Addressing the challenges of online and blended STEM learning with grounded design

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning became a major alternative to college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in postsecondary education. Faculty members, although subject matter experts, often lack pedagogical knowledge and training on how to effectively teach new generations of students online, or incorporate appropriate technologies. Faculty teaching online courses needed a new guiding framework to balance domain goals and emerging technologies. We present grounded design for STEM courses to align domain goals and instructional methods and technologies while reflecting instructors' pedagogical beliefs and addressing cultural and pragmatic issues. It is critical to provide students with aligned STEM learning experience and engagement via defensible theories and research-evidenced pedagogy in online and blended courses while technological, cultural, and pragmatic considerations are also addressed. We suggest grounded design as the conceptual and design framework for designing online and blended courses and discuss the assumptions, approaches, and examples. We provide practical guidelines to apply grounded design to online and blended learning environments and suggest future research. This article can assist both novice and seasoned STEM faculty to connect theory and research to teaching practices and optimise their online and blended courses.Implications for practice* University STEM instructors can use grounded design framework for online, blended, and technology-enhanced teaching.* Instructors should begin the course design by aligning the domain goals with optimal psychological and pedagogical foundations.* When choosing technology to support online learning, instructors should align it with learning goals and needs of students, and consider cultural and pragmatic foundations.

"It's Doable": International Graduate Students' Perceptions of Online Learning in the U.S. During the Pandemic.

This study aims to understand the learning experiences and challenges of international students enrolled in Master's and PhD programs in various institutions who were forced to transition to online learning during the pandemic. In particular, the study explores the experiences and perceptions of seven non-native English-speaking international graduate students who came from six different countries and studied at different schools of education through phenomenological interviews. Analysis yields insight into these students' online learning experiences and identifies factors which contributed to the mixed quality of these learning experiences. Overall, students tried to adapt to the "new normal," while enduring learning and emotional challenges due to the harsh conditions of the pandemic in the United States and their home countries. Instructors' readiness for online teaching as well as the extra support provided to help students cope with the sudden transition in the learning environment were particularly important factors affecting the students' learning experiences. Our findings lead us to several recommendations for practice within graduate-level online learning environments and suggestions for further research, as well as broader considerations of what broader implications the case suggests for international education in light of digitalization.

Will ICMT Access and Use Support URM Students’ Online Learning in the (Post) COVID-19 Era?

In view of the United Nations’ (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education (SDG4), this study explored how information and communications and media technology (ICMT) access and uses for learning have influenced students’ perceived success during the COVID-19 pandemic era and the differential effects of ICMT access and use on underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM students. This study applied structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis using data from students who experienced online transition in one large public university in the United States. The results showed that ICMT uses for learning benefitted URM students but lack of ICMT access had a negative effect on online learning among URM students. We discussed the implications of these findings in the context of online education, digital inclusion, and the UN’s SDG4.

Will ICMT Access and Use Support URM Students’ Online Learning in the (Post) COVID-19 Era?

In view of the United Nations’(UN’s) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education (SDG4), this study explored how information and communications and media technology (ICMT) access and uses for learning have influenced students’perceived success during the COVID-19 pandemic era and the differential effects of ICMT access and use on underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM students. This study applied structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis using data from students who experienced online transition in one large public university in the United States. The results showed that ICMT uses for learning benefitted URM students but lack of ICMT access had a negative effect on online learning among URM students. We discussed the implications of these findings in the context of online education, digital inclusion, and the UN’s SDG4.