During the 2020-2021 school year, many schools adopted remote learning or a part-time in-person learning ("hybrid") approach to reduce the risk of in-school transmission of COVID-19. The purpose of this work is to describe case rates of COVID-19 in schools practicing different learning modalities on rates of COVID-19 to support…

High Impact-Practices (HIPs) have been found to improve student engagement and retention, increase civic engagement, and enhance learning outcomes. Research on HIPs shows that combining multiple HIPs into a course, also known as hybrid HIPs, are more impactful than individual HIPs, and that community engagement and service-learning pedagogies are…

Social network analysis (SNA) has been gaining traction as a technique for quantitatively studying student collaboration. We analyze networks, constructed from student self-reports of collaboration on homework assignments, in two courses from the University of Colorado Boulder and one course from the Colorado School of Mines. All three courses…

Regular attendance is essential to providing students with opportunities to learn. State and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) play a crucial role in tracking, measuring, and addressing student attendance. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic affected the way that many SEAs and LEAs collect attendance data. This resource highlights…

State-level departments of education vary in their mechanisms for monitoring online courses and programs. This study reviewed various state models for initial and ongoing evaluation of online courses. Five constructs were identified through this review, and examples from Georgia, Maryland, California, Washington, and Colorado were detailed. The…

The flipped classroom is a teaching innovation in which instructional content is delivered out of the classroom, often via videos, and the class period is used for application of the course material. While the popularity of the flipped classroom is growing exponentially, its benefits have not been extensively studied. In this study we compared…

This study represents an adaptive learning partnership among the University of Central Florida, Colorado Technical University, and the adaptive learning provider Realizeit. A 13-variable learning domain for students forms the basis of a component invariance study. The results show that four dimensions--knowledge acquisition, engagement activities,…

The Greeley-Evans School District in Colorado began moving toward innovation several years ago as district leaders searched for ways to improve student achievement, leverage technology, and stay within a very limited budget. In 2014, district leaders created a five-year blended learning implementation plan to increase student achievement that…

Scholarly research has indicated that technology adoption to facilitate blended learning promotes the academic success of many different types of students and improves the quality of existing educational offerings. To understand how technology enhances learning, surveys queried the faculty and students of a statewide community college system. The…

Long before the advent of education technology, many educators, particularly at the elementary school level, rotated students among "learning centers"-- self-contained sections of a classroom where students could engage in various independent learning activities. Part classroom management tool and part pedagogical strategy, learning…

This Policy Brief identifies opportunities for states to maximize this year's virtual or hybrid environments to tailor learning and instruction for students. It draws on seven core elements for personalized, competency-based learning: (1) Learner Agency; (2) Timely, Actionable Assessments; (3) Customized Learner Supports; (4) Progression upon…

When the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) describes best, first instruction, it is assumed that instruction is occurring in a traditional environment: teachers and students gathered together in a classroom, working in small groups, large groups, and individually, and that there are no safety risks posed by having people in close proximity of…

University students often cite field experiences as some of their most important and memorable. Yet research shows that field trips are on the decline in many colleges and universities; this shift may impact geography courses that are traditionally field based. Often cited is the problem of instructor time, increased enrollment, and concerns over…

Independent colleges and universities are cautious adopters of online education for undergraduate students. These institutions seek to balance a tradition of student-focused pedagogy in face-to-face settings and faculty wariness of online courses against the promise of lower instructional costs, changing student expectations, and the potential for…

To improve the student learning outcomes of an introductory Human Anatomy and Physiology course we have implemented many changes over the last two years. In this study, the third of a three-part series, we present data from surveys collected and analyzed during the spring semester of 2018 at the University of Northern Colorado. The results reveal…