EDU637 Unit 8 eBrary Activity
Devaney, Thomas & Adams, Nan & Elliott, Cynthia. (2008). Assessment of Online Learning Environments: Using the OCLES (20) with Graduate Level Online Classes. Journal of Interactive Online Learning. 7.
Assessment of Online Learning Environments: Using the OCLES (20) with Graduate Level Online Classes states that over the past 10 years the quantity of online courses have risen but the quality of the same course has not. Because of this observation an assessment tool was created called Online Constructivist Learning Environment Survey— OCLES (20) with Demographic Data.
The purpose is to decide a constructive design to the online teaching environment with the help of students. The data that is collected is self-reported by the students and with instructor’s assistance help to develop the online course.
The article begins with a table called Dimensions for Assessing Constructivist Learning Environments with the 5 categories for assessment as follows: personal relevance, uncertainty, critical voice, shared control, and student negotiation. This was the original study created in 1991 but only focused on high school math and sciences. In 2006 it was modified to also include other subjects and demographics.
The methods used is a 20-question survey given to students on survey monkey. Under the 5 categories there were questions such as the things “the things I learn are relevant to me” under relevance, going through the categories ending with other questions such as : I am asked by other students to explain my ideas.” Under student negotiation. The article never stated what ranking was used but the tables showed it as percentages. There is no clear point scale that was issued to each question but there is a completed survey result. The results were shown to the instructors for review.
The next section, which is three pages worth, showed results in each area with many different numbers and examples relating to each category with the last paragraph with the word Discussion. This seemed to be a bit confusing. The assessment area of the article made sense comparing all of the numbers, but the discussion area just reviewed why a student choses online learning. There was no real relation to all of the data collected. It actually stated that the data collected may not be sufficient and there is more of a need to measure student perception of constructive natures to virtual learning environments. There is even a suggestion there may be a more effective way to collect this information which made me wonder if this peer reviewed data was flawed.
The article concludes with another puzzling statement. It may have been better to conduct the surveys based on different student levels such as Bachelor’s or Masters students. This is the first time the article made me think the conclusion may be correct. Depending on where a student is educationally would alter any assessment given to a course. This information would also alter the current course design. The recommendation is to continue to refine the survey to identify the degree of constructivist instructional strategies in an online classroom. In other words, the assessment did not accomplish much. Would not recommend this peer-reviewed article. It was confusing and in the end was not a successful analysis.
EDU 637 Unit 6 eBrary Activity peer reviewed article #1
Berridge, G.G., Renney, S. & Wells, J.A. (2012). eFact: Formative assessment of classroom teaching for online classes. Turkish online Journal of Distance Education, 12(2), 119-130.
eFact: Formative assessment of classroom teaching for online classes is a paper which explores a pilot program which evaluated a course learning by anonymous feedback from students in seven online courses. The pilot used something called eFact or Electronic Formative Assessment of Classroom Teaching. eFact is a process that gathers information from students through a third-party consultant email mid-way through a course or semester. This process allows instructors to change delivery of material while the class is still in progress and not wait till the survey at the end.
The paper discusses advantages of online learning to have five virtues which are the material being available any time, students can take time with difficult areas, internet helps with different sites that are available, students can be more active in learning and students are engaged in higher skills such as problem solving and gathering information. Why this is needed in the paper I am unclear.
The paper moves on to discuss that the study was performed over several months and there were some positives noted with regular faculty involvement in the course designs, 24/7 support of technology, evaluation of programs are used for continuous improvement and that input from faculty as well as students were used to help with the improvements. However, there were also some concerns noticed in the fact that there were two course evaluation systems, one for traditional and one for distant learning. There was also a notation that there was a large number of student’s dropouts with adults less likely to drop if the course is relevant to their current lives. There is also a note of many complaints from distant learners.
More negative remarks were being made due to technical problems, challenges communicating and a need for face-to-face interaction. Students were frustrated due to the instructors not giving feedback fast enough or the information was vague. Technical problems seem to be a reoccurring theme.
As the paper continued there is a shift to assessments to the online class. This section focused on the eight measurements with feedback at the end of the course. “Resources, Communication, Faculty-student interaction, Assignments, grading, and exams , Instructional methods and materials, Course outcomes , Student effort & involvement, and Course difficulty”. There is also a review of the formative and summative assessments. However, in my opinion this has nothing to do with eFact pilot.
eFact was designed to briefly move the power from instructor to the student to give feedback so it is possible for the instructor to change the direction of teaching mid class. The instructor has to make themselves vulnerable to the student and since there is a third party consultant the feedback was truly anonymous with critique freely and no retaliation possible. The method used is that the instructor added a consultant to the class and gave them full access to student emails, the consultant emailed the students assuring confidentiality. Students were asked to spend just 10 minutes to answer 3 questions.
- What helps your learning in this class?
- What hinders your learning in this class?
- What suggestions do you have for this class?
The findings were that the instructors received useful information to update some material, some students used this to vent problems, some did not respond at all but most feedback focused on online deliver (technical again) and not the course details.
Breaking the results down further what helped was the availability of instructors, detained instructions, using discussion boards, audio lectures and the use of power point the internet links and videos. What hindered was lack of personal contact, technical problems, and learning how to balance work, home, and school. The suggestions were to upgrade Blackboard sites, needing more time for assignments, more communication with instructors and wanting hard copy of books.
