Papers by Michelle Jarvie Eggart
Prior to attending OSU, she received a B.S. and M.S. in environmental engineering from Michigan T... more Prior to attending OSU, she received a B.S. and M.S. in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University. Her current research interests include understanding engineering identity and motivation in first-generation college students, online learning pedagogy, and service learning projects.
Computers & Education Open, 2024
With technologies changing faster than ever before, engineering faculty must continuously update ... more With technologies changing faster than ever before, engineering faculty must continuously update the technologies they use and teach to students to meet accreditation requirements and keep up with industry standards. Many do not, however. Additionally, existing models of technology adoption do not account for all variability within intention to use a technology, nor its actual use. Informed by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study examined which constructs from prior models apply to engineering faculty's adoption of industry-specific technologies, as well as other factors influencing faculty adoption of these technologies for their teaching or research. We interviewed 21 engineering faculty at a Midwestern United States STEM-focused institution about their adoption of engineering technologies. Deductive and inductive coding were used to identify themes within the qualitative data. Constructs from existing models were confirmed to influence faculty engineering technology adoption. We also identified specific Facilitating Conditions (Other People, Digital Resources, Non-Digital Resources, Time, and Formal Training) that faculty leverage to adopt new engineering technologies, and uncovered two additional themes-Access and Personal Traits, including several component traits (Persistence, Humility, Self Efficacy, Growth Mindset, Ambiguity Acceptance, and Curiosity) that influence faculty engineering technology adoption. We propose a new Theory of Faculty Adoption of Engineering Technologies specific to faculty adoption of new engineering technologies. These findings have the potential to help universities determine how to effectively support faculty in providing their students with relevant technological skills for entry into the engineering workforce.
2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, 2024
Despite the increasing importance of working with and developing software in numerous engineering... more Despite the increasing importance of working with and developing software in numerous engineering fields, engineering education today largely focuses on programming, rather than software engineering practices and tools (SEPTs), that is, the tools and techniques for designing, implementing, and maintaining software over time. As a result, the productivity or reliability of engineering work involving software can be hampered by problems that could have been avoided with the use of modern best practices in software engineering. Despite a history of research on SEPTs in computing fields (e.g., computer science and software engineering) and computational science fields (e.g., computational physics and bioinformatics), the use of SEPTs in engineering fields is not well understood.
To address this problem, in this paper, we present ongoing work investigating how practitioners and undergraduate students in non-computing engineering disciplines understand and use SEPTs. Specifically, we present the preliminary design of a qualitative study, including a survey instrument to assess familiarity with software engineering terminology and use of SEPTs. Our survey is based on the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) Guide, which outlines a generally accepted, standard body of knowledge expected of practicing early-career software engineers. We design the survey to be accessible even to those unfamiliar with the specific software engineering terminology used in the SWEBOK Guide. In addition to the survey itself, we describe our planned approach to conduct a thematic analysis of participants’ responses, using the taxonomy of the SWEBOK Guide as an analytical framework.
We hope that our study will help illuminate the landscape of how different engineering disciplines understand and develop software. While we intend for our survey to be used in studying engineers in non-computing fields, we anticipate that the results of our study will inform the development of further research to investigate SEPT use in engineering in a discipline-specific or discipline-agnostic manner. In the broader context, we expect that these insights will help us more identify and teach key SEPTs in undergraduate engineering education, and thereby help future engineers write and maintain software more effectively, whatever their discipline.
15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE). , 2024
After completing a bachelor's degree in computer science, Laura Albrant decided to challenge how ... more After completing a bachelor's degree in computer science, Laura Albrant decided to challenge how she viewed software development, by switching departments. Currently working towards a master's degree in human factors at Michigan Technological University, Laura pursues interests on both sides of the fence through education research.
Transactions on Education, 2023
This article provides an examination
of changes in first-year engineering students’ perceptions o... more This article provides an examination
of changes in first-year engineering students’ perceptions of the
role of an engineer after completing the Engineers Without
Borders Challenge.
Background: Essential pre- and post-comparisons missing in
existing studies on the Challenge are provided, as well as comparison to other first-year project types across two universities.
Research Question: Do students who participate in servicelearning versus traditional project-based learning gain different
understandings of the role of an engineer?
