DTheses (Athabasca University)
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Factors That Influence Attitudes To, and Engagement With, E-Textbooks Assigned as Required Course Readings Among Mid-Career Learners in Online Graduate Studies.
Get PDFE-textbook reception and use by mid-career learners enrolled in online graduate courses has received scant research attention. Using a sequential, exploratory, mix-methods approach, this study used demographic and attitude surveys (N=25) followed by 23 telephone interviews to examine how a variety of factors affect attitudes and engagement strategies. Respondents were found to be: computer savvy, but much more inclined to choose printed textbooks over e-textbooks; negative about most of the supposed affordances of e-textbooks; convinced that they learn less from e-textbooks than from printed textbooks; and dissatisfied with the support they received from instructors and the university. Pre-existing attitudes to e-texts were a good predictor of attitudes to course e-textbooks. Women were found to be statistically significantly more likely to hold negative attitudes towards e-textbooks than men. The study concludes that many of the factors contributing to negative attitudes to e-textbooks can be overcome by means of specific corrective actions.2015-0
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CANADIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES MARKETING ONLINE EDUCATION
Get PDFThis dissertation is the result of research into the marketing practices of Canadian universities for online education. The research questions asked: What are the types of activities used by Canadian universities for the marketing of online education? Why are they using these activities? What other marketing activities might universities consider?
A general inductive methodology based on Grounded Theory (GT) guided the data collection and analysis. Data were collected from a sample of 14 universities identified by the Canadian Virtual University (CVU) as active in marketing online education. Data included material gathered from university websites, social media, and interviews with university representatives.
Coding and categorization of the data identified eight main areas of marketing conducted by universities. These are managing and leveraging the brand, reflecting product quality, understanding online students and prospective students, exploring and expanding markets, attracting inquiries, maintaining useful websites, initiating and maintaining relationships, and facing challenges. Each of these areas of activity is explained in the research results.
The influence of the brand on other marketing activities led to the identification of distinct types of situations for marketing online education that are informed by extant theories. Universities that are well established as primarily large, campus-based institutions, have high brand loyalty in their regions. The brand loyalty extends to online courses. This situation is inforned by the theory of retail gravitation, which provides the metaphor of brand gravity (see glossary) as a factor for attracting both online and classroom-based students. Brands with high loyalty and low overall market penetration are an exception to the theory of double jeopardy (see glossary). The theory or law of double jeopardy shows a correlation between market penetration and brand loyalty. Brands tend to increase loyalty only as market penetration also increases.
This analysis provides hypotheses for marketing online education that can be used for further research: the identification of competitor behaviors, the promotion of online education as a brand category, and the allocation of advertising and promotion budgets. The analysis provides insights into the marketing process that will be of interest to university administrators responsible for marketing online education programs.2015-0
"We have this saying, you do what you can": A qualitative description of physical activity among older adults in rural Saskatchewan
Get PDFAs people get older, their physical activity level declines. Among the older adult population, physical activity rates are even lower in rural communities compared to urban. This qualitative description study explored the perception of physical activity among ten older adults living in rural Saskatchewan. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis techniques. The findings revealed that older adults living in rural Saskatchewan identified social-ecological elements facilitating physical activity such as improved health, independence, and mobility as well as social cohesion and having opportunities for physical activity. Older adults from this rural region citied adverse weather conditions (e.g., fear of falling), aging (e.g., arthritis), and family members (e.g., encouraged to ‘take it easy’) as barriers to physical activity. Findings of this study may be useful to community programmers, service providers, and town planners in developing interventions to increase physical activity among this population.2015-1
Accommodating Aboriginal students in online courses
No full textThis research study examined the design elements required to create an online course for Aboriginal students with mild intellectual disability (MID). Action research was undertaken to design an intervention to address the problem of students with MID at Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) not having their needs met in online courses, which included not receiving all of the accommodations in online courses as prescribed on their individual education plans (IEPs). The intervention was based on revising a grade nine math course currently offered at KiHS to incorporate design elements, including accommodations related to course design, in order to meet the academic needs of these students. The design elements were selected based on a review of literature and the responses to a questionnaire given to teachers asking what course design elements they felt would help meet the needs of students with MID. Once the revised course was delivered, it was evaluated using questionnaires and interviews asking teachers about the perceived success of the course. Overall, teachers felt that the intervention was a success in all five areas of course design: goals; content; context; methods; and assessment. The following specific design elements were seen as beneficial to students: use of interactive materials, continual review of content, simplified template, removal of external links, simplified language, and clearly stated goals (curriculum expectations) for each lesson. Although this research study focused on a specific group of students, the findings may be valuable for online instructors who work with students with similar needs to those with MID.2015-1
Corporate Images of the 'Immigrant' at Work
Get PDFIn this dissertation I challenge the taken-for-granted assumptions related to dominant diversity discourses of corporate Canada. Further, I problematize ‘diversity management’ and the notion of ‘immigrant’ arguing that dominant discourses and constructions are dependent upon historical discourses. My research aims to answer the key questions of my problematic: what are the dominant diversity discourses of corporate Canada? How are immigrants constructed within this discourse? How are these representations informed by past (historical) immigration discourses? I also take an interest in the voices of the ‘other,’ typically erased from corporate texts, in order to reveal how ‘immigrants’ who face labour market challenges construct their own experiences.
