Journal of Computing in Higher Education

Educational Technologies (EdTech) and Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) are established fields of academic research with the potential to transform educational practices and outcomes. Yet, they are currently facing several problems that undermine their efficacy and relevance. In this discussion paper, we examine recurrent complaints of researchers in the field allowing us to identify four main root causes responsible for hindering the impact of the field (starting with the less serious to most serious): (4) Lack of formal methods to evaluate, give credit, share and mature prototypes, (3) The prioritization of publication and citation metrics over the acquisition of scientific knowledge that leads to the enhancement of education and learning, (2) Researchers and their lack of practical experience in the field, and (1) The absence of robust epistemological paradigms and frameworks. In this paper, we lay down the problems caused by these root causes, discuss solutions for these causes, and propose implementable steps towards these solutions.

Despite the benefits of collaborative learning, students often experience undesirable issues, especially in asynchronous online courses where place and time distribute group members. While the complex nature of social dynamics of asynchronous distributed learning groups warrants a comprehensive approach, there is a lack of empirical research on a holistic design to address issues related to online collaboration. This study employed design-based research and evaluated strategies and tools to address social loafing, the difficulty of regular communication, and incompatibility of group work in three iterations of design, enactment, and evaluation in graduate online courses. Cooperative game theory, social interdependence theory, and Piaget’s socio-cognitive conflict theory informed the development of design principles for collaborative learning: (1) fairness, (2) group processing, and (3) individual accountability. Achieving a perception of fairness could be more effective than individual accountability in reducing social loafing. Equal participation brought several desirable changes to group dynamics. This study provides practitioners with evidence-based strategies to facilitate productive group culture for asynchronous online collaborative learning.

Research on computing in higher education research has been dominated by studies on things that work (or not). While useful, the field now needs more research on authentic tech-related problems of practice and viable solutions that resolve them. This article describes one such approach: Educational Design Research (EDR). It begins with a brief portrayal of the research we have, and elaborates on the research we need now, before introducing EDR as one way to meet today’s needs. The evolutionary nature of EDR is discussed and multiple illustrations are given before a generic model is presented, together with a detailed example. Challenges are discussed as well as ways to support design researchers in facing these challenges. With the goal of increasing the relevance and robustness of scholarship in our field, the piece concludes with a call for increased use of EDR approaches.

This paper examines the value of embedding a systems-thinking lens in higher education research. A systems approach enables institutions to move beyond isolated interventions to explore the broader relationships and structures influencing learning and development by addressing the interconnected dimensions of people, processes, and technology. The paper emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement, iterative research processes, and ethical technology integration for sustainable and impactful research. Challenges such as institutional silos, power dynamics, and data ethics are discussed alongside strategies to foster inclusivity, collaboration, and adaptability in research practices. The authors present a systems-thinking framework that offers actionable recommendations and guiding research questions aligned with institutional goals and societal needs across three domains: people, processes, and technology.

With the globalization and innovation of digital technologies, scholars believe that the Internet generation, which lives, studies, and works in rich digital environments and ubiquitous social networks, can naturally enhance their digital literacy (DL). The study conducts a DL assessment among 511 English majors at universities in Vietnam using two types of self-developed and correlated measurement tools: subjective and objective. It tests the reliability and validity of the DL instruments and elucidates the relationship between digital self-efficacy and objective assessment. The DL instruments proved reliable and valid for assessing DL through factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and Rasch measurement. The findings indicate that, in the current educational research context, DL is a multidimensional model with four factors: digital task response; collaboration, interaction, communication, and learning safety protection; digital content creation; and digital self-learning and updating. The results of the subjective assessment demonstrate positive levels of DL and moderate levels of DL achievement. Moreover, the study finds that there is no significant difference between genders in either subjective or objective assessments; however, a noticeable disparity has been observed among students across different years in both types of assessments. Although the participants estimate that their DL is higher than their actual achievement, the gap between the results of the two types of assessment is non-significant. Furthermore, the participants’ appraisal exerts positive effects on their achievement despite the low path coefficient value. Lastly, we present certain implications for English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learning with technology and offer recommendations for future research.

Amid rapid technological advancements, it is increasingly crucial for educational technology research to move beyond a narrow focus on tools and gadgets, addressing instead the broader social and ethical challenges these technologies bring to education and human performance. Translational research, with roots in the biomedical sciences, is proposed here as a framework to bridge the gap between research findings and their practical applications, ultimately enhancing the positive societal impact of educational technology. We highlight the limitations of a technocentric approach and argue that the ethical and social implications of technology in education should take precedence, aligning research with real-world needs and problems. Key components of the translational-forward research approach, such as community engagement, collaborative problem-solving, and commitment to equity and social justice, are emphasized as essential for establishing a value-driven, learner-centered research agenda. This agenda envisions educational technology not only as a tool to improve learning outcomes but also as a means to foster social responsibility and advance equity and inclusion. Fully embracing stakeholder engagement and training future researchers in the process of translation and civic-minded approaches is essential to advancing an equitable, impactful, and socially responsible approach in educational technology research.

