Project Update 2

Status Report as of August 2016

In response to the recommendations from the Spring 2015 retreat, we focused on developing short-term solutions which would advance any further development of online programs at SOU, answering the question, What can we work on NOW (given the resources we have), to put us in the best position in the FUTURE for providing online offerings in a strategic way?

    1. Design an online lab science course (important to almost any online program, as at least two lab science courses are needed to meet University Studies requirements), the first course has been developed and will be offered for the first time this summer as SC110 and SC110L — Concepts in Science (Energy).
    2. Develop resources to help manage student and faculty expectations regarding online courses (for example, see an animation we developed on "Are Online Classes for You?").
    3. In consultation with faculty, develop quality principles and best teaching practices for online courses (now under development for completion this summer).

Follow-Up to Recommendations from April & June 2015 Retreats

G-Strand Online Lab Science Course

Two lab science courses (physical, biological or computer) are required to meet the University Studies G-strand requirement. Because only two online courses currently meet this requirement, many students in online degree completion programs have difficulty finding a lab science course and this may delay degree completion. Participants at the April 2015 retreat recommended piloting an online G-Strand course in order to explore alternative modes of delivery (online, weekend, accelerated) and to assess their impact on learning outcomes and identify resource issues.

In response, a design team (Ellen Siem, Kristin Nagy Catz and Vicki Suter) developed a 4-credit, online general lab science course as a pilot to evaluate options for providing lab science courses online. This project is designed as a rigorous research project, including an overall in-depth assessment and evaluation process to analyze student engagement, persistence and success in completing learning outcomes; to collect feedback on course design; and to gather information on the faculty experience before embarking on more extensive offerings of online lab science courses. Course size (and possible use of resources such as facilitators) and other approaches to scaling up will be part of the delivery practices tested and evaluated. The team has evaluated textbook options, identified lab kit options, developed a course outline, and tested the use of multimedia in delivery of an online science course (Physics 101). The new course is being designed so that any faculty member in a related discipline would be able to teach it. The first course offering: Summer 2016.

(For more information, see G-Strand Project Description.)

Psychology Online Major Degree Completion

The Psychology program is evaluating the possibility of redesigning three courses to support an online degree completion program.

Expectation Management and Faculty Development

Participants at the April Retreat identified a disconnect between what faculty think of as good teaching support for online courses and what students expect when they take an online course, and recommended that reasonable expectations (for the institution, faculty, and students) be defined and broadly communicated to promote the reputation for quality for online courses at SOU.

To help manage student expectations, the Center for Instructional Support has developed two animated presentations to help students understand the differences between face-to-face and online courses, and how to be successful as an online student:

As part of the June Retreat, the Center, working with John Taylor from the Psychology program, developed a board game called Win, Lose or (With)draw to help faculty and staff experience the challenges that our online students face. We will be presenting it to the Registrar’s staff in a meeting on September 15 as well as at a plenary session at the Instructional Institute on September 22.

Some programs, such as Business, have begun developing a formal description of expectations of their faculty regarding online courses (feedback, office hours, etc.). The Center for Instructional Support is collecting information on effective practices for teaching online and on online course quality guidelines to inform program efforts, and will provide these resources online on their website by end of Fall term, 2015.

This fall, the Center will be sponsoring online workshops/seminars (both real-time and recorded) through virtual conference registration at the Online Learning Consortium Conference and EDUCAUSE Annual Conferences in October, the WCET conference in November, and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative webinars in January - March 2016. Twelve additional Online Learning Consortium webinars will be offered to faculty on relevant topics.

Draft Decision Framework

The elements of a decision-making framework for identifying courses and programs which could be developed for online and alternative formats were explored at the June Retreat. The development of a decision framework is now on hold.