Launching an AI-Powered Online Learning Community for Student Engagement and Support in Biology

Concurrent Session 8

Brief Abstract

This session highlights how UNC Charlotte piloted an online learning community utilizing the power of AI and community to build peer-to-peer engagement and connect undergraduate students to academic support resources. This intervention utilized the Inscribe community platform to encourage help-seeking for students who need it most.  Our session covers the design, implementation, and evaluation of the project. 

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Heidi Echols, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Co-presenter: Kiran Budhrani, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Co-presenter: J. Garvey Pyke, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D., leads the Center for Teaching and Learning in fueling the enrollment growth at the university through online course development, creating high impact student success programs using personalized and adaptive learning, promoting faculty success and scholarly teaching through innovative faculty development programs, and overseeing the provision and support of enterprise academic technologies, with a focus on high quality instruction in all teaching modes and models. The success of the CTL has made him a sought-after contributor for professional organizations and consultant for other institutions, having served as President of the University of North Carolina Faculty Developers Consortium and also as a member of steering committees for the both the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Innovate and Accelerate conferences, and he has presented multiple times at these and other conferences. Garvey has also been a keynote speaker at the Georgia State University Conference on Scholarly Teaching in 2016 and University of Central Florida’s TOPkit Workshop in 2022. An alumnus of the 2010 OLC Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL), Garvey has stayed active in the IELOL network, assisting Larry Ragan with the design and facilitation of the IELOL Master Class in the years 2014 to 2017. Garvey was co-director of IELOL in 2018 and 2023 and has been serving on IELOL faculty since 2019. As an educator for over 25 years and having been with UNC Charlotte since 2003, Garvey enjoys collaborating with faculty members and staff to design and develop programs which impact faculty satisfaction and lead to student success. His work involves the practical application of research methods and instructional systems design methods to various instructional projects at UNC Charlotte, and he is an affiliate member of the Graduate School and has served on several dissertation committees. He holds a doctorate from Indiana University’s School of Education in Instructional Systems Technology and has taught at the university and K12 levels. He also holds a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Tulane University.

Co-presenter: Katy Kappler, InScribe Inc.

Katy is an impact-driven CEO who has spent 20 years creating solutions that extend access to high-quality education for every student. She is the co-founder and CEO of InScribe, an innovative collaboration platform that helps improve student engagement and build community with a focus on supporting non-traditional and underserved student populations. Leveraging her experience and strategic abilities, Katy specializes in ed-tech innovations, student success, and communities of belonging.

Extended Abstract

Introduction:

A virtual online learning community is an online platform or space that allows students in the course to engage with each other in a collaborative and supported learning environment. The purpose of such a community is to foster peer-to-peer engagement, provide a sense of belonging, and offer student support structures. Online learning communities promote learner-instructor, learner–content, and learner–learner interaction to shorten the transactional distance (Moore, 1993) that students experience when learning online or learning at home. 

For biology learners, a virtual online learning community can be particularly beneficial. By engaging with peers in an online learning community, biology learners can work collaboratively to explore these concepts, share their knowledge and experiences, and develop a deeper understanding of the subject. 

In addition, biology is a subject that often involves hands-on laboratory work and field research. A virtual learning community can help to address this challenge by providing access to online laboratory simulations, virtual field trips, and other resources that can help learners to explore and understand biological concepts. By connecting with peers who share their interests and passions, biology learners can feel supported and motivated to continue their studies. A virtual learning community can provide biology learners with access to valuable and resource-rich support structures. This can include online tutoring, academic advising, and mental health support that can be shared across sections and multiple courses. 

The Intervention 

Principles of Biology 1 (BIOL 1110) is a large, gateway course in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte. Instructors identified that students in this course benefit from learner-instructor, learner–content, and learner–learner interactions through active learning and collaborative strategies. However, a challenge identified was the lack of support for students who work on course modules at home and online, either for preparation or homework. This drove the instructors to collaborate with instructional designers from the Center for Teaching and Learning to determine intervention strategies and offer online student support through the online learning community platform InScribe. 

 

InScribe is an AI-powered community platform that provides increased student support through curated support resources directly related to coursework and assignments, such as video tutorials, explanation guides, additional problem-solving help, and instructor- or TA-facilitated help, while potentially reducing faculty workload when responding to direct emails and questions. InScribe’s AI engine allows deep linking between Canvas modules and content and Inscribe offers students direct features to seek help on specific Canvas lessons and assignments. The intelligent system in InScribe monitors conversations with semantic analysis and proactively responds with helpful resources and sends alerts for instructor intervention.

Pilot Program Methodology

Implementing Inscribe into BIOL 1100 course was a multi-step, multi-instructor, and multi-semester process that followed a systematic 6-step methodology:

Planning: This step involved identifying the goals and objectives for integrating an online learning community platform into the BIOL 1100 course, including identifying a timeline for course redesign, integration, user testing, training, and evaluation. 

Course Redesign: This step involved redesigning the BIOL 1100 course to incorporate Inscribe support in various course modules, which required creating new content resources in Inscribe, establishing groups, discussion questions, and helpful resources. 

Inscribe Integration and User Testing: This step involved conducting user testing to ensure that Canvas and Inscribe were technically and functionally running. 

Faculty and Preceptor Training and Preparation: This step involved training faculty members and preceptors to use the online learning community platform and prepare them to facilitate online discussions, monitor student progress, moderate student behavior, and provide feedback to students.

Course Evaluation: This step involved evaluating the effectiveness of the online learning community platform in achieving the goals and objectives identified in the planning phase. This involved collecting feedback from students, faculty, and preceptors and making changes to the platform or course materials as needed.

Goals of the Session

Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the benefits of an online learning community program, as well as the practical tools and strategies for launching and sustaining such a program in their own institutions. This session is designed for faculty members, administrators, and staff interested in improving student success and creating a more collaborative and supportive learning environment.