modular learning experience essay

  • GirlsGotThis
  • Oct 30, 2020

Paola Grace shares her experience of starting modular learning at home

Paola Grace, 16, a Grade 11 student from Samar, shares with us her thoughts on how she is finding the new normal of learning whilst staying at home.

modular learning experience essay

What can you say about the new normal of learning?

This new normal of learning (physically away from school) is not as good as face-to-face learning. Based on my observation, many students won’t be able to learn very well because they can easily look for the answers to their modules by looking on the internet.

How will you compare the present learning modality with that of the previous

Before, because classes were held face-to- face, we can easily ask our teachers about the

things that we don’t understand, and we get the answers firsthand from them. We learn

effectively because we can directly communicate with them as to our learning challenges.

But now that we are physically distanced from each other, and others don’t have access to

internet connection, it is harder to learn with no one around to guide you and provide you

answers to your questions.

Are there any challenges that you are facing right now with regard to your

Yes. Sometimes I find the modules difficult to answer because no one at home is really

that capable to guide me, especially with the instructions in the modules that I find hard

comprehend. My parents are also not home all the time because they also have work, so

sometimes I’m left alone to answer the modules. My cousins also have modules to answer

and we share the same sentiments. But there are times that our teachers would check on

us, and I’m happy about it because that’s the time I get to share with them my learning

Do you find it easy to reach out to your teachers?

Yes, I communicate with them through Facebook. We have constant communication, but because there are many students under the supervision of one teacher, I understand that our teachers can’t check on us regularly.

What worries you the most nowadays?

What worries me is that in the modular classes, we cannot be late in the submission of modules. The concern of the students is not whether they will learn or not, but rather, passing the modules on time. There are also students who skip their meals or who sleep late at night just to finish their modules. It worries me because instead of loving our activities, we tend to fear it; fear that we won’t be able to do all the assignments or activities.

If we were to ask you what support the students need right now, what would it be?

First, the students need fast internet connection. Some of us live in remote areas and we

have slow internet connection. We also need financial support to buy school supplies and

gadgets. And more than material things, we need emotional and moral support from our

teachers and families.

If there’s one positive thing the new mode of learning has brought to you, what is

Since I’m learning from home, I have more time to bond with my family compared to the

time when COVID-19 was not and in doing household chores.

modular learning experience essay

What can you say to the girls like you who are also struggling with the present

All I can say is that we should be disciplined. All of us are suffering from this pandemic,

but it doesn’t mean that our dreams end here. We must sacrifice and put the utmost effort and dedication to our studies in order to achieve our dreams.

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Original research article, insights into students’ experiences and perceptions of remote learning methods: from the covid-19 pandemic to best practice for the future.

modular learning experience essay

  • 1 Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute, San Francisco, CA, United States
  • 2 Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship, Montclair, NJ, United States
  • 3 Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

This spring, students across the globe transitioned from in-person classes to remote learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented change to undergraduate education saw institutions adopting multiple online teaching modalities and instructional platforms. We sought to understand students’ experiences with and perspectives on those methods of remote instruction in order to inform pedagogical decisions during the current pandemic and in future development of online courses and virtual learning experiences. Our survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data regarding students’ experiences with synchronous and asynchronous methods of remote learning and specific pedagogical techniques associated with each. A total of 4,789 undergraduate participants representing institutions across 95 countries were recruited via Instagram. We find that most students prefer synchronous online classes, and students whose primary mode of remote instruction has been synchronous report being more engaged and motivated. Our qualitative data show that students miss the social aspects of learning on campus, and it is possible that synchronous learning helps to mitigate some feelings of isolation. Students whose synchronous classes include active-learning techniques (which are inherently more social) report significantly higher levels of engagement, motivation, enjoyment, and satisfaction with instruction. Respondents’ recommendations for changes emphasize increased engagement, interaction, and student participation. We conclude that active-learning methods, which are known to increase motivation, engagement, and learning in traditional classrooms, also have a positive impact in the remote-learning environment. Integrating these elements into online courses will improve the student experience.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the demographics of online students. Previously, almost all students engaged in online learning elected the online format, starting with individual online courses in the mid-1990s through today’s robust online degree and certificate programs. These students prioritize convenience, flexibility and ability to work while studying and are older than traditional college age students ( Harris and Martin, 2012 ; Levitz, 2016 ). These students also find asynchronous elements of a course are more useful than synchronous elements ( Gillingham and Molinari, 2012 ). In contrast, students who chose to take courses in-person prioritize face-to-face instruction and connection with others and skew considerably younger ( Harris and Martin, 2012 ). This leaves open the question of whether students who prefer to learn in-person but are forced to learn remotely will prefer synchronous or asynchronous methods. One study of student preferences following a switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that students enjoy synchronous over asynchronous course elements and find them more effective ( Gillis and Krull, 2020 ). Now that millions of traditional in-person courses have transitioned online, our survey expands the data on student preferences and explores if those preferences align with pedagogical best practices.

