International Review of Research in Open and D istributed Learnin g
Volum e 16, Num ber 1
February – 2015
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content
Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Aras Bozkurt, Ela Akgun-Ozbek, Sibel Yilmazel, Erdem Erdogdu, Hasan Ucar, Emel Guler, Sezan Sezgin,
Abdulkadir Karadeniz, Nazife Sen-Ersoy, Nil Goksel-Canbek, Gokhan Deniz Dincer, Suleyman Ari, and Cengiz
Hakan Aydin
Anadolu University, Turkey
Abstract
This study intends to explore the current trends in the field of distance education research
during the period of 20 0 9-20 13. The trends were iden tified by an extensive review of seven peer
reviewed scholarly journals: The Am erican Journal of Distance Education (AJ DE), Distance
Education (DE), The European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning (EURODL), The
Journal of Distance Education (J DE), The Journal of Online Learning and Technology (J OLT),
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning (OL) and The International
Review of R esearch in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL). A total of 861 research
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
articles was reviewed. Mainly content analysis was em ployed to be able to analyze the curren t
research. Also, a social network analysis (SNA) was used to interpret the interrelationship
between keywords indicated in these articles. Them es were developed and the content of the
articles in the selected journals were coded according to categories derived from earlier studies.
The results were interpreted using descriptive analysis (frequencies) and social network
analysis. The reporting of the results were organized into the following categories: research
areas, theoretical and con ceptual fram eworks, variables, m ethods, m odels, strategies, data
collection and analysis m ethods, and the participants. The study also identified the m ost
com m only used keywords, and the m ost frequently cited authors and studies in distance
education. The findin gs obtained in this study m ay be useful in the exploration of potential
research areas and identification of neglected areas in the field of distance education.
Ke yw o rd s : Distance education trends; distance education issues; research evaluation; content
analysis
Introduction
There has been a profoun d change globally, particularly in term s of scientific developm ents and
social changes. One aspect of this is the way in which technology has becom e an essential part of
our lives. The im pact that this has had on society in general is becom in g m ore and m ore visible,
with the result that techn ology is now very m uch expected to be used in the proliferation of
inform ation. As a direct consequence of these expectations, there has been a parallel paradigm
shift in education.
According to Harasim (20 0 0 ), the invention of the Web technologies m ade online education
increasingly accessible, open, flexible; allowed new pedagogical m odels to em erge and reasoned
the revolution in digital knowledge age that enabled greater and faster hum an com m un ication
and collaboration and led to fundam entally new form s of econom ic activity that produced the
knowledge econom y and required basic changes in education . Educators em braced the
revolution, and the increased educational opportun ities and especially the n ew learnin g m odels
that have em erged are now influencin g education and society as a whole. The 21st century thus
begins with a paradigm shift in attitudes towards online education . Online learning is no lon ger
peripheral or supplem entary, yet an integral part of m ainstream society. Our new understanding
of the very nature of learning has affected the definition, design, and delivery of education.
Paradigm shift in education has resulted in: new m odes of educational delivery, new learning
dom ains, n ew principles of learning, new learning processes and outcom es and new educational
roles and entities.
Distance education (DE) as a m ultidisciplinary field has reacted to these chan ges; it has and is
still evolving and orienting itself to fulfill this dem an d. Thus, as the dem ands of educators and
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
learners evolve, it is crucial to understand and get a deeper insight of trends and issues in DE so
as to keep abreast of these constant changes. This study was conducted in direct response to this
dem and and aim s to help educators and researchers spot recent DE trends by studying written
scholarly docum ents, that is to say to provide a com prehensive list of “m ute evidence” (Hodder,
1994) in the field.
Literature Review
In recent years, research has been conducted to investigate DE research trends. One of the first
studies to in vestigate
trends in DE was carried out by Berge and Mrozowski (20 0 1), who
exam in ed research literature in DE over a ten-year period from 1990 to 1999. Categorization of
the articles (N=890 ) was based on Sherry’s (1996) ten research issues, nam ely redefin ing the
roles of key participants, technology selection and adoption, design issues, strategies to increase
interactivity and active learning, learner characteristics, learner support, operational issues,
policy and m anagem ent issues, equity and accessibility, and cost/ benefit trade-offs. According to
the results obtained, it was seen that pedagogical them es such as design issues, learner
characteristics, and strategies for active learnin g were the m ost frequent topics used in the field.
Also, the m ost prevalent research m ethodology was descriptive m ethodology.
Lee, Driscoll and Nelson (20 0 4) also exam ined research topics, m ethods and citation trends in
four journals: The Am erican Journal of Distance Education (AJ DE), the Journal of Distance
Education (J DE), Distance Education (DE) and Open Learning : The Journal of Open, Distance
and e-Learning (OL). Three hundred and eighty-three articles e-published between 1997 and
20 0 2 were selected from these journals and they classified the articles into six them es: designrelated,
developm ent-related,
m anagem ent-related,
evaluation-related,
institutional
and
operational-related, and theory and research-related. The them atic analysis m ethod was used to
explore core m eanin gs. The results of this research yielded six topics: general research topics,
research specific topics, the research m ethod, the statistical m ethod used in experim ental studies,
a citation of the authors, an d the cited books and articles/ chapters.
A series of studies were conducted by Zawacki-Richter to explore the DE research dom ain . The
first study (Zawacki-Richter, 20 0 9) used a Delphi technique to develop a classification of research
areas. The second study (Zawacki-Richter, Bäcker an d Vogt, 20 0 9) identified gaps and priority
areas and analyzed 695 articles published in five prom inent DE journals between 20 0 0 and 20 0 8 .
The third study (Zawacki‐Richter and von Prüm m er, 20 10 ) carried out an analysis of the im pact
of gender and collaboration patterns am on g researchers in research m ethods, research topics and
research productivity.
In his study, Zawacki-Richter (20 0 9) developed a categorization of research areas in DE and
identified the m ost im portant and the m ost neglected research areas in DE. Havin g conducted an
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
extensive literature review and
a Delphi study with expert responses from editorial board
m em bers from the m ajor DE journals
from Septem ber-Decem ber 20 0 8, Zawacki-Richter
identified 15 research areas which were organized into 3 broad categories. The participants of the
study were 19 voluntary experts with an average of 27 years of professional experience in DE who
had m ade significant contributions to DE literature. Based on the experts’ responses, ZawackiRichter grouped the 15 research areas into three categories. In the second roun d of the Delphi
study, presented in Table 1, each category was prioritized by the experts.
