Concept+Paper


 * ** EDU7006-8 ** ||  ||
 * ** Quantitative Research Design ** || ** 8 Concept Paper ** ||
 * Steve: This is a very nice draft of a concept paper. You are following the concept paper template, the research design you selected is appropriate for your topic, and I see that you have made some improvements in your problem, purpose, and research questions sections based on our previous assignments! I know that this final paper is a lot to pull together, but this is really a great start on this milestone document. **
 * At this point, my main suggestion would be to clarify some of the terms and variables in your paper and make those consistent throughout the document. For example, I recommend bringing the definition information about adult learners up from the literature review section so that readers will get to it towards the beginning of the study (see my comments throughout your paper for more details on that). **
 * I also recommend clarifying the independent/treatment variable in your study. I see that you have made some clarifications about minimal webcam use, which is excellent, but I think the variable still needs to be refined. Will instructors only be using webcams to interact with students in these courses or will they also be using other forms of technology to communicate (e-mail, discussion forum, giving feedback on assignments, etc.)? I also wonder if you should compare use of webcam with no use of webcam as opposed to use of the webcam only once a day. Or, could you have three groups? This is just something to think about as you continue your study. **
 * My other main suggestion would be to rework the wording in some of your hypotheses (once you clarify your variables) to make the group comparison more clear. I have provided an example in a comment in that section. But again, this is something you should discussion with your dissertation chair. **
 * I also noticed that there is not much here regarding possible problems you might encounter when you conduct the study. This is something your committee reviewers will look for so I recommend adding that to your next draft of the paper. **
 * I have provided more comments and some writing suggestions throughout your paper so please review those for more feedback. Thank you for your hard work in this course. I wish you the best with your future NCU classes and your research project! **
 * My other main suggestion would be to rework the wording in some of your hypotheses (once you clarify your variables) to make the group comparison more clear. I have provided an example in a comment in that section. But again, this is something you should discussion with your dissertation chair. **
 * I also noticed that there is not much here regarding possible problems you might encounter when you conduct the study. This is something your committee reviewers will look for so I recommend adding that to your next draft of the paper. **
 * I have provided more comments and some writing suggestions throughout your paper so please review those for more feedback. Thank you for your hard work in this course. I wish you the best with your future NCU classes and your research project! **

=Concept Paper =

Introduction
In the past decade technological advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have caused drastic changes in the way many people communicate, socialize, work, and receive training or education. A decade ago ,*  institutions of higher education and professional development were beginning to explore the new terrain of what has become e-learning, but few were successful in delivering quality education using this relatively new media (Broadbent, 2002). Now, there are many colleges, universities, and professional development firms that have embraced e-learning in their instructional portfolio.* The benefits to learners are abundant with e-learning. Specific benefits include; improving learning efficiency ( Cabrera-Lozoya, Cerdan, Cano, Garcia-Sanchez, & Lujan, 2012; Chen & Lien, 2011; Huang, Lin, & Huang, 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), affecting the way learners behave ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Bhuasiri, Xaymoungkhoun, Zo, Rho, & Ciganek, 2011; Haythornthwaite, Bruce, Andrews, Kazmer, Montague, & Preston, 2007 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), enhancing communication ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami, Bernard, Bures, Borokhovski, & Tamim, 2010; Alshare, Freeze, Lane, & Wen, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), convenience ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Anderson, 2008; Desai, Hart, & Richards, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), saving of time ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Lam & Bordia, 2008; Pastore, 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and improved learning ability ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Donavant, 2009; Ismail, Gunasegaran, & Idrus, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). More learners are attending online classes <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">because of <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> these benefits despite factors* that lower learner satisfaction with the delivery of such courses ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">McGlone, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The dilemma of e-learning is <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">that* <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">not all students experience these benefits as the incidence of dropout or failure in online courses is much larger than for traditional classes; as much as 32% for online as opposed to 4% for traditional classes ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Al-Fahad, 2010; Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The high rate of dissatisfaction with online courses has led to studies focusing on the causes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with online learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena, Linder-VanBerschot, LaPointe, & Rao, 2010; Martinez-Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Despite dissatisfaction with online learning, studies show that students in online courses learn better <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> than students in face-to-face classrooms <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">, as indicated by grades or acknowledging perceived learning, as they participate more ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Huang et al., 2012; Martinez-Caro, 2009; Watkins, 2005; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and as their personal satisfaction with the course increases ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Chen & Lien, 2011; Kozub, 2010; Martinez-Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Student satisfaction with online courses decreases as learner-to-learner interaction, teacher-to-learner interaction (Martinez-Caro, 2009), and the amount of reflection allowed within the course decreases ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">McGlone, 2011; Watkins, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The succeeding study is proposed within this context of student satisfaction and dissatisfaction with online learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 23.4px;">Statement of the Problem
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The largest factor of dissatisfaction in adult online learning is the lack of face-to-face interaction <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">between <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> the learner <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">the facilitator or other learners ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Alshare et al., 2011; Boling, Hough, Krinsky, Saleem, & Stevens, 2011; Donavant, 2009; Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Dissatisfaction culminates in higher dropout rates ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Al-Fahad. 2010; Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), decreased motivation to learn ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Omar, Kalulu, & Belmasrour, 2011; Park & Choi, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), less participation, and consequently, less learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Jackson, Jones, & Rodriguez, 2010; Martinez‐Caro, 2009; Shea, Fredericksen, & Pickett, 2006; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">There is a <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> relationship between online participation and learning performance ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Huang et al., 2012; Martinez‐Caro, 2009; Pelz, 2010; Ruey, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), as well as between learning performance and student satisfaction in online courses ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ali & Ahmad, 2011; Chen & Lien, 2011; Ferguson & DeFelice, 2010; Kozub, 2010; Martinez‐Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).* However, there is little empirical research regarding online adult professional development or appropriate techniques for teaching and engaging non-traditional learners ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Donavant, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">),* or on appropriate modes of interaction in learning management systems ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">So & Bonk, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The specific problem is that a lack of understanding regarding techniques or methods for improving interactions in adult online professional development courses will continue to have higher than necessary failure, dropout, and dissatisfaction rates.* Knowledge gained will enlarge the currently small knowledge base regarding online professional development training ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Chen & Lien, 2011; Donavant, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), contribut <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">ing to <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> a better understanding of facilitating engaging online instruction ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Bradley, 2009; Huang et al., 2012; Watkins, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and assist <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">ing <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> in identifying the proper level and types of media for use in the online classroom ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Fletcher, Tobias, & Wisher, 2007; Martinez‐Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 23.4px;">Purpose of the Study