An extensive body of research has explored what instructional methods improve student learning outcomes (Fink. 2013). Considerable evidence indicates that active-learning or student-centered approaches result in better learning outcomes than passive-learning or instructor-centered approaches, both in-person and online ( Freeman et al., 2014 ; Chen et al., 2018 ; Davis et al., 2018 ). Active-learning approaches include student activities or discussion in class, whereas passive-learning approaches emphasize extensive exposition by the instructor ( Freeman et al., 2014 ). Constructivist learning theories argue that students must be active participants in creating their own learning, and that listening to expert explanations is seldom sufficient to trigger the neurological changes necessary for learning ( Bostock, 1998 ; Zull, 2002 ). Some studies conclude that, while students learn more via active learning, they may report greater perceptions of their learning and greater enjoyment when passive approaches are used ( Deslauriers et al., 2019 ). We examine student perceptions of remote learning experiences in light of these previous findings.

In this study, we administered a survey focused on student perceptions of remote learning in late May 2020 through the social media account of @unjadedjade to a global population of English speaking undergraduate students representing institutions across 95 countries. We aim to explore how students were being taught, the relationship between pedagogical methods and student perceptions of their experience, and the reasons behind those perceptions. Here we present an initial analysis of the results and share our data set for further inquiry. We find that positive student perceptions correlate with synchronous courses that employ a variety of interactive pedagogical techniques, and that students overwhelmingly suggest behavioral and pedagogical changes that increase social engagement and interaction. We argue that these results support the importance of active learning in an online environment.

Materials and Methods

Participant pool.

Students were recruited through the Instagram account @unjadedjade. This social media platform, run by influencer Jade Bowler, focuses on education, effective study tips, ethical lifestyle, and promotes a positive mindset. For this reason, the audience is presumably academically inclined, and interested in self-improvement. The survey was posted to her account and received 10,563 responses within the first 36 h. Here we analyze the 4,789 of those responses that came from undergraduates. While we did not collect demographic or identifying information, we suspect that women are overrepresented in these data as followers of @unjadedjade are 80% women. A large minority of respondents were from the United Kingdom as Jade Bowler is a British influencer. Specifically, 43.3% of participants attend United Kingdom institutions, followed by 6.7% attending university in the Netherlands, 6.1% in Germany, 5.8% in the United States and 4.2% in Australia. Ninety additional countries are represented in these data (see Supplementary Figure 1 ).

Survey Design

The purpose of this survey is to learn about students’ instructional experiences following the transition to remote learning in the spring of 2020.

This survey was initially created for a student assignment for the undergraduate course Empirical Analysis at Minerva Schools at KGI. That version served as a robust pre-test and allowed for identification of the primary online platforms used, and the four primary modes of learning: synchronous (live) classes, recorded lectures and videos, uploaded or emailed materials, and chat-based communication. We did not adapt any open-ended questions based on the pre-test survey to avoid biasing the results and only corrected language in questions for clarity. We used these data along with an analysis of common practices in online learning to revise the survey. Our revised survey asked students to identify the synchronous and asynchronous pedagogical methods and platforms that they were using for remote learning. Pedagogical methods were drawn from literature assessing active and passive teaching strategies in North American institutions ( Fink, 2013 ; Chen et al., 2018 ; Davis et al., 2018 ). Open-ended questions asked students to describe why they preferred certain modes of learning and how they could improve their learning experience. Students also reported on their affective response to learning and participation using a Likert scale.

The revised survey also asked whether students had responded to the earlier survey. No significant differences were found between responses of those answering for the first and second times (data not shown). See Supplementary Appendix 1 for survey questions. Survey data was collected from 5/21/20 to 5/23/20.

Qualitative Coding

We applied a qualitative coding framework adapted from Gale et al. (2013) to analyze student responses to open-ended questions. Four researchers read several hundred responses and noted themes that surfaced. We then developed a list of themes inductively from the survey data and deductively from the literature on pedagogical practice ( Garrison et al., 1999 ; Zull, 2002 ; Fink, 2013 ; Freeman et al., 2014 ). The initial codebook was revised collaboratively based on feedback from researchers after coding 20–80 qualitative comments each. Before coding their assigned questions, alignment was examined through coding of 20 additional responses. Researchers aligned in identifying the same major themes. Discrepancies in terms identified were resolved through discussion. Researchers continued to meet weekly to discuss progress and alignment. The majority of responses were coded by a single researcher using the final codebook ( Supplementary Table 1 ). All responses to questions 3 (4,318 responses) and 8 (4,704 responses), and 2,512 of 4,776 responses to question 12 were analyzed. Valence was also indicated where necessary (i.e., positive or negative discussion of terms). This paper focuses on the most prevalent themes from our initial analysis of the qualitative responses. The corresponding author reviewed codes to ensure consistency and accuracy of reported data.

Statistical Analysis

The survey included two sets of Likert-scale questions, one consisting of a set of six statements about students’ perceptions of their experiences following the transition to remote learning ( Table 1 ). For each statement, students indicated their level of agreement with the statement on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly Agree”). The second set asked the students to respond to the same set of statements, but about their retroactive perceptions of their experiences with in-person instruction before the transition to remote learning. This set was not the subject of our analysis but is present in the published survey results. To explore correlations among student responses, we used CrossCat analysis to calculate the probability of dependence between Likert-scale responses ( Mansinghka et al., 2016 ).

