Online Undergraduate Course Research Articles

The Ability of Non-Music Majors to Self-Evaluate at the End of a Music Course

The researchers of this study investigated the participants’ (N = 177) use of a self-evaluation tool employed at the end of an online undergraduate music course that fulfilled the Texas general education requirement for the creative arts. Participants’ use of the two aspects of the tool correlated at r = .5548 – interpreted as a high positive relationship. The Pearson coefficient for instructor final grade and the student desired grade was r = .4456 – a moderate positive correlation. A t-test of the instructor grade to the student desire grade was -2.814 with a p = .002. Free-response justifications for the desired grade generated a mean of 3.53 sentences each that were qualitatively coded into themes: Effort/Completed 22%, Generalized Statements 20%, and Positive Affirmations 11% as the larger categories. Participants consistently used the form to justify a desired grade, evaluate their work, and suggest a final grade. However, that grade was statistically significantly lower than the final grade issued by the professor.

A Design Theory for Vigilant Online Learning Systems

There is now a preponderance of evidence suggesting that the types of online course management software (OCMS) used in purely online undergraduate college courses, do not meet the needs of younger immature students. These students often lack the learning skills necessary to succeed in such courses, nor do the popular OCMS include the vigilance mechanisms to guide such students to successful course completion in the absence of face-to-face human instruction. This paper explores the literature relevant to design theory, learning theory, decision support, and vigilance, to extend information systems design theory to a design theory of vigilant online learning systems. It is hoped that this research note will help guide software developers and academics studying how to design future online learning systems for the immature student.

Using Debates to Teach Evidence-Based Practice in Large Online Courses.

To engage in evidence-based practice (EBP), baccalaureate nursing graduates' competencies must include locating, interpreting, appraising, and applying research findings. Faculty are challenged to find effective ways to incorporate this content in large online courses. Faculty in a thriving college of nursing used interactive debates to teach EBP skills in a large (200+ students) online undergraduate course. Students remain highly engaged while practicing critical thinking, team-work, leadership, delegation, communication skills, and peer evaluation through participation in a series of faculty-facilitated online debates. Meticulous course organization and use of structured debates allows one instructor to teach skills for EBP, while keeping students engaged with each other, the instructor, and the material. Use of debates and the amount of engagement among students and faculty achieved could not be accomplished in a large face-to-face course.

Extension Educators Widen Reach Through Community-Focused Undergraduate Online Teaching

This new online course, taught by extension nutrition educators, aims to increase undergraduate students’ knowledge of community interventions that address obesity and related chronic diseases. Juniors/Seniors enrolled at the State University. Historically, the educational domain of Extension Nutrition Educators has been community, not campus, settings, where they utilize practical experience in fostering behavior change to decrease the risk of chronic disease. A new opportunity provided a forum for experienced Extension Nutrition Educators to bring their technical knowledge and teaching/interpersonal skills in the area of obesity and chronic disease prevention to undergraduate students for the first time. Often, universities and their surrounding communities co-exist but remain divided. Teaching online undergraduate courses has allowed Extension faculty to connect students to the larger community, helping to narrow that divide. An online Junior/Senior colloquium course was created by Extension Educators with nutrition and public health expertise. The course focuses on understanding the causes, assessment, and treatment of obesity and related chronic diseases, as well as an opportunity to explore first hand community programs which target obesity prevention and management. The course is part of a new Extension-sponsored minor in Community Health Outreach which includes a practicum that pairs students with county-based Extension Nutrition Educators for real-world experience in nutrition education and health promotion. After 3 semesters, and a total of 75 enrolled students, university course evaluations have indicated favorable reviews. Extension Nutrition Educators can broaden their reach and engage and benefit new audiences through application of their knowledge and skills in undergraduate online teaching.

