Category: Online Education

A NEST for Online Learning: Supporting Students in Virtual Education – Faculty Focus
In online nursing education, a “nest” is more than a metaphor—it is a learning environment where students feel safe, supported, and guided as they prepare to enter professional practice. Drawing on my experience as a nursing educator, I developed the NEST framework—Nurturing, Esteeming and Encouraging, Supporting with Sensitive Listening, and Trust-building—to help faculty of any discipline create virtual classrooms where can students thrive. This framework provides actionable strategies that foster engagement, confidence, and professional growth, ensuring students succeed academically while cultivating the values and skills essential not only for nursing but for any profession they pursue.

Nurturing: Creating Safety and Connection in Virtual Classrooms

Nurturing in online education involves creating conditions where students feel seen, valued, and supported. Practical strategies include:
- Personalized reminders about assignments and deadlines
- Recognition of standout work or consistent effort
- Targeted assistance during challenging weeks
- Mid-week check-ins at key points (weeks 3, 6, and near the end of the course)
- Weekly announcements that reassure students they are not navigating the course alone and invite collaboration
These intentional acts convey: you matter, I care about you and your growth, and I am here to support you. By nurturing students online, faculty shift from simply delivering content to facilitating discovery and meaningful learning, helping students internalize that professional values—like compassion, competence, collaboration, and understanding—are essential in nursing and in any career they pursue.

Esteeming and Encouraging: Recognizing Strengths Online

Esteeming affirms each student’s value, while encouragement supports their belief in their ability to meet challenges. In virtual classrooms, this can include:
- Highlighting thoughtful discussion board posts
- Sending brief messages to recognize consistent effort
- Acknowledging creative approaches to assignments
- Reframing mistakes as opportunities for growth
Esteeming and encouraging students create a learning environment that feels less like a points-based performance and more like a journey of discovery. Students flourish when they feel recognized and supported—lessons they carry into professional nursing practice and other careers, where acknowledging the efforts of colleagues and clients enhances collaboration, engagement, and overall effectiveness.

Supporting and Listening: Meeting Students Where They Are

Support in online education involves being present and responsive. Sensitive listening attends to both spoken and unspoken concerns. Many nursing students balance coursework, clinical hours, employment, and family responsibilities. Practical strategies include:
- Timely, compassionate responses to emails
- Flexibility with deadlines when life circumstances intervene
- Online opportunities for students to share experiences and reflect
- Structured activities like mid-week check-ins, collaborative discussions, and reflective journaling
These strategies model sensitive listening and support—skills students carry into nursing and other professional settings, fostering trust, collaboration, and meaningful connections with colleagues, clients, and communities.

Trust-Building: The Cornerstone of Engagement in Online Learning

Trust is essential for engagement in online learning. Students participate fully when they believe instructors are fair, consistent, and invested in their success. Trust is fostered online through:
- Clear, consistent communication
- Well-structured, predictable course design
- Timely feedback that reassures students they are supported
- Avoiding inconsistencies in messaging or directions, which can undermine trust
By demonstrating reliability and responsiveness, faculty model behaviors students can emulate in professional practice, strengthening relationships with patients and colleagues.

Carrying the NEST Forward: From Online Classroom to Professional Practice

The NEST framework extends beyond online classrooms. Students carry lessons of being nurtured, esteemed, supported, listened to, and trusted into every professional interaction. Faculty who model NEST help students internalize not just knowledge and skills, but the values that define my field of nursing practice—such as compassionate care, encouragement, support, sensitive listening, and trust—valuable principles that apply across any discipline and profession.

Students may leave the online course, but they take with them habits of mind and heart cultivated in the nest: confidence from nurturing, resilience from encouragement, empathy shaped by listening, and integrity rooted in trust. By creating an online nest where learning flourishes, faculty prepare students not only to succeed academically but to enrich the lives of those they serve—whether colleagues, clients, or communities in any professional field.

Sandra L. Daisley, MSN, RN, is a nursing educator with extensive experience in online pre-licensure programs. She is passionate about creating student-centered learning environments that foster engagement, professional growth, and the development of compassionate, competent nurses. Sandy is the creator of the NEST framework, a practical model for supporting students in virtual classrooms.
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November 21, 2025
A NEST for Online Learning: Supporting Students in Virtual Education – Faculty Focus
In online nursing education, a “nest” is more than a metaphor—it is a learning environment where students feel safe, supported, and guided as they prepare to enter professional practice. Drawing on my experience as a nursing educator, I developed the NEST framework—Nurturing, Esteeming and Encouraging, Supporting with Sensitive Listening, and Trust-building—to help faculty of any discipline create virtual classrooms where can students thrive. This framework provides actionable strategies that foster engagement, confidence, and professional growth, ensuring students succeed academically while cultivating the values and skills essential not only for nursing but for any profession they pursue.

Nurturing: Creating Safety and Connection in Virtual Classrooms

Nurturing in online education involves creating conditions where students feel seen, valued, and supported. Practical strategies include:
- Personalized reminders about assignments and deadlines
- Recognition of standout work or consistent effort
- Targeted assistance during challenging weeks
- Mid-week check-ins at key points (weeks 3, 6, and near the end of the course)
- Weekly announcements that reassure students they are not navigating the course alone and invite collaboration
These intentional acts convey: you matter, I care about you and your growth, and I am here to support you. By nurturing students online, faculty shift from simply delivering content to facilitating discovery and meaningful learning, helping students internalize that professional values—like compassion, competence, collaboration, and understanding—are essential in nursing and in any career they pursue.

Esteeming and Encouraging: Recognizing Strengths Online

Esteeming affirms each student’s value, while encouragement supports their belief in their ability to meet challenges. In virtual classrooms, this can include:
- Highlighting thoughtful discussion board posts
- Sending brief messages to recognize consistent effort
- Acknowledging creative approaches to assignments
- Reframing mistakes as opportunities for growth
Esteeming and encouraging students create a learning environment that feels less like a points-based performance and more like a journey of discovery. Students flourish when they feel recognized and supported—lessons they carry into professional nursing practice and other careers, where acknowledging the efforts of colleagues and clients enhances collaboration, engagement, and overall effectiveness.

Supporting and Listening: Meeting Students Where They Are

Support in online education involves being present and responsive. Sensitive listening attends to both spoken and unspoken concerns. Many nursing students balance coursework, clinical hours, employment, and family responsibilities. Practical strategies include:
- Timely, compassionate responses to emails
- Flexibility with deadlines when life circumstances intervene
- Online opportunities for students to share experiences and reflect
- Structured activities like mid-week check-ins, collaborative discussions, and reflective journaling
These strategies model sensitive listening and support—skills students carry into nursing and other professional settings, fostering trust, collaboration, and meaningful connections with colleagues, clients, and communities.

Trust-Building: The Cornerstone of Engagement in Online Learning

Trust is essential for engagement in online learning. Students participate fully when they believe instructors are fair, consistent, and invested in their success. Trust is fostered online through:
- Clear, consistent communication
- Well-structured, predictable course design
- Timely feedback that reassures students they are supported
- Avoiding inconsistencies in messaging or directions, which can undermine trust
By demonstrating reliability and responsiveness, faculty model behaviors students can emulate in professional practice, strengthening relationships with patients and colleagues.

Carrying the NEST Forward: From Online Classroom to Professional Practice

The NEST framework extends beyond online classrooms. Students carry lessons of being nurtured, esteemed, supported, listened to, and trusted into every professional interaction. Faculty who model NEST help students internalize not just knowledge and skills, but the values that define my field of nursing practice—such as compassionate care, encouragement, support, sensitive listening, and trust—valuable principles that apply across any discipline and profession.

Students may leave the online course, but they take with them habits of mind and heart cultivated in the nest: confidence from nurturing, resilience from encouragement, empathy shaped by listening, and integrity rooted in trust. By creating an online nest where learning flourishes, faculty prepare students not only to succeed academically but to enrich the lives of those they serve—whether colleagues, clients, or communities in any professional field.

Sandra L. Daisley, MSN, RN, is a nursing educator with extensive experience in online pre-licensure programs. She is passionate about creating student-centered learning environments that foster engagement, professional growth, and the development of compassionate, competent nurses. Sandy is the creator of the NEST framework, a practical model for supporting students in virtual classrooms.
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November 21, 2025
Beyond Breakout Rooms: Deepening Learning with Collaborative Whiteboards – Faculty Focus
Distance learning is here to stay. Both students and educators were required to quickly pivot to distance platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic without adequate preparation or training (Basilotta-Gomez-Pablos et al. 2022). Many programs elected to keep distance and hybrid learning options for students, with excellent reason. These platforms improve convenience, access, and inclusivity, gaining fast traction. Now, many institutions have an opportunity, or arguably a responsibility, to provide educators with the support needed to be successful while teaching in distance modalities; concurrently, educators are responsible for seeking resources and training to help them leverage technologies to thrive in this distance space (Crompton and Sykora 2021).

