Online engagement and performance on formative assessments mediate the relationship between attendance and course performance

In traditional school-based learning, attendance was regarded as a proxy for engagement and key indicator for performance. However, few studies have explored the effect of in-class attendance in technology-enhanced courses that are increasingly provided by secondary institutions. This study collected n = 367 undergraduate students’ log files from Moodle and applied learning analytics methods to measure their lecture attendance, online learning activities, and performance on online formative assessments. A baseline and an alternative structural equation models were used to investigate whether online learning engagement and formative assessment mediated the relationship between lecture attendance and course academic outcomes. Results show that lecture attendance does not have a direct effect on academic outcomes, but it promotes performance by leveraging online learning engagement and formative assessment performance. Findings contribute to understanding the impact of in-class attendance on course academic performance and the interplay of in-class and online-learning engagement factors in the context of technology-enhanced courses. This study recommends using a variety of educational technologies to pave multiple pathways to academic success.

Effects of using mobile instant messaging on student behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement: a quasi-experimental study

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) has become the most popular means for young people to communicate. MIM apps typically come with a myriad of features that educators may leverage to increase student learning. However, it remains poorly understood to what extent and in what aspect MIM can facilitate student engagement. We address the gap by comparing the effects of using MIM and asynchronous online discussion (AOD) on student online engagement, using a quasi-experimental study involving a historical cohort control group. Understanding which communication mode can better promote student online engagement is particularly important during the current widespread use of online learning. Specifically, we examined engagement from the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. The results showed that the MIM group was more behaviorally engaged in discussion activities, producing more messages, more words, and higher rates of participation, task completion, and interaction. Emotionally, no statistically significant difference was found in students’ affective evaluation of course interaction and satisfaction between the two groups. However, MIM appeared to help students with improved intimacy and interpersonal relationships. Cognitively, the MIM group was more engaged than the AOD group. In particular, MIM seemed to facilitate interactive idea exchange and thus contributing to more “creating” activities. We conclude by providing suggestions for future instructional practice and research directions.

What do they TEL(L)? A systematic analysis of master programs in technology-enhanced learning

This article contributes to the debate on the growing number of interdisciplinary study programs in learning and technology, and aims to understand the diversity of programs as well as curricula structure in an international landscape. Scientific fields share their knowledge and recruit young researchers by offering discipline-specific study programs. Thus, study programs are a reflection of the fields they represent. As technology-enhanced learning is considered to be particularly interdisciplinary and heterogenous, it is important to better understand the landscape of study programs that represents the field. This article presents an analysis of master programs in technology-enhanced learning. A systematic review and analysis of master programs offered in English has been conducted and further used as input for hierarchical cluster analysis. The study identified general characteristics, curricula structure, and organization of topics of these programs. Hierarchical cluster analysis and qualitative content analysis helped us to identify the major types of curricular structures and typical topics covered by the courses. Results show that most study programs rely on interdisciplinary subjects in technology-enhanced learning with a considerable number of subjects from education, learning and psychology. Subjects related to technology, information and computer science appear in such programs less frequently.

Educational chatbots for project-based learning: investigating learning outcomes for a team-based design course

Educational chatbots (ECs) are chatbots designed for pedagogical purposes and are viewed as an Internet of Things (IoT) interface that could revolutionize teaching and learning. These chatbots are strategized to provide personalized learning through the concept of a virtual assistant that replicates humanized conversation. Nevertheless, in the education paradigm, ECs are still novel with challenges in facilitating, deploying, designing, and integrating it as an effective pedagogical tool across multiple fields, and one such area is project-based learning. Therefore, the present study investigates how integrating ECs to facilitate team-based projects for a design course could influence learning outcomes. Based on a mixed-method quasi-experimental approach, ECs were found to improve learning performance and teamwork with a practical impact. Moreover, it was found that ECs facilitated collaboration among team members that indirectly influenced their ability to perform as a team. Nevertheless, affective-motivational learning outcomes such as perception of learning, need for cognition, motivation, and creative self-efficacy were not influenced by ECs. Henceforth, this study aims to add to the current body of knowledge on the design and development of EC by introducing a new collective design strategy and its pedagogical and practical implications.

Loneliness in online students with disabilities: qualitative investigation for experience, understanding and solutions

Online learning has given access to education for diverse populations including students with disabilities. In our university, the ratio of students with disabilities is substantially higher in the online programmes than face-to-face. Online learning provides high accessibility though it can result in a lonely experience. Accordingly, this study aimed to appraise the first-hand experience and understanding of loneliness in online students with disabilities (OSWD), and to discuss possible solutions. Thematic analysis on semi-structured interviews attended by nine OSWD identified: ‘Self-paced study can reduce stigma but cause loneliness (Theme 1)’, ‘Loneliness and social difficulties relate to misunderstanding of disability (Theme 2)’, and ‘Activities, events and staff for informal socialisation are needed (Theme 3)’. As the demand for online learning is further expanded due to the current global pandemic, our findings will be helpful for online learning institutions worldwide to establish effective strategies to reduce loneliness in OSWD.

