Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Science and Mathematics Education (202)
- Higher Education (95)
- Curriculum and Instruction (93)
- Life Sciences (72)
- Gifted Education (68)
-
- Physical Sciences and Mathematics (48)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (43)
- Teacher Education and Professional Development (43)
- Engineering (41)
- Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (40)
- Biology (36)
- Educational Administration and Supervision (36)
- Arts and Humanities (29)
- Educational Leadership (28)
- Bioinformatics (20)
- Educational Methods (18)
- Business (16)
- Elementary Education (15)
- Engineering Education (13)
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (11)
- Evolution (11)
- Other Education (11)
- Higher Education Administration (10)
- Physics (10)
- Science and Technology Studies (10)
- Disability and Equity in Education (9)
- Higher Education and Teaching (9)
- Library and Information Science (9)
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (9)
- Institution
-
- Illinois Math and Science Academy (215)
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln (38)
- Liberty University (27)
- Utah State University (16)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (14)
-
- Georgia Southern University (14)
- City University of New York (CUNY) (13)
- University of Nebraska at Omaha (10)
- Western Kentucky University (8)
- Florida International University (7)
- Technological University Dublin (7)
- The University of Maine (6)
- Western Washington University (6)
- Boise State University (5)
- East Tennessee State University (5)
- Georgia College (5)
- Gettysburg College (4)
- Old Dominion University (4)
- University of Central Florida (4)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (4)
- Wayne State University (4)
- Ateneo de Manila University (3)
- Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) (3)
- Chapman University (3)
- Purdue University (3)
- University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (3)
- West Virginia University (3)
- Bridgewater State University (2)
- Central Washington University (2)
- Clemson University (2)
- Publication Year
- Publication
-
- Doctoral Dissertations and Projects (27)
- Publications & Research (26)
- Course Catalogs (25)
- IMSA Profile (22)
- Annual Reports (20)
-
- Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award (18)
- Documents (18)
- Publications (16)
- Honors Expanded Learning Clubs (15)
- Publications and Research (12)
- Evolution (10)
- Ecosystem Disruption & Climate Change (8)
- Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications (8)
- Nature of Science (7)
- Alumni Titan Award (6)
- Considerations in Ethics (6)
- Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research (6)
- Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research (5)
- FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations (5)
- Faculty Publications & Research (5)
- Genomics: Past & Future (5)
- IMSA Fund Reports (5)
- Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications (5)
- Science Education Center (5)
- WWU Honors College Senior Projects (5)
- Biology Faculty Publications (4)
- Course Information (4)
- Examples of Student Diversity (4)
- Faculty Publications (4)
- General University of Maine Publications (4)
Articles 1 - 30 of 506
Full-Text Articles in Education
Stem Smart Goal Planning For Elementary Educators In Rural North Texas: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Katherine Marie Mccandless
Stem Smart Goal Planning For Elementary Educators In Rural North Texas: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Katherine Marie Mccandless
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of the transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of educators setting pre-STEMs SMART goals and implementation at the elementary classroom level in rural North Texas districts. The pre-STEM areas are important to develop and intervene early as they are foundational building blocks later to STEM education and professional opportunities for the rural population. The study's central research question was: What are the experiences of elementary educators in planning STEM SMART goals? The theory guiding the study is Locke's goal-setting theory (1968), based on his five tenets. The tenets of Locke's theory were used to guide …
At-Risk Freshmen Student Retention After Stem Intervention, Edna Orozco, George Padilla
At-Risk Freshmen Student Retention After Stem Intervention, Edna Orozco, George Padilla
Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations
Background: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas are one of the fastest-growing majors in the nation. Engineering is projected to add the second largest number of new jobs from 2016 to 2026 with 140,000 new jobs (Torpey, 2018).According to the National Center for Education Statistics despite all the research done throughout decades to improve the issue of retention in STEM areas about half of the students who pursue a degree in STEM will either leave or change majors.
