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 Designing for learning: What are the essential features of an effective online course?

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Brown
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Delivery Mode ◽  
Online Delivery ◽  
University Courses ◽  
New Learning

<span>How do online courses differ from traditional university courses? What are the new learning demands made on students in online courses? Which particular design features optimise the teaching and learning process in an online delivery mode?</span><p>These were the questions explored in a collaborative course design project involving an economics lecturer and the instructional designer at Murdoch University. Emerging from the project is the fully online course <em>Economic Thought and Controversy</em>, together with an instructional design template. This template is now being applied to other courses in the discipline with the aim of transferring the whole economics programme to online delivery in 1998.</p><p>This paper describes the pedagogical rationale of the design template.</p>

scholarly journals Applying the Community of Inquiry e‑Learning Model to Improve the Learning Design of an Online Course for In‑service Teachers in Norway

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Krzyszkowska ◽  
Maria Mavrommati
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
E Learning

: Education authorities in Norway endorse online courses for in‑service teachers to raise education standards and to promote digital competence. Naturally, these offerings present teachers with opportunities to integrate new theoretical perspectives and their professional experience in an online learning community. The inquiry into one's professional practice, enhanced by critical reflection in a group of fellow professionals, is considered essential for a lifelong learning practitioner, however, the emerging examples of instructional design tend to prioritise content delivery rather than professional discourse. In this paper, we demonstrate how the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework could be adopted to transform learning design, which prioritises the delivery of individual assignments, into a more collaborative learning experience. Using the CoI instructional design principles and the associated questionnaire, we have investigated student perceptions of learning via an online course and formulated recommendations about how the course design can be refined to promote learning in the community. Despite the modest evidence, this investigation can serve as an example of how a concrete learning design can be improved based on this validated e‑learning model.

scholarly journals A “just-in-time” pragmatic approach to creating Quality Matters-informed online courses

2020 ◽  
Vol 121 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 365-380
Author(s):  
Angela P. Murillo ◽  
Kyle M.L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Online Course Design ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Matters ◽  
Formal Quality ◽  
The Creation

Purpose Quality Matters is one of the most widely regarded standards for online course design. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many instructors have needed to quickly convert face-to-face classes into an online environment. However, many instructors do not have online education expertise. Standards such as Quality Matters can help guide the creation of quality online course environments. This paper aims to provide a research-based and pragmatic approach for creating QM-informed online courses. Design/methodology/approach The Quality Matters Standards Rubric consists of eight General and 42 Specific Review Standards. Each standard was analyzed to determine the ease of implementation and implementation approach for a Quality Matters-informed online course template. Findings Of the 42 specific review standards, 16 (38%) are easily achievable, 20 (48%) are achievable, but required some intervention, and six (14%) are difficult to achieve through a course template. Practical implications This study provides guidance for implementing Quality Matters-informed online course design. As many instructors without an instructional design or online education background now need to conduct online classes, Quality Matters provides structure and guidance to assist with creating high-quality learning environments. As receiving formal Quality Matters certification is time-consuming and requires peer-review, this research provides guidance to create Quality Matters-informed online courses in a timely manner. Originality/value This study is particularly timely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will help prepare instructors for any second-wave scenarios. Furthermore, through providing guidance on the creation of Quality Matters-informed online course design, this paper will help instructors have a greater chance of instructional success for online course delivery.

Reading Between the Lines of Online Course Evaluations: Predictable Actions that Improve Student Perceptions of Teaching Effectiveness and Course Value

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie J Jones
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Teaching Effectiveness ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Course Evaluations ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Evaluation Scores ◽  
Faculty Effectiveness ◽  
Perceptions Of Teaching ◽  
Course Value

Students continue to demand and enroll in online courses, but are not always satisfied with their experiences. The purpose of this study was to determine if students’ responses to evaluations for online courses could be used to predict faculty actions that could lead to improved evaluation scores in teaching effectiveness and overall course value. Controversy continues to exist over the validity of student evaluations to measure faculty effectiveness and overall course quality. Faculty seldom utilize the collected data for the improvement of teaching. Results indicate that stimulation of learning had the most effect on perceptions of teaching effectiveness and useful and relevant assignments had the highest correlation to overall course value.

scholarly journals Online Course Design

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally J. Baldwin ◽  
Yu-Hui Ching
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
The United States ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Evaluation Instrument ◽  
Online Course Design ◽  
Quality Matters

The evaluation of online courses is an important step in providing quality online courses. There are a variety of national and statewide evaluation tools used to help guide instructors and course designers of online courses (e.g., Quality Matters, OSCQR). This paper discusses a newly released course evaluation instrument from Canvas, the second largest learning management system (LMS) used by higher education institutions in the United States. The characteristics and unique features of the Canvas Course Evaluation Checklist (CCEC) are discussed. The CCEC is also compared to established national and statewide evaluation instruments. This review is helpful for those interested in online course design and developments in the field of online education.

scholarly journals Understanding Student Engagement in Large-Scale Open Online Courses: A Machine Learning Facilitated Analysis of Student’s Reflections in 18 Highly Rated MOOCs

