Collaboration or teamwork is indispensable in today’s workplace. The continual and increasingly rapid change in the external environment requires professionals equipped with unique skill sets to work together and solve problems collaboratively. It is the higher education institution’s responsibility to prepare students for the necessary skills expected by the employers. Collaborative learning is an active learning approach that two or more students team up toward common goals. The knowledge and product are created through the active, social, and engaging process. Students develop communication, interpersonal, metacognitive thinking, and problemsolving skills, as well as their understanding of the diverse perspectives for real-world profession-related situations. Furthermore, working in a team could reduce student’s feelings of isolation in the online learning environment. As such more and more online programs incorporate collaborative learning into their curricula. In this paper, the benefits, challenges, and solutions to challenges in collaborative learning are presented and discussed.

Adult learners take online courses or programs because of the convenience, cost-saving, flexible schedule, and work-life-school balance. In the United States, student enrollment in online education has proliferated in the past few decades. The online modality of providing education has become a crucial part of higher education. Online courses are in high demand. However, due to adult learners' characteristics and work-life situations, the course design and facilitation in online education can only partially replicate directly from the traditional classroom setting. Owing to high attrition rates in online classrooms, institutions and educators must carefully design or redesign courses relevant to the competitive job market demands. The need for contemporary instructional designs focusing on student-centered education is essential. Supported by comprehensive research studies, active learning, and high-impact educational practices have helped learners develop critical competencies and skills required by employers. Moreover, adopting appropriate pedagogical practices is necessary for better student engagement, academic performance, and retention rate.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0028/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

The quality of course redesign is a key performance indicator for higher education institutions. The innovations in curriculum, instructional design, instructional delivery, and pedagogy should be student-centered so that the redesigned course will engage students and promote student learning. This research was intended to investigate the effectiveness of a revised capstone course in an online master’s program in healthcare administration. We examined the levels of student satisfaction with the course content, interaction with the instructors, and the overall experience in this redesigned capstone ePortfolio course. Multiple data sources were utilized to answer the research questions in the mixed methods study design. The results revealed that students rated high for the interactions between them and their instructors as well as how this revised capstone wrapped up as a whole. The challenges in the implementation of ePortfolio and solutions to the challenges were discussed. Research limitations and future research were also presented.

A feeling of isolation has been cited in the literature as one of the main reasons students dropped off their online courses or programs. Innovations in instructional design and delivery can boost student engagement, advance student learning, and enhance student success. Based on the findings generated from countless evidence-based research, high-impact educational practices are effective teaching strategies and can substantially benefit students. This paper presents a case study in which a capstone course incorporated with ePortfolio in an online master’s program in healthcare administration is examined. This study's primary goal is to assess students' perceptions of the usefulness of ePortfolio and their overall experience in the capstone course. The findings shed light on how a program implemented ePortfolio in the entire program could impact students’ acceptance and view of ePortfolio. Limitations of this research study are also presented. The contribution of this case study to high-impact educational practice research and implications for institutional decision-makers and educators are also discussed.