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Transactional distance (TD), the perception of psychological distance between the student and his peers, his instructor/teacher, and the learning content, has long been a prominent construct in research on distance education. Today, distance education primarily takes place over the internet, with technology mediating engagement and communication. Because transactional distance in online distance learning will always rely on technologically-mediated communication or interaction, we argue that in order to get the full picture, this aspect of technological mediation needs to be considered. For this purpose, we introduce a new scale for measuring transactional distance between students and the learning technology (TDSTECH), comprised of two interrelated dimensions. Reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity suggest a suitable scale. Preliminary inferential analyses are conducted with multiple linear regression and mediation analysis. Regression models show that TDSTECH is the single most important predictor of satisfaction in this population. This may have important implications for practitioners trying design and facilitate satisfying online distance learning experiences. Also, mediator analysis reveals that TDSTECH mediates the relationship between TD student-teacher and satisfaction, but not for TD student-content. Surprisingly, TD student-student shows no significant relationship with satisfaction. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Due to the pervasiveness of online technology, especially social media and social networking sites (SNS) like Twitter and Facebook were are surrounded by a constant stream of information about other individuals. On the other hand, even though distance and online learning has become mainstream, there are still concerns leveled at many of these educational offerings, one of them being the relative social isolation of online and distance students. In this study, we investigate if and how ambient awareness, a concept originated in research in interpersonal effects of SNS, can play an important role in how salient social impressions of peers emerge and how this leads to perceptions of social presence among students. To this end, we use an impression formation paradigm in a four-week online distance course (N = 51). We found that students were able to form impressions of their peers through ambient awareness. These impressions differed in prevalence from the ones gathered through direct social interaction. In a larger second sample (N = 169), we find ambient awareness to be a mediator between the sociability of the learning environment and perceptions of social presence. Implications, limitations and suggestions for further research are discussed.

This quasi-experimental study of self-regulated learning (SRL) in the context of primary teacher education emerged from the importance attributed to SRL for developing student teachers' active and conscious learning. Contrary to earlier studies that focused on SRL within the initial teacher training, in this study we sought for the impact of increased SRL opportunities on student teachers' motivation for learning in their workplace which is an important part of their educational program. The study focused on the way in which SRL opportunities for student teachers can be shaped in the workplace (research question one), the differences in perceived SRL opportunities between the experimental and the control condition (research question two) and the differences in motivation for learning between the experimental and the control condition (research question three). In answer to research question one, the earlier findings of SRL within the initial teacher program were combined with the insights and experiences of the stakeholders in practice. This resulted in a SRL approach for the workplace that was applied during one academic year by 12 primary teacher educators in cooperation with 45 primary teachers of 45 training schools. In answer to research question two, the training appeared effective because student teachers in training schools (N = 80) experienced more SRL opportunities than student teachers in the non-training schools (N = 51). In answer to research question three, student teachers in training schools demonstrated more motivational expectancy (i.e. control belief and self-efficacy for learning) compared with student teachers in non-training schools. This was in line with previous findings within initial teacher training. The importance of a gradual transition from teacher control to student control appeared vital.

Social presence is a central concept relating to interpersonal aspects in online distance learning. However, the conditions and determinants of its emergence are not yet fully understood. As a construct rooted in social psychology, the potential of individual differences predicting perceptions of social presence has been largely neglected, thus, constituting a gap in our understanding. In a sample of 201 online distance education students, the merits of a trait-level view of social presence were investigated. To this end, personality was assessed using the Big Five personality inventory, exploring both a dimensional and a typological approach. Results suggest that specific personality typologies may be more prone to perceptions of social presence, thus calling for an extension of our theoretical modeling of the construct.

Student questioning is an important learning strategy, but rare in many classrooms, because teachers have concerns if these questions contribute to attaining curricular objectives. Teachers face the challenge of making student questioning effective for learning the curriculum. To address this challenge, a principle-based scenario for guiding effective student questioning was developed and tested for its relevance and practicality in two previous studies. In the scenario, which consists of a sequence of pedagogical activities, mind maps support teachers and students to explore and elaborate upon a core curriculum, by raising, investigating, and exchanging student questions. In this paper, a follow-up study is presented that tested the effectiveness of the scenario on student outcomes in terms of attainment of curricular objectives. Ten teachers and their 231 students participated in the study. Pre- and posttest mind maps were used to measure individual and collective learning outcomes of student questioning. Findings show that a majority of students progressed in learning the core curriculum and elaborated upon it. The findings suggest that visualizing knowledge construction in a shared mind map supports students to learn a core curriculum and to refine their knowledge structures.

