Blended Synchronous Classrooms (BSCs) demonstrate advantages in advancing educational equity. However, few studies have focused on Q&A interactions in BSCs. Unlike traditional single-class settings, BSCs require teachers to simultaneously manage interactions with students from two classes. To address the gap, this study proposed a coding framework for Q&A behaviors grounded in the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. This study analyzed 40 BSC lessons using various learning analytics methods, including Lag Sequential Analysis, Social Network Analysis, and K-Means Clustering Algorithm. The data analysis yielded the following results: (1) Q&A participants: Teachers prioritized interactions with the students in their own classes. (2) Cognitive levels: Most interactions remained at the Understanding level. (3) Transition patterns: Urban teachers exhibited sequential, logic-driven questioning progressions, whereas rural teachers displayed fragmented transitions confined to Understanding-level loops with weak high-low cognitive linkages. (4) Key Q&A behaviors: Urban teachers demonstrated the use of question categories at higher cognitive levels, while rural teachers only used question categories at lower cognitive level. This exploratory study represented a systematic investigation into the quality of teacher-student Q&A behaviors within the urban-rural BSCs context. Finally, the study proposes actionable strategies for optimizing BSCs' Q&A design and enhancing dialogic teaching quality in distance educational environments.
Learning engagement is a crucial factor influencing the outcomes of rural teachers' (RTs) online learning. Previous studies have revealed a link between instructional context factors, individual factors, and learning engagement, yet the influence mechanisms of these factors on its different dimensions remain underexplored. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the multiple concurrent pathways through which individual and instructional context factors affect RTs' learning engagement by using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). A total of 116 RTs engaged in online learning in China participated in the study. The results indicate that: (1) instructional support (IS) is an auxiliary necessary condition influencing learning engagement, while peer support (PS) is a core necessary condition. (2) multiple pathways can lead to the same learning engagement outcomes, challenging the traditional concept of a single optimal path derived from conventional analytical methods. (3) configurations of good and poor conditions for the three factors of learning engagement exhibit asymmetry. For example, high levels of IS and PS exist in configurations leading to both high and low levels of emotional and cognitive engagement, depending on how other conditions are combined.
Higher Educators who support online learning invest significant effort in integrating strategies focused on university student engagement and success, yet there is limited evidence of efforts to seek 'student voice' or input on these strategies. This study shares findings from a study that explored pre-service teachers' (PSTs') perspectives on effective online learning strategies they found 'most helpful' within an Australian regional initial teacher education context. Analysis of 584 responses, undertaken through the lens of social constructivism, identified five key themes. Findings reveal that learner autonomy and flexibility, accessibility and centralized resources, meaningful interaction with peers and teachers, as well as a preference for self-organization, and guided scaffolding, represent helpful elements in supporting their online learning. These elements align closely with core social constructivist principles, including learning as a social process, the value of scaffolded learning experiences within the zone of proximal development through a 'more knowledgeable other', and the effective leveraging of digital technologies to mediate learning. The study offers practical implications for the design of online teacher education courses and potentially, wider online learning. It contributes to a growing body of research that foregrounds student voice in shaping responsive and relational online learning environments in the higher education context.
Online learning environments often face challenges such as learner isolation, reduced engagement, and diminished academic performance. This study addresses these issues by applying the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to investigate how its three core presences-teaching, social, and cognitive-interact to promote deeper and more effective learning. Drawing on survey data from 201 undergraduate students enrolled in an online course, we used structural equation modeling to analyze the direct and indirect effects of these presences on students' perceptions of deeper learning and learning effectiveness. Our findings reveal that teaching presence not only directly enhances social presence but also indirectly influences both deeper learning and learning effectiveness through social and cognitive pathways. Cognitive presence emerged as the most significant predictor of deeper learning, highlighting its critical role in cultivating higher-order thinking skills. These results extend the CoI framework by clarifying the mediating roles of social and cognitive presences and provide actionable insights for instructional designers and educators. We propose strategies for designing technology-enhanced learning environments that foster engagement, collaboration, and academic success in online education.
This study examined the relationships among teaching presence (TP), social presence (SP), and cognitive presence (CP) within the community of inquiry framework, academic procrastination (AP), and achievement among nontraditional students. An online survey was administered to 801 participants to measure the three presences and AP through a learning management system at the end of the semester. Achievement was measured using GPA. Multiple regression analysis and the Johnson-Neyman technique indicated that the mediation and moderating effects were statistically significant. The results of the mediation effect revealed that CP fully mediated the influence of TP and SP on GPA. SP partially mediated the influence of TP on CP. The relationship between CP and GPA was moderated by the AP level. When AP was low, GPA decreased as CP increased, whereas when AP was high, GPA increased as CP increased. Furthermore, a one-way MANOVA revealed that learners with low AP demonstrated significantly higher CP across all sub-constructs (trigger event, exploration, integration, and resolution) than those with high AP. The practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.
With the rapid development of digital technology, the digital transformation of higher education institutions (HEIs) has become crucial for improving the quality of teaching and the students' experience. Taking German HEIs as an example, this study combines the Grounded Theory with the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to systematically identify and analyze the influencing factors such as teachers' digital readiness, teaching technology infrastructure, digital teaching strategies, digital resource management, students' digital experience, as well as the impact of their multiple combination pathways on students' satisfaction. The study finds that students' digital experience plays a pivotal role in the combination of various factors, and the flexible configuration of different factors can significantly enhance satisfaction. The empirical insights of this study not only deepen the theoretical understanding in educational digital transformation and students' satisfaction, but also provide clear and actionable decision-making references for policymakers and university administrators when formulating and implementing educational digital transformation strategies and resource allocation, thus contributing to enhancing the innovative value and sustainable development of higher education reform.