Since it was first developed in 2006, the hybrid flexible, or HyFlex, course model has been growing in prevalence in higher education. HyFlex courses are defined as those allowing students to decide whether to experience course material in person, online synchronously, or asynchronously on a weekly or daily basis without warning to, or permission from, the course’s instructor. Empirical research regarding this instructional approach is still relatively limited despite increased attention during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing interest in providing alternatives to fully in-person instruction has made it necessary to closely examine the existing body of research to determine the effectiveness of HyFlex instruction, challenges that it presents, strategies used to meet these challenges, and gaps in knowledge that must be filled by future studies. This systematic review analyzed 57 empirical studies focusing on the HyFlex course model during the last 10 years to determine its learning outcomes, challenges, beneficial technologies, instructional strategies and supports, and recommendations for future mitigation efforts.

Jacques Ellul, a 20th century French academic, is best known for his writing on technique, understood as both individual means to ends and an all-encompassing system that prioritizes efficient solutions to problems. While Ellul’s terminology is not necessarily familiar in contemporary educational technology research, it represents traditional understandings of individual tools as a subset of instructional systems and captures the field’s emphasis on finding more efficient and efficacious means of teaching and learning. However, Ellul’s writing on technique is largely skeptical, creating an opportunity for educational technology researchers to turn a more critical eye towards our emphasis on solutions to problems. This essay argues that while an increased emphasis problems over things is welcome, Ellul’s writing invites more careful consideration of what it means to solve problems. In particular, I draw on Ellul to ask three provocative questions: which problems should we solve, who should solve those problems, and is solving problems always good?

The educational technology field is at a critical juncture, facing the dual pressures of rapid technological advancement and a pressing need for research that genuinely addresses educational challenges. Despite increasing awareness of these issues, a significant amount of educational technology research remains entrenched in superficial or trend-driven inquiries, failing to tackle deeper, systemic issues. This paper critically examines the historical and institutional forces sustaining what we term “the research we don’t need,” and argues for a transformative shift toward “the research we need.” Such research must prioritize depth, long-term impact, and relevance over mere novelty or ease of publication. We outline how entrenched practices, including academic publishing standards, tenure and promotion metrics, and funding structures, contribute to a cycle that rewards superficial research. To disrupt this cycle, we propose actionable strategies to foster a research ecosystem that values substantive contributions and advocates for systemic change. Ultimately, we urge scholars, institutions, and professional organizations to embrace a collective responsibility to redefine research priorities holistically. By doing so, we can foster a field that meaningfully impacts educators, learners, and society. This is not merely a call for incremental improvements; it is a challenge to realign the field’s fundamental purpose toward more impactful, responsible, and enduring scholarship.

This study used both questionnaire and clickstream data to examine the relations between study approach, study time, and academic performance in low-stake and high-stake assessments in flipped classrooms. The questionnaire data identified two clusters of students reporting deep and surface study approaches. Students who reported a deep study approach performed better than those who reported a surface study approach on both low-stake and high-stake assessments. The clickstream data detected two clusters of students using either preparation-oriented or assessment-oriented approaches. Students who adopted preparation-oriented approach achieved higher on both low-stake and high-stake assessments. Students’ study time measured by both questionnaire data and clickstream data consistently contributed to both low-stake and high-stake assessments. However, the contributions of study approach to academic performance were not consistent across the two types of data, as self-reported study approach was only a significant predictor of high-stake but not low-stake assessment, suggesting that study approach measured by questionnaire data might not be sufficiently sensitive to detect variations in study approaches in flipped classrooms. Pedagogically, the results suggest that raising students’ awareness of the importance of pre-lecture learning and aligning assessments and learning activities may foster quality flipped classroom learning. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the advantages of combining questionnaire and clickstream data to understand students’ experiences of learning in flipped classrooms.

Despite the enormous investment in educational technology research, there are sincere questions about whether it is having a meaningful effect on issues that really matter. Put simply, is education better because of us? In this paper we argue that our field is not having the impact it could, due largely to our instrumentalist approach to ed tech research. Instrumentalism transforms the educational problems we study into little more than opportunities to efficiently deploy technologies and other resources that are presumed to optimize educational systems. But despite instrumentalism’s near-ubiquity, there is an alternative. By analyzing a case study of research characterized by researcher immersion and entanglement with the situation under study, we show how educational technology can resist the instrumentalist tendencies that reduce even the most serious problem into simply another resource to be optimized. In large part this occurs as we adopt practices that demand that we change ourselves—striving on our parts for more sensitivity, more understanding, more caring—so we are up to the task helping education become more just, more humane, and more focused on students’ existential development.

