scholarly journals Intentionality and Players of Effective Online Courses in Mathematics

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salman Hussain Raza ◽  
Emmenual Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Learning Space ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Mathematics Courses ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Online Mathematics

Mathematics is the engine, vehicle, driver, and language of today’s initiatives, innovations, and human endeavors. In this mathematical-driven world, the ability to perform mathematical tasks and logical reasoning is also essential in solving quotidian tasks and problems. Therefore, mathematical competency and problem-solving skills are kept as an integral component in almost every educational curriculum around the globe. However, there are numerous stumbling blocks along the way to successful teaching, conducive learning environment, and good student performances in almost all disciplines, but more prevalent and visible in mathematics. The major concerns of educators responsible for teaching mathematics and mathematics-related courses are to find effective and innovative ways to deliver mathematical content, to extend the concepts and theories beyond the classrooms, to integrate mathematics with important concepts such as gamification, data mining, learning analytics, deep learning, and effective tools such as mobile devices, learning management systems, and digital technology, and to maintain a good record of students’ performance. In online deliveries, these concerns are further escalated due to no or limited one-to-one interactions and lack of face time, to mention a few. This article investigates the efficacy and effectiveness of traditional and innovative pedagogical practices used in online mathematic courses at the University of the South Pacific (USP). It examines the interdependence of embedded activities and students’ achievement. The results indicate that these online mathematics courses were highly dominated by conventional approaches and were less interactive and engaging, resulting in lower success rates when compared to the courses from other disciplines. To recommend possible ways to enhance the quality of learning and teaching in online mathematics courses, selected online courses from the information system discipline were explored. The reasons for the high online presence in the course were investigated and activities that could lead to collaborative and active learning beyond the passive materials were data mined. The evidence drawn from the statistical analysis highlights the importance of including selected interactive and engaging activities in online learning space of mathematics courses to promote student engagement and help create a sense of community among geographically dispersed students. Overall, based on the observations and theoretical foundation from literature, it can be said that including regular and frequent active assessment strategies, such as weekly quizzes and discussion forums, could extend and promote interactive and engaging learning in online learning space.

Discussion Board Assignments and Their Impact on Creating Engaged Learning Environments in Art History Online Courses

2013 ◽  
pp. 681-689
Author(s):  
Anahit Ter-Stepanian
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Art History ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Discussion Board ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Online Format

The adaptation of traditional, face-to-face courses to the online format presents both challenges and opportunities. Many pedagogical practices need to be rethought when designing online courses. A successful online course needs to be intellectually stimulating and engaging. The chapter demonstrates how to create an engaging learning environment without any additional budget. The author describes approaches that she has developed, experimented with, and found to be effective in asynchronous online art history courses, as well as learner engagement strategies she has implemented in the eLearning environment. Advantages of scenario-based discussions board assignments and the effects of role playing in discussion forums are discussed. The author shares examples of personalized discussion board assignments aimed to motivate online learners, create a collaborative learning environment, improve peer-to-peer interaction, and prevent plagiarism.

Arranging and Rearranging Practice in Digital Spaces

2018 ◽  
pp. 567-585
Author(s):  
Laurette S. M. Bristol ◽  
Merilyn Childs
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Learning Space ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Curriculum Decisions

The study that formed the basis of this chapter aimed to understand the practices mediating the quality of an online learning program from the perspective of educators in transition from face-to-face to online learning and teaching. A narrative community of enquiry was established for the period of the study, and seven academics from a single institution volunteered to participate in a six-month conversation about the sites for practice, challenges and curriculum decisions made while teaching online. A “practice architectures” perspective was adopted. The study found that “designing and redesigning” was not limited as supposed to a single transformation from face-to-face teaching to an online learning space. Rather, it was an ongoing professional practice, regardless of how novice or experienced and “tech savvy” the academic. The digital space is rapidly evolving, as are the professional learning demands of teacher educators. “Ambitious teacher practices” are permanently required.

The Role of the Online Instructor as a Guide on the Side

2011 ◽  
pp. 224-241
Author(s):  
Margaret Mazzolini ◽  
Sarah Maddison
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Asynchronous Discussion ◽  
Pedagogical Issues ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Prior Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Online Experience ◽  
Online Instructor ◽  
Student Instructor

We present research results and advice on the role of the online instructor in relation to a particular example of technology-supported learning and teaching — the use of asynchronous discussion forums. Pedagogical issues and studies discussed here are based on six years of designing, coordinating, and teaching into Swinburne Astronomy Online (SAO), an online international program. We discuss some implementation issues associated with the use of asynchronous forums and the induction of instructors, plus the role of the online instructor as a “guide on the side.” As an example of issues involved in maintaining a constructive online learning environment, we discuss strategies used to accommodate students with varying degrees of prior learning. We also summarise results of our research on student-instructor interactions, plus feedback on students’ and instructors’ perceptions of the online experience. The results of this research are used to inform the induction and mentoring of instructors in SAO.