Methodology: This work implements the questionnaire variant
of convergent mixed methods design. A survey containing a mix
of Likert-scale, open-ended short answer, and closed card sorting
questions was administered to students enrolled in first-year
engineering (FYE) courses across two institutions. Limitations of
this work include potential bias due to the pre/post survey design
and participant course self-selection.
Findings: Students’ perceptions of the roles of engineers did
not significantly differ by project type. However, changes in
their perceptions of technical skills as important to the role
of engineers did indicate the beginning of a transition from
discipline level thinking to process level thinking. Additionally,
course learning objectives influenced students’ perceptions of
the role of engineers—with an increase in awareness of the
importance of problem solving, communication, design process,
and teamwork and a decreasing sense of importance of items
missing from course objectives, such as creativity and helping
people. Engineers’ professional responsibility to diversity, equity,
and inclusion were absent from both the course syllabi and
student perceptions of the role of an engineer.
Transactions on Education, 2022
In the wake of the so-called fourth industrial revolution, computer programming has become a foun... more In the wake of the so-called fourth industrial revolution, computer programming has become a foundational
competency across engineering disciplines. Yet engineering students often resist the notion that computer programming is a
skill relevant to their future profession. Here are presented two
activities aimed at supporting the early development of engineering students’ attitudes and abilities regarding programming
in a first-year engineering course. Both activities offer students
insights into the way programs are constructed, which have been
identified as a source of confusion that may negatively affect
acceptance.
In the first activity, a structured, language-independent way
to approach programming problems through guided questions
was introduced, which has previously been used successfully in
introductory computer science courses. The team hypothesized
that guiding students through a structured reflection on how
they construct programs for their class assignments might help
reveal an understandable structure to them. Results showed that
students in the intervention group scored nearly a full letter
grade higher on the unit’s final programming assessment than
those in the control condition.
The second activity aimed to help students recognize how their
experience with MATLAB might help them interpret code in
other programming languages. In the intervention group, students were asked to review and provide comments for code
written in a variety of programming languages. A qualitative analysis of their reflections examined what skills students
reported they used and, specifically, how prior MATLAB experience may have aided their ability to read and comment on the
unfamiliar code. Overall, the ability to understand and recognize syntactic constructs was an essential skill in making sense
of code written in unfamiliar programming languages. Syntactic
constructs, lexical elements, and patterns were all recognized as
essential landmarks used by students interpreting code they did
not write, especially in new languages. Developing an understanding of the static structure and dynamic flow required of programs
was also an essential skill which helped the students.
Together, the results from the first activity and the
insights gained from the second activity suggest that guided questions to build skills in reading code may help mitigate confusion about program construction, thereby better preparing engineering students for computing-intensive careers
This paper highlights the results of utilizing two different lecture delivery methods in a distan... more This paper highlights the results of utilizing two different lecture delivery methods in a distance- education graduate class, ENVM641 Environmental Compliance Auditing, at University of Maryland University College. The author compares students’ performance, as measured by final class grade, between sections taught using different software for lecture delivery, and students’ ranking of instructor performance between the two sections. The university requires the class to be delivered on WebTycho software. Lectures are typically provided through the use of written notes transcribed into MS Word documents. Although the asynchronous format is convenient to the students, the design of this delivery method only appeals to students who learn by reading, or visual leaners. In addition, the format may not create the greatest sense of connection with the instructor, as students complete the course without ever hearing their instructor’s voice. The instructor wanted to determine if a Power Poi...
Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice
In the 2018/2019 academic year, Michigan Technological University's Faculty Senate voted to requi... more In the 2018/2019 academic year, Michigan Technological University's Faculty Senate voted to require all online instructors to be trained in current best practices of online teaching to be able to teach fully online courses. With the onset of the Spring 2020 pandemic, Michigan Tech informed all faculty that the senate policy requiring online teacher certification would be enforced for Fall 2020. The faculty body responded by completing the required training. This study surveyed the faculty who completed online teaching training from 2019 through 2021 to determine how that training changed their approach to the design of a course, a lesson, and their teaching in general. This work found that the training provided essential pedagogical and instructional design education absent in most Ph.D. programs, resulting in self-reported improvements in both online and in-person instruction. Additionally, the experience of learning online increased faculty empathy for students.
Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice,, 2023
In the 2018/2019 academic year, Michigan Technological University's Faculty Senate voted to requi... more In the 2018/2019 academic year, Michigan Technological University's Faculty Senate voted to require all online instructors to be trained in current best practices of online teaching to be able to teach fully online courses. With the onset of the Spring 2020 pandemic, Michigan Tech informed all faculty that the senate policy requiring online teacher certification would be enforced for Fall 2020. The faculty body responded by completing the required training. This study surveyed the faculty who completed online teaching training from 2019 through 2021 to determine how that training changed their approach to the design of a course, a lesson, and their teaching in general. This work found that the training provided essential pedagogical and instructional design education absent in most Ph.D. programs, resulting in self-reported improvements in both online and in-person instruction. Additionally, the experience of learning online increased faculty empathy for students.
2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Oct 8, 2022
This work in progress paper presents baseline data from a study exploring student outcomes from p... more This work in progress paper presents baseline data from a study exploring student outcomes from participating in the EWB AU Design Challenge. Findings presented in this paper explore initial student perceptions of the role of an engineer reported prior to participating in the Challenge. This study builds on previous findings, providing richer detail about student understandings regarding what it means to be an engineer. To determine the influence that involvement in the EWB design challenge had on any potential shifts, course sections performing non-service-learning design projects were also surveyed for comparison. The ultimate goal of this work will be to compare pre-/post-surveys from both student groups. In this baseline data the cohorts appear substantially similar at the start of their courses.
2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Oct 8, 2022
This Workshop will present the results from a study exploring the facilitating conditions which s... more This Workshop will present the results from a study exploring the facilitating conditions which support the adoption of new engineering technologies among engineering faculty. Suggested interventions to promote greater technology adoption among faculty will be reviewed. Participants will discuss ways to build upon these suggested interventions and leave with concrete ideas about how to promote faculty technology adoption on their campuses.
Studies in Engineering Education, 2022
Background: In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 forced the majority of higher education online, resul... more Background: In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 forced the majority of higher education online, resulting in a wave of new online students uniquely positioned to offer fresh perspectives and advice to faculty.
Purpose: This study investigated the advice offered to online faculty by first-year engineering (FYE) students who were forced online during the pandemic and faculty ideas to address the student advice.
Methods: This multi-methods study included qualitative data from 233 FYE students (in 67 teams across four class offerings) who provided advice for online faculty through an end-of-year team assignment, leveraging analytic induction methods for analysis. The Quality Matters Online Instructor Skill Set was used as the theoretical framework for viewing the student results (Quality Matters, 2016). After being presented with the student results, 41 faculty participants within two workshops brainstormed ways to respond to FYEs’ advice. Faculty workshop participants organized their own brainstorming/discussion results by themes within community documents.
Results: Students forced online expressed the following needs/desires: instructional design practices appropriate for the online environment; understanding, flexibility, and patience from their faculty (which we defined as Academic Grace); instructor social presence; appropriate pedagogy for online learning environments; effective assessment; technologically capable instructors; and instructor understanding of their institutional context. Faculty advised responding to online students with more Academic Grace.
Conclusions: This work reveals a new competency missing from traditional online instructor skills, that of Academic Grace. To embed Academic Grace within online courses, we propose that faculty consider a flexible bichronous model for online courses, in which students can choose to attend synchronous live lectures/classes or cover the material asynchronously at their own convenience. In this model, lecture/class recordings and supplemental asynchronous materials should be provided to foster fluid student movement between the learning modes. We also recommend online faculty training efforts include the components of Academic Grace: understanding, flexibility, and patience.
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, Jul 27, 2022
Rich, relevant, and immediate student feedback is a core ingredient supporting effective student ... more Rich, relevant, and immediate student feedback is a core ingredient supporting effective student learning. Feedback is particularly important for introductory computing courses where novice programmers are still learning the basic syntax and semantics of a programming language. Our project is aimed at detecting poor solutions to common problems, termed antipatterns, in student code and providing feedback that guides the student to better solutions. This paper discusses the first year of the project, specifically, the development of a Code Critiquer to detect antipatterns in student code and generate appropriate feedback. This important first step sets-up the project to advance knowledge about novice antipatterns and their detection. The use of these antipatterns and code critiquers in future classroom interventions will help the project improve our understanding of student learning, retention, and self-efficacy.