The goal of the present study was to map the available evidence and review the existing knowledge base on first-generation college students’ learning in online environments in hopes of pointing out future research directions for the scholarly community and providing implications for practitioners. To this end, a systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to select scholarly sources and grey literature related to online learning involving first-generation college students in higher education settings. The findings of the present review identified several extrinsic barriers that could influence first-generation college students’ success in online environments, such as financial constraints, multiple obligations, and lack of flexibility in course structures. In spite of the hurdles, first-generation college students were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to learn in online settings. Further, there was no evidence to show that first-generation college students were less capable of regulating their own learning in online learning environments than their peers. There was no conclusive evidence on the course withdrawal rate and degree completion between generation status, either. However, many studies indicated that first-generation college students who studied in online settings were less likely to perform well and stay in the programs than those who studied in face-to-face learning environments. The key to supporting first-generation college students’ learning in online environments is to create inclusive and welcoming learning contexts at course and school levels. Suggestions for future research and implications for online course and program design are discussed.

Gamification, which consists of incorporating elements of game design into non-game contexts, has been widely used in educational environments to increase students’ engagement. One such gamification strategy has used individual leaderboards, ranking students based on their performance in a particular task or activity such as a quiz. Most research has demonstrated a positive impact of leaderboards on various academic outcomes, and notably cognitive and behavioral engagement. However, as leaderboards are mostly based on competitive processes, they can be socially threatening and lead to a negative impact on social engagement for students who do not value competition, such as female students in psychology. The present study compared a ‘leaderboard’ condition based on performance on a series of quizzes to a ‘non-leaderboard’ condition among first-year female psychology students during a series of lectures. Results revealed that, independently of the students’ initial competitive orientation, exposure to a leaderboard led to lower social engagement with peers. No effects were found on other forms of engagement. An improvement in performance on quizzes from the first to the last lecture was also observed, independently of whether students were exposed to a leaderboard or not. These findings suggest that the potentially negative effects of leaderboards on students’ social engagement should be reconsidered taking into account differing student profiles regarding competition.

In this paper, the authors examine the complex relationship between education research and policymaking, analyzing key barriers and potential solutions for increasing research impact on policy. Four main challenges are identified: differing cultures and incentives between researchers and policymakers, communication barriers, competing values in decision-making, and the political nature of education policy. We posit that bridging research and policy is challenging but may be possible through research designs that consider implementation contexts, relationship building, policy-analytic approaches, and institutional support. We conclude with specific recommendations for expanding policy-related work and research in the field of educational technology as well as related translational work to facilitate better connections to policy and practice.

Exploring the factors that affect the intention to continue using MOOCs (ICM) has become an important topic, which attracted a widespread attention from scholars and practitioners. However, the previous researches have rarely considered the influence of “distance” on the ICM. Therefore based on the modified technology acceptance model, this paper proposed a new model by integrating the modified technology acceptance model and transactional distance theory to analyze the influence of “distance” on the ICM. A total of 256 samples were collected through both online and offline questionnaires. The PLS-SEM method and the software of Smart-PLS 3.0 was used to process the data. The results indicated that this model could explain 50.60% variance of the ICM. The transactional distance (interactivity) led to the ICM through the (chain) mediating role of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and satisfaction. Moreover, the learner autonomy significantly moderated the relationship between transactional distance (interactivity) and PU, PEOU and satisfaction. This study provided a better understanding of the relationships among interactivity, learner autonomy, PU, PEOU, satisfaction and the ICM, which contributed to guide practitioners to better design MOOCs to improve the ICM.

One way to help frame a focus on problems instead of things is the Grand Challenges concept, which has been used in many other fields to date. Grand Challenges are an articulation of large-scale, complex problems that may be addressed through coordinated and sustained efforts but require long-term effort. Often, the articulation of Grand Challenges for a field can drive collaborations, grant funding through federal agencies and foundations, and provide a structure for research and publications around nodes of activities related to priority problems or needs. In this paper, I propose that the field of instructional design and technology (IDT) adopt a Grand Challenges initiative, provide examples from other fields, and provide examples of possible Grand Challenges in our field along with considerations and next steps for the IDT research, practice and policy community.

