The Best Pedagogical Practices in Graduate Online Learning: A Systematic Review

Abstract

After considerable growth over the last two decades in e-learning, graduate programs show a steady increase in the availability of online courses, trending ahead of baccalaureate and doctoral programs. Education leaders agree that e-learning is essential to key stakeholders including higher education institutions and the students they serve, yet there is limited research demonstrating what best practices graduate-level online programs should adopt. The aim of this narrative systematic review was to investigate the best pedagogical practices in graduate online learning. Multiple databases were used in the search with a date range from 1995-2017, corresponding with the period of substantial growth in this industry. After reviewing title abstracts, of 132 studies, forty-two were included and analyzed. After conducting our systematic review, we found the best pedagogical practices associated with achieving the most significant educational outcomes for online graduate students include positive academic attitude towards online education, and timely, consistent teacher-student communication.