Dissertation Defense Announcement

The College of Education announces the Final Dissertation of

Tod Traughber

for the Degree of Doctor of Education

May 3, 2018 at 1:00 AM in IDT Studio, Ball Hall

Advisor: Clif Mims

Training adult volunteers to judge in competitive, non-traditional educational environments using online learning

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the comparative change in reported self-efficacy between an experimental group using an interactive, online instructional module and a control group using a traditional handbook. Three research questions were addressed in the study: 1. To what extent does completion of an interactive, online training module, as compared to completion of a training manual, affect the self-efficacy of potential volunteer first-time academic competition judges to fulfill their role as a judge after controlling for initial self-efficacy? 2. To what extent does completion of an interactive, online training module, as compared to completion of a training manual, affect the self-efficacy of potential volunteer first-time academic competition judges to understand criteria to assign awards after controlling for initial self-efficacy? 3. To what extent does completion of an interactive, online training module, as compared to completion of a training manual, affect the self-efficacy of potential volunteer first-time academic competition judges to collaborate with other volunteer academic competition judges after controlling for initial self-efficacy? Data were collected with a Pre- and Post-Training survey completed by 42 participants (18 experimental; 24 control group). A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to identify differentiation in perceived self-efficacy according to the research questions. Analysis of the data pertaining to Question 2 revealed the participants of the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher change in their belief that they could understand criteria for the assignment of awards over those of the control group. Data for Questions 1 and 3 revealed higher change in reported self-efficacy for the experimental group over the control group, but the variance was not enough to be considered significant. Results of the open-ended questions showed that participants in the control group desired features prevalent in the interactive, online module such as concrete examples and availability of videos for assistance. Further, they showed that the traditional handbook led to greater cognitive overload in comparison to the instructional design of the online learning environment. It is recommended that future research explore this topic with an increased sample size to enhance generalizability to larger populations.