Purpose: This study aimed to sample at-risk college freshmen students from the College of Engineering & Computer Science, to describe and …
Guiding Undergraduate Researchers In The Virtual World: Mentoring Experiences Of Globally Distributed Students, Emily Faulconer, Brent Terwilliger, Robert Deters, Kelly George
Guiding Undergraduate Researchers In The Virtual World: Mentoring Experiences Of Globally Distributed Students, Emily Faulconer, Brent Terwilliger, Robert Deters, Kelly George
Publications
The advancement of technology has led to an increase in undergraduate students pursuing degrees online. The translation of undergraduate research to the online environment is relatively new, though gaining momentum, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mentoring is a key undergraduate research support, particularly for those engaged online, as it fosters a supportive environment for online students to develop their skills and knowledge in their field of study. This study aims to explore the positive impacts of mentoring undergraduate research for fully online students. A single case study methodology was used, with interview data collected from four research mentees completing …
Co-Teaching In Steam With Dhh Learners, Stephanie Gardiner-Walsh
Co-Teaching In Steam With Dhh Learners, Stephanie Gardiner-Walsh
Faculty Publications - College of Education
This poster series is a supplement to the chapter "Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Math (STEAM) Education of Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing" and presents unique considerations for deaf and hard of hearing learners in a STEAM classroom.
Fierce Female Friendships: An Artistic Representation And Exploration Of The Benefits Of Gender-Based Inclusivity And Community In Stem, Maya Bachmeier-Evans
Fierce Female Friendships: An Artistic Representation And Exploration Of The Benefits Of Gender-Based Inclusivity And Community In Stem, Maya Bachmeier-Evans
WWU Honors College Senior Projects
Incorporating visual art, social research, women’s studies, and artificial intelligence, Fierce Female Friendships investigates the ramifications of gendered experience on the learning environment. By reflecting upon her work in a male-dominated discipline, the author transforms her sense of classroom isolation into two paintings that highlight the subtle yet significant differences that separate inclusivity from alienation. In addition to her personalized reflections, the author also creates a fourteen-question survey which invites her peers to consider gender in academia, to assess their experiences on a university campus, and to imagine how they might depict those experiences using visual art. Positing the idea …
A Phenomenological Study Examining The Experiences Of Homeschool Parents Who Use Online Courses As Scaffolding To Improve Their Children's Self-Efficacy, Andrew Scott Robinson
A Phenomenological Study Examining The Experiences Of Homeschool Parents Who Use Online Courses As Scaffolding To Improve Their Children's Self-Efficacy, Andrew Scott Robinson
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The number of homeschooling families in the United States has rapidly increased since the 1970s, and in particular since the COVID-19 pandemic. This influx of families has brought differing motivations for homeschooling and expectations for curriculum. Online course implementation has been linked to improved self-efficacy, as well as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career selection. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand how homeschool parents utilize online courses as scaffolding to improve self-efficacy in their children as a means of college or career preparation. The theories guiding this study were Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and Bruner’s …
Association Between Intent To Persist, Self-Efficacy, And Burnout Among College First-Year Stem Students, Shereza Marina Phekni
Association Between Intent To Persist, Self-Efficacy, And Burnout Among College First-Year Stem Students, Shereza Marina Phekni
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This quantitative non-experimental predictive correlational study aimed to explore the relationship between intent to persist, academic self-efficacy, and burnout among college first-year STEM students. The study is important since there are high dropouts of undergraduate college STEM students that cause vast gaps in the STEM labor market. This study utilized a convenience sample of 112 STEM first-year students enrolled from a private university in southern United States for the spring semester of the 2023 school year. The setting for the study was primarily through virtual collaboration. Participation was voluntary and contact with participants was via social media and flyers with …