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Table 1. Likert-scale questions.

Mean values are calculated based on the numerical scores associated with each response. Measures of statistical significance for comparisons between different subgroups of respondents were calculated using a two-sided Mann-Whitney U -test, and p -values reported here are based on this test statistic. We report effect sizes in pairwise comparisons using the common-language effect size, f , which is the probability that the response from a random sample from subgroup 1 is greater than the response from a random sample from subgroup 2. We also examined the effects of different modes of remote learning and technological platforms using ordinal logistic regression. With the exception of the mean values, all of these analyses treat Likert-scale responses as ordinal-scale, rather than interval-scale data.

Students Prefer Synchronous Class Sessions

Students were asked to identify their primary mode of learning given four categories of remote course design that emerged from the pilot survey and across literature on online teaching: live (synchronous) classes, recorded lectures and videos, emailed or uploaded materials, and chats and discussion forums. While 42.7% ( n = 2,045) students identified live classes as their primary mode of learning, 54.6% ( n = 2613) students preferred this mode ( Figure 1 ). Both recorded lectures and live classes were preferred over uploaded materials (6.22%, n = 298) and chat (3.36%, n = 161).

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Figure 1. Actual (A) and preferred (B) primary modes of learning.

In addition to a preference for live classes, students whose primary mode was synchronous were more likely to enjoy the class, feel motivated and engaged, be satisfied with instruction and report higher levels of participation ( Table 2 and Supplementary Figure 2 ). Regardless of primary mode, over two-thirds of students reported they are often distracted during remote courses.

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Table 2. The effect of synchronous vs. asynchronous primary modes of learning on student perceptions.

Variation in Pedagogical Techniques for Synchronous Classes Results in More Positive Perceptions of the Student Learning Experience

To survey the use of passive vs. active instructional methods, students reported the pedagogical techniques used in their live classes. Among the synchronous methods, we identify three different categories ( National Research Council, 2000 ; Freeman et al., 2014 ). Passive methods (P) include lectures, presentations, and explanation using diagrams, white boards and/or other media. These methods all rely on instructor delivery rather than student participation. Our next category represents active learning through primarily one-on-one interactions (A). The methods in this group are in-class assessment, question-and-answer (Q&A), and classroom chat. Group interactions (F) included classroom discussions and small-group activities. Given these categories, Mann-Whitney U pairwise comparisons between the 7 possible combinations and Likert scale responses about student experience showed that the use of a variety of methods resulted in higher ratings of experience vs. the use of a single method whether or not that single method was active or passive ( Table 3 ). Indeed, students whose classes used methods from each category (PAF) had higher ratings of enjoyment, motivation, and satisfaction with instruction than those who only chose any single method ( p < 0.0001) and also rated higher rates of participation and engagement compared to students whose only method was passive (P) or active through one-on-one interactions (A) ( p < 0.00001). Student ratings of distraction were not significantly different for any comparison. Given that sets of Likert responses often appeared significant together in these comparisons, we ran a CrossCat analysis to look at the probability of dependence across Likert responses. Responses have a high probability of dependence on each other, limiting what we can claim about any discrete response ( Supplementary Figure 3 ).

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Table 3. Comparison of combinations of synchronous methods on student perceptions. Effect size (f).

Mann-Whitney U pairwise comparisons were also used to check if improvement in student experience was associated with the number of methods used vs. the variety of types of methods. For every comparison, we found that more methods resulted in higher scores on all Likert measures except distraction ( Table 4 ). Even comparison between four or fewer methods and greater than four methods resulted in a 59% chance that the latter enjoyed the courses more ( p < 0.00001) and 60% chance that they felt more motivated to learn ( p < 0.00001). Students who selected more than four methods ( n = 417) were also 65.1% ( p < 0.00001), 62.9% ( p < 0.00001) and 64.3% ( p < 0.00001) more satisfied with instruction, engaged, and actively participating, respectfully. Therefore, there was an overlap between how the number and variety of methods influenced students’ experiences. Since the number of techniques per category is 2–3, we cannot fully disentangle the effect of number vs. variety. Pairwise comparisons to look at subsets of data with 2–3 methods from a single group vs. 2–3 methods across groups controlled for this but had low sample numbers in most groups and resulted in no significant findings (data not shown). Therefore, from the data we have in our survey, there seems to be an interdependence between number and variety of methods on students’ learning experiences.

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Table 4. Comparison of the number of synchronous methods on student perceptions. Effect size (f).

Variation in Asynchronous Pedagogical Techniques Results in More Positive Perceptions of the Student Learning Experience

Along with synchronous pedagogical methods, students reported the asynchronous methods that were used for their classes. We divided these methods into three main categories and conducted pairwise comparisons. Learning methods include video lectures, video content, and posted study materials. Interacting methods include discussion/chat forums, live office hours, and email Q&A with professors. Testing methods include assignments and exams. Our results again show the importance of variety in students’ perceptions ( Table 5 ). For example, compared to providing learning materials only, providing learning materials, interaction, and testing improved enjoyment ( f = 0.546, p < 0.001), motivation ( f = 0.553, p < 0.0001), satisfaction with instruction ( f = 0.596, p < 0.00001), engagement ( f = 0.572, p < 0.00001) and active participation ( f = 0.563, p < 0.00001) (row 6). Similarly, compared to just being interactive with conversations, the combination of all three methods improved five out of six indicators, except for distraction in class (row 11).

