Online Learning: Strategies for Student Success in Higher Education

This essay examines the evolving landscape of online learning in higher education, addressing both the challenges and the strategies essential for student success. It highlights the increasing prevalence of online and hybrid courses, emphasizing the flexibility they offer while acknowledging the varied effectiveness for different learners. The essay delves into cognitive learning theories, emphasizing the importance of active engagement and self-regulation. It discusses the significance of feedback, the need for diverse course materials, and the role of self-determination and reflective learning in enhancing student motivation and performance. The essay also explores the impact of behavioral and social theories on assessment, advocating for performance-centric evaluations to gauge real-world application of knowledge. It draws on research to provide insights into optimizing online learning environments and improving student outcomes.

Running head: ENGLISH
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Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Answer 1
With growing developments in technology, the usage of online as well as hybrid
classes have increased. There appears substantial level of acceptance from various course
formats and institutions introducing online and amalgam options for learners to stay
competitive. Such advanced learning courses offers a range of course designs can generate
higher flexibility for leaners (Harasim, 2017). Online as well as hybrid classes facilitate
learners to complete work as per their convenience and successfully removes extensive
commute times for students. Nevertheless, learning might not offer equitable effectiveness
for every individual when it is related to effective learning. Learners with specific learning
attributes show higher propensity of taking more challenges to succeed in similar online
settings. Furthermore, students may perform with more efficiency in one course in
comparison to other due to the ease of assessments, weightage of particular types of
assignments and whether they have received the authorization of consulting their notes for
assignments and several additional factors. As per the U.S Department of Education, there is
a considerably lesser degree of improvement in gaining knowledge in online courses as
linked to customary courses with mixed courses reflecting to some extent broader impact
(Nguyen, 2015). Kauffman’s evaluation results in specific characteristics which appear to
result to greater success in online learning settings. Thus, it has been noted that online
learning courses are not for every individual. Students require gathering awareness of their
own strong points as well as ways in which these assets will likely benefit learners to prosper
in diverse development formats in order to make knowledgeable decisions.
There has been growing debate amongst educators regarding the role of memory in
opposition to intelligence in fostering effective learning. According to Arghode, Brieger and
McLean (2017), it has been highly established that students have greater success in retaining
new content if they tend to consciously think about lessons in contradiction to only

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memorizing through digital learning. Cognitive theorists have promoted the understanding
that the cognizance has vigorous role in education and seeking concentration on what tends to
occur in between the manifestation of ecological stimulus as well as student response.
Furthermore, as per cognitive learning theory, all individuals tend to learn in different
manner. Nguyen (2015) has noted that cognitivism recognizes that not all learners have
similar level of cognitive abilities. In consequence, not every student in online learning
courses will advance at same levels. As the core understanding of Cognitivism deal with the
way individuals use their brains to think about lessons taught, e-learning content developers
must act efficiently to challenge learners’ mind to the fullest.
Ouadoud et al. (2017) by drawing relevance of behaviourism has noted that a
behaviouristic learning approach sheds light on directing learners to attain pre-established
learning outcomes. Learning is considered to occur when students manage to attain these
expected results which are designed to accomplish the learning objectives of online learning
course. As per behaviourism, digital learners fail to offer opportunities which facilitate
students to illustrate their ability of expressing desired behavioural patterns of already
occurred learning.
Answer 2
Online learning courses show profound divergences from traditional learning courses.
Learning from online courses tends to be less demanding in relation to attention and
concentration, thus number of online learners fail to obtain success before cultivating any
progress from digital learning. Thus, for online learning content developers it is highly
imperative to reduce attrition of students from these learning courses and helps learners to
achieve success. Feedback is considered as a vital strategy in online learning. According to
Boton and Gregory (2015), when the educational process occurs in a classroom, the teacher
has several avenues to share relevant feedback in real time, consequently streamlining