After com paring the results of the study with a previous study by J egede (1994) in Australia,
Zawacki-Richter concluded that the priority of DE research areas have not chan ged drastically,
yet it was noted that innovations in online learn in g led to a shift from technology centered
research to a research of m anagem ent and change in DE institutions. It was noted that the
em ergence of onlin e distan ce learning highlights a pressing n eed for educational institutions to
em brace innovation and change. Delphi experts agreed that the areas of innovation and change
and quality assurance should be prioritized as research areas while faculty support and
professional developm ent along with “Web 2.0 applications, m obile devices, and synchronous
tools afford for teachin g, learning, and assessm ent” also deserved further attention.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Table 1
Classification of Research Areas in Distance Education (Zaw acki-Richter et al., 20 0 9)
Macro level: Distance education systems and theories.
1. Access, equity, and ethics: The democratization of access to distance education afforded by new media and by
finding ways to deliver high-quality education to those who have limited resources and poor infrastructure; issues that
refer to the (sustainable) provision of distance education in developing areas. What is the impact of distance education
(e.g., via mobile learning) on narrowing the digital divide and what is the role of ICT (information and communication
technologies) and/or OER (open educational resources) in terms of access to education?
2. Globalization of education and cross-cultural aspects: Aspects that refer to the global external environment and
drivers, the development of the global distance education market, teaching and learning in mediated global
environments, and the implications for professional development.
3. Distance teaching systems and institutions: Distance education delivery systems, the role of institutional
partnerships in developing transnational programmes, and the impact of ICT on the convergence of conventional
education and distance education institutions (hybrid or mixed mode).
4. Theories and models: Theoretical frameworks for and foundations of distance education, e.g., the theoretical basis of
instructional models, knowledge construction, interaction between learners, or the impact of social constructivism
learning theories on distance education practice.
5. Research methods in distance education and knowledge transfer: Methodological considerations, the impact of
distance education research and writing on practice, and the role of professional associations in improving practice.
Literature reviews and works on the history of distance education are also subsumed within this area.
Meso level: Management, organization, and technology.
6. Management and organization: Strategies, administration, and organizational infrastructures and frameworks for
the development, implementation, and sustainable delivery of distance education programmes. What is required for
successful leadership in distance education? Distance education and policies relating to continuing education, lifelong
learning, and the impact of online learning on institutional policies, as well as legal issues (copyright and intellectual
property).
7. Costs and benefits: Aspects that refer to financial management, costing, pricing, and business models in distance
education. Efficiency: What is the return on investment or impact of distance education programmes? What is the
impact of ICT on the costing models and the scalability of distance education delivery? How can cost effective but
meaningful learner support be provided?
8. Educational technology: New trends in educational technology for distance education (e.g., Web 2.0 applications or
mobile learning) and the benefits and challenges of using OERs, media selection (e.g., synchronous vs. asynchronous
media), technical infrastructure and equipment for online learning environments, and their opportunities for teaching
and learning.
9. Innovation and change: Issues that refer to educational innovation with new media and measures to support and
facilitate change in institutions (e.g., incentive systems for faculty, aspects referring to staff workloads, promotion, and
tenure).
10. Professional development and faculty support: Professional development and faculty support services as a
prerequisite for innovation and change. What are the competencies of online teachers and how can they be developed?
11. Learner support services: The infrastructure for and organization of learner support systems (from information and
counselling for prospective students about library services and technical support to career services and alumni
networks).
12. Quality assurance: Issues that refer to accreditation and quality standards in distance education. The impact of
quality assurance and high quality learner support on enrolments and dropout/ retention, as well as reputation and
acceptance of distance education as a valid form of educational provision.
Micro level: Teaching and learning in distance education.
13. Instructional design: Issues that refer to the stages of the instructional design process for curriculum and course
development. Special emphasis is placed on pedagogical approaches for tutoring online (scaffolding), the design of
(culturally appropriate) study material, opportunities provided by new developments in educational technology for
teaching and learning (e.g. Web 2.0 applications and mobile devices), as well as assessment practices in distance
education.
14. Interaction and communication in learning communities: Closely related to instructional design considerations is
course design that fosters (online) articulation, interaction, reflection, and collaboration throughout the learning and
teaching process. Special areas include the development of online communities, gender differences, and cross-cultural
aspects in online communication.
15. Learner characteristics: The aims and goals of adult learners, the socioeconomic Background of distance
education students, their different learning styles, critical thinking dispositions, and special needs. How do students learn
online (learner behavior patterns, learning styles) and what competencies are needed for distance learning (e.g., digital
literacy)?
Zawacki-Richter’s study is lim ited to English speaking experts, but it is significant to note that the
participants reflect the ideas of DE professionals across different countries and continents
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
(Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Fiji, Germ any, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, and
USA). Therefore, although the results m ay not be valid for som e non-En glish speaking settings,
the fact that the participan ts com e from different schools of thought m akes the study rigorous in
reflecting the m ajor research areas of study in DE.
In their follow up study, Zawacki-Richter et al. (20 0 9) used their typology of issues to categorize
695 articles, published between 20 0 0 and 20 0 8 in The Am erican Journal of Distance Education
(AJ DE), Distance Education (DE), The International Review of Research in Open and
Distributed Learning (IRRODL), The Journal of Distance Education (J DE) and Open Learning:
The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning (OL). The articles were drawn from a wide variety
of topics within the scope of DE research. They concluded that issues about instructional design ,
interaction and com m un ication patterns in com puter-m ediated com m un ication, learner
characteristics, and educational technology dom inated DE research.
One of the m ajor findin gs of this research was their attem pt to tabulate the diversity of research
m ethods em ployed in DE. Zawacki-Richter et al. (20 0 9) found that qualitative research m ethods
were m ore widely used than other m ethods. Another significant trend is collaboration am on g
researchers. The researchers concluded that the proportion of single-authors was 44.2% in the
period between 20 0 0 and 20 0 8. Another research by Mishra (1997) concerning the collaboration
of authors concluded that 61.5% of articles were published by a single author between 1991 and
1996.
Zawacki-Richter and Anderson (20 14) went one step further and provided a com prehensive
survey on the state of online distance education as an independent field of in quiry, while also
offerin g a clear orientation for future research. In their book Online Distance Education:
Tow ards a Research Agen da these research areas were discussed by leadin g DE researchers to
draw on their expert knowledge and professional experience to give an overview of the state of the
art in each research area an d derive research n eeds based on that. Zawacki-Richter and Anderson
(20 11), additionally, conducted a study to analyze the relationships and influences of 12 DE
journals usin g bibliographic description and social n etwork analysis to investigate the structure
and patterns of inform ation exchange within the field of DE research.