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Table 5. Comparison of combinations of asynchronous methods on student perceptions. Effect size (f).

Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess the likelihood that the platforms students used predicted student perceptions ( Supplementary Table 2 ). Platform choices were based on the answers to open-ended questions in the pre-test survey. The synchronous and asynchronous methods used were consistently more predictive of Likert responses than the specific platforms. Likewise, distraction continued to be our outlier with no differences across methods or platforms.

Students Prefer In-Person and Synchronous Online Learning Largely Due to Social-Emotional Reasoning

As expected, 86.1% (4,123) of survey participants report a preference for in-person courses, while 13.9% (666) prefer online courses. When asked to explain the reasons for their preference, students who prefer in-person courses most often mention the importance of social interaction (693 mentions), engagement (639 mentions), and motivation (440 mentions). These students are also more likely to mention a preference for a fixed schedule (185 mentions) vs. a flexible schedule (2 mentions).

In addition to identifying social reasons for their preference for in-person learning, students’ suggestions for improvements in online learning focus primarily on increasing interaction and engagement, with 845 mentions of live classes, 685 mentions of interaction, 126 calls for increased participation and calls for changes related to these topics such as, “Smaller teaching groups for live sessions so that everyone is encouraged to talk as some people don’t say anything and don’t participate in group work,” and “Make it less of the professor reading the pdf that was given to us and more interaction.”

Students who prefer online learning primarily identify independence and flexibility (214 mentions) and reasons related to anxiety and discomfort in in-person settings (41 mentions). Anxiety was only mentioned 12 times in the much larger group that prefers in-person learning.

The preference for synchronous vs. asynchronous modes of learning follows similar trends ( Table 6 ). Students who prefer live classes mention engagement and interaction most often while those who prefer recorded lectures mention flexibility.

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Table 6. Most prevalent themes for students based on their preferred mode of remote learning.

Student Perceptions Align With Research on Active Learning

The first, and most robust, conclusion is that incorporation of active-learning methods correlates with more positive student perceptions of affect and engagement. We can see this clearly in the substantial differences on a number of measures, where students whose classes used only passive-learning techniques reported lower levels of engagement, satisfaction, participation, and motivation when compared with students whose classes incorporated at least some active-learning elements. This result is consistent with prior research on the value of active learning ( Freeman et al., 2014 ).

Though research shows that student learning improves in active learning classes, on campus, student perceptions of their learning, enjoyment, and satisfaction with instruction are often lower in active-learning courses ( Deslauriers et al., 2019 ). Our finding that students rate enjoyment and satisfaction with instruction higher for active learning online suggests that the preference for passive lectures on campus relies on elements outside of the lecture itself. That might include the lecture hall environment, the social physical presence of peers, or normalization of passive lectures as the expected mode for on-campus classes. This implies that there may be more buy-in for active learning online vs. in-person.

A second result from our survey is that student perceptions of affect and engagement are associated with students experiencing a greater diversity of learning modalities. We see this in two different results. First, in addition to the fact that classes that include active learning outperform classes that rely solely on passive methods, we find that on all measures besides distraction, the highest student ratings are associated with a combination of active and passive methods. Second, we find that these higher scores are associated with classes that make use of a larger number of different methods.

This second result suggests that students benefit from classes that make use of multiple different techniques, possibly invoking a combination of passive and active methods. However, it is unclear from our data whether this effect is associated specifically with combining active and passive methods, or if it is associated simply with the use of multiple different methods, irrespective of whether those methods are active, passive, or some combination. The problem is that the number of methods used is confounded with the diversity of methods (e.g., it is impossible for a classroom using only one method to use both active and passive methods). In an attempt to address this question, we looked separately at the effect of number and diversity of methods while holding the other constant. Across a large number of such comparisons, we found few statistically significant differences, which may be a consequence of the fact that each comparison focused on a small subset of the data.

Thus, our data suggests that using a greater diversity of learning methods in the classroom may lead to better student outcomes. This is supported by research on student attention span which suggests varying delivery after 10–15 min to retain student’s attention ( Bradbury, 2016 ). It is likely that this is more relevant for online learning where students report high levels of distraction across methods, modalities, and platforms. Given that number and variety are key, and there are few passive learning methods, we can assume that some combination of methods that includes active learning improves student experience. However, it is not clear whether we should predict that this benefit would come simply from increasing the number of different methods used, or if there are benefits specific to combining particular methods. Disentangling these effects would be an interesting avenue for future research.

Students Value Social Presence in Remote Learning

Student responses across our open-ended survey questions show a striking difference in reasons for their preferences compared with traditional online learners who prefer flexibility ( Harris and Martin, 2012 ; Levitz, 2016 ). Students reasons for preferring in-person classes and synchronous remote classes emphasize the desire for social interaction and echo the research on the importance of social presence for learning in online courses.