Universities As Agents For Innovation, Living Values, Sustainable Community Development And Progressive Society Building, Danjoo Ghista, Ravi S. Sharma
Universities As Agents For Innovation, Living Values, Sustainable Community Development And Progressive Society Building, Danjoo Ghista, Ravi S. Sharma
All Works
In this paper, we revisit Higher Education 4.0 and examine the power of universities as agents of new knowledge and innovations, for sustainable community development and progressive society building. With the benefit of retrospective economic analysis, we may posit that universities will continue to be central to socio-economic development. We can envision that in the face of a changing economic landscape, universities have the potential to serve as powerful agents of change toward a more equitable, just, and sustainable world. The power of universities in this modern era lies in their ability to create and disseminate knowledge, foster critical thinking, …
Portfolio For Metr 180: Climate Change, Energy, And The Environment, Ross Dixon
Portfolio For Metr 180: Climate Change, Energy, And The Environment, Ross Dixon
UNL Faculty Course Portfolios
METR 180 explores several global change topics: energy, technology, population, environment, and climate. When they finish METR 180, students should be have basic knowledge of the Earth system and how humans interact with it and they should be able to understand the scientific process, how scientists understand elements of the Earth system, and how this contrasts with skepticism of science. One major challenge of the course is that it is taken by a wide range of students with different backgrounds and different goals for taking the course. The goal of this portfolio is to continue to develop METR 180 to …
Portfolio For Geol 488/888: Groundwater Geology, Erin M.K. Haacker
Portfolio For Geol 488/888: Groundwater Geology, Erin M.K. Haacker
UNL Faculty Course Portfolios
Groundwater Geology is a course that draws undergraduate and graduate students from multiple units, including the College of Arts and Sciences, Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Civil and Environmental Engineering. The course material focuses on groundwater as a resource, and includes the use of computer programming (Python programming language) to analyze groundwater data. Many students who enroll in the course are new to either geosciences or Python, despite the fact that it is an advanced course. The course has been redesigned recently to include materials suitable for a groundwater engineering course, because it is newly offered with sections …
Chapter 21- Mentoring Graduate Underrepresented Minorities In Stem, Benjamin C. Flores, Jessica Shenberger-Trujillo, Milka Montes
Chapter 21- Mentoring Graduate Underrepresented Minorities In Stem, Benjamin C. Flores, Jessica Shenberger-Trujillo, Milka Montes
Making Connections
In this chapter, we discuss high-impact mentoring practices for graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We make a case for inclusive and assets/strengths-based mentoring approaches as a strategy for increasing the number of doctoral degrees awarded to historically underrepresented minorities (i.e., Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders); improving their levels of satisfaction with doctoral programs and reducing the notoriously extended time to the PhD that they endure. We offer two examples of national programs committed to promoting graduate student success through professional development and mentoring strategies in which instrumental support, sponsorship, psychological support, …
Chapter 16- Becoming Awares: Mentoring Undergraduate Women In Engineering And Sciences, Shirley L. Yu, Arianna Black, Gönül Kaletunç
Chapter 16- Becoming Awares: Mentoring Undergraduate Women In Engineering And Sciences, Shirley L. Yu, Arianna Black, Gönül Kaletunç
Making Connections
The Aspiration for Women’s Advancement and Retention in Engineering and Sciences (AWARES) mentorship program was designed to support women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors as they transition from their undergraduate degree programs to the workforce. The AWARES program was structured around topics relevant to women in STEM careers, including but not limited to interviewing and job offer negotiation, career development, navigating social dynamics in the workplace, and establishing and growing a professional network. Based in tenets of social cognitive theory, AWARES aims to use expert and group mentorship to increase young women’s self-efficacy for career-related soft skills …