Purpose and Research Questions
DE is prone to continuous change in lin e with developm ents in technology and learning sciences,
a situation that opens the field up to new research areas in very short tim e spans. Moreover,
recent developm ents in open educational resources and m assive open online courses (MOOCs)
have given the field a new dim ension which has brought its own dynam ics with it. Therefore,
there is a need to m irror the DE field to be able to understand and interpret the new dynam ics,
nam ely DE trends. Berge and Mrozowski (20 0 1) between 1990 -1999 and Zawacki-Richter et al.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
(20 0 9) between 20 0 0 -20 0 8 presented research trends in DE. Therefore, the year 20 0 8 was
chosen as cutoff date for this study and authors exam ined the articles published between 20 0 920 13 as a follow up research. The m ain goal of this study was to analyze the research articles
published in seven widely accepted journals in the field to be able to explore the current trends in
the field of DE research during the period 20 0 9-20 13. For this purpose the following research
questions were considered:
What are the m ost frequent/ ly
1.
indicated keywords,
2.
chosen research areas,
3.
em phasized theoretical/ conceptual backgrounds,
4. em ployed research designs,
5.
used data collection instrum ents and data analysis techniques,
6. focused variables,
7.
targeted population and/ or participant groups,
8. cited references,
9. cited authors
in DE research articles between 20 0 9 and 20 13?
Methodology
Research Design
For the purposes of the study, the authors chose to use content analysis to study em pirical
docum entation. Content analysis has been defin ed as a system atic, replicable techn ique for
com pressing m any words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding
(Berelson , 1952). Since content analysis is a m ethod of analyzin g written, verbal or visual
com m unication m essages which includes both qualitative and quantative approaches (Elo &
Kyngäs, 20 0 8), it was deem ed to be the m ost appropriate for the intent of this study. The authors
developed and set the criteria for the them es to be studied and the content of articles in the
selected journals was then coded according to these pre-set categories. Following the content
analysis, the findings were reported using descriptive analysis. Later, a social n etwork analysis
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336
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
was em ployed to analyze keywords in the selected articles to achieve a deeper com prehension
and distinguish the lin ks between them .
Sample
Seven journals were reviewed for this study: The Am erican J ournal of Distance Education
(AJ DE), Distance Education (DE), European J ournal of Open Distance an d e- Learnin g
(EURODL), J ournal of Distance Education (J DE), J ournal of Online Learning and Technology
(J OLT), Open Learning: The J ournal of Open, Distance and e-Learnin g (OL), The International
Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learn in g (IRRODL). The selection of the journals
was based on a prelim inary review of journals in DE and educational technology. In the first
round, 8 2 journals were identified. The journals to be reviewed were filtered using the followin g
criteria:
•
a specific focus on DE and open and distance learn ing context,
•
refereed journals that are indexed by prom in ent databases,
•
a publication history of 10 years or m ore,
•
publication of articles in English (with the exception of J ournal of DE which also
publishes a very lim ited num ber of articles in French).
Following the selection of the journals, a thorough review was m ade of all articles published
between 20 0 9-20 13 (N = 1,225). Of these, 861 were identified as research articles and the others,
that is to say 364, were identified as other (editorials, book reviews, interviews, concept papers,
position papers, reflection papers, field notes, techn ical notes, etc.). For this study, only the
research articles were used.
The research area classification schem a that is used in this study is based on Zawacki-Richter’s
(20 0 9) study, explained in the introduction and shown in Table 1. This research category and area
schem a was adopted since it is rigorous due to its being based upon the views of experts in the
field of DE.
Categories related to m ethodology for coding largely follow those identified in Creswell (20 12).
When a study did not fit in to the categories identified by Creswell, the nam e of the m ethod that
the writer of the article used was added into an existing category based on sim ilarity of m ethod
with others in that category.
Reliability
To increase reliability, thirteen researchers who have the sam e background in the Distance
Education Departm ent at Anadolu University participated in this study. The researchers were
trained before conducting the study and the pre-set categories were defined before the review
process. Review of the articles took place in two rounds. Articles published annually were
reviewed by two researchers in the first round and a different set of two researchers cross-checked
and reviewed the selected articles again in the secon d round. Disagreed issues were discussed
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337
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
within the group and coded only after the researchers who had reviewed those articles reached a
concensus.
The research question regarding research areas (Table 1) in DE was coded in the first round with
10 raters (20 0 9: A-B; 20 10 : C-D; 20 11: E-F; 20 12: H-I; 20 13: J -K). In the second round, the sam e
raters (20 0 9: L-M; 20 10 : O-P; 20 11: Q-R; 20 12: S-T; 20 13: V-W) were assigned as pairs for
different years. Inter-rater reliability for 2009, between rater A and L, was κ = .740; between B
and M, it was κ = .714. For 2010, between rater C and O, it was κ = .744; between D and P, it was κ
= .760 . For 20 11, between rater E and Q, it was κ = .813; between F and R, it was κ = .783. For
2012, between rater H and S, it was κ = .728; between I and T, it was κ = .837. For 2013, between
rater J and V, it was κ = .842; between K and W, it was κ = .826.
Table 2
Cohen's Kappa Values for Inter-Coder Reliability
Ro u n d s
Ye a rs
20 0 9
2 0 10
2 0 11
2 0 12
2 0 13
ro u n d
A an d L,
κ = .740
C an d O,
κ = .744
E an d Q,
κ = .813
H an d S,
κ = .728
J an d V,
κ = .842
2 nd
ro u n d
B an d M,
κ = .714
D an d P,
κ = .760
F an d R,
κ = .783
I an d T,
κ = .837
K an d W,
κ = .826
1s t
Altm an (1991) proposed that the extent of agreem ent can be qualified as poor (< 0 .20 ), fair (0 .21
to 0 .40 ), m oderate (0 .41 to 0 .60 ), good (0 .61 to 0 .8 0 ) and very good (0 .81 to 1.0 0 ). Thus, the
reliability of raters A-L, B-M, C-O, D-P, F-R and H-S can be considered as acceptable. Besides, the
reliability of raters E-Q, I-T, J -V and K-W can be considered as quite acceptable.
Findings and Discussion
For this study, 1,225 articles were exam in ed (Table 3). A total of 364 articles were excluded and
861 articles were included to content analysis and exam ined through the criteria determ in ed.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Table 3
Journals and N um ber of Articles
JOURNALS
American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE)
Distance Education (DE)
European Journal of Open, Distance and ELearning (EURODL)
Journal of Distance Education (JDE)
Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT)
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance
and e-Learning (OL)
The International Review of Research in Open
and Distance Learning (IRRODL)
ALL ARTICLES
EXCLUDED*
INCLUDED
2009
29
32
16
2010
25
25
12
2011
24
33
12
2012
25
31
30
2013
31
28
23
TOTAL (N)
29
59
31
76
23
54
13
29
10
45
106
263
26
27
27
17
25
122
85
39
79
75
80
358
276
110
166
235
66
169
252
89
163
220
41
179
242
58
184
1225
364
861
134
149
93
*Editorials, book reviews, interviews, concept papers, position papers, reflection papers, field notes, technical notes, FYIs,
CIDER notes
Keywords Indicated
The first findin g of the research is based on a descriptive keyword analysis with an assum ption
that keywords indicated in the articles provide a holistic reflection of the research paper topics. In
this study a total of 4,0 88 keywords (633 field specific and 3,455 research related) were included
in the study and ran ked according to their frequency. Later, the field and the research specific
keywords were also analyzed separately.