The use of technology in distance platforms is important; educators need to navigate a learning platform but don’t necessarily need to become digital technology experts (Crompton and Sykora 2021). So, what is possibly most important? Finding tools that are simple to use and have a high impact. Many educators still report that they do not feel equipped to apply new technologies, although today’s adult learners prefer novel and engaging technology tools (Borte, Nesje, and Lillejord 2023). Therefore, us educators should discuss, introduce, and share these technologies as we discover them to figure this out as a team.

In this article, we will explore how collaborative technologies, specifically collaborative whiteboards, can help bring life to adult learning theories in synchronous learning classrooms.

Students in distance learning platforms often have fewer opportunities to work collaboratively, outside of a break-out-room model, providing challenges for meaningfully applying adult learning theories. Theoretically speaking, collaboration and social engagement are essential components of adult learning, specifically to create a sense of community with learners, which can be more challenging in distance learning classes (Barbetta 2023; Shea, Richardson, and Swan 2022). Additionally, engaging students in more cognitively demanding ways, such as creating, analyzing, or developing information, is especially important to achieve higher-level learning outcomes (Vargas et al. 2024). Therefore, if we can strategically find ways to use digital technologies grounded in adult learning theory, we can strengthen the learning experience, enhance learning outcomes, and bridge the gap between theory and content delivery.

Many digital technologies and platforms exist and are met with opportunities and challenges. Time constraints and cost are common barriers (Borte, Nesje, and Lillejord 2023); therefore, free tools with relatively low preparation are prioritized. The Microsoft Collaborative Whiteboard app, which can be integrated within a Microsoft Teams Meeting space as a screen share, allows students to edit a document or template for more naturalistic collaborations simultaneously. Because it can be integrated into the meeting space, students do not need to download an app, leave the meeting, or switch to a new browser to participate. The form can be prepared before a lesson to allow instructors flexibility in their role and level of scaffolding.

Real-World Examples

A collaborative whiteboard can be applied to various programs, topic areas, or overall aims, and it may also be used as a formative assessment of content delivery. The examples included in this article were used in two separate synchronous occupational therapy courses, one focused on a neuroscience recap of the cranial nerves and one on adapting a therapeutic activity for different levels of traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. Pay special attention to the variance between the levels of learning targeted and how this is reflected in the collaborative efforts of the students.

Basic-level Whiteboard

This synchronous whiteboard was used at the beginning of the class session to serve as a formative assessment of the understanding of basic concepts of content. The 24 students were asked to match the function’s cranial nerve name, number, and a representative emoji. This was a more simplistic board that allowed students to reorganize the information presented at a basic knowledge-attainment level collaboratively. It was helpful as a formative assessment to adapt the rest of the lesson according to the students’ level of understanding, and their pace and accuracy of completion. In this case, the students moved their pointers to arrange the information simultaneously, with only a few attempts to collaborate verbally. This activity provided a collaborative effort to complete a joint, goal-oriented task.

Before

After

Advanced-level Whiteboard

The synchronous whiteboard in this example was created for a higher level of application-based learning, where 11 students were asked to alter components of an occupation and treatment modality, baking cookies, to apply to each unique level of traumatic brain injury recovery. This activity demanded greater levels of problem-solving and, therefore, greater levels of collaboration within the class. Many discussions and opportunities for problem-solving and aims for collective approval arose. To close the learning activity, I led a group debrief to discuss each level, provided immediate feedback, and facilitated discussions transferable to other real-world applications. In this example, the directions are in the middle, and the students filled in the sticky notes around the perimeter.

Make it Meaningful

We need buy-in and motivation in higher education. This begins with identifying real-world challenges and ends with reflection. The strategic use of digital technologies, specifically when combined with theoretical reasoning and adult learning principles, can improve classroom experiences through a greater sense of community while targeting higher levels of learning. If we are intentional with this design, educators can increase student engagement and facilitate higher levels of learning in synchronous online classrooms. Sprinkle goal-oriented and real-world relevant material on top, and you have a recipe for a meaningful outcome.

Looking Ahead

With institutions more widely embracing long-term implementation of distance education programs, faculty require ongoing support, training, and access to resources for sustained confidence and success. Dissemination of practical examples of use by peer educators and texts outlining an approach to identify and develop materials will benefit ongoing efforts to increase competency. In other words, we must keep each other informed on educational tech-gems we find to collectively improve our system.

How to Whiteboard: Quick Start Guide
1. Open Microsoft Teams
1. Click on the Whiteboard tab in your meeting space
1. Upload an editable template or create a blank canvas
1. Once in your meeting, share your screen and select the whiteboard app
1. Scaffold your task with prompts and questions
Jaimee Fielder, OTD, OTR is an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. She earned her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Touro University Nevada, Post-Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University, and is now pursuing a Doctorate in Education from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, with a dissertation focused on educational technology and active learning in higher education classrooms.

References

Barbetta, Patricia M. 2023. “Technologies as Tools to Increase Active Learning During Online Higher-Education Instruction.” Journal of Educational Technology Systems 51(3): 317–339.

Basilotta-Gomez-Pablos, Verónica, Matarranz, María, Casado-Aranda, Luis A., and Otto, Andreas. 2022. “Teachers’ Digital Competencies in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review.” International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education 19(8).

Børte, Kristi, Nesje, Kjersti, and Lillejord, Sølvi. 2023. “Barriers to Student Active Learning in Higher Education.” Teaching in Higher Education 28(3): 597–615.

Crompton, Helen, and Sykora, Christopher. 2021. “Developing Instructional Technology Standards for Educators: A Design-Based Research Study.” Computers and Education Open 2: 100044.

Shea, Peter, Richardson, Jennifer, and Swan, Karen. 2022. “Building Bridges to Advance the Community of Inquiry Framework for Online Learning.” Educational Psychologist 57(3): 148–161.

Vargas, Jesús H., Ojeda, Edison C. C., Zapata, Carlos A. C., Flores, Karen A. A., Vela, Juan A. H., and Espinoza, Yessenia E. D. 2024. “Analysis of Significant Learning in Higher Education: Usefulness of Fink’s Taxonomy: A Systematic Review.” Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research 7(S7): 1341.
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November 12, 2025
The Black Box Problem: Why Cameras Matter in the Online Classroom – Faculty Focus

It started with small talk at one of those laid-back faculty mixers—the kind designed for exchanging ideas and sparking new connections. As an online graduate psychology professor, I find these in-person moments to be, quite literally, grounding. During one conversation, a colleague chuckled and said, “Online teaching is almost too mild and peaceful sometimes. I feel like throwing in something controversial just to keep things lively!”

We all laughed, but beneath the humor was a plain truth: online learning, while valuable, convenient, and accessible, can sometimes lack the tension and spontaneity of in-person discussion and debate. My colleague’s observation wasn’t just about livening up the virtual classroom. It was also about cohesion and presence—something online classrooms most certainly lack when students keep their cameras off (Yoon & Leem, 2021; Xia et al., 2024).

Ghosts in the Machine

Faculty across various online institutions have noted the striking stillness of teaching to a grid of black boxes—no visible students, no expressions, only disembodied names suspended in silence. Research shows that when students choose to stay invisible, it’s not just the teacher who loses out—the entire class dynamic suffers (Pi et al., 2024). It’s well documented that visual presence in online learning increases engagement and social connection (Chen & Chen, 2015). The reality is that many online students are reluctant to speak up— there’s seemingly more at stake when your comment hangs in a recorded cloud that can be replayed and scrutinized. And without real-time facial feedback or the encouragement gleaned from someone else’s nod of agreement, students are more likely to retreat into passivity. In fact, more than 3 in 10 college students are less apt to participate in online discussions than their in-person peers (Chacon et al., 2023).

As I’ve learned both from teaching and parenting, the online space provides ample room for multitasking. One of my children, currently a college undergrad, “attended” a class recently while sautéing vegetables, chatting with a sibling, and tossing treats to our dog, Lemon. And no, I don’t fault her—she’s a bright, capable student. The responsibility, in this case, rests more with the instructor, who didn’t require cameras to be on and appeared resigned to teaching to what was basically an empty room.

Cameras On: A Case for Presence and Politeness

At the university where I teach online, students are expected to keep their cameras on, not because we’re attention-hungry control freaks, but because we understand how people actually learn. We know that attention is fragile, and focus is fleeting. Connection and concentration are bedrocks of meaningful and effective education (Chen & Chen, 2015).

Having cameras on isn’t just a matter of preference. It’s a matter of politeness. It’s about showing up for others, not just for yourself. Just as you’d make eye contact in a physical classroom (or anywhere, for that matter), nod in response, or lean in when someone shares a vulnerable insight, keeping your camera on says: I see you. I’m here. I’m listening.