Studies have highlighted the complex interplay between academic satisfaction and variables related to active academic participation. However, few studies have examined whether academic satisfaction is associated with the strength of the relationships among academic engagement, satisfaction with studies, and academic co-creation. We analyzed data from a convenience sample of 3,169 Peruvian university students using bootstrap resampling and a moderated network model to estimate conditional associations and moderation effects. Satisfaction with studies and academic satisfaction showed a positive association. Academic satisfaction displayed a moderation pattern in the engagement-study satisfaction association, whereas the moderation of the engagement-co-creation association was comparatively small. Overall, the findings suggest that students' academic satisfaction may shape how engagement relates to perceived study satisfaction and, to a lesser extent, to co-creative behaviors, highlighting the value of institutional strategies that support students' academic well-being in higher education.
This study investigates the use of meaning forms within video lectures in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), revealing that different configurations of meaning forms fulfill social, instructional, and semiotic functions. The findings highlight that some meaning forms are frequently used, while others are less prevalent. A key discovery is the positive correlation between the variety of meaning forms and learner perceptions, where a broader range of forms was associated with more favorable evaluations. Notably, contextual objects, social speech acts, and camera edits or changes in angle were positively perceived, whereas use of images and text had a negative impact. These insights suggest that the mise-en-sc & egrave;ne of video lectures plays a critical role in shaping learner experiences. The study also introduces transpositional grammar as a new theoretical lens for analyzing these meaning forms, contributing a fresh perspective to the field. Areas for future research include underexplored elements such as the role of silence, branding, and editing techniques in creating meaning. These findings offer valuable guidance for MOOC designers, emphasizing the importance of deliberate design choices in enhancing learner engagement and perception.
Sentiment analysis is crucial in education, yet traditional lexicon-based methods struggle to capture nuanced emotions and group dynamics. We propose a network-based approach using a dataset of 9,873 forum posts from 1,919 MOOC learners. In our sentiment network, learners are nodes in an emotional state space, connected when their emotional distance-defined as the Manhattan distance between their emotion-score vectors-is below a threshold. Analysis reveals a sparse network with emotional variability and small-world characteristics, promoting local clustering and relatively efficient information flow. Learners with lower positive emotions often occupy structurally central positions in the network, characterized by higher degree and betweenness centrality, while high-positive-emotion groups show academic underperformance. Conversely, negative or confused emotions are correlated with better outcomes. Higher network entropy is linked to improved academic performance, indicating enhanced emotional processing. These findings offer new insights into emotional interactions and learning outcomes, suggesting future research on specific emotions and refined emotion analysis in education.
Educational Resource repositories are a common tool used by institutions and organizations - public and private - to provide spaces to gather and access resources. We conducted a historical review of 152 OER repositories from the past two decades, identified through a comprehensive review of academic literature. This revealed that a large proportion of formerly acclaimed OER platforms are now inactive or defunct - some even by the time of publication of the papers that cite them - raising questions about their impact and sustainability. We investigated sociotechnical and institutional factors potentially affecting the lifespan of these platforms, including funding type, the presence or lack of community-building tools and user contributions, and types of ownership, platform, resource, and access. This study also outlines inconsistencies in the terminology and criteria used to define OER repositories and proposes a clarifying typology to differentiate them from other resource platforms, such as referatories and proprietary Open Access resource platforms. This research does not provide definitive reasons for the failure of repositories but establishes a foundation for future research on the longevity, sustainability, and evolution of OER infrastructures.
Mobile learning supports lifelong, sustainable education by delivering flexible, accessible content that equips learners with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes demanded by a changing world. For vocational students, who must rapidly master workplace competencies, mobile platforms offer an especially powerful resource. This study examined how 319 Chinese vocational students accept and use mobile learning, drawing on the technology acceptance model and analyzing survey data through PLS-SEM. The results indicate that vocational students' behavioral intentions have a positive and significant impact on their actual use of mobile learning. Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitude have an indirect influence on their actual use of mobile learning. Multiple group analysis revealed that gender has a significant moderating effect on the relationships between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, perceived usefulness and behavioral intention, and attitude and behavioral intention. These findings are not only relevant to promoting the adoption of mobile learning among vocational students but also contribute to informing the further development of mobile technology in a manner consistent with sustainable education principles.
The research process is undergoing a paradigm shift toward openness, revolutionizing the way research outputs are shared, accessed, and utilized. This shift promotes transparency and accelerates scientific discovery and development, as appropriate dissemination of research enhances global knowledge exchange. This is so because scientific knowledge is the foundation upon which societies build progress, yet access to this knowledge remains a privilege rather than a right. Specifically, there is a concerning trend of building walls around scientific knowledge, impacting higher education teaching and learning. This conceptual paper argues that limiting access to research creates educational inequities, stifles innovation, and undermines the potential of open science to democratize knowledge. This goes against the principles of open science, which advocate free and open sharing of scientific knowledge to maximize its impact. The paper presents the implications of restricting access to scientific knowledge in higher education teaching and learning (including online and distance learning, MOOCs, OERs, etc) and advocates for open science practices, including a proposed "open science pedagogy model" grounded in the concept of openness and transparency to better enhance teaching and learning in higher education.
