While the impact of active learning is documented, there is an absence of research on these teaching and learning approaches in online first-year courses. This session will describe the intentional approach two instructors have taken to incorporate different forms of active learning in their online and blended first-year seminar courses.
The impact of active learning is well documented (Ambrose et al., 2010; Bonwell and Eison, 1991); however most of the existing research and best practice literature focuses on the application of and outcomes associated with active learning in traditional or face-to-face courses. A handful of studies have examined the application of various forms of active learning in online upper-level courses (Amador and Mederer, 2013; MacKenzie and Ballard, 2015), but there is an absence of research on active learning in lower-level, and specifically first-year courses that are taught in fully or partially online formats.
This session will describe the intentional approach two instructors have taken to incorporate different forms of active learning in their online and blended first-year seminar courses. Specifically, the presenters will begin by describing how they used research, including the Model of Online Student Learning and Engagement (Foote & Mixson-Brookshire, 2014), to identify specific active learning strategies and approaches they could use to transform and embed these strategies into their online and blended first-year seminars. Next, the presenters will describe the specific active learning strategies they adapted, including many that are generally used in face-to-face courses (e.g., exam wrappers, collaborative learning, warm ups, think-pair-share, and case studies). Following this, the presenters will will share the outcomes of these activities on student learning and engagement in their courses, and finally, they will discuss their “lessons learned” and key takeaways.
Participants will leave the session with strategies they can use to adapt and intentionally incorporate active learning strategies into their fully or partially online first-year courses across the various disciplines.