For group discussions and breakouts, this becomes even more critical (Santacroce et al., 2025). The group dynamic depends on feedback loops—on tone, facial expression, and gestures (Santacroce et al, 2025). Without cameras, we strip these interactions of emotional nuance. Colleagues share that camera-off students are far less likely to challenge each other, less likely to support each other, and less likely to forge the kind of connections that make grad school so meaningful.

Teaching Professionals, Not Spectators

Let’s not forget—we’re teaching future professionals; in my field, that means guiding the next generation of psychotherapists and psychologists. These aren’t just students aiming to pass exams—they’re future professionals who’ll be supporting people, solving problems, and making decisions in complex, real-world situations. They must become experts at observing, interpreting, and responding thoughtfully to the world around them. For example, if they can’t learn to read a room, interpret subtle cues, or stay attentive during collaborative work, how will they respond effectively in their chosen field?

In fact, attunement— being aware of and responsive to subtle emotional cues—is fundamental to clinical work (Siegel, 1999) for my students and professional success for students in any discipline. Without practicing these skills in the classroom, students may enter the workforce without a full toolkit. It’s like learning to swim by watching videos—helpful in theory, but it doesn’t prepare you for the feel of the water.

Avalon and the Art of Connection

Recently, while playing the board game Avalon with my college-aged kids and their friends, I had a revelation. For those unfamiliar, Avalon is a game of secret identities, deception, and deduction. Players are secretly assigned roles—either loyal members of King Arthur’s court or villainous minions of Mordred. The “good” players must complete missions without being sabotaged, while the “evil” ones seek to stealthily undermine them.

It gets loud. It gets passionate. People argue, analyze, accuse, and defend. It’s part logic puzzle, part psychological combat. As I watched my kids animatedly playing this game, I imagined them trying to do so with their figurative cameras off. No gestures, no expression, no eye contact, no interaction. It would be confusing at best, and completely unenjoyable at worst.

Avalon, like the online classroom dynamics I’ve described, thrives on presence—on people being fully engaged and visible to one another in real time. Success in the game requires attention to subtle shifts in tone and confidence, keen observation of behavior, and collaboration. These skills mirror the very competencies we hope to cultivate in future clinicians.

What the Research Says: Nonverbal Speaks Volumes

The importance of nonverbal communication isn’t just anecdotal—it’s backed by research. In a seminal study, Mehrabian (1971) found that 93% of communication is nonverbal, with 55% attributed to body language and 38% to tone of voice, leaving only 7% to the actual words spoken. While these numbers have been debated, the consensus remains: nonverbal cues are crucial to understanding and connection. And more recent research highlights that body language conveys emotion, regulates interactions, and builds trust (Burgoon et al., 2021). These functions are central in the therapeutic alliance—and they begin in the classroom.

Nice Doesn’t Mean Neglect

Some instructors avoid requiring cameras because they want to be “nice.” They worry about students feeling judged, self-conscious, or overwhelmed. These concerns are real, and there are compassionate ways to address them. But we must not confuse niceness with neglect. There are many ways to support students: flexible deadlines, empathetic check-ins, diverse teaching and evaluation methods. But we can’t support what we can’t see. Connection begins with visibility. Eye contact. A wave. A smile. Greeting your student by name. These simple gestures remind students—and us—that we’re in this together.

Cameras On, Learning Up

The online classroom is not inherently sterile or mellow. It can be alive, dynamic, and even spirited. If we want to train thoughtful clinicians, if we want to foster meaningful dialogue, if we want to stir the pot in all the right ways, then let’s challenge the online black box. Let’s make the virtual space not just a platform for content, but a community, with cameras on and curiosity engaged. Connection doesn’t happen by accident—it’s built, moment by moment, face by face.

Beverly Wertheimer, PsyD, DMin, LCSW, is an adjunct professor of psychology at Pepperdine University, a child and adolescent psychotherapist specializing in cognitive and meaning-centered therapies, and a certified life coach. She was previously a TV news anchor, reporter, and bureau chief at ABC and NBC affiliates, and CNN’s Turner Entertainment.

References

Abargil, M., Schenkolewski, A., & Tishby, O. (2024). Therapists’ emotional responses and their relation to patients’ experience of attunement and responsiveness. Psychotherapy Research, 35(1), 54–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2024.2403422

Burgoon, J. K., Wang, X., Chen, X., Pentland, S. J., & Dunbar, N. E. (2021). Nonverbal behaviors “speak” relational messages of dominance, trust, and composure. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 624177. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624177

Chacon, M., Levine, R. S., & Bintliff, A. (2023). Student perceptions: How virtual student-led talking circles promote engagement, social connectedness, and academic benefit. Active Learning in Higher Education, 25(3), 569-587. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874231179238

Chen, H.-R., & Chen, J.-H. (2015). Design of attention-based recommendation learning mechanism in the cloud computing environment. In 2015 IEEE 15th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) (pp. 456–457). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2015.91

Halpern J. (2003), What is clinical empathy? J Gen Intern Med.18(8):670-4. https://doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x. PMID: 12911651

Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messages (1st ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Pi, Z., Zhang, L., Zhao, X., & Li, X. (2024). Peers turning on cameras promotes learning in video conferencing. Computers & Education, 212, 104986. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104986

Santacroce, L., Appiah, R., Sullivan, MD., Spaniol, J., (2025) Brief social presence improves delayed memory for online lecture content. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0318149. PMID: 39879187

Siegel, D. J. (1999). The developing mind: Toward a neurobiology of interpersonal experience (1st ed., pp. 69–70). Guilford Press.

Xia, L., Wang, L., & Huang, C. (2024). Implementing a Social Presence-Based Teaching Strategy in Online Lecture Learning. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 14(9), 2580-2597. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14090170

Yoon, P., & Leem, J. (2021). The Influence of Social Presence in Online Classes Using Virtual Conferencing: Relationships between Group Cohesion, Group Efficacy, and Academic Performance. Sustainability, 13(4), 1988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041988

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October 17, 2025
The Black Box Problem: Why Cameras Matter in the Online Classroom – Faculty Focus

It started with small talk at one of those laid-back faculty mixers—the kind designed for exchanging ideas and sparking new connections. As an online graduate psychology professor, I find these in-person moments to be, quite literally, grounding. During one conversation, a colleague chuckled and said, “Online teaching is almost too mild and peaceful sometimes. I feel like throwing in something controversial just to keep things lively!”

We all laughed, but beneath the humor was a plain truth: online learning, while valuable, convenient, and accessible, can sometimes lack the tension and spontaneity of in-person discussion and debate. My colleague’s observation wasn’t just about livening up the virtual classroom. It was also about cohesion and presence—something online classrooms most certainly lack when students keep their cameras off (Yoon & Leem, 2021; Xia et al., 2024).

Ghosts in the Machine

Faculty across various online institutions have noted the striking stillness of teaching to a grid of black boxes—no visible students, no expressions, only disembodied names suspended in silence. Research shows that when students choose to stay invisible, it’s not just the teacher who loses out—the entire class dynamic suffers (Pi et al., 2024). It’s well documented that visual presence in online learning increases engagement and social connection (Chen & Chen, 2015). The reality is that many online students are reluctant to speak up— there’s seemingly more at stake when your comment hangs in a recorded cloud that can be replayed and scrutinized. And without real-time facial feedback or the encouragement gleaned from someone else’s nod of agreement, students are more likely to retreat into passivity. In fact, more than 3 in 10 college students are less apt to participate in online discussions than their in-person peers (Chacon et al., 2023).

As I’ve learned both from teaching and parenting, the online space provides ample room for multitasking. One of my children, currently a college undergrad, “attended” a class recently while sautéing vegetables, chatting with a sibling, and tossing treats to our dog, Lemon. And no, I don’t fault her—she’s a bright, capable student. The responsibility, in this case, rests more with the instructor, who didn’t require cameras to be on and appeared resigned to teaching to what was basically an empty room.

Cameras On: A Case for Presence and Politeness

At the university where I teach online, students are expected to keep their cameras on, not because we’re attention-hungry control freaks, but because we understand how people actually learn. We know that attention is fragile, and focus is fleeting. Connection and concentration are bedrocks of meaningful and effective education (Chen & Chen, 2015).

Having cameras on isn’t just a matter of preference. It’s a matter of politeness. It’s about showing up for others, not just for yourself. Just as you’d make eye contact in a physical classroom (or anywhere, for that matter), nod in response, or lean in when someone shares a vulnerable insight, keeping your camera on says: I see you. I’m here. I’m listening.

For group discussions and breakouts, this becomes even more critical (Santacroce et al., 2025). The group dynamic depends on feedback loops—on tone, facial expression, and gestures (Santacroce et al, 2025). Without cameras, we strip these interactions of emotional nuance. Colleagues share that camera-off students are far less likely to challenge each other, less likely to support each other, and less likely to forge the kind of connections that make grad school so meaningful.

