Doctoral Research Ideas

Below is one position paper that I developed with my major professor, and my research ideas aim to answer the following questions, from general to specific:

What has been changed and impacted with the transition of face-to-face classes into online classes in recent years?
How to make online education effective?
How can the use of technology facilitate teaching and learning in an online environment?
How does personalized learning path affect student’s learning outcome and performance?
Is it effective to integrate personalized learning into a learning management system in online courses?

The Effect of Adaptive Learning Strategies on Undergraduate STEM Student Achievement

Introduction

With the increasing numbers of classes being taught online, the studies on examining the effectiveness of online classes have shown different results. Online education has its own advantage in making it accessible and affordable for a large number of students disregard where they locate or when they are available to take classes (Davis et al., 2019; Jones, 2015; Smith et al., 2018). Online classes also build a diverse learning environment with a diverse student body, including students with different ages, students with different socio-economic status, and students who are first generation in higher education (Crisp, 2018; Moore et al., 2015; Olidro & Trotter, 2010). However, issues and challenges emerge during teaching and learning in an online environment. The ability of performing professional work, practical experience, relationship between peers, and interactions between teachers and students might be underdeveloped through online classes (Moore et al., 2015). Other researchers claim that the existing physical distance between individuals in an online environment might cause inefficiency in communication, feeling of isolation, and other emotional difficulties (Bentley et al., 2015; Davis et al., 2019). Adaptive learning might give directions to address these problems while using technology to facilitate the learning process based on each student’s need. Adaptive learning is a pedagogical system that addresses an individual's need with a personalized learning path and pace using timely feedback, dynamic resources, and custom activities. The implementation of adaptive learning includes web-based applications, developed learning management systems, and artificial intelligence support (Dziuban et al., 2016; Tosheva & Martinovska, 2012). It also includes adaptive instructional design and teaching methods (Bower 2016; Tseng et al., 2008; Yang et al., 2014). This study will use the learning management system called eLearning Common (eLC) to examine the effectiveness of adaptive learning in online education in the setting of STEM college classes.

Significance of the Study

This study will benefit educators and learners in higher education institutions that transition from face-to-face classes to online classes due to COVID-19. The study will also facilitate that more online degree programs will be offered effectively in the long term. Both instructors and students will greatly benefit from adaptive learning when the study shows significance in improving students’ academic performance with the integration of adaptive learning into a learning management system. The instructors will focus on curriculum development and instructional design process rather than spending time on giving lectures and grading homework. The students will achieve a unique learning goal with less stress and more motivation. The students will also have access to a wide range of subjects with less financial challenges.

Research Questions

This study will investigate the effect of adaptive learning strategies on undergraduate STEM student achievement. The study also aims to explore factors that might impact the effectiveness of adaptive learning strategies. Thus, the questions that will guide this study are:

1. Does the implementation of adaptive learning improve students’ academic achievement with less hours required on coursework?

2. Does the implementation of adaptive learning provide students with adjustable and adaptive learning pace to accommodate the needs of the students?

3. Are there factors that affect the effectiveness of adaptive learning, such as student demographics and prior experience of online learning?

4. Do students with high achievement in face-to-face classes perform better using adaptive learning?

5. Do students with low achievement in face-to-face classes perform worse using adaptive learning?

6. According to questions 4 and 5, is there an achievement gap when implementing adaptive learning strategy?

Research Design

The participants of the study will be undergraduate students that are taking online classes and face-to-face classes in different sections of the same course. The course will be taught using a college online delivery system synchronously. In the online setting, the participants will be randomly assigned into 2 groups. One group will utilize the feature of MasteryPaths to customize participants’ learning preferences and pace. MasteryPaths is based on differentiated assignments, which allows targeted learning activities to be assigned to different participants. With MasteryPaths, assignments are differentiated to individual participants automatically. After the initial assignment has been graded manually or automatically, the participant’s score designates which conditional items they are assigned as a learning path. The feature will be disabled to the other online group as well as the group in face-to-face course setting. A pretest and posttest will be conducted for all three groups to measure participants’ achievement. An online survey with questionnaires will also be distributed and collected at the end of the course to examine participants’ feedback on the learning format they went through. The data from the pretest, posttest, online survey, and the learning management system will be collected and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data will then be compared for three groups leading to a discussion and conclusion of this study.

References

Davis, C., Greenaway, R., Moore, M., & Cooper, L. (2019). Online Teaching in Social Work Education: Understanding the Challenges. Australian Social Work, 72(1), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2018.1524918

Jones, S. H. (2015). Benefits and Challenges of Online Education for Clinical Social Work: Three Examples. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), 225–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-014-0508-z

Smith, K., Jeffery, D., & Collins, K. (2018). Slowing things down: taming time in the neoliberal university using social work distance education. Social Work Education, 37(6), 691–704. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2018.1445216

Crisp, B. R. (2018). From distance to online education: two decades of remaining responsive by one university social work programme. Social Work Education, 37(6), 718–730. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2018.1444157

Moore, S. E., Golder, S., Sterrett, E., Faul, A. C., Yankeelov, P., Mathis, L. W., & Barbee, A. P. (2015). Social work online education: A model for getting started and staying connected. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(3), 505–518. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2015.1043200

Oliaro, L., & Trotter, C. (2010). A comparison of on-campus and off-campus (or distance) social work education. Australian Social Work, 63(3), 329–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2010.496866

Bentley, K. J., Secret, M. C., & Cummings, C. R. (2015). The centrality of social presence in online teaching and learning in social work. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(3), 494–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2015.1043199

Doctoral Research Ideas: Text