How To Do Quantcrit: A Reflexive Account Of Applying Critical Quantitative Methods To A Study Of Black Women In Stem, Elizabeth Collins
How To Do Quantcrit: A Reflexive Account Of Applying Critical Quantitative Methods To A Study Of Black Women In Stem, Elizabeth Collins
Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
There has been extensive research into the underrepresentation of minoritized students in STEM disciplines since the 1990s with limited success in improving the representation of Black women in math-intensive STEM fields. This dissertation aims to address how the guiding tenets of critical quantitative (QuantCrit) methods work when used with publicly available datasets and commonly used statistical approaches. Additionally, this dissertation provides a framework for how to apply reflexivity as a method while utilizing a QuantCrit approach. The publicly available HSLS:09 dataset is used as part of a reflexive study to demonstrate how the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) map …
The Lived Experiences Of Challenges Faced By Female Stem Degree Holders While In Their Programs: A Phenomenological Study, Rebecca Keeter-Lee
The Lived Experiences Of Challenges Faced By Female Stem Degree Holders While In Their Programs: A Phenomenological Study, Rebecca Keeter-Lee
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological research study was to describe the challenges female higher education students (FHESs) experience in their science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree program. The central research question guiding the study was: How do female higher education STEM research participants describe their lived experiences while in their degree programs? Sub-Question one was, How do female higher education students describe the influence their personal history had on their choice to pursue a higher education STEM degree? Sub-question two was: How do female higher education students in STEM program describe their reality versus their expectation going into …
Science Club, Danielle Gibson, Krista Andersen
Science Club, Danielle Gibson, Krista Andersen
Honors Expanded Learning Clubs
Honors After School program for elementary age children to engage with scientific principles. Students performed hands-on experiments to explore various STEM fields. Each weekly lesson consisted of a different concept to be learned or explored by early elementary aged students.
Supporting Undergraduate Research For Globally Distributed Students And Mentors, Emily Faulconer, Brent Terwilliger, Robert Deters
Supporting Undergraduate Research For Globally Distributed Students And Mentors, Emily Faulconer, Brent Terwilliger, Robert Deters
Publications
Undergraduate research is widely viewed as a high-impact practice. However, participation in undergraduate research among students completing degree programs exclusively online may be impeded due to barriers such as access limitations, time poverty, and adequate institutional support. Through an NSF I-USE project (#2021221), we formed a framework of support, including a research independent study course and a mentoring program, where we deliberately separated and defined the roles of research supervisor and research mentor. In this session, we will discuss interview data on the experiences of faculty and students in both the credit-bearing active research as well as the non-credit-bearing research …
Gendered Stem Beliefs And Major Choice, Nicole T. Cesanek, Benjamin J. Durham
Gendered Stem Beliefs And Major Choice, Nicole T. Cesanek, Benjamin J. Durham
Student Publications
Beliefs and expectations about who can and should pursue STEM careers contribute to a student’s sense of STEM identity and may help to explain the gender gap in pursuing STEM in higher education. The formation of these beliefs is a long and complex process, starting very early on in an individual’s life. We analyze how gendered STEM beliefs of students, parents, and teachers in ninth grade affect a female student’s probability of majoring in STEM in college. We add to an analysis done by Sansone (2019) in an appendix of his paper by using actual majors instead of intended majors. …
City Build 2040, Riley Bruno, Marisa Dendinger
City Build 2040, Riley Bruno, Marisa Dendinger
Honors Expanded Learning Clubs
"City Build 2040" is a creative after school club that allows students to experiment both collaboratively and individually on creating a product of their choice. This club is uses cardboard, other materials and the creativity of its students to create a city full of various buildings and objects.
