College learning depends on belongingness and personal motivation. First-generation (FG) college students are at risk for lower belongingness and motivation compared to non-FG students. We examined self-reported belongingness with the Psychological Sense of School Membership scale, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with the Motivational…

College instructors are content experts but ineffective at creating engaging and productive learning environments. This mixed methods study explored how improvisational theatre techniques affect college instructors' ability to increase student engagement and learning. Theoretical foundations included engagement, active learning, collaboration and…

The study attempts to determine whether or not Facebook is an environment suiting the Community of Inquiry Framework by investigating the cognitive, social, and teaching presence perceptions of students in Facebook groups and to examine the impact of group size on the CoI model. Additionally, whether or not these three types of presences predicted…

The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) is an international, non-profit educational organization. The Association's purpose is to advance the knowledge, theory, and quality of teaching and learning at all levels with information technology. The "EdMedia + Innovate Learning" conference took place in New York,…

A mixed-methods study was conducted to examine the effects of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategy training on learners' achievement, motivation and strategy use in a web-enhanced College Success course at a community college in southeast US. It was found that training assisted with students' overall course performance and accomplishment of…

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the effectiveness of two online college success courses: CPD 150 (College Success, 3 credits) and CPD 115 (Success Strategies, 1 credit), at Rio Salado College, a Maricopa Community College in Arizona. The goal of these courses is to prepare students to be college-ready by examining…

Online and blended learning, developed with advances in technology, have gained relative importance in modern communities. In recent years, the concept of creating learning communities has been coined to increase effectiveness of these learning environments. Based on this concept, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) developed the Community of…

Critical thinking is a highly desirable goal of online higher education courses. This article presents qualitative data from a mixed-method study that explores how asynchronous discussions within online courses influence critical thinking among students. In this study, online discussions were related to higher levels of critical thinking, but…

This study was designed to examine performance as a function of grade and course satisfaction in online undergraduate level courses, specifically students' self-efficacy for online technologies and self-regulated learning strategies. This research included a sample (N = 815) of community college students enrolled in liberal arts online courses…

The role of motivation and collaboration in STEM learning and performance is paramount. A learning community represents an educational approach that can engage students in learning in a motivated, thoughtful, active, and collaborative way. The focus of this article is on the nature of students' interest, attitudes, learning experiences and…