In recent years, online education in institutions of higher learning has exponentially expanded the application of digital approaches to learning. The Learning Management Systems (LMS) used by online instruction provide a variety of tools to enhance learning with peers and instructors (Yount & Neild, 2022). One such tool, Asynchronous…

Online instructors have identified several issues that must be addressed to facilitate better online learning experiences, including authentic experiential education, building community, technology for remote learning, and supporting learners. Online forums are often used by users to express their frustrations, feelings, jokes, and even…

Instructor participation plays a crucial role in asynchronous online discussions, as the approach taken can potentially impact student performance. This study compared two instructor participation approaches: replying to student posts on public discussion boards and commenting on student posts on private grade pages. It examined the impact on both…

Previous studies have confirmed the benefits of small group sizes in asynchronous online discussions. However, there is no consistency in which small group size is the optimal option for maximizing students' discussion performance. Moreover, few researchers attempted to apply the smallest group size (i.e., one-on-one) to online discussions and…

The purpose of this quantitative action research study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an organization-wide book study in the K-12 environment. A growing charter school network was working towards an improved organizational culture to meet its mission. This study examined whether an organization-wide book study can make a difference in…

Background: Online discussion is one of the commonly used tools to enhance students' interactions and engagements in online courses, but it is not clear how social presence in online discussions impacts students' learning and what kinds of interactions we should encourage. Social network analysis provides a new methodology to investigate how…

This systematic review examined research on moderators in asynchronous online discussions (AODs) through a review of 52 sources published over the past four decades. Areas of interest included conceptual frameworks cited in research, publication trends, instructional contexts, research methods and characteristics, and descriptions of the role of…

This research study delves into the multifaceted realm of social presence in online education, encompassing the existence and manifestation of social presence indicators in students' engagement with discussion boards within asynchronous online courses. Social presence manifests when individuals perceive themselves to be simultaneously present with…

Many undergraduate and graduate courses have been recently converted to fully remote offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even within the remote structure, courses vary in their frequency of synchronous and asynchronous meetings. Fostering collaboration through students' idea-sharing and supporting their learning is especially challenging in…

Although online discourses about dissertation writing (i.e., You Should be Writing memes) offer students levity, they function in stark contrast to how dissertation writing is treated in real life. Canadian education scholars with PhDs have examined the student-supervisor relationship (McAlpine & Weis, 2000), collaborative writing spaces…

Discussion boards are a common component of asynchronous online courses. While many teacher preparation courses utilize traditional text-based discussion boards, university faculty are increasingly designing innovative approaches to asynchronous online discussions. There is significant research regarding the effectiveness of varied discussion…

Improving social presence has long been a goal for online instruction; with the shift to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus on improving social presence has only become more imperative. In asynchronous online courses, social interaction typically relies on discussion groups. Despite this, little research has been…

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…

Incivility in the college classroom distracts from the learning process. Students who are uncivil to their peers often shame and embarrass them in front of others, and uncivil students distract from learning opportunities by arguing with professors and coercing them for grades that were not earned. Incivility by students is counterintuitive to the…

Restrictions on in-person teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic severely challenged higher education practices worldwide. While didactic delivery of course content is easily achievable with virtual teaching technologies, promoting critical engagement with this material can be more difficult, particularly with classes of larger size and lower…