2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Jul 26, 2021
This complete research paper explores first year engineering (FYE) students’ advice for attaining... more This complete research paper explores first year engineering (FYE) students’ advice for attaining success in online learning. In the spring semester of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic thrust higher education students from their traditional classroom settings into online learning platforms. Students typically seek online learning opportunities due to the flexibility and convenience of the format, allowing balance between work and family life with school responsibilities. This emergency shift to online courses presented a unique opportunity to gain insight in the attitudes of unwilling online learners and identifies these students as ample sources of advice for future online learners. At the conclusion of the spring 2020 semester, 233 first-year engineering students from a public technical university were asked to provide advice for incoming engineering students completing courses in the online environment. Advice from 67 student teams was collected through an in-class assignment. Student responses were anonymized and coded using analytic induction and convergent coding methods within a grounded theory framework. An initial codebook was developed using codes from research previously conducted by the authors, with additional codes being added as a consensus in response coding was reached amongst researchers. Results indicated that time management was the top concern for online students, followed by readiness to learn online, which included managing distractions to online learning and learning in dedicated spaces. Self-care also emerged as a more significant concern for online first year engineering students than in person first year engineering students, including sleep hygiene, study/screen breaks, staying hydrated, getting dressed and exercising, all relevant issues for those working and learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to these results, we recommend that instructors of introductory online courses integrate materials about time management, distraction management, and self-care into their classes
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
Comics as a pedagogical tool have shown promise in conveying ideas and increasing retention in ST... more Comics as a pedagogical tool have shown promise in conveying ideas and increasing retention in STEM disciplines. Within the context of introductory programming courses, the visual, real-world analogies to programming problems that comics offer may allow engineering students to better grasp abstract algorithmic concepts that can be obscured by low-level programming language details. Creating comics also provides an opportunity for students to exercise metacognition, as they are asked to reflect on what they know and how to express it in a new way. Further work is needed, however, to develop comic assignments with rigorous rubric-based assessment. Our work in progress focuses on an intervention where students develop their own algorithmic comics and share them with peers. The design of the assignment and assessment rubric leverages prior work on using context-bounded analogy to teach programming concepts. Students will create a comic illustrating an algorithmic concept and then use it as a medium for further communication, responding to peer feedback in order to further refine their understanding. These communications, we hypothesize, will increase correctness of representations and scenarios in the comics through refinement and likewise, in their understanding of programming concepts. The rubric associated with the assignment will serve as a model for assessment of relevant criteria within comic-based student activities.
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Papers by Michelle Jarvie Eggart
To address this problem, in this paper, we present ongoing work investigating how practitioners and undergraduate students in non-computing engineering disciplines understand and use SEPTs. Specifically, we present the preliminary design of a qualitative study, including a survey instrument to assess familiarity with software engineering terminology and use of SEPTs. Our survey is based on the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) Guide, which outlines a generally accepted, standard body of knowledge expected of practicing early-career software engineers. We design the survey to be accessible even to those unfamiliar with the specific software engineering terminology used in the SWEBOK Guide. In addition to the survey itself, we describe our planned approach to conduct a thematic analysis of participants’ responses, using the taxonomy of the SWEBOK Guide as an analytical framework.
We hope that our study will help illuminate the landscape of how different engineering disciplines understand and develop software. While we intend for our survey to be used in studying engineers in non-computing fields, we anticipate that the results of our study will inform the development of further research to investigate SEPT use in engineering in a discipline-specific or discipline-agnostic manner. In the broader context, we expect that these insights will help us more identify and teach key SEPTs in undergraduate engineering education, and thereby help future engineers write and maintain software more effectively, whatever their discipline.
of changes in first-year engineering students’ perceptions of the
role of an engineer after completing the Engineers Without
Borders Challenge.
Background: Essential pre- and post-comparisons missing in
existing studies on the Challenge are provided, as well as comparison to other first-year project types across two universities.
Research Question: Do students who participate in servicelearning versus traditional project-based learning gain different
understandings of the role of an engineer?
Methodology: This work implements the questionnaire variant
of convergent mixed methods design. A survey containing a mix
of Likert-scale, open-ended short answer, and closed card sorting
questions was administered to students enrolled in first-year
engineering (FYE) courses across two institutions. Limitations of
this work include potential bias due to the pre/post survey design
and participant course self-selection.