The conclusion to this pilot was that eFact helped instructors to gain valuable information from students with what needs to be changed during a course in progress. Information such as wait times for response and technical difficulties were key mid-course. eFact paper concludes as being a powerful tool mid-semester or class to help instructors to adjust to what students need.
EDU 637 Unit 6 eBrary Activity peer reviewed article #2
Rusk, Mike (2002) Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), Community & Junior College Libraries, 11:1, 65-68, DOI: 10.1300/J107v11n01_07
The article reviewed is Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C): Working Toward Quality Standards for Online Courses. Sloan-C was started in 1995 and is a nonprofit for higher education. This offers online programs which can be regionally accredited. The Sloan-C program offers a platform for collaboration and lists their website www.sloan-c.org for anyone to look up the catalogue for programs and publications available.
One of the mottos of Sloan-C is “sharing of knowledge and effective practices to improve online education” The consortium has a set of criteria used for their online programs that is called Criteria for an Asynchronous Learning Network. There are four areas covered under this section which are Learning Effectiveness, Faculty Satisfaction, Student Satisfaction and Access but the article does not go into detail further on what it is or how they are described. The areas are only mentioned as related to what is in the catalog for Sloan-C.
The article also mentions a guarantee to users to be successful because of another moto used for online programs which is “anyone, anytime, anywhere” which is relevant in the conclusion.
At the time of the article there were 102 members of the Sloan Consortium. There is a list available for review at www.sloan-c.org/memberlist.cfm and the reason to review the list is to be used as a quick link to institutions that offer online courses.
The article concludes with a grid for instructional delivery as follows:
| Same | Different | ||
| Location | Same | Traditional lecture class | Learning Lab |
| Different | Video Conference instructional tv classes | Asynchronous online learning |
There is a mention that higher education is moving from the upper left or the traditional lecture class to lower right of asynchronous online learning at a high rate of speed since the 1980’s. This area of the “anytime, anywhere” idea has been the goal of Sloan-C since that time. The only challenge for success in this area is technology, library support and the strong need for student support.
It is the belief of the author Mike Rust that Sloan Consortium is moving in the right direct to perfect the online courses and unify that success with other higher education institutions.
EDU 637 Unit 5 eBrary Activity
Adelstein, D., & Barbour, M.K. (2017). Improving the K-12 online course design review process: Experts weigh in on iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(3), 47-82.
The article in review is from Touro College and University System from 2017. The study explores the validity and reliability of the National Standards for Quality Online Courses or iNACOL and their standards for quality of a course. Reviewed is how the study is set up, conducted, and results discussed.
The article starts with the set up of two phases to be conducted with two groups of experts who will review and examine as well as give feed back about a K-12 online course using the current rubric eight level standards. Phase one was a large study which reviewed the validity of the iNACOL standards, using regular research they reviewed 52 elements found in the iNACOL, which was never listed in the article, and reviewed them to see if each standard gave any support and then compared it to online learning as well as the course design but the article reviewed phase two of the process which was the validation process used.
The validation process has three phases, reviewed by experts, and compared it to the revised INACOL standards from the validation in phase one. Two groups of experts within the field reviewed courses limited to K-12 online using the current rubric with 8 standards of course overview, introduction, learning objectives, assessment and measurement, instructional material, interaction and engagement, technology, and learner support. The purpose of the review is to test to see if the design of a new rubric met with the quality standards.
Eight experts were divided into two groups to review the information over three rounds and they were to examine each standard based on their own personal field of study. Round one looked at five main standards from phase one which was color coded, four new standards were offered and merged in with original and then the experts were asked to rate this by importance and make comments as to why. Round two documented to either keep, revise, combine or delete a standard and again provide information as to why. Round three was a sixty-minute discussion as to what was concluded including a table.
The conclusion was the study helped to bring a standard design to an online course and in each round found something interesting. Round one there was an overwhelming need to keep the majority the same. Round two decided that was not agreed on and merges occurred and round three reviewed comparisons. It ended with the experts deciding that further expert reviews be conducted. In other words, they really did not make a conclusive decision. The review decided the next step is should study the application of the new rubric created and again review reliability and validity.
EDU 637 Unit 4 eBrary Activity
Course Assessment
Arend, B.D. (2006). Course assessment practices and student learning strategies in online college courses. Denver, CO: University of Denver, School of Education.
This reading is in reference to a study conducted in reference to an online environment. The article gives descriptions of different assessments including formative, summative, and learning strategies. There is also review of how instructors give feedback to students.
The discussion begins with stating online instructors like to grade discussion boards with a 0 to 25% range and it shows that the way questions are worded as well as how the rubric is written for the grading can influence not only the type of discussions but the quality as well. Also, when it comes to learning strategies there are specific cognitive activities that online students perform which include underlining text, making outlines and applying the knowledge they already possess. The author specifically mentions that there is a relationship between assessment and the learning strategies.
As the author continues there is a definition offered for summative assessment as “designed to make a judgement of student learning.” As well as Formative Assessments that focus on feedback and information relayed to improve learning to the student. According to the study there are four dimensions in this study in reference to feedback.
- Instructors provide feedback often
- They provide precise feedback
- They could change the course structure depending on the feedback received
- Students act on the feedback given.
This section seems to be well written emphasizing that feedback is an important tool to an online educator.
The next section discussed is learning strategies which are broken into five cognitive and metacognitive areas.
- Rehearsal which includes memorizing, reciting, copying down material and underlining.
- Elaboration which includes imagery, identity words, paraphrasing, analogies, clustering and creating ways to memorize.