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The purpose of this quasi-experimental nonequivalent groups study is to investigate <span style="color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">if <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">the addition of a visual element (webcam) can foster increased learner participation, increased learner satisfaction, and increased perceived learning in an online adult professional development learning environment. At least <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">10 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> instructors will teach two separate live virtual classes (LVC) for a US-based technology company. One class each will be a control class <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> and one will utilize the webcam to promote additional interaction for the student-instructor relationships, and attempt to mitigate the lack of face-to-face interaction noted as the primary source of dissatisfaction for online students. The students of these LVC, who can sign in from any location worldwide, will be surveyed after each class to ascertain their satisfaction, engagement, and perceived learning with the class as measured by sections of the Learner Satisfaction and Transfer-of-learning Questionnaire (LSTQ) developed by Gunawardena et al. (2010). A Wilcoxon rank-sum test will be conducted to determine whether the use of the visual element changes the means of measures of learner participation, satisfaction, or perceived learning in the experimental classes versus the control classes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 23.4px;">Research Questions
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The research questions identified for this study are included to evaluate the relationships between the independent variable - the introduction and use of a visual input (webcam) in an adult online professional development learning environment, and the dependent variables of learner satisfaction, learner engagement, and perceived learning. Associated with the problem and purpose statements the following research questions will be addressed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Q1.** How does satisfaction of adult learners, as measured by the Learner satisfaction subsection of the LSTQ ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), vary, if at all, in an online LVC environment between learners who <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">continually <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> see the instructor through visual technology (webcam) and learners who see the instructor through a webcam only at the beginning of each day?* <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Q2.** How does engagement or participation of adult learners, as measured by the Learner-learner interaction and Learner-instructor interaction subsections of the LSTQ ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), vary, if at all, in an online LVC environment between learners who <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">continually <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> see the instructor through visual technology (webcam) and learners who see the instructor through a webcam only at the beginning of each day? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Q3.** How does perceived learning of adult learners, as measured by the Ability to transfer subsection of the LSTQ ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), vary, if at all, in an online LVC environment between learners who <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">continually <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> see the instructor through visual technology (webcam) and learners who see the instructor through a webcam only at the beginning of each day?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 23.4px;">Hypotheses
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**H1** **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px; vertical-align: sub;">0 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**.** Measures of learner satisfaction are statistically equivalent when the visual (webcam) element is used continuously as opposed to when it is minimally used in online LVC instruction of adult technical professional development courses (μLVC = μwc).* <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**H1a.** Measures of learner satisfaction are statistically different when the visual (webcam) element is used continuously as opposed to when it is minimally used in online LVC instruction of adult technical professional development courses (μLVC ≠ μwc). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**H2** **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px; vertical-align: sub;">0 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**.** Measures of learner participation are statistically equivalent when the visual (webcam) element is used continuously as opposed to when it is minimally used in online LVC instruction of adult technical professional development courses (μLVC = μwc). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**H2a.** Measures of learner participation are statistically different when the visual (webcam) element is used continuously as opposed to when it is minimally used in online LVC instruction of adult technical professional development courses (μLVC ≠ μwc). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**H3** **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px; vertical-align: sub;">0 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**.** Measures of learner perceived learning are statistically equivalent when the visual (webcam) element is used continuously as opposed to when it is minimally used in online LVC instruction of adult technical professional development courses (μLVC = μwc). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**H3a.** Measures of learner perceived learning are statistically different when the visual (webcam) element is used continuously as opposed to when it is minimally used in online LVC instruction of adult technical professional development courses (μLVC ≠ μwc).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 23.4px;">Brief Review of the Literature
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The rapid advances of technology over the past decade have led to a dramatic shift in the demographics of post-secondary students, as about 40% are over the age of 25, and a majority of these more mature learners are increasingly choosing e-learning to pursue higher education ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ke & Xie, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and professional development ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Adults, or nontraditional students, learn differently <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> traditional students, or younger adults entering post-secondary education straight from secondary education ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Bye, Pushkar, & Conway, 2007; Ke & Xie, 2009; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).* Historically, these differences have been ignored in higher education, and in online courses, where the same pedagogies and curriculum face both the traditional and non-traditional learner ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ke & Xie, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). There has also been little research outside higher education regarding how mature adults learn best in a virtual classroom ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Chen & Lien, 2011; Donavant, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). In this section various adult learning theories <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> expounded to create a foundation from which to address research findings on the optimal ways that adults learn online, along with characteristics that detract from online learning. With a grasp of the characteristics that enhance adult learning, various means of measuring learning <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> identified and expanded upon <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">to <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> help identify factors contributing to learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Adult Learning Theories
