Instructional designers at a Midwest university piloted a survey based on the Quality Matters general standards asking students about their online course experience prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students were asked to indicate whether they experienced a specific course design element and whether they considered that element to be important to…

Of the three main subdivisions in chemistry, physical chemistry often presents a challenge when delivered to those not majoring in chemistry or its cognate disciplines. This is, at least in part, due to the seemingly unrelatedness of the subject to students' anticipated career. We describe the redesign of a nested physical chemistry course for…

This ex post facto descriptive study examined the open-ended comments from 566 university students in their course evaluations for online courses. The results indicated that the most prevalent themes for effective online teaching are personalized feedback, instructor engagement, clear assignment instructions and expectations, an engaging course…

In three studies, college student participants read a description of ambiguous (i.e., neither explicitly positive nor explicitly negative) academic feedback from a faculty member. Evaluations of the ambiguous feedback were compared across participants' gender identities and levels of social and intellectual belonging in their academic majors and…

Human rights education constitutes a significant component within the global human rights regime. In the realm of human rights education, transformative approaches have gained prominence, emphasizing the necessity of educational practices beyond traditional classroom settings. This study aims to examine the impact of participatory methodologies…

Understanding the relationship between high-risk courses and Fall-to-Fall retention is essential to enhance student persistence and academic achievement in higher education institutions. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between high-risk courses and Fall-to-Fall retention of first-time, full-time students. The course data…

This quasi-experimental study compared various outcomes of team-based-learning (TBL) (n = 67) and more traditional lecture-based instruction (n = 66) in a community college introductory psychology course and found no differences in knowledge of course content, attendance, or course retention. However, student self-reports indicated that, compared…

This exploratory, mixed-methods study examines first-year general chemistry students' written responses on a belonging survey. Responses were thematically analyzed to identify students' sources of belonging, which may help instructors choose effective strategies for enhancing belonging during the transition into college. Qualitative analysis…

Academic libraries increasingly offer information literacy instruction online. This mixed methods study, innovatively focused on graduate professional studies students, confirms that the provision of asynchronous modules represents an effective and scalable method in this regard. When Georgetown's SCS librarians embedded their faculty-endorsed…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' use of mediated immediacy in a syllabus to determine effects on students' communication apprehension with instructors and student out-of-class communication with instructors. Participants viewed either a basic course syllabus with high levels of mediated immediacy or low levels of mediated…

Many K-12 brick-and-mortar public schools now grant students the option of taking some of their courses online. Yet, a scant academic literature probes where online course choice exists and why it is utilized. We partnered with a market research firm to solicit 450 responses from a nationally representative group of American parents of public…

Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling requires an understanding of chemical, physiologic, and pharmacokinetic principles. Active learning with PBPK modeling software (GastroPlus) may be useful to teach these scientific principles while also teaching software operation. To examine this issue, a graduate-level course was designed…

Self-placement in math is becoming increasingly popular in community colleges in the U.S., where students will decide for themselves whether to enroll in non-credit developmental (or remedial) math courses. To fully understand the factors associated with students' math enrollment choices and the long-term effects of initial math enrollment…

In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces "Try This," a series of articles to assist distance instructors with Overcoming Teaching Challenges. This article "Teaching the Online Upper Level Student," identifies students who for the most part take courses in their major track and have a…

Evidence that open educational resources (OER) can decrease college students' educational cost without harm to their course performance on different subjects has been well documented, but student motivation to use OER for learning is underexplored. This study investigated college students' achievement goals of using OER from the perspective of…