Community In The Online Science Classroom, Emily Faulconer
Community In The Online Science Classroom, Emily Faulconer
Publications
As online course offerings rise, it is important to design and facilitate courses to promote community so students feel connected to each other and the instructor and feel a sense of belonging as a scientist. Online discussions are a common feature for building and nurturing community and combating isolation. Discussions stimulate active learning, a strategy to promote participation in knowledge construction. This sense of community and science identity is important for both persistence and performance. I will share efforts to promote community while reducing extraneous cognitive load through discussion design and targeted instructor professional development. I will share data on …
Examining Spaces For Integrating Physics And Computing Through Classroom Inquiry, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Kristin Searle, Douglas Ball, Soojeong Jeong
Examining Spaces For Integrating Physics And Computing Through Classroom Inquiry, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Kristin Searle, Douglas Ball, Soojeong Jeong
Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications
As computing becomes an essential component of professional practice across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, integration of computing across content areas in K-12 classrooms is also becoming important. Particularly within science classrooms, computer science and computational thinking (CS/CT) are novel and necessary skills for modeling, working with data, and other foundational science skills. Finding ways to engage students in practicing and learning CT within authentic science learning is challenging for most teachers. In this article, the authors report on one teacher’s efforts to engage high school students in maker-based physics education, integrating computational thinking by designing and building …
Social, Cultural, And Psychological Obstacles To Advancing Stem Agendas In Rural Texas, Brandon Bretl
Social, Cultural, And Psychological Obstacles To Advancing Stem Agendas In Rural Texas, Brandon Bretl
RGV STEM ED Conference Proceedings 2023
No abstract provided.
Sociocultural Factors That Influence Latinas’ Stem Trajectory, Kristen Hallas, Angela M. Chapman
Sociocultural Factors That Influence Latinas’ Stem Trajectory, Kristen Hallas, Angela M. Chapman
RGV STEM ED Conference Proceedings 2023
Females and people of color continue to be excluded from the STEM workforce, and those with identities intersecting those factors, like Latinas, experience exclusion at a greater scale. Though Western-focused scholars try to describe the experiences of historically excluded groups, their efforts have not significantly increased the inclusion in certain disciplines, especially for those with intersecting identities. This study explores what motivates Latinas to pursue a STEM degree at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and analyzes these experiences with a LatCrit lens.
Stem Outreach Activities In Academic Libraries: Planning Strategies, Covid’S Impact, And Future Considerations, Cori Biddle, Elise Gowen
Stem Outreach Activities In Academic Libraries: Planning Strategies, Covid’S Impact, And Future Considerations, Cori Biddle, Elise Gowen
Library Staff Publications
Outreach in academic libraries is an important aspect of their mission to support campus communities, but the nature of these activities, and the steps taken to plan them, is not fully understood at the profession-wide level. This study aimed to start the process of gathering data on outreach, especially among those who serve STEM-related constituents, and to begin recording the effects of COVID on library programming and events. In the summer of 2022, surveys were sent to representative librarians from Association of Academic Universities (AAU) members asking about their current outreach offerings and whether they utilized a formal outreach document …
Prompt Literacy For Stem Educators. Enhance Your Teaching And Learning With Generative Ai, Sai Gattupalli, Robert W. Maloy, Sharon Edwards, Alexandra Gearty
Prompt Literacy For Stem Educators. Enhance Your Teaching And Learning With Generative Ai, Sai Gattupalli, Robert W. Maloy, Sharon Edwards, Alexandra Gearty
College of Education Working Papers and Reports Series
Understanding Prompt Literacy and Its Role in STEM Education
● Workshop focuses on prompt literacy, a pivotal skill for educators in the digital age.
