Online videos are becoming more common with university synchronous and asynchronous learning approaches. As universities begin to extend their use of online instructional videos, greater emphasis needs to be placed on establishing relevance between the video’s instructional content and its application/transfer to workplace settings. In response to this need, a relevance intervention was designed, whereby a series of career-focused (C-F) videos featuring practitioner faculty were created and added to an undergraduate Health Administration course. The research questions guiding this study were: (a) How do online adult learners perceive the usefulness of career-focused videos and what video features contribute to those perceptions? and (b) What is the relationship between online adult learners’ perceptions of usefulness in career-focused videos, satisfaction with the career-focused video approach, and overall course satisfaction? Data were triangulated using end-of-video surveys (n = 125), an end-of-course survey (n = 99), and student interviews (n = 4). Data revealed that after being exposed to bi-weekly C-F videos, students reported strong positive perception of usefulness in the C-F videos and identified authenticity, contextualized examples, relevance, and knowledge checks as useful videos elements to support their learning. Correlation results between perceptions of usefulness, perceptions of satisfaction in the C-F video approach, and overall course satisfaction suggested a strong positive association between the three variables, thus indicating that C-F videos could prove to be a useful method for supporting the education to career connection among online adult learners.

This mixed methods action research study set out to solve the problem of practice involving a faculty member’s struggle to maintain active learning teaching and strategies during the transition of face-to-face to online modalities. Using a self-developed intervention called the Active Learning Course Planning Map, a new instructional design model is presented with a case study discussing the implications of use in an online course design and development process. Additionally, the faculty perspective was explored using the Active Learning Course Planning Map that encouraged active learning through reflection and collaboration between an instructional designer and faculty member. Initial findings suggested that the use of the Active Learning Course Planning Map, along with the collaborative work with an instructional designer was an asset that helped in the planning and execution of online courses.

Research suggests there is no significant difference in outcomes for online learners and on-campus learners. Several decades of online learning have also consistently demonstrated online students are less likely to persist than those students attending on campus. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework describes social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence as components of a quality online learning experience, and research links these three constructs to student retention. Using the lens of the CoI framework, this mixed methods action research study sought to increase social presence and teaching presence in asynchronous online courses at Davenport University using embedded video feedback mechanisms, in support of student persistence and retention. The Community of Inquiry survey instrument was used to quantitatively measure the changes in social presence and teaching presence between courses with and without the video feedback mechanisms. Qualitative research interviews were conducted to probe for meaning and a greater understanding of both student and instructor experiences in the courses. Results of the study indicated small but significant gains in teaching presence, but other quantitative measures showed no changes with the introduction of the videos. Qualitative analysis suggests that students who watched the instructor videos reported higher levels of teaching presence for several subconstructs of teaching presence and social presence. However, the qualitative analysis also suggested that many students did not watch the instructor videos, and thus did not benefit from any increased presence. Student discussion response videos yielded similar results qualitatively, with benefits demonstrated by those students who watched the videos but none by those who abstained.