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">There are dozens of learning theories that provide a rich foundation for understanding the complexity of learning and teaching ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Minter, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). These theories often have common characteristics, have strengths and shortcomings, and have their supporters and detractors. Many of these theories do not differentiate between teaching adults and teaching children or are not applicable to adult learners ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Minter, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).When working with the adult learner the underlying premise of these theories is adults learn in a different way; therefore teachers of adults need to use different instructional methods ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Minter, 2011; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). For this reason many authors differentiate the term //andragogy// to identify the methods of teaching adult learners, and //pedagogy// to identify the methods of teaching children ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Commonwealth of Learning, 2000; Karge, Phillips, Dodson, & McCabe, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Andragogy, “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">the art and science of helping adults learn <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Blanchard, Hinchey, & Bennett, 2011, p. 2; Cercone, 2008, p. 137 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), is a foundational theory that has many supporters. The term was originally coined by Alexander Kapp in 1833 and philosophically flows from Plato’s theory regarding education ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Malcolm Knowles was the leading proponent of andragogy in the <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">United States <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> and developed a number of tenets describing the adult learner, and these have been expanded by various authors. Although originally touted as a complete explanation of how adults learn, Knowles later acknowledged “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">pedagogy and andragogy probably represent the ends of a spectrum that ranges from teacher-directed to student-directed learning. Both approaches, he and others now suggest, are appropriate with children and adults, depending on the situation <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Zemke & Zemke, 1995, para. 12 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The main principles of andragogy include: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">There are numerous arguments, discussions, <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> principles propounded regarding adult learning theory and there is still no single unified model, theory, or set of principles all <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">educators <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">subscribe to ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Baskas, 2011b; Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The principles of andragogy are accepted by most educators of adults as foundational even though it is acknowledged several factors important to the teaching of adults are not included or emphasized ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009; Blanchard et al., 2011; Donavant, 2009; Strang, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Another popular theory in the literature professes adults have certain preferred learning styles, and this predilection dictates certain behaviors; among these behaviors are an inclination for receiving instruction in certain ways ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Buch & Bartley, 2002; Kozub, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), which acts as a predictor of performance ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Huang, Lin, & Huang, 2012; Kozub, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Whereas the research results regarding learning styles is mixed ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cercone, 2008; Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark, 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), it does underscore <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> that <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> adults learn differently.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners are independent and will not necessarily learn what they are told but need to understand why they need to learn something and the benefits it will bring ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Baskas, 2011a; Fidishun, 2011; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011; Strang, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners become more self-directed and need to have control over their learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Blanchard et al., 2011; Guilbaud & Jerome-D’Emilia, 2008; McGlone, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners have a varied and rich experience base as well as different learning styles and motivators. Adult learners want to be acknowledged for and have their experiences used in learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009; Blanchard et al., 2011; Fidishun, 2011; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners are more motivated to learn when a challenge enters their <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">lives <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">; encouraging them to discover how to handle it better ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Baskas, 2011a; Donavant, 2009; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners are interested in learning how to solve problems, perform tasks, or improve their <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">lives <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cercone, 2008; Chyung & Vachon, 2005; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners become more intrinsically motivated, focusing on aspirations than extrinsically motivated ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009; Donavant, 2009; Minter, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Adult learners expect a student-centered approach to learning in an environment of mutual respect between teacher and student, and between students ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Karge et al., 2011; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011; McGlone, 2011; Minter, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Adult E-Learning
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The literature consistently identifies six characteristics contributing to optimal e-learning for adults ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cercone, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). These six characteristics include (a) a strong student-instructor relationship and facilitation by the instructor ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Boling et al., 2011; Chyung & Vachon, 2005; Jackson et al., 2010; Simonson, Schlosser, & Hanson, 1999 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (b) student-student interaction and collaboration ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; McGlone, 2011; Pelz, 2010; Sinclair, 2009; Yang & Cornelious, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (c) reflection by the learner to tie new learning to existing experience ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ali & Ahmad, 2011; Cacciamani, Cesareni, Martini, Ferrini, & Fujita, 2012; Cercone, 2008; Ruey, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (d) development of a sense of community among participants ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Andrews & Haythornthwaite, 2007; Sharples, Taylor, & Vavoula, 2007; Tallent-Runnels, Thomas, Lan, Cooper, Ahern, Shaw, & Liu, 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (e) immediate real -<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">world application of learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Baskas, 2011b; Blanchard et al., 2011; Ke & Xie, 2009; Segrave & Holt, 2003; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and (f) student motivation ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Baskas, 2011b; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011; Omar et al., 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Research demonstrates that <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">by including <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">these characteristics and emphasiz <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">ing them <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> in online learning the performance of adult learners increases, as does their participation, and satisfaction. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Success in distance education has many factors, but key to learning for the student is development of the student-instructor relationship ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Simonson et al., 1999 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and the instructor’s level of interaction with the learner ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Jackson et al., 2010; Martinez-Caro, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Chyung and Vachon (2005) identified that four of the seven most significant factors contributing to <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">learners' <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> satisfaction <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are either <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> directly related to an instructor’s skills or <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">his or her <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">interaction with students. The supportive and nurturing relationship of learner and instructor increases learner satisfaction with online courses ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ali & Ahmad, 2011; Jackson et al., 2010; Shea et al., 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), improves motivation ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Al-Fahad, 2010; Omar et al., 2011; Park & Choi, 2009; Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and optimized learning outcomes ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Boling et al., 2011; Jackson et al., 2010; Pelz, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Regarding the second critical success factor in e-learning, Boling et al. (2011) argued today’s technology requires a shift from a teacher-centered to a student-centered paradigm, which relegates the instructor to the role of mentor, guide, coach, or facilitator ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Blanchard et al., 2011; Cabrera-Lozoya et al., 2012; Oncu & Cakir, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). One of the most important factors in successfully facilitating online is projecting teaching presence ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Archambault, Wetzel, Fouger, & Williams, 2010; Bradley, 2009; Pelz, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">); the ability to connect with students ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ke, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and encourage them and provide the necessary scaffolding to promote learning and self-reliance in the learner ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Anderson, 2008; Cacciamani et al., 2012; Cercone, 2008; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) while staying in the background as much as possible ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Hoic-Bozic, Mornar, & Boticki, 2009; Ke, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). When transitioning from the traditional classroom to online, mastering facilitation can be a challenge for the instructor ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Allen, Crosky, McAlpine, Hoffman, & Munroe, 2009; Jackson et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and can be the key to success or failure ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Lombardi, 2007 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). As teaching presence increases, so does student satisfaction ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Donovant, 2009; Ferguson & DeFelice, 2010; Gunawardena et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), engagement ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ke & Hoadley, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), motivation ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Diaz & Entonado, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and accomplishments ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ally, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) as students actively participate in learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Yang & Cornelious, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Another key element to successful learning is self-reflection by the learner, which engenders deep learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cercone, 2008; Ke & Xie, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), high-quality learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ke, 2010; Ruey, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), meta-learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Baskas, 2011a; Bradley, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and metacognitive expertise ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cacciamani et al., 2012 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Reflection also allows learners to examine their biases ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Baskas, 2011b <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), other perspectives ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Sinclair, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) so they can internalize ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ally, 2008; Strang, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), contextualize ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Bradley, 2009; Fidishun, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and transform experience and knowledge into learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Buch & Bartley, 2002; Chan Mow, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), while boosting motivation ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009; Baskas, 2011a <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and promoting higher order learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Taran, 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Studies demonstrate reflection is a key online design dimension ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ali & Ahmad, 2011; Ke, 2010; Yang & Cornelius, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and students seem to prefer e-learning because of their ability to reflect before engaging in discussions ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Andrews & Haythornthwaite, 2007; Ke & Hoadley, 2009; Martinez-Caro, 2011; Sinclair, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">A sense of community is vital for successful online learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Andrews & Haythornthwaite, 2007; Boling et al., 2011; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). It is the role of the instructor to lead community-building activities ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ally, 2008; Muirhead, 2004 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and his or her example is key to the establishment of a sense of community ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Ally, 2008; Ambrose & Ogilvie, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) through accurate and timely feedback ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Desai et al., 2008; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), encouragement of participation and interaction ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Boling et al., 2011; Cornelius, Gordon, & Ackland, 2011; Yang & Cornelius, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), nurturing caring and healthy relationships ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Caine, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and modeling effective and open communication ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Desai et al., 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). When students feel a sense of belonging to a community and care for other members of the group significant benefits have been noted. The benefits to students are they (a) bond earlier and better than in traditional classrooms ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Pelz, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (b) engage in more reflective thinking ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Bradley, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (c) better understand the material ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Bradley, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (d) are more motivated ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Boling et al., 2011; Karge et al., 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and satisfied ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), (e) persist with their studies ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and (f) learn more ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Boling et al., 2011; Fahy, 2008; Moisey & Hughes, 2008; Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">An additional factor <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">in <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">successful online courses is addressing real-world applications. According to andragogy, students are interested in immediate problem-centered approaches to learning, so learning can improve their work, family, or personal life ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009; Blanchard et al., 2011; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). By encouraging students to bring their experience and problems into the classroom, learners construct deeper and more robust knowledge, while expanding their abilities to handle real problems ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Allen et al., 2009; Ruey, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). This application of real-world learning is a motivator ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Fidishun, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and enriches learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The final factor mentioned regularly in the literature regarding optimal online learning is the