An investigation of assessment and feedback practices in fully asynchronous online undergraduate mathematics courses

Research suggests it is difficult to learn mathematics in the fully asynchronous online (FAO) instructional modality, yet little is known about associated teaching and assessment practices. In this study, we investigate FAO mathematics assessment and feedback practices in particular consideration of both claims and findings that these practices have a powerful influence on learning.A survey questionnaire was constructed and completed by 70 FAO undergraduate mathematics instructors, mostly from the USA, who were each asked to detail their assessment and feedback practices in a single FAO mathematics course. Alongside these questions, participants also answered the 16-item version of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory. In addition, a novel feedback framework was also created and used to examine how feedback practices may be related to participants' approaches to teaching.Results show that assessment and feedback practices are varied and complex: in particular, we found there was not a simple emphasis on summative assessment instruments, nor a concomitant expectation these would always be invigilated. Though richer assessment feedback appears to be emphasized, evidence suggests this feedback may not be primarily directed at advancing student learning. Moreover, we found evidence of a reliance on computer--human interactions (e.g. via computer-assisted assessment systems) and further evidence of a decline in human interactions, suggesting a dynamic that is both consistent with current online learning theory and claims FAO mathematics courses are becoming commodified. Several avenues for further research are suggested.

Using TPCK as a scaffold to self-assess the novice online teaching experience

How does one evaluate one’s own online teaching? Do novice online instructors depend on end-of-semester course evaluations or a Quality Matters rubric? Perhaps their professional development is driven by a personal belief that seeking multiple perspectives from different lenses is core to reflective practice. This work explores one way to interrogate one’s own online teaching practices through a systematic reflection on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). It involved identifying and reflecting upon instances in which TPCK was evident in the design and facilitation of the online learning environment in an undergraduate online course. Ways to improve online teaching based on increased meta-cognitive awareness of TPCK are considered. Implications of this self-study for distance learning professional development are discussed.

Learning Styles And Satisfaction In Distance Education

Although complex, controversial, and contradicting, learning styles is highly influential. Distance education (DE) has experienced tremendous growth in the last few decades. The popularity of learning styles and DE necessitates research. This correlational research study was conducted to determine if there is any evidence to incorporate learning styles in DE. The following is the research question for this study. Are students’ learning styles based on the visual, auditory, tactile model correlated to satisfaction of course format in an online undergraduate course? The participants of this study were students enrolled in three sections of the Contemporary Worldviews course at a private higher education institution (HEI). Learning styles were determined by a variant of the visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic (VARK) framework. Satisfaction of course format was determined from one composite question with responses based on a Likert scale. The response rate was 53.5%. Statistical analysis determined that learning styles was not correlated to satisfaction of course format in this current study. There are implications from this study that curriculum can be designed for a single course that leaves students highly satisfied. Educators should saturate DE courses with as much variance as feasible given technology and cost limitations to account for possible learning style differences.

Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer

Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross-course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.

Predictors of Student Success in an Online Learning Environment in the English-Speaking Caribbean: Evidence from the University of the West Indies Open Campus

This paper investigated success rates and possible predictors of success among students at The University of the West Indies Open Campus. Archival data were mined from admissions and academic records of students from the 2008 intake to explore retention and completion rates, and for students enrolled in two online undergraduate courses in Semester 1 of the 2012/2013 academic year. The two courses had consistently high failure rates. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that among the 2008 cohort, the retention rate was high (>75%) and the completion rate compared favourably with other similar institutions. Significant predictors of programme completion included sex and location of the students as well as cumulative GPA at the end of the first year of study. Predictors of success for individual courses included the location of the students and engagement with course resources.

Promoting Dietary Behavior Using the Mediterranean Diet in an Online College Environment

Background and Purpose: The prevalence of obesity has prompted calls for broad public health education solutions to reduce, if not reverse, overweight and obesity among college students in the United States. This study investigated change in student dietary behavior and food choices following an education intervention that introduced the Mediterranean diet (MD) as a weight management tool in a Houston, Texas community college. Methods: Online survey data were collected at pre-test and post-test assessments from a convenience sample of 65 college students enrolled in an online undergraduate nutrition course during the summer of 2013. The Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) survey evaluated dietary behavior change based on the MD Principals. Results: The intervention improved total participant population from a mean KIDMED score of poor (4.12) to a mean score of high (8.45), indicating improved dietary behavior change, particularly among men. Significant differences in KIDMED change scores by ethnicity and heart disease (HD) history were also observed. Conclusion: This study provides a unique pedagogical illustration of e-learning to promote MD patterns among college student populations.