- Organizational by use of outlines and diagrams
- Critical thinking or transference of new knowledge, decisions, and evaluations
- Metacognitive self-regulation or setting goals for yourself, self-tests, and how fast material is read and understood.
What was most interesting about this area is the author used this section to describe types of learning that occurs online, my opinion is it is not just useful in online. The author continues to state the five areas determine the relationship between assessment and learning, this I agree with.
The study continues with Methodology referencing studies conducted as well as the findings. The methods used for data collection involved surveys using scales of 1-7 referring back to the 5 cognitive and metacognitive areas listed above. The most interesting was the comprehension them in reference to critical thinking strategies. The study showed that discussion boards, written assignments and papers were all viewed as positive to students, but Finals and Midterms were negative. I believe this shows a real necessity for feedback to students.
In summary, Summative assessments for online were inline with the four areas of effective practice. Formative made excellent points for feedback as encouraging but students only used the comments about half of the time. Learning strategies in reference to the five listed showed rehearsal and organizational was used the least where elaboration and critical thinking has the highest use. Metacognitive self-regulation was strong with instructors and high with student use.
In study concluded with a simple statement “Assessment is important in determining the type and quality of learning occurring in a course.” I believe this is not only a useful statement in online but face-to-face as well.
Program Assessment
University of Central Florida. (2005). Program Assessment Handbook: Guidelines for planning and implementing quality enhancing efforts of program and student learning outcomes.
University of Central Florida, p. 43-61 Retrieved from https://www.cmc.edu/sites/default/files/assessment/acad_assess_handbook.pdf
Section: 5.0 ASSESSMENT METHODS
The purpose of this selection is to review some guidelines and criteria for picking the correct assessment methods within a program. There is also a review of techniques that are available for use with a link provided to the Operational Excellence and Assessment support program under the University of Central Florida (OEAS.ucf.edu). The reason for the link is to show how the handbook is supported by surveys and data analysis to the programs listed within the chapter.
A revies titled Taxonomy of Assessment methods (based on purpose of assessment) is a review of the two types of assessment methods used which are direct and indirect.
Direct: Accessors evaluate the students in the program
Indirect: Accessors are interested in the student experience and opinions and not their knowledge or skill in the program.
The direct and indirect methods are mentioned several times within this chapter. Both areas rely on feedback and not just from the students but interns and supervisors as well.
The chapter moves on to the reasons for performance of assessments which include but are not limited to student learning, content of curriculum, and department processes. Then the assessments are further broken down into what is actually being assessed. For example the student learner is broken down to subcategories of Direct assessor methods to evaluate learning including cognitive performance and affective skills. Next is the Indirect assessor which includes the same areas but is viewed from the “perception” of the student and not the educator.
The next assessment area is the program and department process which refers to the methods and how students view the program and this area concludes with the curriculum itself. There is a brief review of mapping in this section but not enough to go into detail. There are some helpful hints offered and it seems helpful with an important point to make sure to reference useful information. The author even lists examples of good and bad assessment methods that need to match the learning outcome. Several suggestions are made for a successful assessment such as selecting methods controlled by the program, using multiple assessments, and the use of methods of measurements. Measurement collection will be in the way of questionnaires and surveys so data can be collected and used later to determine the strengths and weaknesses of a program. By collection of qualitative and quantitative data it will make it easier to graph results.
There is information in this chapter is in reference to Captsone with mention that it is important to keep in mind assessments for accreditation to be used later with several examples. The most important piece of information, in my opinion, is to see if an assessment plan is already created with data available. This is a way to link information to the program and therefor save time.
The next section offers criteria’s for selecting assessment methods such as relationship to the assessment, validity, timeliness and cost, motivation to the student and other areas to consider such as questions. There is also mentions of the challenges faced in selecting the correct method. The challenges mentioned references the difference in the programs between departments, time management, feedback, and matching the goals to the learner outcomes.
The chapter ends with an inventory of assessment methods broken down into Direct and Indirect methods and how they can be used as well as Capstone course assignments. The capstone is said to be a useful tool for program-level assessments with the chapter not only giving examples but advantages and disadvantages to their use.
This chapter is full of useful information and well worth the time to read with pen and paper ready to take notes.
Rubric Development (Article)
Chaaban, Mary. (2020, Mar 17). Best Practices for Designing Effective Rubrics. Teach Online, Retrieved from teachonline.asu.edu/2019/02/best-practices-for-designing-effective-rubrics/
The article begins with a few brief benefits of the use of a rubric and goes directly into what a rubric is. The way this author describes a rubric is a set of criteria for students work, usually includes different descriptions of levels in performance quality in an activity. The rubric is described as an evaluation tool with three features of evaluating criteria, quality definitions, and scoring strategy.
The benefits of the use of a rubric is as follows:
- Provides constant feedback to students
- Decreases overall grading time for instructors
- Ensures grading is consistent
- Reduction in student complaints about grades
- Reduces clarity problems with assignments
- Gives instruction an provides resources
- Helps students to understand expectations
I believe that the author is correct with all of the above as well as the mention that it helps the student to understand the assignment and how the rubric aligns with the course itself. There is also improvement available to the learner from the instructor feedback within the rubric which gives the learner the ability to evaluate their own work and see how to improve.
The article continues with the description of two types of rubrics which are holistic and analytic. Each area is broken down further into three parts according to performance criteria being measured, graduation performance such as good, fair, and poor and level descriptions.
