A cohort of Australian higher education providers offer initial teacher education (ITE) courses through fully asynchronous online (AO) learning, that is, where no real-time connection between participants takes place. Despite growth in this field, little is known about preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) expectations of connection/interaction with facilitators and peers in AO delivery. This study addresses the current absence of research by investigating PSTs’ expectations about connection in AO learning and how misalignment between expectation and experience impacts self-reported student satisfaction with the learning process. We surveyed 70 students studying a variety of ITE degrees delivered through AO learning at one Australian university and analysed unit information documents. The results highlight PSTs’ ill-informed expectations about the parameters of AO learning and misconceptions about their role as autonomous learners and the role of their lecturers leading to PSTs’ unsatisfactory experience. This study underscores the need for clearer communication of AO parameters and targeted strategies to prepare students for independent, connected learning in asynchronous environments.
This study investigated how different levels of social presence affect non-interactive teaching in the presence of a familiar audience. We compared three teaching conditions (video, online, and in-person) to examine whether higher levels of social presence can increase motivation and engagement, thereby improving learning outcomes. A restudy was used as the control condition. All students taught in front of a familiar peer. Results showed that social presence increased sequentially from the restudy condition to the video, online, and in-person teaching conditions. No significant differences in state anxiety or extraneous cognitive load were found among the three teaching conditions, although students in the video condition experienced significantly higher state anxiety than those in the restudy condition. Students in the in-person condition reported higher motivation, germane cognitive load, and intrinsic cognitive load than those in the restudy condition. Students in the in-person and online conditions also exhibited more happy expressions than those in the video condition. However, students in the video condition outperformed students in both the in-person and restudy conditions on the transfer test. Online teaching achieved comparable academic performance to video teaching. Social presence and motivation together mediated the positive effects of teaching activities on transfer performance (vs. restudy). These findings suggest that high social presence with a familiar audience can effectively reduce anxiety and modestly increase motivation, thereby explaining the learning advantage of teaching over restudy; however, it does not further improve, and may even hinder, learning outcomes compared to teaching with lower social presence.
Instructional videos are becoming an increasingly popular learning tool, appealing to a wide range of learners. However, research warns that learners may experience higher dropout rates and increased mind-wandering compared to traditional face-to-face classrooms. Explaining to fictitious others (EtFO) is an active learning strategy that has the potential to enhance self-regulated learning and reduce mind-wandering. However, there is a dearth of research examining how learners’ use of this strategy contributes to its effectiveness in the context of instructional videos. The aim of this study was to investigate how learners engaged in the EtFO strategy across different learning stages and how these learning processes were associated with learning outcomes. In addition, the study compared the learning processes of learners with higher and lower learning performance based on a post-hoc median split of learning test scores. The findings confirm that key variables, including percentage dwell time on learning content, self-regulated behavioral sequences, the quality of explanations, and the co-occurrence of metacognitive and high-level cognitive processes, are important components of the effective use of the EtFO strategy. The findings provide insights into the learning processes of learners with higher and lower learning performance by revealing differences in their attention during the video-viewing stage, their behaviors during the preparation stage, and the quality and cognitive network of their explanations during the explanation stage. This study has the potential for informing the effective use of learning strategies when learning from instructional videos.
Student-centred teaching methods, such as flipped learning, have been found to enhance learning outcomes in higher education (HE); however, their impact on factors that influence student learning and well-being has been less researched. In addition to facing various challenges during their first study year, first-year students’ preparedness for student-centred and active learning methods can be low at the start of HE, requiring research to look beyond short time-span changes and cross-sectional associations. To address these gaps, this study examined the development of engineering HE students’ ( n = 367) satisfaction of basic psychological needs – autonomy (RQ1), competence (RQ2) and relatedness (RQ3) – over time in two parallel sets of four engineering mathematics courses implemented with two student-centred pedagogical models: a lecture-based model (control; n = 192) and a flipped learning model (intervention; n = 175). Using five measurement points across the academic year 2019 to 2020, we analysed longitudinal change in students’ need satisfaction with two-level growth models. The results showed a decline in autonomy satisfaction in the lecture-based group, while the flipped model mitigated this decline (interaction between measurement point and teaching model: β = 0.042, p = .008). Regarding competence satisfaction, the lecture-based group declined more steeply than the flipped model (β = 0.055, p = .002). Relatedness satisfaction increased over time in both groups, although this growth decelerated over time (Time: β = 0.127, p < .001). When pandemic restrictions began, declines in autonomy and competence satisfaction were more pronounced in the lecture-based group. Differences between genders (autonomy and competence) and high versus low achievers (competence) were observed. The results imply that, in first-year, high-enrolment, or otherwise demanding HE courses, student-centred course design can provide benefits by supporting students’ autonomy and competence through clear structure, guided preparation, active participation and timely feedback, even during disruptions to normal teaching formats.
This study addresses the limited empirical evidence on how field-based learning, grounded in principles of authentic and experiential education, is associated with students’ motivation and self-perceived competency development in higher education management. Employing an action research design in a third-year undergraduate cultural and educational management course in Taiwan ( N = 39), the instructor embedded site visits, stakeholder interviews, preparatory briefings, and reflection within a case-based learning framework. Quantitative pre- and post-test data were collected using validated instruments measuring student motivation and professional competencies, while qualitative data came from observations, reflections and interviews. The results indicated significant gains in motivation and self-perceived competencies, together with high course satisfaction. Qualitative findings showed that real-world organisational engagement helped students connect theory with practice, sharpen critical thinking, develop confidence and reconsider assumptions about social enterprises. The study provides evidence for field-based learning as a strategy for bridging theory and practice in domains where fieldwork is not routine.
