Laying the Ground for Online English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/ EFL) Composition Courses and University Internationalization: The Case of a U.S.- China Partnership

As universities internationalize and U.S. and Chinese universities become partners, there is growing demand for online English language courses for students seeking to improve their English prior to arriving to the U.S. Situated in the context of a partnership between a U.S. Midwest university and its Chinese partner, this chapter provides a methodological model for assessing (1) English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) composition and online learning needs and resources prior to developing courses for a new population; (2) the potential for collaboration between partnering institutions; and (3) the effectiveness of an online English composition course. The chapter illustrates, in a step-by-step fashion, the decision-making process which shaped the needs assessment and the actions based on it. By doing so, it provides a realistic portrayal of the complexity of the Needs Assessment (NA) and curriculum development process

What’s in it for me? The stick and the carrot as tools for developing academic communities

Motivating students to contribute to learning communities is not a new problem, nor is it restricted to online learning. However it becomes especially obvious in large online courses where student collaboration is one of the intended learning outcomes. This paper describes two models for driving student engagement in producing user-generated and user-reviewed content. It discusses the motivation for participation and gives results from two subject areas. The behaviour of students of second and third level language courses is compared to that of first level technology students when their participation is simply encouraged and when it is required for assessment. A model for driving user-engagement is proposed and related to previous experience in online learning

Learner-centered e-learning: an exploration of learner-centered practices in online and traditional instruction in higher education

This study examined the perceptions of students and instructors in regard to learner-centered pedagogy and web-based learning at a regional public university in a southern state. The study focused on recommendations for online learning, studies of learner-centered pedagogy, and online learning practices such as collaboration, problem-based learning, reflection, asynchronous communication, and authentic learning and assessment. The research examined the students’ perceptions of learner-centered practices in online and traditional courses of the same instructors throughout one semester. The students’ perceptions were compared with the instructors’ perceptions of learner-centered practices in the courses. The qualitative investigation examined each instructor’s pedagogical beliefs about learner-centered instruction in traditional and online courses and his or her attitudes toward the training in which he or she participated. The degree to which the students perceived the courses as learner-centered revealed a positive relationship between the levels of learner-centered practices and the students’ motivation and satisfaction with the courses. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the students’ perceptions of learner-centered practices between the online and the traditional courses. The students felt that instructors were as learner-centered in the online courses as they were in the traditional courses. The qualitative results, combined with the quantitative results revealed that instructors who used more of the strategies and practices recommended in the training were more highly learner-centered. The study resulted in a new training model for learner-centered professional development in online instruction in this university and in others and includes reflective practices for individual instructors

Facilitating online project collaboration - new directions for learning design

Although research suggests that project collaboration supports deep learning, facilitators frequently face participation and engagement challenges – particularly in 100% online courses and/or courses with students from diverse geographical/cultural backgrounds.  We present our experiences with learning designs featuring online project collaboration by examining student evaluation of the group work component in the course ‘Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation’ and reviewing specific process reports from the course ‘Environmental Management in the Tropics’.  For the CCIAM we discern positive trends over the 2009-2012 period with ‘collaborative dynamics’, ‘organisation/coordination’, ‘burden sharing’ and practical knowledge’ showing significant improvements following revision.  We provide experience from revising the CCIAM course (responding to evaluations) - and reflect on the results that such revisions engender.  Determining specific factors that contribute to improvements in student evaluations are not always clear but we offer suggestions for facilitating online project collaboration to circumnavigate the four above-mentioned major issues identified on the CCIAM course: these suggestions are peer assessment, mandatory participation, and grading (as a contribution to the overall final grade).  For EMiT ‘communication’ showed the strongest issue-signal – with organization/coordination ‘cultural issues’ and ‘learning outcomes’ also indicating issue-relevance..  We propose that learning designs for online project collaboration can be improved via teacher-facilitated interventions without undermining the socialisation pathways that students can find motivating and that promote online team building

A Descriptive Analysis of Quality Online Practices as Perceived by West Virginia Higher Education Faculty

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent West Virginia higher education faculty agree their online courses reflect high quality practices, as identified by the literature, for teaching in an online educational environment. The identified high quality practices are: (a) support, (b) collaboration and teamwork, (c) flexibility, (d) feedback, (e) assessment, and (f) adult learning techniques. This was a non-parametric study that incorporated measures of central tendency and the Kruskal Wallace test for significance to analyze the data. The instrument used in this research was a cross-sectional, self-reporting survey, titled the Survey of Online Educational Practices. The participants of this study were West Virginia higher education faculty who taught in online environments during the spring, summer and fall semesters of 2006. Results of the survey yielded that overall West Virginia Higher Education faculty agreed with the statements on the Survey of Online Educational Practices that their courses reflected quality online practices as supported by the comprehensive literature review. However, further analysis of the survey results revealed faculty do not agree with all of the quality online practices targeted within the survey. For example, there is evidence from the survey results that indicate the areas of institutional support, collaboration and teamwork, and areas of assessment are not well utilized by faculty. These areas of disagreement with quality online practices provide valuable information that there is an ongoing need for sustainable professional development and mentoring opportunities for online faculty. There is also a need for institutions to provide policies and procedures that are reviewed and revised by faculty and other higher education stakeholders on a regular basis due to the ever-changing nature of technology and online education

