FORMAL COURSE DESIGN AND THE STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Authors

  • Gary Brown
  • Carrie B. Myers
  • Sharon Roy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v7i3.1846

Keywords:

Course Design, Online Learning Effectiveness, Student-Engagement, Assessment, Faculty Development

Abstract

What impact does collaboration between faculty and professional course designers have on the student learning experience? As the use of technologies increases, educational institutions have to find ways of identifying and addressing expectations about how technologies can best be incorporated into the teaching and learning experiences. This paper reports on efforts at Washington State University to develop and assess the course design and faculty development process and the impact the process has on student learning experiences. The results of a comprehensive set of faculty and student surveys from five groups suggest that the systematic course design process improves students’ opportunities for faculty-student interaction, student-student interaction, and other elements associated with best practice. The implications of this study for faculty development and policy implementation are discussed.

References

Newman, F., & Scurry, J. Online technology pushes pedagogy to the forefront. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47, B7-B8 (2001).

Carlson, S. Campus survey finds that adding technology to teaching is a top issue. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47, A46 (2000).

Challis, A. T. Faculty attitudes toward distance education in Utah public colleges and universities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1998).

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. The Wingspread Journal. Johnson Foundation. And AAHE Bulletin (1987, June).

Chickering, Arthur & Stephen C. Ehrmann. "Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever," AAHE Bulletin, October, pp. 3-6 (1996). http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html

Ehrmann, S. Technology and the Improvement of Learning Outcomes: Using the Seven Principles of Good Practice and Flashlight. (2002)

Phipps, R., & Merisotis, J. What's the difference? A review of contemporary research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education. A Report from The Institute for Higher Education Policy, April 1999. Retrieved April 15, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ihep.com/Pubs/PDF/Difference.pdf

Wolcott, L. L. Assessing faculty beliefs about rewards and incentives in distance education: Pilot study results, Paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada (1999, April).

Pierpoint, P. E., & Harnett, R. A. Faculty attitudes toward teaching in off-campus graduate program. International Journal of Innovative Higher Education, 5, 25-30 (1988).

Sorcinelli, M. D. Research findings on the seven principles. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 47, 13-25 (1991).

Wolcott, L. L. Tenure, promotion, distance education: Examining the culture of faculty rewards. American Journal of Distance Education, 11, 3-18 (1997).

Crow, D., Parsowith, S., & Bowden Wise, G. The evolution of computer supported cooperative work—past, present and future developments. SigChi, 29 (2) (1997, April). http://www.acm.org/sigchi/bulletin/1997.2/students.html#HDR0.

Taylor, J. C., & White, V. J. Faculty attitudes towards teaching in the distance education mode: An exploratory investigation. Research in Distance Education, 3, 7-11 (1991).

Lee, J. Instructional support for distance education and faculty motivation, commitment, satisfaction. British Journal of Educational Technology, 32, 2, 153-160 (2001).

Gamson, Z. A brief history of the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 47, 5-12 (1991).

Cook, E. P., Kinnetz, P., & Owens-Misner, N. Faculty perceptions of job rewards and instructional development activities. Innovative Higher Education, 14, 123-130 (1990).

Downloads

Published

2019-03-19

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 3 (2003)

Section

Empirical Studies

License

As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.

Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions