Addressing Discrepancies in Faculty and Student Perceptions of the Quality and Rigor of Online Courses

2019 ◽  
pp. 120-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anisah Bagasra ◽  
Mitchell Brent Mackinem
Keyword(s):  
Historically Black ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Online Programs ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Historically Black University ◽  
Online Coursework

The chapter addresses the discrepancies that exist between student and faculty perceptions of online courses, specifically differences in beliefs about the quality of online courses and the rigor of online coursework. The authors present data collected from faculty and students before the launch of undergraduate and graduate online programs and over the course of the first four years of online course offerings at a small, Historically Black University (HBCU). The data is used to discuss ways to reduce incongruities in how students and faculty view online courses with a focus on faculty establishing their expectations for student performance in the online environment, measuring course quality, and using student evaluations to enhance course quality. Congruent beliefs and expectations are important to ensure that both faculty and students involved in online courses are satisfied with their experiences, leading to better retention and learning outcomes.

Assessment of Individual Student Performance in Online Team Projects

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Alden
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Assessment Practice ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Projects

The use of team projects has been shown to be beneficial in higher education. There is also general agreement that team efforts should be assessed and that the grading ought to represent both (1) the quality of the product developed jointly by the team as well as (2) the degree of participation and quality of contribution by each individual student involved in the group process. The latter grading requirement has posed a challenge to faculty so the question addressed in this paper is “How should individual team members in online courses be assessed for the extent and quality of their contributions to the group project?” To answer this question, four common team member evaluation practices were reviewed and compared to seven criteria representing positive attributes of an assessment practice in an online learning environment. Whereas the Peer Assessment practice received the greatest support in the literature in face-to-face courses, this study that considered the perceptions of graduate faculty and students recommended the Faculty Review practice as the default assessment

scholarly journals VIS-HAPT: A Methodology Proposal to Develop Visuo-Haptic Environments in Education 4.0

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Julieta Noguez ◽  
Luis Neri ◽  
Víctor Robledo-Rella ◽  
Rosa María Guadalupe García-Castelán ◽  
Andres Gonzalez-Nucamendi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Meaningful Learning ◽  
Physics Concepts ◽  
Haptic Technology ◽  
Sense Of Touch ◽  
Haptic Environments

Education 4.0 demands a flexible combination of digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving in educational settings linked to real-world scenarios. Haptic technology incorporates the sense of touch into a visual simulator to enrich the user’s sensory experience, thus supporting a meaningful learning process. After developing several visuo-haptic simulators, our team identified serious difficulties and important challenges to achieve successful learning environments within the framework of Education 4.0. This paper presents the VIS-HAPT methodology for developing realistic visuo-haptic scenarios to promote the learning of science and physics concepts for engineering students. This methodology consists of four stages that integrate different aspects and processes leading to meaningful learning experiences for students. The different processes that must be carried out through the different stages, the difficulties to overcome and recommendations on how to face them are all described herein. The results are encouraging since a significant decrease (of approximately 40%) in the development and implementation times was obtained as compared with previous efforts. The quality of the visuo-haptic environments was also enhanced. Student perceptions of the benefits of using visuo-haptic simulators to enhance their understanding of physics concepts also improved after using the proposed methodology. The incorporation of haptic technologies in higher education settings will certainly foster better student performance in subsequent real environments related to Industry 4.0

Using Gagné's Events of Instruction to Analyze Online Course Quality

2011 ◽  
pp. 2231-2238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc R. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Design Quality ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Events Of Instruction

Student perceptions of online courses are likely influenced by two overarching aspects of quality: instructor quality and course design quality (Ortiz-Rodriguez, Telg, Irani, Roberts & Rhoades, 2005). Both of these forces in online education may be analyzed using a well-known model of instructional design - Gagnés instructional design and cognition theory, the centerpiece of which are the nine events of instruction (Gagné, Wager, Golas, & Keller, 2004). Multiple studies positively correlate learner attitudes and perceptions of the online course to instructor quality. Early studies evaluating instructor quality attempted to correlate instructor quality with the attitude and perception of the learner, but not directly to learner success or course design quality. Researchers of online courses, such as Palloff & Pratt (2003), discussed the role of the instructor in depth while neglecting the roles of the learner, the institution, and course design. The main focus remained instructor-centered, and highlighted key instructor tasks such as understanding the virtual learner in terms of roles the learner plays, fostering team roles for the learner, designing an effective course orientation, and identifying potential legal issues the instructor might face (Palloff & Pratt, 2002, p. 16). A distant secondary focus was on effective course design. This highlighted instructor tasks in building an effective online learning community without highlighting the roles effective communication tools would play.

scholarly journals Ensuring Online Learning Quality: Perspectives from the State University of New York

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristyn Muller ◽  
Kim A Scalzo ◽  
Alexandra M Pickett ◽  
Lisa Dubuc ◽  
Lawrence Dugan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
The State ◽  
State University ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Online Programs ◽  
Quality Scorecard

As online learning continues to grow within higher education, it is important for colleges and universities to ensure that they are delivering quality online courses and programs. This paper will discuss the evaluation and assessment of online learning from an institutional perspective. Open SUNY, the system-wide office of online education that supports and services the State University of New York (SUNY), has developed a process using the Online Learning Consortium’s (OLC) Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Programs to help SUNY campuses examine and improve the quality of online learning. The first half of this paper will describe the development of that tool and the implementation of the Open SUNY Institutional Readiness Process. The second half of this paper will explain the OLC Quality Scorecard standards for the Evaluation & Assessment section and provide examples of best practices from four different SUNY community colleges.

