Goal setting is the first and driving stage of the self-regulated learning cycle. Studies have shown that supporting goal setting is an effective means of improving academic performance among higher education students. However, doing so can be complex and resource intensive. In this study, a goal-setting conversational agent was designed and deployed to support higher education students in setting academic goals. Across 5-weeks, we tested the effects of goal-setting prompts (guided vs. unguided) and adaptive feedback (with vs. without) when delivered via a goal-setting conversational agent. We explored the effects of these supports (i.e., guidance and feedback) on students' 1) goal quality and 2) goal attainment. Findings showed that guidance and feedback combined had the largest positive effect on goal quality. They also revealed that guidance alone produced initially high-quality goals which decreased in quality overtime, whereas feedback had a delayed but cumulative effect on quality across multiple goal setting iterations. However, neither guidance nor feedback had significant effects on goal attainment, and there was no significant relationship between goal quality and attainment. This study provides insights into how a goal-setting conversational agent and adaptive feedback can be used to support the academic goal setting process for higher education students.

The increasingly digital landscape of higher education has highlighted the importance of self-regulated learning in digital learning environments. To support this, academic goal setting is frequently used to enhance self-regulated learning in order to improve academic performance. Although many studies have explored the implementation of goal setting activities as behavioral modifiers, the implementation of goal setting across these studies is varied, and there is little consensus on the components which should be included and reported when studying goal setting activities. To provide an overview of the current state of the field, a systematic review was carried out examining studies which implemented academic goal setting activities within higher education over the last 14 years (2010–2024) to determine for whom, in what contexts, and how goal setting has been implemented. The results from the 60 included studies reveal a wide array of goal setting implementations covering many countries and academic disciplines. Overall, these implementations are highly heterogeneous, with large differences between studies in how goal setting is carried out. However, results also show a strong trend toward partial digitalization, with most studies using technology to deliver their goal setting activities, but very few adopting technologies for any further enhancements or support. Overall, the review reveals a focus on non-experimental studies exploring the content of student goals, with only a small selection testing the effect of goal setting in experimental studies. Based on these results we suggest future work focuses on testing the effect of goal setting, especially focusing on the interplay between the design of the activities and individual student needs, as well as further investigation of how emerging educational technologies can be used to scale and enhance goal setting activities.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is essential for academic success in higher education, yet many students struggle to effectively regulate their own learning behaviours. While goal-setting interventions can help students set high-quality goals as the foundation for their learning behaviours, additional supports are needed to help transition from goal setting into effective goal striving. This study examines the impact of monitoring and reflection supports, delivered through a scripted conversational agent, on students’ goal attainment, SRL skills, and academic performance. In this study, 84 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: Control, Monitoring Only, Reflection Only, or Monitoring & Reflection. Over a five-week intervention, participants engaged in weekly goal-setting activities, with additional monitoring and/or reflection prompts depending on their assigned condition. Results showed that participants in the Monitoring Only and Monitoring & Reflection conditions reported significantly higher goal attainment than those in the Reflection Only and Control groups, suggesting that monitoring plays a critical role in reinforcing goal-directed behaviour. While SRL skills improved across all conditions, no significant differences were found between groups, indicating that consistent goal setting alone may support SRL development. There were no significant effects of the intervention on academic performance. These findings highlight the immediate effectiveness of progress-monitoring activities and suggest that reflection may require longer intervention periods to have significant effects. This study supports the use of conversational agents for delivering scalable SRL support and provides insights into the design of multi-phase SRL supports in digital education.

Introduction: The need for more scalable, accessible and affordable education, coupled with technological advancements in information sharing technology and collaborative platforms has led to the growth of MOOCs (massive open online courses). The growth of MOOCs has resulted in learning becoming increasingly distributed, affordable and flexible compared to traditional classroom education, allowing individuals in disadvantaged groups to access high quality educational materials. However, new challenges emerge, most notably with MOOCs’ low completion rates. Among the reasons for a low completion rate, lack of interaction with peers is cited as a major reason, yet, interventions to promote social interaction has received relatively less attention. From a constructivist perspective, social interactions among peers are essential in helping individuals learn. This systematic literature review aimed to understand social interaction interventions in MOOC settings. This includes constructs measured as learning outcomes and how they were measured. Methods: Literature articles were sourced from multiple databases and filtered for inclusion using the PRISMA process and its four phases. Twenty articles were included in the final review. Results: Results of the review showed that social interactions fall into three categories: discussion forums, learning groups and one-to-one interactions with peers. Learning outcomes investigated were grouped into four categories: knowledge, social engagement, learning engagement and learner experience. Conclusion: Across the studies, there were clear positive effects of social interaction on learning outcomes. Intervention strategies include sending prompts for individuals to use discussion boards and also grouping learners by homogeneity based on their learning engagement. However, more experimental studies are necessary to bolster the evidence of a causal impact of social interactions. Also, further research should be done to understand potential mediating factors that contribute to the success of implementing social interactive elements in MOOCs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had huge effects on the daily lives of most individuals in the first half of 2020. Widespread lockdown and preventative measures have isolated individuals, affected the world economy, and limited access to physical and mental healthcare. While these measures may be necessary to minimize the spread of the virus, the negative physical, psychological, and social effects are evident. In response, technology has been adapted to try and mitigate these effects, offering individuals digital alternatives to many of the day-to-day activities which can no longer be completed normally. However, the elderly population, which has been worst affected by both the virus, and the lockdown measures, has seen the least benefits from these digital solutions. The age based digital divide describes a longstanding inequality in the access to, and skills to make use of, new technology. While this problem is not new, during the COVID-19 pandemic it has created a large portion of the population suffering from the negative effects of the crisis, and unable to make use of many of the digital measures put in place to help. This paper aims to explore the increased negative effects the digital divide is having in the elderly population during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aims to highlight the need for increased attention and resources to go toward improving digital literacy in the elderly, and the need to put in place measures to offer immediate solutions during the COVID-19 crisis, and solutions to close the digital divide for good in the long-term.