THE COLLEGE PATH: A VIRTUAL TOUR A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts In Education By Tracy A. Mendolia-Moore 2018 SIGNATURE PAGE PROJECT: THE COLLEGE PATH: A VIRTUAL TOUR AUTHOR: Tracy A. Mendolia-Moore DATE SUBMITTED: Fall 2018 Department of Education Shahnaz Lotfipour, Ph.D. Project Committee Chair Professor of Education Richard A. Feldman, M.A.Ed. Multimedia Developer California State Polytechnic University, Pomona ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to sincerely thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Shahnaz Lotfipour, of the College of Education and Integrative Studies at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Dr. Lotfipour cares deeply for all her students in the Educational Multimedia Program, and it is shown in her dedication to each and every one of us. One example of Dr. Lotfipour’s commitment to her students is displayed in her prompt reply to questions; it was not uncommon to receive an email response within an hour, even during the late evenings, on the weekends, or during holiday breaks. Dr. Lotfipour is always available to her students, and I am thankful to have had her support and encouragement through this process. I am eternally grateful to Dr. Lotfipour for creating and implementing such a forward-thinking graduate program which has not only harnessed my technical and design knowhow, but has also inspired me to push the boundaries of my skills. The Educational Multimedia program has opened my eyes to the future of learning and has laid a successful foundation for my new career as an Instructional Designer. I will forever be thankful to my former supervisor, Dr. Deborah Brandon. In many ways I have seen Deborah as an unofficial mentor, and a strong female leader who has positively influenced my career path and success. I feel fortunate to have worked closely with Deborah, and to have had her as an influencer in my life during a time when I needed it most. It was Deborah that opened my eyes to the career opportunities within higher education by inviting me to be part of her team; it was Deborah who saw my potential and gave me the opportunity to do more in my career; it was Deborah who advised me on the curriculum of the Educational Multimedia program and suggested I iii apply; it was Deborah who asked me to think outside-the-box when trying to accommodate the unmet demand for campus tours, which ultimately became my thesis project; and it was Deborah who encouraged me to continue my career growth within instructional design. God brings people into our lives for a reason, and my life would not be what it is today without Deborah’s guidance and inspiration. I would also like to thank Richard Feldman who helped me with additional guidance and suggestions in the development of the campus tour app. I am thankful for Richard’s support and the hours he spent reading this long thesis paper, as well as reviewing my tour app and listening to the lengthy audio content to help me fine-tune the user experience. Additional thanks go out to my former student tour guides who acted as my subject matter experts throughout this process. Thank you for your insight and firsthand student knowledge, as well as your contagious energy and love for both Cal Poly Pomona and the Campus Tour Program. I will miss you all the most! A special thank you to those students and colleagues who helped to test the app: Alberto Nunez, Linda Mondaca, Christian Manoukian, Megan Smith, Matt Martino, Maritza Trujillo, Jose Jimenez and Xiomara Melendez. While there are so many people to thank, the individuals for whom I owe my deepest gratitude are my family. It’s been a long haul and this accomplishment would not be possible without your endless support. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing family to call my own. Ron Ysselstein has been my support over the last few years. Ron’s patience and support are limitless. He has stayed up late with me while I worked on homework and iv research, he’s spent his evenings and weekends at campus testing out tour ideas and new pathways, and he was very instrumental to the audio recording within the tour app. I am truly thankful for Ron’s knowledge as an audio engineer, as his expertise was invaluable to the level of professionalism portrayed within the final audio recordings. It has been a long grad program, but I am truly thankful to have had Ron along for the journey. To my mom and dad, I am eternally grateful. The last few years have been rough, and my parents have been my rock. They have supported me when I needed them most and have even supported me when I didn’t know how much I needed it. Being a single- mother has been bearable due to the love and support provided by my mom and dad. My parents saved me and my children from near-homelessness, stood by my side through the rollercoaster of divorce, helped me get back on my feet as a single-mother, wiped my tears and calmed my sorrows. As this grad program comes to an end, I look back at my parents and see the pride in their eyes, for they believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. This accomplishment would not be possible without the love, support and influence of my mom and dad. Lastly, my children. Emily and Ethan have been, and always will be, my motivation. Our little family of three has been handed down some sour lemons, but over the years we have learned to turn those sour lemons into the sweetest lemonade. I am a stronger person because of my children’s influence, and I will never give up because those two little people depend on me. This thesis, this graduate degree is devoted to my children. Emily and Ethan, you are my everything. I pray that one day you will know that mommy worked her tail off to achieve all her successes, and that all of mommy’s hard- v work was done for you! I pray that my achievements inspire you to do more and be more in your own lives. May you never give up when faced with adversity, and instead see adversity as a challenge to conquer. Life is hard, and nothing gets handed to you. When you become adults, I pray that you will slay life and all of life’s challenges to become the amazing people I know you are inside. As I reflect on the past few years, the late nights and missed baseball games or missed volleyball games are nearly over. Yes, there have been some sacrifices, but those sacrifices have made us stronger and will provide us with a better future and a better life. Emily and Ethan, thank you for being by my side and supporting me through this process. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and your wonderful hugs when I needed them most. I love you more than the moon and the stars, and all the galaxies combined. Thank you for being my inspiration. vi ABSTRACT College campus tours are one of the best recruiting tools for prospective students. As competition between universities target the best and brightest, universities are developing innovative campus tours to lure in the best students. In a poll conducted by the Art & Science Group, LLC, a higher education consulting firm, of the 500 students surveyed 94% visited a college campus and 65% indicated that their campus visit had influenced their application decision (Hesel, 2004). Prospective students are amongst a generation that grew up with the internet, so a mobile tour app appeals to their media sensibilities by meeting them where they are at, which is on their mobile devices (McArthur, 2016). According to a 2015 national survey conducted by Harris Poll and assembled for the learning company, Pearson, 85% of college students own a smartphone. James Roberts’ research discovered that college students spend 8-10 hours per day on their cellphones (cited in Goodrich, 2014). A mobile campus tour has the ability to reach students when standard campus tours are not readily available, such as on a weekend or on holidays (McArthur, 2016). The purpose of this project was to create an interactive, tablet-based digital tour of four-year university located in Southern California to aid in meeting the unfulfilled demand for campus tours by visiting prospective students. This project was designed based on the ADDIE model, which stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (Legault, 2015). The ADDIE model is an acronym referring to the major processes within the overall generic instructional design process (Ozdilek & Robeck, 2009). vii The project developed was a self-guided virtual tour mobile application of a four- year university located in Southern California. The tour route was designed to engage prospective students while teaching them about college life, academics and community opportunities at a four-year university located in Southern California. Tour audio enhanced the overall experience by providing relative story content. Supplemental student success videos were added as a personal testimonial. With the supplemental augmented reality feature, layered content was displayed on the screen to further expand the available learning content. Over 150 individuals were contacted via email and invited to participate in the application testing. Ultimately twenty individuals downloaded the app and completed the survey. Participants had the opportunity to review the tour application onsite at the university, or remotely at an offsite location.