● Discuss fundamentals of prompt crafting, interpret and critique AI prompts
● Hands-on activities for prompt crafting, using CAST model
● Workshop participant backgrounds include:
- Edtech, speech-language, GenEd, Special Ed, Inclusion, AP Language, English, Business, World Languages, STEM Education, and more, across various grade levels
The Influence Of Uae Schools Initiatives On High-School Students’ Stem Career Aspirations, Areej Elsayary
The Influence Of Uae Schools Initiatives On High-School Students’ Stem Career Aspirations, Areej Elsayary
All Works
Students’ science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career aspirations are influenced by the cultural, cognitive, and contextual factors that affect their self-efficacy, outcomes, expectation, motivation, interests, and choices (Lent et al., 1994). This study investigates the influence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) schools on high school students’ STEM career aspirations. UAE schools are considered the cultural factor, where many new initiatives and policies take place, such as the science, technology, and innovation policy and new high school equivalency policy. In this study, the students’ STEM career aspirations involved the cognitive factor and the contextual factor. The participants were high …
The Central Valley Transportation Challenge, Christian Wandeler, Steve Hart
The Central Valley Transportation Challenge, Christian Wandeler, Steve Hart
Mineta Transportation Institute Publications
The Central Valley Transportation Challenge provides underserved minority students, who are primarily from rural areas, with high quality transportation-related educational experiences so that they learn about transportation-related topics and opportunities in transportation careers. The CVTC is a project-based learning program that brings university faculty and students to K–12 classrooms in rural areas. The project operated with three main objectives: (1) support K–12 teachers’ understanding and implementation of the CVTC programs; (2) connect K–12 students with university faculty and students, and transportation professionals through the CVTC program; and (3) develop an online hub with transportation-related lesson plans and sequences. The results …
Making The Rounds: An Iterative Approach To Engaging Faculty And Stakeholders In The Development Of An Integrated Curriculum In The Health Professions, Matthew Cockerell, Ms, Elena Umland, Pharmd
Making The Rounds: An Iterative Approach To Engaging Faculty And Stakeholders In The Development Of An Integrated Curriculum In The Health Professions, Matthew Cockerell, Ms, Elena Umland, Pharmd
Library Posters
Background
Setting: Jefferson College of Pharmacy is a 4-year health science education program grounded in both science and clinical practice
Problem: Courses in the sciences and clinical practice have historically been siloed in delivery Solution: Revise curriculum using faculty and stakeholder input
Timeline: Curricular revision process began in Fall 2021; rollout beginning in Fall 2024
Leadership: Steering committee consists of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, 3 senior faculty members and a curriculum and instructional design specialist
Goals of this iterative curriculum revision process:
- Meet the needs of today’s learners
- Provide close spatial and temporal relationships
- Create holistic thinkers who are …
The Minority In The Minority, Black Women In Computer Science Fields: A Phenomenological Study, Blanche' D. Anderson
The Minority In The Minority, Black Women In Computer Science Fields: A Phenomenological Study, Blanche' D. Anderson
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of Black women with a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in computer science, currently employed in the United States. The theory guiding this study was Krumboltz’s social learning theory of career decision-making, as it provides a foundation for understanding how a combination of factors leads to an individual’s educational and occupational preferences and skills. This qualitative study answered the following central research question: What are the lived experiences of Black women with a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in computer science, currently employed in the United States? …
Cognitive Load In Asynchronous Discussions Of An Online Undergraduate Stem Course, Emily K. Faulconer, Beverly Wood, Charlotte Bolch
Cognitive Load In Asynchronous Discussions Of An Online Undergraduate Stem Course, Emily K. Faulconer, Beverly Wood, Charlotte Bolch
Publications
Purpose – As online course enrollments increase; it is important to understand how common course features influence students’ behaviors and performance. Asynchronous online courses often include a discussion forum to promote community through interaction between students and instructors. Students interact both socially and cognitively; instructors’ engagement often demonstrates social or teaching presence. Students’ engagement in the discussions introduces both intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load. The purpose of this study is to validate an instrument for measuring cognitive load in asynchronous online discussions. Design/methodology/approach – This study presents the validation of the NASA-TLX instrument for measuring cognitive load in asynchronous online …
Cognitive Load In Asynchronous Discussions Of An Online Undergraduate Stem Course, Emily Faulconer, Beverly Wood, Charlotte Bolch
Cognitive Load In Asynchronous Discussions Of An Online Undergraduate Stem Course, Emily Faulconer, Beverly Wood, Charlotte Bolch
Publications
Purpose
As online course enrollments increase, it is important to understand how common course features influence students' behaviors and performance. Asynchronous online courses often include a discussion forum to promote community through interaction between students and instructors. Students interact both socially and cognitively; instructors' engagement often demonstrates social or teaching presence. Students' engagement in the discussions introduces both intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load. The purpose of this study is to validate an instrument for measuring cognitive load in asynchronous online discussions.