Three students enrolled in courses that piloted the Collaborative’s Instructional Model share their experiences using evidence-backed strategies to foster and reinforce learning skills.
Collaborative researcher Louise Yarnall recently presented a new Self-Directed Learning Instructional Model at the annual symposium of the International Society for Self-Directed Learning.
How can instructors help students navigate the unique challenges of learning in a virtual environment? Explore key takeaways from the Collaborative’s Spring 2025 public webinar.
Meghan McIntyre, a senior professor of mathematics at Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina, is no stranger to online learning or employing innovative strategies to engage her students. Meghan’s work with the Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative (the Collaborative) builds on her earlier efforts to improve online learning for her students.
Tony Perez is a professor in the Department of STEM Education and Professional Studies at Old Dominion University in Virginia and director of the university’s Motivation, Identity, and Learning Lab (MilLab). In his work, Perez focuses on how STEM instructors can support adaptive, positive forms of motivation by shifting away from a competitive, performance-focused classroom environment to one that provides various social supports and underscores the personal value and relevance of STEM courses.
The Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative shared promising strategies for improving student outcomes in online courses to a standing-room-only audience at the 2025 annual DREAM conference in Philadelphia in February.
As part of the Collaborative’s efforts to foster and support students’ self-directed learning (SDL) in online courses, we have explored the research literature, consulted experts, collaborated with our college partners, and gathered perspectives from administrators, staff, and faculty.
In online courses, students are expected to take more ownership of planning their learning approaches and study methods, organizing their time, seeking help, and following through on coursework. In online STEM courses, these expectations are compounded by disciplinary cultures that have traditionally emphasized meritocracy and competitiveness.
As students increasingly enroll in online postsecondary STEM courses, instructors and students need new strategies to bolster academic success, particularly for students systemically marginalized in STEM and higher education.
A report on online learning based on responses from chief learning officers released last month found that a large majority of respondents have seen increasing demand for online options from students who are learning on campus.