The next area covers some of the best practices in the design of a rubric which included the identity of what skill and knowledge is needed to be demonstrated by the learner. Once this question is answered then review the learning objective further as well as performance criteria and performance levels. Finally review the level descriptors again. According to the author if you use this method it will help identify points or percentage values that can be used for grading.
The article ends with a checklist to evaluate how complete a successful rubric with additional resources with sites to visit for examples of other rubrics creations. A very informative and useful article. I recommend printing this one for future use.
Rubric Development (Resource)
Ragupathi, K & Lee, A (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C. & Gleason, N. (eds). Diversity and inclusion in global higher education. Palgrave Macmillan;Singapore. doi:10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3_3
The following resource was retrieved from the book Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education chapter 10 pages 73-95. The chapter reviews the roll of rubrics in higher education and how it can be used as a teaching tool and grading tool. According to the author this is done by clarifying the learning process and goals as well as having instructor provide feedback as well as qualitative judgements and how a rubric helps monitor grading fairness.
The author points out that a rubric and the way it is scored gives students a way to better understand what is being assessed, what criteria is being graded as well as what stand of work is expected. From the educator view a rubric is viewed as the professional judgement of work from their own eyes or the assessment tool.
The next area went over some different types of rubrics such as analytic vs holistic, generic vs task specific, teacher centered vs student centered. Each one was defined and reviewed in detail. After the explanations of each area the chapter switched to the reasons why to use a rubric. The author mentions reasons of legitimacy, affordability, and accountability as well as how rubrics increase student achievement. It is the authors opinion that rubrics have gradually moved from summative grading to formative. It is also mentioned that students like the use of a rubric and teachers do not. Teachers mention problems being citing the rubric is limited, too specific, too constraining, or too vague while the student like the use because of feedback, strengths and weaknesses mentioned as well as areas of improvement. Also mentioned is that a student believes it is helpful with learning, thinking, and understanding what is expected of them.
There are some mini paragraphs in this chapter in reference to why do rubrics matter? And monitoring fairness and consistency as well as assessment learning section but they are brief and vague. The important area to look at is the section on how to create the elements of a High-Quality Rubric. The author states, no matter what type of rubric, the process for developing follows the same steps: (a) define the learning outcome of the module, (b) describe the assessment tasks that cover these learning outcomes, and (c) identify the criteria and standards of performance for these assessment tasks. Under this statement is a diagram showing how the rubric development looks. The author also mentions that when steps are followed it is important to identify the criteria and standards first. It is important to remember that the rubric development is always changing for the better. The suggestion is made that regular monitoring is key.
The last point of the chapter reviewed how to use rubrics effectively with a review of a single point rubric. Since it offered flexibility in learning goals and promotes student creativity it is used so clarity will not be lost. Again, the mention of quality feedback is important.
To conclude the author lists ways on how a rubric impacts the teaching practice by way of providing in site and effectiveness to the educator themselves. There is a review of how to collect a teacher’s own information by way of a rubric for teaching improvements. This method shows how students completed work and if learning goals were met and then entered onto a summary rubric at the same time. This strategy is to be used to check course alignment, student learning, and to gather feedback. My opinion on that is the educator is entering all information via personal opinion so how can it be non-partial or accurate therefore giving biased results. Overall, the chapter was informative, but I do not necessarily agree wit the authors use of the summary rubric.
EDU 637 Unit 3 eBrary Activity
Article 1:
Anglin, L., Anglin, K. Schumann, P.L. & Kaliski, J.A. (2008). Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of grading through the use of computer-assisted grading Rubrics Decision Science Journal of Innovative Education, 6(1), p. 51-73
This reading was is in reference to a study conducted testing the use of computer-assisted grading rubrics and compares them to other ways of grading. There is a coverage of effectiveness and efficiency in reference to grading of subjective assignments. This study selected students from a large business course and divided them into four groups based on grading methods. The author lists a summary of the results right at the beginning of the readings as follows:
Computer-assisted grading rubrics are
200% faster than traditional
300% faster than hand grading
350% faster than manual feedback
And the most important mention is that this method did not negatively impact students.
As the study continues there is a mention that this study showed advantages for K-5 setting but also works in a college level as well. According to the author there are rules that give scoring and those rules help improve the student’s performance, quality of work, allows for objectivity as well as consistent assessments. The rules also reduce teacher time to review but still allows the teacher to give feedback about areas to improve which gives the student the feedback needed to improve on the areas.
The next section is in reference to electronic grading and some negative and positive aspects since there can be some inconsistency. There is also a notation that the repetitive process may cause boredom for teachers and lower the quality, length and clarity of replies from the instructors however the positive is that with less time spent grading by instructors leave more time to aide students with immediate feedback.
The next section is a review of the advantages again of the use of a rubric and how it is useful. This section seemed a bit wordy and came to the summary of this section being that there are advantages of rubric-based grading since it improves teaching effectiveness and student performance.
Moving on to the next area discussed which is the Rubric Development the author suggests there are a variety of computer-assisted grading programs available from where the student work is submitted traditionally in a written format to work submitted digitally pointing out that technology is playing a key role in how grading is completed today.
The author does mention that although this study seems to be positive when it comes to computer-assisted grading rubrics there are some issues specifically citing the initial set up of how to create the proper questions, how time consuming that may be as well as training the staff to use this method properly. The author does believe that the downfalls do not outweigh the benefits to the instructors citing today being a world of instant messaging, phones, immediate feedback seems to be expected with today’s students.