The flipped classroom approach involves restructuring traditional classroom instruction and facilitating students' active involvement with educational resources beyond the classroom setting. This approach allows for in-class activities that promote active learning and collaboration. The present study directed to investigate the influence of the flipped classroom on creative thinking, self-esteem, and social interaction among intermediate-level language learners. However, there has been limited discussion on this topic so far. In 2023, researchers employed a multi-stage cluster sampling technique to select participants. A total of 420 intermediate language learners from various institutions were randomly divided into an experimental group (210 learners) and a control group (210 learners). To ensure participant homogeneity, the Oxford placement test was used to assess the language proficiency of the learners. The research instruments included the Torrance creative thinking scale, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the Garsham and Elliott social interaction scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to evaluate the data applying SPSS 25 and Amos 24 software. The findings from both descriptive and inferential analyses imply that the flipped classroom approach has a significant impact on creative thinking, self-esteem, and social interaction among English foreign language learners (EFLLs). Language educators are encouraged to adopt specific elements of this approach, such as structured pre-class activities (e.g., video lectures), interactive in-class discussions, and collaborative projects, to create engaging learning environments for EFLLs. Further research should explore the long-term effects of the flipped classroom on language retention and learner motivation, as well as its applicability across various proficiency levels, age groups, and cultural contexts.

As collaborative learning environments, forums in massive open online courses (MOOCs) seek to facilitate knowledge construction though meaningful discussions. Such discussions, however, rarely occur Problems such as difficult navigation, non-interactive participation, and brief interactions hinder discussions in MOOC forums. While pedagogical design holds promise for addressing these issues, few studies have implemented interventions to explore their impact. This paper presents findings from an intervention redesigning the forums in two MOOCs. Using a layered approach, we redesigned 12 forums to improve navigation, promote interactive participation, and increase the length of learners’ interactions. Results show that our intervention significantly reduced forum posts with uninformative titles, thereby improving navigation. Our intervention also helped learners both start and reply to threads, improving the quality of their forum interaction. Lastly, our intervention helped to increase the number of interactions, though interactions were not necessarily longer. These findings highlight the importance of pedagogical design in fostering meaningful discussions in MOOC forums.

Considering both the transformative opportunities and challenges presented by generative AI (GenAI) in academic writing, effectively integrating GenAI into the academic setting becomes a significant need requiring prioritization. Yet, there is limited understanding regarding the nature of interactions between different types of students, what behavioral patterns students exhibit during a student-GenAI interaction (SAI) on a given task, and how these different SAI patterns relate to the actual writing task performance. This study, therefore, aimed to identify SAI patterns of academic writing tasks depending on students’ level of AI literacy and examine the differences in academic writing performance between the identified SAI patterns. Drawing from the combination of three data sources, including think-aloud protocols, screen-recordings, and chat histories between 36 Chinese graduate students and a GenAI writing system, epistemic network analysis (ENA) was used to reveal the distinctive SAI patterns of students with different levels of AI literacy. The study found that students with a high level of AI literacy exhibited a collaborative approach to SAI, actively accepting GenAI’s suggestions and engaging GenAI in meta-cognitive-related activities such as planning, whereas students with a low level of AI literacy demonstrated much less interaction with GenAI in completing their writing tasks, instead choosing to ideate and evaluate independently. In addition, the Wilcoxon rank-sum (Mann-Whitney U) test was conducted to assess the writing task performance of the two AI literacy groups. Findings revealed statistical differences in all evaluation rubrics (content, structure/organization, expression). This study offers implications for the design and implementation of GenAI agents in writing tasks and the pedagogy of GenAI-assisted instruction.

Collaborative knowledge building (CKB) encourages students to build on knowledge at the group level through peer interactions. Process and summative assessments are essential methods for understanding and promoting the quality of CKB, but few studies focus on the assessment at the group level. To provide an operationalizable measurement of CKB process, this research conducted a process and summative assessment of Knowledge Forum data from groups of graduated students, then conducted group classification based on the assessments, and further examined the transitional and developmental characteristics. The research proposes an operationalizable measurement equation for assessing the quality of the CKB at the group level, it also proposes a summative assessment based on the final knowledge artefacts produced by the groups. Group classification was identified based on the results of both the process assessment and the summative assessment. Using the process mining method, this research visualized and demonstrated the procedural details of learning engagement within different group classifications during the CKB processes. The research identified four distinct group classifications based on the process assessment of CKB and the summative assessment of final research proposals. The results of process mining showed that four group classifications exhibited varying transitional and developmental processes in terms of social, cognitive, and metacognitive engagement. Results showed that the high-quality CKB process and performance primarily depended on progressive interactions based on group-level knowledge negotiation or perspective exchange, rather than merely interacting on questioning or information sharing. Three significant pedagogical implications and three assessment implications were proposed.