TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract: On March 24, 1998, a small group of faculty and administrators at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) formed a learning community to engage in a deliberative dialogue about recognizing and documenting outreach scholarship in the university. We chose UniSCOPE, University Scholarship and Criteria for Outreach and Performance Evaluation, as the title to encapsulate our mission. Our goal was to consider the meaning of scholarship in the contemporary university and the role of outreach therein. We did this in the context of the Penn State promotion and tenure system to gain a better understanding of its effect on scholarship. We quickly learned that outreach scholarship cannot be examined in isolation. Therefore, we broadened our deliberations to consider the full range of scholarship. This report articulates a multidimensional model of scholarship in general, of which outreach scholarship is a key component and presents our recommendations for action.
Abstract: Dissatisfaction with teaching a high enrollment introductory statistics course led to efforts to restructure the course to remedy the perceived problems: lack of student participation, an excessive drain on departmental resources, failure to take into account wide differences in student learning styles, inability of students to apply statistics after the course, and negative attitudes of students. A cost-effective redesign of the course incorporated a learning environment that is student-oriented, involves active student participation and hands-on experience with data analysis, uses of technology that reduce costs through labor-saving techniques which include low-stakes computerized testing, resources sharing though a web site for course management and delivery of course materials. Responsibility for learning basic concepts was transferred to students and students are motivated by readiness for assessment quizzes. The redesign led to about $125,000 in cost savings to the department.
Abstract: An online and an on-campus "An Introduction to Shakespeare" allow an extended experimental comparison of learning outcomes. Two important variable are controlled: the instructor and the content of the course. Students learn the course content through four kinds of encounters—alone, one to one, one to many, and many to many.
The online version of “Introduction to Shakespeare” course has consistently better learning outcomes than the on-campus version, as a result of the compelling nature of the one-to-one communication mode online and the textual nature of the many-to-many and one-to-many modes online. Text-based communication in the online class reinforces the skills pertinent to a literature class. Other crucial factors are online pedagogy and the self-selection. Ultimately, the differences between the online and F2F classrooms may be less crucial to learning outcomes than the degree to which the course design, regardless of technological environment, develops and supports students’ abilities to practice adult learning styles.
Abstract: In 1999, Pace University was awarded a $1,000,000 through a three-year FIPSE Learning Anytime Anywhere Program (LAAP) Grant. The grant focuses on three areas: online testing, enhanced student support services, and mentoring. Funding from the LAAP grant has enabled the university to greatly enhance the student services that are provided to online students. The focus has been primarily on students who are within the NACTEL program, an online AS in Telecommunications degree offered to individuals working for Citizens Communications, Qwest, SBC and Verizon, and who are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). FIPSE funding has enabled the university to extensively survey students in the program by an outside evaluator. These surveys are all online, are tabulated instantly, and provide a steady stream of feedback to administrators and faculty who are involved in the program. In addition, FIPSE funding has made it possible to hire individuals who, on a regular basis, provide enhanced student support services for online students. As new ideas develop, they are implemented as quickly as possible. This paper presents some of the research findings and also provides details about the changes to the NACTEL program that have occurred.
Abstract: Mercy College has encouraged students to take a more active role in their education through the use of online teaching assistants or “course wizards.” The duties of wizards include tutoring students, facilitating discussion, and locating resources, but their most essential function is to model the role of a successful student. Having successfully confronted the challenges of a college environment, they provide peers with the benefits of their experience. The program takes advantage of the special intimacy that students share with their classmates. This article gives an outline of the wizards program, and examines it with respect to several criteria including student satisfaction, learning effectiveness, faculty satisfaction, and the satisfaction of the wizards themselves.
Abstract: Rio Salado College, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, is nationally recognized as a role model for innovation and excellence in online education and as the “college of choice” for adults who balance their studies with work and family. One of the ten Maricopa Community Colleges, Rio Salado College has had a distance learning program since its inception in 1978. This paper describes a systems approach to the growth of successful online programs, using data for continuous improvement.
Abstract: Those in the field of ALN are confronted with the challenge of keeping up with the rapidly evolving processes, technologies, environments and current findings of the field. As director of technology-enhanced learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS), I am charged with seeking out the latest developments and sharing them with our online faculty members. In this case study, I describe the process of identifying current developments, filtering them to meet faculty interests and the use of web log (blog) technologies to disseminate the information to faculty members at UIS and elsewhere.