The last section of the paper is in reference to the case study itself about how students see this method. This refers back to the beginning of the case citing speed, effectiveness, and feedback. Overall, very informative and seems to note that the students really don’t see any problem with the methods of electronic rubrics verses a manual one.
Article 2:
Foisy, A (2020 Mar. 17): Developing Guidelines for Evaluating for Online Courses: A Primer. Retrieved from https://www.excelsior.edu/article/developing-rubrics-for-online-courses-a-primer/
The author begins with how he will provide advice for faculty in reference to incorporating grading rubrics into online courses. The importance of a well designed rubrics into online courses in mentioned due to the results of the students being able to receive the proper expectations from the class as well as to encourage them to perform well with the proper feedback expected, accurate grading and to be consistent and effective.
The author states there are many rubric options available but the concentration to the article is the analytic rubric which documents standards of a student’s performance as a grid. It is set up with the top row defining performance levels, the left side vertically displays students’ attributes of work and the boxes in the middle review performance at each level. The author states the boxes can be embedded in online courses.
The next section of the article is a review of the six steps to develop a rubric quoted by Linda Sukie from her book Handbook on Measurements, assessments, and evaluation in higher education. Each step has a short description on how to use them correctly. The best information is within step six with the advice to test and revise.
Step 1: Identify the rubric’s purpose
Step 2: Articulate clear learning outcomes for the assignment and explicate them into traits
Step 3: Identify and label performance levels
Step 4: Create descriptions of each trait at each performance level
Step 5: Develop or review the assignment
Step 6: Test and revise the Rubric
The author concludes with examples of analytic rubric samples which are easy to follow and understand with the ending of how to apply the rubric to what course you have created. This is an excellent article for someone just starting out creating online courses which require a rubric. The best suggestion given is to “search for the free rubric building tools online”.
EDU 637 Unit 2 eBrary Activity
Bola Tilghman, S. (2011). Designing and Developing online Course Assessments. Review of Higher Education and Self-Learning 4(9), 31-34.
The article begins a definition of online course assessment. The author refers to a process that measures information for the purpose where assessment is accessed on a computer. The continuation of the description stated it measures cognitive abilities, which has a student demonstrate what was learned at the end of a unit.
According to the article the most common form of assessments that have been used for a long period of time is automated multiple-choice questions however this does not work in today’s online environment. Today there is a need to measure objectives that would go along with activities and resources and the students expect specific instructions as to how to participate and expect feedback from instructors and other students.
The article suggests designing and develop online course assessments each instructor should ask three important question:
1. How can we construct successful assessment strategies and frameworks that are specifically designed for online learning environments?
2. How can instructors ensure that their assessments are aligned with course objectives, activities and assignments?
3. What technologies can be implemented to support the various assessment options?
To review question one the article lists some benefits that are more related to online learners’ verses face-to-face such as how the computer will do the work for instructors. Grading, monitoring of students, storing assessments are some of the items listed but it is up to the instructor to issue immediate feedback and can allow the computer to randomly select assessment values or not.
The next area reviewed has two types of assessments. The first is objective online assessments which gives examples of quizzes, tests, exams, homework as well as peer and self-assessments. There is a reference to having assessments checked for cheating and plagiarism but there is not mention as to how. Performance online assessments is the second and there is a reference to rubrics, peer and self-assessments, projects and student portfolios.
To review the second question the article concentrates on feedback to the student being key to success. There is another mention that is in order for the student to be successful that learning outcomes should be clearly identified prior to the beginning of the unit. The process needs to be reviewed as what needs to be assessed, how to measure to keep aligned with teachings and how to issue feedback through a grade.
The last section reviews the different types of online assessment available. Formative or Summative. The author states formative assessment has a strong and positive effect on a student due to the feedback given with the sole purpose of providing not only the feedback but suggestions as well unlike summative assessments which are used to assign a grade without the feedback.
Overall a well written article with several informative tools to be used within the area of designing an online course.
EDU 637 Unit 1 eBrary Activity
Tainsh, R (2016, Jan. 1). Thoughtfully Designed Online Courses as Effective Adult Learning Tools. MPAEA Journal of Adult Education, 45(1), p 32-27.
The article begins by review of what the average online student was like in 2016. The online student at that time was mostly female, employed and older than the usual college age student. The adult learner was offered a variety of online course options which included blended, hybrid, web facilitated, or fully online courses. The average adult student is said to face challenges due to daily life, but online education has advantages since it is flexible and accessible at any time of day.
The next section reviewed is in reference to Andragogy which was created by Macolm Knowles in the late 20th century and refers to the six assumptions adults need to help with education. The list is referenced by Mernan etal from 2007
Adult learners are:
- Self-directed and independent
- Have life experience which can be applied to learning
- Eager and ready to learn
- Interested in learning in order to problem solve
- Motivated
- Interested in the value of an education
It is mentioned that by keeping the principles in mind when designing a course then this would promote success to an online learner and then the completion would be easier to achieve.
The article states that an online course design must “ ‘match to the curriculum, be coherent and consistent, have ease of use, be inclusive to learning, and include formative and summative assessments’ ( Anderson and Mccormids, 2005)” and then breaks into a separate section on Online Course Development Principles and how they are applied to Andragogy.
