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The research described in this article explored the efficacy of a novel teaching strategy to recreate classroom debates online. Using a structured approach and collaborative group work, the researchers developed an approach that students found very useful in six different dimensions: enhancement of active learning, critical thinking, interaction and engagement among students and between the instructor and students, the usefulness of Google Docs for student collaboration, Google Docs usefulness to enhance learning, and willingness to use Google Docs for future collaborative projects. The total subjects (n = 52) consisted of two groups of undergraduate and graduate students from health-related online courses. The first group contained 25 students who were admitted to 100% online academic programs. The second group consisted of 27 students who were admitted to on-campus academic programs with limited on-line course taking experiences. The research also explored possible differences in perceptions stemming from students' familiarity with online learning by comparing the perceptions of students enrolled in only online classes with those of students enrolled in primarily on-ground classes. No significant differences in any of the variables were found, indicating the efficacy of the approach for all students.

The research reported in this paper explored links between the work of Carl Rogers on person-centered education and the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, which posits a model of supports for social collaborative learning. Findings suggest significant links between the Rogerian constructs of level of regard and empathy and the CoI concept of teaching presence. The findings suggest avenues for future research and practical ways for enhancing teaching presence in online courses.

"Gamified" active learning has been shown to increase students' academic performance and engagement and help them make more social connections than standard course settings. However, the costs to use an educational game design with efficient delivery of the game/course plan can be problematic. Our first objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification by using existing techniques (e.g., simple HTML-based games) and readily available collaborative tools (e.g., wikis) from a typical learning management system (LMS), such as Blackboard. Our second objective was to examine students' attitudes toward gamification (e.g., perceived usefulness). An online survey was given to 80 graduate students who took an entry-level biostatistics course from 2015 to 2017 at a midwestern university in the United States. Our study was conducted using an experimental group (class with implementation of gamification) and control group (class without implementation of gamified activities) that were randomly selected from graduate-level statistics courses. A Welch's independent "t"-test revealed a significant difference (p < 0.001) in the mean exam scores of the experimental and control groups. The difference favored classes with gamification. The findings suggest that using built-in LMS tools to design gamified learning activities can enhance students' academic performance and the competencies gained, as well as provide more diversified learning methods and motivation, and offer easy modifications for different learning needs.

Objective: The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the effects of state-level socioeconomic status (SES), the density of fast food restaurants and walking to work on body mass index (BMI) among US adults aged 50 years and older. The study sought further to account for the interaction effects of three different hierarchical levels of variables, including time-varying variables and time-invariant variables such as individual and state-level variables. Confounding related to environmental/neighbourhood effects was controlled for through sample selection. Methods: Data were drawn from the 2000-2010 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the 2010 US Census. HRS survey participants aged 50 years and older in 2000, residing in the same census tract during 2000-2010 (N = 6,156) comprised the study sample. A three-level growth model was fitted to BMI trajectories. Results: BMI significantly increased over time showing both a linear and quadratic decelerating trajectory (p < 0.001) where BMI grew faster among sampled adults in their early 50s. Women living in the US states with a lower state-level SES had higher BMIs, while men with higher state-level SES had a higher BMI (b = -0.242, p = 0.013). In states with a higher proportion of people who walked to work, Hispanics had higher BMIs at baseline and a lower BMI growth rate, compared with non-Hispanic whites (b = -0.033, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Obesity interventions specific to adults aged 50 years and older require greater emphasis. Potential health inequalities regarding weight gain can be ameliorated through tailoring interventions based on sex, environmental and state-level SES influences.