Short et al. (1976) outlined Social Presence Theory in depicting students’ perceptions of each other as real in different means of telecommunications. These ideas translate directly to questions surrounding online education and pedagogy in regards to educational design in networked learning where connection across learners and instructors improves learning outcomes especially with “Human-Human interaction” ( Goodyear, 2002 , 2005 ; Tu, 2002 ). These ideas play heavily into asynchronous vs. synchronous learning, where Tu reports students having positive responses to both synchronous “real-time discussion in pleasantness, responsiveness and comfort with familiar topics” and real-time discussions edging out asynchronous computer-mediated communications in immediate replies and responsiveness. Tu’s research indicates that students perceive more interaction with synchronous mediums such as discussions because of immediacy which enhances social presence and support the use of active learning techniques ( Gunawardena, 1995 ; Tu, 2002 ). Thus, verbal immediacy and communities with face-to-face interactions, such as those in synchronous learning classrooms, lessen the psychological distance of communicators online and can simultaneously improve instructional satisfaction and reported learning ( Gunawardena and Zittle, 1997 ; Richardson and Swan, 2019 ; Shea et al., 2019 ). While synchronous learning may not be ideal for traditional online students and a subset of our participants, this research suggests that non-traditional online learners are more likely to appreciate the value of social presence.

Social presence also connects to the importance of social connections in learning. Too often, current systems of education emphasize course content in narrow ways that fail to embrace the full humanity of students and instructors ( Gay, 2000 ). With the COVID-19 pandemic leading to further social isolation for many students, the importance of social presence in courses, including live interactions that build social connections with classmates and with instructors, may be increased.

Limitations of These Data

Our undergraduate data consisted of 4,789 responses from 95 different countries, an unprecedented global scale for research on online learning. However, since respondents were followers of @unjadedjade who focuses on learning and wellness, these respondents may not represent the average student. Biases in survey responses are often limited by their recruitment techniques and our bias likely resulted in more robust and thoughtful responses to free-response questions and may have influenced the preference for synchronous classes. It is unlikely that it changed students reporting on remote learning pedagogical methods since those are out of student control.

Though we surveyed a global population, our design was rooted in literature assessing pedagogy in North American institutions. Therefore, our survey may not represent a global array of teaching practices.

This survey was sent out during the initial phase of emergency remote learning for most countries. This has two important implications. First, perceptions of remote learning may be clouded by complications of the pandemic which has increased social, mental, and financial stresses globally. Future research could disaggregate the impact of the pandemic from students’ learning experiences with a more detailed and holistic analysis of the impact of the pandemic on students.

Second, instructors, students and institutions were not able to fully prepare for effective remote education in terms of infrastructure, mentality, curriculum building, and pedagogy. Therefore, student experiences reflect this emergency transition. Single-modality courses may correlate with instructors who lacked the resources or time to learn or integrate more than one modality. Regardless, the main insights of this research align well with the science of teaching and learning and can be used to inform both education during future emergencies and course development for online programs that wish to attract traditional college students.

Global Student Voices Improve Our Understanding of the Experience of Emergency Remote Learning

Our survey shows that global student perspectives on remote learning agree with pedagogical best practices, breaking with the often-found negative reactions of students to these practices in traditional classrooms ( Shekhar et al., 2020 ). Our analysis of open-ended questions and preferences show that a majority of students prefer pedagogical approaches that promote both active learning and social interaction. These results can serve as a guide to instructors as they design online classes, especially for students whose first choice may be in-person learning. Indeed, with the near ubiquitous adoption of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning may be the default for colleges during temporary emergencies. This has already been used at the K-12 level as snow days become virtual learning days ( Aspergren, 2020 ).

In addition to informing pedagogical decisions, the results of this survey can be used to inform future research. Although we survey a global population, our recruitment method selected for students who are English speakers, likely majority female, and have an interest in self-improvement. Repeating this study with a more diverse and representative sample of university students could improve the generalizability of our findings. While the use of a variety of pedagogical methods is better than a single method, more research is needed to determine what the optimal combinations and implementations are for courses in different disciplines. Though we identified social presence as the major trend in student responses, the over 12,000 open-ended responses from students could be analyzed in greater detail to gain a more nuanced understanding of student preferences and suggestions for improvement. Likewise, outliers could shed light on the diversity of student perspectives that we may encounter in our own classrooms. Beyond this, our findings can inform research that collects demographic data and/or measures learning outcomes to understand the impact of remote learning on different populations.

Importantly, this paper focuses on a subset of responses from the full data set which includes 10,563 students from secondary school, undergraduate, graduate, or professional school and additional questions about in-person learning. Our full data set is available here for anyone to download for continued exploration: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId= doi: 10.7910/DVN/2TGOPH .

