Learners' emotional engagement in synchronous online learning (SOL) is critical for improving learning persistence and performance. Nevertheless, there is currently a lack of comprehensive and systematic reviews of emotional engagement in SOL. This review synthesizes the strategies to promote emotional engagement in SOL found in published…

The global pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus brought about a true revolution in the predominant teaching-learning processes (i.e., face-to-face environment) that had been implemented up to that point. In this regard, virtual teaching-learning environments (VTLEs) have gained unprecedented significance. The main objectives of our research…

Despite the increasing number of non-traditional doctoral researchers, this population's experiences remain largely understudied and their voices unheard. Through in-depth interviews with 24 part-time online doctoral candidates, we explored the perceived facilitators and barriers to academic integration and sense of belonging, as well as how…

One of the biggest challenges for online learning is upholding academic integrity in online assessments. In particular, institutions and faculties attach importance to exam security and academic dishonesty in the online learning process. The aim of this study was to compare the test-taking behaviors and academic achievements of students in…

This research focused beyond the student, course, program, or institution by examining the conceptions of adults at the moment in time that they evaluated their choice to engage in furthering their post-secondary education by examining the possibilities provided through online learning. To capture their experience, not as students but as members…

The significance of scaffolding in education has received considerable attention. Many studies have examined the effects of scaffolding with diverse groups of participants, purposes, learning outcomes, and learning environments. The purpose of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis of the effects of scaffolding on learning outcomes in an…

The purpose of this study is to identify relationships of learners' achievement goal orientation, self-regulation, test-anxiety, self-efficacy, participation, satisfaction, and achievement in online learning environments in Korea. A total of 1,832 student responses from a Korean cyber university were used to find structural relationships of…

As e-learning maintains its popularity worldwide, and university enrolments continue to rise, online tertiary level coursework is increasingly being designed for groups of distributed learners, as opposed to individual students. Many institutions struggle with incorporating all facets of online learning and teaching capabilities with the range and…

The adoption of social media in e-learning signals the end of distance education as we know it in higher education. However, it appears to have very little impact on the way in which open and distance learning (ODL) institutions are functioning. Earlier research suggests that a significant part of the explanation for the slow uptake of social…

In online learning research, the theoretical community of inquiry framework has been used extensively to analyze processes of inquiry among learners and instructors within a community. This paper examines a special case of community of inquiry consisting of only one learner and one instructor. Together they engage in an online coaching discourse…

Social presence is difficult to achieve, but an imperative component of online learning. In this study, we investigated the effect of group size on students' perceptions of social presence in two graduate-level online courses, comparing small group versus whole class discussions. Our results indicated that when in small group discussions, students…

The goal of this study was to explore how students debate with their peers within a designed context using a digital dialogue game, and whether their epistemic beliefs are significant to the outcomes. Epistemic beliefs are known to colour student interactions within argumentative discourse, leading some students to hold back from interactions. By…

This paper describes a study of success factors in the introductory semester of liberal studies blended courses offered at the bachelor of science level. The influence of student participation in the online course environment was examined, as measured by the number of times students logged into the learning management system (LMS) and average…

Although a number of claims have been made describing massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a disruptive innovation in education, these claims have not yet been proven through research. Instead, MOOCs should perhaps be considered as an integrative model for higher education systems, but to do so will require recognition of credentials. Initial…