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High dropout rates constitute a major concern for higher education institutions, due to their economic and academic impact. The problem is particularly relevant for institutions offering online courses, where withdrawal ratios are reported to be higher. Both the impact and these high rates motivate the implementation of interventions oriented to reduce course withdrawal and overall institutional dropout. In this paper, we address the identification of populations of learners at risk of withdrawing from higher education online courses. This identification is oriented to design interventions and is carried out using survival analysis. We demonstrate that the method’s longitudinal approach is particularly suited for this purpose and provides a clear view of risk differences among learner populations. Additionally, the method quantifies the impact of underlying factors, either alone or in combination. Our practical implementation used an open dataset provided by The Open University. It includes data from more than 30,000 students enrolled in different courses. We conclude that low-income students and those who report a disability comprise risk groups and are thus feasible intervention targets. The survival curves also reveal differences among courses and show the detrimental effect of early dropout on low-income students, worsened throughout the course for disabled students. Intervention strategies are proposed as a result of these findings. Extending the entire refund period and giving greater academic support to students who report disability are two proposed strategies for reducing course withdrawal.

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This study incorporated the technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to interpret students’ perception of MOOCs. This study was based on a survey questionnaire; all 525 respondents were undergraduates in China. A five-point Likert scale was used to collect data in order to measure relationships among the constructs of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), attitude (ATT), subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and behavioral control (BI). The results showed that the research model that incorporated TAM and TPB provided both desirable fit and validity, and all the proposed hypotheses were positively supported. Compared with ATT and SN, PBC had a much stronger impact than did BI. This study and its findings provided educators and MOOC providers with managerial implications as well as suggestions for designing future MOC offerings.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has constituted a sudden educational transformation around the world. It has disrupted instructors, including physics educators, forcing them to adjust to remote teaching. The hands-on laboratory, one of the components of physics instruction, has also had to rapidly go online in all branches of this science, including nuclear physics. In this study, live broadcasting media was designed to conduct a remote nuclear physics laboratory. We then evaluated the immediate impact of this new mode of lab instruction on students’ learning and attitude toward this type of instruction. Fifty-nine 3rd-year physics students at a public university in Indonesia participated in this study. The effectiveness of instruction was examined by analyzing both weekly reports and open-ended responses about students’ learning experiences. In summary, it was evident that live broadcasting media was an effective way to conduct an online nuclear physics laboratory. Accordingly, students’ attitudes demonstrated constructive behaviors about their remote laboratorial experiences. Our findings imply that online platforms are one way to offer the physics laboratory during unanticipated transitions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Students’ preference for a hands-on laboratory and the technical issues reported during the broadcasting session should be further examined to help design a remote nuclear physics laboratory that is even more accessible and enjoyable.

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In peer observation of teaching, an experienced colleague in the educational environment of a faculty member observes the educational performance of that faculty member and provides appropriate feedback. The use of peer review as an alternative source of evidence of teaching effectiveness is increasing. However, no research has been done in the field of tool design and development to peer review in classrooms that use a learning management system (LMS). This study used mixed methods. In the qualitative stage, after studying sources and interviewing professors active in virtual education, a question bank was prepared and a 26-item initial questionnaire created. In the quantitative stage, the psychometric properties of the developed instruments, such as the face, content, and structural validity, were examined, and reliability tests were performed. IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 20) was used for analysis. Five categories, including content preparation, content presentation, effective interactions, motivation management, and support services, and 26 subcategories were determined to be effective indicators in peer observation in LMS-based classes in medical sciences. During content analysis, 9 items were removed due to lack of necessary criteria. Then, using principal component analysis and varimax rotation in the present mode )Watkins, 2018), 5 components with eigenvalues ​​higher than 1 were extracted, which explained a total of 70.55% of the total variance. The inter-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.88. Thus, the peer observation measurement tool, designed with 17 expressions using the answer method “yes/no”, showed good validity and reliability. The research results demonstrate that the evaluation of virtual classes of professors by their peers is effective and that the results can be used in e-learning promotion plans.

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Despite increased interest in K–12 online education, student engagement deficits and the resulting student attrition remain widespread issues. The Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework theorizes that two groups support online student engagement: the personal community of support and the course community of support. However, more evidence is needed to understand how members of these communities, especially parents, support students in various contexts. Using insights gleaned from 14 semi-structured interviews of parents with students enrolled in online secondary school, this study adds support to the roles identified in the ACE framework by presenting real examples of parents supporting their online students’ affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Findings also confirm patterns found in previous research that are not explained using the ACE framework, such as parental advocacy, communication with teachers, and self-teaching. We discuss how a systems approach to conceptualizing the ACE communities allows the framework to more accurately capture parents' perceived experiences within the personal community of support. We also discuss implications for both practitioners and members of students’ support structures.

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Student engagement has an important role in academic achievement in all learning contexts, including e-learning environments. The extent of monitoring and promoting student engagement in e-learning affects the quality of education and is a determining factor for ensuring student’s success. Log data of students’ activities recorded in a learning management system (LMS) can be used to measure their level of engagement in the online teaching–learning process. No previous studies have been found stating a consistent and systematically raised list of LMS-based student engagement indicators, so this systematized review aimed to fulfill this gap. The authors performed an advanced search in the PubMed, Ovid, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Emerald, and ERIC databases to retrieve relevant original peer-reviewed articles published until the end of June 2021. Reviewing the 32 included articles resulted in 27 indicators that were categorized into three themes and six categories as follows: (a) log-in and usage (referring to LMS, access to course material), (b) student performance (assignments, assessments), and (c) communication (messaging, forum participation). Among the categories, access to course material and messaging were the most and the least mentioned, respectively.

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The online doctoral population is growing steadily worldwide, yet its narratives have not been thoroughly reviewed so far. We conducted a systematic review summarizing online PhD students’ experiences. ERIC, WoS, Scopus, and PsycInfo databases were searched following PRISMA 2020 guidelines and limiting the results to peer-reviewed articles of the last 20 years, yielding 16 studies eligible. A thematic synthesis of the studies showed that online PhD students are generally satisfied with their programs, but isolation, juggling work and family roles, and financial pressures are the main obstacles. The supervisory relationship determines the quality of the experience, whereas a strong sense of community helps students get ahead. Personal factors such as motivation, personality, and skills modulate fit with the PhD. We conclude that pursuing a doctorate online is more isolating than face to face, and students might encounter additional challenges regarding the supervision process and study/life balance. Accordingly, this review might help faculty, program managers, and prospective students better understand online doctorates’ pressing concerns such as poor well-being and high dropout rates.

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Within its 20 years of development, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has become the most widely used theoretical framework in e-learning. It is considered in much of the distance education literature to be a robust collaborative-constructivist process model that uses three essential elements to interpret educational experience: cognitive presence, teaching presence, and social presence. Widespread use of the CoI framework has resulted in several criticisms, such as having no guidelines for implementation, no incorporation of assessment and evaluation metrics, and no widespread consensus on the current model’s ability to represent all the contributing factors that promote a positive educational experience. However, there is an opportunity to overcome these shortcomings, some of which may exist, and to use the CoI’s extraordinary strength in creating a positive education experience, by adding instructional design effectiveness. The purpose of this combination of a literature review and opinion is to present the CoI framework and its major controversies to shine a light on its importance as one approach to designing critical parts of e-learning. Additionally, given the CoI’s purpose of creating a positive educational experience, this paper argues to make explicit to instructional designers and instructors the need to address using the CoI framework within an effective overall design.