Figure 1 shows the field specific keywords. As can be observed in Figure 1, the term “distance
education” is a generic term used to define this field. Another interestin g finding concerns the
word “onlin e” which is used as a descriptive term . It m ay be concluded that DE is getting m ore
dependent on the onlin e technologies and there is a shift from traditional learning environm ents
or m edia to online learn ing environm ents or m edia. As a final rem ark, the term open and distance
learnin g (ODL) has appeared in increasing frequency especially in the last two years in
congruence with a decrease in the use of the term DE in the sam e tim e span . This change from DE
to ODL as a generic term m ight be a consequence of the openness m ovem ent in general and the
use of OER, MOOCs, Web 2.0 and open spirit on networked Web environm ents in particular.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Figure 1. Field specific keywords (N=633).
The second findin g is about the use of research specific keywords (Figure 2). For this analysis, all
keywords were collected from papers and ran ked according to their frequency of appearance in
the articles in general. As The Journal of Distance Education doesn’t provide keywords for the
articles, researchers defined keywords for the articles in this journal. For this analysis, all the
keywords were ran ked and the top 40 keywords were included in this research. Keywords that
shared the sam e rank were ordered alphabetically.
This descriptive keyword analysis dem onstrates a five-year trend from m any points of view, such
as “OERs” as a m ovem ent, “m obile learnin g” as a technology based approach and “collaborative
learnin g” as a pedagogy which are all noteworthy. Links im plied between keywords is a further
area deserving attention , for instance, the term s OERs, MOOCs and Web 2.0 ; interaction and
social presence; CoI (com m unity of inquiry) and social networks m ay be related to one another
and could be evaluated as a group of keywords rather than term s havin g solo m eanings.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Figure 2. Top 40 keywords indicated m ore often than others (N=3455).
The frequency count presents a descriptive analysis of the top 40 keywords. On the other hand, to
understand and quantify the influence and im portance of the relationship am ong these keywords,
social network analysis (SNA) was conducted for the top 40 keywords and a com plete network
m odel was visualized based on their relations using cen trality distribution.
SNA is the m appin g an d m easuring of relationships and flows between people, groups,
organization s, com puters, or other inform ation and knowledge processing entities (Krebs, 20 0 2,
para. 1). The m ain goal of SNA is detecting and interpretin g patterns of social ties am ong actors
(De Nooy, Mrvar and Batagelj, 20 11, p. 5). These n etworks usually visualized in a social network
diagram , where nodes are represented as points and ties are represented as lines to conceptualize
and to analyze them .
For this analysis, the relationships of top 40 keywords (nodes) were identified on a 40 x40 m atrix
and then these nodes were tied to each other m anually by using SNA software. Following that, the
raw data was visualized applying centrality m easure an alysis. As a result of this analysis, 40 nodes
and 914 ties (edges) were observed. In term s of node between ness centrality, used to m easure the
load and im portance of a n ode, the keywords “learn in g” and “education” appeared as im portant
nodes (Figure 3). This finding also confirm s Zawacki-Richter and Anderson’s (20 14, p. 9)
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conclusion that the m ajority of published research deals with topics and issues with regard to
“teachin g” and “learning” processes in online distance education.
Figure 3. A circular node between ness centrality diagram .
Research Areas
As has been m entioned, in this study, the classification developed by Zawacki-Richter (20 0 9) is
used to define the research areas in DE. Upon analysis of the count num bers highlighted per year
in the m eta-levels of DE research classification, it can be seen that there is a strong im balance
between research areas an d high over-representation of the m icro level perspective. This findin g
also dem onstrates sim ilarities to previous research findings (Zawacki-Richter et al., 20 0 9) and
confirm s the results of their content analysis. It is also interesting to note that interaction and
com m unication in learnin g com m unities (13%), learn er characteristics (12%), and instructional
design (11%) from m icro levels and educational technology (15%) from m eso level constitute 51%
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
of all research areas (Figure 4). The m eso level finding for “Educational technology” also confirm s
that DE is strongly related to technological developm ents. In addition to this peak in m eso level,
the peaks in m icro level reflect the very nature of DE research. For instance, the result for
“interaction and com m un ication in learnin g com m unities” is based on web-based learning
environm ents and social n etwork sites; “learner characteristic” is a consequence of individual
and learner centered approaches; and “instructional design” is a result of the em ergin g digital
learnin g en viron m ents.
Figure 4. Classification of research areas.
Theoretical/Conceptual Backgrounds
Since every research study should have adequate theoretical or conceptual backgrounds,
investigatin g the theoretical/ conceptual backgrounds indicated in the research articles can
provide an insight about the current trends on what kinds of topics the researches are focusing on
in any field. Therefore, in this study the theories and/ or concepts stated in the articles were
gathered and the top ten theories/ concepts were ranked according to their frequency.
Theories/ concepts that share the sam e ran k are ordered alphabetically.
Those findings dealin g with the theoretical/ conceptual background of the articles indicate the
nature of the new learn ing paradigm of 21st century that focuses m ore on the learner rather than
instructor or adm inistrator. CoI as a theory of knowledge form ation and the process of scientific
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inquiry rank as the m ost frequently used theoretical perspectives. Collaborative learning
em phasizing active interaction between learners follows theoretical perspectives in the ran kings.
Constructivism , which argues that hum ans generate knowledge and m ean ing from interactions
between their experiences and their ideas, is in third place. Conn ectivism as a learning theory for
the digital age, though it has a very recent history, is also in third place and this m ay be a result of
the growin g im pact of technology and networks on learning.
It is clear that theories that explain how learning occurs on networks (connectivism , social
netw orking) through collaboration in a com m un ity (com m unity of inquiry , collaborative
learning, social learning theory , activity theory ) by interaction , based on im m ersion (critical
thinking) and experience (constructivism , problem based learning, social constructivism theory )
are favored by DE researchers. In addition to this, researchers focused on delivery m ethods
(blended learning, m obile learning) that use m ultim edia elem ents (cognitive load theory ) in
which psychological distance (transactional distance theory ) and presence (social presence
theory ) are im portant as well as learner dedication (self-regulated learnin g, self-directed
learning, m otivation theory ). From this perspective, design (instructional design theories) for
effective and efficient learn ing gained im portance. After all, it wouldn’t be correct to attribute one
single dom inant theory that reflects theoretical trend in DE, but it would be a better approach to
evaluate them as a whole since each theory intersects or overlaps at som e points.