Quantifying the Mismatch Between Course Content and Students’ Dialogue in Online Learning Environments

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunghoon Lim ◽  
Conrad S. Tucker ◽  
Kathryn Jablokow ◽  
Bart Pursel
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Student Interactions ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Potential Success ◽  
Learning Platforms

Due to the internet’s increasing global availability, online learning has become a new paradigm for distance learning in higher education. While student interactions and reactions are readily observable in a physical classroom environment, monitoring student interactions and quantifying divergence between lecture topics and the topics that interest students are challenging in online learning platforms. Understanding the effects of this divergence is important for monitoring student engagement and aiding instructors, who are focused on improving the quality of their online courses. The authors of this paper propose a topic modeling method, based on latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), that quantifies the effects of divergence between course topics (mined from textual transcriptions) and student-discussed topics (mined from discussion forums). Correlations between the measured dissimilarities and (a) the number of posts and comments in discussion forums, (b) the number of submitted assignments, and (c) students’ average performance scores are presented. A case study involving video lecture transcripts and discussion forum posts/comments in a massive open online course (MOOC) platform demonstrates the proposed method’s potential success and informs course providers about the challenges of measuring the topics that interest students.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT A CONTENT MODEL OF TEACHING ARABIC IN MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES (MOOC) AT HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (44) ◽  
pp. 68-80
Author(s):  
Noraina, I Sofia ◽  
Z Ghazali ◽  
Mahazir, I Irwan ◽  
M.H Norfaezah
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Teaching Platform ◽  
Content Model

Online learning systems are viewed as a potentially significant platform for learning and teaching (T&L) process during the Covid-19 pandemic that has spread worldwide since December 2019. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) is one of popular online learning platforms used around the world and has gain attention among lecturers nowadays in higher education institutions (HEIs). Due to its features, many institutions as well as in Malaysia started to develop MOOC as learning and teaching platform especially for Arabic language. However, problems that are often faced by Arabic language lecturers are less confident in producing aspects of multimedia teaching content. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop the content model of teaching Arabic in MOOC using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) technique. A total of 14 elements identified by the agreement of 7 experts for the content model of Arabic MOOC which was generated through ISM software. Based on the findings, there are two most important elements; the element of determine topics, objectives, and learning outcomes for students to understand better the purpose of learning and element of ensure course materials use the appropriate type of writing for students' understanding while this model ends with the element of providing comment space to encouraged interaction among learners and lecturers. It is hoped that the study could be a reference and suggestion to Arabic lecturers in using the MOOC as a teaching platform while increase the effectiveness of MOOC implementation in Malaysian higher education institutions.

scholarly journals CREATING EFFECTIVE ONLINE DISCUSSIONS: OPTIMAL INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT ROLES

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia Dixson ◽  
Michelle Kuhlhorst ◽  
Amber Reiff
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Learning Groups ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
Powerful Learning ◽  
Social Messages

Teaching online courses is unexplored territory for many instructors. Understanding how to use the powerful learning techniques involved in cooperative group learning in an online context is imperative. This paper is a first attempt to explore the dynamics of learning groups in the context of online discussion forums. Given the spread of online learning, the importance of this kind of research cannot be overstated. The authors analyzed the content of twenty asynchronous discussion forums within an online course in family communication. Their findings indicate that such groups send social messages at a fairly high rate; that participation seems to be fairly evenly distributed among members, although having a “leader” is helpful to the group’s process; and that instructor messages and competitive student messages have no apparent effect on the final product. However, they also found that two types of messages— orienting/giving information and showing solidarity—were found more frequently in groups that produced higher quality work. This research opens many questions and offers some guidelines about the most effective ways to structure online learning situations.

scholarly journals Students’ Perception of the Role of Online Teachers:Comparing Routine and Emergency Times

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hava Sason ◽  
Egoza Wasserman ◽  
Mordechai Zvi Safrai ◽  
Shlomo Romi
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Academic Program ◽  
Online Teachers ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Perceptions Of Students ◽  
Education College ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Student's Perceptions

Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic forced the education system to instantly transition to online learning and teaching. Studies show that the challenges of emergency remote teaching (ERT) differ from those of online learning during routine times. Do student’s perceptions of teachers’ roles during online learning differ between ERT and routine online classes as well? Addressing this question can illuminate different aspects of the role of a teacher at different times, thus facilitating the improvement of online learning. This study compares students’ perceptions of their teachers’ roles in the online courses they attended during the pandemic, with perceptions of students who attended online courses in routine times when distance learning was a regular part of the academic program. The participants who attended online courses during routine times were 520 undergraduates in a teacher-education college. A second group of 475 undergraduates from the same college responded at the end of a semester of emergency online learning during the pandemic. Both groups answered questionnaires regarding their perception of four aspects of the role of online teachers: pedagogical, technical, affective, and differentiating. The findings showed that during emergency times, students had significantly higher expectations for teachers’ technical and affective roles than in routine times. However, students had lower expectations regarding teachers’ differentiating role during emergencies, and similar expectations for teachers’ pedagogical role in both situations. These findings highlight the need to plan curricula to suit different situations and different needs, and emphasize the different characteristics of the teachers’ role in different situations, in order to optimally address students’ needs in times of routine and emergency alike.