The study involves an in-depth analysis of 24 corporate websites of Ontario-based companies that were recognized as the Best Employers of New Canadians in 2013 as well as the analysis of government and media documents. In examining my research questions, I used Boje’s (2008) Stylistic Strategy as my analytical frame to deconstruct how corporate texts and images are used to orchestrate the ideal image of an ‘exemplar’ employer (Goffman, 1959). Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (Foucault, 1979; Phillips & Hardy, 2002) is also used to analyze historical and contemporary contexts using a postcolonial lens. While there are different postcolonial approaches (Loomba, 2005), my postcolonial focus is rooted in a poststructuralist approach, particularly one influenced by Foucault’s theory of discourse and power/knowledge (Said, 1978; Bhabha, 1994).
Dominant organizational diversity discourses are interconnected with discourses of globalization, in which organizations are discursively constructed as nimble, enterprising and innovative in order to appeal to key audiences and publics. Contradictions begin to surface, however, as immigrant representations within diversity discourses are embedded within the discourse of integration where tolerance of differences is measured in terms of an immigrant’s ability to conform to the Western ideal. ‘Fictive’ binary constructions within dominant discourses serve to ‘other’ immigrants by casting them as inferior to the Western ideal. Too much difference is not tolerated and results in exclusion. I also explore the complexities of ‘othering’ by revealing the voices of the other which give clues into exclusions, acts of racism, discrimination as well as immigrant reactions and resistance. What I have tried to show is how sites of power construct and reconstruct knowledge and images of the ‘problematic’ immigrant which serve to normalize racism and discriminatory practices – in the workplace, and in the wider society.2015-0
An examination of resistance training behaviours among older adults in Alberta
Get PDFThe purpose of this two-phase study was to explore resistance training behaviours among older adults in Alberta. The objective of Study 1 was to gain a better understanding of resistance training behaviours among older adults. The objective of Study 2 was to gain a better understanding of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and other psychosocial factors associated with resistance training and sedentary behaviour. Results suggest that older adults have unique preferences for receiving resistance training counseling and programming. These preferences were associated with specific demographic and health-related variables. Further, specific profiles of resistance and sedentary activity are associated with HRQoL and psychosocial health. In particular, participants engaging in high volumes of sedentary time as well as not meeting resistance training guidelines (i.e., at least two times per week) reported significantly poorer HRQoL.2015-0
DISTAL FACTORS AND THEIR EFFECT ON EMPLOYEES’ PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL RATINGS AND REMUNERATION: A RATEE’S PERSPECTIVE
Get PDFEmpirical research and scholarly theory abound within employee performance appraisal (PA) literature, yet the effectiveness and accuracy of PAs remain unresolved within the practitioner community. There have been numerous scholarly calls to explore the possible impacts that distal factors may play in relation to PAs, but these calls have been largely unanswered. This study involved selecting three key distal factors for a quasi-experimental design methodology, using scenario decision-making and analysis. The three distal factors chosen were (a) the macroeconomic environment, in conjunction with the closer organizational distal factors of, (b) organizational life cycle stage and (c) perceived organizational performance. One of eight, fictitious but realistic, scenarios was provided to MBA alumni with feedback on decisions relative to employee performance requested. By keeping employee performance stable it was expected that manipulation of these external factors would result in changes to performance remuneration and ratings when employees self-assess. Of the three distal factors being studied, only the macroeconomic environment had an effect on merit pay regardless of perceived organizational performance being presented. The manipulation of the organizational life cycle was ineffective, and no conclusions can be drawn in relation to this distal factor. Middle-aged males were more aggressive in their salary expectations in a good macroeconomic environment, regardless of whether their specific organization appeared to be performing well, financially, or not. Self-assessed ratings, on the other hand, increased under all scenario conditions to varying degrees (but not significantly) and this could have just been due to chance. The degree to which demand characteristics were mitigated could have contributed to the lackluster results and, thus, should be investigated before future study replication.2015-1