Abstract: This paper is a follow-up study to a preliminary investigation of teaching presence in the State University of New York Learning Network (SLN) [1]. In the present study we review ongoing issues of pedagogy and faculty development and their relationship to student satisfaction and reported learning in SLN. We provide an overview of the SLN program and summarize a conceptual framework for our current research on higher education online learning environments. This framework integrates research on how people learn [2] with principles of good practice in higher education [3] and recent research on learning in asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) in higher education [4]. We also present results of a follow-up study on one aspect of the model, “Teaching Presence”.
The SUNY Learning Network is a proud recipient of two Sloan-C Awards: the 2001 Award for Excellence in ALN Faculty Development and the 2002 Award for Excellence in ALN Programming. We believe that it is no coincidence that SLN was recognized in this order; that is to say, we feel our efforts to create a systematic faculty development program have allowed us to create an outstanding program of online courses and degrees. A clear vision regarding the prerequisites for a high quality online learning environment, especially prerequisites related to faculty development, is essential to building effective ALN programs. As this special edition of JALN is dedicated to such efforts, we would like to focus on our model for learning environments design and share results of the research on specific aspects of the model.
In past studies we have argued that student-faculty and student-student interaction are among the variables most strongly correlated with student satisfaction and reported learning [5, 6, 7]. In the present study, we focus on one aspect of our model for online learning environments and examine interaction more deeply. Building upon the work of Anderson and colleagues [4] we examine the kinds of activities that comprise and sustain productive interaction. These researchers have categorized interactions that occur in asynchronous learning environments that encourage knowledge creation and identify online behaviors and processes that approximate (and may improve upon) those that occur in face-to-face settings. We look at a key element of their work, “teaching presence,” and present results of a follow-up study examining students’ perceptions of this constellation of online faculty behaviors. We also identify the components of teaching presence that correlate most highly with student satisfaction and reported learning.
Abstract: The Illinois Online Network (ION) is a faculty development partnership between all forty-eight community colleges in the state of Illinois and the University of Illinois. The goals of the ION program are to help faculty to develop and deliver courses in a completely online format, and also to produce online courses that incorporate best practices for engaging students in discussion and critical thinking. ION accomplishes its goals with a variety of programs, such as the Making the Virtual Classroom a Reality series of online faculty development courses. Evaluation surveys indicate that ION activities have had an impact on the satisfaction and confidence of faculty teaching online courses. This paper examines the programs and resources that ION provides, the effectiveness of the program as a whole, and the lessons ION has learned about providing a large-scale faculty development program.
Abstract: To meet institutional requirements for resident education in a core curriculum, the UIC College of Medicine implemented an online educational program called the UIC Online Core Curriculum. The UIC residency is composed of 1,000 physicians in training in 60 programs at 18 training sites. Its size and distribution create substantial obstacles to classroom-based delivery. An online format offered a viable alternative to meet the college’s need to present uniform content, document participation, and confirm resident achievement while addressing the residents’ need for flexibility with the Internet’s anytime-anywhere availability.
Development of an online core curriculum included a focus group of program directors, residents, medical directors, and other faculty who were asked to suggest course topics that met not only the "letter" of the requirement, but also the spirit of the general competencies. These discussions resulted in a list of 13 topics, or modules. In July 1999, a pilot study involving first year UIC residents demonstrated the feasibility of the program. The following year, all UIC residents began participating. In the past two years residents from other institutions have been added to the program, resulting in a current participant base of approximately 3,800 residents nationwide.
An analysis of 2,544 anonymous end-of-module surveys demonstrates that most residents can effectively participate with minimal technical problems. Consistent with the "anytime-anywhere" approach to web-based instruction, residents complete the modules not only at home but also while at clinical and other university sites. Overall satisfaction as reported by residents is high, and the majority agrees that the material presented is useful.
Based on findings to date, the online core curriculum is an efficient and cost-effective method of providing a required program to a large, distributed population of learners while maintaining a high level of participant satisfaction.
The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) is published by the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C™). Responsibility for the contents rests with the authors and not with Sloan-C™. Copyright © 2005 by Sloan-C™. All rights reserved.
