In the process of completing a dissertation for the EdD program at MSU-Bozeman, I am keeping notes and other information at this site so I can access it from where-ever I happen to be at the time.

General Topic

My intent is to conduct research into the effectiveness and perceptions of distance education as offered by the Montana University System.  Several issues will need to be resolved in order to proceed.

Data Availability:  I need to determine what raw data is currently available from institutions - most probably from the Banner computer database.  I will contact Roger Barber - Deputy commissioner to determine if I can get assistance from the commissioners office.

Method of determining effectiveness:  In literature review, there are several articles that use various indicators of student success/teaching effectiveness.  Currently:

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Survey analysis/inclusion in research:  Some of the previous research conducted has used student and/or faculty survey instruments to determine student satisfaction and attitudes and to determine faculty opinions of distance delivery.  This appears to be an important aspect of research into this issue.  This might also be the source of qualitative data that might be used to determine themes to include in the qualitative research analysis.

Permission to use data:  Since only aggregate data is expected to be used, this study may be exempt from the Human Subject review process - either at Bozeman or on individual campuses.  I will need to ascertain whether this is the case and determine which board(s) I need to apply to for exemption status.

Methodology

I expect to do some form of chi-square analysis to determine significance of selected variables followed by a t-statistic to determine strength of the relationship.  Oh - I'm thinking this is a causal-comparative study since I'm looking at independent variable of delivery type and its affect on the dependent variable of student success or teaching effectiveness as measured by student success (learning).