In the context of online and distance learning, active student engagement in online synchronous tutorials is important for students' development; yet it can be challenging to achieve. The research reported in this paper explored why some students do not participate actively in online synchronous tutorials, instead preferring passive participation.…

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn the attention of educators to the blended learning model. This study developed a remote blended game-based learning activity that integrates digital game--based learning (DGBL) and blended learning (including online synchronous and asynchronous learning). This method emphasizes that in the online synchronous…

In synchronous online EFL classrooms, students often exhibit passive participation and boredom when learning grammar. This research study presents the development of an online active grammar learning instructional model, named LPCR, which incorporates Byrne's Presentation-Practice Production (PPP) approach and Fink's holistic view of active…

This research explores the development, execution, and student feedback on a multi-themed digital escape room (ER) activity, designed for teaching medicinal chemistry during the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to examine students' perceptions of the ER activity, focusing on its effectiveness in enriching students' understanding of medicinal chemistry…

Challenged by COVID-19, we sought ways to increase engagement in the virtual classroom, capitalizing on a popular multiplayer game to teach persuasion to undergraduate students. In the game "Among Us[R]," players ("Crewmates") work together to repair their spaceship before it explodes while being attacked by other players…

Higher education students are attending online classes more now than ever in history. Many institutions have temporarily converted their traditional face-to-face to online classroom settings. This raises many challenges as it relates to having to rely on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). A virtual learning survey was sent out to all First…

The need to quickly transition from face-to-face teaching using engaging, content-based activities to a new, online platform in just two weeks during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID19) pandemic, made it necessary to try to migrate familiar activities that the students enjoyed into a virtual classroom. The activity that proved to be the most…

Active learning in mathematics can lead to deeper understanding than passively listening to a lecture, yet recent studies indicate that didactic teaching dominates online tutorials. This study investigated student participation in three types of activity: solving mathematical problems via polling, on-screen activities on a shared whiteboard and…

Understanding the potential transformation brought about by integrating the flipped classroom methodology with rich and dynamic learning platforms like the Metaverse, in terms of usability, students' academic performance, and intrinsic motivation, holds critical importance for adopting innovative strategies in the field of education. This study…

The Visible Learning (VL) approach to learning processes stems from Hattie's work based on synthesising meta-analyses regarding achievement in education. Although the model is used at many levels of instruction, its performance has been less studied in higher education, engineering education, and in the context of synchronous online learning in…

An active-learning concurrent preparatory general chemistry course was adopted to replace a prerequisite course that lacked effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Our previous study showed that the concurrent course increased final exam performance and retention in a cohort of students. This paper studies the course modality impact of the…

The spring of 2020 saw the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world, and in response many colleges and universities moved to emergency remote instruction. Herein is described how an introductory chemistry course that prioritizes active learning and collaboration was adapted for emergency remote learning. Instructors used both asynchronous and…

Purpose: This paper aims first to describe the most prevalent teachers' and students' behaviors in synchronous online classes in emergency remote teaching; second, to discern behavior profiles and third, to investigate what features explain the observed behaviors. Design/methodology/approach: An adapted COPUS observation protocol was employed to…

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relevance of turning the camera on or off during distance learning as an argument for active or passive student participation. Seventy-five (75) students participated in the study and were divided into five groups (1-5) according to teaching method (i.e., synchronous instruction online with camera (1)…

Before the pandemic, an introductory pharmaceutics course was redesigned to integrate active deep-learning tasks. Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the instructor decided to implement a fully synchronous online course format. The primary objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of the transfer to the online synchronous context…