We explore an innovative approach to learning design representations called course composition diagrams, which consist of interactive digital icons representing course elements, such as videos and quizzes. Course composition diagrams present a visual overview of course structure, including the placement and sequence of individual elements within a…

Although higher education institutions offer self-paced massive open online courses (MOOCs) on platforms like edX, little systematic effort has been made to examine their instructional design features. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to review self-paced MOOCs on edX and examine their instructional design features for those interested in…

Purpose: Technology has revolutionized education, leading to innovative learning techniques like microlearning. Microlearning is gaining popularity in higher education and corporate settings for its student-centred approach and well-planned modules. However, its pedagogical design is complex, requiring a systematic review of studies to identify…

Background: Extensive research on massive open online courses (MOOCs) has focused on analysing learners' behavioural trace data to understand navigation and activity patterns, which are known to vary systematically across geo-cultural contexts. However, the perception of learners regarding the role of different learning design elements in…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality design criteria for developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Currently, there are limited studies that highlight the required design criteria for the MOOC programming courses. A descriptive analysis was conducted to examine the characteristics of the three important quality design…

Evidence-based practice in educational development includes leveraging data to iteratively refine center for teaching and learning (CTL) services. However, CTL data collection is often limited to counts and satisfaction surveys rather than direct measures of outcomes. To directly assess impacts of consultations on course and syllabus design, we…

The increase in online learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will likely result in a greater availability of online and hybrid course offerings. In this study, students enrolled in parallel sections of a microbiology lab course with in-person labs and either face-to-face (F2F) or all-online lectures (hybrid, H). Course material and method…

Ten years ago, after 20 years as a university professor, I was asked to direct the teaching and learning support center at my university. I quickly realized I had almost no knowledge of the published scholarship on this subject. From my reading of this literature, I found the research on the predictors of student learning particularly informative.…

The transition to fully or partially online instruction for K-12 students necessitated by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the current lack of understanding of practices that support K-12 student learning in online settings in emergency situations but also, more troublingly, in K-12 online teaching and learning more generally. A systematic…

Designing high quality, interactive online courses in a technologically rich environment can be a daunting task even for experienced faculty. This process becomes more difficult when faculty are teaching multiple classes while juggling service responsibilities and research/creative scholarships. In order to help faculty focus on key aspects of…

Higher education is rapidly changing, and instructors are striving to match the needs of 21st-century digital learners. There is a growing demand and shift from traditional classes to the online mode of instruction for most post-secondary learning institutions. Additionally, with the recent pandemic (COVID-19), post-secondary institutions had to…

Three separate baseline decisions are recommended when designing an undergraduate course prior to considering any course content. The "Three S" course design decisions include determining (1) the "setting" (on-campus, online or hybrid), (2) the learning "style" (passive or active), and (3) the learning…

The amount of information contained in any educational data set is fundamentally constrained by the instructional conditions under which the data are collected. In this study, we show that by redesigning the structure of traditional online courses, we can improve the ability of educational data mining to provide useful information for instructors.…

High-quality digital learning experiences are built on the foundational principles of providing equitable, inclusive, accessible learning environments for all students. In addition, high-quality digital learning experiences are well-organized and thoughtfully designed. These experiences rely on instructional design principles and strategies to…

Four course development models were compared over a 3-year period, based upon student perceptions of the integration of the Quality Matters (QM) Standards, course structure, and quality. Points of comparison included (a) faculty training, (b) instructional designer supported, (c) additional QM training course, and (d) no training or support used.…