This session highlights how UNC Charlotte piloted an online learning community utilizing the power of AI and community to build peer-to-peer engagement and connect undergraduate students to academic support resources. This intervention utilized the Inscribe community platform to encourage help-seeking for students who need it most. Our session covers the design, implementation, and evaluation of the project.
Introduction:
A virtual online learning community is an online platform or space that allows students in the course to engage with each other in a collaborative and supported learning environment. The purpose of such a community is to foster peer-to-peer engagement, provide a sense of belonging, and offer student support structures. Online learning communities promote learner-instructor, learner–content, and learner–learner interaction to shorten the transactional distance (Moore, 1993) that students experience when learning online or learning at home.
For biology learners, a virtual online learning community can be particularly beneficial. By engaging with peers in an online learning community, biology learners can work collaboratively to explore these concepts, share their knowledge and experiences, and develop a deeper understanding of the subject.
In addition, biology is a subject that often involves hands-on laboratory work and field research. A virtual learning community can help to address this challenge by providing access to online laboratory simulations, virtual field trips, and other resources that can help learners to explore and understand biological concepts. By connecting with peers who share their interests and passions, biology learners can feel supported and motivated to continue their studies. A virtual learning community can provide biology learners with access to valuable and resource-rich support structures. This can include online tutoring, academic advising, and mental health support that can be shared across sections and multiple courses.
The Intervention
Principles of Biology 1 (BIOL 1110) is a large, gateway course in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte. Instructors identified that students in this course benefit from learner-instructor, learner–content, and learner–learner interactions through active learning and collaborative strategies. However, a challenge identified was the lack of support for students who work on course modules at home and online, either for preparation or homework. This drove the instructors to collaborate with instructional designers from the Center for Teaching and Learning to determine intervention strategies and offer online student support through the online learning community platform InScribe.
InScribe is an AI-powered community platform that provides increased student support through curated support resources directly related to coursework and assignments, such as video tutorials, explanation guides, additional problem-solving help, and instructor- or TA-facilitated help, while potentially reducing faculty workload when responding to direct emails and questions. InScribe’s AI engine allows deep linking between Canvas modules and content and Inscribe offers students direct features to seek help on specific Canvas lessons and assignments. The intelligent system in InScribe monitors conversations with semantic analysis and proactively responds with helpful resources and sends alerts for instructor intervention.
Pilot Program Methodology
Implementing Inscribe into BIOL 1100 course was a multi-step, multi-instructor, and multi-semester process that followed a systematic 6-step methodology:
Planning: This step involved identifying the goals and objectives for integrating an online learning community platform into the BIOL 1100 course, including identifying a timeline for course redesign, integration, user testing, training, and evaluation.
Course Redesign: This step involved redesigning the BIOL 1100 course to incorporate Inscribe support in various course modules, which required creating new content resources in Inscribe, establishing groups, discussion questions, and helpful resources.
Inscribe Integration and User Testing: This step involved conducting user testing to ensure that Canvas and Inscribe were technically and functionally running.
Faculty and Preceptor Training and Preparation: This step involved training faculty members and preceptors to use the online learning community platform and prepare them to facilitate online discussions, monitor student progress, moderate student behavior, and provide feedback to students.
Course Evaluation: This step involved evaluating the effectiveness of the online learning community platform in achieving the goals and objectives identified in the planning phase. This involved collecting feedback from students, faculty, and preceptors and making changes to the platform or course materials as needed.
Goals of the Session
Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the benefits of an online learning community program, as well as the practical tools and strategies for launching and sustaining such a program in their own institutions. This session is designed for faculty members, administrators, and staff interested in improving student success and creating a more collaborative and supportive learning environment.