On the other hand, Table 4 also shows that DE research is still, naturally, based on the concepts
and the theories derived from the field of education. However, DE practice uses concepts,
principles, m odels and theories of m any other fields, such as engineerin g, com m unication ,
m anagem ent, sociology an d psychology. Therefore, it, m ost probably, would not be wron g to say
that as DE researchers we m ust widen our search for theoretical/ conceptual base to other fields
than education and bring their concepts and theories into our field. That m ight help us develop
the m aturity of DE as a scientific field of study.
Table 4
Theoretical/ Conceptual Background
R*
1
2
3
3
4
4
5
6
6
7
F**
22
16
15
15
14
14
11
10
10
8
THEORY
Community of Inquiry
Collaborative Learning
Constructivism
Connectivism
Blended Learning
Transactional Distance Theory
Mobile Learning
Activity Theory
Social Presence Theory
Self-regulated Learning
R*
F**
8
8
8
8
8
8
9
10
10
7
7
7
7
7
7
6
5
5
THEORY
Cognitive Load Theory
Motivation Theory
Problem Based Learning
Self-directed Learning
Social Constructivism Theory
Social Learning Theory
Social Networking
Critical Thinking
Instructional Design Theories
R*: Rank, F**:Frequency
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
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Research Designs Employed
Sim ilar to m any other fields, in a DE research study we m ight em ploy a quantitative, qualitative,
or m ixed research design . Table 5A presents what kin ds of research design categories researchers
in the field of DE preferred over the last five years. Table 5B and 5C provide the preferences on
yearly bases. As shown in these tables the researchers in DE m ostly conducted qualitative (47%)
and quantitative (37%) studies, and just a few em ployed m ixed (16%) designs.
Zawacki-Richter et al. (20 0 9) reported rates of 29.1% quantitative, 19.9% qualitative, 12.9%
m ixed and 38 .1% other researches for 20 0 0 -20 0 8 research trends (N=695). When com paring the
results of 20 0 0 -20 0 8 with 20 0 9-20 13, it m ay be seen that there has been a shift in the preference
to qualitative and quantitative research design while m ixed research design rem ains the sam e.
Table 5A
Percentage Of Research M ethods Betw een 20 0 9-20 13
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Table 5B
Bar Chart Of R esearch Methods (Percentage W as Calculated Separately For Each Year)
Table 5C
Line Chart Of Research Methods (Percentage W as Calculated Separately For Each Year)
As an extension of the previous findin gs, this section of the content analysis presents the DE
trends regarding research m ethodology (designs). Of all qualitative research designs, case studies
(66%) that focus on a descriptive, exploratory or explanatory analysis of a person, group or event
stand out. Design-based research (9%), phenom enology (7%), action research (5%), grounded
theory (4%), ethnography (3%), content analysis (2%), m eta synthesis (1%), narrative (1%),
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
historical (1%) and heuristic (1%) research m odels constitute 44% of the research m odels while
case studies constitute 66% of all qualitative research design (Table 6). Berge and Mrozowski
(20 0 1) also reported that case study is the m ost preferred qualitative research design m odel
(12.58%) between 1990 and 1999.
Of all quantitative research design m odels, a great m ajority of studies preferred survey (58%) as a
basic descriptive research m odel. The use of a correlational (29%) m odel that dem onstrates the
relationship between variables and the experim ental (11%) m odel used to test cause-and-effect
relationships between variables hold the next rankin g positions. Finally, m eta-analysis (2%) is
seen to constitute a m inor part of quantitative research design (Table 6). This data reveals that
there is a need to conduct m ore quantitative correlational and experim ental researches to
understand and dig deeper into DE.
These findings exhibit sim ilarities with Berge and Mrozowski’s (20 0 1) study for the research
trends of 1990 -1999. They reported a percentage of 74.83% descriptive, 6.63% correlational,
5.96% experim ental researches, all of which were quantitative research design m odels, and
12.58% case study, a qualitative research design m odel (N=890 ).
Based on these data, it can be assum ed that m ost of the quantitative DE researches are descriptive
statistics which show or sum m arize sam ple data rather than inferential statistics which are used
to test hypotheses and m ake estim ations using sam ple data. This finding also supports and
dem onstrates a sim ilarity to Panda’s (1992) conclusion for Indian distance education literature.
He reported that m ost
studies were descriptive surveys or experim ental studies with poor
m ethodological footin g.
Of all the m ixed research design m odels, the exploratory (55%) m odel, in which researchers
interpret how quantitative results build on in itial qualitative results, and the explanatory (31%)
m odel, in which researchers interpret how qualitative results help to explain initial quantitative
results, constitute the m ajority of preferred research m odels. Con vergent parallel (8%), em bedded
(4%) and m ultiphase (2%) follow as the other m ixed research m odels that are preferred by the
researchers (Table 6).
Saba (20 0 0 ) reported that, in contrast to pure experim ental researches, DE goes beyond the
narrow confines of experim entation and as a consequence began to use new m ethods in both
qualitative and quantitative form s. These findin gs confirm Saba and also dem onstrate a radical
decrease in experim ental research when com pared to research conducted after the 50 s.
It is also interestin g that in qualitative (case studies), quantitative (survey) and m ixed studies
(exploratory), on e dom inant research m odel has been used. However, assum in g that DE is an
interdisciplinary field, a wide spectrum of research m odels m ay be used.
All in all, the findin gs obtained in this research reveal som e interesting facts. In contrast to the
m odern paradigm , the world in which we live is n ot bipolar, but the research nature of DE
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
basically evolves around qualitative and quantitative research design s. On the other hand, within
a post-m odern perspective, m ore m ixed research designs in which qualitative and quantitative
data collection m ethods are used m ay be em ployed.
Table 6
Research Designs and Models
%1
Heuristic
%2
Historical
%3
Narrative
%4
Meta-Synthesis
%5
Content Analysis
%7
Ethnography
%9
Grounded
theory
%66
Action research
Case Study
Design-based
research
Phenomenology
Qualitative
%47 (N=349)
%1
%1
%1
Prediction
Comparative
Relatio
nship
Causal
comparative
%11
%2
%0
Experime
ntal
Quasiexperiment
al
National
assessment
Community
needs
Attitudes and
practices
Group
Comparison
Program
Evaluation
Panel
Trend
Cohort
%29
Cross-sectional
Meta-analysis
%58
Longitudinal
Experimental
Survey
Correlational
Quantitative
%37 (N=278)
Mixed
%16 (N=122)
Exploratory
sequential
%55
Explanatory
sequential
%31
Convergent
parallel
%8
Embedded
Multiphase
Transformative
%4
%2
%0
Data Collection Tools and Strategies Used
The data collection instrum ents were also in vestigated in this study. As one can easily interpret by
looking at Figure 5, the surveys, interviews and docum ent analyses are the m ost preferred tools in
the DE studies. A further analysis has shown that in the quantitative studies, the researchers m ost
frequently used questionnaires and in the qualitative studies they preferred docum ent analyses
and interviews.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Figure 5. Data collection (instrum ents).
