QualityInOnlineLearning.docx

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