Interactive Online Interventions for improving belonging and performance in introductory physics

Socio-psychological interventions, particularly those focused on social belonging, have been shown to bolster the impact of evidence-based instructional strategies to improve student learning in STEM courses. However, these interventions have primarily been delivered face-to-face, and there is little research on the impact of delivering them online. We have been developing web-based Interactive Online Interventions (IOIs) based on prior research on socio-psychological interventions with the goal of improving students' sense of belonging and success in introductory physics. The IOIs make use of a narrator (a real person) and are designed to be interactive to mimic how the interventions might be delivered in person. They are also designed to be implemented at key points during a semester: in the first week to address student concerns about taking a physics course, the second week to normalize struggle and expose students to perspectives from graduating seniors, after the first exam to reinforce effective study strategies, and at the end of the course to help students reflect on their learning strategies and performance. This talk will focus on describing the interventions in detail, with a separate talk focusing on results.