Peter Shea, University at Albany, State University of New York
With the announcement of our latest issue of Online Learning we report the achievement of a significant milestone. The current issue marks our 20th year of continuous publication! While there have been some significant transitions in these two decades, including a name change from the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks...
Barbara Oakley, Oakland University
Debra Poole, Central Michigan University
MaryAnne Nestor, Kent State University
Learning How to Learn, a MOOC from UC San Diego, is one of Coursera’s most successful offerings; in its first year, nearly one million learners enrolled in the course. As a result of its high student satisfaction levels (4.55 on a 5-point Likert scale) and the persistence of strong student interest in the course, it is worth examining the course’s dynamics more closely in an effort to tease out its sources of satisfaction and popularity. For this paper, we used students’ responses to an open-ended question to develop a list of potentially important “stickiness” features. A subset of students enrolled in the third session of Learning How to Learn then rated their overall satisfaction with the course and the extent to which each feature contributed to their persistence in the course. Three primary factors suggested by a factor analysis of stickiness items correlated most highly with course satisfaction: Instructor Quality, Conceptual Clarity/Importance, and Format. A description of the course creation process explains how these factors were achieved through the use of metaphor and analogy, instructor interactions with the graphics, the use of motion to maintain students’ attention, tight scripting, a relaxed presentation demeanor, volunteer TA support, and relevant yet occasionally humorous quizzes.
Emily Hixon, Purdue University Calumet
Penny Ralston-Berg, Penn State World Campus
Janet Buckenmeyer, Armstrong State University
Casimir Barczyk, Purdue University Calumet
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether experienced online students (who have completed seven or more online courses) perceive the quality of their courses differently than novice online students (who have completed three or fewer online courses) or students with an intermediate level of online course experience (those...
Stefan Stenbom, and Stefan Hrastinski, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Martha Cleveland-Innes, Athabasca University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Emotions have been confirmed to be a critical component of the process of learning. In the online Community of Inquiry theoretical framework, and the recently suggested online Relationship of Inquiry framework, emotions are considered a subsection of social presence. In this study, the concept of emotional presence is examined. This...
Linnea L. Rademaker, Jennifer O’Connor Duffy, Elizabeth Wetzler, and Helen Zaikina-Montgomery
Northcentral University
We explored online dissertation chairs’ perceptions of trust in the mentor–mentee relationship, as trust was identified as a crucial factor in the success of doctoral students. Through the implementation of a multiple-case study, and a qualitative, online questionnaire, and through qualitative data analysis, we discovered 16 chairs’ perceptions of trust...
Noelle K. Newhouse and Jessica Cerniak – The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Research examining factors contributing to online students’ success typically focuses on a single point in time or completion of a single course, as well as individual difference variables, such as learning style or motivation, that may predispose a student to succeed. However, research concerning longer term online student outcomes, such...
Naren Peddibhotla State University of New York Polytechnic Institute Utica, NY
The case study is a classic tool used in several educational programs that emphasizes solving of ill-defined problems. Though it has been used in classroom-based teaching and educators have developed a rich repertoire of methods, its use in online courses presents different challenges. To explore factors that develop skills in...
Melissa McDaniels, Michigan State University
Christine Pfund and Katherine Barnicle, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The ability to convert face-to-face curricula into rigorous and equally rich online experiences is a topic of much investigation. In this paper, we report on the conversion of a face-to-face research mentor training curriculum into a synchronous, online course. Graduate students and postdoc participants from the Center for the Integration...
Jesse Strycker, East Carolina University
Online courses and programs have grown to become and continue to be a popular option for students. As part of an online Master’s of Education in Instructional Technology program, students must complete a school technology leadership course. Leadership decision making, policy making, and how to have innovations take hold in...