Arranging and Rearranging Practice in Digital Spaces

2017 ◽  
pp. 191-209
Author(s):  
Laurette S. M. Bristol ◽  
Merilyn Childs
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Learning Space ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Curriculum Decisions

The study that formed the basis of this chapter aimed to understand the practices mediating the quality of an online learning program from the perspective of educators in transition from face-to-face to online learning and teaching. A narrative community of enquiry was established for the period of the study, and seven academics from a single institution volunteered to participate in a six-month conversation about the sites for practice, challenges and curriculum decisions made while teaching online. A “practice architectures” perspective was adopted. The study found that “designing and redesigning” was not limited as supposed to a single transformation from face-to-face teaching to an online learning space. Rather, it was an ongoing professional practice, regardless of how novice or experienced and “tech savvy” the academic. The digital space is rapidly evolving, as are the professional learning demands of teacher educators. “Ambitious teacher practices” are permanently required.

scholarly journals Exploring the Factors Associated with MOOC Engagement, Retention and the Wider Benefits for Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Petronzi ◽  
Munib Hadi
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Scholarly Activity ◽  
Nontraditional Learners ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Pedagogical Design ◽  
Instructor Interaction

Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have and continue to change the way in which nontraditional learners’ access education. Although the free element of these has been linked to low completion rates due to no invested interest, the MOOC platform enables innovative technologies and practices to be trialled. Therefore, rather than attributing varied intentions of learners for high drop-out rates, it is suggested that an increase in completion can be achieved through more focussed pedagogical practices. In this way, it is necessary to understand the wider benefits of MOOC engagement for learners and what factors are key to their engagement and retention. The current research qualitatively analysed open feedback obtained from learners that corresponded to their goals of course participation. The feedback was also matched to categorical data that related to initial course intentions, the value of course materials and activities, the preferred extent of instructor interaction, unit completion and their overall rating of the MOOC. Thematic analysis revealed eight key themes that can be linked to engagement and wider benefits of course participation and widely related to professional and educational development, for example, supplementary learning for undergraduate students. Moreover, the MOOC appeared to have encouraged learners to revaluate their perspectives of and attitudes towards Dementia and those diagnosed with it, demonstrating another key element of this course. The open feedback revealed that quality assured MOOCs have significant impact on the lives of enrolled learners and pedagogical design and advances in these courses are considered, particularly in relation to collaborative learning. Finally, the application of MOOCs to wider learning and teaching at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is discussed, with emphasis placed on the advantages of readily available resources and scope for scholarly activity.

scholarly journals An Explorative Study To Document Challenges Of Virtual Teaching And Learning Due To COVID 19 Among Graduate Students At The SPH, CHS, Addis Ababa University At 2020.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikiyas Yonas ◽  
Mitike Molla
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Teacher Behavior ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Addis Ababa University ◽  
Virtual Teaching

Abstract Due to COVID 19 pandemic, school over the world has been closed. Globally 1.2 billion students are out of the classroom. Virtual learning is usually associated with online courses or online environments, but it has much broader dimensions. The objective of this study was to explore the challenges of virtual teaching and learning among graduate students at the SPH, CHS, Addis Ababa University. Methods: the phenomenological qualitative study was conducted at Addis Ababa University, on graduate students. Participant was selected by Purposive sampling and data collection was in-depth interview and analyzed by using open-code 4.03.Results In this study two participants participated: one student and one teacher. As the student explain the virtual learning and education was new mode to delivery education in Ethiopia and he told that he did not have any experience before. Despite, teacher states that he has an experience on the online learning and teaching. The participants states that virtual learning have an advantage. However, there are many challenges they list, from these: inadequate internet, costly ineffective, inflexible are the majors. Conclusion: based on the finding from the participants, student hasn’t experience of virtual learning. The factor influence to follow virtual learning is that student was beginner for online learning, and teacher was also beginner in giving virtual teaching, connection problem in our country and teacher behavior are the main problem explored by this study. Even though student and teacher feel it is difficult, they suggest the virtual learning have to be trained in Ethiopia for the future.

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