Davies, Howell and Petrie (20 10 ) presented trends in research and scholarship between 1998 and
20 0 7. They reported that the m ost frequently used data collection tools were survey (qualitative
and quantitative) (N=194), interviews (N=128), existing artifacts (docum ent an alysis) (N=59),
observations (N=17), researcher created assessm ents (N=16), existing test scores (N=16) and
standardized assessm ents (N=15). When com pared, it is clear that there is a strong sim ilarity with
current findings.
However, it was interesting to note that log statistics were not used as m uch as they should have
been since one of the latest and hottest topics discussed in the field is the learner analytics and
use of available data to be able to get an insight about learner behaviors in online learnin g
environm ents and to help them offer better, m ore custom ized learn in g opportunities.
Data Analysis Techniques Employed in the Studies
Table 7 presents the num ber of the data analysis techniques that were explicitly reported in the
investigated articles. This was one of the m ost difficult analysis due to the fact that there were
quite a num ber of articles that did not clearly inform about the data analysis technique(s) used,
and also som e, includin g those m ixed m ethod studies, com prised a variety of techniques. Despite
these difficulties, the analysis has shown interesting fin dings.
As can be observed in Table 7, one half of the quantitative studies included descriptive statistics
(51%) and m ainly used variability, central tendency and relative standing tests. Nonetheless, a
m ajority of the researchers (N=72) reported that they used descriptive statistics but didn’t report
which one of them was em ployed. In term s of inferential statistics (49%) param etric tests such as
variance analysis, t-test, correlation, factor analysis, regression analysis, reliability analysis and
structural equation m odeling were extrem ely (85%) preferred while only in a few (15%) of the
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
articles that included quantitative studies, non-param etric tests such as Wilcoxon test, Mann
Whitn ey-U, Kruskal Wallis test, chi-square and Friedm an’s two way analysis were em ployed.
Qualitative interpretive analysis gen erally uses content, them atic and discourse an alysis in which
raw qualitative data is transcripted, coded, categorized and interpreted. These findin gs
dem onstrate a sim ilar tren d in term s of quantitative statistical tests when com pared to Davies,
Howell and Petrie’s (20 10 ) research regardin g trends in distance education scholarship at
research universities in North Am erica between 1998 and 20 0 7. They reported that m ost of the
studies in their sam ple used descriptive data analysis predom inantly.
Table 7
Tests and Analy ses
QUANTITATIVE
Statistical tests
Inferential (49%)
Parametric (85%)
Non-parametric (15%)
Descriptive (51%)
Variability
(Variance-Standard Deviation- Range)
Central Tendency (mean-median-mode)
163
108
Descriptive statistics (not specified)
72
Relative Standing (percentage/ z-score)
11
Variance analysis
(ANOVA/MANOVA/MANCOVA)
t-test
71
Wilcoxon Test
16
52
Mann Whitney U
15
49
Kruskal Wallis Ttest
12
48
Chi-square
6
Regression analysis
41
Friedman's two way
analysis
2
Reliability analysis (Cronbach's Alpha)
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
24
3
Correlation (Pearson)
Factor Analysis
(Confirmatory/Exploratory)
QUALITATIVE
Interpretive Analysis (N=155)
Content analysis
Thematic analysis
Discourse analysis
76
74
5
Variables Focused in the Studies
Variables reported in the research studies exam ined were coded into m ain categories and ran ked
by frequency of appearance.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
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Table 8
Variables Focused Most Often in the Articles Exam ined
R*
F**
VARIABLES
53
Perception
2
43
Satisfaction
3
39
Gender
4
30
Interaction
5
25
Motivation
6
21
Age
6
21
Participation
7
18
Attitude
8
16
Experience
R*: Rank, F**:Frequency
1
R*
F**
9
14
14
13
12
11
10
10
10
9
10
11
12
13
13
13
VARIABLES
Effectiveness
Self-efficacy
Collaboration
Communication
Delivery
Academic-performance
Impact
Social-presence
As can be seen in Table 8 , variables usually focus on the feelin gs, em otion s and behaviour of the
learners. ‘Satisfaction’ an d ‘learner perception’ are the m ost often focused variables about
learners’ em otions and feelin gs while ‘gender’ an d ‘age’ are dem ographic non-param etric
variables that have been exam ined m ore than other dem ographics in the investigated studies.
These results can easily be linked to increasin g attention to learners, their individual differences
and the learn er-centered approaches.
Population and/or Participant Groups
The research question regarding participants reveals interestin g facts. As can be seen in Figure 6,
participants of the studies exam in ed are m ostly undergraduate students (31%), post graduate
students (10 %) and academ icians (10 %). The fact that a total of 51% constitutes higher education
also explains why the field specific keyword (higher education) ranks fourth in the list (Figure 1).
This data reveals that DE focuses largely on higher education and there are only a few studies
conducted in K-12 settings. An im portant portion of the researchers reported that their target
groups were teachers (10 %) and students (7%); on the other hand, researchers didn’t specify from
which education level they cam e. Adult learners (4%), adm inistrators (4%) and K-12 students
(3%) appear in the list, respectively.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Figure 6. Target groups an d participants.
In conn ection with these findin gs, DE education has roots in lifelon g learnin g philosophy and
covers form al, inform al and non-form al learn ing, a findin g which reveals that any age or
occupation area can be a target group of these researches. On the other hand, K-12 students
representin g the form al education level prior to higher education and adult learn ers representin g
the latter education or learning process followin g higher education constitutes only 7% of total
target groups. One explanation for the connections m ay be that it is m ore conven ient to work with
students from higher education since the researchers work in the sam e institutions. However, K12 is another setting in which DE is gettin g popularity (Lips, 20 10 ; Queen & Lewis, 20 11). It was
interesting to find that the research studies have not reached the expected level in K-12 settings,
yet. One easily can predict that there will be m ore DE research in K-12 settings in near future.
Authors Cited Most Often
In this part of this research, leadin g contributors in the field were determ in ed in term s of the
num ber of citations (Table 9). The total num ber of citations was 53,80 0 . A total of 10 5 authors
who have been cited at least 30 tim es are included in the table. Authors that share the sam e ran k
are ordered alphabetically.
