4. Discussion
The past half century has been marked by a gradual shift in higher education pedagogy from the transmittal model (i.e., “sage on the stage”) to the transformational model (i.e., “guide on the side”) (King, 1993; Slavich and Zimbardo, 2012). This transition was unexpectedly hastened by the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the global higher education community to rapidly adapt to partially- or fully-online course offerings (Crawford et al., 2020). Fortunately, a diverse set of techniques already exist to facilitate transformational teaching, including active learning. Here, we further the knowledge from the literature by providing observations and suggestions from our collective use of active learning activities in ecology-focused courses.
First, online active learning activities should be explicitly focused on the learning objectives and, as such, should be relatively short. For example, we recommend that (1) fill-in-the-blank activities should be no more than 2-3 pages in length, (2) activities regarding a reading assignment should contain a maximum of 10 questions, and (3) discussion or forum activities should comprise 2-3 main questions. By restricting the length of active learning activities, online instructors are compelled to focus specifically on the primary learning goals for the course. As an added benefit, a small number of brief, focused activities provides students with a greater proportion of time to self-learn the material (i.e., at a comfortable pace and using individualized techniques) and develop their own interpretations (Vilppu et al., 2019).
Second, mandatory submission for active learning assignments can aid online instructors in tracking student attendance. This is particularly important for institutes that rely on federal aid funds. According to the Federal Student Aid handbook, students are considered “in attendance” in an online course when they (1) submit assignments or exams, (2) post comments in an online discussion, or (3) participate in an interactive tutorial (Office of Distance Education and eLearning, 2017; E-Campus Solutions Center, 2020). Importantly, mandatory submission of active learning activities does not necessitate evaluation of every assignment by the instructor. Self-evaluation by the students is considered to be a valuable learning tool; in fact, evaluation is classified as higher-order learning (Berge, 1995). We evaluated online and face-to-face active learning activities using the same strategy: we assigned participation points for fully completed activities and then allowed the students to self-correct their answers. For example, in an undergraduate Wildlife Plant Identification course, we assigned active learning activities for every weekly lecture; if a student earned 100% participation points for fully completing an activity, then the student was granted access to the answer key for the activity. Although self-evaluation lessens the required amount of involvement from the online instructor, we still recommend that the instructor provide feedback on every submission to increase student engagement through student-instructor communication (Dixson, 2010; Slavich and Zimbardo, 2012).
Third, we recommend incorporating active learning activities that allow students to guide their own unique instructional journeys. This strategy, known as student-centered learning, enables students to independently discover the resources available to them. Although student-driven resource exploration requires the online instructor to spend more time guiding students (Gabriel and Kaufield, 2008; Schrum et al., 2005), it increases student engagement by creating communication opportunities among students as well as between students and the instructor (Slavich and Zimbardo, 2012). Student-centered learning also promotes student choice by allowing students to apply course material to their own interests. This further heightens student engagement because each student has the opportunity to play an active part in shaping the course content (Slavich and Zimbardo, 2012).
Fourth, if the online instructor opts to use active learning activities that increase student engagement through student-to-student communication, then the instructor must facilitate that communication. Prior to the start of the activity, it is imperative that the online instructor clearly state his or her expectations for courtesy and professional language. The instructor should also designate precise deadlines for student communications. In our experience, most online students wait until the last possible moment (i.e., the deadline) to submit comments and hand in work, which may result in insufficient time to finish a final product. A series of deadlines throughout the activity allows students to complete tasks in a step-by-step manner and helps to provide sufficient time for completing the final product and achieving the final learning objective. Finally, if the online instructor is requiring group work or peer evaluation at any point then he or she should divide the students into groups and set guidelines for the students to follow, thereby fostering a positive virtual environment.
Ecology-focused courses, especially field- and laboratory-based courses, present a unique challenge for online delivery. In field and lab settings, students are granted ample time for discovery, problem-solving, and reflection, all while receiving concurrent encouragement and guidance from the instructor, who naturally acts as a facilitator. These in-person experiences can never be completely replicated in an online setting; however, when based on sound pedagogy, the suggestions and techniques presented above can enhance the online student’s experience by activating ecological knowledge, and can even be incorporated into in-person offerings once the current COVID-19 crisis has abated.