Web-based Education on Bioterrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction

This study examined the relationships between
measures of (a) learner satisfaction with
online courses on weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
and bioterrorism intended to address the
educational needs of responder Communities of
Practice (CoP) and (b) degrees of
accomplishment by the learner enrolled in those
online courses. Provided that course design
characteristics were similar between courses and that
content was different, it was important to
examine multiple measures of learner satisfaction
with the course characteristics (Content, Accuracy,
Navigation, Look, Flow, Assessment, and Value) in
relation to multiple measures of learner achievement
(Pre-Post Gain, Follow-up Personal Benefit, Follow-up
Organizational Benefit, Follow-up Subject-Matter
Retention, and Follow-up Simulation
Scenarios) in order to identify the predictors of
effectiveness for future design improvements. The
results indicated that (1) navigation appeared to be
a statistically significant predictor of learning
achievement scores and (2) estimate of
personal benefit was associated with value judgments
placed on the courses on bioterrorism and WMD for
responder communities.

Autorentext

Tatiana Solovieva holds a Doctor of Education degree inTechnology Education/Instructional Design and Technology fromWest Virginia University. Dr. Solovieva has taught at theuniversity level, collaborated with public schools, and publishedresearch results in several fields in the USA and internationally.

Klappentext

This study examined the relationships betweenmeasures of (a) learner satisfaction with online courses on weapons of mass destruction (WMD)and bioterrorism intended to address the educational needs of responder Communities ofPractice (CoP) and (b) degrees of accomplishment by the learner enrolled in thoseonline courses. Provided that course design characteristics were similar between courses and thatcontent was different, it was important to examine multiple measures of learner satisfactionwith the course characteristics (Content, Accuracy,Navigation, Look, Flow, Assessment, and Value) inrelation to multiple measures of learner achievement(Pre-Post Gain, Follow-up Personal Benefit, Follow-upOrganizational Benefit, Follow-up Subject-MatterRetention, and Follow-up Simulation Scenarios) in order to identify the predictors ofeffectiveness for future design improvements. Theresults indicated that (1) navigation appeared to bea statistically significant predictor of learningachievement scores and (2) estimate of personal benefit was associated with value judgmentsplaced on the courses on bioterrorism and WMD forresponder communities.