Title of Project: / Online Instructional Features and Design Principles Student Perception Survey
The study will be conducted in two stages. The first will involve post-secondary students. Later the survey instruments will be modified, if necessary, for use with secondary students. That study will involve secondary schools.
ResponsibleInvestigator(FacultyResearch MentorifStudentResearch)
Name: / Charlene Hu(No HSPT) / E-Mail: /
Departmentor
Program: / Faculty Teaching and Learning Center
Department ChairorProgramDirector
Name: / E-Mail:
StudentResearcher
Name: / E-Mail:
Requested Level of Review:
☒ExemptionfromFull Review☐Expedited☐Standard
Describe how human subjects will be involved in the proposed research:
Collaborators from selected public post-secondary institutions will be invited to encourage students to complete the online surveys. See the information statements, recruitment contact emails about the study, andcopies of the surveys will be asked to complete. Students will complete the survey in a secure website. The time required is approximately 40 minutes. The online surveys will be available 24-7.
ThisSection for GRaSPOffice Use
ResponsibleInvestigatorhasaffirmedaccuracyandtruth[check] Date Department Chairhasacknowledgedsubmission[check] Date AssignedLevelofReview: Standard Expedited Exemptionfrom FullReview
Create your IRB submission as a single document made up of: [a] this completed cover page, followed by [b] the text of your IRB protocol, and [c] all research materials such as surveys, interview guides, consent forms, and permission letters. Submit this document [faculty only via Firefox] to the GRASP Office via the link found here:
"HumanSubjectsProtocol" Instructions(revisedJune 2012)
Use thefollowingunderlinedheadingsasanoutline.Provide theinformation requestedundereachheading to describeyourproposed research.TheIRB conductsacost/benefit analysis. Thepotential coststosubjectsare weighedagainst thepotential benefitsoftheresearch.Therefore, thecontentof the "Purpose"sectionis important.
I.Title(oftheproposedresearchactivity)
Online Instructional Features and Design Principles Student Perception Survey
II.ProfessionalQualifications(todotheproposed research),includingadescriptionofanynecessary
support services,facilities,andequipment. A vita(optional) shouldbelimited toqualificationsapplicable to theproposedresearch.
The research team is highly qualified to conduct the research. The team members are collaborators from different institutions and include the following;
Charlene Hu from CSUBakersfield;
Edward Meyen, Richard Branham, Chi-Hsun Chui, Diana Greer and Gulinna A from the University of Kansas;
Yvonne Bui from the University of San Francisco.
The survey instruments are modified version of instruments developed by Hu and Chui. All team members have experience in this area of research.
III.Sponsoriftheresearchisgrant-supportedor contract research.
N/A
This research is not supported by a designated grant or contract. But, it supported in part by the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas.
IV. Purposeof theproposedresearch, inthecontext ofasummaryofprevious research,withanexplicit statement ofwhatisandisnot knownabout thetopic.Indicatewhat theproposed researchcouldadd, statedasbenefits tobegainedbythedisciplineandby thesubjects.
The purposes of this research are:
(1) To investigate the cultural differences among post-secondary and secondary students from different cultural backgrounds e.g., Asian, African American, Caucasian, Hispanic, Mid-Eastern, Native Americans, and students with learning disabilities in their perspectives on the importance of research based design principles and pedagogical features when applied in online instruction e.g., via computer monitors.
(2) To build on the work of Chiu (2013) and Hu (2009) who designed and validated instruments as part of their dissertation research at the University of Kansas. These instruments, with the researcher’s involvement, will be modified to meet the appropriateness of the research instruments to the targeted students. The research by Hu (2009) and Chiu (2013) did not study cultural differences among the perceptions of their participants.
(3) To conduct research that may yield results justifying pursuant of programmatic research on the impact of cultural differences on learner outcomes related to online instructional features and principles related to visual display designs employed in online instruction. The subsequent research is not part of this IRB. It will be derived from the results of this research and be submitted as an independent research study.
Aim:
The aim is to provide research results that will contribute to additional research designed to fill a void in the research literature through determining the implications of cultural differences among online students by examining their responses to examples of researched base surveys related to online instructional features and principles related to visual display designs employed in online instruction. While the literature addresses the importance of considering the cultural background of students when engaged in instruction, there is lack of research on how cultural differences impact the outcomes of online instruction and/or how to accommodate cultural differences in employing visual display designs e.g., via the computer monitor. Visual displays currently employed in online courses tend not to be differentiated based on the cultural background of the target learner. Most course are organized the same for all students as are visual presentations.
Objectives:
(1) To assess the responses of students, representing different cultural groups, to determine if they vary in their responses to research based features and design principles.
(2) To add to the knowledge base in helping designers and developers of online instruction to better understand how to maximize the effectiveness of instruction delivered via visual display technology (computer monitors) for all learners including students from different cultural backgrounds and students with learning disabilities.
Hypothesis:
There will be no significant differences in the responses of students, with different cultural backgrounds, to surveys containing items describing research based features and design principles applicable to online instruction.