need for motivated students. Motivation increases significantly in students because of good student-instructor relationships ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Al-Fahad, 2010; Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Lam & Bordia, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), strong teaching presence ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Diaz & Entonado, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), a sense of community ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Boling et al., 2011; Karge et al., 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), participating or collaborating in learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Omar et al., 2011; Park & Choi, 2009; Pigliapoco & Bogliolo, 2008 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), encourage <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">ment <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> to reflect on new learning ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abela, 2009; Baskas, 2011b <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), having material clearly presented ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Ali & Ahmad, 2011; Alshare et al., 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), and working through real-world problems ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Fidishun, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Though student motivation is assumed to be a major factor of adult learning, Kiliç-Cakmak (2010) identified that “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">little or no attention [has been] paid to presentation methods that influence <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">p. 195 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) motivation. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">As each of these factors is present in an online course, it is important to verify their effects on students. Verification comes in the form of measurement. Measurement of adult learning takes many forms, which is discussed next.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Measuring Adult Learning
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Learning is a subjective and deeply personal experience. Correlations <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">exist <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> between measures of perceived learning and other factors to make it possible to determine how well an instructor has performed even in situations <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">in which <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">students do not necessarily receive grades. The most common methods of determining the amount of learning that has taken place in a class are through measuring performance or satisfaction ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Martinez-Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Recently, structural equation modeling (SEM) <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">was <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> used to estimate “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">causal relationships using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">p. 576 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) to identify how various factors affecting learning work together ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Martinez-Caro, 2009; Strang, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Usually performance is measured in terms of quantitative assessments. Teachers attempt to determine the level and amount of learning through tests, quizzes, and papers, and generally apportion grades in accordance with some rubric identifying how well they believe a student has learned specific material. Performance as measured by grades is highly dependent on several factors independent of learning, e.g., writing skills, class participation, prior knowledge, or grading inconsistencies ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Martinez-Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). In professional development courses grades are not usually given, so learning of the student generally comes from self-report data of how much knowledge or skill the learner believes he or she acquired ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Donavant, 2009; Gunawardena et al., 2010; Martinez-Caro, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Another means of determining learning in adults is through their satisfaction with a course. Martinez-Caro’s (2009) SEM analysis demonstrated there is a strong positive correlation between a student’s perceived learning and his or her satisfaction, r = .73. Several other authors have used learner satisfaction as the appropriate measure of effectiveness of learning in online courses ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010; Kozub, 2010; McGlone, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). This precedent means that under proper circumstances evaluation of a student’s satisfaction can be an effective means of determining the effectiveness of the instruction and of the learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">E-Learning Factors
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Numerous studies have been conducted to determine which factors affect effective e-learning. As learners participate more in an online class their satisfaction increases and they learn more ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Huang et al., 2012; Gunawardena et al., 2010; Watkins, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Multiple studies have found one of the most important factors regarding performance and satisfaction is the amount of interaction between the student and the instructor ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al, 2010; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). One study found “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">interaction is key to effective e-learning, with teacher-student interaction the strongest predictor of learning in e-learning <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Martinez-Caro, 2009, p. 578 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). As mentioned previously, the interactions and collaboration between learners weigh heavily on the satisfaction of the student ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cercone, 2008; Ke & Xie, 2009; Martinez‐Caro, 2009; McGlone, 2011; Sinclair, 2009; Zemke & Zemke, 1995 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">), with one study showing <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">collaboration as <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> “ <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">the highest predictor of transfer of learning <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">” ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al, 2010, p. 223 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The convenience and flexibility of the online experience rank highly in factors adding to learner satisfaction ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Donavant, 2009; Ismail et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Chyung and Vachon (2005) identified factors for dissatisfaction with e-learning, and recognized that satisfaction is not the inverse of dissatisfaction, and vice versa. Their study showed because students are not satisfied does not automatically mean they are dissatisfied; conversely just because students are not dissatisfied does not mean they are satisfied. For this reason they suggested factors contributing to both <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">in an online classroom <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">should be identified, and those tending toward satisfaction added or maintained, and those causing dissatisfaction eliminated or reduced. In this vein, the number one perceived disadvantage of e-learning by new students is the lack of face-to-face interaction between the student and instructor ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Donavant, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). While the most significant factors contributing to learner dissatisfaction in e-learning courses is a perceived lack in (a) the instructors participation level, (b) the instructors feedback and responsiveness, and (c) the instructor’s giving of clear directions and setting of expectations ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Chyung & Vachon, 2005 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).*

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Summary
