Self-paced response-adaptive instructional design for non-face-to-face learning and teaching with hands-on components

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, all courses regardless of their nature at the EdUHK are delivered online, and courses involving hands-on components such as science experiments, STEM activities, handcraft and coding face tremendous challenges. Contents in these courses have to be adjusted to comply with the online mode, and hands-on components may have to be postponed or even cancelled. These suggest that the non-face-to-face course delivery mode has significantly larger impact on students’ learning in courses with hands-on components compared to other courses.

In the proposed project, we will identify platforms and mechanism and establish a framework for non-face-to-face instructional design with hands-on components. Instead of showing the hands-on components sequentially, our proposed instruction design will react to learners’ responses with suitable videos or learning materials according to their learning pace or queries, constituting an independent and adaptive learning path for each individual learner. Professional development on this innovative instructional design will be provided for course instructors at the EdUHK, leading to positive impact on students learning hands-on components online. In addition to future non-face-to-face teaching period, our findings will also be relevant to the flipped-classroom approaches, self-directed online learning, and online offering of programmes, enhancing and diversifying learning and teaching.