It was quite interestin g to note that UNESCO is 38 th on the list. It m ay m ean
that as an
institution, UNESCO has a key role for DE and lifelong learn ing. A full list of the m ost cited
authors (N=10 5) is given in Appendix A. In contrast to som e researches (Lee et al., 20 0 4), to
identify their significant im pact to the field, not only first authors but also second, third an d other
co-authors were counted with an assum ption that every author contributes to these works.
Therefore, one should assum e that collaborative works are m ore advantageous than solo works
since the authors who have m ore collaborative works counted m ore than once in Table 9.
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Table 9
List of Most Cited Authors (Top 20 )
R*
F**
R*
F**
1
520
GARRISON, D.R.
8
129
SWAN, K.
15
94
ARBAUGH, J.B.
2
405
ANDERSON, T.
9
109
ROVAI, A.P.
16
90
WENGER, E.
3
208
MOORE, M.G.
10
105
ALLEN, I.E.
17
88
CLEVELAND-INNES, M
4
207
ARCHER, W.
11
103
SIEMENS, G.
18
81
WILEY, D.
5
145
SEAMAN, J.
12
102
DOWNES, S.
19
79
KANUKA, H.
6
135
SHEA, P.
13
101
BONK, C.J.
20
77
SALMON, G.
14
100
GUNAWARDENA, C.N.
Author
129 ROURKE, L.
7
R*: Rank, F**:Frequency
Author
R*
F**
Author
Another result we obtained from these findings is com m on citation m istakes. It is im portant to
cite references properly as well as to explain the research process in detail in order to help readers
reading and to show respect to the researchers who contributed to the relevant study and to the
field. It was observed that researchers whose nam e an d surnam e consist of three parts (e.g. D. R.,
Garrison ) or who have n am es of Far East origin (e.g. Chih-Hsiung Tu) were usually cited
incorrectly. To give an exam ple, in som e papers D.R. Garrison is cited as Garrison , D. R.,
Garrison , D., or Garrison, R. and Chih-Hsiun g Tu is cited as Tu, C.H., Tu, C-H., or Tu, C. Though
not a research trend in itself, this problem is on e of the points that m ade the analysis of the
citation trends quite difficult.
References Cited Most Often
This part of the content analysis regardin g citation trends presents the m ost cited works (articles,
books, web sites, etc.) within the articles analyzed in the study. We believe that this list presents a
com prehensive citation trend and m ay help researchers as a reference guide and as a readin g list
for those who study in this field (Table 10 ). This table was created by filtering 28 ,50 0 references
that have been cited at least 10 tim es. Studies sharing the sam e rank were ordered by the
publication date and if two studies had the sam e rank and publication date, they were ordered
alphabetically. Older studies were ran ked at the en d and newer studies are ranked at the
beginn ing. References were also categorized accordin g to their type (article, book, book chapter,
etc.).
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Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Table 10
The R eference List of Most Cited Studies (Top 15)
References
R*
F**
T***
1
62
A
2
53
B
Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press
3
51
B
Moore, M. G. & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A Systems View. Canada: Wadsworth.
4
43
A
Moore, M. G. (1989). Editorial: Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3(2), 1-7.
5
40
C
Moore, M. G. (1993). Theory of transactional distance. In D. Keegan (Ed.), Theoretical principles of distance educatio
(p 22-38) New York: Routledge.
6
35
B
Jean. Lave, & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.
6
35
B
7
34
R
7
34
R
7
34
A
7
34
A
7
34
B
8
33
B
9
32
W
10
31
B
11
30
R
12
28
R
12
28
A
12
28
A
12
28
B
13
27
A
14
24
A
15
23
B
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferenc
in higher education. The internet and higher education, 2(2), 87-105.
Patton, M. Q. (1980). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. SAGE Publications, inc.
Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online
Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. US Department of Education.
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2008). Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008. Sloan Consortium,
Newburyport.
Garrison, D. R., & Arbaugh, J. B. (2007). Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and futur
directions. The Internet and Higher Education, 10(3), 157-172.
Anderson, T., Liam, R., Garrison, D. R., & Archer, W. (2001). Assessing teacher presence in a computer conferencing
context. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(2), 1-17.
Salmon, G. (2000). E-moderating: The key to teaching and learning online. Psychology Press.
Garrison, D. R., & Anderson, T. (2003). E-learning in the 21st century: A framework for research and practice. Taylor
Francis.
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009. Sloan Consortium
Newburyport.
Watson, J., Gemin, B., Ryan, J., & Wicks, M. (2009). Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: An Annual Review of
State-Level Policy and Practice, 2009. Evergreen Education Group.
Tallent-Runnels, M. K., Thomas, J. A., Lan, W. Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T. C., Shaw, S. M., & Liu, X. (2006). Teaching
courses online: A review of the research. Review of educational research, 76(1), 93-135.
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing
distance education. American Journal of distance education, 15(1), 7-23.
Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. SAGE Publications, inc.
Garrison, D. R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2005). Facilitating cognitive presence in online learning: Interaction is not
enough. The American Journal of Distance Education, 19(3), 133-148.
Downes, S. (2007). Models for sustainable open educational resources. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and
Learning Objects, 3, 29-44.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). Giving knowledge for free: The emergence of open
educational resources. OECD Publishing.
R*: Rank , F**:Frequency, T***:Type (A: Article, B:Book, BL: Bulletin, C:Chapter, P: Paper, R: Report, W: Web Page)
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354
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Summary and Future Implications
The results of this study reveal research trends an d issues in DE em erging from scholarly
publishing in seven prestigious journals. This study in tends to present the curren t situation and
provides a research direction for future research. The results can be sum m arized as follows. The
generic term defining the field is “distance education” and another term “open and distance
learnin g” has been used m ore and m ore as a consequence of the paradigm shift in education. The
analysis of research specific keywords clearly indicates that DE dem onstrates quick responses to
em ergin g research topics. A holistic analysis of these keywords through social network analysis
dem onstrates that “learnin g” is the m ajor topic in the field naturally. Open education resources
(OERs) and m obile learnin g are new topics over the last five years DE researchers also focused on
along with older topics, such as collaborative learn ing and teacher trainin g.
The analysis of research areas portrays that education al technology from m eso level, interaction
and com m unication in learning com m unities, learn er characteristics, and instructional design
from m icro levels are the m ost studied areas and constitute 51% of all fifteen research areas.
Another result obtained through this study is that DE researchers em ploy different theoretical
fram eworks to explain and explore the DE field which also reflects the interdisciplinary nature of
the field.
In term s of m ethodology, DE usually preferred qualitative, quantitative, or m ixed research
designs, respectively. Most of the qualitative studies used case study, quantitative studies used
survey, and m ixed studies used exploratory and explanatory research m odels. It can be also seen
that qualitative researches preferred interviews (one-to-one and focus group), docum ent analysis
and observation while quantitative researches used questionnaires and scales to collect data. In
the quantitative research studies, descriptive and inferential statistics were used alm ost equally.
