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

该项目旨在通过改进大学一年级学生的在线数学补习教育课程，为国家利益服务。 该项目将鼓励学生发展积极的求助行为，提高一年级学生对具有挑战性的STEM网关课程的准备，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。COVID-19迫使高等教育机构在在线远程学习环境中进行学术教学。随着这项工作的大部分是异步和学习者主导的，它是越来越有必要的，学生拥有或发展工具性的寻求帮助的行为（定义为请求帮助，以促进理解和指导一个人的未来表现）在孤立的在线环境中取得成功。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）教师和课程设计者如何影响学生在在线远程学习中采取工具性求助行为。 将通过加强现有的在线微积分前学习模块，包括数据支持的提示（例如侵入性建议，自动提醒，关于寻求帮助行为的教学视频），进一步促进寻求帮助的行为。 参与这项研究将通过有意的招聘策略和在线课程的费用减免来帮助210名学生（每年70名），以确保有统计学意义上的学生参与这项探索性研究项目。 该项目旨在实现80%的学生成功完成在线课程并获得“及格”的短期结果（从70%的基线）和80%的完成者以C或更高的成绩通过微积分I的中期结果（从73%的基线）。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、教师策略以及短期和长期结果之间的关系。虽然有一个强大的研究机构检查寻求帮助的行为在小学和高中的学生，有一个研究的帮助寻求帮助的行为在网上STEM课程的研究很少。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、同伴和网站等匿名在线（自动）来源。在线计算机介导的求助行为，如通过电子邮件，的好处还不清楚。然而，研究人员发现，参加在线课程的大学生比普通课堂的学生经历的求助威胁更少，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影响学生主动采取积极的求助行为是目前文献研究的空白。该项目将揭示这一高度相关和研究不足的领域。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。该奖项反映了NSF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.