In February 2020, the author was offered a position as a postdoctoral teaching fellow at a large land-grant college in the American West. A couple weeks later, COVID-19 hit in full force. As the newly hired postdoctoral teaching fellow, the author's department chair tasked the author with a challenging assignment -- to develop an asynchronous…

To foster students' learning of critical-thinking skills, I previously introduced ill-structured problems to provide students opportunities to apply content knowledge and thinking skills. However, I noted that my third-year, life sciences students were not solving such problems effectively. Therefore, I used a grounded approach and conducted…

The analysis of case studies is an important constructivist instructional strategy that shows potential for engaging students in asynchronous online discussions. However, little is known about the use of audio-based discussions to promote this type of analysis. Twenty-nine students from two sections enrolled in an online instructional design…

This research considers the synchronous creation of a faculty meta-ensemble emergent in the pivot to online music ensembles in 2021. The unit of study outline for Music Ensemble Performance mandates live ensembles in a Kolb-inspired experiential learning model, seemingly impossible to achieve in a pandemic. Eric Ries advocates for necessary change…

This article discusses the use of the Quality Matters Rubric for Higher Education, 6[superscript th] ed. to self-review an asynchronous information literacy course. In this instance, the authors acted as reviewers and subject matter experts (SME). The Rubric proved to be a useful tool that encompasses several instructional design best practices.…

Based on the elaboration of online learning, blended teaching and differences between the flipped classroom teaching and blended teaching, this paper addresses the fundamental principles that should be observed in the design of blended flipped classroom, and constructs a "three-stage asynchronous" teaching mode of online autonomous and…

This study investigates the validity and instructional value of a rubric developed to evaluate the quality of online courses offered at a midsized public university. This rubric is adapted from an online course quality rubric widely used in higher education, the Quality Matters rubric. We first examine the reliability and preliminary construct…

The global expansion of online language courses is on the rise, offering greater flexibility in the approaches to learning design. This study delves into the exploration of the fundamental learning design patterns within a K-12 synchronous language course. Leveraging a rich array of textual data, including syllabi, textbooks, course outlines,…

The COVID-19 crisis upended the typical college experience as educational institutions had to close campuses and send students home mid-semester in the spring of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic left educators around the world with limited choices on how to move forward with high quality education for all. This abrupt closing of higher education…

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of two metacognitive scaffolds on learners' cognition by evaluating student critical thinking skills performance in an asynchronous discussion board and achievement in a blended learning module. The two scaffolds included a systematic protocol for individualized facilitation prompts and an analytic…

Early online course materials were text-based and relied heavily on discussion forums as the de facto tool for interactions. Faculty members today, however, have many other choices for course design and course materials. There is not consensus for online course design guidelines or principles, though. Choices in course design by faculty members…

The recent pandemic compelled educational institutions all over the world to shift to online instruction. And now institutions find themselves trying to answer questions like how should we proceed when we come back to normal? Which online instructional innovations should we keep? This research attempts to answer those questions by comparing three…

This qualitative case study explored how course context, such as course design, facilitation, and community, supports students' basic psychological needs and thus shapes their situational motivation to participate in asynchronous online discussions in different course contexts. Three upper-level undergraduate courses in different disciplines were…

This study examines the effectiveness of asynchronous learning in a corporate workspace. Education is the basis for success both in a corporate environment and the personal lives of the employees. The challenge is that today's skills in the corporate environment are not always available through higher education. Educating workers is a success…

Every year, class representatives are elected at the University of Cape Town to represent students on academic matters in relation to a specific academic course. A vital element of this representative role is to advocate for an enabling learning environment that promotes learning excellence. In preparing class representatives for their leadership…