ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL

AGENDA ITEM: 5.B

DATE: February 26, 2009

****************************************************************************** SUBJECT: EUC System Review of Online Courses

Dr. Anderson compiled the following summary of the system review of online courses after a review of the quality assurance rubrics were submitted to her by the system review team and the independent review of the courses. This summary is an overview of the best practices found in course design, delivery of content, presentation of information and support for students, and facilitation of interaction among students and faculty.

The following courses were reviewed:

BADM 360 ADS 220 CET 756 AHED 701 ED 748 CJUS 201 EDAD 700 ENGL 210 EDFN 725 SEED 766 ELED 659 TET 780 ENGL 201 S32 THEA 201 ENGL 201 S35 ENGL 379 GS 489 GFA 101 HDFS 141 HSAD 710 HSC-HLTH 230 ENGL 033 MATH 101 EDFN 200 MCOM 155 BADM 457 NUR 631 GS 143 NUR 201 WL 110 ACCT 211 MCOM 166 ARTH 211 NUR 454 ENGL 201 NUR 615 HIM 252 READ 041 INFS 744 SLDR 710 INFS 760 SPED 410 STAT 582

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RECOMMENDED ACTION

Discussion.

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The Quality Assurance Rubric analyzes course quality in the following categories:

I. Course Overview and Introduction II. Learning Objectives

III. Assessment and Measurement IV. Resources and Materials V. Learner Interaction

VI. Course Technology VII. Learner Support

VIII. Accessibility

In the review, no priority issues of concern arose which would require not offering a course while it is revised; however general areas of concern that were observed system wide should be addressed in order to ensure a high level of quality and excellence in online courses. The purpose of this report is to address not only global issues but also areas of excellence presented as “best practices.” In some cases, the best practices identified may be defined as global issues to be addressed because these may have been observed in a few courses whereas global issues were observed system wide. The decision to address issues in this way serves as a starting point for training, review, and revision of courses at the university level. In addition, this will serve as a foundation of a review for improvement for the next system review to occur in the spring of 2009.

Following is a list of “best practices” found in online courses. Best practices are a matter of personal judgment to a certain extent and these findings may lead to some discussion in this regard. The following list identifies best practices:

1. Use of the course homepage for information and navigation: it is fluid and updates are presented here throughout the course

2. Use of the competency tool in linking learning objectives to activities and assessment or using other means to link the above

3. Facilitating discussion between students and student to faculty as well as establishing groups

4. Presenting information for support and use of technology and a course orientation

5. Uses of Elluminate for scheduled class sessions, these sessions are archived on the course homepage

6. Student introductions

7. Use of the “links” tool to provide students with access to web-based resources

8. Use of the content tool to present course content and presentations in different media

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9. Presenting information, such as the syllabus in one or two different places such as the

course homepage and contents tool

10. An introduction by the faculty that provides personal and professional information

11. Contact hours and “virtual” office hours

It was determined that the above should be reviewed in online courses and any changes made, if deemed necessary. It makes sense at this point in the system review process that global changes are made rather than focusing on revisions of individual courses.

Suggested priorities for improvement: It is recommended that we evaluate our courses for accessibility. Many online resources provide course designers with an inventory of accessibility strategies and examples of information. One website that provides information in this area includes the Web Accessibility Initiative:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/ http://www.w3.org/

Efforts should be made to remove all references to WebCt from course materials, information resources, such as syllabi, http://www.w3.org/ and technology information. Technology should be used in ways that enhance and support the delivery of course materials, not just the use of “technology for technology’s sake.” In other words does the technology also link to learning objectives, create a learning environment that addresses different student learning styles, and is appropriate in an online learning environment? Better definition of learning objectives, how they are tied to assessments, assignments, and linked to the grading scheme. Random notes from reviews: Learning objectives notes from reviewers: “there are no specific/measurable course-level objectives provided in the syllabus…” “[BOR mandated learning objectives--it is difficult to determine if any are non-BOR objectives, but all are measurable] the course goals and outcomes are clearly stated…” “All learning objectives are institutionally written...” “the instructor noted the following: this course introduces fundamental concepts and implementations of database systems.” “You will be proficient in

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designing and programming databases after you successfully finish this class. (course provided PPTs from text with LO's which are separate from the syllabus).”

III.1 The types of assessments selected measure the stated learning objectives and are consistent with course activities and resources. My observation on this standard: The courses reviewed seemed to be representative of all possible scenarios in this category. In addition, the observation that if the learning objectives are not clear then the assessments cannot be clearly defined also seems to carry over to this standard. Some reviewers noted that because some assignments were closed that they, as reviewers could not determine if the assessments measured the LOs, however that should be obvious in the course materials. III.5 “Self-check” or practice types of assignments are provided for quick student feedback

Based upon a review of all the courses this is the area that is the weakest in this category. Courses are lacking in providing students with this type of opportunity of a self-review or check. It should be noted that some reviewers feel that at the "grad" level self checks are not necessary. This may be valuable in any course. Discussions, self quizzes, looking at old exams, etc., are all examples of ways in which faculty facilitated these activities.

Reviewer comments: “Peer reviews are utilized.” “Students are able to immediately see how they do on quizzes which allows them to ‘self-check’." “Students are to complete activities within text and can email questions to instructor.” “Answers are found in back of text.” “A practice exam is given for students to make sure they are able to take an exam through the ‘lockdown browser’..." “Multiple drafts of the papers are submitted by the student, which provides many opportunities for feedback.”

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Attachments:

Example of a course homepage:

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Example of expectations for group work from the same course:

Communication

Each posting week, there will be two discussion boards; Group 1 and Group 2. You will each be assigned to either Group 1 or Group 2 and be required to moderate your assigned discussion board one time during the semester. I will appoint the moderator(s) each posting. The moderator’s responsibility will be to post the discussion question based on the reading assignment for their group. Because other students in your group will be relying on the moderator to post the discussion question so they can post in a timely manner, the moderator must make their post by Sunday night of the post week (as a reminder to the moderator, specific dates will be given at each posting). The students in the moderator’s group will be required to post to their group’s discussion board to receive the credit. At the end of the 2nd week, before the board closes, the Moderator will make concluding remarks. Feel free, and I would encourage you to read the other group’s discussion and add posts if you wish. No points will be given for the posts to the other group’s discussion board.

To receive the points for being the narrator, there will be a separate column in the grade book for your points. Once you have narrated, the points will be added in the grade column. At this time, the grade column assigned for this purpose will be called A1. You will receive 5 points for being the moderator.

Sources for the discussion board will be provided at the biweekly posting on the News Item of D2L.

A vital part of a distance education course is that of utilizing electronic mail (e-mail). It is a requirement that when using email to communicate with the instructor, that you will use the email program on the course site in D2L.

When faxing information (if the need arises) to me, my name must be put on the faxed information utilizing a cover sheet. The number is (605)256-5060

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An example of a discussion board:

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Use of the competencies tool:

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Presentation of assessments and rubrics:

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Presentation of Elluminate Sessions on the course homepage:

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Representation of discussion and group work:

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