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ISSN 2693-9193
Welcome!
HETS Chair Message
As HETS Chair and academician, I am incredibly proud to present the Volume XIII, Fall Issue, of the HETS Online Journal, now on a new editorial platform. This new channel allows us to better showcase articles and their authors in a more relevant and dependable manner. It also brings our Journal up to the standards of publications of this nature. Likewise, the platform provides authors and users alike, a more intuitive navigation of current issues and easy access to our archive of 12 years of expert works that have contributed to the academia with research and scientific papers.
In this issue, we have received numerous and interesting articles, in both English and Spanish, discussing such topics as, virtual reality, virtuality and transformational leadership, and traditional textbook versus a digital openly-licensed textbook, among others.
We hope you enjoy reading the insightful articles published in this edition; share the Journal with colleagues, academicians, students, and administrators engaged in higher education; and consider submitting your articles for publication in the spring issue. Interested authors should send their manuscripts by Friday, March 31, 2023. For more information and guidelines, visit hets.org/ejournal/call-for-papers/.
Finally, we extend our invitation to join HETS collaborators as reviewers of our publication. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to info@hets.org.
We hope you enjoy this edition as much as I have!
Regards,
Dr. Carlos Morales
HETS Chair
President, TCC Connect Campus
Tarrant County College
You will now be redirected to the new dedicated platform at the HETS Online Journal.
Editor’s Message
Welcome to the Fall 2022 Edition of the HETS Online Journal!
This is an exciting time for the Journal, as we launch the first edition under an open access model. While some of the guidelines and formatting have changed, the goals of the publication remain the same: To publish high quality, peer-reviewed scientific papers, research reviews, evidence-based article and other products of research on the use of technology in higher education, as well as the areas of access, retention, and assessment in higher education. The over-arching mission is to share knowledge that will help Hispanic students achieve success in their studies and graduate from college, although many practices have applications for all students.
Our authors come from a variety of institutions and academic and career backgrounds, and we are grateful to them for sharing their knowledge, research, findings, opinions and case studies with us. We hope that you will enjoy reading the articles submitted by your colleagues and accepted for publication in this edition. As always, some articles are written in English and some are in Spanish.
In our first article, authors Kristen F. Linton, Jaime A. Hannans, Colleen M. Nevins and Richard J. Linton discuss the potential of immersive, embodied virtual reality (VR) to help social work students gain a better understanding of client scenarios. Entitled, “Randomized Control Pilot of Virtual Reality, Empathy, Knowledge, Emotions, and Self-Efficacy among Undergraduate Health Science Students,” this paper describes a randomized control pilot study conducted within an undergraduate introductory level course.
“Instructor-Generated Interactions and Course Outcomes in Online History Courses,” written by Kristen Kelton, examines the author’s quantitative, correlational study, completed in 2021, of the relationship between the weekly number of instructor-generated posts and two course outcomes within fully online, asynchronous history classes. The article discusses the findings and provides supplemental insights for Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).
Thomas A. Clobes, J. Jacob Jenkins, Hannah Haid and Rebecca Allen, in their article entitled, “Comparison of Academic Performance with a Traditional Textbook Versus a Digital Openly-Licensed Textbook,” share the results of a study designed to analyze the academic performance of students using a traditional physical textbook, as compared to those using an electronic copy of a similar textbook provided free through the campus library. The traditional and digital no-cost textbook comparisons were made between two sections of the same upper division undergraduate course taught at a Hispanic-Serving Institution.
In “La Presencia Docente Conquistando la Virtualidad,” Elizabeth Diaz Rodriguez addresses the issue of the teacher’s presence in virtuality. Among other questions, she considers the effect that the teacher’s presence has on the student.
Yeritza D. Padín, in the article entitled, “Contratación y Formación del Educador Virtual: Consideraciones Generales Referentes a la Capacitación en el Manejo de las TIC y su Efecto en la Retención de Alumnos en las Instituciones Universitarias,” points to a direct and significant relationship between teacher training and knowledge in technology areas and student retention.
“Alcance de la Implementación de las Estrategias PLTL + PBL en Modalidad Híbrida en el Aprendizaje de Conceptos de Álgebra Intermedia,” presents the results of a study designed to determine student learning outcomes in an Algebra course after the combined implementation of Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL) and Problem based learning (PBL) strategies in a hybrid format. Given that 66.67% of students showed learning gains when comparing pre-and post-test scores, authors Jorge E. Ortiz Fernández, Glenda Collazo Rivera, Loyda B. Méndez Torres, and Carmen D. Peraza González suggest that these strategies be applied in hybrid contexts.
Juan C. Morales, in his article entitled, “Improving Online Instruction with Self-Regulated Learning: A Case Study of Kinematics Graph Interpretation,” describes a study whose objective was to determine whether students’ skills interpreting kinematics graphs could be improved in an online instruction environment by using the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) framework. The initial results indicate that the development of SRL skills contributes to improvements in online instruction.
“Liderazgo Transformacional en las Organizaciones Estudiantiles Universitarias en Puerto Rico y la Virtualidad,” by Albert M. Troche Torres, presents an analysis of a study based on the perception of university students regarding their participation in university student organizations within the context of the Transformational Leadership style. The work seeks to build on the premise that participation in organizations help students optimize their skills, show their talent, acquire new knowledge, share possibilities and generate comprehensive, personal, academic and professional development.
“Una Mirada a los Desafíos en la Transición a la Educación a Distancia: un Análisis Bibliométrico,” written by Lisbel M. Correa-Suárez, examines the existing literature related to the topic “transitioning to distance education during COVID19.” A total of 1,726 articles were considered, using an RStudio tool to perform a bibliometric analysis. The study sought to determine the evolution of the annual scientific production, and the thematic evolution, and to propose specific subjects for future research.
We hope you are inspired by your colleagues, and that your knew knowledge translates to student success at your institution!
Pamela A. (Krauser) Vargas
HETS Online Journal Chief Editor & Director, Research and Grant Development Southeast Missouri State University
You will now be redirected to the new dedicated platform at the HETS Online Journal.