Overview:

This submission is for the Engaged Student Learning Track of the Development and Implementation, Level I program for NSF IUSE. Our goal is to support Community of Inquiry in asynchronous online STEM learning while mitigating impacts to cognitive load, with the goal of positively impacting persistence, performance, and perspectives. Online courses in general face large withdrawal rates; online STEM courses are no exception. In this study, we will design and test a pilot program for infusing Community of Inquiry into the asynchronous course discussions, including a best practices redesign of the discussion prompts, rubrics, and instructions by subject matter experts and instructional designers as well as professional development for instructors teaching the courses. This study will be implemented at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The pilot program will utilize existing institutional frameworks to support the redesign, with scaffolding to support the redesign and professional development. In our mixed-methods study, we will collect student information related to academic success (course grades, discussion transcript analysis), persistence (withdrawal rate), and perspectives (survey – STEM attitudes

(1), cognitive load (2), community of inquiry (3)), complemented by focus group interviews.

Intellectual Merit:

The key deliverable will be the pilot discussion framework designed from modern best practices, which can be transferred and scaled to other asynchronous online STEM courses. Another key contribution of this study will be the data generated regarding community of inquiry and cognitive load versus STEM attitudes. This data can be disseminated for a broad audience through manuscript publication in reliable open access venues.

Broader Impacts:

This project will generate a Community of Inquiry – Cognitive Load framework for asynchronous online STEM courses that supports persistence, performance, and positive attitudes through promotion of social, teaching, and cognitive presences while mitigating cognitive load impacts. This project offers a benefit to society through research disseminated through open access, high impact venues aimed at practitioners and administrators. This framework can be used by course designers and educators for both design and facilitation of asynchronous online discussions. The framework efficacy will be thoroughly evaluated on multiple criteria through this project. The research generated will advance discovery and promote learning through:

• establishing the influence of community of inquiry and cognitive load on persistence, performance, and perspectives;

• clearly identifying withdrawal reasons from asynchronous online STEM courses, allowing for targeted interventions beyond the framework.