Motivation is a crucial factor for students' learning behavior and plays a key role in the concept of gamification to foster students' motivation through specific gamification mechanics and elements. User types for gamification and associated gamification mechanics can classify students' interests and learning preferences and provide explanations for their motivational learning behavior. This study investigated how five gamification user types may relate to six mainly used online learning activities in a distance online bachelor's and master's class in educational science through the use of a systematic approach. A total of 86 students participated in the questionnaire in a cross-sectional study. The findings showed average agreement shares for all five gamification user types. The correlations revealed that the six online learning activities were at least significantly connected to one of the five gamification user types, and both person-centered and environment-centered perspectives were displayed. Finally, the results were discussed, and implications were derived for a motivational design.

Student questioning is an important self-regulative strategy and has multiple benefits for teaching and learning science. Teachers, however, need support to align student questioning to curricular goals. This study tests a prototype of a principle-based scenario that supports teachers in guiding effective student questioning. In the scenario, mind mapping is used to provide both curricular structure as well as support for student questioning. The fidelity of structure and the process of implementation were verified by interviews, video data and a product collection. Results show that the scenario was relevant for teachers, practical in use and effective for guiding student questioning. Results also suggest that shared responsibility for classroom mind maps contributed to more intensive collective knowledge construction.

This intervention study focused on the relationships between primary student teachers' self-regulated learning (SRL) opportunities, their motivation for learning and their use of metacognitive learning strategies. The participants were 3 teacher educators and 136 first-year student teachers. During one semester, teacher educators and student teachers were monitored by questionnaires measuring opportunities for SRL offered by the program. Questionnaires were also administered monitoring student teachers' motivation and metacognition. During data collection, teacher educators participated in training courses and tutorial conversations aimed at increasing student teachers' SRL opportunities in the curriculum. At the end of the research period, all teacher educators and a sample of student teachers were interviewed. Results indicate that student teachers' use of metacognitive skills increased significantly in learning environments with increased SRL opportunities. Student teachers' motivation for learning was also enhanced, although to a lesser degree. Finally, significant correlations were found between the metacognitive study process construct and the motivational constructs measured. (Contains 6 tables.)

Embedding support devices in educational computer games has been asserted to positively affect learning outcomes. However, there is only limited direct empirical evidence on which design variations of support provision influence learning. In order to better understand the impact of support design on novices' learning, the current study investigates how support devices and their type of provision (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) determine games' effectiveness on learning outcomes. This effectiveness is also related to how the design-type of provision influences learners' virtual presence and cognitive load. Compared to an educational adventure game without additional support, the results indicate that the game equipped with support devices enhances learning outcomes, although no differences in cognitive load were found. A variation in the design of provision shows no effect. In order to gain a more thorough understanding of support devices and their design for games, additional learner characteristics (e.g., interest) should be considered in future research. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

During the past two decades, volition, defined as the ability to stay task-focused and ward off distractions, has become of special relevance for educational research and practice. It describes how decreased motivation or negative emotions can be dealt with by applying action control strategies. However, despite its potential, an important area of education has neglected volitional considerations: distance education (DE). This seems paradoxical because by its very nature distance education requires a great deal of persistence and effort that is volitional. Consequently, the present paper introduces a conceptual framework built on volitional theories; it aims to augment traditional perspectives and to analyse major challenges to DE, such as dropout rates. The paper reports results from a longitudinal study (September 2007-July 2009) that was conducted to determine the factorial structure of the Volitional Persona Test (VPT), an online instrument to assess volitional competence, and to obtain detailed information on students' volitional competence at a large DE university and at numerous traditional universities in German-speaking countries. It was demonstrated that the construct of volition can be subdivided into distinct factors, volitional self-efficacy, consequence control, emotion control, and meta-cognition, which may enable the development of support systems that are tailored to learners' individual needs. Implications for future research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.)

This study investigated the use of gamification in blended learning for a bachelor's degree class in educational technology. Points and leaderboards in class were implemented to research the influence on intrinsic motivation and collaborative learning. In the quantitative part, comparative data was collected in a between-groups design. Forty-six participants took part in the control group (non-gamified) and 51 students participated in the treatment group (gamified). In the qualitative part, follow-up in-depth interviews with six participants from the gamified seminars were conducted. Quantitative findings showed a significant difference for both variables 'Intrinsic Motivation' and 'Collaborative Learning' between both groups. Qualitative findings revealed that students appreciated an active engagement through the gamification concept, as it helped towards purposeful learning behavior, fostered team spirit in the working groups, and supported increased collegial and professional interaction. Finally, a well-structured peer review allowed for assessment of student's learning progress.