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khe Foon Hew ◽  
Chen Qiao ◽  
Ying Tang
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Learning Classifier ◽  
Quality Rating ◽  
Open Courses

Although massive open online courses (MOOCs) have attracted much worldwide attention, scholars still understand little about the specific elements that students find engaging in these large open courses. This study offers a new original contribution by using a machine learning classifier to analyze 24,612 reflective sentences posted by 5,884 students, who participated in one or more of 18 highly rated MOOCs. Highly rated MOOCs were sampled because they exemplify good practices or teaching strategies. We selected highly rated MOOCs from Coursetalk, an open user-driven aggregator and discovery website that allows students to search and review various MOOCs. We defined a highly rated MOOC as a free online course that received an overall five-star course quality rating, and received at least 50 reviews from different learners within a specific subject area. We described six specific themes found across the entire data corpus: (a) structure and pace, (b) video, (c) instructor, (d) content and resources, (e) interaction and support, and (f) assignment and assessment. The findings of this study provide valuable insight into factors that students find engaging in large-scale open online courses.

scholarly journals ON THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL PRESENCE IN ONLINE COURSE DISCUSSIONS

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Swan ◽  
Li Fang Shih
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Discussions ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Quantitative Results

“Social presence,” the degree to which participants in computer-mediated communication feel affectively connected one to another, has been shown to be an important factor in student satisfaction and success in online courses. This mixed methods study built on previous research to explore in greater depth the nature of social presence and how it develops in online course discussions. The study combined quantitative analyses of survey results from students enrolled in four online graduate courses, and qualitative comparisons of students with the highest and lowest perceptions of social presence. Quantitative results revealed significant correlations between perceived social presence and satisfaction with online discussions, and teased apart the respective influences of the perceived presence of instructors and peers. The findings indicate that the perceived presence of instructors may be a more influential factor in determining student satisfaction than the perceived presence of peers. Correlations with other course and learner characteristics suggest that course design may also significantly affect the development of social presence. Qualitative findings support the quantitative results. In addition, they provide evidence that students perceiving the highest social presence also projected themselves more into online discussions,and reveal meaningful differences in perceptions of the usefulness and purpose of online discussion between students perceiving high and low social presence.

scholarly journals Online Graduate Student Perceptions of Program Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Shepherd ◽  
Doris Bolliger
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Course Content ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Directed Learning

Facilitating an online course in today’s student population requires an educator to be innovative and creative and to have an impactful online presence. In the current online learning environment (also known as e-learning), keeping students’ thoughtfully engaged and motivated while dispensing the required course content necessitates faculty enabling a safe, nonjudgmental environment whereby views, perspectives, and personal and professional experiences are encouraged. The educator must exhibit an educator-facilitated active, student-centered learning process, whereby students are held accountable for their active participation and self-directed learning while balancing a facilitator role to further enhance the learning process. This article explores one educator’s reflective practice process that has been developed over numerous years as a very early adopter of online education. It will explore the organizational aspect of teaching-facilitating a dynamic robust online course.

scholarly journals 9. Quality Matters: A Faculty-Centred Program to Assure Quality in Online Course Design

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Shattuck
Keyword(s):  
Review Process ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Peer Review Process ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Quality Assurance Program ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
Online Course Design ◽  
Quality Matters

One of the dilemmas faced by today’s faculty is assuring quality in online courses. As one solution to that dilemma, Quality Matters (QM), a program of MarylandOnline, built a rubric of design standards informed by existing research literature and best practices. The rubric was implemented within a faculty-centred, peer review process in which colleagues share their expertise to facilitate course design improvements and to achieve an established level of quality in online course design. This article will describe the basic tenets and processes of QM as an inter-institutional quality assurance program for online learning.

scholarly journals Evaluating Online Course Quality: A Study on Implementation of Course Quality Standards

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney Zimmerman ◽  
Barbara Altman ◽  
Bethany Simunich ◽  
Kay Shattuck ◽  
Barbra Burch
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Faculty Professional Development ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Peer Reviewers ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This study examined the relationship of intentional faculty professional development, intentional online course design, and informal course reviews to the results of official interinstitutional peer review within higher education institutions. Quality MattersTM (QM) provided the setting for this exploration of the relationship of three independent variables at the course level at institutions that have voluntarily implemented QM online learning quality assurance tools and processes. Data for this study were extracted from a larger statistical project conducted regularly by QM, which included the results of 5,436 online course reviews completed between September 2014 and May 2020 at 360 institutions. These courses were assessed for meeting quality standards in structured, interinstitutional, reviews, conducted by three faculty peer reviewers. QM provided the setting and data for this study; however, the study was not about QM. Instead, it was about exploring the relationships of variables within an institution’s control in the quest for benchmarking and improving online learning. Having and disseminating online course quality standards does not ensure implementation of those standards and quality assurance processes. This observational study provides a better understanding of how the implementation of those standards and quality assurance processes might impact outcomes.

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