March 10, 2025 | By Shayleah Jenkins

Online courses are an increasingly popular choice for students and faculty, but research shows student outcomes in online courses lag behind those of in-person courses. What’s behind the difference in results? And how can instructors support student success in online learning?

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 DREAM Convening in Philadelphia in February.

Addressing 150 faculty and administrators from across the U.S., the Community College Research Center’s Amy E. Brown, SRI’s Hannah Cheever, and Odessa College Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Brian Jones presented an overview of the strategies to improve online student learning.

A common challenge they heard from students and faculty was that without the structure of an in-person classroom community, online learners often report feelings of isolation and uncertainty about whether they belong in the course or in college. And because online course-takers face more responsibility for managing their learning, many also grapple with managing their time and reaching out for help. This is especially true in content-heavy STEM classes.

“Many of our students in online courses have struggled to stay motivated—it’s easy for students to opt into an online course because of convenience, but then they don’t understand the commitment that’s required,” Jones said.

Leticia Contreras, a mathematics faculty member at Hartnell College in Salinas, California, attended the presentation to learn not only how she can better support students in online courses but also how these strategies can apply to her in-person classes.

“As a math teacher, I think we think—or at least I think—that quantitative in math is the bulk of what we do,” Contreras said. “But [student] reflection is also important, especially when it comes to learning from your mistakes.”

The Collaborative describes the skills students need to succeed in online courses as self-directed learning (SDL) skills — essentially, the ways students manage their learning. To help instructors develop students’ SDL skills and navigate the heightened demands of online learning, the presenters discussed three strategies faculty can use in their online courses:

Videos: Assigning a video within the first month of the course to encourage students to create their own learning plans can develop self-efficacy skills. The videos help students plan ways to manage time, connect with others in the online class, and reframe learning challenges as opportunities.

Prompts: Setting up periodic prompts can help students plan and reflect on how effectively they’re studying and learning and what steps they need to take to make sure they understand course content. Instructors reported that awarding credit for these prompts not only incentivized students to complete them but also gave students a chance to provide feedback on how they were interacting with course content.

Social-Peer Interaction Networking (SPIN): Sending out online get-to-know-you surveys, setting up online discussions, and assigning team projects can recreate traditional classroom collaboration. These interventions also help to ease feelings of isolation, promote a sense of belonging, and encourage students to seek help. Inspired by a video intervention, one student even created a WhatsApp group chat to better connect with classmates.

The Collaborative will continue working with faculty and students to create a free resource that instructors and administrators can access to build self-directed learning skills into their online course development and support students as they navigate distance learning.

“We want [students] to be successful,” Jones said, “not just at the beginning and in a few courses, but in all of their courses.”

Interested in learning more?

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Tags: Instructional Strategies Online Learning Self-directed Learning