The identity changes in online learning and teaching: instructors, learners, and learning management systems

Not because of the unexpected global pandemic, but because of the emergence of educational technology and pedagogical innovation, the ways of teaching and learning have been switched to technology integrated modes such as blended and flipped learning which is more than changing to online from face-to-face. Yet, many institutes, which rely on a conventional residential teaching mode or use learning management systems (LMS) as an additive tool, are further struggling to adjust to the new environment. In this paper, we argue that the identity changes of three components, instructor, learner, and LMS are inevitable for authentic online teaching and learning. By applying conceptual frameworks for the identity changes with four sequential levels, we evaluated Blackboard course sites (n = 53) and analysed course evaluations (n = 41) from a university that remained holding a traditional classroom mode and using an LMS in a non-integrated way. As a result, only a few courses appeared at higher levels of the identity changes. To integrate the identity changes in online learning and teaching, we argue that an LMS should be designed and managed as a learning community; both instructors and learners should be repositioned as co-participants; and they should work together to build a post-learning community by practicing community membership.

Predicting students at risk of academic failure using ensemble model during pandemic in a distance learning system

Predicting students at risk of academic failure is valuable for higher education institutions to improve student performance. During the pandemic, with the transition to compulsory distance learning in higher education, it has become even more important to identify these students and make instructional interventions to avoid leaving them behind. This goal can be achieved by new data mining techniques and machine learning methods. This study took both the synchronous and asynchronous activity characteristics of students into account to identify students at risk of academic failure during the pandemic. Additionally, this study proposes an optimal ensemble model predicting students at risk using a combination of relevant machine learning algorithms. Performances of over two thousand university students were predicted with an ensemble model in terms of gender, degree, number of downloaded lecture notes and course materials, total time spent in online sessions, number of attendances, and quiz score. Asynchronous learning activities were found more determinant than synchronous ones. The proposed ensemble model made a good prediction with a specificity of 90.34%. Thus, practitioners are suggested to monitor and organize training activities accordingly.

Patterns of student collaborative learning in blended course designs based on their learning orientations: a student approaches to learning perspective

This study combines research methods from student approaches to learning research and social network analysis (SNA) to examine patterns of students’ collaborative learning based on their learning orientations amongst 193 postgraduates enrolled in a blended course. The study identified two distinct learning orientations, namely ‘understanding’ and ‘reproducing’, which differed in approaches to learning through inquiry, approaches to using online learning technologies, perceptions of the online workload, and academic outcomes. On the basis of students’ learning orientations and their choice of whether to collaborate and with whom to collaborate, five networks representing five patterns of collaborative learning were found. From these, two did not reveal any collaboration (Understanding Alone and Reproducing Alone networks); and three revealed collaborations (Understanding Collaboration, Mixed Collaboration, Reproducing Collaboration networks). A range of SNA measures were calculated and revealed different features of the three collaboration networks. Viewed together, the combined methodologies suggest that the Understanding Collaboration network has more desirable features of collaboration, such as the intensity of collaboration, having closely knitted groups who tended to seek out and welcome peers and who tended to engage more often in both face-to-face and online modes. The study suggests that helping students adjust their learning orientations, designing some compulsory collaborative assessment tasks, and configuring the composition of collaborative groups are productive strategies likely to improve students’ experiences of collaborative learning.

Mining and crafting a game to teach research methodology

Gamification is used in various disciplines to elucidate complex problems. These disciplines are typically the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. It is not known whether gamification can be used to teach research methodology. MinecraftEDU was used to create games to explain the various concepts within research methodology. The purpose was to force students to engage with the theory and literature and create a game based on their insights. An analysis of the students’ feedback indicates that they preferred this method to more traditional lectures. Although they experienced initial problems with the MinecraftEDU environment, the overall experience was perceived as positive. The results indicate that gamification can be used to teach research methodology, but more research is needed to determine how game elements can be incorporated into a research methodology game.

Feminist trends in distance and hybrid higher education: a scoping review

Higher distance education models can be described from the theoretical and practical foundation of feminist pedagogy. The objective of this work is to know what feminist approaches are identified in the pedagogical models adopted by distance and hybrid education at the University and what curricular characteristics they have. The scoping review is carried out on a total of 126 journals bringing together 60 indexed, 30 specialized in gender and 6 in education. The final sample is made up of 10 papers that meet the established inclusion criteria. The review method is based on three phases of collection, description, and analysis with different tasks and the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) protocol is followed. The results obtained from mixed methodology applied show three perspectives that set trends in distance and hybrid higher education models from feminist approaches: (a) feminist-pragmatist, (b) eco-dialogical feminist and (c) intersectional-technofeminist. These trends show the application of feminist principles to curriculum design and their implementation in distance and hybrid higher education.