In the qualitative research, content and them atic an alysis to interpret the data collected were
generally preferred. Variables focused in the studies are usually concerned with learners’ feelin gs,
em otions and behaviors. Gender and age seem to be indispensable dem ographic variables of the
studies. The m ain participants of these research studies still appeared to be learners in higher
education, but there is a trend of focusing m ore on participants from the K-12 settings.
In the final part of the study, the m ost cited authors an d references were presented. In addition to
providing leading researchers and im portant referen ces, descriptive analysis of citation trends
proved once again that DE uses knowledge of the past and present to be able to foresee the future.
Regarding the results of this study, the followin g im plications can be taken into consideration for
future researches:
•
There are m any term s defining the DE field. Even though they all look sim ilar, they reflect
unique aspects of the field. Thus, researchers need to select appropriate field specific term s
that reflect the core of the study. However, it seem s the term ‘open and distance learnin g’ is a
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
355
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
better nam e for our field of study since it reflects the core assum ptions of the field: openness,
accessibility, flexibility, m assiven ess, and quality learn ing opportun ities to all.
•
This study presented the m ost and the least studied research areas in the field. Considering
that DE is a system , those neglected areas should be studied m ore in order to contribute to
and im prove the field. The authors of the present paper believe further study into why som e
research areas appear to be less popular would contribute richly to future research. The
studies should not focus on only general characteristics of the learn ers, such as gender and
age, but also various individual differences includin g cognitive processes, learn in g strategies,
cultural differences. Additionally, we need studies exam in in g the learning processes in
inform al, non -form al learning en viron m ents as well as OERs and MOOCs to be able to
provide better learnin g opportunities.
Brin gin g con cepts, principles, m odels and theories
from a variety of fields – especially from those that we use in DE practices often – m ight be
beneficial for the developm ent of the field. Especially, graduate students m ust be encouraged
to use theoretical/ conceptual backgrounds from different fields. For instance, business
m anagem ent field is a rich field of study that m ight help enlighten som e of the issues of our
field such as busin ess m odels for MOOCs, OERs, recognition of prior learn ing.
•
As an interdisciplinary field, we believe that rather than using specific research designs and
m odels, researchers m ay use a variety of them to understand and to delve m ore deeply into
the area. Especially m ixed designs m ight help scientific developm ent of the field. It is seen
that participants and target groups are generally adult learners from higher education.
However, we believe that research that targets K12 students m ight be con ducted m ore
considerin g the increasin g use of e-learn in g in K12 settings.
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356
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
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Appendix A
List of the m ost cited authors (N =10 5)
R*
R*
F**
R*
F**
1
520
GARRISON, D.R.
34
51
JONASSEN, D.H.
50
35
KOP, R.
2
405
ANDERSON, T.
35
49
BOROKHOVSKI, E.
50
35
McISAAC, M.S.
3
208
MOORE, M.G.
36
48
CAVANAUGH, C.
50
35
OLIVER, R.
4
207
ARCHER, W.
36
48
ICE, P.
51
CONRAD, D.
5
145
SEAMAN, J.
36
48
HOLMBERG, B.
51
34
34
6
135
SHEA, P.
37
47
CASPI, A.
51
34
LAURILLARD, D.
7
129
ROURKE, L.
37
47
CRESWELLJ, W.
51
34
LAVE, J.
8
129
SWAN, K.
38
46
ROBLYER, M.D.
51
34
TINTO, V.
9
109
ROVAI, A.P.
38
46
UNESCO
52
LAN, W.Y.
10
105
ALLEN, I.E.
39
45
BROWN, J.S.
52
33
33
11
103
SIEMENS, G.
40
44
RICHARDSON, J.C.
52
33
RICHARDSON, J.T.E.
12
102
DOWNES, S.
41
43
GORSKY, P.
52
33
VELETSIANOS, G.
13
101
BONK, C.J.
41
43
GRAHAM, C.R.
53
32
BATES, A.W.
14
100
GUNAWARDENA, C.N.
41
43
MASON, R.
53
HILL, J.R.
15
94
ARBAUGH, J.B.
41
43
MURPHY, E.
53
32
32
16
90
WENGER, E.
42
42
MAYER, R.E.
53
32
MISHRA, P.
17
88
CLEVELAND, INNES, M
43
41
BERGE, Z.
53
32
PERRATON, H.
18
81
WILEY, D.
43
41
DEWEY, J.
53
32
PINTRICH, P.R.
19
79
KANUKA, H.
43
41
KIRSCHNER, P.A.
53
32
TAIT, A.
20
77
SALMON, G.
44
41
SABA, F.
53
32
TAYLOR, J.
21
68
CONOLE, G.
45
40
RUMBLE, G.
54
COLLIS, B.
21
68
PRATT, K.
45
40
TU, C.H.
54
31
31
22
66
HILTZ, S.R.
45
40
ZIMMERMAN, B.J.
54
31
OLIVER, M.
23
65
ABRAMI, P.C.
46
39
CLARK, T.
54
31
POTTER, C.S.
24
63
SWELLER, J.
46
39
LINCOLN, Y.S.
55
CHICKERING, A.W.
25
62
PALLOFF, R.M.
46
39
MCLOUGHLIN, C.
55
30
30
26
61
BARBOUR, M.K.
46
39
PICKETT, A.
55
30
FAHY, P.J.
26
61
BERNARD, R.M.
47
38
DAVIS, F.D.
55
30
MEANS, B.
27
58
BERGE, Z.L.
47
38
PICCIANO, A.G.
55
30
NACHMIAS, R.
28
57
KEARSLEY, G.
48
37
SHARPLES, M.
55
30
PAAS, F.
29
56
DRON, J.
49
36
LIU, X.
55
30
PAULSEN, M.F.
30
54
BANDURA, A.
49
36
LOU, Y.
55
30
PETERS, O.
31
54
KEEGAN, D.
49
36
REEVES, T.C.
55
30
PRENSKY, M.
32
52
SIMPSON, O.
49
36
SWAN, K.P.
55
30
TRAXLER, J.
50
35
HURD, S.
55
30
VAUGHAN, N.
Author
VYGOTSKY, LS.
33 51
R*: Rank, F**:Frequency
Author
F**
Author
HARA, N.
PICKETT, A.M.
KELLER, J.M.
JOHNSON, D.W.
DANIEL, J.
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359
Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013
Bozkurt, Akgun-Ozbek, Yilmazel, Erdogdu, Ucar, Guler, Sezgin, Karadeniz, Sen-Ersoy, Goksel-Canbek, Dincer, Ari, and Aydin
Appendix B
The reference list of m ost cited w orks
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