Basic points reference the need for the design to be organized consistently and be easy to use. Writing out course objectives can help to keep the design in order as well as mapping future sections to keep students engaged, many times the article mentions innovation, teaching techniques, and engagement but does not give details on how to achieve them. The reason mentioned is for the course to give a student empowerment and validation as to why to take an online course. The discussion seems vague and hard to understand where this section was headed.
The next section address assessments but only mentions this area to state that adult learners will take ownership of their work and it helps with interactions with the instructor. The article does not mention what assessments could be helpful. The article concludes by stating the use of the guidelines mentioned will help to enrich the online environment within the course and to challenge the adult learner to success.
EDU630 Unit 2 eBrary Activity
Pearcy, M. (2017). Student, teacher, professor: Three perspectives on online learning. The History Teacher, 47(2), 169-185.
The article Student, Teacher, Professor: Three perspectives on Online Education was written in the first person by Mark Pearcy reviewing his journey through stages on online education and the advancements technology has made from his perspective as he traveled from the mid 1990’s to current day.
In the mid 1990’s Mr. Pearcy was given a desktop computer to use in his teachings and then a laptop. The technology changed again from a chalkboard to a smartboard and old style tv/vcr units to projectors mounted from the ceiling. Learning this technology as a teacher proved to be challenging but as fast as it was learned access to the internet via ethernet cables was introduced. At this point Mr. Pearcy used a powerful quite “learning “from” technology and learning “with” technology. From a teacher standpoint it would seem one had to use and learn simultaneously.
Around 2000 more online learning changes were occurring with the use of websites, teacher pages, digital libraries, PowerPoint demos and more so Mr. Pearcy had a world of information to learn from the ground up. In 1997 Florida approved the first online public school so he figured it was not an option to lag. In this stage of history Podcasts were also being used by teachers in the online world of education.
Mr. Pearcy had decided to return to school himself to obtain a doctorate so now as a student there was a different view to go over. Several schools tried free or reduced cost programs but the pass rates of only were not successful only rates of only 29-51%. The MOOC’s (massive open online course) movement had begun but was not successful at this time. Currently Mr. Pearcy is using Elluminate completely online. This program differed from MOOC’s since there was the capability of teacher/student discussions. Speaking as an educator he felt many teachers wanted to teach online but felt undertrained. Once his doctorate was completed, he returned as a Professor to his teaching positions.
In summary Mr. Pearcy had been educated in the ways of design and teaching entirely online but found strictly online to be a strange experience since he was used to a brick and mortar face to face method. He eventually became proficient in modules and Blackboard teaching. The Pedagogy for online according to Pearcy is technology in classrooms but id does not help. One is now “learning” from “technology”. The theory of “because its online it must be good” in his opinion is not good. Online education must find a way to use technology as an informational tool and not to “teach”.
EDU630 Unit 3 eBrary Activity
Bencheva, N. (2011). Learning Styles and E-Learning Face-to-Face to the Traditional Learning, Russian University, Ruse University, Scientific Works, 49(3.2), 63-67.
There are four types of learning: traditional, web facilitated, blended, and online. The article defines and reviews the methods used and compares them to each other. After each area is defined the author proceeds to review the pros and cons of each method of learning by use of three charts.
The primary beginning is to define what learning is and to point out that people all learn differently and need to be able to chose how to learn. It is important to note the author categorizes learning preferences into three types.
Dependent: prefers instructor directed
Collaborative: prefers social interaction
Autonomous: prefers student centered programs
E-learning is defined by the author as using an electronic device and application where web-based learning is included. Further sections define online learning, distance learning, blended learning and M-learning which refers to mobile devises used to learn such as PDA’s, mobile phones, laptops and other technology in your hand. Once all the definitions have been listed, comparison of traditional learning and e-learning can begin. According to the author there is a belief that traditional learning is best but little evidence supports the theory. E-learning has many advantages which range from students communicating more with each other and instructors, flexibility of where and how fast the student processes the information and convivence. Just the opposite for face-to-face learning which is structured which is why the author chose blended learning to review. There is also a comparison chart in the article to compare traditional verses eLearning (p.64). The author lists six reasons to pick blended learning as a method of success: pedagogical richness, access to knowledge, social interaction, personal agency, cost-effectiveness, and ease of revision. The issue for some students is frustration in technology so blended did not work and they returned to face-to-face instruction. The author believes traditional classrooms for some will be necessary.
A second comparison chart is listed for Blended learning verses Traditional learning (p. 65) and the pros and cons seem similar to traditional verses e-learning with the main point of classrooms don’t take advantage of technology.
In conclusion it does not matter which method is chosen by educators as long as research is done first to see what will work best for the most students, how to implement the class and see what learning preference a student needs to be successful.
EDU630 Unit 4 eBrary Activity
Article 1: Discovery Learning
David, L. (2017, Feb 2). Discovery Learning (Bruner). Retrieved from http://www.learning-theories.com/disocvery-learning-bruner.html
This article is about Jerome Bruner’s Discovery learning theory. He believed in a method of question-based instruction, in other words the student finds a fact to learn themselves. The student is placed in the role of problem solver and relates their own life experiences to learn. Bruner believes that people remember more if the situation relates to one’s own experiences. The critics believe his method makes it difficult for educators to detect problems and misconceptions but most believe being creative, independent, problem solving students will help direct the learning experience to benefit each person and “ anything can be taught if presented properly”.
