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Iodl 2019 presentation
1. A Content Analysis on the
Studies in Open and Distance
Learning: Doctoral
Dissertations Published in
2018 on ProQuest Database
İstek AKSAK KÖMÜR
Merve DİYARBAKIRLI
3. Introduction
Distance education, in particular, and the teaching and
learning process, in general, are complex matters
(Zawacki, Backer, Vogt, 2009). Studies on open and
distance learning are increasing day by day.
the content of the studies in this field,
the design and methods used in the research,
data collection instruments,
how to do the analysis raises the subject of curiosity.
4. Purpose and Research Questions
to examine the doctoral dissertations published on
ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global database in
2018
5. Purpose and Research Questions
1. What are the names of the
supervisors, the leading
universities, frequently used
keywords in open and distance
learning research?
2.Which research methods and designs
have been applied in open and
distance learning research?
6. Purpose and Research Questions
3. Which data collection instruments and
data analysis techniques have been used on
open and distance learning research?
4. What are the types of the sample and
participants on open and distance learning
research?
7. Method
qualitative research is the process of collecting,
analyzing, interpreting, and writing the results of a
study, while qualitative research is the approach to
data collection, analysis, and report writing
differing from the traditional, quantitative
approaches (Creswell, 2012).
descriptive analyses
sample; 177 doctoral dissertation in the field of
open and distance learning research published in
2018 on ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global
database
8. Method
The content of the dissertations were coded according
to certain parameters
1.supervisor’s name
2.universities
3.keywords
4.research design and method
5.data collection instruments
6.data analysis
7.participants
9. Findings
1. Supervisors only three supervisors’
names were repeated twice
John McKay,
Melanie Shaw
Julia Watkins.
10. Findings
2. Universities
23 Northcentral University
13 the University of Capella
9 Walden University
8 the Grand Canyon University
5 the Northeastern University
Numbers show
doctoral theses
18. RESULTS
In this study 177 doctoral dissertation in
the field of open and distance learning
were analyzed and all the theses were
done in various universities in the USA,
which were retrieved from Proquest Global
Theses Database.
19. RESULTS
Northcentral University became a pioneer
in studies in open and distance learning as
it was the university that published the
most theses (23 doctoral dissertations)in
2018.
20. RESULTS
The terms “distance education”, “distance
learning” and “education” are generic terms that
are preferred to define most of the studies in this
field. In addition, the use of the term “online”
frequently can be a sign of the increasing trend of
integrating online technologies in distance education
field. “community of inquiry”,“blended learning”
and “moocs” are other trend topics that have been
studied by various researchers.
21. RESULTS
In terms of methodology, the analysis
demonstrated that the researchers in this
field usually preferred qualitative,
quantitative, or mixed research designs.
Most of the qualitative studies were
designed as case studies, which was
another noteworthy finding of this analysis.
22. RESULTS
In most of the qualitative studies, researchers
preferred to use more than one data
collection tools and they mostly preferred
data triangulation. In quantitative studies,
surveys and questionnaires were the most
preferred data collection tools. However, in
qualitative and mixed studies, interviews
were the most used way of data collection.
23. RESULTS
The main participants of the studies were
adult learners and faculty members. It can
be implied from the findings that the research
in this field may focus on the participants in
different business fields and life-long learners.
24. References
Bozkurt, A., Akgun-Ozbek, E., Yilmazel, S., Erdogdu, E., Ucar, H., Guler, E., Sezgin, S.,
Karadeniz, A., Sen-Ersoy, N., Goksel-Canbek, N., Dincer, G. D., Ari, S., & Aydin, C. H.
(2015). Trends in distance education research: A content analysis of journals 2009-
2013. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(1).
https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v16i1.1953
Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating
quantitative and qualitative research. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Queen, B., & Lewis, L. (2011). Distance education courses for public elementary and
secondary school students: 2009-10 (NCES 2012-009). U.S. Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics
Zawacki-Richter, O. (2009). Research areas in distance education: a Delphi
study.International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.
Zawacki-Richter, O., Bäcker, E. M., & Vogt, S. (2009). Review of distance education
research (2000 to 2008): Analysis of research areas, methods, and authorship patterns.
International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning.
