Online Asynchronous Course Research Articles

Understanding the Effectiveness of Email Prompts to Online Asynchronous Course Participants

A persistent problem in asynchronous online courses is low user retention. Compared to conventional courses, participants require some form of reward or intrinsic motivation to complete these courses which do not have set deadlines or timetables. To remedy this, many online course platforms will send email reminders to participants registered in the course to prompt them to continue their participation. This study is focused on understanding the efficacy of such practices in motivating students to continue a course they would otherwise neglect or drop. This study focuses on selected courses on the online asynchronous learning platform open.uom.lk. The participants of an online asynchronous Project Management course who had enrolled but not completed the course were separated into two groups; students who enrolled but have not started the course and students who started the course but have stopped for over a month. The students of each group were divided into test and control groups, where the test group was sent prompts by email to continue the course which included a link to the course page Using user activity data from the platform the progress of students over the month prompts were sent, and the month after were analysed, and the efficacy of sending email prompts was calculated. 4.45% of the students from the test group began participating in the course again as compared to 2% of the students in the test group. 32 students (0.7%) completed the course in the weeks during and after the email prompts were sent while none of the students in the control group completed the course. This shows sending email prompts has a positive impact on increasing participation in the course.

Profile Analysis of Hourly, Daily, and Weekly Student Access to Online Asynchronous Courses

Recent global events have led to an increase in the delivery of higher education in an asynchronous online format. These changes have impacted students’ ability to schedule their lives around their education. This study investigates trends in student access to online asynchronous courses. This study utilized learning analytics data from the learning management system for thirty-eight online asynchronous communication courses taught by twelve different faculty members at a large research university in the southwestern United States. A total of 1,384 students were involved in the study. Profile Analyses indicate clear non-linear trends for time of day, day of the week, and week of the semester in student course access. Results indicate those trends vary significantly from a no-effect condition by level of course and gender of student across multiple courses.

Recommendations for implementing an online asynchronous course about racism for graduate professional students.

Recommendations for implementing an online asynchronous course about racism for graduate professional students.

Studying Away Post COVID-19 and Beyond: Making High Impact Learning Practices Equitable

Halfway through the Spring 2020 academic year, many institutions canceled face-to-face classes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this in-person to online transition, educators had to rethink how studying away could be offered to undergraduate students. Technology allowed some to provide study away opportunities, incorporate inclusive pedagogies, diversify the student study away population, and specifically target students traditionally underrepresented in study-away/study-abroad programs. This includes students who are first-generation, of color, from working-class families, and with disabilities. In doing so, the author of this work was able to provide high-impact learning practices for diverse students and expose students to the research process while studying away, via an online asynchronous course. Here, the author shares some practices of leading a fully online study away course via video site visits, virtual student travel, and expert interviews. This work is important as it advances the literature on the pedagogies and practices of Interdisciplinary educators.

Evaluation of a Scripture Integration Course for Christian Health Professions Faculty.

The integration of Scripture in learning is an important focal element for education at Christian universities. A team of health professions faculty members from four universities belonging to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities designed, developed, and facilitated a 9-week Scriptural Integration course for health professions faculty teaching at Christian universities. Participants completed the fully online asynchronous course, then completed a post-course survey. Survey responses help reveal what Christian university health professions faculty find useful and applicable in the integration of Scripture in learning.

Online Study during Covid’ 19: What Students Like and Dislike in Online Courses

This article presents the results of a research about the students’ likes and dislikes in online courses. The project used surveys to the students of the Dalat University in Vietnam conducted during the fall term of 2021. After analyzing the sample of 708 students, it appears that the main findings are somehow close to many studies conducted at the same time approximately. Mainly, the students like the flexibility of asynchronous courses and the availability of the learning material at any time. They dislike the lack of interaction with the teachers and their classmates. As for online asynchronous courses, students like the possibility of interacting with teachers and classmates (in the case of interactive courses) and the clarity of the schedule. In all cases, the quality of the Internet connection and the power supply appear as a sine qua non condition to any satisfaction supporting any distance studies.Some students have also noted health problems inherent to too long periods sitting in front of screens. This aspect is particularly critical for those who do not have computers and who are forced to work on their smartphones.