Managing Exposure: A Grounded Theory of Burnout and Resilience in Critical Care Nurses
Get PDFCritical care nurses encounter workplace adversity. This adversity can vary in scope across macro, meso, and micro levels, and negatively impacts nurses. This research study was conducted to learn more about nurse resilience in response to workplace adversity. The research question being investigated was, what is the process of critical care nursing resilience in workplace adversity? This grounded theory investigation was conducted at a large, multi-site urban hospital with 11 critical care nurses. The participants completed open-ended interviews, discussing resilience and burnout in critical care environments. The proposed, resultant grounded theory is entitled MANAGING EXPOSURE: A Grounded Theory of Burnout and Resilience in Critical Care Nurses. To address the problem of workplace adversity, nurses enact the process of MANAGING EXPOSURE. The core category of MANAGING EXPOSURE counters the basic social process of workplace adversity. The driver of MANAGING EXPOSURE is situational awareness. There are a variety of techniques that nurses use to manage exposure, which include protecting, processing, decontaminating, and distancing from workplace adversity. A nurse will experience a range of indicators for this process, identified here as a spectrum of resilience – survival – burnout. The findings of this study advance the understanding of burnout and resilience in critical care environments by demonstrating how nurses manage workplace adversity. Nurse leaders can intervene in critical care environments, in order to reduce workplace adversity and drive the process of MANAGING EXPOSURE toward resilience.2016-0
What are the relationships between nursing students' characteristics and how they percieve using high fidelity simulation for attaining pediatric learning outcomes?
Get PDFThere is growing interest regarding the use of high fidelity simulation within nursing education. Educators are beginning to incorporate this new teaching modality into various clinical courses. One area in particular is pediatrics, which requires nursing students to think outside the context of adult care, thus applying skills and knowledge specific to pediatric practice. A gap in knowledge was identified between the use of high fidelity simulation (HFS) in pediatric nursing education and students’ perceptions of its usefulness for acquisition of knowledge and skills in this patient population group. A quantitative study utilizing a non-experimental research design was used to examine the relationships between specific nursing students’ characteristics and how they perceive attaining course learning outcomes using pediatric HFS. The study informs educators what relationship exists between nursing students’ perceptions of knowledge acquisition and the development of communication and psychomotor skills with the use of HFS in pediatric clinical courses.2014-0
The Art of Nursing in Public Health
Get PDFThe art of nursing helps nurses express aspects of their work that may not be articulated through other ways of knowing including empirics, personal knowing or ethical knowledge. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted to discover how public health nurses (PHNs) describe the art of nursing within their practice. There are many aspects of public health nursing that are ambiguous and difficult to measure, making the art of nursing in public health a challenging yet vital concept to understand. Seven participants described the art of nursing in public health through semi-structured interviews and follow-up e-mail correspondence with the researcher. Data analysis was completed using qualitative content analysis and involving coding, categorizing, and thematizing to understand meaning. Results provide insight into the ways that PHNs express and enact the less tangible aspects of their practice and improve understanding into how artful public health nursing practice can be fostered.2014-0