Group regulation and social-emotional interactions observed in computer supported collaborative learning: Comparison between good vs. poor collaborators

This study explored what social interactions students exhibited during collaborative learning, and analyzed how the social interactions evolved in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. Six groups (n = 28) from an undergraduate online course were observed during a semester. Students' interactions were analyzed in two perspectives: group regulation and socioemotional. Cluster analysis was conducted to identify collaboration patterns of the groups. The analysis identified three collaborator clusters: one good and two poor. The good collaborators (named Early Active Collaborator) demonstrated: (1) intensive interactions among group members in the early collaboration phase, (2) positive socio-emotional interactions continuously, and (3) adaptive selections of group regulatory behaviors. The others showed dormant interactions throughout the projects and least socio-emotional interactions (named Passive Task-oriented Collaborator) and did not coordinate group process in a timely manner (named Late Collaborator). Comparisons of the interaction pattern and instructor intervention were discussed.

Design and implementation of an online systemic human anatomy course with laboratory.

Systemic Human Anatomy is a full credit, upper year undergraduate course with a (prosection) laboratory component at Western University Canada. To meet enrollment demands beyond the physical space of the laboratory facility, a fully online section was developed to run concurrently with the traditional face to face (F2F) course. Lectures given to F2F students are simultaneously broadcasted to online students using collaborative software (Blackboard Collaborate). The same collaborative software is used by a teaching assistant to deliver laboratory demonstrations in which three-dimensional (3D) virtual anatomical models are manipulated. Ten commercial software programs were reviewed to determine their suitability for demonstrating the virtual models, resulting in the selection of Netter's 3D Interactive Anatomy. Supplementary online materials for the central nervous system were developed by creating 360° images of plastinated prosected brain specimens and a website through which they could be accessed. This is the first description of a fully online undergraduate anatomy course with a live, interactive laboratory component. Preliminary data comparing the online and F2F student grades suggest that previous student academic performance, and not course delivery format, predicts performance in anatomy. Future qualitative studies will reveal student perceptions about their learning experiences in both of the course delivery formats.

Exploring discipline differentiation in online discussion participation

<p>Online discussion forums are often the only interaction or communication a student in an online learning environment will have with the course instructor and fellow students. Discussion forums are intended to elicit a range of thinking skills from the students, from purely social interaction to metacognition in order to achieve deep learning. Given the increasing use of online learning environments, it is timely to question whether students from different disciplines use online discussion forums in different ways, particularly in terms of their level of thinking. If there is differentiation, educators need to provide discipline specific opportunities for undergraduate students to interact in dynamic online discussions as part of a rich learning experience. This ethnographic study explored the types of online postings provided by students as part of their learning journey in two undergraduate online courses, one in an Engineering program and another in a Teacher Education program at a regional university. The goal of the research was to identify evidence of higher order thinking within students’ online posts. Data were analysed according to Henri’s Content Analysis Model for Asynchronous Conferencing.</p>

Developing early warning systems to predict students’ online learning performance

An early warning system can help to identify at-risk students, or predict student learning performance by analyzing learning portfolios recorded in a learning management system (LMS). Although previous studies have shown the applicability of determining learner behaviors from an LMS, most investigated datasets are not assembled from online learning courses or from whole learning activities undertaken on courses that can be analyzed to evaluate students’ academic achievement. Previous studies generally focus on the construction of predictors for learner performance evaluation after a course has ended, and neglect the practical value of an “early warning” system to predict at-risk students while a course is in progress. We collected the complete learning activities of an online undergraduate course and applied data-mining techniques to develop an early warning system. Our results showed that, time-dependent variables extracted from LMS are critical factors for online learning. After students have used an LMS for a period of time, our early warning system effectively characterizes their current learning performance. Data-mining techniques are useful in the construction of early warning systems; based on our experimental results, classification and regression tree (CART), supplemented by AdaBoost is the best classifier for the evaluation of learning performance investigated by this study.