Evaluation of an Online Training Course for Childcare Providers Participating in the CACFP Infant Feeding Program.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides reimbursement for meals and snacks offered in participating centers and issues nutrition standards, including guidelines for feeding infants in childcare settings. Offering training to childcare providers participating in the CACFP is necessary to ensure compliance with nutrition standards in childcare settings. A State Department of Education and University Extension system collaborated to develop an online nutrition training course for childcare providers. Providers (n = 57) participated in the course on CACFP nutrition standards related to feeding infants (0-12months of age). Thirty-two of 57 participants completed both pre- and post-training surveys that were used to assess changes in knowledge and confidence concerning infant feeding standards. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to assess differences in survey responses before and after the course. Self-confidence and knowledge of providers related to infant feeding were significantly increased after completion of the training course (p < 0.001). More participants reported their sites were likely to respond to infants showing they were hungry or full than before the course (44.4% vs. 75.7%, respectively). Participant feedback indicated the online asynchronous course was convenient, useful, and topics were relevant to training needs. The online course was feasible and effective for providing training on CACFP guidelines for childcare providers. Feedback from participants can be adapted and used for future training programs to further improve the course and delivery methods and efficiently reach a broad audience of childcare providers.

Fostering Intercultural Competence: A Case of an Asynchronous Online Japanese Language and Culture Course

Analyzing cultural characteristics is a cognitively challenging task that allows learners to increase their open-mindedness and deepen their understanding of both local and global communities by utilizing online resources, especially when in-person interaction in classroom settings was impeded, resulting in an asynchronous online course. The purpose of this paper is to examine how intercultural competence, which can foster learners’ attitudes, could be encouraged in an asynchronous online environment for a Japanese foreign language course from empirical perspectives. The population was learners who possessed Intermediate and Advanced-level proficiency of Japanese. Learners’ outcomes were compared between an online asynchronous course using Deardorff’s (2006) Process Model of Intercultural Competence in the curriculum and a face-to-face class without using Deardorff’s model. The result of using Deardorff’s process model of Intercultural Competence in the curriculum, constructed based on “Understanding by Design,” which is comprised of 3 stages: (1) identifying desired results, (2) determining acceptable evidence, and (3) planning learning experiences and instruction (Wiggins &amp; McTighe, 2005), suggested that learners could deepen their insights toward a target culture and society through multiple opportunities for learners to investigate the relationships among perspectives, practices and products. Keywords: asynchronous online course, backward design approach, intercultural competence, process model, world-readiness standards for learning languages

"A Great Way to Connect"

The growth in online education has prompted a focus on ensuring students are engaged, persistent, and successful in their studies. A recognized challenge with online learning is developing a community of learners, where students feel connected to their peers and instructor and experience a sense of belonging. In this article, we highlight using the platform Flip to engage students in video-based discussions. We describe our use of Flip in two online asynchronous courses and provide recommendations for instructors seeking to embed this tool in the learning experiences they develop for their students. In addition, we present our students' perspectives on belonging within the course and their use of Flip, collected using an anonymous survey. Last, we examine the advantages and challenges of using this tool and discuss the implications for promoting connection and belonging in online courses.

The good and bad of an online asynchronous general education course: Students’ perceptions

The pandemic resulted in many courses being shifted to online delivery, but some courses are designed as online courses from their conception. Courses intentionally designed for online delivery should be well-received by students, but it is not clear which aspects of courses students find particularly appealing and unappealing. We examined students’ perceptions of one such online asynchronous course in psychology in order to better understand students’ preferences in terms of specific course elements. Students were asked to identify what they particularly liked and disliked about the course in two open-ended questions. Responses were then coded to quantify the frequency of each aspect of the course. An inductive and latent approach to coding was used, with codes being used to develop themes based on the underlying meaning of the text. Overall, students identified few negative aspects about the course. They particularly enjoyed the specific psychology content, format, and structure of the course, that it related to their real lives, and the flexibility provided by the asynchronous nature. The hope is that this information can be used to improve this particular course as well as inform instructor decision-making related to the design of online asynchronous courses in general.

