Students’ Learning Support and Perceptions in an Online Mathematics Course in a Business Faculty

Abstract

Online courses are growing in higher education, resulting from an increased access to information and communication technologies. While such courses allow time and/or space flexibility for both students and instructors, they also promote active learning and require more autonomy from the students. In this paper, we present the main design features of a new prerequisite mathematics online course in a business faculty. While most of the course was designed in an asynchronous mode, it also includes blended synchronous support sessions that students can attend each week. As a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project, we related the design features of the course to students’ learning support and perceptions by analyzing the content of the learning management system as well as students’ narrative comments in course teaching evaluations over five semesters. The main themes reported concerned the appreciated course design and structure, the enhanced instructor’s presence through commented slideshows and support sessions, the instructor’s accessibility and care, a challenging but relevant course, and collaborative practice with a software application. In particular, the instructor’s presence and follow-up throughout the semester was highlighted by the students as a means to support their learning. Furthermore, most students’ comments reported positive perceptions about the online course and specific design features. Several comments also allowed to identify potential areas for change in a future version on the course, as part of the SoTL research that focuses on teaching and learning improvement.

Assuring the quality of online learning in higher education: Adaptations in design and implementation

“…Additionally, most students agreed that they need online courses with a clear organisation and structure; content divided into weekly topics, presented in manageable chunks, and weekly activities or assessments aligned with the respective goals of the unit. Other researchers also reported the benefits of this structuring in facilitating comprehension (Baldwin et al, 2018;David & Frederic, 2020;Heilporn & Desrochers, 2020;Ng & Baharom, 2018). This serves scaffolding (D'Agustino, 2012) while providing consistency (Soffer & Nachmias, 2018).…”

“…Additional group work can include presentations or peer-reviewed tasks where students provide feedback (Bolliger & Martin, 2018). It is worth mentioning that some students prefer individual assessment over collaborative (Heilporn & Desrochers, 2020), possibly due to the difficulties related to online or distant coordination.…”

“…The learners value multi-level online interaction (Adanır et al, 2020). First, interaction with the instructors can be provided through comments in presentations, forum discussions and instructor-led weekly meetings (Heilporn & Desrochers, 2020), with emphasis on individual communication (Trespalacios & Lowenthal, 2019) and provision of adequate support (Ng & Baharom, 2018). Second, students need to work in a collaborative environment (Ng & Baharom, 2018).…”

“…Mutual collaboration for the co-construction of knowledge can increase students' satisfaction (Lee et al, 2019;Shonfeld, 2021); a sense of connection derives from belonging to a group. Regarding assessment, though, students might prefer individual assignments (Heilporn & Desrochers, 2020). Third, students usually expect more interactive features with the learning materials because this increases their engagement (Adanır et al, 2020).…”

“…In addition to interactivity, learners are pleased with a well-structured course. This includes dividing the content into asynchronous weekly modules with introductory guidelines, the material presented via comment-enriched slideshows and problem-oriented activities (Heilporn & Desrochers, 2020). A structured course with practical activities aligned with students' job-related needs is favoured (Trespalacios & Lowenthal, 2019).…”