Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Saltz Awarded Grant from 2U to Study Online Learning

Monday, February 27, 2017, By J.D. Ross
Share
academicsonline learningResearch and CreativeSchool of Information Studies

School of Information Studies (iSchool) Associate Professor Jeffrey Saltz has received a research grant from education technology company 2U to study student learning and outcomes in online education environments.

head shot

Jeffrey Saltz

In 2016, 2U and the iSchool entered a partnership to deliver the iSchool’s master of science programs online via 2U’s learning platforms. This is the company’s first year awarding research grants to their partner institutions, and Saltz’s award is one of 9 grants that 2U has made available, totaling nearly $200,000.

The grant will cover Saltz’s research into how students behave and learn in the breakout sessions held during synchronous online course meetings.

Online courses at the iSchool typically start with all students in one virtual online room interacting with the faculty member in real time. Faculty can, when desired, divide the students out into smaller online groups, to work in breakout rooms where they can focus on a particular task or assignment. It is these smaller breakout rooms and the structure of learning within these rooms that Saltz hopes to refine and improve.

“I’m approaching this from the idea of pair programming,” explains Saltz. “Pair programming is a software development methodology where two programmers work together at one computer, with one writing code while the other watches, comments and reviews as the code is written.”

“I’m not necessarily looking to study programming, as that’s only part of what I’m teaching, but more to focus on the way that two people interact and switch tasks between each other in an online learning video-based collaboration environment,” Saltz says. “There’s not a lot of research out there right now on how students behave in these smaller-group online environments.”

As part of his research, for the first several weeks of his online course, Saltz will have his students work on various data science challenges outside of the pair programming structure. He’ll then introduce them to the concept of pair programming and how it can be used to facilitate small groups working on their breakout assignments.

“There’s a win-win in this for my students, 2U and myself” says Saltz. “With this research, I hope I can provide a process or methodology that other faculty within 2U’s ecosystem, both here at Syracuse and at other partner schools can use in their teaching—while also improving my own online classroom practices in a way that enhances student learning.”

This grant supports Saltz’s core research interests, which includes understanding how data science teams collaborate and work together.

“I’m interested to see how this plays out,” Saltz saysd of his research plans. “I’m also working on some different experiments for my face-to-face classes as well, and I’m curious to see where the differences might be.”

  • Author

J.D. Ross

  • Recent
  • The Milton Legacy: Romance, Success and Giving Back
    Monday, June 2, 2025, By Eileen Korey
  • Five Tips to Protect Your Health and Prepare for Worsening Air Conditions
    Monday, June 2, 2025, By Daryl Lovell
  • Newhouse Professor Robert Thompson Featured on ‘NBC Nightly News’ for Pop Culture Lecture Series
    Monday, June 2, 2025, By Keith Kobland
  • Newhouse Creative Advertising Students Win Big at Sports and Entertainment Clios
    Friday, May 30, 2025, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University Libraries’ Information Literacy Scholars Produce Information Literacy Collab Journal
    Thursday, May 29, 2025, By Cristina Hatem

More In STEM

University’s Dynamic Sustainability Lab and Ireland’s BiOrbic Sign MOU to Advance Markets for the Biobased Economy

This month at the All Island Bioeconomy Summit held in Co. Meath, Ireland, it was announced that BiOrbic, Research Ireland Centre for Bioeconomy, comprising 12 leading Irish research universities in Ireland, signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Dynamic Sustainability…

Professor Bing Dong Named as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has named Bing Dong as the Traugott Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This endowed professorship is made possible by a 1998 gift from the late Fritz Traugott H’98 and his wife, Frances….

Physics Professor Honored for Efforts to Improve Learning, Retention

The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has made some big changes lately. The department just added an astronomy major approved by New York State and recently overhauled the undergraduate curriculum to replace traditional labs with innovative…

ECS Team Takes First Place in American Society of Civil Engineers Competition

Civil and environmental engineering student teams participated in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Sustainable Solutions and Steel Bridge competitions during the 2025 Upstate New York-Canada Student Symposium, winning first place in the Sustainable Solutions competition. The symposium was…

Chloe Britton Naime Committed to Advocating for Improved Outcomes for Neurodivergent Individuals

Chloe Britton Naime ’25 is about to complete a challenging and rare dual major program in both mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and neuroscience from the College of Arts and Sciences. Even more impressive? Britton…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.