Findings: Students’ perceptions of the roles of engineers did
not significantly differ by project type. However, changes in
their perceptions of technical skills as important to the role
of engineers did indicate the beginning of a transition from
discipline level thinking to process level thinking. Additionally,
course learning objectives influenced students’ perceptions of
the role of engineers—with an increase in awareness of the
importance of problem solving, communication, design process,
and teamwork and a decreasing sense of importance of items
missing from course objectives, such as creativity and helping
people. Engineers’ professional responsibility to diversity, equity,
and inclusion were absent from both the course syllabi and
student perceptions of the role of an engineer.
competency across engineering disciplines. Yet engineering students often resist the notion that computer programming is a
skill relevant to their future profession. Here are presented two
activities aimed at supporting the early development of engineering students’ attitudes and abilities regarding programming
in a first-year engineering course. Both activities offer students
insights into the way programs are constructed, which have been
identified as a source of confusion that may negatively affect
acceptance.
In the first activity, a structured, language-independent way
to approach programming problems through guided questions
was introduced, which has previously been used successfully in
introductory computer science courses. The team hypothesized
that guiding students through a structured reflection on how
they construct programs for their class assignments might help
reveal an understandable structure to them. Results showed that
students in the intervention group scored nearly a full letter
grade higher on the unit’s final programming assessment than
those in the control condition.
The second activity aimed to help students recognize how their
experience with MATLAB might help them interpret code in
other programming languages. In the intervention group, students were asked to review and provide comments for code
written in a variety of programming languages. A qualitative analysis of their reflections examined what skills students
reported they used and, specifically, how prior MATLAB experience may have aided their ability to read and comment on the
unfamiliar code. Overall, the ability to understand and recognize syntactic constructs was an essential skill in making sense
of code written in unfamiliar programming languages. Syntactic
constructs, lexical elements, and patterns were all recognized as
essential landmarks used by students interpreting code they did
not write, especially in new languages. Developing an understanding of the static structure and dynamic flow required of programs
was also an essential skill which helped the students.
Together, the results from the first activity and the
insights gained from the second activity suggest that guided questions to build skills in reading code may help mitigate confusion about program construction, thereby better preparing engineering students for computing-intensive careers
Purpose: This study investigated the advice offered to online faculty by first-year engineering (FYE) students who were forced online during the pandemic and faculty ideas to address the student advice.
Methods: This multi-methods study included qualitative data from 233 FYE students (in 67 teams across four class offerings) who provided advice for online faculty through an end-of-year team assignment, leveraging analytic induction methods for analysis. The Quality Matters Online Instructor Skill Set was used as the theoretical framework for viewing the student results (Quality Matters, 2016). After being presented with the student results, 41 faculty participants within two workshops brainstormed ways to respond to FYEs’ advice. Faculty workshop participants organized their own brainstorming/discussion results by themes within community documents.
Results: Students forced online expressed the following needs/desires: instructional design practices appropriate for the online environment; understanding, flexibility, and patience from their faculty (which we defined as Academic Grace); instructor social presence; appropriate pedagogy for online learning environments; effective assessment; technologically capable instructors; and instructor understanding of their institutional context. Faculty advised responding to online students with more Academic Grace.
Conclusions: This work reveals a new competency missing from traditional online instructor skills, that of Academic Grace. To embed Academic Grace within online courses, we propose that faculty consider a flexible bichronous model for online courses, in which students can choose to attend synchronous live lectures/classes or cover the material asynchronously at their own convenience. In this model, lecture/class recordings and supplemental asynchronous materials should be provided to foster fluid student movement between the learning modes. We also recommend online faculty training efforts include the components of Academic Grace: understanding, flexibility, and patience.
To address this problem, in this paper, we present ongoing work investigating how practitioners and undergraduate students in non-computing engineering disciplines understand and use SEPTs. Specifically, we present the preliminary design of a qualitative study, including a survey instrument to assess familiarity with software engineering terminology and use of SEPTs. Our survey is based on the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK) Guide, which outlines a generally accepted, standard body of knowledge expected of practicing early-career software engineers. We design the survey to be accessible even to those unfamiliar with the specific software engineering terminology used in the SWEBOK Guide. In addition to the survey itself, we describe our planned approach to conduct a thematic analysis of participants’ responses, using the taxonomy of the SWEBOK Guide as an analytical framework.
We hope that our study will help illuminate the landscape of how different engineering disciplines understand and develop software. While we intend for our survey to be used in studying engineers in non-computing fields, we anticipate that the results of our study will inform the development of further research to investigate SEPT use in engineering in a discipline-specific or discipline-agnostic manner. In the broader context, we expect that these insights will help us more identify and teach key SEPTs in undergraduate engineering education, and thereby help future engineers write and maintain software more effectively, whatever their discipline.
of changes in first-year engineering students’ perceptions of the
role of an engineer after completing the Engineers Without
Borders Challenge.
