In the topic below what are some areas of the proposal that work well and what areas of the proposal could benefit from additional clarification? Would there be any questions would there be related to the below topic and proposal

Topic

Applied Research and Setting

This proposal will address learning in the applied setting of higher education, more specifically college students ages 18 through 25. The contemporary problem highlighted is how the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly transitioned education from an in-person format to an online class format. The transition from in-person schooling to online format had been detrimental to students across the globe affecting their learning and ability to focus. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared over on May 11, 2023 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023), many consequences can be noted in students’ overall academic performance worldwide.

Problem Statement

Even though schooling has returned to a semi-normal format, several students continue to struggle to adjust. Researchers Kalsi et al. (2023), conducted a study investigating the phenomenon of attention contagion, which refers to virtual classrooms when students have their webcams on. In the study, 74 participants watched a prerecorded lecture along with research confederates who were visible. The results indicated that students who watched the lecture with attentive (vs. inattentive) confederates reported being more attentive and they learned more of the lecture content, performing 12% better on a post lecture quiz. They also perceived the lecture as more important, suggesting that social inferences (e.g., ‘this lecture is important’) may undergird attention contagion (Kalsi et al., 2023). The results of this study highlight how contagious attention can be. Whilst an online setting can pose tremendous distractions, those can be more feasibly remedied in an in-person learning format.  Correspondingly, researchers Aucejo et al. (2020) found that the shift to online learning during the pandemic has negatively affected students’ self-efficacy beliefs. Furthermore, the transition to online learning may have affected their academic performance and educational plans. (Aucejo et al., 2020). Given the unprecedented event of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has impacted college students’ academic performance, and attention span and has impacted the way a student learns in an online setting.

Contemporary Relevance

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the year 2020 brought tremendous changes to students worldwide. The highlighted fluctuations in school format that have been found after the abrupt transition have sprung up underlying concerns for inattention amongst students which has impacted academic performance. The contemporary option of schooling format specified in the applied research of learning can offer information regarding which format would remedy the imminent concerns. Given the contemporary concerns for inattention, the stated research question for the present proposal would be, do students typically perform better in a synchronous course or an asynchronous course?

Based on recent studies regarding online learning, researchers Wong et. al (2023) found that online learning is perceived negatively by many college students. Additionally, the difficulty students encounter in emergency online learning can adversely affect their mental health and academic performance (Wong, et. al, 2023). In the study, Chinese college students residing in Hong Kong were recruited and asked to complete an online questionnaire. Results showed that online learning stress was negatively associated with the approach academic coping and social support seeking, and the associations were mediated by academic hope (Wong et. al, 2023). The highlighted strengths of the present study are that the quantitative study can be replicated across many other college campus settings. The results are generalizable, which can be applied to a much larger population. The data found is also relevant to contemporary concerns for academic progression, relating to the present research study. The limitations of the study can be the number of participants recruited, including the demographics of participants. Reliable and valid studies include an appropriate number of participants and a randomization of demographics including gender, sex, ethnicity, background, etc.

Correspondingly, Stuart et al. (2022), performed a study researching online learning and the differences between asynchronous and synchronous formats in correlation to academic performance amongst college students. Similar to the study performed by Wong et al. (2023), the present study by Stuart et. al investigated the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had yielded in correlation to academic progress. In the study, Australian college students were recruited to investigate the correlations between student engagement with the format of remote learning and academic outcomes. For the study, connectedness was used as a moderator to assess the correlations. The findings of the study found that students with high levels of university connectedness who engaged more with synchronous teaching had higher grade point averages and academic satisfaction. Conversely, greater engagement with asynchronous teaching was associated with increased satisfaction with academic performance for those low in university connectedness (Stuart et al., 2022). The strengths of the study are that it encompasses data that can be applied to a population as a whole and can easily be generalized to understand how connectedness in a community an influencing factor in academic performance is, which can be a factor in understanding the present research study.  The limitations of the study were that it included solely Australian college students, which indicates a lack of diversity. Moreover, correlations can pose a concern for casualty versus causation.

Respectively, researchers Durek and Cankaya (2020) also investigated the effects of academic performance of college students engaging in various learning platforms including live sessions and live course practices versus self-taught lessons through self-guided presentations. In the qualitative study, college students from four different universities in Turkey were given a questionnaire regarding their views on online learning. The group was then split evenly where one group was asked to engage in synchronous courses and the other group was asked to engage in asynchronous courses. The results of the study indicated that the students who had engaged in synchronous courses were more satisfied, based on the results of the pre-survey (Durek, et al., 2020). The strengths of the study include the feasibility of replication and diversity in terms of recruiting students across four universities. Further, a limitation of the study is the lack of statistical analysis which indicated validity. Based on the research, it can be expanded by indicating academic scores (i.e., G.P.A scaling) alongside personal beliefs in order to identify which format indicates better performance overall.

Similar to the findings from Stuart et. al (2022) and Durek et al. (2020), the findings by Zhang et al. (2023) indicate student beliefs and preferences about preferred learning format can be an influencing factor in academic performance. In the study recruiting several undergraduate students from the Spring 2021 semester, t-tests compared overall scores from synchronous and asynchronous courses as well as a questionnaire evaluating personal preferences. The findings suggest that although both formats are online methods, students had significantly different experiences. Given this, the results were that social presence leads to lower self‐evaluated performance, but higher grades in synchronous learning environments (Zhang et al, 2023). Zhang et al. (2023) also found that the students did not prefer to discuss online synchronous courses and performed better without social interactions in synchronous class meetings (Zhang et al., 2023). The findings relate to the present research from Stuart et al. (2022) and Durek et al. (2020) which evaluates academic scores as well as confounding factors such as personal beliefs and, preferences. The identified strength of the study is the use of t-tests which can accurately calculate statistical data. Another strength is the sample size of 170 undergraduate students. The large sample size provides a more reliable and valid account of data analysis as well as generalizability for the present research.  The study allows for replication and further analysis of other factors. The limitations of the study can be the length of the study, given that student scores had been adapted from one semester. Providing scores from a longer period can yield more accurate results.

Interpretation of Findings

The research indicated by Wong et al. (2023) suggests that online learning stress was positively associated with avoidance of academic coping, which was not mediated by academic hope (Wong et. al, 2023). The results indicated that online learning stress was significantly associated with approach academic coping (B = −.19, β = −.29, BCa 95% CI [−.36, −.01]) and avoidance academic coping (B = .18, β = .26, BCa 95% CI [.02, .35]) (Wong et al., 2023). These findings suggest that students were using maladaptive coping to handle academic problems when experiencing more online learning stress (Wong et. al, 2023). The indicated findings of lower performance based on learning format and/or higher stress levels correlated to online learning relate to the indicated applied research of learning and the applied setting of college students. Given the sample size of the study 99 Chinese students, there is not sufficient evidence to accurately correlate academic stress and online learning. However, given that the quantitative study can be replicated, further research may indicate the validity of the findings.

Moreover, the research findings from Stuart et al. (2022) indicated that students who engaged more frequently with synchronous teaching reported obtaining significantly higher GPAs when they also felt moderate (b = .23, p = .010) or high (b = .44, p = .002) levels of connection with the university. Additionally, a positive association between synchronous engagement and GPA was strongest at high levels of university connectedness, and there was no significant association between engagement with synchronous teaching activities and GPA when students reported low levels of university connectedness (b = .01, p = .880) (Stuart et al., 2022). These outcomes suggest that online learning can be a tool for academic achievement, however, it is important for the student to consider connectedness as it plays a significant part in their overall performance in the course. The findings from Stuart et al. (2022) relate to the applied research of online learning amongst college students by demonstrating the correlation between synchronous or asynchronous formats and how students perform based on personal preferences of interaction. Given the sample size of 473 undergraduate students, the research has limited statistical power. Nevertheless, the study was mainly homogenous, where they had sampled mostly psychology students in one university (Stuart et al., 2022).

The research findings from Durek et al., (2020) stated that amongst the university students, almost all of whom were anxious before the distance education, the worries of those who took live lessons and used an integrated system were completely removed. (Durel et al., 2020). In this respect, within the scope of the distance education system, it could be stated that the elements of live lessons and interaction have great importance for students (Durek, et al., 2020). The results from the study indicated that 20% of the students stated that they had concentration problems in live lessons; and 28% of them stated that they missed the interaction in the classroom (Durek, et al., 2020). The data found, relates to the applied research of learning via synchronous or asynchronous methods amongst college students given that the experimental results indicate a higher academic performance from synchronous courses. Given the sample size of 17939 undergraduate students, the study contains a greater power for valid and reliable results.

The research findings from Zhang et al., (2023) indicate that compared with asynchronous online classes, under synchronous online learning mode, students have a significantly higher social presence, t (169) = 2.800, p < 0.01; cognitive presence, t (169) = 2.592, p < 0.05; and self-evaluated performance t (169) = 2.905, p < 0.01 (Zhang et al., 2023). The data found relates to the applied research and setting of learning amongst college students given that the statistical findings suggest that the synchronous online methods yield higher academic scores. The strengths of the study include the use of t-testing and statistical analysis.

Methodologies Principles

Wong et. al (2023 found that online learning stress was negatively associated with the approach academic coping and social support seeking, and the associations were mediated by academic hope (Wong et. al, 2023). The research can be expanded to further address the stated research question by more specifically addressing whether the online courses are based on a synchronous or asynchronous schedule. Based on the format, the results can indicate if students perform better in learning in real time or on their own time. The findings by Stuart et. al, (2022) found that students with high levels of university connectedness who engaged more with synchronous teaching had higher grade point averages and academic satisfaction. Conversely, greater engagement with asynchronous teaching was associated with increased satisfaction with academic performance for those low in university connectedness (Stuart et al., 2022). An expansion on the present study of online school format in correlation to connectedness can be performed by designing a study over a longer period of time and understanding the connection (if any) to the major the student is enrolled in, and which classes they are taking. Durek et al. (2020) stated that amongst the university students, almost all of whom were anxious before the distance education, the worries of those who took live lessons and used an integrated system were completely removed. The study can be expanded to further indicate more statistical findings and the use of t-testing considering the large sample size of 17939 participants.

Zhang et al., (2023) found that social presence leads to higher grades in the synchronous earning environments (Zhang et al., 2023). The research can be expanded by further analyzing student performance across various semesters rather than an analysis of one semester directly after the COVID-19 pandemic had occurred.