Enhancing Student Help-Seeking Behavior and Reinforcing Problem-Solving Skills in Online Mathematics Learning

本计划旨在改善大学一年级线上数学辅导课程，以服务国家利益。该项目将鼓励学生培养积极的求助行为，改善一年级学生对具有挑战性的STEM入门课程的准备，并使学生掌握在日益技术增强的学术环境中取得成功的技能。新冠肺炎疫情迫使高等院校在网络远程学习环境中开展学术教学。由于大部分工作都是异步的，并且是学习者主导的，因此学生拥有或发展工具性寻求帮助的行为（定义为请求帮助以促进理解和指导自己未来的表现）在孤立的在线环境中取得成功越来越有必要。具体而言，该项目将进行一项探索性研究，调查：(a)需要数学复习的学生的求助行为，(b)学生选择寻求帮助的点和原因，以及(c)教师和课程设计师如何影响学生在在线远程学习中采用工具性求助行为。通过加强现有的在线微积分预科学习模块，包括数据支持的提示（例如侵入式建议、自动提醒、关于求助行为的教学视频），将进一步促进求助行为。参与研究将通过有意的招聘策略和免除210名学生（每年70名）在线课程的费用来帮助参与研究，以确保统计上有显著数量的学生参与这个探索性研究项目。该项目旨在实现80%的学生成功完成在线课程，成绩为“及格”（基线为70%），80%的完成者通过微积分I，成绩为C或更高（基线为73%）的短期结果。在这个为期三年的项目中，项目团队将使用迭代过程来创建和改进一个概念模型，该模型涉及STEM领域大学生的求助行为、教师策略和短期和长期结果之间的关系。尽管对小学生和高中生的求助行为进行了大量研究，但对在线STEM课程中大专学生的求助行为进行研究的研究却很少。现在，由于疫情的影响，在线学习呈指数级增长，学生可能有更多的机会获得帮助，包括教师、同伴和匿名的在线（自动化）资源，如网站。以计算机为媒介的在线求助行为（如通过电子邮件）的好处尚不清楚。然而，研究人员发现，与传统课堂的学生相比，参加在线课程的大学生遇到的寻求帮助的威胁更少，他们更喜欢通过电子方式寻求帮助。如何在网络高等教育学习环境中有意识地影响学生采取积极的求助行为，是目前文献中的空白。该项目将揭示这一高度相关且研究不足的领域。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving curricula in online remedial mathematics education for first-year college students. The project will encourage students to develop positive help-seeking behavior, improve first-year student preparation for challenging STEM gateway courses, and equip students with skills to succeed in an increasingly technology-enhanced academic environment. COVID-19 has forced institutions of higher education to conduct academic instruction in online distance-learning environments. With much of this work being asynchronous and learner-led, it is increasingly necessary that students possess or develop instrumental help-seeking behavior (defined as requesting assistance to promote understanding and guide one’s future performance) to succeed in the isolated online environment. Specifically, the project will conduct an exploratory research study that investigates: (a) help-seeking behavior among students in need of math review, (b) points at which students elect to seek help and why, and (c) how instructors and curriculum designers can influence students to adopt instrumental help-seeking behavior in online remote learning. Help-seeking behavior will be further facilitated by enhancing existing online precalculus learning modules to include data-supported prompts (e.g. intrusive advising, automated reminders, instructional videos on help-seeking behavior). Participation in the study will be aided by an intentional recruitment strategy and fee waivers for the online course to 210 total students (70 per year) to ensure a statistically significant number of students participate in this exploratory research project. This project aims to achieve a short-term outcome of 80% of students successfully completing the online curriculum with a grade of “Pass” (from a baseline of 70%) and a midterm outcome of 80% of completers passing Calculus I with a C or better (from a baseline of 73%).Over the course of this three-year project, the project team will use an iterative process to create and improve a conceptual model about relationships between help-seeking behaviors, instructor strategies, and short- and long-term outcomes for college students in STEM fields. Although there is a robust body of research examining help-seeking behaviors in elementary and high school students, there is a paucity of research examining help-seeking behaviors of postsecondary students in online STEM courses. Now that online learning has increased exponentially due to the pandemic, students potentially have even more access to sources of help, including instructor, peer, and anonymous online (automated) sources like websites. The benefits of online computer-mediated help-seeking behaviors, such as via email, are not yet clear. However, researchers have found that college students enrolled in courses with online components experienced less help-seeking threat than students in typical classrooms did, and they preferred to seek help electronically. The current gap in the literature is how to influence students to adopt positive help-seeking behavior deliberately in an online higher education learning environment. The project will shed light onto this highly relevant and understudied area. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.