Article 2: 15 learning theories in Education
Stevens-Fulbrook, P. (2019, Apr 18). 15 learning theories in education (A complete summary). Retrieved from http://www.teacherofsci.com/learning-theories-in-education/
This article is about 15 different learning theorists and which category they fall under. The first area reviewed the three labels each theorist falls under which are behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, which are all subclassified as learning theories. Each area was then defined in detail but some of the highlights are:
- Behaviorism involves related actions, verbal reinforcement and incentives
- Cognitivism is when students reorganize information, link to real world examples, discuss and solve problems.
- Constructivism is creating a learning idea based on ones use of knowledge being distributed through network connections or getting knowledge from a non-human appliance like the internet. Which is also a way to experience problem solving, research and group communication.
The best use of the article is the layout of the 15 theorists. It would take a long time to review each theory but the following 15 people, and their theories, are listed:
- Jean Piaget 10. Peter Principle
- Lev Vygotsky 11. Laird’s sensory theory
- Bloom’s domains of learning 12. Skinner’s behaviorist Theory
- Gagne’s conditions of learning 13. Roger’s humanist theory
- Jerome Bruner 14. Canter’s theory of assertive discipline
- Maslow‘s Hierarchy of needs 15. Dreikur’s classroom management theory
- Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences
- Erickson’s 8 stages of psychological development
- Kolb’s experiential theory
- The Peter Principle
- Erikson
- Kolb
EDU630 Unit 5 eBrary Activity
Article 1: D is for John Dewey
Mike (2017, Aug 30). D is for John Dewey: His approach to education [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.thepositiveencourager.global/john-deweys-approach-to-doing-positive-work/
John Dewey believes in hands on activities in children with a learning idea of experience and education. Dewey knows that there is the traditional education in brick and mortar where one learns by absorbing information by memorizing. This idea to Dewey is ineffective. He also knows that there is a progressive style of learning with no rules where freedom is promoted, and learning seems to be more effective because it does not stifle the student. Dewey believed his theory is somewhere in-between.
Dewey firmly believes in freedom when it comes to learning, meaning he does not want students to sit in chairs and be forced to memorize information but to be guided by a teacher by a hands-on approach or learning through experience this way. The process is unique and individual to each learner which leads to a positive measurable outcome and the learner can advance to be better in life. For example, if you want to learn about boats go to the harbor. The teacher should be a guide and talk the student through setting up activities, monitoring, guiding, and then grading on the process. Dewey does not believe in cramming knowledge by memorizing.
There always must be some sort of rules to learning in place but they must be flexible so a student can have free time but still firm enough to give direction toward continuous development. There is an excellent video embedded in this article that discusses his ideas.
Article 2: John Dewey of Education
Spanella, T. (n.d.). John Dewey of education: Theory and philosophy. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/john-dewey-on-education-theory-philosophy-quiz.html
This article should have been located first within the researched articles since it helps explain the thought behind his theories. The author, Theresa Spanella, is an instructor completing a doctorate in education. Ms. Spanella reviews where John Dewey was born and how he was the founder if instrumentalism. This theory is sometimes called pragmatism and in this theory one’s answers thought of as correct if a theory is applied successfully, or a practice and theory are linked together. This idea earned him the name of “The modern father of experiential education”.
According to Dewey, powerful experiences are broken into two fundamental principles. Continuity which is how past and present experiences influence the future and interactions which is how a person’s current situation will influence the experiences. This article continues to review Dewey’s progressive and traditional philosophies where traditional focuses on how a student’s learning path is laid out for them and progressive is more student interaction and not in control of the instructor. Since Dewey did not like this philosophy, he wanted a new theory which showed the role of experience. From this point the article reviewed Dewey’s two fundamental principles of continuity and interaction. Together Dewey stated that human experiences, past, present, and future, influence the capacity to learn. There is a separate section on the continuity of experience which is defined as a good experience impacts future decisions and experiences. This is a small mention since Dewey rejected both earlier theories.
The ending gives mention of the concept of experiential education. This is where Dewey again refers to continuity which should propel learners to continue learning and which through interaction should meet the learners needs. Dewey’s idea needs hands on activities that relate to a student’s life. This last concept means that in life, a workplace, or educational settings a student reflects on life and learns from it.
EDU630 Unit 7 eBrary Activity
Article 1:
Groen, J. F., & Herry, Y. (2017). The Online Evaluation of Courses: Impact on Participation Rates and Evaluation Scores. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 47(2), 106–120.
Course feedback is important since it enhances teaching and the quality of information for the student. This article is the results of a project done at the University of Ottawa to see the impact of online evaluation of courses, student’s participation and the scores on the evaluation when compared to courses evaluated and completed in class. The article reviews how the evaluations were conducted and gives percentages of how many other American universities are using evaluations. This is a surprising increase from 29% to 33% in 5-year time. The large problem seems to be the participation rate among students and how it varies from 30% to 53%. Some universities have offered incentives to complete the evaluation which jumps it to 70% completion rate.
There is mention that there are two factors effecting the completion of the evaluations by students. The first is the idea that only the professor uses or sees the information. The second is the students don’t benefit from evaluating because the class is over so why bother to complete the evaluation.
Evaluations are mentioned as not being accurate since there is a belief that the students who performed poorly in the class are the ones filling this out which result in negative responses but there is no fact to support this.
The next part of the article discusses the benefits of incentives to rise evaluation rate by way of class time to complete or adding a grade point. In this case the study showed an increase to 87%. There are other methods reviewed as well with lower % of success.