Digitally supported assessment

This chapter focuses on digital assessment and feedback practices in distance education. Providing evidence of learning through assessment is at the heart of students’ experience of higher education (HE), whatever their mode of study. Open and distance education-focused institutions have justifiably been proud of their technical innovation, tending to move rapidly to harness available technologies (from post to broadcast media and, most recently, online media) in their mission to enable education for remote, distributed groups of learners. In recent years, distance education courses have, in the main, moved from paper and digital media delivered physically to wholly online delivery, except where the circumstances of target learners preclude reliance on a reliable and fast internet connection. In terms of content, discussion and collaboration, where distance education has forged ahead, campus-based, blended programmes have generally followed. However, in terms of assessment and feedback, distance education has remained somewhat conservative. While most assessment in distance education has taken place online along with content and communication, there has been a tendency to replicate fairly traditional assessment formats using digital tools

Design Matters: Development and Validation of the Online Course Design Elements (OCDE) Instrument

Course design is critical to online student engagement and retention. This study focused on the development and validation of an online course design elements (OCDE) instrument with 38 Likert-type scale items in five subscales: (a) overview, (b) content presentation, (c) interaction and communication, (d) assessment and evaluation, and (e) learner support. The validation process included implementation with 222 online instructors and instructional designers in higher education. Three models were evaluated which included a one-factor model, five-factor model, and higher-order model. The five-factor and higher-order models aligned with the development of the OCDE. The frequency of use of OCDE items was rated above the mean 4.0 except for two items on collaboration and self-assessment. The overall OCDE score was related to self-reported levels of expertise but not with years of experience. The findings have implications for the use of this instrument with online instructors and instructional designers in the design of online courses

Evaluation of a design thinking MOOC: A preliminary investigation

Design thinking courses are commonly conducted in a workshop manner. There are courses delivering design thinking using the massive open online course format. However, the findings on the MOOC platform reveals that the platform lacks interactivity and collaboration between learners. This research proposes additional steps in the evaluation of MOOC content through the assessment submissions and feedback by participants. The additional triangulation of ”assessment and feedback” and evaluation complement the common method of independent review of the content. The two additional methods provide more information on the area that needs to be improved. Other factors like motivation for completion and the effectiveness of the content delivered online will also be discussed. The second focus is to identify the impact of online workshops to support the collaboration and interaction aspects. The research studies the utilization of such features in the MOOC platform. This is followed by future work following this research

Physician Nutrition Education Program (PNEP): Survey and Continuing Medical Education (CME) Development to Increase Nutrition Knowledge

Physicians hold the most influence among healthcare providers, when it comes to providing guidance regarding the general health and well-being of patients. The contact between physicians and their patients during scheduled appointments serve as prime opportunities for providing nutrition and lifestyle counseling. For decades, nutritionists and health care experts have expressed the need to increase the number and availability of nutrition education programs for physicians. However, nationwide physicians lack the education in nutrition and lifestyle counseling, thus report limited counseling in practice settings. This dissertation seeks to address this challenge, and is in two parts: 1) develop a survey needs assessment (the PNEP survey) to determine interest in nutrition education opportunities and 2) perform an evaluation of online continuing medical education (CME) courses focused on nutrition topics. The initial survey was administered online between May 2015 and August 2015 to Texas physicians to determine interest in nutrition education. The baseline needs assessment confirmed the demand for nutrition education courses, specifically an interest in online CME. This research is important because it confirms the supposition of limited opportunities for nutrition in medicine. Our findings indicate physicians recognize that nutrition focused CME courses will add value to their practices and are interested in enrolling in them. For phase two of the study, online CME courses were developed based on the topics of interest identified from the PNEP survey. A total of three courses were developed by collaboration between a practicing physician and a practicing dietitian. These courses were then subsequently accredited and made available to physicians through state-level medical education platforms. Results from March 2017 showed one-hundred and twenty physicians participated in these courses, with ongoing participation beyond data collection for this dissertation. This phase was important because it fulfilled the current gap in the literature regarding nutrition focused continuing education course development for physicians in Texas. Unique to these courses was the development of the course structure. Structure utilizes the ARCS Model of Motivation and the IOM Core Competencies to develop nutrition knowledge and practical application tools to apply knowledge into patient care. This unique course design brings forth a concept that can be adapted for future nutrition CME course development. Preliminary research showed a wide gap in educational offerings focused on nutrition concepts, this work contributed to filling this gap by demonstrating need in the survey and producing course offerings available to physicians. Future research is recommended to continue to develop online nutrition CME courses to determine if online delivery has clinical impact on patient health outcomes

A Reflection on Teachers\u27 Experience as E-learners

This chapter explores the insights gained by a group of teachers from their lived experience as eLearners participating in a blended module on Designing eLearning. An understanding of the student perspective on online learning was obtained but we were also able to reflect on our participation in the module on the basis of our other roles; as teachers and potential eTutors and as course designers. As a result, important considerations were identified for the design and facilitation of online courses. These include; the support provided to online learners, particularly over the first few weeks, appropriate assessment methods, facilitation of online collaboration, access to the Internet, time management and contextualising and scaffolding learning activities. Some issues relating to implementation of effective eLearning in Higher Education Institutions were also considered. Our lived experience as eLearners was invaluable to our development as eTutors and module designers and this approach is strongly recommended to achieve effective learning on how to be an effective online tutor and facilitator and how to design and develop online programmes and activities that make full use of the strengths of online learning