Teaching Professionals, Not Spectators

Let’s not forget—we’re teaching future professionals; in my field, that means guiding the next generation of psychotherapists and psychologists. These aren’t just students aiming to pass exams—they’re future professionals who’ll be supporting people, solving problems, and making decisions in complex, real-world situations. They must become experts at observing, interpreting, and responding thoughtfully to the world around them. For example, if they can’t learn to read a room, interpret subtle cues, or stay attentive during collaborative work, how will they respond effectively in their chosen field?

In fact, attunement— being aware of and responsive to subtle emotional cues—is fundamental to clinical work (Siegel, 1999) for my students and professional success for students in any discipline. Without practicing these skills in the classroom, students may enter the workforce without a full toolkit. It’s like learning to swim by watching videos—helpful in theory, but it doesn’t prepare you for the feel of the water.

Avalon and the Art of Connection

Recently, while playing the board game Avalon with my college-aged kids and their friends, I had a revelation. For those unfamiliar, Avalon is a game of secret identities, deception, and deduction. Players are secretly assigned roles—either loyal members of King Arthur’s court or villainous minions of Mordred. The “good” players must complete missions without being sabotaged, while the “evil” ones seek to stealthily undermine them.

It gets loud. It gets passionate. People argue, analyze, accuse, and defend. It’s part logic puzzle, part psychological combat. As I watched my kids animatedly playing this game, I imagined them trying to do so with their figurative cameras off. No gestures, no expression, no eye contact, no interaction. It would be confusing at best, and completely unenjoyable at worst.

Avalon, like the online classroom dynamics I’ve described, thrives on presence—on people being fully engaged and visible to one another in real time. Success in the game requires attention to subtle shifts in tone and confidence, keen observation of behavior, and collaboration. These skills mirror the very competencies we hope to cultivate in future clinicians.

What the Research Says: Nonverbal Speaks Volumes

The importance of nonverbal communication isn’t just anecdotal—it’s backed by research. In a seminal study, Mehrabian (1971) found that 93% of communication is nonverbal, with 55% attributed to body language and 38% to tone of voice, leaving only 7% to the actual words spoken. While these numbers have been debated, the consensus remains: nonverbal cues are crucial to understanding and connection. And more recent research highlights that body language conveys emotion, regulates interactions, and builds trust (Burgoon et al., 2021). These functions are central in the therapeutic alliance—and they begin in the classroom.

Nice Doesn’t Mean Neglect

Some instructors avoid requiring cameras because they want to be “nice.” They worry about students feeling judged, self-conscious, or overwhelmed. These concerns are real, and there are compassionate ways to address them. But we must not confuse niceness with neglect. There are many ways to support students: flexible deadlines, empathetic check-ins, diverse teaching and evaluation methods. But we can’t support what we can’t see. Connection begins with visibility. Eye contact. A wave. A smile. Greeting your student by name. These simple gestures remind students—and us—that we’re in this together.

Cameras On, Learning Up

The online classroom is not inherently sterile or mellow. It can be alive, dynamic, and even spirited. If we want to train thoughtful clinicians, if we want to foster meaningful dialogue, if we want to stir the pot in all the right ways, then let’s challenge the online black box. Let’s make the virtual space not just a platform for content, but a community, with cameras on and curiosity engaged. Connection doesn’t happen by accident—it’s built, moment by moment, face by face.

Beverly Wertheimer, PsyD, DMin, LCSW, is an adjunct professor of psychology at Pepperdine University, a child and adolescent psychotherapist specializing in cognitive and meaning-centered therapies, and a certified life coach. She was previously a TV news anchor, reporter, and bureau chief at ABC and NBC affiliates, and CNN’s Turner Entertainment.

References

Abargil, M., Schenkolewski, A., & Tishby, O. (2024). Therapists’ emotional responses and their relation to patients’ experience of attunement and responsiveness. Psychotherapy Research, 35(1), 54–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2024.2403422

Burgoon, J. K., Wang, X., Chen, X., Pentland, S. J., & Dunbar, N. E. (2021). Nonverbal behaviors “speak” relational messages of dominance, trust, and composure. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 624177. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624177

Chacon, M., Levine, R. S., & Bintliff, A. (2023). Student perceptions: How virtual student-led talking circles promote engagement, social connectedness, and academic benefit. Active Learning in Higher Education, 25(3), 569-587. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874231179238

Chen, H.-R., & Chen, J.-H. (2015). Design of attention-based recommendation learning mechanism in the cloud computing environment. In 2015 IEEE 15th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) (pp. 456–457). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICALT.2015.91

Halpern J. (2003), What is clinical empathy? J Gen Intern Med.18(8):670-4. https://doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21017.x. PMID: 12911651

Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messages (1st ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Pi, Z., Zhang, L., Zhao, X., & Li, X. (2024). Peers turning on cameras promotes learning in video conferencing. Computers & Education, 212, 104986. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104986

Santacroce, L., Appiah, R., Sullivan, MD., Spaniol, J., (2025) Brief social presence improves delayed memory for online lecture content. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0318149. PMID: 39879187

Siegel, D. J. (1999). The developing mind: Toward a neurobiology of interpersonal experience (1st ed., pp. 69–70). Guilford Press.

Xia, L., Wang, L., & Huang, C. (2024). Implementing a Social Presence-Based Teaching Strategy in Online Lecture Learning. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 14(9), 2580-2597. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe14090170

Yoon, P., & Leem, J. (2021). The Influence of Social Presence in Online Classes Using Virtual Conferencing: Relationships between Group Cohesion, Group Efficacy, and Academic Performance. Sustainability, 13(4), 1988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041988

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October 17, 2025
Online-only lectures not a bad thing – Campus Review

/On Campus/Online-only lectures not a bad thing

On Campus

Online lectures give students opportunities to engage with material in ways that suit them

Alice BrownSeptember 29, 2025Last Updated: September 29, 2025

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Students have been protesting to keep in-person lectures at the newly amalgamated Adelaide University next year.

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September 29, 2025

Design Smarter, Teach Better: How Thoughtful Course Webpages Can Improve Online Learning – Faculty Focus

Even as in-person classes return post-pandemic, online courses haven’t gone away. In fact, many students still opt for online learning because of the flexibility it offers. But one thing is clear: not all online courses are created equal, and one of the biggest differences lies in something many instructors overlook: the course webpage.

Whether you’re using Brightspace, Canvas, or Moodle, how you design your course webpage can make or break your students’ experience. Based on our systematic review of recent studies on online learning and student satisfaction, here’s what we learned—and how you can apply it in your own teaching.

Why Course Webpages Matter More Than You Think

Students form impressions about your course page in less than a second (Lindgaard et al., 2006). If it’s cluttered, confusing, or bland, you might lose them before they even start the first lecture.

We reviewed research involving over 1,600 university students from seven countries. Across the board, students reported that a course webpage’s ease of use, usefulness, and visual appeal significantly influenced their satisfaction and engagement (Lazard & King, 2020; Younas et al. 2021).

How We Did the Research

To better understand what works in online course webpage design, we conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. Here’s what that looked like:

Databases searched: LearnTechLib, Omni (Carleton University), and reference lists from relevant papers

Keywords: “COVID,” “website,” “online learning,” and “pedagogy”

Inclusion criteria: Peer-reviewed, quantitative studies from 2020–2023, focused on higher education

Total included: 7 studies, 1,614 participants across Australia, China, South Africa, Lebanon, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the U.S.

Figure 1. PRISMA Flow Diagram for the Course Webpage Design Search

Practical Tips for Smarter Course Design

Below are research-based, practical tips instructors can use—that don’t require you to be a web designer. These ideas are easy to implement and can make a big difference.

1. Make Navigation a No-Brainer

Think of your course webpage like your storefront. If people can’t find what they need, they won’t stick around. This makes your life as an instructor harder: you will get more students with last-minute requests for accommodations, as well as students struggling with procrastination.

Use a consistent layout, organize materials by weeks or modules, and give each section clear, descriptive titles. Students should never have to hunt for a syllabus or lecture slides (Bachman & Stewart, 2011; Plous, 2000). I found that having a hyperlink directly on the first page of the course website, helped reduce the amount of student emails on syllabus-related questions (a joy).

Pro tip: Use drop-down menus and collapsible folders to reduce visual clutter.

2. Keep It Clean and Simple

Visual overload is real. Too many colours, clashing fonts, or random clipart can be overwhelming. Stick to a minimalist design with just enough contrast and white space to guide the eye. Use consistent font styles and colours to help students focus (Lazard & King, 2020).

Pro-tip: Avoid red text on black backgrounds—students with colour vision deficiencies may struggle with this combo. The Science Communication Resource Corner provides helpful Colorblind Safe Colour Schemes: https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/2022-06/Colorblind%20Safe%20Color%20Schemes.pdf

3. Offer Customization Options

Students reported feeling more satisfied when they could personalize their learning environment—for example, setting their own notification preferences or receiving automatic updates about grades and deadlines (Younas et al., 2021). If your platform allows it, show students how to use these features. Most announcement tools allows you to include the student’s name in the communication by using the code: {firstname} (e.g., Brightspace: https://community.d2l.com/brightspace/kb/articles/6105-automatically-customize-course-content-using-replace-strings). I cannot count the number of students who said they appreciated this customization of information.

Protip: Include a quick walkthrough video or FAQ page on how to customize settings.

4. Build Trust Through Transparency

Technology glitches can tank your credibility fast. Provide assessment submission confirmations, test your hyperlinks, and use clear, timely communication to reduce student anxiety (Hsu et al., 2022).

Protip: Create a “Tech Check” page with test links and troubleshooting steps.

From Theory to Practice: A Usability Framework

Our review supports the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM): a course site is more likely to be used—and liked—if students find it both easy to use and useful (Davis, 1989).

Figure 2. Adapted from “The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its Application to the Utilization of Mobile Learning Technologies,” D. G. Mugo, K. Njagi, B. Chemwei, and J. O. Motanya, 2017, British Journal of Mathematics & Computer Science, 20, p. 4 (DOI: 10.9734/BJMCS/2017/29015). In the public domain.

But we also found that students valued more than just functionality. Our systematic review supported features like customization, organization, and aesthetic appeal as beneficial to student use of the course website (which contributed to higher grades and completion rates).

Quick Design Checklist

Feature	Example	Research Support
Clear navigation	Weekly modules, labeled folders	Bachman & Stewart, 2011
Aesthetic simplicity	Balanced colour palette, consistent fonts	Lazard & King, 2020
Customization	Notification settings, adaptable layout	Younas et al., 2021
Confirmation of actions	Email receipt of submissions	Hsu et al., 2022
Mobile compatibility	Testing on phones and tablets	Plous, 2000

Collaborate with Your Students

Want the best feedback on your course webpage? Ask your students. Mid-semester feedback surveys or co-design sessions can go a long way in improving usability (Yoshida & Thammetar, 2021). I have benefited from undergraduate student input, and these translated to higher ratings for my courses.

Bottom Line: Thoughtful Design = Better Learning

Course webpage design isn’t just about looking polished—our systematic review suggests it’s a key factor in student satisfaction and learning success. Students are more likely to engage when the site is:

Adaptable to their needs

Regularly maintained and updated

So we, as instructors, need to spend some time fine-tuning our websites. The good news is that once you do this for one course, many platforms offer cloning or importing, which makes it easy to transfer your work from one course to another.

If you’re feeling stuck, reach out to your campus teaching and learning centre, look at exemplars, or co-create the website with students. You don’t have to do it alone.

The full systematic review can be found: https://osf.io/j6xc8/?view_only=bf720f88103848578ba9e6da0013f95f

Dr. Kelly M. Babchishin is an assistant professor at Carleton University who specializes in forensic psychology. She teaches large undergraduate and graduate courses, many of which use online or hybrid formats.

Emma J. Holmes is a graduate student and teaching assistant at Carleton University (Department of Psychology). Emma is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Alexis G. Hinkson was an undergraduate student (Department of Psychology) at Carleton University and is now completing her law degree at the University of Ottawa. Alexis has served as a teaching assistant and was hired by Kelly Babchishin to assist her in course design and provided the student perspective.

References

Bachman, C. M., and C. Stewart. 2011. “Self-Determination Theory and Web-Enhanced Course Template Development.” Teaching of Psychology 38 (3): 180–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628311411798.

Davis, F. D. 1989. “Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology.” MIS Quarterly 13 (3): 319–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008.

Hsu, P. S., E. M. Lee, and T. J. Smith. 2022. “First-Year Instructor’s Designing and Teaching an Online Undergraduate Engineering Course during the COVID-19 Epidemic.” Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching 41 (3): 215–43.

Lazard, A. J., and A. J. King. 2020. “Objective Design to Subjective Evaluations: Connecting Visual Complexity to Aesthetic and Usability Assessments.” International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 36 (1): 95–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2019.1606976.

Lindgaard, G., G. Fernandes, C. Dudek, and J. Brown. 2006. “Attention Web Designers: You Have 50 Milliseconds to Make a Good First Impression.” Behaviour & Information Technology 25 (2): 115–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/01449290500330448.

Plous, S. 2000. “Tips on Creating and Maintaining an Educational World Wide Web Site.” Teaching of Psychology 27 (1): 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328023TOP2701_13.

Younas, A., C. M. N. Faisal, M. A. Habib, R. Ashraf, and M. Ahmad. 2021. “Role of Design Attributes to Determine the Intention to Use Online Learning via Cognitive Beliefs.” IEEE Access 9: 94181–94202. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3093348.

Yoshida, M., and T. Thammetar. 2021. “Education between GovTech and Civic Tech.” International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning 16 (4): 52–68. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v16i04.18769.

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September 3, 2025

Promoting and Sustaining a Growth Mindset in Online Classrooms – Faculty Focus

Educators have sought to understand why some students persist in overcoming challenges, while others do not. We present an exploration of growth mindset initiatives as factors that promote persistence and student success in online courses. This exploratory review focuses on the relevant literature, includes practical suggestions for classroom applications in online courses, and indicates avenues for future research.

Online college courses have surged post-COVID-19, but attrition rates remain high. Research highlights resilience, course design, institutional support, and faculty interaction as key factors in student persistence. Yang, Baldwin, and Snelson (2017) found that personal goals, community, family support, and time management were crucial for graduate students, while first-year students had different needs. Despite challenges, universities continue expanding online programs. Building a sense of community and supporting a positive mindset can help students manage stress and persist. Colleges are encouraged to integrate mindset and coping strategies into curricula to support online learners’ success.

This review examines how a growth mindset helps students persist despite challenges. Practical strategies are discussed to support students in managing stress and completing online classes. Research highlights the role of mindset, grit, and resilience in achieving long-term goals, though further study is needed. A growth mindset acts as a protective factor during stressful times, fostering confidence and adaptability. Crum et al. (2017) found that viewing stress as enhancing, not debilitating, improves positive affect and cognitive flexibility.

Literature

Selecting credible sources requires considering peer-review status, impact factor, publication date, and current trends. This exploratory review examined scholarly articles for accuracy, credibility, and methodological soundness, using databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, ABI Inform, and EBSCO. Including related works provides context, helping readers understand the connection between a growth mindset and college student persistence.

Mindset

Students with a growth mindset believe intelligence can improve through effort rather than innate talent (Dweck 2000, 2017; Hudig et al. 2022; Tirri and Kujala 2016; Yeager and Walton 2011). Dweck (2006) established a clear link between mindset and achievement, emphasizing that a growth mindset requires support from educators to develop necessary skills. Faculty can enhance motivation by reinforcing mastery, normalizing struggles, and providing resources (Dweck and Leggett 1988; Dweck 2017).

A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence is unchangeable, leading to feelings of inadequacy and limited problem-solving abilities (Jegathesan et al. 2016; King 2017; Lee et al. 2018; O’Keefe et al. 2018). Karwowski (2014) found that a fixed mindset correlates with lower problem-solving skills. According to Yeager et al. (2019, 364), “the brain is like a muscle that grows stronger and smarter when it undergoes rigorous learning experiences.” This provides a relevant picture of the importance of a growth mindset.

Theoretical

A growth mindset, linked to student persistence, enables learners to set realistic goals and overcome challenges, viewing intelligence as malleable through effort rather than innate talent (Dweck 2006). This mindset encourages risk-taking and learning from mistakes rather than fearing failure. Research shows that resilience, grit, and a growth mindset positively impact learning (Calo et al. 2019). Fostering a growth mindset in college supports persistence by promoting adaptive, exploratory behaviors. A growth mindset can be a protective factor that enables college students to succeed during their educational journeys.

Authors’ Perspectives & Practical Classroom Applications

This exploration was an attempt to determine how growth mindset can help students persist in college online classes. Online classroom implications are significant. Regardless of what traits students bring to the classroom, instructors have an opportunity to facilitate and promote a growth mindset in their interactions with students. By focusing on opportunities to embrace change, normalize struggles, foster growth, and improve processes, instructors can help students to feel motivated, empowered, and able to overcome obstacles.

Instructors should provide resources such as tips on approaching tasks or advice about searching for solutions when stuck. This helps foster independence by teaching problem-solving skills that can be applied more broadly throughout life’s challenges and generalized outside of academia. Additionally, open communication between students and instructors allows for questions and comments without judgment. Students feel safe expressing themselves, leading to greater understanding and acceptance that struggle is part of the growth process, fostering a culture of belonging and inclusion in the classroom. Online instructors must be mindful as they compose feedback to promote a sense of purpose and potential growth.

Instructors promote growth mindset by helping students find meaningful value in what they are doing. They can encourage students to overcome obstacles and be resourceful. Ultimately, instructors can steer students away from the tendency to accept a fixed mindset and be willing to embrace challenges as opportunities to expand student thinking and accept that difficulties are part of learning. Instructors should emphasize that mistakes are necessary to achieve success. Sharing personal struggles and stories allows students to see that everyone has challenges in college, even their instructors. Acknowledging setbacks as opportunities instead of focusing on forms of perceived punishment reinforces the idea that effort will ultimately pay off with tangible results down the line, even if it does not happen immediately.

Recommendations for Future Research

Future research should examine other variables to determine the impact of creating a growth mindset culture in the classroom. Exploring how faculty mindsets mediate students’ success has been demonstrated in middle school (Schmidt et al. 2015). Haimovitz and Dweck concluded, “We also know little about how children themselves may affect socializers’ theories and behaviors. Examining these bidirectional processes will benefit our understanding of how a culture of growth can be developed and sustained” (2017, 1856). Little is known about the bidirectional processes of online instructors with their adult students.

Conclusions and Limitations

Since this review was exploratory, the findings were not generalized. The existing research may not represent all college students; that was not the goal. However, scholarly, primary, peer-reviewed studies were carefully selected for methodological soundness, validity, strength, and currency. Although research on growth mindset has been studied across domains and countries, few studies have included faculty mindsets. Another limitation is the lack of statistical strength.

Another limitation of this review is that past research may or may not apply to future students. Recent developments regarding COVID-19 and how it may have impacted students in online college education are just beginning to appear in scholarly databases. Many students who prefer traditional classrooms may opt to enroll in online programs because they view such programs as safer, healthier alternatives. Researchers need to learn how this change in a student’s sense of “normal” impacts the mindset of future students, at least for the foreseeable future.

Instructors forced into online education may have brought new ideas and/or confusion that could impact how online students were taught. It can be argued that there is limited or no research that has studied the impacts on students when the instructor and the students find themselves in an unexpected situation, like the unexpected worldwide pandemic.

Technology has allowed online education to grow and expand in ways that were not expected 20 years ago. Students start college with great expectations, and many of those expectations have been changed by the reality of college in an online environment. This exploratory review has presented some considerations for instructors to encourage students to develop and sustain a growth mindset and remain in their academic program. This may provide ways to help students grow as individuals while addressing the multiple demands of work and family since the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Dora C.D. Finamore joined Purdue University Global in 2004 and currently serves as a full-time instructor in the School and Business and Information Technology. She has 25 years’ experience in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Dora earned her EdD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Sarasota and has been a professor of Business and Psychology for 21 years. She serves as a contributing editor for Journal of Education and Learning. Dora’s current research interests are in the areas of motivation, learning strategies, LGBTQ+ cultures, belonging, resilience, and growth and fixed mindset in business and education.

E. Valerie Hewitt joined Purdue University Global, in 2007 and currently is an adjunct instructor in the School of Business and Information Technology. She has over 30 years’ combined online and traditional classroom teaching experience. Valerie holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education with a secondary in psychology from Kaplan University. Her current research interests are in the areas of the retention of first-year online students and early engagement strategies.

Loretta “Laurie” A. Millam joined Purdue University Global in 2002 and currently serves as a Department Chair in the School of Business and Management. She has over 25 years’ combined experience in education. Prior to entering the education field, Loretta worked in Business Management for over 11 years. Loretta holds an MBA from St. Ambrose University and an EdS from Northcentral University. Loretta’s current research interests are in the areas of first-term student retention and early engagement learning strategies.

Michelle M. Reinhardt joined Purdue University Global as a full-time instructor in 2003 and currently serves as a course lead and faculty mentor in the school of Business and Information Technology. Michelle has over 25 years of combined online and traditional classroom teaching experience. She has designed courses, served on various college and university committees, and conducted online faculty workshops as well. Michelle holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Arts/English from Western Colorado University. Her current research interests are in the areas of entrepreneurship, motivation, and student learning and engagement.

Linda S. Watson joined Purdue University Global in 2006 and currently teaches First Term Experience classes in the School of Business and Information Technology. Linda has an MBA from Baker College with a double major in Leadership Studies and Human Resource Management. Her current research interests include the areas of student success and engagement, particularly for first-term students.

References

Calo, Marlena, Casey Peiris, Lucy Chipchase, Felicity Blackstock, and Belinda Judd. 2019. “Grit, Resilience and Mindset in Health Students.” The Clinical Teacher 16(4), 317-322. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13056.

Crum, Alia J., Modupe Akinola, Ashley Martin, and Sean Fath. 2017. “The Role of Stress Mindset in Shaping Cognitive, Emotional, and Physiological Responses to Challenging and Threatening Stress.” Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 30 (4): 379–95. doi:10.1080/10615806.2016.1275585.

Dweck, Carol S. 2000. “Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development.” Psychology Press.

Dweck, Carol S. 2006. “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Random House.

Dweck, Carol S. 2017. “From Needs to Goals and Representations: Foundations for a Unified Theory of Motivation, Personality, and Development.” Psychological Review 124(6), 689–719. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000082.

Dweck, Carol S., and Ellen L. Leggett. 1988. “A Social-cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality.” Psychological Review 95(2), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256.

Haimovitz, Kyla., and Carol S. Dweck. 2017. “The Origins of Children’s Growth and Fixed Mindsets: New Research and a New Proposal.” Child Development 88(6), 1849–1859. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12955.

Hudig, Job, Ad W. A. Scheepers, Michaéla C. Schippers, and Guus Smeets. 2022. “Motivational Mindsets, Mindset Churn and Academic Performance: The Role of a Goal-setting Intervention and Purpose in Life.” Current Psychology 42 (27): 23349–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03462-8.

Jegathesan, Mithila, Yaffa M. Vitberg, and Martin V. Pusic. 2016. “A Survey of Mindset Theories of Intelligence and Medical Error Self-reporting among Pediatric House Staff and Faculty.” BMC Medical Education 16, 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0574-8.

Karwowski, Maciej. 2014. “Creative Mindsets: Measurement, Correlates, Consequences.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 8(1), 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034898.

King, Ronnel B. 2017. “A Fixed Mindset Leads to Negative Affect: The Relations between Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Subjective Well-being.” Zeitschrift Für Psychologie 225(2), 137–145. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000290.

Lee, C. Christopher, Jacqueline Trahan, Peter Maltby, Venessa Hemraj, and Heidi Hughes. 2018. “Mindset, Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement at Workplace: Preliminary Results.” Proceedings for the Northeast Region Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI) 640–659. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=32621573-85d0-36bf-9aaa-7caf0d256b8b.

O’Keefe, Paul A., Carol Dweck, and Greg Walton. (2018). “Having a Growth Mindset makes it Easier to Develop New Interests.” Harvard Business Review Digital Articles 8–13. https://hbr.org/2018/09/having-a-growth-mindset-makes-it-easier-to-develop-new-interests

Schmidt, Jennifer A., Lee Shumow, and Hayal Kackar-Cam. 2015. “Exploring Teacher Effects for Mindset Intervention Outcomes in Seventh-Grade Science Classes.” Middle Grades Research Journal 10 (2): 17–32. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=4d677331-010f-3bc1-8e5b-78d2973d7bc5.

Tirri, Kirsi and Teija Kujala. 2016. ”Students’ Mindsets for Learning and their Neural Underpinnings.” Psychology 7(9), 1231-1239. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2016.79125.

Yang, Dazhi, Sally Baldwin, and Chareen Snelson. 2017. “Persistence Factors Revealed: Students’ Reflections on Completing a Fully Online Program.” Distance Education 38 (1): 23–36. doi:10.1080/01587919.2017.1299561.

Yeager, David S., Paul Hanselman, Gregory M. Walton, et al. 2019. “A National Experiment Reveals where a Growth Mindset Improves Achievement.” Nature 573, 364–369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y.

Yeager, David S., and Gregory M. Walton. (2011). “Social-psychological Interventions in Education: They’re not Magic.” Review of Educational Research 81(2), 267–301.

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August 8, 2025
Promoting and Sustaining a Growth Mindset in Online Classrooms – Faculty Focus

Educators have sought to understand why some students persist in overcoming challenges, while others do not. We present an exploration of growth mindset initiatives as factors that promote persistence and student success in online courses. This exploratory review focuses on the relevant literature, includes practical suggestions for classroom applications in online courses, and indicates avenues for future research.

Online college courses have surged post-COVID-19, but attrition rates remain high. Research highlights resilience, course design, institutional support, and faculty interaction as key factors in student persistence. Yang, Baldwin, and Snelson (2017) found that personal goals, community, family support, and time management were crucial for graduate students, while first-year students had different needs. Despite challenges, universities continue expanding online programs. Building a sense of community and supporting a positive mindset can help students manage stress and persist. Colleges are encouraged to integrate mindset and coping strategies into curricula to support online learners’ success.

This review examines how a growth mindset helps students persist despite challenges. Practical strategies are discussed to support students in managing stress and completing online classes. Research highlights the role of mindset, grit, and resilience in achieving long-term goals, though further study is needed. A growth mindset acts as a protective factor during stressful times, fostering confidence and adaptability. Crum et al. (2017) found that viewing stress as enhancing, not debilitating, improves positive affect and cognitive flexibility.

Literature

Selecting credible sources requires considering peer-review status, impact factor, publication date, and current trends. This exploratory review examined scholarly articles for accuracy, credibility, and methodological soundness, using databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, ABI Inform, and EBSCO. Including related works provides context, helping readers understand the connection between a growth mindset and college student persistence.

Mindset

Students with a growth mindset believe intelligence can improve through effort rather than innate talent (Dweck 2000, 2017; Hudig et al. 2022; Tirri and Kujala 2016; Yeager and Walton 2011). Dweck (2006) established a clear link between mindset and achievement, emphasizing that a growth mindset requires support from educators to develop necessary skills. Faculty can enhance motivation by reinforcing mastery, normalizing struggles, and providing resources (Dweck and Leggett 1988; Dweck 2017).

A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence is unchangeable, leading to feelings of inadequacy and limited problem-solving abilities (Jegathesan et al. 2016; King 2017; Lee et al. 2018; O’Keefe et al. 2018). Karwowski (2014) found that a fixed mindset correlates with lower problem-solving skills. According to Yeager et al. (2019, 364), “the brain is like a muscle that grows stronger and smarter when it undergoes rigorous learning experiences.” This provides a relevant picture of the importance of a growth mindset.

Theoretical

A growth mindset, linked to student persistence, enables learners to set realistic goals and overcome challenges, viewing intelligence as malleable through effort rather than innate talent (Dweck 2006). This mindset encourages risk-taking and learning from mistakes rather than fearing failure. Research shows that resilience, grit, and a growth mindset positively impact learning (Calo et al. 2019). Fostering a growth mindset in college supports persistence by promoting adaptive, exploratory behaviors. A growth mindset can be a protective factor that enables college students to succeed during their educational journeys.

Authors’ Perspectives & Practical Classroom Applications

This exploration was an attempt to determine how growth mindset can help students persist in college online classes. Online classroom implications are significant. Regardless of what traits students bring to the classroom, instructors have an opportunity to facilitate and promote a growth mindset in their interactions with students. By focusing on opportunities to embrace change, normalize struggles, foster growth, and improve processes, instructors can help students to feel motivated, empowered, and able to overcome obstacles.

Instructors should provide resources such as tips on approaching tasks or advice about searching for solutions when stuck. This helps foster independence by teaching problem-solving skills that can be applied more broadly throughout life’s challenges and generalized outside of academia. Additionally, open communication between students and instructors allows for questions and comments without judgment. Students feel safe expressing themselves, leading to greater understanding and acceptance that struggle is part of the growth process, fostering a culture of belonging and inclusion in the classroom. Online instructors must be mindful as they compose feedback to promote a sense of purpose and potential growth.

Instructors promote growth mindset by helping students find meaningful value in what they are doing. They can encourage students to overcome obstacles and be resourceful. Ultimately, instructors can steer students away from the tendency to accept a fixed mindset and be willing to embrace challenges as opportunities to expand student thinking and accept that difficulties are part of learning. Instructors should emphasize that mistakes are necessary to achieve success. Sharing personal struggles and stories allows students to see that everyone has challenges in college, even their instructors. Acknowledging setbacks as opportunities instead of focusing on forms of perceived punishment reinforces the idea that effort will ultimately pay off with tangible results down the line, even if it does not happen immediately.

Recommendations for Future Research

Future research should examine other variables to determine the impact of creating a growth mindset culture in the classroom. Exploring how faculty mindsets mediate students’ success has been demonstrated in middle school (Schmidt et al. 2015). Haimovitz and Dweck concluded, “We also know little about how children themselves may affect socializers’ theories and behaviors. Examining these bidirectional processes will benefit our understanding of how a culture of growth can be developed and sustained” (2017, 1856). Little is known about the bidirectional processes of online instructors with their adult students.

Conclusions and Limitations

Since this review was exploratory, the findings were not generalized. The existing research may not represent all college students; that was not the goal. However, scholarly, primary, peer-reviewed studies were carefully selected for methodological soundness, validity, strength, and currency. Although research on growth mindset has been studied across domains and countries, few studies have included faculty mindsets. Another limitation is the lack of statistical strength.

Another limitation of this review is that past research may or may not apply to future students. Recent developments regarding COVID-19 and how it may have impacted students in online college education are just beginning to appear in scholarly databases. Many students who prefer traditional classrooms may opt to enroll in online programs because they view such programs as safer, healthier alternatives. Researchers need to learn how this change in a student’s sense of “normal” impacts the mindset of future students, at least for the foreseeable future.

Instructors forced into online education may have brought new ideas and/or confusion that could impact how online students were taught. It can be argued that there is limited or no research that has studied the impacts on students when the instructor and the students find themselves in an unexpected situation, like the unexpected worldwide pandemic.

Technology has allowed online education to grow and expand in ways that were not expected 20 years ago. Students start college with great expectations, and many of those expectations have been changed by the reality of college in an online environment. This exploratory review has presented some considerations for instructors to encourage students to develop and sustain a growth mindset and remain in their academic program. This may provide ways to help students grow as individuals while addressing the multiple demands of work and family since the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Dora C.D. Finamore joined Purdue University Global in 2004 and currently serves as a full-time instructor in the School and Business and Information Technology. She has 25 years’ experience in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Dora earned her EdD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Sarasota and has been a professor of Business and Psychology for 21 years. She serves as a contributing editor for Journal of Education and Learning. Dora’s current research interests are in the areas of motivation, learning strategies, LGBTQ+ cultures, belonging, resilience, and growth and fixed mindset in business and education.

E. Valerie Hewitt joined Purdue University Global, in 2007 and currently is an adjunct instructor in the School of Business and Information Technology. She has over 30 years’ combined online and traditional classroom teaching experience. Valerie holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education with a secondary in psychology from Kaplan University. Her current research interests are in the areas of the retention of first-year online students and early engagement strategies.

Loretta “Laurie” A. Millam joined Purdue University Global in 2002 and currently serves as a Department Chair in the School of Business and Management. She has over 25 years’ combined experience in education. Prior to entering the education field, Loretta worked in Business Management for over 11 years. Loretta holds an MBA from St. Ambrose University and an EdS from Northcentral University. Loretta’s current research interests are in the areas of first-term student retention and early engagement learning strategies.

Michelle M. Reinhardt joined Purdue University Global as a full-time instructor in 2003 and currently serves as a course lead and faculty mentor in the school of Business and Information Technology. Michelle has over 25 years of combined online and traditional classroom teaching experience. She has designed courses, served on various college and university committees, and conducted online faculty workshops as well. Michelle holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Arts/English from Western Colorado University. Her current research interests are in the areas of entrepreneurship, motivation, and student learning and engagement.

Linda S. Watson joined Purdue University Global in 2006 and currently teaches First Term Experience classes in the School of Business and Information Technology. Linda has an MBA from Baker College with a double major in Leadership Studies and Human Resource Management. Her current research interests include the areas of student success and engagement, particularly for first-term students.

References

Calo, Marlena, Casey Peiris, Lucy Chipchase, Felicity Blackstock, and Belinda Judd. 2019. “Grit, Resilience and Mindset in Health Students.” The Clinical Teacher 16(4), 317-322. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13056.

Crum, Alia J., Modupe Akinola, Ashley Martin, and Sean Fath. 2017. “The Role of Stress Mindset in Shaping Cognitive, Emotional, and Physiological Responses to Challenging and Threatening Stress.” Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 30 (4): 379–95. doi:10.1080/10615806.2016.1275585.

Dweck, Carol S. 2000. “Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development.” Psychology Press.

Dweck, Carol S. 2006. “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Random House.

Dweck, Carol S. 2017. “From Needs to Goals and Representations: Foundations for a Unified Theory of Motivation, Personality, and Development.” Psychological Review 124(6), 689–719. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000082.

Dweck, Carol S., and Ellen L. Leggett. 1988. “A Social-cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality.” Psychological Review 95(2), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256.

Haimovitz, Kyla., and Carol S. Dweck. 2017. “The Origins of Children’s Growth and Fixed Mindsets: New Research and a New Proposal.” Child Development 88(6), 1849–1859. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12955.

Hudig, Job, Ad W. A. Scheepers, Michaéla C. Schippers, and Guus Smeets. 2022. “Motivational Mindsets, Mindset Churn and Academic Performance: The Role of a Goal-setting Intervention and Purpose in Life.” Current Psychology 42 (27): 23349–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03462-8.

Jegathesan, Mithila, Yaffa M. Vitberg, and Martin V. Pusic. 2016. “A Survey of Mindset Theories of Intelligence and Medical Error Self-reporting among Pediatric House Staff and Faculty.” BMC Medical Education 16, 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0574-8.

Karwowski, Maciej. 2014. “Creative Mindsets: Measurement, Correlates, Consequences.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 8(1), 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034898.

King, Ronnel B. 2017. “A Fixed Mindset Leads to Negative Affect: The Relations between Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Subjective Well-being.” Zeitschrift Für Psychologie 225(2), 137–145. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000290.

Lee, C. Christopher, Jacqueline Trahan, Peter Maltby, Venessa Hemraj, and Heidi Hughes. 2018. “Mindset, Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement at Workplace: Preliminary Results.” Proceedings for the Northeast Region Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI) 640–659. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=32621573-85d0-36bf-9aaa-7caf0d256b8b.

O’Keefe, Paul A., Carol Dweck, and Greg Walton. (2018). “Having a Growth Mindset makes it Easier to Develop New Interests.” Harvard Business Review Digital Articles 8–13. https://hbr.org/2018/09/having-a-growth-mindset-makes-it-easier-to-develop-new-interests

Schmidt, Jennifer A., Lee Shumow, and Hayal Kackar-Cam. 2015. “Exploring Teacher Effects for Mindset Intervention Outcomes in Seventh-Grade Science Classes.” Middle Grades Research Journal 10 (2): 17–32. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=4d677331-010f-3bc1-8e5b-78d2973d7bc5.

Tirri, Kirsi and Teija Kujala. 2016. ”Students’ Mindsets for Learning and their Neural Underpinnings.” Psychology 7(9), 1231-1239. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2016.79125.

Yang, Dazhi, Sally Baldwin, and Chareen Snelson. 2017. “Persistence Factors Revealed: Students’ Reflections on Completing a Fully Online Program.” Distance Education 38 (1): 23–36. doi:10.1080/01587919.2017.1299561.

Yeager, David S., Paul Hanselman, Gregory M. Walton, et al. 2019. “A National Experiment Reveals where a Growth Mindset Improves Achievement.” Nature 573, 364–369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y.

Yeager, David S., and Gregory M. Walton. (2011). “Social-psychological Interventions in Education: They’re not Magic.” Review of Educational Research 81(2), 267–301.

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August 8, 2025
Life vs. Education: The Empath Edition – Faculty Focus
After some 21 years teaching online in the University system, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no absolute one thing that has more emphasis for student success than others, except life. I’ve tried course corrections (Navy); revisions to materials ad infinitum (at Vol. 74); communications efforts that has the FCC asking for advice; Soft Skills efforts that has made the Work Force smile; and, writing skills tactics that would make Edgar Allen Poe begin ‘raven’ over these efforts! There are many theoretical foundations for these noted items, and more. Let me say it this way: online students on the other end of the wire encounter life before they encounter educational requirements.

You might argue that this is not very applicable to helping students; until you sincerely begin to see them as they experience events in their lives. A few examples: I wonder why some students won’t communicate regularly only to find out that they are working two jobs, or have lost family, or they are afraid to ask for help (yes, even that!). I have had several military graduate students who are dealing with PTSD, and as a Navy Veteran myself, I understand how difficult it can be to open up and share such things with your “instructor.” And, some students simply struggle to balance life while achieving the educational goal of their dreams. Enter empathy.

Empathy theories¹ explore how we understand and respond to the emotions and experiences of others. Researchers might refer to this last statement as phenomenological, or the lived experiences of individuals. I simply call it helping students where they are. It goes beyond the notion of being open and accessible, to being inquisitive about my students—not prying, invasive, or demanding—but a healthy dose of empathy. The type of empathy that allows your students to open themselves up to others—namely, their instructor! Sounds dangerous? Consider the alternative.

A military officer, who had served in a hostile environment, was an excellent writer, thinker, organizer, and student. At the outset of the course, I had noticed that his signature file had a photo of him in uniform. I put on the empathy hat and commented on military experiences, and opened the door for him to share his own. That’s when I heard an amazing story of loss, hurt, and fear. The reasons for all of these, I will refrain from noting, but let it suffice to say this: my empathy for him pegged the meter of not only being an instructor to him, but a listener, a sounding-board for him to open up and share what was a hinderance to him. What did this “empathy” do for him? He was able to see that the experiences of his life were not his enemy, and that his time in my class–which was highly important for him in terms of his career—included acceptable discussions of those experiences that allowed him to feel okay to share and release many things he held onto and protected. In other words, while he was struggling with all these life issues, empathy enabled me to help him in many ways to let go of the past, focus on his future plans, and enjoy the learning before him.

Often, if we as teachers would take just that extra moment to open ourselves to listen to our students, it is amazing what we can hear. And once we hear, we can become an empath to enable our students to overcome some of life’s issues that keep them from being able to hold together life, school, work, family, and other things.

You might say, “Isn’t this the job of trained counsellors?” I might counter-opine, “I suppose so, in the Professional sense. But, are we as teachers not a form of counsellor? A potential empath to listen and help as we are able with our students?” Why can’t we as teachers listen significantly more deeply to our students, and actually hear what they are saying? And when we hear their voice in a manner of calling out for help, even in the smallest way, we can empathize with those difficult life times. Stated differently, listen to hear what they are saying!

Here are a few things that I do:
1. I remind my students from day one…if there is anything they need help with, contact me any time of day of night, and always keep me informed of issues that impact their progress.
1. I tell them often that I will leave no one behind, because every student is important to me. Someone in my own past classes assisted me by listening and helping, which made an incalculable mark on my life, and I will pay that debt as long as I teach.
1. Not only do I use email, I offer to call, text, use semaphore, carrier pigeon, or whatever it takes to get the “Comms, 5×5”² so we can chat and solve issues they face.
1. If an assignment is late and the student tells me that “the dog ate my paper”, I respond, “Well, tell me all about it!” [Proper Empathy Applied!]
1. I allow, after evaluation of work submitted, students to resubmit work. This is early in the semester so that they can readily see how the work is to be submitted, i.e., APA, grammar, other details. Why? Because if I wanted perfection, I might consider leaving the profession of teaching—as there are no absolute perfect outcomes in the world (my own empathy at work here).
1. I allow my students to give me feedback in real-time. Say what? Why do this? Because sometimes I hear frustration in the learning process, and if I allow them to tell me what’s on their minds (properly done), I can hear what I need to do to help them individually, and often, collectively. Empathy at work!
1. And finally, unless there is a major, serious issue at work, I let my defenses down and find humorous ways to release tension, even as I am doing 1-6 above. Another way to say this is: I don’t crush the objective of “Comms, 5×5” for the sake of getting the job done. Stated even differently: while the work is important, empathy helps me to treat my students as learners, not as “briefcase experts!”
So, when students struggle, I care as probably the vast majority of my co-teachers/professors do. But, walking that extra mile with them, for them, and applying empathy…we can make a huge difference in their lives for the rest of their lives if we but take the time to listen, hear, and be proactive FOR them! Why teach or lead or strive to move the status quo forward in the lives of people and/or a nation? We are but one end of the wire in online instruction, and lest we forget, the other end is our purpose for teaching! Therefore, let empathy—alongside your/my credentials and experiences—help our students to release their apprehension, fears, and worries about the success in our respective classes.

Lastly, while there are numerous theories of empathy, let us be the applied part of those theories. Our students will be the recipients for a lifetime!

Dr. Kenneth E. Scott, EdD, taught in the community college setting for 32 years and is now in his 21st year in the university setting. He continues to teach at Amridge University, a primarily online institution. He has been teaching online for 30 years and has a background in electrical engineering, systems design/software engineering, and business leadership and technology. He also served 11 years in the U.S. Navy.
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August 4, 2025

Category: Online Education

Nurturing: Creating Safety and Connection in Virtual Classrooms

Esteeming and Encouraging: Recognizing Strengths Online

Supporting and Listening: Meeting Students Where They Are

Trust-Building: The Cornerstone of Engagement in Online Learning

Carrying the NEST Forward: From Online Classroom to Professional Practice

Nurturing: Creating Safety and Connection in Virtual Classrooms

Esteeming and Encouraging: Recognizing Strengths Online

Supporting and Listening: Meeting Students Where They Are

Trust-Building: The Cornerstone of Engagement in Online Learning

Carrying the NEST Forward: From Online Classroom to Professional Practice

Real-World Examples

Basic-level Whiteboard

Before

After

Advanced-level Whiteboard

Make it Meaningful

Looking Ahead

How to Whiteboard: Quick Start Guide

Ghosts in the Machine

Cameras On: A Case for Presence and Politeness

Teaching Professionals, Not Spectators

Avalon and the Art of Connection

What the Research Says: Nonverbal Speaks Volumes

Nice Doesn’t Mean Neglect

Cameras On, Learning Up