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Outside higher education there is little research in the area of adult education, and even within higher education very little research has sought to distinguish the characteristics, traits, and proclivities of the non-traditional student. Andragogy provides seven assumptions pertaining to the adult learner, but fails to mention or expand on several factors important to learning. The most common factors mentioned in the literature for successful adult online learning are (a) the need for a rich and engaging student-instructor relationship and facilitation by the instructor, (b) collaboration between students, (c) reflection by the student to meld new knowledge with past knowledge and experience, (d) building a sense of community between the participants of an online class, (e) the application of knowledge to immediate, real-world problems, and (f) the need to enhance student motivation. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">To determine if a treatment is successful it is necessary to measure accurately whether learning has occurred. Because learning is an internal process and its effects are not usually visible to the outward observer, several elements have been researched to determine how well they measure <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">real <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> learning. Self-reported satisfaction of the learner has been demonstrated to correlate closely with other factors representative of adult learning. Many satisfiers have been verified through research such as participation, interaction between student and instructor, and between students, and convenience, but the main dissatisfier in online classes remains the lack of face-to-face interaction between learner and instructor.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Research Design
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">This study will use a quantitative, nonequivalent control group, quasi-experimental design. Oracle USA schedules <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">classes <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> at the discretion of management and based upon various factors, such as popularity <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> of the class <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> and instructor availability. Classes <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are presented <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> or canceled and students rescheduled depending on the number of enrollments in each class. Whether a student purchases a technological course conducted in a traditional face-to-face environment or in <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">an <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">LVC may not be completely at the discretion of the learner, providing institution, or presenting instructor. Without randomization there can be no true experimental design; without an experiment it is more difficult to determine cause-and-effect. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The design of this study is a <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">quasi-experiment because it is not possible to place learners randomly into separate control and test groups <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">because <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">learners purchase the appropriate class for their professional development needs and such other motivators personal to each student. Even without randomization, a sufficient sample size and control group <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">permits <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> statistical manipulation to approximate randomization <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">closely <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Edgington, 1966; Wright, 2006 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">A nonequivalent control group with post-test only quasi-experimental design <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> chosen for this study due to the factors above. Because of these environmental conditions this design provides a strong basis from which to conduct the research and mitigates some of the weaknesses normally inherent in this design. The strengths, advantages, and necessity of this design for this study <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> discussed in terms of four pairs of possibilities in design, (a) quasi-experimental versus experimental, (b) random assignment versus nonrandom assignment, (c) post-test only versus pretest-posttest, and (d) between-subjects versus within-subjects. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Quasi-experiment versus experiment.** Experiments have two specific characteristics that enhance internal validity. Strong internal validity allows researchers to pronounce that the dependent variables of an experiment are caused by the independent variables ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Greenhoot, 2003 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The two characteristics of an experiment are direct manipulation of one or more independent variables and the control and experimental groups are probabilistically equivalent and can therefore be compared. A quasi-experiment consists of the first characteristic but lacks the second. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The control group will experience an online technology class with minimal use of a visual element, while the experimental group will experience the same class with continuous use of a visual element. The proposed study is not an experiment in the truest sense because subjects already exist in groups and <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">not randomized. The consequences of nonrandomization <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> discussed next. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Random versus non-random assignment.** Random assignment of subjects to control and experimental groups increases internal validity because of the principle of probabilistic equivalence. Without random assignment a greater possibility exists that two groups are not equivalent. Without groups being equivalent it becomes more difficult to compare them, weakening internal validity. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">In the proposed study there is only one online class for each course during any given week. A student will be assigned to a class based on the timeframe that he or she is available to attend. Each class is likely to have students <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">who <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> are different in many characteristics from students in a preceding or succeeding class of the same course. In the proposed design each instructor will teach the same course twice with one class randomly chosen as the control and one as the experiment. Combining the results of multiple instructors, courses, and technologies of the control and experimental groups mitigates selection bias through random assignment of the test condition to multiple intact groups ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">de Anda, 2007; Yu & Ohlund, 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Since random assignment of subjects to groups is not possible, a true experimental design is not possible. The usual assumption regarding quasi-experimental existing groups is that they are members of a “group because of something they chose or did” (Jackson, 2012, p. 348). In the proposed study, what constitutes membership in one group versus another is a matter of time availability. Each prospective subject comes from the same adult population with a desire to learn a technology or set of technological skills. Each student is different in many characteristics from every other student. There is little reason, however, to expect that any group of these students is different in the characteristics of import to this study than any other group of these students simply because of their availability for training, and a case <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> made that although the researcher <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">cannot <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> randomly assign subjects to groups, the process of enrollment effectively performs a similar function. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Post-test only versus pretest-posttest.** In a post-test only design, the difference in mean scores between the control and experimental group are assumed to be the effect of the independent variable. This assumption can be problematic for a nonequivalent control group design because there is no way to determine <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">if <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> the groups are statistically equivalent in relevant characteristics. By adding a pretest to the design it is possible to compare between the groups and also within the groups for differences. A pretest also makes it possible to adjust measures statistically to obviate initial differences. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">In the proposed study a pretest has no meaning. The instrument used to measure student satisfaction, engagement, and perceived learning cannot be utilized in the context of no learning. Prior to a class a student will neither be satisfied or dissatisfied, he or she is not yet engaged, and has yet to perceive any learning from the class. In the real-world context of the proposed study the post-test design is the better choice. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Between-subjects versus within-subjects.