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

GS: project lead, survey design, qualitative coding, writing, review, and editing. TN: data analysis, writing, review, and editing. CN and PB: qualitative coding. JW: data analysis, writing, and editing. CS: writing, review, and editing. EV and KL: original survey design and qualitative coding. PP: data analysis. JB: original survey design and survey distribution. HH: data analysis. MP: writing. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Minerva Schools at KGI for providing funding for summer undergraduate research internships. We also want to thank Josh Fost and Christopher V. H.-H. Chen for discussion that helped shape this project.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.647986/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords : online learning, COVID-19, active learning, higher education, pedagogy, survey, international

Citation: Nguyen T, Netto CLM, Wilkins JF, Bröker P, Vargas EE, Sealfon CD, Puthipiroj P, Li KS, Bowler JE, Hinson HR, Pujar M and Stein GM (2021) Insights Into Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Remote Learning Methods: From the COVID-19 Pandemic to Best Practice for the Future. Front. Educ. 6:647986. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.647986

Received: 30 December 2020; Accepted: 09 March 2021; Published: 09 April 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Nguyen, Netto, Wilkins, Bröker, Vargas, Sealfon, Puthipiroj, Li, Bowler, Hinson, Pujar and Stein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Geneva M. Stein, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Covid-19 and Beyond: From (Forced) Remote Teaching and Learning to ‘The New Normal’ in Higher Education

Modular Learning: 8 Tips for Effective Online Teaching

Table of contents.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers in affected areas worldwide suddenly faced the task of getting their instructional materials ready to facilitate modular learning as a strategy for the sustained delivery of education to their students. I am one of these teachers, but the possibility of teaching the students exclusively online did not deter me because I have already worked on my instructional modules designed for online delivery.

Since 2012, and during COVID-19 times, I gradually developed a learning model for effective modular learning. I call it the Blended Website Learning Model, an innovative learning system that I immediately put to use at the beginning of the pandemic.

So if you’re someone willing to innovate in your modular learning approach and make the teaching and learning process more efficient and less time-consuming, I dedicate this article to you. You may work on the tips gradually until you become comfortable with them. 

Once you can apply these eight tips to your classes, I assure you that you will not be spending endless hours checking your papers and getting frustrated with the inability of your students to keep up. Once in place, you will spend less effort and time to work on your instructional materials for modular learning in the new normal. 

Besides, today’s trends follow a digital path as global technological innovations occur at light speed. Teachers have to keep up to be relevant.

Given the experience I gathered through the years, I would like to share eight tips on modular learning. These tips will somehow ease the teachers’ struggle for something they are not mentally and technically ready to face. The pandemic has changed the way teaching is carried out.

I start this discussion by defining modular learning, asynchronous versus asynchronous delivery of lessons, problems encountered, and solutions to those problems.

Earlier, I synthesized the lessons learned and the corresponding fixes in a learning model – the  Blended Website Learning Model  for more effective achievement of desired learning outcomes or most essential learning competencies (MELCs) for each course. You may refer to this model later on.

What is Modular Learning?

Modular learning, as the word connotes, uses learning modules that facilitate student learning by themselves. Modular learning is a form of distance learning that uses Self-Learning Modules (SLM) based on the most essential learning competencies (MELCS) developed by the teachers with the aid of curriculum developers.

The modules include sections on motivation and assessment that serve as teachers’ and students’ guides to achieve desired competencies. Feedback mechanisms aid teachers in monitoring student achievement and identify those who require follow-up interventions.

Self-paced learning modules can educate learners through carefully written guideposts that direct the learner on what action to take. The contents of the learning module follow a particular learning model that makes instruction effective. 

Upon our department chair’s advice, I used the 4H or  Experiential Learning Model  (ELM) based on the Experiential Learning Theory developed by educators for more than a century. I am not an education graduate. Hence, I have to study ELM carefully.

8 Tips to Achieve the Course Outcomes in Modular Learning

1. write your instructional tips to students online.

Teaching is a repetitive exercise. So what I did is to write articles about the lessons I teach and publish them online. I update those articles once in a while to ensure their relevance.

Although educational articles on almost anything under the sun can be found online, I find some tips lacking credibility and proper documentation. Thus, I embarked on my blogging platform (this website) to house my tips for students on specific topics I teach in the classroom.

I made sure that the tips I gave use the latest information or reliable references online for my students to refer to for further reading. Besides, many of the legitimate and well-referenced material are behind a paywall which my students do not have the means to purchase. Nevertheless, there are free, open-access articles that anyone can access with extra effort.

2. Compress and upload instructional materials on a fast-loading website

I uploaded all of my instructional modules in pdf on a fast-loading website I created at the beginning of the pandemic. I compress each module in the free pdf compressor provided by ilovepdf.com . Compressing the modules makes downloading into students’ smartphones easy. The small files also save them bandwidth, thus reduced data consumption in their internet subscription.

I studied website development for quite a while, anticipating the emphasis on modular learning in the future. I started with Webnode sometime in 2012. Webnode uses drag-and-drop technology, which works for a beginning website developer like me. I even purchased a domain name for my free account on that website.

However, after several years of use, I found the technology lacks the flexibility I need. I want to maintain an independent website without the costly upgrades when the traffic exceeds my subscription. Hence, I shifted to an independently hosted WordPress.org Content Management System (CMS) platform. But not before I practiced in the WordPress.com website.

WordPress as a Tool in Modular Learning

I used WordPress to develop the simple but fast-loading website that students can easily load on their cellphones. It scores an almost perfect speed of 99% in both mobile and desktop (Figure 1).