Many recent studies have stressed the importance of teacher candidates' (TCs) self-regulated learning (SRL) skills for successful learning. Because of the promising consequences of SRL for academic performance, teacher educators (TEs) are encouraged to increase TCs' SRL opportunities in educational programs. Because of the difficulty and complexity for TEs to successfully guide TCs towards SRL, the present study contributes to the discussion how to best facilitate TEs in finding a balance between student- and teacher-control. For this purpose, a conceptual model is presented. The model draws upon literature related to the perspective of the learner, the teacher and the learning task. Besides the context of teacher education, the model is beneficial for higher education as well as teaching and teacher professionalization. It will help instructors provide a more balanced approach between teacher- and student-controlled learning, and support students develop essential SRL skills.

This quasi-experimental study compares preferences for the amount of instructional guidance between creative and noncreative learners. Instructional guidance is implemented as a two-level factor represented as two variants of a visual design task, only differing in the amount of verbal guidance they gave. Dependent preference outcomes were measured using an adapted version of the Web-based Learning Environmental Preference (WLEP) questionnaire by Yang and Tsai. A total of N = 41 students participated: 17 pupils (mean age: 17.6, SD = 3.1) currently enrolled in a creative educational program and 24 pupils (mean age: 21.5, SD = 1.89) from programs unrelated to art. ?[superscript 2]-Tests of dichotomized preference values showed significant less approval of the high-guidance instruction by the creative group (d = 0.701; RR = 0.461; OR = 0.234). Results suggest a relation between learning in a creative domain and low-guidance forms of instruction that should be taken in account when designing online instruction for this domain.

In the study the emphasis is put on web-based trainings (WBT). WBTs are the most common form of e-learning in on-the-job trainings in the private and public sector in Germany, whereas blended-learning scenarios and virtual classrooms are only used by 55% and 41% respectively. In spite of the increasing distribution of e-learning applications in sectors like higher education as well as private and professional further education, virtual teaching and learning scenarios are not widely used in the health and nursing education. Beside this deficit, the existing academic void of the motivational effect of a WBT in general proves the relevance of the research question: Does the use of the WBT have a positive effect on the learning motivation of the learners? The results collectively indicate that the acceptance of the participants during the use of the WBT has the highest positive impact on the learning motivation of the students.

Although the educational potential of student questions is widely acknowledged, primary school teachers need support to guide them to become effective for learning the curriculum. The aim of this review is to identify which teacher guidance supports effective student questioning. Thirty-six empirical studies on guiding student questioning in primary education were analysed. Four emergent themes for teacher guidance of effective student questioning were identified in the data: first, guiding effective student questioning requires confident teachers, who create a supportive classroom culture for question generation and acknowledge the potential in students' initial questions; second, defining a conceptual focus supports teachers in aligning student questions to curricular goals; third, organising collective responsibility for the question process in the classroom fosters effective student questioning; and fourth, teacher guidance is supported when the process of questioning is visualised on a collective platform.

Feedback is essential in any kind of learning. This study focused on feedback in online learning and conceptualized feedback as a social interaction process. Online learning rests on social interaction, which is affected by feelings of social presence. Therefore, we investigated received and perceived online feedback, and the coherence between them. In addition, we studied the influence of social presence on feedback processes. Sixteen Dutch student teachers, who followed a 1 year customized postgraduate teacher education course, engaged in an online peer coaching program using Skype. Data could be collected from 8 different participants and 966 feedback utterances were analysed. In order to determine the quality of this received feedback, an observational instrument was used. In addition, questionnaires were filled in that addressed student teachers' feedback perceptions and feelings of social presence. Findings showed that participants with higher feedback perceptions received more effective observed feedback than participants with lower perceptions. Feelings of social presence affected perceived and observed feedback, however the social presence items need further validation. This study has practical implications for providing effective online feedback as well as providing a more holistic view on the processes of feedback among teachers.

Professional development plans (PDPs) have recently been introduced in Dutch schools to support teachers' professional development. However, teachers' beliefs regarding the use of PDPs have not been systematically researched, whereas research on the use of PDPs indicates that the implementation is not always successful and depends on how use is perceived by users. Some teachers may doubt the usefulness and purpose of a PDP, and this might influence their reactions to its introduction. Using Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour, the current study explored teachers' characteristics (such as age and years of experience in education) and their beliefs about intention to use a PDP. Clusters of teachers with similar characteristics and beliefs were identified to permit the design of interventions specific to each cluster. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to reveal these beliefs and characteristics for a sample of 41 teachers working in schools where using a PDP was mandatory. The results showed that most teachers had a positive attitude towards using a PDP. However, because using a PDP was mandatory, they felt pressured to produce one. Moreover, it was not a priority. This was because of their high workload. The present study contributes to the literature by adding knowledge of teachers' beliefs about the use of PDPs. This knowledge may help the PDP to become a more effective device in promoting teachers' professional development.