** The proposed study utilizes a between-subjects, or independent groups, design. Differences in the means of measurements of study constructs can be ascribed to manipulation of the independent variable. There are two designs that can improve the statistical power of the between-subjects design; matched-subjects and within-subjects. Neither of these options is viable in the proposed study. A matched-subjects design measures subjects regarding characteristics believed to <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">affect <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">the variables in the study, and subjects are placed in control and experimental groups as matched pairs. In the within-subjects design there is only one group and participants are measured with regard to both the control and experimental conditions at different times. The matched-subjects design is not feasible regarding the proposed study for the same reasons that randomization is not feasible; the researcher has no control over which students appear in which groups. The within-subjects design is not feasible regarding the proposed study for the same reason that a pretest will not be administered; the carryover effect of one survey may impact subsequent surveys, while also creating a demand characteristic in <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">that <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">astute students may guess at the purpose of the study and change their behavior accordingly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Ethical considerations and protections.** In this study informed consent will be in writing and will be the first screen that students will see when they enter the survey. Included in the statement, written at an eighth grade comprehension level will be the following elements; (a) an explanation of the research, (b) associated risks, (c) what the study is designed to determine, (d) a statement regarding confidentiality, (e) researcher contact information, and (f) a statement regarding voluntary participation and non-consequential withdrawal ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">“Belmont”, 1979 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Because the informed consent will be entered online, acceptance will consist of the participant typing their full name and clicking on a link to enter the study.* No possibility will exist for collecting data unknowingly from participants <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">as <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">informed consent will be presented to each participant before collection of data. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The nature of the questions in my research is such that negative comments are reflective of the instructor rather than the participant. Regardless, consent and identifying information will be retained separately from responses to survey questions. The data will be stored separately from identifying information and will be presented only in the aggregate. By this means confidentiality of participants <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> preserved. Although data <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> collected regarding responses to student satisfaction, engagement, and perceived learning in relation to specific classes, control and experiment data will be aggregated separately across instructors and presented so that no specific instructor can be identified in the findings. Though the instructors are not subjects of the study, they are also not the focus of the study, and their anonymity will be maintained in data storage, and in the findings of the study. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">My research consists of a survey in which few identifiers will be collected and will be conducted after a regularly scheduled and delivered professional development class. A survey allows the collection information regarding the feelings and views of participants about their classroom experience, and therefore consists of no more than minimal risk ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">“Belmont”, 1979 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). The proposed research should be exempt from continuing review because (a) it will be conducted in an educational setting and involves evaluating educational practices, (b) includes responses to survey procedures that if disclosed would not put participant’s at risk legally, financially, socially, physically, or psychologically, and (c) will not involve minors ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">“Belmont”, 1979 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Data Collection and Analysis
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Data will be collected from the classes of <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">10 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> (minimum) instructors who teach various technologies. Each instructor will teach two instances of two different online classes of five consecutive days or less duration. These classes <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> paired, such that one instance of the class <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> taught according to that instructor’s normal delivery (the control) and one instance <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> taught in the normal style with the addition of a webcam transmitting the instructor’s image to the class during interactive periods of the class (the experiment). Whether the control class or experimental class <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> taught first will be randomized. Each student will be encouraged at the end of the class to fill out the Learner Satisfaction and Transfer-of-learning Questionnaire (LSTQ) developed and validated by Gunawardena et al. (2010), in addition to the regular course evaluation. Incomplete or surveys that have the same value for all <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">16 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">questions will be discarded. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">This design will use two groups of approximately equal size, one representing each attribute of the independent variable. It is not known whether the distribution of scores from the LSTQ will be normal, so the Wilcoxon rank-sum test <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> used to determine whether the experimental sample has significantly different values than the control sample. According to the hypotheses, it is not known whether use of the webcam will increase or decrease subscale scores on satisfaction, engagement, or perceived learning, so a two-tailed test will be used. Scores from each subscale <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are expected to <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> be leptokurtic, with negative skew; therefore the parent distribution of Laplace is selected. As the standard deviation of the data is unknown, the expected effect size will be set to d = 0.3; slightly larger than a small effect size but not a medium effect size. Traditional values of α = 0.05 and β = 0.2 are generally acceptable for most research in the social sciences ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Cohen, 1992 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> selected in this case. Using G*Power 3.1 for an //a priori// analysis based on the preceding factors, a minimum sample size of //N// = 234 is required to have an optimal chance of rejecting the null hypothesis, if it is false (Faul, Erdfelder, Lang, & Buchneer, 2007). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Professional development courses offered by Oracle USA are designed for adult functional and technical students who are usually sent by commercial or governmental customers. These students generally have been chosen for training because they are either new hires or have changed positions and require a practical knowledge to create and implement a new technology or skill set to perform their job functions. As <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">almost all students enrolled <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">in Oracle courses have a bachelor’s degree the level of content is on a par with undergraduate coursework. The purpose of the proposed research is to determine whether a visual element can foster increased learner participation, satisfaction, and perceived learning in an online adult professional development learning environment. The selection of learners in multiple professional development courses utilizes subjects from that environment, making any results found generalizable to the extended population of adult online professional development students. There are no other distinguishing characteristics of interest to the proposed study, so neither age, gender, culture, nor ethnicity are considered regarding the sample.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Operational Definition of Variables
