Purpose: Founded in sociocultural theories of learning, the authors argue that engaging learners in collaborative knowledge building is critical. When responding to others' ideas, research shows that learners in online settings more frequently focus on surface-level aspects of colleagues' contributions -- sharing, comparing and praising -- rather…

The purpose of this research was to study how teachers perceive teaching presence, what strategies they employ to create it, and the challenges they face in doing so. This was a qualitative research study with purposeful snowball sampling and semi-structured interviewing technique for data collection. The data were thematically analyzed and…

In March 2020, institutions abruptly pivoted to remote instruction, sending students, faculty, and staff away from college campuses in response to COVID-19. In June 2020, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) launched a survey to capture a snapshot of assessment-related changes made during Spring 2020 in response to the…

Today, as educators are transitioning into a new phase of planning for an uncertain summer and fall, they can be more thoughtful about how to deliver high quality online learning. On the positive side, online delivery as an instructional modality is not new. In fact, many colleges and universities have been developing and delivering successful…

This article presents the research findings of a multidisciplinary team's collective research effort at one university over a five-year period as funded by the National Science Foundation's "Improving Undergraduate STEM Education" (IUSE) program. A collaborative learning and retention action research effort at a large Hispanic Serving…

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide an adapted framework for developing self-efficacy in designing and teaching online academic writing courses for international students for whom English is an additional language; this framework, based on Casanave's (2017) three broad categories for decision-making in teaching second language writing…

This commentary examines the rationale behind the use of participatory approaches to the design and development of educational interventions, particularly with respect to the inclusion of students in the process. The perspectives and claims put forth in this special issue are examined against an emerging approach to designing more usable…

Multimedia educational applications convey meanings through several semiotic modes (e.g. text, image, sound, etc.). There is an urgent need for multimedia designers as well as for teachers to understand the meaning potential of these artifacts and discern the communicative purposes they serve. Towards this direction, a hermeneutic semiotic…

This study employed a qualitative research design to investigate informal learning among practicing instructional designers. Prior research has examined how instructional designers spend their time, make decisions, use theory, solve problems, and so on, but no published research has explored the nature and role of informal learning in…

Some have argued for a common language in the field of instructional design in an effort to reduce misunderstandings and simplify a multitude of synonymous terms and concepts. Others feel that this goal is undesirable in that it precludes development and flexibility. In this article we propose an ontology-building process as a way for readers to…

This quasi-experimental study compares preferences for the amount of instructional guidance between creative and noncreative learners. Instructional guidance is implemented as a two-level factor represented as two variants of a visual design task, only differing in the amount of verbal guidance they gave. Dependent preference outcomes were…

The study focused on the application of the design science research approach in the course of developing a mobile learning application, MobileEdu, for computing education in the Nigerian higher education context. MobileEdu facilitates the learning of computer science courses on mobile devices. The application supports ubiquitous, collaborative,…

This article describes the iterative design, development, and evaluation of a case-based learning environment focusing on an ill-structured sales management problem. We discuss our processes and situate them within the broader framework of educational design research. The learning environment evolved over the course of three design phases. A…

Designers who create computer-based learning experiences for places like museums, out-of-school programs, and homes face a number of challenges related to the informal nature of such settings. Designs must generally function on their own without the support of teachers or curriculum while at the same time engaging a diverse audience, supporting…

Online learning has become a major endeavor in U.S. higher education. A 2016 national study of leadership for online learning explored a new leadership role that presidents and provosts at U.S. universities have established to coordinate and direct their efforts in this vital area. A significant portion of online education is offered by two-year…