UF Online Faculty Develops More Affordable and Accessible Mathematics Instruction
Online mathematics instruction can present challenges for both students and instructors. Uncertain students may wonder if online math classes will be high quality, if math instruction will be canned from a textbook, or if extra practice will be expensive or hard to find. To alleviate these concerns, UF Online created an innovative role for Jason Nowell, a leading online math education researcher and educator who is changing the field of math education through his multi-university collaborative innovations. Through the Xronos project and other learner-focused solutions, Jason continues to remove barriers to online mathematics instruction to improve the learning experience for online students at the University of Florida and beyond.
JASON’S LIFELONG PASSION FOR MATH LED HIM TO THE GATOR NATION
From an early age, Jason knew he wanted to be a university math instructor. “I still remember the time I decided I wanted to teach math in second grade,” he said. “By the middle of second grade, I decided that university math was probably better. So, I decided that I was going to get a PhD. I’m notoriously single-minded when it comes to achieving goals.”
Jason never lost sight of his childhood dream when it came time for him to pursue higher education. Originally from New Hampshire, he received his bachelor’s and master’s at the University of New Hampshire. The chair of the math department at UNH happened to be a former Gator who encouraged Jason to consider the University of Florida for his ongoing studies. After being accepted to numerous graduate programs, Jason knew that UF would be the best fit for him and his career goals. Once he was accepted into the program, he moved to Florida in 2013 to earn his PhD in Mathematics at the University of Florida.
During his PhD program, UF invited Jason to teach a course and he decided to rebuild the course from scratch, ultimately developing a hybrid course that paired live lectures with the added benefits of online resources and homework. This experience kicked off his transition to working at UF full time. “I was hired as part of a pilot program by UF Online,” Jason said. “UF Online wanted to get people who had experience in online education and technology but were still members of their actual department. My role is to serve as the embedded content expert in the math department that’s there to get all the online coursework developed that UF Online wants to do.”
THE EVOLUTION OF ONLINE EDUCATION
Over the past decade, Jason has observed the evolution and transformation of online education and how it benefits students. “There have been huge changes from a technological standpoint,” he said. “There’s been a lot of advancements in what can be done, especially in terms of interpreting student answers.” However, Jason believes the most important change happened in public perception of online education. “Online education has gained a lot of validity in education culture over the last five years, especially since COVID. It’s now considered to be on a similar footing to live instruction.”
One of the greatest benefits of online education is the additional flexibility for students to review material at their own pace. Online instructors can provide student assistance through the creation and development of online resources. These resources give students remarkable access to remedial skill reviews without the limitations of an instructor’s finite time during live lectures. “[Online instruction] is much more inclusive in trying to help students catch up,” Jason said.
One of the primary obstacles that remains for online instructors is the lack of real-time feedback from their students, but Jason is determined to solve this problem. “Videos don’t have real-time feedback. An instructor in a classroom can tell a lot of times by body language that they’ve lost a significant portion of their audience, which allows you to stop your planned lecture, backup, and go back over the material,” Jason said. He is working to replicate this adaptability within online instruction by creating shorter videos and linking them as additional resources for students. “It gives a lot of ability to the student. It actually engages them as being a more active participant not only in the learning process, but in being responsible for the learning process. It’s one of the best skills we could give them as a lifelong learner.”
DEVELOPING XRONOS TO MAKE ONLINE MATH FLEXIBLE AND AFFORDABLE AT UF
In 2015, Jason began exploring the Ximera project -- an undertaking started by Jim Fowler and Bart Snap at Ohio State University to create a process where content authors could share information online while simultaneously making a textbook from the same files to generate open educational resources (OER). These resources are free and open to educators and students to use. Built upon the typesetting language called LaTeX, the standard in mathematics, Ximera offers a familiar content development platform for educators.
The project also addresses frustrations Jason and his colleagues shared about lackluster online math courses rooted in costly products that felt outdated. By 2016, Jason was on Ximera’s development team and working toward hosting a server at UF for the project. “We ended up successfully deploying the actual server and then we started trying to onboard pilot programs for various math courses that were really popular,” Jason said. Gradually, Jason and his colleagues ramped up courses using Ximera tools to provide innovative math education at a more affordable cost to students.
Jason and his team continued to refine the platform to address UF’s unique needs, which led to the development of Xronos, a tool that Jason spearheaded and continues to oversee. The Xronos project continues to provide open education resources that are free for students. Jason estimates that since spring 2018, approximately 56,800 UF students have used Xronos resources.
Jason’s leadership played a pivotal role in the success of Xronos, leading to recognition and support for the Ximera project, including a grant of $2,125,000 over three years from the Department of Education to make the tool accessible for more mathematics educators. This funding will fuel efforts to refine Ximera’s next iteration, aiming to streamline technical requirements and eliminate access barriers for instructors who want to use the tool. This significant grant is allocated towards building additional tools for content authors, improving code security, and increasing the accessibility of the content, marking a massive investment to improve online mathematics education.
ADDRESSING CURRENT BARRIERS TO ONLINE MATHEMATIC INSTRUCTION
Jason’s relentless dedication to improving online math instruction extends beyond his work on the Xronos project. Continuously seeking new approaches, he endeavors to simplify and enhance mathematics learning for online students. Currently, he collaborates with the mathematics department’s online instruction committee at UF to promote the advantages of utilizing shorter, more focused videos instead of traditionally long lectures. “Research has suggested that students learn better with shorter videos rather than long ones,” he said.
He advocates for the integration of brief videos that cover a single concept or problem in online math courses. These shorter segments also allow instructors to create and modify new videos more easily as a course progresses. “The hope is that this modular approach will motivate and foster building more and more content over time,” Jason said.
Jason also emphasizes the importance of redefining the role of teaching assistants (TAs) in online courses to enhance the student experience. “One of the big conversations that I’ve been having with UF Online and they have been having with everybody else is how we reimagine the role of a TA in an online course, not just so that we’re getting better use out of their time, but also so that they get the professional development that they deserve to get as PhD students,” he said. To move this goal forward, Jason is working with UF Online and the math department to develop a voiceover recording studio where TAs can execute practice problems and example videos.
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE OF ONLINE MATH INSTRUCTION
With UF Online as a dedicated supporter, Jason is hopeful that his continued endeavors with Xronos and other initiatives will significantly influence the future of online mathematics instruction. “The great thing about UF Online is they don’t just give you the space and opportunity to do innovation, but they very actively encourage it,” Jason said. “[UF Online is] spreading the results of new ideas widely in the community, which I think is invaluable, especially at this point and where we are in the process of developing online education.”
Jason remains optimistic about the trajectory of online education and the progress being made to enhance the teaching and learning processes for all stakeholders. These advancements in technology and procedures continue to bolster the learning experience for online students at the University of Florida and beyond. Even with these significant breakthroughs, there is still work to be done to make online education more accessible and seamless to students. UF Online takes pride in supporting the steadfast efforts of Jason and other faculty members dedicated to improving the online education landscape for present and future online students.