Harnessing H5P for Asynchronous Active Learning

Active learning, as defined by Bonwell and Eison (1991), involves students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing. Extensive research has highlighted the numerous benefits of active learning, including increased attendance rates (Kozanitis &amp; Nenciovici, 2022), improved learning outcomes (Ruiz-Primo et al., 2011), reduced achievement gaps for underrepresented students (Haak et al., 2011; Theobald et Al., 2020), higher-order thinking skills, and enhanced student performance (Freeman et al., 2014). In comparison to traditional lectures, any form of active learning has proven to be beneficial to student learning (Schneider &amp; Preckel, 2017). However, most research on active learning has focused predominantly on face-to-face synchronous classrooms, with little attention to active learning in online asynchronous environments. This presents an opportunity to explore design solutions that promote active learning in these asynchronous settings where students lack real-time interactions with educators and peers. The advent of HTML5 (HyperText Markup Language version 5) or H5P has the potential to revolutionise active learning in online learning settings. As a free and open-source content creation tool, H5P offers various interactive and engaging content types that enable students to interact directly with course material in meaningful ways. This interactivity encourages students to participate actively in their learning process rather than passively obtaining information from lectures. Drawing from two case studies conducted at an Australian university, this presentation highlights how H5P can be used to enhance active learning in online asynchronous courses. The first case study investigates the design of H5P training modules for a platform that supports researchers in humanities and social sciences in their sensitive data access management. This platform is part of a nation-wide project involving 12 partnering institutions and government agencies in Australia. The second case study explores the implementation of H5P learning activities in a Vietnamese language course over three years. In both cases, H5P is used as a plug-in within the Moodle learning platform. Data collection for these case studies included interviews with educators and learning designers, Moodle reports, and participant feedback surveys. The findings from the thematic analysis and the learning analytics revealed substantial benefits of using H5P for active learning, along with the technical and pedagogical challenges encountered during the design process. The presentation features exemplary cases and insights from the case studies to suggest H5P design solutions that foster active participation, reflective thinking, and knowledge construction for students in online asynchronous settings.

Manaaki Tauira Course Enhancements Program

This paper reports on a pilot study of a course enhancements program at Lincoln University, New Zealand, designed to enhance learner success for all students, but particularly those from minority groups. The pilot study includes two phases, each of six-months duration – course redevelopment and course delivery. During the first phase, 10 academics were selected to engage in self-reflection, complete a four-week online asynchronous course, develop an action plan for course redevelopment, attend a two-day in-person workshop to implement the action plan, and meet several times with an academic development facilitator. This blended approach resulted in academics experiencing a variety of in-person and online learning activities and approaches that could be used in their own courses, and the opportunity to collaborate and share their course redevelopment journey with other academics. This paper highlights the approach taken in the pilot study and the strategies used to bring academics on the journey.

Time and day: trends in student access to online asynchronous courses in communication demonstrate time poverty in action

ObjectiveAs changes to higher education following the rapid transition to online learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students and their perceptions of what is possible in scheduling their daily lives around school, this study investigates trends in student access to online asynchronous courses.MethodsThis study utilized course reports of student access from the learning management system for thirty-one sections of eleven different online asynchronous communication courses taught by ten different faculty members over the fall and spring semesters at a large research university in the southwestern United States. A total sample size of 1,201 students were involved in the study.ResultsProfile Analyses indicate clear curvilinear trends for time of day and day of the week in student course access. Repeated Measures ANOVA results indicate those trends vary significantly from a no effect condition, suggesting that students: (a) schedule their course activities around personal schedules, and (b) that time bound synchronous course may not work for them.ConclusionRecommendations for class management by instructors relating to student time poverty need regardless of teaching modality, and future directions for research on time poverty in higher education, are provided.

