Journal of Computing in Higher Education最新文献

COVID-19 dramatically influenced students' and staff's learning and teaching experiences and approaches to learning. While many papers examined individual experiences in the context of higher education, synthesising these papers to determine enabling and hindering influences of digital adaptation was needed to guide the next phase of online learning reforms. This study explored the main dimensions of digital technology adaptation in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences for student and staff experiences and what aspects should be sustained and developed were discussed in this review. A total of 90 articles (published between 1st January 2020 and 30th June 2021) were identified and analysed based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework. Four dimensions (with associated sub-factors) were found to influence student and staff experiences: techno-economic; personal and psychological; teaching, learning and assessment; and social. The findings highlighted that an integrated approach, across institutional, technical platforms, and individuals would be required to sustain digital learning initiatives during the crisis time.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12528-023-09376-z.

HyFlex learning environments have been meeting the unique needs of students and institutions for nearly 20 years. However, it was the pandemic that gave HyFlex its widespread acceptance and application. Literature suggests that HyFlex may now be considered part of the new norm in education and therefore, further study is needed on how it affects both teaching and learning. Our flipped design thinking course leverages active learning requiring the instructor and students to interact extensively. We piloted a specific version of HyFlex we named "Interactive Synchronous HyFlex" where students can participate on a daily basis in person or synchronously online. In this specific instance of HyFlex we explore: (1) Does student academic performance differ in the HyFlex environment compared to the Face to Face only environment? And (2) Does student academic performance differ based on how they chose to participate in the HyFlex course? Data were collected for this quasi-experimental study design on overall semester grades and three significant design projects during the semester. We compared the course offered as a Face to Face only experience to the course offered as a HyFlex course enabling remote participation. Second, we parse students in the HyFlex course into two categories: those who did not participate remotely vs. those who participated remotely once or more times. Students in the HyFlex course had a significantly different grade distribution earning more A's and more F's than their Face to Face only counterparts. Given the positive results of the Interactive Synchronous HyFlex approach, we plan to continue implementing it in our introductory design course though we will increase our attention on the remote students as they may need additional scaffolding to be successful.

With the rapid adoption of online learning across higher education, there is an urgent need to identify its challenges and ways of addressing them. Online group projects, in particular, present significant issues for educators. This paper presents the findings of a systematic literature review identifying the key challenges of online group projects, together with strategies to address them. From a corpus of 114 recent papers, the 57 most relevant were analysed, to identify themes related to challenges and strategies. Key challenges were: low and uneven participation by students; a lack of clarity and preparation for students; and poor relationships. Strategies for addressing challenges were: careful design of projects, particularly regarding fair assessment; clear guidance and preparation of students; and practical and emotional support throughout, to encourage confidence and engagement. The findings of this review will enable educators to design and facilitate online group projects which students find rewarding and valuable.

Aviation is a multidisciplinary subject that has influenced human development over the last century. Learning about aviation exposes students to principles of flight, earth science, aeronautical engineering, language, aviation communication and airmanship. In higher education, many non-aviation undergraduates participate in aviation related activities to have a first glimpse of the aviation industry and equip themselves with basic concepts. This study aims to examine learning perception among 82 university students who have participated in a series of online aviation career exploration activities during the pandemic in Hong Kong and China. They participated in virtual visits and career talks led by aviation professionals, hands-on flight simulation activities and online discussion in an online lab setting. A mixed research method was employed with the use of a motivational survey, teachers' observation and semi-structured interviews to understand students' learning perceptions. This study found that flying laboratory activities could effectively motivate students to learn aviation and improve their aviation knowledge. This could promote students' aviation industry optimism, which may help the industry to recover in the post-pandemic world. This article offers recommendations for online engineering educators to use emerging technologies to teach aviation for future career preparation.

Computer programming is a skill of increasing importance in scientific and technological fields. However, in introductory computer science (CS1) courses in higher education, approximately one in every three students fails. A common reason is that students are overwhelmed by an accelerated and inflexible pace of learning that jeopardizes success. Accordingly, in the computer science education literature it has been suggested that the pedagogical philosophy of 'mastery learning,' which supports students progressing at their own pace, can improve academic outcomes of CS1 courses. Nevertheless, few extended mastery learning implementations in CS1 have been documented in the literature, and there is a lack of guidance and best practices to foster its adoption. In this paper, we present a four-year action research study in which a modular mastery-based CS1 course was designed, evaluated and improved in successive iterations with cohorts of engineering freshmen in a Latin American research university (N = 959). In the first year of the intervention, only 19.3% of students passed the course in their first semester attempting it. In successive iterations, the instructional design, teaching and learning activities, course content, and course management were iteratively improved such that by the fourth year of offering 77.1% of students passed the course in their first semester. Over this period, course attrition was reduced from 25.0% to 3.8% of the cohort, and students' mean time spent in the course decreased from 23.2 weeks (SD = 7.38) to 14.9 (SD = 3.64). Results indicate that modularization for mastery learning is a viable approach for improving academic results in a CS1 course. Practical considerations towards successful implementation of this approach are presented and discussed.

Innovative, pedagogically informed instructional design is instrumental in increasing student engagement and improving learning outcomes in online learning environments. Interactive learning resources provide students with the opportunity to engage with content in a more personalised manner. H5P (HTML 5 Package) is a collaborative platform that allows developers to create interactive content and has been regularly used in education settings. Some evidence suggests using interactive H5P resources in online education courses could lead to greater student engagement. However, to date, there has been little investigation into whether H5P resources can improve student learning outcomes. The current study aimed to assess whether using interactive H5P resources improved assessed learning outcomes in an online undergraduate psychology course. A randomized cross-over design was utilized to test whether students exposed to H5P interactive videos had improved assessment results when compared to a control group. This study found no meaningful differences in assessment scores between students exposed to H5P versus those that were not. There was low overall engagement with the interactive content. However, students who did engage with the resources reported a positive experience and indicated a preference for more interactive elements in future courses. Future research should extend on the instructional design obstacles identified in this study, for example, by examining whether improved accessibility and education on the benefits of interactive resources would increase engagement and grades.

Adult learners are a significant proportion of distance learners and many of these students are working mothers. Several instructional design models center the learner, and this requires understanding the learner needs, strengths, and context. There is a gap in the literature describing the experience of modern working mother students in distance education. To understand this experience, the researchers interviewed and observed six academically high-achieving working mother students as they participated in their distance education courses during the pandemic. A discourse analysis approach was utilized to analyze the data. This extreme sample revealed several strategies that these students used to be successful despite their challenges. The findings suggest that understanding the experiences of distance learners as they study in the home are important for effective course design. More specifically, working mothers face significant distractions in their study environments, but the cognitive load can be reduced by making use of their prior knowledge, scaffolding instruction, and encouraging social presence. Additional strategies from the literature that address these constructs are provided for instructors and instructional designers.