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…

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has affected higher education institutions worldwide as they had to switch from face-to-face to online teaching almost overnight. This abrupt change made a huge impact on teaching, learning, and particularly, student engagement. This paper focuses on online social presence as an element of student engagement,…

There has been a movement toward pedagogies that employ student-centered learning (SCL) to increase student engagement and motivation. Our experience transitioning to remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for us to observe how students used the chat function to take ownership of their learning. We used qualitative…

During COVID, HyFlex gained popularity and became a "new normal" that educators need to consider as an effective instructional approach. Previous research offers conflicting findings related to the impact of HyFlex instruction on students' basic psychological needs and academic performance. Our investigation provides insight into a…

While the benefits of active learning to student experiences are well documented, less is known about active learning in online education, especially regarding the development of 21st century skills (e.g., communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity). Specifically, open questions remain concerning the contribution of different…

Purpose: This paper aims to present a practical guide for designing effective synchronous online teaching to support student engagement. Design/methodology/approach: This practical guide was developed by drawing insights from literature and our own practical experiences. Findings: This paper developed BEST principles (i.e., Building positive…

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…

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…

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Computer Science and STEM-related fields were among the most resistant to online courses. This is because of a perception of the need for more hands-on instruction with labs, clinicals, field studies, etc. Additionally, many STEM students had perceptions based on limited experience of an online STEM course.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the design of choreographies or learning environments which the students participating in "Ocean i"[superscript 3] pass through during their participation in the project, which requires constant review and interpretation, in times of COVID-19. To this end, it is proposed to: define 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…

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…

In the wake of COVID-19, the postgraduate activities in physiology were shifted from live (face-to-face teaching) to virtual mode. This transition posed a challenge to postgraduate students and faculty moderators, especially for participant-centric group discussion, wherein face-to-face interaction contributes significantly to active learner…

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented challenge for wider society and has impacted all facets of life, including Higher Education Institution (HEIs) provision for teaching and learning -- demanding an immediate digital response. The core challenge lies with the inherent choice made by students upon embarking on an undergraduate degree;…

Virtual teaching modalities urgently implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic require strategies to motivate students to participate actively in higher education. Our study found that gamification using a reward-based system is a strategy that can improve the educational experience under exceptional circumstances. This article reports the results…