The purpose of this study is to investigate students' usage and acceptance of electronic books. Factors correlating with students' attitude towards e-books were examined using the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw 1989). A questionnaire was administered online for students at University of Hagen. Results indicate that nearly two thirds of the participants had read electronic books. E-book users emphasized 24/7 access and access from home as significantly important attributes whilst non-users reported the preference for print books as the main reason for not reading electronic books. Applying the Technology Acceptance Model, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were both correlated to students' attitude towards e-books. Moreover, we found a negative relationship between the emotional attachment to paper books and the attitude towards e-books whilst prior knowledge and technology readiness correlated positively with the attitude.

This article presents a review of existent literature that provides insight in the effectiveness of computer learning games. Based on this research, the effectiveness of games is illustrated in detail with regard to three current perspectives on games: design characteristics of games, the process of gameplay and the reflection of specific objectives and outcomes. Although, all perspectives are connect with the hope of better learning through games, it is criticized that the effectiveness cannot be simply answered by one of the three alone. The goal of the article is therefore to clarify the different views. To further advance game research and design decisions, recommendations are proposed that include research on and alignment of individual learner factors, game design and learning outcomes. (Contains 1 table.)

Despite that benefits of feedback in student learning are reported in much research, little has been reported regarding the use of feedback from teachers to other teachers--a key tool in professional development. In this study, we triangulated data from videotaped peer coaching sessions, questionnaires, and interviews regarding 12 primary school teachers in four peer groups in the Netherlands. We focused our research on two issues: the interplay of observed feedback dimensions and elements and perceptions of that feedback. Feedback dimensions were generally effective and the influence of the elements on the dimensions mostly aligned with the expectations. Teachers generally perceived feedback as effective. Moreover, effective observed feedback was perceived as effective. Findings indicate that peer coaches should stimulate coached teachers to become goal directed, specific, detailed, and neutral (neither positive nor negative) by using feedback elements so as to optimize feedback processes. (Contains 5 tables, 1 figure and 1 footnote.)

In vocational education and training (VET) in the Netherlands, learning and working are integrated from the start. Authentic assessments are used during competence-based VET curricula to achieve correspondence between learning and working. The premise behind this study is that authenticity is subjective and that perceptions of assessment authenticity influence student learning for the assessments. It examines whether students and teachers differ in their perceptions of the authenticity of various assessment characteristics. Subsequently this study investigates whether freshman and senior students, who differ in their amount of practical experience, differ in their perceptions of assessment authenticity. The main findings were that teachers rated most assessment characteristics as more authentic than students did, while freshman and senior students did not differ in their perception of authenticity. Implications deal with communicating about and developing authentic assessment in the eyes of both students and teachers to stimulate students' professional skills development during a VET curriculum. (Contains 2 tables.)

Quality control policies towards Dutch vocational schools have changed dramatically because the government questioned examination quality. Schools must now demonstrate assessment quality to a new Examination Quality Center. Since teachers often design assessments, they must be involved in quality issues. This study therefore explores teachers' opinions on assessment quality evaluation criteria. Pre-vocational and vocational teachers (N=211) responded to a questionnaire. Contrary to expectations, results show that teachers deem classical and competency-based quality criteria equally important. Vocational teachers gave higher importance scores than pre-vocational teachers, possibly due to the pressure they experience to improve the quality of their assessments.

Many forms of e-learning (such as online courses with authentic tasks and computer-supported collaborative learning) have become important in distance education. Very often, such e-learning courses or tasks are set up following constructivist design principles. Often, this leads to learning environments with authentic problems in ill-structured tasks that are supposed to motivate students. However, constructivist design principles are difficult to implement because developers must be able to predict how students perceive the tasks and whether the tasks motivate the students. The research in this article queries some of the assumed effects. It presents a study that provides increased insight into the actual perception of electronic authentic learning tasks. The main questions are how students learn in such e-learning environments with "virtual" reality and authentic problems and how they perceive them. To answer these questions, in two e-learning programs developed at the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL) designers' expectations were contrasted with student perceptions. The results show a gap between the two, for students experience much less authenticity than developers assume. (Contains 4 tables.)

