Tutoring promotes student achievement, academic independence, and the reduction of anxiety. While ample studies support tutoring for enhancing student success, few address how to evaluate tutoring. This quandary led to research in building and testing a meta-model that identified the hallmarks of one-on-one high-quality online tutoring.…

Online discussion forums are highly valued by instructors due to their affordance for understanding class activities and learning. However, a discussion forum with a great number of posts requires a large amount of time to view, and help requests are easily overlooked. Various machine-learning--based tools have been developed to help instructors…

The Virtual Palaeosciences (ViPs) project is a collaborative initiative bringing palaeoscientists together to locate, access and share online educational resources (OERs). It began as a response to the 2020 shift to online learning when the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed field and lab work. We outline the development and initial outcomes of the…

Online learning has provided pathways for access to flexible educational experiences, but can also feel isolating and impersonal, lacking authentic relationships with instructors and peers. Centering the discussion of humanizing distance education through the lens of three core pedagogical components of teaching and learning (i.e., instruction,…

The rapid evolution of communication technologies, compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has significantly expanded the utilization of virtual learning formats such as online, blended, and hybrid learning across various educational levels and settings. Nevertheless, the shift to virtual learning has presented challenges for many…

"Zoom class" has become a prevailing norm for online synchronous learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Zoom classes are often associated with fatigue and lack of student engagement. Theories of computer-mediated communication suggest that text-based, low-bandwidth, online communication may yield more positive communication…

Young adults hold many stereotypes about aging and older adults that formal education cannot always address. Interaction and community engagement projects with older adults can challenge and dispel stereotypes young adults hold about older adults. This semesterlong project is designed for undergraduate students in interpersonal and relational…

This experiential exercise teaches students what constitutes Appreciative Inquiry and how it is different from other feedback models, along with giving students the opportunity to apply their knowledge. Students practice giving Appreciative Inquiry to their peers' presentations through the use of an online platform that allows for written words…

Engagement strategies for classroom instruction are now more important than ever because many schools utilize remote learning options. Classroom engagement allows teachers to keep students focused on the lesson, create a classroom community, and monitor students' progress. However, many teachers have struggled with incorporating engagement…

Engagement in research as an undergraduate and the availability of mentorship from peers and professionals are effective strategies for improving retention of students in STEM fields. Undergraduates in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder enroll in one of two large introductory course-based…

Virtual exchanges (VEs) are course-based experiences designed to promote global learning, often by integrating cross-cultural interactions and collaborations with people from other areas of the world into coursework in a virtual format. Due to the widespread disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, VEs have seen an increase in popularity. However,…

Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual paper is to describe how the affinity space concept has been used to frame learning via social media, and call for and discuss a refresh of the affinity space concept to accommodate changes in social media platforms and algorithms. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by a sociocultural perspective, this…

Today our period is marked as the age of science and technology. There is no aspect of human civilization today where the influence of science and technology has not been felt. 'Education' is a very important field of human life. So very naturally and for good reason this technology is being used in many ways in the field of education. The overall…

Educators constantly wrestle with the question of how to engage students in an environment in which students are increasingly distracted. This issue has become more relevant as instructors have been forced to pivot to the use of a variety of online learning modalities to administer instruction. While the synchronous online class session allows for…

Collaborative learning can be a worthwhile and valuable part of a student's online course experience, and interpersonal exchanges among members of an online course community often rely on greater intentionality within the design of the learning experience. We present a synergistic framework for strategic design of collaborative learning in the…