Benefits:
The participation of individual subjects in this research will allow them to contribute to the knowledge base on the impact of culture in the design of online instruction. The study could have a positive impact on how online instruction is designed in the future. This would benefit them personally as they continue to engage in online instruction.
V.Methodsof theproposedresearchactivity,includingappropriatenessofthedesign.Refer tothecontent of
Section4asneededfor clarification.
The growth of online instruction in Higher Education and K-12 Education has occurred at an unprecedented rate. Over the past fifteen years online instruction has evolved from an innovative idea driven by an emerging Internet technology to become common practice in K-20 education (Rauh, 2011). According to The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL, 2012), 27 states have state-operated virtual schools. As this growth has occurred, a 6.2 billion dollar industry serving higher education and K-12 education continues to grow without a comprehensive research base.
The focus of this research is on principles and features that related to how instruction is presented via display. The display monitor is the most common element in the delivery of online instruction. Despite a significant literature base on visual display design that accrued over decades prior to the Internet there is little evidence that this knowledge base has been significantly addressed in the movement toward online instruction. The delivery mode for online instruction (the visual display capacity of the monitor) is dramatically different from face to face instruction. This is not to suggest that there has been no attention to visual design theory and research. But, the design focus appears to have been more on the structuring and framing of content than the principles of visual display design. The ultimate outcome is to evolve a programmatic research initiative focused on the basic elements of visual display design that are central to online instruction. Particular attention will be given to cultural differences among learners, including students with learning disabilities. The goal is to contribute to building the knowledge base on maximizing the effectiveness of instruction delivered online for all learners.
When online courses are developed it appears that, other than a concern for prior knowledge, there is an assumption that students are all alike. Whereas, there are many factors that contribute to variability among learners needing attention in the design and development of online instruction. Cultural differences may be a major factor. There is a lack of research on the effectiveness of instructional features and visual display designs employed across cultural groups of online learners. An exception may be the attention given to the needs of students with disabilities and the achievement gap as measured among various minority groups. Even this research tends to focus on content and not design. For example, various measures, such as grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates, have been used to evaluate achievement differences and to illustrate performance gaps by ethnicity, such as African Americans, Hispanic, and Latinos in the nation (Education Week,2007;National Governors Association,2005, para.5). According to Olszewski-Kubilius and Thomson (2010), the gaps in academic achievement for children with learning disabilities and minority students of all ages show larger disparities than those of their counterparts.
Clearly, closing the achievement gap is important. However, these observations are expressed as a consequence of student outcomes without determining if the basic design(s) employed via visual displays in online instruction may be a contributing factor. During the midst of rapid growth in online instruction, at all levels in education, the school population in the United States is increasing in diversity. Yet, relatively little attention is being given to determining the impact of instructional design features and visual display design on the effectiveness of online instruction-especially across cultural differences among learners.
VI. Procedurestobeused,focusingontheexperiencesofthesubjectsinthe research.
There are two parts to the study.
Part 1:
Part 1 will be a modified replication of the study done by Hu (2009). It will employ a Likert Scale methodology. The Hu, (2009) scale includes 31 design features and 32 pedagogy features. The 63 items were structured in a Likert Scale format. Respondents were asked to rate their preferences on a five-point scale, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, for each individual feature. An independent sample T-test was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference between the preferences of instructors and students on the rating of individual features. A correlation coefficient of .95 was found on the design item rankings between instructors and students. A correlation coefficient of .87 was found on the pedagogy item rankings between instructors and students. Major findings included the high level of agreement on design and pedagogy features by instructors and student.
Part 2:
Part 2 will be a modified replication of the study done by Chiu (2013). It will focus on research based design principles and will employ both a Likert Scale and Q methodology developed by William Stephenson in the 1930s plus a Likert Scale. Thirty two items have been elected from the forty research based design principles researched by Chiu (2013) to be used in measuring perspectives of participants on research based design principles that were judged to have implications for online instruction. These design principles are derived from design theory and supported by research. They will be modified to be relevant to the targeted educational age groups surveyed. The Q-methodology provides an approach to exploring correlations between persons' viewpoints toward an issue or a topic (Brown, 1996). The Q-Sort Tool developed for the research by Chiu (2013) will be used in this study. The tool was designed to personalize access to the tool. If respondents are not able to complete the Q-Sort in one setting they can click the link at any time and return to where they last responded. They can repeat this as often as necessary.
The estimated time for Q-Sort will be about 15 minutes. The Likert Scale version will contain the same items. Both will be completed online. Having students complete a Likert Scale version in addition to a Q-Sort will allow for a quantitative comparison to be made with the qualitative outcomes of the Q-Sort.
The participants will be asked to offer their personal information such as age, gender, cultural background, and educational background. The instruments collect data on student attitudes towards instructional features and design principles. No responses will be personally identifiable.