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students and pinpointing their errors early. Thus, sharing verbal through audio podcasts or
video feedback with screen captions and arranging video conferences for discussing vital
issues and providing virtual feedback sessions can serve as vital strategies to increase
motivation of online learners (Arghode, Brieger & McLean, 2017). Furthermore, leaners have
diverse cognitive ability and real life classrooms typically offer a richness of educational
prospects for students from various backgrounds. However, in online courses, there are
elements which may show deficiencies thus leaving few students beyond the expanse of
effectual studying. Thus, it is the accountability of online tutors to ascertain that the course
materials must incorporate visual, audial as well as textual format for offering all learners
equal opportunity of comprehension and increase their motivation (Browne & Kelley, 2017).
In a scenario, Alex, student from Singapore with robust academic background has
faced challenges in fully online learning courses of an U.S university due to lack of
involvement in personal contact with faculty as well as other students. This has led him to
lose motivation and gradually widened his gap of attaining adequate marks.
Another scenario has shed light on student who fails to make up for the cost of the
education. This has led him to fail in aligning with adaptive learning and achieve boosting
student results.
The insight of self-determination of action as apprentices are likely to perform in
accordance to their own desires, prospects and necessity in a reassuring setting whereby
students can obtain capitals will aid them to interpret their personal requirements, prospects
and wishes into strong purposes of goal setting. Through self-regulation, learner can improve
their learning standards by using actions which purpose at training metacognitive policies,
executive consideration as well as emotional regulation. While studying, learners typically
employ SRL strategies associated with note-taking, information seeking as well as
monitoring. Meanwhile, self-motivation will enable students with convenience and resilience

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by obtaining insights as per their convenience and create a reasonable study schedule to gain
higher marks. According to Adam et al. (2017), reflective learning can be employed in online
learning courses to provoke academic performances and engagement improvements.
Maintaining a diary will help learners establish a link with the emotions as well as rational
decision-making procedures. Diaries are similar to reflections log whereby learners
maintaining a refection log typically experience improvement in emotional intelligence and
rational thinking. Furthermore, through reflective practice students can perform
‘metacognition’ which simply puts meaning regarding thinking. Through reflective process
students can proceed with synthesis actions for prospective situations (Dunn & Rakes, 2015).
Educators in the process of e-learning can set types of reactions to be attained by e-
learners after communicating with online learning training resources. Educators can further
put emphasis on the importance of feedback all through the course and not specifically at the
end of the online learning course. In addition to this, educators can establish instructional
design for digital learning based on the behavioristic approach which would suggest that
learning occurs when unwelcome behavior is quenched and students reach the point of
generating only the preferred uniquely precise responses (Panigrahi, Srivastava & Sharma,
2018).
Answer 3
Behavioral as well as social theories significantly back up performance-centric
valuations. The behavioural approach tends to facilitate stimuli or knowledge in beseeching a
response. At these junctures, it purports that learners must make proper participation in real
world responsibilities for determining whether the knowledge or stimuli they have been given
have been comprehensible and applied in a way which can ease their performance in real-
world tasks. According to Kizilcec and Halawa (2015), the social theory considers knowledge
in the insight of behavior as well as consequence perspective.

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The behavioral theory can be understood as the best suited theory for supporting
authentic and performance-centric assessment. This is due to the fact that it assists in the
regulation and prediction of behavioral pattern (Harasim, 2017). Therefore, fixed-choice
assessments methods will be effective in behavioristic theory as educators or the evaluator
will try to envisage the performance of the learners through the degree which will help in
obtaining novel performance through training as well as social learning.

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References
Adam, N. L., Alzahri, F. B., Soh, S. C., Bakar, N. A., & Kamal, N. A. M. (2017, November).
Self-regulated learning and online learning: a systematic review. In International
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Arghode, V., Brieger, E. W., & McLean, G. N. (2017). Adult learning theories: implications
for online instruction. European Journal of Training and Development.
Boton, E. C., & Gregory, S. (2015). Minimizing attrition in online degree courses. Journal of
Educators Online, 12(1), n1.
Bradley, R. L., Browne, B. L., & Kelley, H. M. (2017). Examining the influence of self-
efficacy and self-regulation in online learning. College Student Journal, 51(4), 518-
530.
Dunn, K. E., & Rakes, G. C. (2015). Exploring online graduate students' responses to online
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Harasim, L. (2017). Learning theory and online technologies. Routledge.
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Nguyen, T. (2015). The effectiveness of online learning: Beyond no significant difference
and future horizons. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(2), 309-
319.
Ouadoud, M., Nejjari, A., Chkouri, M. Y., & El-Kadiri, K. E. (2017, October). Learning
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Panigrahi, R., Srivastava, P. R., & Sharma, D. (2018). Online learning: Adoption,
continuance, and learning outcome—A review of literature. International Journal of
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