Date of Award

1-1-2010

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology

Program

Educational Psychology and Methodology

Content Description

1 online resource (x, 64 pages)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Deborah May

Committee Members

Jane Domaracki, Peter Shea

Keywords

blended, higher education, online, special education, teacher education, traditional, Distance education, Blended learning, Special education, Computer-assisted instruction

Subject Categories

Higher Education | Special Education and Teaching | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

Nationally and regionally there are insufficient numbers of qualified special education teachers to meet current demand. Online course delivery has been proposed as one way to reach more students and increase the number of special education teachers. A recent meta-analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Education (2009) reviewed the research on online learning and reported that on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those in traditional classes. However, among other issues noted in the meta-analysis, it was specified that many of the included studies did not control for curriculum materials and various aspects of pedagogy. This present study investigated student outcomes in one graduate level special education course taught in a traditional, online, and blended learning environment by the same instructor using the same materials and activities for all three sections of the course. The findings of this exploratory study were not consistent with the recent meta-analysis.

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