Nearly half of students who enter college do not graduate. The majority of efforts to increase college completion have focused on supporting students before or soon after they enter college, yet many students drop out after making significant progress towards their degree. In this paper, we report results from a multi-year, large-scale…

The onset of the COVID-19 world pandemic caused an unanticipated transition from face-to-face to virtual teaching in higher education. This health crisis impacted teacher education professors and students alike, as education classes shifted from in-person instruction to synchronous digital instruction. However, a significant observation was made…

The pandemic forced divisions to develop new approaches to educating students. Division officials had to consider the needs of their students and their resources at home, as well as the capacity of their workforce and existing infrastructure to provide instruction outside of the school building. We collected and coded over a thousand documents…

This article discusses how three assistant professors have worked to address the challenges their undergraduate and graduate students are facing as a result of changes made to distance learning in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many educators, they were faced with decisions regarding synchronous or asynchronous instruction. The authors…

In mid-March 2020, the spread of COVID-19 prompted colleges and universities to pivot to online instruction, resulting in myriad unanticipated challenges. As teacher educators working in distinct capacities across the Elementary and Secondary Education programs at George Mason University, we gathered to make sense of this shift and have engaged in…

A growing body of research indicates that proactive outreach from high schools and college access organizations about college preparation tasks, and specifically focusing on completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), results in increased college enrollment. Comparatively less attention has been paid to the role of colleges…

In the five years following implementation of a chat reference service at James Madison University (JMU), the service proved very popular but was not closely assessed for quality of service. Using grounded theory and qualitative data analysis techniques, a comprehensive assessment effort was begun in earnest and is in progress. Preliminary results…

There is a plethora of established theories about online pedagogy. This white paper provides insights into the findings of a research study conducted in January 2016 that focused on the types of training, if any, online instructors have received that pertains to teaching in the online environment. The study was conducted by a team of researchers…

In this article we describe our engagement in self-study as part of an examination of design-based research for education. We focus on graduate-level online teacher education as an example of how self-study provided a means of examining deeply our teaching and our roles as teacher and designer in the learning environment. We posit that online…

This article uses a self-study research methodology to explore teaching an online course for mathematics specialists. The course included weekly videoconferencing sessions and focused on supporting their development as mathematics coaches working with K-8 teachers to enhance mathematics teaching and learning. The central question for the…

While the benefits of online group work completed using asynchronous CMC technology is documented, researchers have identified a number of challenges that result in ineffective and unsuccessful online group work. Fewer channels of communication and lack of immediacy when compared to face-to-face group work are a few of the noted limitations. Thus,…

On April 8, 2016 when the class was discussing "digital literacy," a shocking news story from London AP intrigued us. The news was about a brief text message delivered by Ahmed, a refugee Afghan boy of 6-year old. His text message flashed on the cellphone of Liz Clegg, a volunteer at a migrant camp in France. Clegg and other volunteers…

The Community of Inquiry framework has been widely supported by research to provide a model of online learning that informs the design and implementation of distance learning courses. However, the relationship between elements of the CoI framework and perceived learning warrants further examination as a predictive model for online graduate student…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the impact of synchronous online tutoring services on struggling middle school students' mathematics achievement. The online tutoring was provided as a response to intervention (RTI) Tier 3 support (intensive, individualized intervention) in schools implementing a school-wide mathematics…

Students in natural resources programs commonly take courses in geospatial technologies. An awareness of the uncertainty of spatial data and algorithms can be an important outcome of such courses. This article describes a laboratory exercise in a graduate geographic information system (GIS) class that involves collection of data for the assessment…