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">The independent variable for this study is whether the visual element (webcam) of the instructor is continuously transmitting to adult learners in an LVC as in the experimental classes or not as in the control classes. All instructors engaged in the research are to conduct and facilitate their classes as they normally would with the sole exception of the independent variable. Measures of three dependent variables <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">collected; these dependent variables are learner satisfaction, learner participation, and perceived learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Independent variable - visual element.** The webcam in this research allows the transmitting of limited facial expressions and body language of the instructor to the student. It is a nominal variable as minimal or no visual transmissions will occur in the control classes. In the experimental classes there will be continuous visual transmissions during lecture or participation cycles between instructor and students. The visual element variable has two attributes; full use of webcam (1) and minimal use of webcam (0). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Dependent variable - learner satisfaction.** Learner satisfaction <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> a dependent variable. Studies indicate that as student satisfaction increases so does participation ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunarwardena et al., 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">) and learning outcomes ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010; Kozub, 2010; Martinez-Caro, 2009; McGlone, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Learner satisfaction is a construct derived from the Learner satisfaction subscale of the LSTQ; consisting of five 5-point Likert scale questions. The learner satisfaction construct is an ordinal variable varying from strongly agree = 5 to strongly disagree = 1.* <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Dependent variable - learner engagement.** Learner engagement <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> a dependent variable. Studies indicate that as students are interactive with the instructor, other students, and the content they learn more effectively ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Abrami et al., 2010; Bradley, 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Learner engagement is a construct derived from both the learner-learner interaction and learner-instructor interaction subscales of the LSTQ and consists of six 5-point Likert scale questions. The learner engagement construct is an ordinal variable varying from strongly agree = 5 to strongly disagree = 1. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">**Dependent variable - learner perceived learning.** The objective of adult professional development is to enhance the knowledge and skills of adult workers so that they are more productive and effective in their working environment. Generally, students in adult professional development courses do not participate in evaluated activities or receive grades. Multiple studies have identified that a student’s self-perception of learning is as valuable an indicator of learning as any external measure ( <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11.7px;">Gunawardena et al., 2010; Kenner & Weinerman, 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">). Perceived learning is a construct derived from the ability to transfer subscale of the LSTQ and consists of five 5-point Likert scale questions. The perceived learning construct is an ordinal variable varying from strongly agree = 5 to strongly disagree = 1.*

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Measurement
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Collection of data for this research <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">is <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> done at the culmination of each of the LVC through an online survey. The 16 questions, each using a 5-point Likert scale, from the LSTQ will be presented in no particular order to each student. The LSTQ <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">was <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> validated <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">with <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> similar research regarding student satisfaction and transfer of learning. The learner satisfaction subscale of the LSTQ has a Cronbach alpha of .83 making it extremely reliable. The reliability of the learner-learner interaction subscale of the LSTQ has a Cronbach alpha of .69 for good reliability and the learner-instructor interaction subscale of the LSTQ has fair reliability with a Cronbach alpha of .52. The ability to transfer subscale of the LSTQ has fair to good reliability with a Cronbach alpha of .62.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 18.2667px;">Summary
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">This research study proposes a quantitative, nonequivalent control group, quasi-experimental study to investigate whether the addition of a visual element (webcam) fosters increased learner participation, satisfaction, and perceived learning in an online adult professional development learning environment. Each participating instructor will teach two separate LVC. One class each will be a control class, with minimal use of a webcam per company LVC policy, and the other will have full use of the webcam to promote additional interaction. An online survey with questions from four subscales of the LSTQ will be administered at the end of each class; the quantitative data garnered and evaluated, and finally compared using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT1] I would recommend moving the first comma in this sentence. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT2] I would consider adding some numbers and citations to show how many higher ed institutions have or include e-learning options in their programs if you can find some information on it. It would give some more weight to the idea that this is an important topic of study. I’m not saying that this isn’t an important topic, but I think it would just support your text here to have those numbers and citations. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT3] The wording here seemed a bit off. I might try “factors such as…” or “the fact that…” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT4] I really like this sentence, but it seems to be missing a word. See edit for a suggestion. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT5] This are great citations, but I recommend writing more in the active voice than in the passive voice. This sentence is a good example of how we can change from passive to active voice. I would recommend changing it to something like: Huang et al. (2012), Martinez‐Caro (2009), Pelz (2010), and Ruey (2010) all report that a relationship exists between…. Ali & Ahmad (2011), Chen & Lien (2011)… showed a connection between… You can see the APA manual p. 77 for more details and then check for this as you continue to work on the paper. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT6] Do the citations just above here have to do with traditional-age college students? If so, I recommend clarifying that there. This sentence made me wonder if the previous text in the section addresses adult (i.e. nontraditional) online learners or learners of other ages. It would probably be beneficial to clarify these terms (adult learners, nontraditional learners, etc..) very early in your document. You should also consider picking one term and then use it consistently throughout the paper. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT7] I think it would make your problem statement stronger if you switch the order of some of the items in this sentence (e.g. the problem is that we have high dropout and dissatisfaction rates and it will not improve unless we improve our techniques for…). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT8] Thanks for clarifying and quantifying the minimal use of the webcam! I am now wondering what continuous use includes – for example, does every interaction with the professor happen via webcam? Will they still communicate using other forms of technology or only the webcam? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT9] As you know, your dissertation chair and committee will have more say on this than I do, but I recommend changing the wording in the hypotheses to reflect clear group comparison. For example: There is no difference in learner satisfaction between students who communicate with the the instructor only via webcam and students who communicate with the instructor once a day via webcam. This is just an example, you will want to update it, especially as you define your webcam use. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT10] This is great information on the definition of those terms that I mentioned in Comment 6. I recommend moving this text up in your CP to one of the previous sections so that readers get to it before the literature review. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT11] You have some really nice literature here that relates to your study. I would suggest restructuring the section though. In quantitative research, we often structure it by variable. For example, first you could have a section on the independent/treatment variable, then a section for each of the dependent variables, and finally a section that discusses the literature that connects the independent to the dependent variables. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT12] That is a good option for online surveys. It usually works well if the informed consent screen is not too intimidating. I recommend that you look at the book “Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method” by Don Dillman, et al. Dillman has a good set of procedures developed to maximize response rates to surveys. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT13] I haven’t seen the survey so this might be a very appropriate scale. But it might be better to have a completely satisfied…not satisfied at all type of scale. It depends on the question. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">[TT14] Are you also collecting basic demographic data on these participants? Or, do you already have that information from pre-existing records? If you don’t have the information from existing records, I recommend adding a few demographic questions to your survey.
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