scholarly journals Student Perceptions of Various E-Learning Components

10.28945/3204 ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Buzzetto-More
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Historically Black University ◽  
Online Submission ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Electronic Technologies ◽  
Comprehensive Study

Learning that is facilitated by electronic technologies, otherwise known as e-Leaming, can be either fully online, mixed mode (also known as hybrid), or web assisted; however, regardless of the delivery method, there are numerous tools and features at the disposal of students and instructors, and it is important for the e-learning community to examine both preferences and usage of these features. This paper presents the findings of a comprehensive study that examined the elearning perceptions and preferences of students enrolled at a historically black university. During this study a series of courses were specially designed to be intensive hybrid learning experiences. The Blackboard CE 6 Course Management System was adopted and paper-less learning experiences created. The results of the analysis indicate that students find course Websites to be helpful resources that enhance the understanding of course content, and that these Websites will continue to have an impact on higher education in the future. The examination of individual e-learning components indicated that students responded favorably to most available features. The strongest preference noted in this study was towards the online submission of assignments, with students overwhelmingly noting that they like having the ability to check their assignment grades online.

scholarly journals Engagement Matters: Student Perceptions on the Importance of Engagement Strategies in the Online Learning Environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Martin ◽  
Doris U Bolliger
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Student Perception ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Content Category ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
Online Communication Tools

Student engagement increases student satisfaction, enhances student motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance in online courses. This survey-based research study examines student perception on various engagement strategies used in online courses based on Moore’s interaction framework. One hundred and fifty five students completed a 38-item survey on learner-to-learner, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-content engagement strategies. Learner-to-instructor engagement strategies seemed to be most valued among the three categories. Icebreaker/introduction discussions and working collaboratively using online communication tools was rated the most beneficial engagement strategy in the learner-to-learner category, whereas sending regular announcements or e-mail reminders and providing grading rubrics for all assignments was rated the most beneficial in learner to instructor category. In the student-content category, students mentioned working on real world projects and having discussions with structured or guiding questions were the most beneficial. This study also analyzed age, gender, and online learning years of experience differences on their perception of engagement strategies. The results of the study have implications for online instructors, instructional designers, and administrators who wish to enhance engagement in the online courses.

A Case Study Exploring Quality Standards for Quality E-Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 232-240
Author(s):  
Colla J. MacDonald ◽  
Terrie Lynn Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Online Programs ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
E Learning

In order to satisfy the needs of growing numbers of adult learners, the availability of well-designed, effectively implemented, and efficiently delivered online courses is essential (MacDonald, Stodel & Casimiro, 2006; Palloff & Pratt, 2001). Despite the demand and prevalence of e-learning, there are still concerns regarding the quality and effectiveness of education offered online (Carstens & Worsfold, 2000; Noble, 2002). Too often, in an “effort to simply get something up and running” (Dick, 1996, p. 59), educators have been forced to compromise quality and design. Intensive competition among educational institutions has resulted in quality assurance becoming a critical issue for promoting learning and learning programs. Within this economically motivated environment, online learning has not escaped the scrutiny of quality standards. Quality in online programs is generally defined in terms of the design of the learning experience, the contextualized experience of learners, and evidence of learning outcomes (Jung, 2000; Salmon, 2000). However, the plethora of online learning courses and programs with few standards to ensure the quality of content, delivery, and/or service creates a challenge. The resulting variance in quality makes it difficult for an organization or learner to choose a program that meets their needs and is also of high quality.

scholarly journals Higher Education Faculty Perceptions of Open Textbook Adoption

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eulho Jung ◽  
Christine Bauer ◽  
Allan Heaps
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Specific Provider ◽  
Open Textbooks ◽  
Intention To Continue ◽  
The Relationship

<p class="3">The high cost of tuition and textbooks can have a negative impact on potential students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Open Educational Resources (OER) offers students a way to save educational costs while utilizing high-quality open textbooks. Up until now, there have been few studies focused on a specific provider of open textbooks. This study investigates open textbooks provided by OpenStax. Specifically, this study uses the COUP framework to examine: (1) cost reduction, (2) outcomes, (3) uses, and (4) the faculty perceptions of the quality of OpenStax textbooks. Additionally, we expanded the framework to address (5) the relationship between the perceived quality of the OpenStax textbook and the faculty perception of student performance, (6) the faculty’s intention to continue to adopt OpenStax textbooks, and (7) the perceived importance of accessibility to faculty who use OpenStax textbooks. Overall, the findings suggest that a significant amount of financial savings and a number of pedagogical shifts can be supported by the use of OpenStax textbooks.</p>

scholarly journals A Critical Analysis of Characteristics that Influence the Effect of Instructor Discussion Interaction on Student Outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Simon Hoey
Keyword(s):  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cognitive Presence ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Optimal Frequency ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Instructor Interaction ◽  
Teacher Presence

Teacher presence facilitates students’ social and cognitive presence in online courses. Instructor interaction in discussion forums, a widely adopted instructional strategy, establishes teacher presence but research on the optimal frequency and content of instructor interaction in discussion is underdeveloped. This research evaluated 1625 instructor posts in 36 graduate-level courses in education to determine their impact on students’ perceptions of the quality of the instructor and course, students’ perceptions of their learning, and students’ actual achievement. Findings suggest the frequency of instructor interaction in discussion has no effect on student outcomes, but posts that are instructional improve students’ perceptions of their learning, and posts that are conversational improve students’ perceptions of instructor and course quality and their actual academic achievement. Implications for instructors and policymakers are addressed.

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