderation on meaningful interactions in online discussions. A meaningful interaction was defined as a message relating to a discussion topic, responding to a previous message, and adding substance to the discussion. A randomized-subject, posttest-only control group design was used to test the first…

This study examined the impacts of online graduate students categorizing their online discussion contributions according to an instructor's criteria. Student messages before and after this categorizing activity were unitized by terminal punctuation; classified for function, skill, and level; and analyzed based on Henri and Rigault's (1996) content…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the instructional and assessment strategies that are most effective in the online learning environment. Faculty and students identified several strategies for maintaining instructional quality in the online environment, including the importance of using a variety of instructional methods to appeal…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Susan C. Aldridge, the president of University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in the United States. Founded in 1947, UMUC is an accredited institution dedicated to providing working adults, military personnel, and students worldwide the opportunity to achieve their academic goals through online…

This study examines data from focus group discussions with parents, students, and teachers at an online charter school. Standardized achievement test scores of children at the online charter school are compared with those in a similar school and across the state. Overall, the constituents involved in the online charter school were satisfied with…

This article presents an interview with Dr. James Johnson Duderstadt, founder of the Millennium Project, the president emeritus and university professor of science and engineering at the University of Michigan. In this interview, Duderstadt talks about how he became an educator and how he decided to specialize in technology and distance education.…