This dissertation consists of three papers. Online Learning, Offline Outcomes: Online Course Taking and High School Student Performance. This paper uses fixed effects models to estimate differences in contemporaneous and downstream academic outcomes for students who take courses virtually and face-to-face, both for initial attempts and for…

Distance and Blended education have been studied and applied in many disciplines but there has been limited use and assessment of these learning modes for design studios. The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has forced education delivery methods in the United States to become more online/hybrid in the 2020 school year without much…

This observational, quantitative longitudinal study examined the retention gap among students studying exclusively online and those studying on-campus and compared variables related to outcomes and the completion rates of students at one private, non-profit, four-year university Master of Public Health Program (MPH) in the Midwest. It was unknown…

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study is to identify and describe the perceptions and experiences of lower elementary public-school teachers in the United States teaching with educational technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a demographic survey and semi-structured interviews, teachers shared their experiences regarding…

This qualitative study was conducted to learn about the lived experiences of Indigenous youth during the transition to emergency remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight students at two schools in the Western part of Robeson County, North Carolina, told their stories. Tribal Critical Race Theory was used in this study as a lens to…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused schools worldwide to suddenly close their doors to in-person learning and transition to distance learning for students. This unprecedented experience provided an opportunity to examine how school administrators respond to crises through their decisions and collaborative efforts. This phenomenological case study…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a significant relationship between school-wide academic outcomes and the instructional modalities utilized by public schools during the 2019-2022 school years. This study also determined if there was a significant difference in assessment scores earned by public school students…

The worldwide school closures due to the Coronavirus (COVID)-19 pandemic that began in the spring of 2020 caused a disruption to educational systems (Bao et al., 2020; Engzell et al., 2021; Masonbrink & Hurley, 2020; Munir, 2021; United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, 2020). The pandemic created a dilemma in which school…

This dissertation consists of three papers. In each paper, I leverage a different quantitative method to study a downstream effect of technology on educational outcomes. In the first paper, I study the impact of an online math learning program on 3rd through 5th grade math achievement in Louisiana. Employing Zearn Math usage metrics and…

In this study, a comparative analysis was conducted to explore how students' learning outcomes were potentially influenced by student engagement during different modes of instruction. The study compared the final mean grade point averages (GPAs) of a sample (N = 600) of middle school students during in-person, online, and hybrid modes of…

The purpose of this study was to explore high school students' and teachers' experiences and perceptions of effective online learning compared to a face-to-face learning environment. A great deal of evidence exists showing that no significant difference should be expected regarding a well-designed online learning environment compared with…

The fast progress of online learning raises the problem of understanding and adequate perception of this process by parents of students because they may influence choices made by students concerning their education, which may be either online or face-to-face. The cultural background of the parents may have a considerable impact on the perception…

The question of equivalency regarding course modality has plagued and intrigued educators for as long as multiple modalities have existed. In the modern world of academia, the two prevailing modalities are face-to-face or traditional courses and online courses. A multitude of factors have contributed to the increase in online course offerings,…

The United States is losing its position as an innovative global leader because of a shortage of skilled workers in STEM. This decline is due in part to the US producing a lower number of graduates from STEM related fields. One reason for the shortage is that US students are selecting or graduating with STEM majors at a lower rate than those of…

The HyFlex model for instruction allows for a student to choose if they will attend class in person, online synchronicity, or asynchronously. The aim of this mixed-method study was to answer the central question to the central question, "How does the HyFlex delivery method impact faculty self-efficacy regarding teaching?" at Keweenaw Bay…