Mixed methods evaluation of an online undergraduate systemic human anatomy course with laboratory (211.1)

An online section of a Systemic Human Anatomy course was offered for the first time in 2012/13. Lectures for face‐to‐face (F2F) students (n=365) were broadcast in live and archived format to online students (n=40) using virtual classroom software (Blackboard Collaborate). Labs were delivered online by a teaching assistant who manipulated 3D computer models in the virtual classroom. A mixed methods approach is being used to determine the effectiveness of the online format. Student performance measures (4 tests, 24 lab quizzes) were statistically identical between sections. Incoming grade averages were strongly correlated to overall anatomy grade in both F2F (r = 0.70, p < 0.01) and online (r = 0.63, p < 0.01) sections, suggesting that prior academic performance, and not course format, predicts performance in anatomy. Interviews (22 online; 38 F2F students) and surveys (270 F2F students) regarding perceptions of the learning experience were conducted following a cross‐over period that exposed students to both formats. Survey results indicate that while students preferred online lectures (52%), F2F labs were preferred (85%). Online lectures gave students the benefit of reviewing archived sessions, while F2F labs allowed for better student‐teacher communication. A content analysis of interview transcripts is being undertaken to generate grounded theory about the strengths and weaknesses of the online course.Grant Funding Source: Departmental funding

Internet-based health education in China: a content analysis of websites.

BackgroundThe Internet is increasingly being applied in health education worldwide; however there is little knowledge of its use in Chinese higher education institutions. The present study provides the first review and highlights the deficiencies and required future advances in Chinese Internet-based health education.MethodsTwo authors independently conducted a duplicate Internet search in order to identify information regarding Internet-based health education in China.ResultsThe findings showed that Internet-based education began in China in September 1998. Currently, only 16 of 150 (10.7%) health education institutions in China offer fee-based online undergraduate degree courses, awarding associates and/or bachelors degrees. Fifteen of the 16 institutions were located in the middle or on the eastern coast of China, where were more developed than other regions. Nursing was the most popular discipline in Internet-based health education, while some other disciplines, such as preventive medicine, were only offered at one university. Besides degree education, Chinese institutions also offered non-degree online training and free resources. The content was mainly presented in the form of PowerPoint slides or videos for self-learning. Very little online interactive mentoring was offered with any of the courses.ConclusionsThere is considerable potential for the further development of Internet-based health education in China. These developments should include a focus on strengthening cooperation among higher education institutions in order to develop balanced online health curricula, and on enhancing distance education in low- and middle-income regions to meet extensive learning demands.

Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer

Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross-course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.

Development of an online undergraduate course in acoustics at the Berklee College of Music

Between 125 and 150 students take an introductory course in acoustics each semester at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. As the popularity of acoustics has grown (owing in part to a new minor in acoustics and electronics) limited classroom facilities have made it difficult to meet the demand for sections of the introductory class. Development is nearly complete on a fully online version of the course that will be offered beginning in 2014. This paper will examine the curriculum, development of media assets, and various hurdles in the development process.

Student views on short-text assignment formats in fully online courses

Tertiary educators (and their institutions) are turning to technology to help meet increased demands in a changing environment. Assessment is one area where such moves are being made. This paper reminds us that assessment is more than a summative check on student knowledge and skills, it is an experience and part of the communication, and therefore relationship, between teachers and students. Student experience of assessment impacts on student perceptions of themselves, teacher and course quality. Having previously proposed the benefits of short-text formats for assignment tasks for teachers, this paper reports on a case study of student perceptions of these forms of assessment. Student responses were gathered using an online survey after a 12-week fully online undergraduate course. Findings suggest short-text assignments are rated highly by students not because of a shorter word count but because students appreciated the variety and creativity aspects to these assignments.

The Role of Student Characteristics in Predicting Retention in Online Courses

Given the continued issue of student retention for online classes, past research has suggested several “retention strategies” focused on engaging students as a way to reduce their withdrawal rate from these classes. However, a recent study testing the effects of these strategies on retention in online undergraduate business courses (Leeds et al., Int J Manage Educ 7(1/2), 2013) did not show empirical support for the effectiveness of such strategies. Taking an alternative approach that focuses on individual characteristics of students, this study takes a broader view and examines previous research literature on traditional face-to-face classes to determine how individual characteristics of students may be associated with the likelihood of withdrawal from online classes. Using a sample of undergraduate students (n = 2,314) from a large state university, results from this study identified prior performance in college classes (cumulative GPA) and class standing (senior vs. non-senior) as significant student characteristics related to student retention in online classes for all students. Other factors significantly related to retention rates for students with certain characteristics or within certain majors include previous withdrawal from online courses, gender, and receipt of academic loans.