Implementing One-at-a-Time Therapy in community addiction and mental health centres: a retrospective exploration of the implementation process and initial outcomes

BackgroundThe Department of Health of the Government of New Brunswick and Regional Health Authorities elected to implement Stepped Care 2.0 (SC2.0) in 2021, and began with One-at-a-Time (OAAT) therapy in Community Addiction and Mental Health Centres (CAMHCs) to facilitate rapid access to addiction and mental healthcare. This study: 1) explicated the process of implementing OAAT therapy as it aligned to evidence-based implementation frameworks and strategies; 2) assessed readiness for change among providers during the implementation; and 3) evaluated initial client and system outcomes.MethodsThe process of implementing OAAT therapy within CAMHCs was documented and retrospectively aligned with the Active Implementation Frameworks-Stages of Implementation, Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, and incorporated strategies endorsed by the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change. Providers working in CAMHCs completed online asynchronous courses in OAAT therapy and SC2.0, and were recruited to participate in research on perceptions of organizational readiness. Initial outcomes of the implementation were evaluated through client satisfaction surveys administered in CAMHCs and system performance indicators.ResultsAligning with implementation stages, key strategies included: 1) continuously monitoring readiness and soliciting stakeholder feedback for iterative improvement; 2) building a representative implementation team with engaged leaders; 3) creating a comprehensive implementation plan on staff training, communication, and system changes; and 4) supporting sustainability. Providers who participated in research (N = 170, ~ 50% response rate) agreed that their organization was ready for implementation, and that OAAT therapy delivered within a SC2.0 framework was acceptable, appropriate, and feasible. More than 3,600 OAAT therapy sessions were delivered during the initial implementation stage, and waitlists were reduced by 64.1%. The majority of clients who completed surveys (N = 1240, ~ 35% response rate) reported that their OAAT therapy session was helpful, with a minority reporting that additional intervention was needed.ConclusionsThoughtful planning and execution, aligned with evidence-based implementation frameworks and strategies, played an important role in this provincial change initiative. Implementation steps outlined can help inform others looking to enact large-scale change.

Diffractively Thinking about Teacher Identity in Body Mapping as Performance, Intersectional Positionality, and Material-Discursive Enactment

Teacher identity is integral for teachers' professional growth and shapes how they address persistent educational disparities and inequities. Teachers' embodied relationships with self, others, and the world play a vital role in the ways teachers (co-)construct and (re)negotiate their identities as professionals. Still, little is known about how the relations among teachers' bodies, material, and power may affect teacher identity. This study adopted a diffractive methodology to examine how elementary teacher candidates' (TCs) engagement in body maps—that is, arts-informed tools and processes of (re)presenting one's lived experiences and identities—may contribute to their embodied aspects of identity work. A diffractive methodology also enabled the researcher to draw on three theoretical perspectives on teacher identity (i.e., post-structural, critical race, and new material) and use the data to think with theory. Data sources included one TC's presentation of her body mapping, its associated narratives, and two responses from her peers. These data were collected in an online asynchronous course in the Southeastern U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings highlight how one focal TC's embodied experiences, her interactions with two peers, and material practices affected the three TCs' identity work in an online discussion space in performative, intersectional, and material-discursive ways. Diffractive methodological approaches can benefit teachers' continuous professional learning and development and can open new methodological perspectives in analyzing teacher identities at the intersection of discourses, bodies, and materials.

