OJDLA

Regular and Substantive Interaction in Online Courses: Why it Matters for Administrators

Austen Clay — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 18:00:00 -0400

Regular and substantive interaction differentiates distance education from correspondence education and can have serious economic ramifications for institutions that fail to include it in their online courses. While ambiguities in its definition and a federal health emergency provided temporary flexibilities and exemptions from regulations, the end of the pandemic, along with revised definitions and regulations for distance education, makes regular and substantive interaction in online courses critical to both faculty and administrators.

Instructional Design Staffing for Online Programs

Austen Clay — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:30:00 -0400

The purpose of this study was to benchmark the workload of online instructional designers as third-space professionals at 4-year, public institutions. Interview data regarding design team composition, courseload, responsibilities, and decision-making processes was gathered from managers of online learning units offering a “white-glove” service model for course development. Analysis revealed that these units generally consisted of 5 full-time design professionals whose primary responsibility was course development. Centralized units tended to employ more designers than decentralized units dispersed across campus. Results indicated that courseload allocations ranged from 6-9 courses per term and were strategically driven by factors such as faculty and instructional designer rapport and programmatic consistency. Implications of this study include staffing and project management guidelines for managers of online units. In addition, instructional designers might develop specialized knowledge and skills, in accessibility or multimedia production.

Key words: Staffing, instructional design, online administration, online programs, third-space professionals

This Is(n't) What I Signed Up For

Austen Clay — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:00:00 -0400

This paper shares the results of a longitudinal, descriptive study of 675 online students’ expectations and experiences across five years (2016-2021) at an institution in the southern U.S. that is highly ranked in online support services and programmatic offerings. Data included demographic information, open-ended responses, cumulative GPA, and final academic status. Results both reinforced and deviated from extant literature, with an important distinction being the differentiation between students in blended and online programs. Findings revealed a mismatch between expectations and actual experiences for both online and blended students. Implications for retention are discussed.

Does Removing Quizzes Impact Student Performance in an Online Course?

Austen Clay — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 16:30:00 -0400

Data for 295 college online introductory statistics students were examined to determine if removing four module (weekly) quizzes impacted student performance on a cumulative exam. In this research, student performance was not significantly impacted by the removal of the quizzes. The difference in the exam mean score earned by the group of students who did not take quizzes was less than 0.8 of a point lower than the exam average for students who took the quizzes prior to the exam. Withdraw rates significantly declined from 5 percent to 1 percent. Results of this study support the idea that course designers can explore reducing the amount of work in online courses to decrease extraneous cognitive load on students as long as learning outcomes are met. STEM courses are often seen as barriers for students in completing coursework toward degree accomplishments. Effectively designed coursework that does not unnecessarily duplicate evidence of achieving course objectives may also aid in student persistence and retention. Future researchers can examine methods used in this study to evaluate courses in more traditional 16-week term lengths in different university settings.

Reduce External Tutoring by Using Videos in Online College Courses

Julie Stone Ingle — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 18:00:00 -0400

Three years of data for 5,617 college online introductory statistics students were examined to determine if embedded course videos reduced incidences of external course tutoring. The frequency of external tutoring in course sections that used embedded videos was significantly reduced by 55% when compared to courses that did not use embedded course videos. These findings were consistent with an earlier study by Griffith & Faulconer (2022) where a statistically significant 40% reduction was found with a smaller sample size (26 months of data). Additionally, study results revealed a significant 51% reduction of tutoring hours for course sections that used embedded course videos. It was theorized that eliminating the need for students to seek external tutoring reduced cognitive load and friction for students which is particularly important in STEM courses taught in an online format. Recommendations include replicating this study methodology in traditional university settings with standard 16 week terms. Study results support the idea that faculty can use embedded course videos to reduce cognitive load and friction and reduce reliance on external tutoring by external tutoring organizations.

Incorporating Modality Analysis to Move the Needle in Student Success

Julie Stone Ingle — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 17:30:00 -0400

Over the last two decades higher education has experienced continuous growth in online education, with students and faculty enjoying the flexibility. With that flexibility came new pedagogies, new course preps, and a new era of teaching, learning, and academic planning. Just as those in the classroom had to modify behaviors and strategies, administrators had the opportunity to modify student support strategies seeking to increase student success and retention. We embraced that opportunity at Middle Georgia State University and engaged students across modalities in meaningful ways with an integrated academic master plan. In a short period of time we realized significant gains and were able to design a course schedule that maximized campus presence and student success while meeting the demand for flexible, online programming.

Explore UNG’s Self-paced Professional Development Workshops. An Update on Our Micro-credential Series for Online Teaching Certification.

Julie Stone Ingle — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 17:00:00 -0400

The University of North Georgia’s division of Distance Education & Technology Integration, DETI, developed a series of self-paced workshops to assist faculty in professional development as a response to faculty inquiries and the pandemic. The pandemic changed the way we look at our professional development opportunities. DETI concluded that we needed to re-visit our method of professional development opportunities. This presentation outlines the way we use our self-paced workshops to allow faculty to gain new knowledge and complete the workshops when it best fits into their schedules. It outlines UNG-DETI’s progress in designing and developing self-paced, course workshops and digital badge designs. Successfully completing a workshop earns a badge that culminates in our UNG Online Teaching Certification, UNGOTC. As a continuation in improving the quality of our micro-credentials and badging system and contribute to existing literature, we are conducting a pilot (mixed methods) study to understand the UNG faculty participants’ perceptions about our micro-credential series for continued improvement and quality.

How Accreditation Can Drive Enrollment and Program Excellence

Julie Stone Ingle — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:30:00 -0400

Accreditation is one mechanism to review the quality of higher education institutions and programs. Having accredited programs can differentiate programs and provide opportunities to increase student enrollment and signify program excellence. Additionally, accreditation can be a forcing function for continuous improvement and program assessment. This paper provides a brief review of the accreditation process for two programs at a college within a Tier-1 Research Institution. Additionally, it provides a brief overview of the results experienced after accreditation and the associated benefits of having accredited programs.

Competency Model Development for Online Instructors

Julie Stone Ingle — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 12:05:00 -0500

This paper describes the design and development of a competency model for online instructors based on literature reviews, student surveys, and other artifacts. The first development phase included a literature review centered around researched-based competencies for online instructors and existing theories used to evaluate online instructional needs. The theoretical framework used to support the research was the transactional distance theory and the relative proximity theory. The investigators used a qualitative survey-design approach to collect data. An extensive coding of data from student surveys revealed specific competency clusters. This article highlights the essential components necessary to align the model with the stakeholders' needs to implement effective online teaching practices. The recommended implementation model outlines the business needs, goals, and steps to evaluate and validate the return on investments and ensure the competency model's implementation meets the organizations' proposed needs and goals.

Time Compression and the Online Student Simulation Experience

Julie Stone Ingle — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 12:03:00 -0500

Simulations offer a proven way to enable experiential learning in business courses. Longer games enable both application of concepts and models learned during coursework and a framework within which students can experience teamwork and use data analysis to improve performance. Recent growth of compressed sessions in academe, particularly in business education, could limit use of longer simulations. We compared MBA student participation in a strategic marketing simulation and post-simulation reflection reports in two online classes--a 15-week semester and a seven-week term. There was no difference in student participation, nor in report content relating their overall experience and quality of their team communication. We offer implications for instructors and administrators contemplating schedule compression decisions.