Distance Education Research

1) What is the general state of research in Distance Education today?
After reading through the articles, it appears to me that the general state of research in Distance Education is very incomplete. Each article and research study while it has its merits, does not fully answer questions or has some sort of variable hindering it. It seems that more research needs to be done into this topic and with more through consideration to careful research practices. According to The Institute of Higher Education, there has been "gaps and omissions" in research. In addition, their article goes on to discuss the quality of analysis as well. Many of the research studies are less than perfect, leaving much to be desired in the field.


2) Who are some of the big names in DE research?
Honestly, after reading through the articles there were lots of names of people, but none that really stood out as something super impressive, or at least, not in the way I took this question. The biggest name that stands out to me isn't a person, its a journal. The American Journal of Distance Education has published many articles on Distance Education research. As far as individuals, Keegan is huge in Distance Education. He has developed many definitions of Distance Education and things related (I think I may be misunderstanding this question).


3) Did you find any research studies that appeared to have contradictory results?
There are many research studies that contradict each other. It seems that a large percentage of Distance Education research articles do not agree with each other. According to the Bernard article, Allen et al (2005) concluded that classroom instruction was more effective in teaching students; however, in the IHEP article they tell about many studies who conclude that distance education and classroom instruction are equal on many fronts.


4) What explanations might you offer for this variance?
From the articles I've read this unit, it appears that there are lots of errors made in the Distance Education Research field. Many of the studies claim to be comprehensive but in actuality they are not. Berge tried to do his review based on this and found that there wasn't enough comprehensive results and he had to fall back on the Sherry categorization method. Many of the studies also make bias mistakes; they take out what they feel are not "important" and it seems to be at their own interest.


5) Did you find any research studies that confirmed the weaknesses identified in the IHEP Report: What's the difference?: a review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning? Examples?
IHEP Report stated "The validity and reliability of the instruments used to measure student outcomes and attitudes are questionable." In the Bernard article it speaks of an study by Allen whose research did not effectively measure a critical aspect. The study says that effectiveness is shown more in traditional classroom instruction, but the measurements given were for student satisfaction, definitely not the most important question in measuring the effectiveness of distance learning.