(See Appendix A_ Survey Instruments in Supporting Documents)
VII.Information Security with respect to collection, handling, storage, reporting, and destruction of research data and consent forms. Describe specific steps that will be taken to enhance confidentiality and protect the privacy of the participants.
The computer system will record participant responses and save data automatically in the computer database of the eLearning Design lab at the University of Kansas via a network system. All data sets will automatically transfer to the database in the e- Learning Design Lab via the secured Network. The system only allows investigators to access by using their password and user name. At the end of the project, storage partitions that were used to store confidential data will be similarly overwritten using partition-level overwriting tools. Subjects' responses to Q-sort and Likert Scales will not be shared unless required by law or University policy.
VIII.Subjects
- SubjectSelectionCriteriaforparticipation
This study will recruit post-secondary students from different cultural backgrounds including students with learning disabilities.
- SubjectExclusionCriteriafrom participationand justification
N/A
- VulnerablePopulationsjustifyinguseof subjectssuchaschildren,pregnantwomen, ethnicminorities, prisoners,mentallydisabledpersons,economicallyoreducationallydisadvantagedpersons,students in theclassroom, or employeesin theirworkplace.
Student participants will be students having online instructional experience representing a wide range of cultural backgrounds.
- RiskstoSubjectsincludingpsychological harmandpossiblebreachesofconfidentiality.Explain precautionstakentominimize risk.
N/A
- ManagingAdverseReactionsphysical oremotional,ofsubjectsduetoparticipation, andhowthey will bedealtwith
N/A
IX. Informed Consent (seeonlineexamplesofconsent formsandconsentprocedures)
a. Circumstances SurroundingtheProcess including:
Recruitmentof subjects, environmentorsetting, timeframe, conditionof prospectivesubjects, primary languageofprospectivesubjects, autonomyofprospectivesubjects
b. Elementsof Informed Consentincludedin theprocedureused, inaccordwithParagraph46.116ofthe
Code
c. Informed Consent Documentedinwrittenform inaccordwithParagraph47.117oftheCode
DRAFT Initial Communication to Faculty
for
Post-secondary Contacts
I am contacting you as a colleague with the Teaching Learning Center (TLC). The purpose of this communication is to explore with you the possibility of involving a sample of post- secondary students from your classes in a study. We want to include students from all backgrounds and abilities that may be have had an opportunity to complete instruction offered online. Our goal is to learn more about differences in the perception of students from different cultures and backgrounds on design features related to how online instruction is organized, taught, and information displayed via the computer monitor. The study involves asking university students to respond to three online surveys. The surveys include items describing instructional features and research based principles that pertain to the delivery of instruction online. The surveys will be available online 24/7 to the students and need not be done at one time. It is estimated that they can be completed within forty minutes.
Attached are two documents. They included the following:
1)A draft “Information Statement” containing a more detailed description of the study for your consideration. Example A
2)A draft “Information Statement” that could be shared with students you would identify for participation. Example B
We believe that the results of this study will be of value to CSUB and to other educators in the tailoring of online instruction to the needs of students through improved designs. I look forward to visiting with you about any question you may have after reviewing the attached Information Statements.
We do appreciate your consideration of this request.
DRAFT Information Statement
Post-Secondary Faculty to encourage students to participate
The communication message provides basic information on the study. This Information Statement elaborates on that document by integrating additional information with the Information Statement designed for sharing with students.
This study is a collaborative effort involving the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas. We want to assure you that the Teaching and Learning Center supports the practice of protection for human subjects participating in research. The process in this study involves students responding to survey items. Thus, the risks are similar to engage in academics studies. The following information is provided for you to decide whether you wish to encourage students to participate in this study. Students are free to quit at any time even if they agree to participate. I will be available to you for consultation and guidance as the study is carried out. The surveys will all be online and available 24/7 so class time will not need to be devoted to obtaining student responses.
The purpose of our study is to learn about students’ preferences for design features and teaching methods in online learning environments. A particular interest relates to the preferences of students from different cultural groups. The instruments used in the study contain items that relate to design and instructional features of online courses. Students will be very familiar with these items. The items on research based design principle relate to design theory. But, they have been worded so that students will understand the intent of the statements. These particular design items are intended to collect data on designs that are presented though visual displays i.e., the computer monitor. We want to use that information to help ensure that online instruction is user friendly and maximally effective for all students. In this context, we are focusing on the capacity of the visual display and what is known from research prior to the emergence of online instruction. The goal is to add to the knowledge base on design and to determine if cultural difference impact on how students respond to specific design elements presented during online instruction.
The students should be at least 18 years old. They will be asked to respond to three surveys. Each survey instrument contains items describing design principles applicable to the development of online instruction. Students will spend less than 40 minutes to complete all three surveys. The surveys will be available online 24/7. Students need not complete them at the same time. We do not think any of the questions will make a student uncomfortable..
We believe that the study may result in information that will help us gain a better understanding of how to design and support students from different cultural backgrounds in online learning environments. If this is true, then ultimately all online students will benefit. The participating students will not benefit immediately. But, they will contribute to the future design of online instruction.