Collaborative Research: Online Interactive Learning Platforms in STEM Education: A Study of Motivation and Engagement

STEM课程中学生的低表现和保留率通常归因于缺乏参与和动力。交互式在线学习环境具有吸引学生和激励学习的潜力，因此可能有助于提高学生在STEM中的表现和保留率。本项目旨在研究互动在线学习课程平台中不同配置和设计元素的功效。这个名为OneUp Learning的平台之前是由项目团队成员开发的。该研究将衡量该平台对学生在计算机科学和数据科学课程中的参与度和学习成绩的影响。预计本研究的结果将导致更好的在线学习环境设计，以支持学生的动机，并有助于改善本科STEM教育。本项目的研究设计将以自我决定理论为指导，这是一个经过验证的心理学理论，用于理解动机和行为改变。该项目将追求三个目标：1)对OneUp平台的不同元素在不同学习环境中的应用进行一系列实证研究；2)对OneUp平台进行扩展，增加新元素，增强平台的社交维度；3)开发教学材料，帮助教师使用OneUp平台为参与机构的其他课程开发互动模块。为了传播这些研究的结果，项目团队将通过研讨会、众包和相关策略，争取社区积极参与。该项目是两个机构之间的合作，其中一个是少数民族服务。拥有不同学生群体的机构之间的合作伙伴关系将有助于探索各种平台功能对不同人口群体的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The low performance and retention of students in STEM classes are often attributed to lack of engagement and motivation. Interactive online learning environments have the potential to engage students and motivate learning, and thus may contribute to increased performance and retention of students in STEM. This project seeks to examine the efficacy of different configurations and design elements in a course platform for interactive, online learning. This platform, OneUp Learning, was previously developed by project team members. The research study will measure the effects of the platform on the engagement and academic performance of students in computer science and data science courses. It is expected that results of this research will lead to better design of online learning environments that support student motivation and contribute to improving undergraduate STEM education.The research design of this project will be guided by Self Determination Theory, a well-validated psychological theory for understanding motivation and behavior change. The project will pursue three objectives: 1) conduct a series of empirical studies on the application of different elements of the OneUp platform in different learning contexts; 2) extend the OneUp platform by adding new elements to strengthen the platform's social dimension; and 3) develop instructional materials to help faculty use the OneUp platform to develop interactive modules for other courses at the participating institutions. To disseminate the results of these studies, the project team will solicit active community participation, through workshops, crowdsourcing, and related strategies. The project is a collaboration between two institutions, one of which is minority-serving. The partnership between institutions with different student populations will enable exploration of the impact of various platform features on diverse demographic groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.