Ecampus Research Fellows

Experiential learning, particularly internships, have been identified throughout the literature and among universities and colleges as playing a critical role in career preparedness for students, with enhancing skills including leadership, professionalism and communication. Many academic programs have internships as the only experiential learning requirement for students. However, for online students, especially those with other obligations, an internship requirement can be a barrier that may impact their ability to continue within that particular program (Gray, 2025, Wolfgram et al., 2020, Shaw & Bergson, 2022). Online students often have jobs, other classes and family commitments, and online learning allows them to work around these responsibilities (Bellare, 2022, Johnson, 2019). Experiential learning requirements for online students need to be developed in a flexible way, with offering more than one option for experiential learning requirements to eliminate barriers and to increase retention. It is also important to measure the effectiveness of the experiential learning offerings to ensure they are adequately preparing students for the workforce. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether a second type of experiential learning, projects, can provide effective career readiness skills similar to internships for online students, with a more flexible format. The findings of this study will help to identify how academic programs can expand their experiential learning options for online students to increase equity and retention. The results will provide information on students’ proficiency of the career readiness competencies to inform curricular decisions to ensure online students are well prepared for their careers after graduation.

Online computer science students want to use Generative AI (GenAI) tools for learning, and anticipate using them in their CS careers, but extended usage of these tools can inhibit their ability to think critically. This presents CS educators with the difficult but urgent task of figuring out how to incorporate GenAI into courses such that it helps students leverage GenAI as a productivity tool without degrading their cognitive abilities. Additionally, there is increased pressure to make course activities enjoyable to students, who now constantly experience the temptation of frictionless access to GenAI tools that can perform their coursework for them. This is especially challenging for online educators, who have less opportunity to observe whether students are engaged and do not have in-classroom time during which they can closely direct and manage student learning. To address this challenge, we propose to: (1) design a set of modular AI Literacy Learning Components (AILLC), such as Canvas information pages, guided activities, or reflection prompts, that promote critical thinking among online CS students; (2) conduct a controlled lab study using EEG to objectively measure the extent of critical thinking as participants engage with these components; (3) iteratively refine the component designs to enhance enjoyment and critical thinking; and (4) re-evaluate critical thinking and enjoyment in the revised versions. The resulting findings and the modular components will help online CS educators integrate AI Literacy into their courses in ways that foster critical thinking while maintaining student enjoyment.

The Learning Assistant (LA) model is associated with increased student success and belonging in the in-person learning environment, but relatively little research has examined the effective incorporation of LAs into the online, asynchronous environment. More research is needed to understand the most effective LA practices associated with student learning and belonging in online courses so that they may be applied at scale. This project will characterize the nature of LA-facilitated interactions between students and LAs in current Ecampus courses to determine their efficacy in supporting student learning and belonging. LA-student interactions on discussion boards will be characterized in an online Mathematics course using the Action Taxonomy for Learning Assistants tool developed for the LA model. The impact of the LA interactions with students will be measured by survey responses from course students and compared with course success rates. This project will also support research experience for a distance student interested in pedagogy research. The work this project proposes is important for the long-term goal of Oregon State University’s LA Program to expand the number of LA-supported online courses, and to support the goals of Oregon State University’s strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared, in tripling Ecampus enrollment by 2030 and retaining and supporting student success for these enrolled students. The findings from this project will contribute to the broader body of literature in online teaching and learning and improve the LA program at Oregon State University and other institutions where LAs work in online courses.