Ozioko Onyinye Mary and Nazmun Nahar Chaittee, current Ph.D. students, presented a scholarly course design titled “Designing Effective Asynchronous Learning: A Research‑Aligned Course Prototype” at the 2026 Knowledge & Creativity Expo.
The work advances an evidence‑based instructional design model that improves instructional quality, learner engagement, and equity in online higher education. Grounded in learning science and curriculum research, the prototype challenges the widespread use of asynchronous courses as static content repositories and demonstrates how intentional alignment of learning objectives, instructional activities, and assessments transforms asynchronous learning into an active, rigorous, and accessible instructional environment.
The model drew strong interest from academic practitioners due to its applicability across disciplines and institutional contexts. By directly addressing persistent challenges such as student disengagement, inequitable access, and instructional misalignment, the work represents a research‑driven contribution that advances best practices in online and asynchronous higher education, with relevance for diverse and nontraditional student populations.
