Success in higher education is a concept that has been researched for years and is especially critical in relation to the shift to online higher education. Online learning is inevitably a part of the future landscape of higher education, but success rates in online courses are often lower than in traditional courses. To contribute to the existing…

Drawing on findings from two studies, this article focuses on the expectations of students and teachers in higher education, when learning via asynchronous online discussions. In particular, this synthesis highlights a divergence of expectations. The first study investigated how students and teachers experienced asynchronous online discussion…

The Arnold Mitchem Fellows Program (AMF) is a co-curricular, undergraduate research program where first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students learn about basic research skills in preparation for future undergraduate research opportunities and graduate school outside of their traditional for credit classes. This academic year-long…

The purpose of this study was to further our understanding of the use of Twitter for promoting reflective learning. Specifically, this study investigated how students participate in Twitter-supported activities, what type of knowledge are manifested when Twitter is used to reflect on the course readings, and how students perceive the…

Results of research on intentions and effects of first- and second-order argument scaffolding of computer-supported collaborative argumentation competence development and domain-specific knowledge acquisition are ambivalent. A systematic review of research in secondary and higher education (SE and HE) has been conducted to clarify and synthesise…

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of structured discussion by giving participants in online discussion groups different roles in transactional distance perception and knowledge sharing behaviors. In the study, a quasi-experimental design was utilized with pretest and posttest control groups. The study was conducted with 111…

A cyber-flipped course was conducted with the flipped classroom pedagogy by using a wholly online approach for all learning activities in asynchronous and synchronous class sessions. Literature suggests that traditional flipped courses can effectively enhance students' learning outcomes in comparison to non-flipped courses. However, conducting all…

Enrollment in online learning continues to grow in the higher education sector, along with persistent goals dedicated to achieving better student outcomes and lowering attrition rates. Improved student engagement has been shown to possibly reduce attrition rates through a greater sense of connectedness and decreased feelings of isolation among…

Taking into account prior research suggesting a lack of student participation in online discussions, this study examines the influence of peer moderator (PM) role assignment on students' participation and that of their peers' participation in online discussions. Eighty-four participants operated in a moderator role, reciprocally. Moreover, the…

If only we could know what our students were up to at any given moment in class. Who is paying attention, and who is falling asleep? Who understands the past perfect and who thinks it is about something wonderful that happened yesterday? And wouldn't it be great if we knew who is motivated and who is ready to drop out of the course? Language…

The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare learners' critical thinking and interaction during an asynchronous online discussion when peer- or instructor-facilitation was provided. Current literature on online discussion reveals a controversy between peer facilitation and instructor facilitation regarding their strengths and weaknesses.…

This qualitative study explored asynchronous online discussions (AODs) in terms of: (1) whether students interacted effectively with each other, (2) how moderators facilitated discussions, (3) whether students achieved higher levels of thinking about discussion content, and (4) how students demonstrated engagement with provided learning resources.…

Supporting productive peer-to-peer interaction is a central challenge in online courses. Although cooperative learning research provides robust evidence for the positive outcomes of face-to-face cooperative learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1989), online modes of cooperative learning have provided mixed results. This study examines the effects of…

Employing social media to engage youth in real-time learning is a growing trend. Although the use of social media by youth is increasing, barriers exist for Extension educators wanting to capitalize on youth interest in social media, including a lack of information on how best to employ social media in programming. This article highlights a teen…

This paper reports on research carried out on data extracted from "MexCo" (Mexico-Coventry), an ongoing Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) in its fifth implementation cycle at the time of writing (May 2016). Based on a set of collaborative intercultural tasks that participants engage with through a tailor-made "Moodle" area,…