ABSTRACT

Advancements in educational technology have increased opportunity and access for students who wish to pursue doctoral education through a variety of delivery options and have resulted in increased enrollments in doctoral programs over the past decade. However, doctoral retention and graduation rates remain dismal. Online and asynchronous programs can be isolating and unmotivating for students while in-person and synchronous programs do not allow the flexibility that working adults often need. To address this tension, the authors studied a doctoral program that utilized telepresence robots for distance learning in a synchronous hybrid learning environment. This phenomenological research used survey and focus groups to study both student and faculty perceptions of and experiences learning and teaching with telepresence robots in a synchronous hybrid environment. The study found that, while there were frequent interruptions to student learning due to technology issues, both in-person and distance learners were able to develop high levels of social presence due to a cohort model and residency requirements. Overall, students expressed high levels of satisfaction with this program model. However, faculty who taught in the program were largely unknowledgeable about telepresence technology when they began teaching in the program and did not develop pedagogies or praxis specific to telepresence robots or the synchronous hybrid environment. Recommendations include experiential learning opportunities for students and faculty using telepresence robots to improve instruction as well as the overall learning experience for the distance learners and professional development and support for faculty as they develop new pedagogy and praxis appropriate for this learning environment.

摘要

教育技术的进步增加了希望通过各种交付选择进行博士教育的学生的机会和机会，并在过去十年中增加了博士课程的入学率。然而，博士的保留率和毕业率仍然令人沮丧。在线和异步程序可能会使学生孤立和缺乏动力，而面对面和同步程序不允许有工作的成年人经常需要的灵活性。为了解决这种紧张关系，作者研究了一个博士项目，该项目利用远程呈现机器人在同步混合学习环境中进行远程学习。这项现象学研究使用调查和焦点小组来研究学生和教师在同步混合环境中对远程呈现机器人学习和教学的看法和体验。该研究发现，虽然由于技术问题经常中断学生的学习，但由于队列模型和居住要求，面对面和远程学习者都能够发展高水平的社交存在感。总体而言，学生们对这个项目模型表示高度满意。然而，在该计划中任教的教师在开始在该计划中教授时对远程呈现技术基本上一无所知，并且没有开发特定于远程呈现机器人或同步混合环境的教学法或实践。