Because learning and instruction are increasingly competence-based, the call for assessment methods to adequately determine competence is growing. Using just one single assessment method is not sufficient to determine competence acquisition. This article argues for Competence Assessment Programmes (CAPs), consisting of a combination of different assessment methods, including both traditional and new forms of assessment. To develop and evaluate CAPs, criteria to determine their quality are needed. Just as CAPs are combinations of traditional and new forms of assessment, criteria used to evaluate CAP quality should be derived from both psychometrics and edumetrics. A framework of 10 quality criteria for CAPs is presented, which is then compared to Messick's framework of construct validity. Results show that the 10-criterion framework partly overlaps with Messick's, but adds some important new criteria, which get a more prominent place in quality control issues in competence-based education. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

This study focused on determining the facets of assessment authenticity by exploring the perceptions of both students and teachers of vocational education and training. It elaborates on a theoretical five-dimensional framework (5DF) that differentiates between five dimensions and several sub-elements of authenticity. This framework led to the development of a questionnaire for examining if the facets of the 5DF are recognised by students and teachers in practice. Reliability and factor analysis as well as readability scores were used. Teachers recognised both the dimensions and the sub-elements as facets that determine assessment authenticity. In the eyes of the students, four of the five dimensions (task, physical context, form and result/criteria) determine authenticity, while students do not perceive the social context as a characteristic of assessment authenticity, nor do they differentiate the several sub-elements. Implications for using the 5DF to develop or evaluate authentic assessments are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

This article examines the relationships between perceptions of authenticity and alignment on study approach and learning outcome. Senior students of a vocational training program performed an authentic assessment and filled in a questionnaire about the authenticity of various assessment characteristics and the alignment between the assessment and the instruction. Deep or surface study activities and the development of transferable generic skills were measured with a questionnaire as well. Correlational analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine the hypothesis that more perception of authenticity and alignment resulted in more deep learning and development of generic skills. Results showed that when the "task," "physical context" and assessment "form" are more authentic and when there is more alignment there is also evidence of more deep learning and/or an increase in generic skill development. Authenticity perceptions did not affect surface learning. Contrary to expectations, more authentic assessment "criteria" resulted in a decrease in deep learning and generic skill development. The explanation might be that authentic, but too concrete criteria, focusing on specific actions, hamper motivation and learning at least for more experienced students.

Instruction and learning are increasingly based on competencies, causing a call for assessment methods to adequately determine competency acquisition. Because competency assessment is such a complex endeavor, one single assessment method seems not to be sufficient. This necessitates Competency Assessment Programs (CAPS) that combine different methods, ranging from classical tests to recently developed assessment methods. However, many of the quality criteria used for classical tests cannot be applied to CAPS, since they use a combination of different methods rather than just one. This article presents a framework of 10 quality criteria for CAPS. An expert focus group was used to validate this framework. The results confirm the framework (9 out of 10 criteria) and expand it with 3 additional criteria. Based on the results, an adapted and layered new framework is presented.

Students with high intrinsic motivation often out-perform students with low intrinsic motivation. However, little is known about the processes that lead to these differences. In education based on simulations or authentic electronic learning environments, this lack of insight is even more clear. The present study investigated what students actually did in an electronic learning environment that was designed as a game-like realistic simulation in which students had to play the role of a junior consultant. The results show that students with high intrinsic motivation did not do more, rather they tended to do different things. Analysis of log files showed that the increased curiosity that students with high intrinsic motivation have, resulted in proportionally more explorative study behaviour. However, the learning outcomes of students with high intrinsic motivation were not better.

Authenticity is an important element of new modes of assessment. The problem is that what authentic assessment really is, is unspecified. In this article, we first review the literature on authenticity of assessments, along with a five-dimensional framework for designing authentic assessments with professional practice as the starting point. Then, we present the results of a qualitative study to determine if the framework is complete, and what the relative importance of the five dimensions is in the perceptions of students and teachers of a vocational college for nursing. We discuss implications for the framework, along with important issues that need to be considered when designing authentic assessments.

Studied the development of students' assessment skills and their skills in writing reflection papers as an effect of assessment training integrated into three mathematics courses. Findings for 110 first-year students at a teacher training college in the Netherlands show the usefulness of involving students in assessment procedures. (SLD)

An electronic performance support system (EPSS) was tested by 14 instructional designers, compared with 12 controls working with traditional methods. The EPSS group produced a significantly better end product, but the control group scored significantly higher on a knowledge test. (SK)