The article then reviews the methods used to collect the information beginning with the form, questionnaire, for students and for a professor. Data was collected for 6 months and was made accessible online. Then the data needed to be analyzed. This section divided the info into 3 main sections.
- Comparison of results obtained by professor from information collected over the last 3 years in the same course.
- Results obtained by all classes in the 6 months online
- Data focused on frequency of responses by students and professors.
The article breaks the results down again via tables by comparisons,
The summary of the article reminds the reader that the project was to evaluate possible impact of an online evaluation compared to a paper-based evaluation score. The recommendation is course evaluations should be voluntary without any incentives offers. This article relates to any successful evaluation of a course. How do educators get students to be honest in evaluation of online course material or even more important point out problems or gaps in the course.
Article 2:
Ibrahim, W., Atif, Y. Y., Shuaib, K. k., & Sampson, D. (2015). A Web-Based Course Assessment Tool with Direct Mapping to Student Outcomes. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 18(2), 46–59
This article reviews the collection and analysis of data and also how to track comments in a dashboard-like assessment. The article gives a methodical way and a web-based way to the assessment process. The data showed improvement in achievement rates of the student. According to the assessment there are two key models to see if retention occurs based on the quality of information, curriculum-based and outcome-based. There is a review about how educational assessments have moved away from the curriculum model towards the outcome model due to the fact that students don’t know what they expect until after the class is complete. By the use of outcomes the professor can see the quality of the student’s performances.
The article reviews how to collect data and lists its benefits. After the date had been collected it was agreed that this information supported an expansion in the realm of technology enhanced education process. The rest of this paper breaks down the discussion for effective management systems, course assessment model and its process, organization of assessment data, supporting tools, and evaluation of those tools.
The summary concluded the main objective is to make sure students succeed through a continuous improvement review of courses. Streamlining to close gaps and recommend enhancements so students get the most out of an education. If future educators only base information within courses on curriculum based information this is just memorizing, test, repeat. With moving to outcome based as the article suggests there will be visible results via grades of students and the hope of retention being greater.
EDU630 Unit 8 eBrary Activity
Article 1:
Bigatel, P. M. & Edel-Malizia, S. (2018). Using the “Indicators of Engaged Learning Online” Framework to evaluate online course quality. TechTrends:Linking Research & Practice to -Improve Learning, 62(1), 58 – 70. doi:10.1007/s11528-017-0239-4
The article is a case study about (IELO) Indicators of Engaged Learning on-line. There are six courses reviewed with the purpose of exploring how the IELO framework can be used as a tool for evaluating the quality of an on-line course. Designers and students are more interested in the look of the course as well as how it is delivered so this article explains how to make this a success by way of IELO.
Within the first few lines there is a mention of how the on-line environment can be isolating since there are no face to face interactions. Students must set their own pace and be motivated to complete the work and with the proper design it is easier to keep them engaged. According to the article there are ways to engage students to feel connected with the course by the instructor’s guidance which is also discussed within the study.
The article describes how IELO framework is a research-based tool that works together with the instructor and designers to assure a student in an on-line course stays engaged and describes how to go about the task. On page 60 there is a chart in reference to indicators of engaging learners online. This separates into categories by the educational approach, teaching, and learning aspect of a course and what is expected as an outcome in each area.
The study briefly discussed why it mattered if students were interested in the class or not and then went into who participated in the study and how it was completed. Four instructional designers with a minimum of 10 years’ experience, doctoral degrees and one masters all with in the field reviewed the sic courses. By way of the separate categories and a number system each course was rated for course design and how it fell into the IELO framework.The conclusion is that based on the evaluation a process was created for instructors and instructional designers to work together during course creations. Using the tools listed within the article and once the course is completed and rolled out to students there is a checklist available to see if the course was successful in keeping students engaged with the opportunity for feedback at the end of the course. There is also a wonderful chart in appendix 1 page 66 flaying out in a fun and colorful way each category with the responsibilities listed in a clear and precise way to print for future use.
Article 2:
Pappas, C. (2014, Sep 25). 5 ways to effectively assess your eLearning course audience. Retrieved from http://www.elearningindustry.com/5-ways-effectively-assess-elearning-course-audience
The article discusses 5 ways to assess the eLearning audience and how to design deliverables that meet the objectives so students’ experiences are educational and enjoyable. The article reviews the 5 steps in detail as follows
- Survey your core eLearning Course audience to determine prior knowledge
Step one means there needs to be a clear idea of what students already know about the subject. This can be accomplished by a simple survey.
2. Gain a clear understanding of expectations through eLearning Course audience feedback.
Figuring out what a learner wants to get out of a class is key to the success of the course. Ask within the survey if there is a preference between videos or on line scenario2.
3. Current Skills vs. Desired Skills Assessments
It is important to understand what skills are in place for the learner, so the person succeeds. The article suggests a survey or a test before designing the course. By selecting random levels of learners, it will help to figure out which skills that need to be worked on and which ones are already in place.
4. Are They Interested in the Topics Being Explored?
The article suggests creating a mini course to see if there is any interest in the topic. It suggests a short training video or a brief text with a quiz. If a learner is not interested in the topic there will be no motivation to learn the material and therefor, a waste of time to create.
5. Determining the Real-World Applications of your eLearning Course
According to the article no course is complete endless you can use it in the real world. One way to achieve this is to interview current and perspective learners. By doing this one can gain an understanding of what will benefit the learner.
Following these 5 items will help you develop an online learning environment that is engaging and also geared toward real life.
Lynette's Educational Journey 