No abstract

Transactional distance is an important pedagogical theory in distance education that calls for more empirical support. The purpose of this study was to verify the theory by operationalizing and examining the relationship of (1) dialogue, structure and learner autonomy to transactional distance, and (2) environmental factors and learner demographic factors to transactional distance in web-based distance courses. More than 200 online undergraduate and graduate students in a Midwest university in the USA were surveyed. The findings indicate that high levels of structure and dialogue are not necessarily incompatible while supporting the inverse relationship of structure, dialogue and learner autonomy to transactional distance. Environmental factors and learner characteristics impacting transactional distance are identified, and practical implications of the findings for online course design are discussed.

This study was an initial attempt to operationalise Moore's transactional distance theory by developing and validating an instrument measuring the related constructs: dialogue, structure, learner autonomy and transactional distance. Data were collected from 227 online students and analysed through an exploratory factor analysis. Results suggest that the instrument, in general, shows promise as a valid and reliable measure of the constructs related to transactional distance theory. Potential refinement of the instrument and future research directions are included at the end of the article.

This study examines the relative influence of competence, consistency and motivational intention upon the defined task and relationship dimensions of trust in leaders. A sample of 345 part-and full-time employees provided survey responses regarding their perceptions of their direct supervisors.Results indicate that competence and consistency explain more variance in task than in relationship-oriented trust.Motivational intention explained more variance in relationship than in task-oriented trust.The results, practical implications, limitations and future research opportunities are discussed.

We present the idea of recurrent, in-class online quizzes as an effective and efficient way to promote student attendance (presence), engagement (participation) and to provide formative assessment (to enhance performance) within a face-to-face course. Quizzes during each class meeting encourage students to attend class regularly and participate actively. In addition, automated feedback helps students identify strengths and weaknesses and allows instructors to immediately address common mistakes and gaps in learning. In this exploratory study, the perceptions of students toward these recurrent quizzes are investigated. Results show that students feel the quizzes motivate them to attend class and participate actively. Students also reported that the quizzes helped contribute to their performance in the course by providing immediate feedback on progress and helping them identify important course concepts. All of these objectives can be achieved with minimal workload for the instructor and can easily be adapted for blended or distance courses.