Article Contexts

Chaney, B. H., Eddy, J. M., Dorman, S. M., Glessner, L., Green, B. L., & Lara-Alecio, R. (2007). Development of an Instrument to Assess Student Opinions of the Quality of Distance Education Courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 145-164.
• Survey review by panel consisting of nine professionals
• Interview of 10 students in or were in a health distance education class
• 601 university students enrolled in a distance education course(s) (Spring 2006)


Conrad, D. L. (2008). From Community to Community of Practice: Exploring the Connection of Online Learners to Informal Learning in the Workplace. American Journal of Distance Education, 22(1), 3-23.
• 10 (7 male, 3 female) full-time employed adult online learners in postsecondary distance learning programs across Canada in the middle of their class
• 6 workplace colleagues of the students
• Initial questionnaire with 10 students, phone interview with 7 of the participants, questionnaire for the 6 work colleagues


Flowers, J., & Cotton, S. E. (2007). Impacts of Student Categorization of Their Online Discussion Contributions. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(2), 93-104.
• 20 US university students participating in a five week online course within a noncohort master’s program in Career and Technical Education.
• Esed Blackboard (mainly the asynchronous threaded discussion)
• All forums were one week in duration
• During Week 3, students were asked to fill out a discussion review
(“Reflective Activity Form”)


Gaytan, J., & McEwen, B. C. (2007). Effective Online Instructional and Assessment Strategies. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 117-132.
• The population included 85
university faculty and 1,963 university students, with response rates of 34% (29 of 85) for faculty and 17% (332 of 1963) for students
• Online surveys, administered through the Blackboard and WebCT course management systems, were used to gather data


Keeler, C. G., & Horney, M. (2007). Online Course Designs: Are Special Needs Being Met? American Journal of Distance Education, 21(2), 61-75.
• Secondary-level online course students in classes using a “virtual classroom model”
• Special needs (physical and cognitive, no emotional) students
• Twenty-two sample courses were chosen from varying schools (with different accreditation bodies)
• The courses included at least four from each major
subject area (English, mathematics, science, social studies, and “other”)
and about four from each of the 5 online high schools


Kelsey, K. D. (2008). A Review of: Teaching and Learning With Virtual Teams. American Journal of Distance Education, 22(1), 63-65.
• 4 sections of a book were reviewed
• First two sections each had 4 chapters last two each had two chapters
• Mostly empirical data from various authors were cited and explained


Moisey, S. D., Ally, M., & Spencer, B. (2006). Factors Affecting the Development and Use of Learning Objects. American Journal of Distance Education, 20(3), 143-161.
• The study involved twenty-seven graduate students enrolled in the Masters
of Distance Education (MDE) program at Athabasca University
• All were senior-level students, having completed at least four previous courses in the program
• Spanned a little over a two-month period


O"Leary, P. F., & Quinlan Jr., T. J. (2007). Learner–Instructor Telephone Interaction: Effects on Satisfaction and Achievement of Online Students. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 133-143.
• Questionnaire was administered to selected students in the Iowa Community College Online Consortium at the beginning and end of the spring 2005 semester
• Students surveyed in the first two weeks and again at the end of the semester
• Sixteen instructors, representing five colleges, volunteered to participate in the study, they had a total of 348 students registered, 229 participated
• 66 students received a phone call the others were part of the control group; the rest did not end up participating


Offir, B., Bezalel, R., & Barth, I. (2007). Introverts, Extroverts, and Achievement in a Distance Learning Environment. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(1), 3-19.
• Seventy-seven Israeli students participated in the study, 34 women and 43 men, who studied at least one DL course via videoconferencing.
• Data was collected from all but fifty-one of the students were interviewed
• The students were from a university geographically farther than 100 miles from the lecturer


Seo, K. K. (2007). Utilizing Peer Moderating in Online Discussions: Addressing the Controversy between Teacher Moderation and Nonmoderation. American Journal of Distance Education, 21(1), 21-36.
• 174 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course at a Western university.
• First-year students (49%), second-year students (36%), and upper-level undergraduates (15%). Approximately 61% of the participants were in the 18–20 age range and 33% were in the 21–23 age range.
• Approximately 58% of the students were female.
• 166 participants divided in half and then into groups of 10-11 students