This article explores the use of critical reflection to facilitate the construction of knowledge resulting from participation in e-service-learning courses. Such an instructional approach integrates an interdisciplinary curricular framework with site-specific service-learning opportunities resulting in an environment richer and more accessible…

Given the popularity of webcasts and their educational benefits as stressed in previous research, this paper investigates students' acceptance and continued use of webcasts in an undergraduate course. Furthermore, the study explores the determinants of students' webcast use by employing the well-validated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) of Davis…

Mazoue's ("J Comput High Educ," 2012) article, "The Deconstructed Campus," is examined from the perspective of instructional design practice. Concerns center on: the knowledge base of precision instruction; the differential effectiveness of teaching procedural as opposed to declarative knowledge; the reliance on assessment of online learning; and…

In this rejoinder to Mazoue ("J Comput High Educ," 2012) article, "the deconstructed campus," we react to his arguments regarding the replacement of face-to-face teaching on college campuses with computer-supported approaches, including on-line learning, intelligent cognitive tutors, and open-ended learning environments where, rather than being…

Evidence-based approaches to the design of the next generation of interactive distance education need to take into account established multimedia learning principles. Cognitive load theory is a theory that has significantly contributed to the development of such principles. It has applied our knowledge of major features and processing limitations…

In this study we seek to better understand the outcomes of online education by observing the role of learners' personality traits. Under the premise that the behaviors that maximize learning are contingent on the delivery method, we compared learning outcomes of students participating in four sections of an undergraduate principles of management…

Distance education is defined, the various approaches for effective research are summarized, and the results of major research reviews of the field are explained in this article. Additionally, two major areas of research are included--research on barriers to the adoption of distance education and research summaries that explain and support best…

In this special issue, I bring together two studies to provide a comprehensive overview on diverse and interactive instructional methods aimed to facilitate higher levels of learning. One study explored the effects of group interaction using different instructional strategies focusing on the learning "process" using the Community of Inquiry…

This study examined the relationships among question types and levels and students' subsequent responses/interactions in online discussion forums. Question prompts were classified both by type, as outlined by Andrews ("POD Q J Prof Organ Dev Net Higher Education" 2(34):129-163, 1980), and by levels of critical thinking, as outlined by Bloom…

This study investigated the change in the relationship between pedagogy, computer-use and students' perceptions about course-effectiveness over time. Students from a Canadian university completed a questionnaire in two different years (2003 = 1,834 participants and 2007 = 1,866 participants). Of greatest interest were characteristics of technology…

In this investigation we assessed whether different formats of media (video, text, and video + text) influenced participants' engagement, cognitive processing and recall of non-fiction cases of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. For each of the cases used in the study, we designed three informationally-equivalent versions: video, text, and video +…

This paper reports the findings of a Stage I meta-analysis exploring the achievement effects of computer-based technology use in higher education classrooms (non-distance education). An extensive literature search revealed more than 6,000 potentially relevant primary empirical studies. Analysis of a representative sample of 231 studies (k = 310)…

It is argued in this article that the convergence of collaborative constructivist ideas and emerging instructional technologies are transforming higher education. The article begins with an overview of instructional and communications technology and how this technology is being used in the service of either sustaining or transforming teaching and…

This article describes a research-based approach for developing new instructional technologies for higher education. The argument is made that the most common instructional methods used by faculty and educational technology in colleges and universities are based on adult learning theories that have not been supported in the past half-century of…

Those involved in instructional technology in higher education are urged to view instructional technology as a means of improving academic productivity. Instructional technology has been used for over forty years to analyze instructional problems and design solutions that reduce costs and improve learning outcomes. The Pew Program in Course…