Pedagogical Standards and Sustainable Distance Education Programming

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Pedagogical Standards and Sustainable Distance
Education Programming

• Karen Gersten
• Associate Provost for Academic Programs and
  Faculty Development
• Laura J. Evans
• Dean, Evelyn T. Stone University College

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Session Overview

• Strategic planning process Focus on academics
• Effective instructional design elements
• Assessment
• Course level
• Program level

Core Value Without a strong academic core, an
online program is not sustainable.
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Strategic Planning Components

• Alignment with institutional vision and mission
• Clear program expectations
• Market potential
• Organizational change required to launch and
  sustain distance learning
• Implementation plan
• Quality assurance measures
• Financial planning

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Program Success and AssessmentCritical
Connections

• Identify program goals in strategic planning
  stage
• Academic
• Enrollment
• Financial
• Study pedagogy of online learning
• Know best practices
• Develop policies for development and teaching
• Establish assessment guidelines and protocols
• Course
• Academic program
• Distance learning program

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External Benchmarks Guideposts for Distance
Learning Programs

• Blackboard and the National Education Association
  Benchmarks
• 24 Measures of Quality in Internet-Based Distance
  Learning (2000)
• Sloan Pillars of Excellence
• Student Satisfaction
• Access
• Learning effectiveness
• Faculty satisfaction
• Institutional cost effectiveness
• Best Practices for Electronically Delivered
  Programs Eight Regional Accrediting Bodies
• Institutional Context and Commitment
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Faculty Support
• Student Support
• Evaluation and Assessment

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Application of Standards Guiding Principles for
RUOnline
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Pedagogical Principles

• Goal is student learning program focus is
  teaching not technology.
• Each course needs learning outcomes based on the
  course, its position in the academic program, and
  institutional mission.
• Active learning is better than passive learning.
• Prompt feedback is essential.
• Course design and facilitation have to honor
  diverse ways of knowing.
• Expectations have to be clear including
  expectations for participationquality and
  quantity.
• The classroom is the learning space materials
  should be incorporated into the classroom.
• Learning resources have to be accessible from the
  learning space.

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From Theory to Practice The Portal Environment

• Classroom and Community

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Course Development Essential Elements

• Planning
• What am I trying to do?
• How am I trying to do it?
• How do I know if I did it?
• Connectivity
• With the content
• With each other
• With the faculty

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Design Principles

• Chunked information
• Organization to aid learning
• Visual interest
• Formative assessment
• Tools of engagement in Blackboard

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Course Design Sets Class Tone
Easy access to organization and learning tools
Visual interest and humor
Content organized to Facilitate learning
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Learning Outcomes in Assignments
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Assessment Tool Linked to Assignment
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Class Assessment How Do I Know I Did What I
Said I Would Do?

• Pop-up internal comments
• Narrative comments with links to writing support
• Rubric with highlighted cells

Individual assignment
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Assignment Level Rubrics as Teaching Tools
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Assessment at the Course Level

• Online learning is an academic delivery system,
  not an academic program. The goal is to achieve
  defined learning outcomes and to ensure levels of
  learning comparable to face-to-face classrooms.
• Course assessment
• Clearly defined learning outcomes for each course
• Course assessment measures linked to outcomes
• Assessment tools/teaching tools (available at
  start of course and linked to defined learning
  outcomes)
• Comparative assessment

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Comparative Course Assessment Online and
Campus-Based

• Same instructor, same course, same semester

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Same Course, Multiple Sections
From Iverson, Colky, Cyboran, (forthcoming),
E-learning takes the lead An empirical
investigation of learner differences in online
and classroom delivery.
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Program Assessment

• Enrollment trends
• Course completions
• Comparable learning outcomes and achievement
• Student evaluations
• Faculty evaluations
• Involvement of academic leaders in course
  development and oversight
• Institution-wide standards
• Financial contribution

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Enrollment Trends Necessary but not Sufficient
Measures of Success
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Student Evaluation Trend Analysis
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Course Completion Rates and Grade Comparisons
Some studies roughly estimate that students
enrolled in distance education are twice as
likely to drop out than on-campus students (JALN,
Dec. 2004). A Chronicle of Higher Education
article in 2000 reported that no national
statistics exist yet about how many students
complete distance programs or courses, but
anecdotal evidence and studies by individual
institutions suggest that course-completion and
program-retention rates are generally lower in
distance-education courses than in their
face-to-face counterparts (Brady, 2001, p. 352).

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Financial Success

• FY2004 RUOnline generated 10 times its budget in
  tuition revenue
• Contribution margin increased from 23 in FY2003
  to 51 in FY2004
• FY04 Credit tuition generated 3,504,408
• Fiscal Year 2006 to date
• Credit tuition (fall spring only) 3,772,582
• FY 06 annual expense budget -
  450,554
• 3,322,028

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Achievement of Institutional Goals/ Alignment
with Institutional Mission

• Goals
• Extend the University's reach
• Expand the Universitys name recognition
• Develop new student markets
• Augment campus-based classes
• Contribute to the Universitys financial strength
• Mission
• Social justice Provide educational opportunities
  to all academically qualified persons
• Achieve academic excellence

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Measures of Program Success
1. Core values 2. Academic
standards 3. Outcomes-based assessment
4. Accountability
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Lets Talk
Karen Gersten Laura Evans kgersten_at_roosevelt.ed
u levans_at_roosevelt.edu