Demand for flexible online offerings has continued to increase as prospective students seek to upskill, re-train, and undertake further study. Education institutions are moving to intensive modes of online study delivered in 6-to 8-week study periods which offer more frequent intake periods. Prior literature has established key success factors for nonintensive (12-13 weeks) online offerings; for teachers, skill development is critical to promote a flexible, responsive approach and maintain technological capabilities; for students, an ability to navigate the technology, interact with the learning environment in meaningful ways, and self-regulate learning is important, as the absence of physical infrastructure and opportunities for face-to-face interactions in online environments places a greater emphasis on alternate forms of communication and support. The current paper explores known best practice principles for online instructors, students, and student support and considers how these might apply to intensive online environments. It is suggested that the accelerated nature of learning in intensive settings may place additional demands on students, instructors, and support mechanisms. Further research is imperative to determine predictors of success in online intensive learning environments.

No abstract

Full bibliographic details must be given when referring to, or quoting from full items including the author's name, the title of the work, publication details where relevant (place, publisher, date), pagination, and for theses or dissertations the awarding institution, the degree type awarded, and the date of the award.

Difficulties are often an unavoidable but important part of the learning process. This seems particularly so for complex conceptual learning. Challenges in the learning process are however, particularly difficult to detect and respond to in educational environments where growing class sizes and the increased use of digital technologies mean that teachers are unable to provide nuanced and personalized feedback and support to help students overcome their difficulties. Individual differences, the specifics of the learning activity, and the difficulty of giving individual feedback in large classes and digital environments all add to the challenge of responding to student difficulties and confusion. In this integrative review, we aim to explore difficulties and resulting emotional responses in learning. We will review the primary principles of cognitive disequilibrium and contrast these principles with work on desirable difficulties, productive failure, impasse driven learning, and pure discovery-based learning. We conclude with a theoretical model of the zones of optimal and sub-optimal confusion as a way of conceptualizing the parameters of productive and non-productive difficulties experienced by students while they learn.