I used Neve, a WordPress theme with no frills nor bloat software, to delay loading. All instructional modules are instantly available to students after entering the password I gave them.

modular_learning

The instructional material website simply works. No frills, no fuss.

Anyone can easily create a WordPress website in minutes. Just have your email and password ready to create an account in WordPress.com for free. You can create your website later, like what I did when I first started. As you practice using the free WordPress website, you will get to be familiar with how websites work.

You may listen to the simple instruction in the video I give below. Knowing how to create your website will give you more opportunities to become digitally savvy. Modular learning will be much more easily as you gain experience and expertise.

3. Use a Learning Management System to assess student performance

I had a limited two-day training on the use of Moodle before the COVID-19 pandemic began. By a stroke of luck, I could use the LMS as a modular learning tool in the middle of the semester when the government declared a nationwide Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to stem the brewing spread of the dreaded virus.

Using a Learning Management System (LMS) such as the free, open-source Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (MOODLE) can help a lot in designing quizzes and periodic examinations. The once time-consuming task of checking the students’ quizzes and periodic examinations is done real time.

Using a Learning Management System (LMS) such as the free, open-source Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle™) can help a lot in designing quizzes and periodic examinations. The once time-consuming task of checking the students’ quizzes and periodic examinations is done real time .

Students get their quiz or exam results in a matter of seconds. Once they submit their quiz, long exam, or midterm or final exam, they get the results right away.

I give students two chances of taking the quiz or major examination, mindful of the glitch that students experience while taking the assessment. Last semester, the internet connection of some students break while taking the quiz. Hence, it is good practice to give them another chance. Further, giving the students another chance to take the quiz provides them an opportunity to correct their answers and establish mastery of the subject matter.

I pushed my knowledge of Moodle further, not by just being a user, but by studying the process of its installation, mainly as part of my hobby and partly as a challenge to create a website to house the LMS myself. Having my own Moodle site gives me the independence and freedom to innovate.

I realized I can create an independent Moodle site on my GoDaddy server. In short, I figured that the only thing I need to put Moodle to work was to register a unique domain name. I hosted Moodle in the same platform where my blogging site, Simplyeducate.me, is being hosted. The LMS had virtually a free ride as a sub-domain.

I don’t mind spending a little more for my convenience. It’s an investment to save time and effort. In addition, I learn and enjoy the new functionality as I implement the system.

Moodle takes time to load; it’s slow

Although Moodle was designed to house complete learning modules for learners, my students have trouble accessing it. I had the impression that Moodle, being an open source project, had too many functionalities that made it heavy to load. Also, many of my students use cellphones in accessing the lessons online.

After spending considerable time looking for answers online and tweaking the Moodle website, I gave up, even though I successfully enhanced the speed of the LMS. I cannot make the Moodle site load faster without adding more investment in Random Access Memory (RAM) capacities and having it work on a Solid State Drive (SSD). I have a limited budget for this expense.

But Moodle is a good performance assessment site that enhances modular learning

I found the assessment function of Moodle very useful, so I kept it as an assessment site that students will log on once they are ready. Another advantage is that the LMS enables me to prepare my quizzes easily and checks the quizzes and periodic exams automatically. I just record the points my students get in Excel to give the corresponding percentages on the different assessment criteria.

That functionality surely saved me time in checking the students’ performance. It’s even better than administering questions in a face-to-face learning session. It worked well for me serving as an assessment site. I just set the period wherein the quiz will be available to students.

Also, the system can shuffle the questions and the answers in the exam. Each student has a different set of questions and answers, ensuring a unique performance record.

4. Conduct regular short synchronous meetings to remind and update the students

I conduct regular, synchronous meetings with my students to give them a feel of classroom ambiance; it simulates a face-to-face interaction. While most of my students can attend the meeting via Zoom, a video teleconferencing software program, several of them could not connect to the internet for valid reasons.

Among the valid reasons I have learned from my students for their inability to connect during synchronous meetings are the following:

  • poor internet connection,
  • exhausted data allocation,
  • attending to emergencies, and

Recording of synchronous meetings

Recognizing these student difficulties, I always record the proceedings of the synchronous meetings. I upload the zoom video in MP4 format in mediafire.com , the cloud service I have been using for easy access. Then I provide a link to the fast website I created for the instructional materials.

Once the students have the opportunity to go online after resolving their issues during synchronous meetings, they are able to access the proceedings of the meeting. The poor internet connection can be remedied by going online during non-peak hours. Midnight until the early hours of the morning appears to have fewer users online.

The recorded videos do not last more than an hour. Making them short saves bandwidth as well as limits file size to a manageable size that students can download with ease.

5. Follow-up students through Messenger

Almost everyone has an account on Facebook together with Messenger nowadays. I tell my students to communicate with me through Messenger if there are concerns that they need me to know.

During Zoom sessions, some students could not easily express their burdens while others listen. Hence, they can send private messages to prevent getting embarrassed for their queries.

Since most of my work is done online, I can readily see the notifications that I have messages from my students. I consider the communication part of my consultation time. It also presents an opportunity to empathize with the students on their unique concerns.

So far, Messenger has become an effective tool to connect with students and give them support, especially in crucial times. Also, it is easy to find them online if I need to issue additional instructions related to the subjects I teach.

6. Use an Ishikawa diagram to contextualize the Most Essential Learning Outcomes

Given the considerable time that students have to devote to keeping up with their subjects, I design my modules as briefly as I can muster without sacrificing the essential outcomes of the modules. I present these outcomes in an Ishikawa or fishbone diagram at the beginning of the semester.

Figure 2 presents an Ishikawa diagram showing the learning outcomes I prepared for my students. The diagram visualizes the expected competencies that students could gain during the semester. Guided by the outline, they will see their pace in context while performing the tasks at hand. Seeing the goal serves as motivation for them to go on.

modularlearning

The fishbone diagram motivates the students concerning the overall outcome of the things that they do each learning session. One learning activity progresses to another one that leads towards the goal of learning.

Hence, the process of modular learning becomes meaningful to students. Incremental, modular learning transpires.

7. Give generous time for achievement of MELCs

I give a generous time of at least two weeks for students to achieve the expected learning outcomes. Giving them leeway to perform and reflect on their assigned tasks facilitates retention and helps them perform at their very best.

Writing many tasks without enough time to ponder or reflect on their work leads to a half-baked performance. Thus, less than stellar work dampens the motivation to do things in the best way they can.

Seeing some prescribed MELCs as part of modular learning online, I get the impression that they’re more applicable to face-to-face interactions. Chances are, the students become overstressed with tasks to do without the focused guidance of their teachers, making online learning a mechanical activity fixated on compliance.

8. Use a Feedback table

To keep track of student performance and encourage them to perform within the time frame, I prepared a feedback table to show what stage they were already in. Whenever I meet the students during synchronous meetings, I present the feedback table to the class and ask them if I have recorded their submissions correctly.

Some of my students would tell me they have submitted, but I could not verify their submissions. Perhaps failing to upload is due to a poor internet connection. Given the real-time feedback I get via Messenger, they try again until they have successfully uploaded. I confirm that I have received their outputs. Thus, the student’s anxiety because of failure to upload the required submissions is eliminated or minimized.

The feedback table finds support in Dr. Tali Sharot’s book on changing people’s behavior. It emphasizes the importance of feedback to change people’s behavior.

I invite you to listen to the highly motivating speech of Dr. Sharot in TED Talk that can change not only your student’s behavior towards the assigned tasks but also your ingrained habits. The lecture emphasizes the importance of feedback.

The feedback table instantly tells me potential problems and takes corrective measures before they get worse. Students exert more effort to keep up with their classmates once they notice that some of their classmates have already accomplished the modules. Modular learning becomes more effective with a monitoring system like this.

Figure 3 provides an example of a feedback table where you can quickly troubleshoot submission problems and ensure that no student is left behind.

learning_module

Modular Learning is here to Stay

Whether the pandemic will last for quite a time, online modular learning will become the norm rather than an exception. The educational system has already shifted to Education 4, in tune with  Industry 4.0 , where interconnectivity through the Internet of Things (IoT), lies at its core.

Despite the setbacks experienced by teachers on the  effects of modular learning , we must be progressive in our thinking. The challenges are not without answers as technology progresses. Most students can access a laptop, or virtually everyone can access a cell phone, to download educational materials like the ones I make available on my IM website.

Although some of my students are hundreds of miles away, or even on an island, they can still access my instructional modules using their cell phones. I make online learning easy for them by applying the tips I previously gave—make the website load faster by compressing images and videos and make my instructional modules simpler to follow. I focus on a few but crucial and  most essential  learning outcomes. 

Stop being bookish. This time it’s online learning, not face-to-face classes where you cram in everything you want to the detriment of your students.

A 30-minute or less synchronous meeting is more than enough to brief your students about the module, the expected learning outcomes, and ask a few questions to get their feedback on the modules and constraints on their performance.

Advanced countries are already eyeing the many uses of  machine learning , and interest is growing in getting a degree in this field. Are our students ready to become part of this technological development?

In the information age, teachers are no longer what they used to be. We are now facilitators and innovators of learning through online modular learning as the information age changed the way people gain information.

We must undo the belief that we are the authorities of knowledge. Digital technology has shaped how we live, learn, and navigate this increasingly automated world.

Kudos to all teachers! Let’s rock the world of online modular learning.

© P. A. Regoniel 22 June 2021

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Effective strategies for engineers writing technical reports in english, aloe vera benefits: amazing cure to chapped lips, about the author, patrick regoniel.

Dr. Regoniel, a faculty member of the graduate school, served as consultant to various environmental research and development projects covering issues and concerns on climate change, coral reef resources and management, economic valuation of environmental and natural resources, mining, and waste management and pollution. He has extensive experience on applied statistics, systems modelling and analysis, an avid practitioner of LaTeX, and a multidisciplinary web developer. He leverages pioneering AI-powered content creation tools to produce unique and comprehensive articles in this website.

Thank you for your comment. Teaching in the new normal requires constant innovation and a change in mindset.

Thank you so much for sharing this! The different modes of learning in this new normal are somehow confusing, but this really helped. I also appreciate the tips you gave on how to teach effectively in modular learning!

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Implementing Face to Face Classes: A Case for Modular Learning

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