Planetary Health—Global Environmental Change and Emerging Infectious Disease: A New Undergraduate Online Asynchronous Course

Will a warmer world be a sicker world? What is it about the New England landscape that supports the proliferation of Lyme disease? How are local wildlife trade and global species invasions contributors to emerging diseases such as the 2003 outbreak of monkey pox virus in the midwestern United States? Undergraduate students explore these and related questions in BIOL 1455 Planetary Health: global environmental change and emerging infectious disease—a new online asynchronous course at Brown University. Planetary health is gaining traction in the curricula of institutions of higher learning and online asynchronous courses offer the promise of scaling up to make grand challenges education accessible to many. In our new course, we assessed student learning outcomes (LOs) and sentiment towards the health of humans and the planet using a mixed-methods approach. Students demonstrated competency in each of the LOs after course completion as measured in a pre–post assessment scored with a standardized rubric. Student sentiment was analyzed with an immersion–crystallization qualitative analysis to elucidate themes in responses to the assessments. Many themes on the pre-assessment focused on barriers and problems associated with the health of humans and the planet, while themes on the post-assessment centered on more solutions-based thinking. Collectively, these findings indicate that this online asynchronous course successfully educated students about the myriad challenges facing human and planetary health, broadened knowledge of environmental changes (beyond climate change) that impact health, formalized understanding of now common terms such as “emerging infectious diseases”, and bolstered hope by offering solutions and peer community (even when virtual). Future efforts to integrate planetary health into higher education should focus on broadly accessible and scalable courses, full programs of study (i.e., majors/scholarly concentrations), and extension into institutional programs focused on ensuring equity and wellness for all.

Teaching Presence in Asynchronous Online Classes: It’s Not Just a Façade

The expanding scale and scope of online education options, both in terms of design and delivery, creates significant questions that increasingly warrant research attention. This empirical study investigates students’ perceptions and evaluative judgments of a number of methods of setting and sustaining Instructor Presence in an online asynchronous course. Based on factor analysis of our data, we propose refining the idea of Instructor Presence in terms of stylistic versus substantive methods. Tests of student survey data indicate that, while students see value in both types of Instructor Presence, they perceive significantly greater benefit from substantive relative to stylistic methods.

Primary preservice teachers’ exploration of possible selves through narrated metaphors during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study examines how primary-level preservice teachers (PSTs) in an online asynchronous course (co-)constructed and (re)negotiated their professional identities through the use of metaphors in online asynchronous courses in the U.S. By using metaphors and narrating their lived experiences in relation to their chosen metaphors, participants expressed their desired and feared identities. Their metaphorical expression of identities reflects the complex interplay between participants’ construction of their possible selves within the temporal, social, and spatial context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual and collaborative metaphor-based reflections provided a reflective space for PSTs to explore professional becoming and future possibilities at the interface between their sense of agency and their situated temporal, spatial, and social context, even within asynchronous online teacher education courses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors that affect the learning of undergraduate medical students in an online asynchronous course of Forensic Medicine

ABSTRACT Online learning has grown productive and vital for delivering asynchronous instruction to undergraduate medical students. We explored the factors that affect the learning of undergraduate medical students in an online asynchronous Forensic Medicine course through focus group discussions. These factors were identified in three components of theoretical framework: learner, design, and environment. The promoting factors in the learner component were regulation of learning, internal motivation, metacognition, interaction with peers, and social interaction. Hampering factors were poor self-regulation, losing motivation, and less use of discussion forums. In the environment component students’ engagement, external motivation, and lack of physical interaction hampered the learning. In design: course content, links, extra material, pre-recorded lectures, assessment, time limitation, and flexibility promoted the learning, while lack of training in asynchronous mode, losing motivation, loss of attention, and less interaction hampered learning. These identified factors will assist online educators and instructors in designing better online asynchronous courses.

Exploring students’ Twitter use in the online classroom across 4 years

Online asynchronous courses require close attention to course design to ensure there are strategies in place to foster social presence to build stronger senses of community and to motivate students to engage (content, peers and instructors). Judicious use of social media may serve this purpose. Since its inception, social media, Twitter in particular, has been employed in higher education courses for teaching and learning experiences with a notable impact on student engagement and social presence. This research examines students’ use of Twitter for assessment and interaction in the online asynchronous classroom from 2014 to 2018, to determine if there has been an increase in the length, amount or content within Tweets, and if students report stronger engagement and interaction following the use of Twitter for assessment. While results indicate such a connection exists, students were more focused on completing course requirements than creating connections or interacting with others, and were bothered by the constraints of the Tweet length.