This research explores programs designed to support the mentorship of online instructional designers in higher education. The study investigated the characteristics of mentorship within institutions as well as professional development opportunities offered through external providers. Mixed-methods data was collected from instructional design…

Despite the benefits of integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education that have been discussed for decades; many teachers still find it challenging to implement integrated STEM education due to lacking confidence and experience. Numerous models and frameworks exist, but they tend to focus on enhancing teachers'…

The purpose of this study was to examine college and university leaders' background in, perceptions of, and experiences with the administration of high-quality online programs and design of online courses. The population of this study included academic leaders at higher education institutions within the state of Texas from 2- and 4-year…

As higher education institutions increasingly expand their online course offerings, the role of instructional designers in enhancing instructional quality and effectiveness becomes critical. This study surveyed practicing instructional designers to explore the specific tasks they perform performed in higher education and identifies factors that…

This article argues for exploring, connecting, and applying utopian imagination, speculative design, and planetary thinking as a way forward for higher education to reimagine and move towards more hopeful planetary futures. It examines hopepunk and solarpunk perspectives on possible futures to propose a design agenda for rewidening and rewilding…

Drawing on the authors' extensive experience and robust survey data, this critical resource unpacks the inner workings of one of the most powerful mechanisms for improving teaching and learning in higher education: the course design institute (CDI). CDIs are intensive, often multi-day facilitated experiences where instructors design or redesign a…

The discourse on blended learning must not take away focus on learning by concentrating explicitly on technologies. When learner-centred discussions are incorporated, these may be confined to constructivist pedagogies, as evident through the well-established community of inquiry (CoI) framework. While a few early advances argue for behaviourist…

This narrative autoethnography explores how non-normative decision-making processes within higher education institutions impact instructional designers' work. Drawing on 13 months of reflective journaling, the author examines their experience navigating a university operating as an organized anarchy through the lens of Cohen et al.'s (1972)…

This article focuses on the practical implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in an online computer science course, articulating the collaborative efforts between the instructional designer (the first author) and the faculty member to redesign the course using UDL principles. Specific instances of redesigned learning modules and…

The purpose of this study is to identify the motivational elements of formal online instructional design processes that are being implemented at traditional institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the United States (U.S.). For this study, I conducted a comprehensive literature review identifying emerging issues of practice for instructional…

Although research into gamification describes the pedagogy as contextual-based, there is minimal research into analyzing the context when implementing gamification. This research study aimed to examine how professional instructional designers experience analyzing higher education course rooms before implementing gamification into a higher…

While most educators regard personalized learning as beneficial for higher education and continuous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of personalized learning, a comprehensive understanding of how personalized learning has been designed and implemented in higher education is scarce. The purpose of this review study is to examine the…

This developmental study explores the process and outcomes of creating an active learning classroom within a higher education setting. To support student success, institutions have increasingly redesigned their learning spaces to promote active learning. Early initiatives often aimed to facilitate collaborative learning and reduce reliance on…

Background: Leaderboards are among the most popular gamification elements in education. Some studies have implemented leaderboards and reported their individual effects on students' learning. Despite the emergence of relevant empirical studies, most of the existing reviews have only investigated the holistic impact of gamification. No previous…

Purpose: Few resources exist to incorporate principles of modular approach to course design. This research aimed to help instructors by presenting principles for practical and empirically informed modular course design in engineering education. Design/methodology/approach: In the first phase, a systematic literature review was completed to…