Background: Essential pre- and post-comparisons missing in
existing studies on the Challenge are provided, as well as comparison to other first-year project types across two universities.
Research Question: Do students who participate in servicelearning versus traditional project-based learning gain different
understandings of the role of an engineer?
Methodology: This work implements the questionnaire variant
of convergent mixed methods design. A survey containing a mix
of Likert-scale, open-ended short answer, and closed card sorting
questions was administered to students enrolled in first-year
engineering (FYE) courses across two institutions. Limitations of
this work include potential bias due to the pre/post survey design
and participant course self-selection.
Findings: Students’ perceptions of the roles of engineers did
not significantly differ by project type. However, changes in
their perceptions of technical skills as important to the role
of engineers did indicate the beginning of a transition from
discipline level thinking to process level thinking. Additionally,
course learning objectives influenced students’ perceptions of
the role of engineers—with an increase in awareness of the
importance of problem solving, communication, design process,
and teamwork and a decreasing sense of importance of items
missing from course objectives, such as creativity and helping
people. Engineers’ professional responsibility to diversity, equity,
and inclusion were absent from both the course syllabi and
student perceptions of the role of an engineer.
competency across engineering disciplines. Yet engineering students often resist the notion that computer programming is a
skill relevant to their future profession. Here are presented two
activities aimed at supporting the early development of engineering students’ attitudes and abilities regarding programming
in a first-year engineering course. Both activities offer students
insights into the way programs are constructed, which have been
identified as a source of confusion that may negatively affect
acceptance.
In the first activity, a structured, language-independent way
to approach programming problems through guided questions
was introduced, which has previously been used successfully in
introductory computer science courses. The team hypothesized
that guiding students through a structured reflection on how
they construct programs for their class assignments might help
reveal an understandable structure to them. Results showed that
students in the intervention group scored nearly a full letter
grade higher on the unit’s final programming assessment than
those in the control condition.
The second activity aimed to help students recognize how their
experience with MATLAB might help them interpret code in
other programming languages. In the intervention group, students were asked to review and provide comments for code
written in a variety of programming languages. A qualitative analysis of their reflections examined what skills students
reported they used and, specifically, how prior MATLAB experience may have aided their ability to read and comment on the
unfamiliar code. Overall, the ability to understand and recognize syntactic constructs was an essential skill in making sense
of code written in unfamiliar programming languages. Syntactic
constructs, lexical elements, and patterns were all recognized as
essential landmarks used by students interpreting code they did
not write, especially in new languages. Developing an understanding of the static structure and dynamic flow required of programs
was also an essential skill which helped the students.
Together, the results from the first activity and the
insights gained from the second activity suggest that guided questions to build skills in reading code may help mitigate confusion about program construction, thereby better preparing engineering students for computing-intensive careers
Purpose: This study investigated the advice offered to online faculty by first-year engineering (FYE) students who were forced online during the pandemic and faculty ideas to address the student advice.
Methods: This multi-methods study included qualitative data from 233 FYE students (in 67 teams across four class offerings) who provided advice for online faculty through an end-of-year team assignment, leveraging analytic induction methods for analysis. The Quality Matters Online Instructor Skill Set was used as the theoretical framework for viewing the student results (Quality Matters, 2016). After being presented with the student results, 41 faculty participants within two workshops brainstormed ways to respond to FYEs’ advice. Faculty workshop participants organized their own brainstorming/discussion results by themes within community documents.
Results: Students forced online expressed the following needs/desires: instructional design practices appropriate for the online environment; understanding, flexibility, and patience from their faculty (which we defined as Academic Grace); instructor social presence; appropriate pedagogy for online learning environments; effective assessment; technologically capable instructors; and instructor understanding of their institutional context. Faculty advised responding to online students with more Academic Grace.
Conclusions: This work reveals a new competency missing from traditional online instructor skills, that of Academic Grace. To embed Academic Grace within online courses, we propose that faculty consider a flexible bichronous model for online courses, in which students can choose to attend synchronous live lectures/classes or cover the material asynchronously at their own convenience. In this model, lecture/class recordings and supplemental asynchronous materials should be provided to foster fluid student movement between the learning modes. We also recommend online faculty training efforts include the components of Academic Grace: understanding, flexibility, and patience.