QualityInOnlineLearning.docx
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QualityInOnlineLearning
QualityInOnlineLearning(Ò»)
Abstract:
Wearenowdeliveringthousandsofonlinecoursestomillionsofstudentsaroundtheworld.Wehaveprogressedbeyondtheearlyexplorationsinto"howtoteachonline,"tothemorecomplexchallengeof"howwell?
"ThispapersummarizestheresultsofanationwideempiricalstudyperformedintheUnitedStates,inanefforttosystematicallyidentifythefactorsthatdeterminethequalityofe-learningcourses.Ourinvestigationssoughthowtodesignqualityintoweb-enhancedcourses,howtoensuredeliveryofaqualitysupportsystemforonlinelearners,andhowtoassessthequalityofonlinecourses.Thisisthefirstinaseriesofreportsontheoutcomesofthisinvestigation,andhowtousewhatwelearnedabouthowtoensureandassessqualityinweb-basedlearning.Thisfirstreportfocusesoninstructionaldesignofqualitycourses.
Introduction
Afterreviewinghundredsofstudiesoneducation,LionGardinerconcluded:
"[W]henwesubjectthequalityofourcollectiveworkaseducatorstothesamecloseexaminationwedemandinourdisciplines,wefindasubstantialbodyofevidencethatclearlydemonstratesacrisisofeducationalqualityinournation'scollegesanduniversities.¡Weneedtobeginimmediatelytoassess,evaluate,andimprovethequalityofourwork."
Gardinerfurtherexplainsthat,bycombiningbest-practiceinstructionaldesignmethodswithInternettechnologies,itispossible(butnotnecessarilytrue)thatmuchgreaterhigher-orderlearningandhigher-valueeducationaloutcomescanbeachieved.
Onecontextualchallengecoursedevelopersfaceisthatqualityisnotsolelyanintrinsicfeatureofacourse;butisexpressiblethroughtheviewpoints,values,andneedsofthecourseconsumer,whetherheisastudent,aninstructor,adepartmentchair,anacademicvicepresidentorfinancialofficer,aninstitutionalplanner,oracorporatehumanresourcesdirector.Thereisnoonechecklistbywhichwecandesignorevaluatequalityinacourse.Wemustmakeexplicittheviewpointfromwhichthecourseisbeingassessed.Inthesecondsectionofthispaper,wewillsummarizethecriteriaforqualitynativetothesedifferentconsumerviewpointsandthoroughlyanalyzecoursequalityasviewedfromtheperspectiveofthestudentconsumer.
Simplyput,itisverydifficulttodesignandjudgecoursequality.Weknowthisfromtheproliferationofthousandsofmediocreonlinecourses.Fromtheeducationalresearchliterature,weareoftengivenguidingprinciplesthataretoogeneraltobeinstructiveatthelevelofclassroompracticeandcoursedesign.Makingclass"happen"inaweb-basedenvironmentissonew,anddifferent,thatneitherbroadprinciplesnornarrowlyprescriptivepracticesarehelpfulwhenwesitatacomputerandtrytoreinventourteachinginthisnewenvironment.
Afterall,ifaninstructorwhoundertakestodesignaweb-basedclassistold"Followtheprincipleofgivingfrequentfeedbackintheformofformativeassessments,"hewillsay"Youhaven'thelpedmeabit;Ialreadyapplythatprincipletomyclassroom-basedclass.If,ontheotherhand,youtellhim"Requirestudentstoe-mailyouasynopsisofeachweek'sreading,"youhaven'thelpedhimeitherbecausethatcourseprocessmayneitherapplytocoursenorcomplementhiscoursedesign.
Iftheconceptofdesigningandevaluatingacoursebynarrowprescriptiveformulaeismisguided,what'saninstructortodo?
Inourinvestigation,wefoundmanycategoriesofgoodexperience-provenpracticalideasthatseemedtosortthemselvesintothreebasiclevelsofguidanceforqualityonlinepedagogy:
principlesoflearningscience;practicesininstructionalartistry;andapplicationsofonlinesystems.
Theinstructor'sbeststrategyistoarmhimselfwithafewsturdyprinciples,tobeguidedbyatranslationoftheseprinciplesintopracticeseffectiveinaweb-basedenvironmentandtothinkcreativelyallthewhileusingspecificapplicationmethodsasapointofreference.Atsomelevel,theinstructormustdopreciselywhateachstudentmustdoandteachhimselfbydrawinginferencesandextendingfromtheknowntotheunknown.Thequalityoftheinferencesandextensions,however,canbepositivelyinfluencedbythesolidityoftheprinciplesandthequalityoftheillustrationsusedasguides.
Principles,practices,andspecificapplicationssortthemselvesoutalongascaleofspecificity:
¡ìAprincipleisapplicabletonearlyanyformallearningsituation,independentofthedeliverymedium.Thatisbecausethese"principlesoflearningscience"deriveprimarilyfromcharacteristicsoflearnersandthefunctionsofhumanbrain-learning,andnotfromthespecificcoursenorthemediumofcoursedelivery.
¡ìApracticeismanifeststhe"artofinstruction"withinandsuitedtoaspecificmodeofdelivery.,classbased,online,mixedmode).Practicesintheartofinstructionreflectamergingoflearningscienceprincipleswiththeartistryofinstruction.
¡ìAnapplication(oflearningscienceprinciplesandinstructionalartistry)isspecifictoaparticularcourse,withinaspecificdeliveryinfrastructure.
Principles,practices,andapplicationscanalsobeindexedbydegreeofprescriptiveness.
Atthefoundationofthepyramid,therearefewerprinciples.Wecanmorereadilyenumeratemajorprinciplesoflearningsciencethatbroadlyaddressthefoundationuponwhichmostalllearningisbased.Theyarelessspecificallyprescriptive.Practicesaremorespecific,andtheyapplytoaparticulardeliverymedium.But,theyarestillsoabstractastoalmostdemandexperiencedexpertiseinordertoutilizetheminanyconcreteway.Onthelowendofthespectrum,methodsareimmediatelyapplicable.Buttheyaresonarrowlyspecificthattheyareinnumerable.infeasibletosimplypresentacompleteenumerationofallpossiblemethodsthatmightbehighlybeneficialtoaspecificlearningactivity.
Theabundanceofspecificmethods(learningactivities,"assignableunits,"projects)bywhichyoumayassurethesuccessofagivenpracticeandtheapplicationofagivenprinciplewillbewilderyouifyouseekasimpleformulatoanswerthequestion"WhatdoIdotocreateandassessqualityine-learning?
"
Approach
Thispaperreportsfindingsdevelopedaspartofanationwidestudyofqualityinweb-basedandweb-intensivelearning.Thestudyisongoing,andaddressestheinstructionaldesignofqualitypedagogy,qualityassuranceincoursedelivery,andassessmentofqualityinexistingcourses.
Thisstudydoesnotinvolvebasicscientificresearch,butwehavereliedheavilyonthescientificandeducationalresearchliterature.Researchtopicshaveencompassedneurophysiologicalandneuropsychologicalfactorsunderlyinghumanmemoryandlearningprocesses.Secondly,thestudyhasalsoinvestigatedbasicandappliedresearchoninstructionaldesignmodels.Third,wehaveincorporatedmuchpracticalknowledgeofthecurrentstateoftheartininstructionaldeliverysystems.Fromthesethreefoundationsofinvestigation,theoverallstudyisbasedon"thescienceoflearning,theartofinstruction,andtheapplicationofsystems."
Thisinvestigationwasbeguninformallyin1994,andcontinuedassuchuntilaformalnationalinvestigationwaslaunchedinNovember1999.Theplanofinvestigationhasinvolvedaverylabor-intensiveprocessoftargetedinformationcollection.(Wewantedtoavoidthecommonpitfallsinoverlyhomogenizedfindingsfromamonolithicsurveyofunknownsources.)Besidestranslatingbasicresearchintolearningscience,ourapproachhasbeentocarefullyidentifyexpertsinthefieldwhobringbothlearnedexpertiseandpracticalapplicationexperiences.Therefore,theprocessofsimplyidentifyingtheseexpertshasbeenakeyelementofthestudy.Wehavelurkedonnationallistserv'stoidentifyexperts,andtopickupnewideas.Wehavefollowedupwithmanyofthem,inconductinginterviews.Wehaveorganizedroundtablediscussionsandpanelsessionsattheleadingnationalconferencesandthenfollowedupwithemailswiththoseparticipants.Wehaveexaminedonlinefacultyguidesfromleadinginstitutions,andonlinecourse-sitesoninstructionaldesign,andfollowedupwiththeirauthorswherethatseemedhelpful.Notsurprisingly,oneofthemostinformativesourcesofideasandexemplars(bothpositiveandweak)hasbeenmanyonlinecoursesitesthemselves.Inall,thestudyhastodateinvolvedseveralhundredpagesofresearchliterature,hundredsoflistservpostingsandfollowupemails,overonehundredactualonlinecoursesites,hundredsofconferenceattendees,anddozensofinterviewswithindividualexperts.Thisinvestigationisongoing,andfurtherfindingsareindevelopmentforreleaseinsubsequentOFSOLUTION:
Learningscienceyieldslearningprinciples,andtheseprinciplesstandwithoutneedforreferencetomodeofdelivery.Theseprinciplesderivefromfeaturesofthehumanbrainandcharacteristicsofhumanlearning.Theydonotderivefromthefeaturesandcharacteristicsofagivencourse.
Further,indesigninganycoursewemustkeepinmindthatknowledgeisnottransmitted;itisconstructed.Learninghappensinthebrainofthestudent,andnotnecessarily"ontheweb"orinclassat10:
32.orviainteractivevideo.
Inourfindings,welistanddefineninelearningprinciplesbeforetranslatingeachoneintopracticeseffectiveinaweb-basedenvironment.Wethendescribeanapplicationmethodforeachprincipleandpractice,toillustratehowalloftheseprinciplesandpracticesofcoursequalitycanbeincorporatedintotheinstructionaldesign.
Exogenous(Uncontrollable)FactorsThatAffect"ApparentQuality"
Courseoracademic-program"qu