Examining Online Instruction in Undergraduate Nursing Education

Web-based courses have increased in number as one of the primary modes of distance education in undergraduate nursing programs across the United States. An online survey of 171 nursing faculty in the United States with experience teaching Web-based courses served as the primary data source. Interviews and a review of course Web sites provided additional comparative information. Results of this study indicated online faculty spent significantly more time in planning and implementing a Web course than they did a traditional course. Despite this time commitment respondents perceived the teaching experience to be a successful and effective form of instruction that they felt could be used to deliver any type of nursing course. The online teaching experience was described as both collaborative and highly interactive. Most respondents indicated they preferred online teaching to traditional face-to-face instruction. This positive reaction to teaching online supports the future viability of Web-based instruction at colleges of nursing.     

The Best and the Worst

Faculty workload is based on the amount of time spent on teaching, research, and service. The workload varies according to institutional focus, teaching field, type of course, course level, and instructional format. Compared with traditional face-to-face courses, online courses require a disproportionate investment of time and effort by faculty, necessitating special consideration when calculating faculty workload. The authors examine the workload for faculty teaching online courses in community colleges, specifically, the number of online classes taught per semester, class sizes for online courses, incentives for online instructors and how the workload for online instructors is calculated. Results indicate inconsistent practices within and between institutions; the workload for online instructors based on class sizes is less than, equal to, or more than that of faculty teaching face-to-face courses. Further investigations into common practices at other institutions and dialogue between administrators and faculty to discuss workload issues are recommended.     

A blended model: simultaneously teaching a quantitative course traditionally,online, and remotely

As universities seek to bolster enrollment through distance education, faculty are tasked with maintaining comparable teaching/learning standards in traditional, blended, and online courses. Research has shown that there is an achievement gap between students taking courses exclusively offered online versus those enrolled in face-to-face classes. In an effort to mitigate these observed differences, the School of Business faculty at the research institution investigated various course models to meet the needs of a diverse, non-traditional, and multifaceted student population. Ultimately, a blended course model for statistics and quantitative method courses was developed that allowed students to choose between online, remote (via interactive television), and traditional course delivery modes each week. This model is more flexible and agile than existing blended courses that have more static components. Multiple regression analysis, χ², and t-tests are used to demonstrate the efficacy of our model in maintaining student performance standards.     

Institutional Efforts to Support Faculty in Online Teaching

Effective processes, practices, and infrastructure are essential components of successful online teaching and learning efforts; and they lead to a sense of faculty ownership of online teaching as well as enhanced support from an institution’s administration. The institution’s recognition of faculty members’ efforts to teach online in relation to the traditional concepts of scholarship, tenure, and promotion is an important motivational factor for sustaining effectiveness in the online learning environment. This study examined institutional efforts to alleviate or overcome challenges faced by faculty members in creating and teaching online courses, and we investigated faculty members’ perceptions regarding these institutional efforts.     

A Campus-Wide Study of STEM Courses: New Perspectives on Teaching Practices and Perceptions

At the University of Maine, middle and high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers observed 51 STEM courses across 13 different departments and collected information on the active-engagement nature of instruction. The results of these observations show that faculty members teaching STEM courses cannot simply be classified into two groups, traditional lecturers or instructors who teach in a highly interactive manner, but instead exhibit a continuum of instructional behaviors between these two classifications. In addition, the observation data reveal that student behavior differs greatly in classes with varied levels of lecture. Although faculty members who teach large-enrollment courses are more likely to lecture, we also identified instructors of several large courses using interactive teaching methods. Observed faculty members were also asked to complete a survey about how often they use specific teaching practices, and we find that faculty members are generally self-aware of their own practices. Taken together, these findings provide comprehensive information about the range of STEM teaching practices at a campus-wide level and how such information can be used to design targeted professional development for faculty.     

Measuring faculty learning in curriculum and teaching competence online courses

Online education is used for a variety of purposes in higher education. Two such purposes are improving one's performance over time and understanding one's professional development in the context of online teaching and learning. Relying on data from online staff development courses delivered in five Spanish universities, this article explores online faculty learning through the lens of staff development theory. This theoretical perspective emphasizes the universities' quality assurance contexts and offers an empirical examination of the ways in which faculty members learn curriculum and teaching competencies (CTCs) in online staff development programmes. At the core of this analysis is the contention that faculty members understand and respond to quality teaching lessons and activities. Finally, this study highlights the points deemed important when designing, implementing, and evaluating Internet CTC training courses.     

线上教学设计：求精求质求创新

线上学习蓬勃发展,科研和教学法有效结合,教学品质就能进一步提升。以皇家大学的教学模式为例,深入探讨4项线上教学的原则：学习成果、经验性真实性之学习、学习社区、小组学习。在天津电大开办培训课程,引导教师们深思个人的教学哲理和教学方法,以设计思考的方式,为线上教学挑战寻求解决方案。70名教师参与度高,制作设计蓝图,分享经验,做中求知,创意十足,充分展现中西双方的教学精髓,使之紧密结合,增加教学成效。未来培训的方向是以面授、线上混合之方式,实行小班制,为中国和加拿大线上教学的创新与合作做出更有意义之贡献。     

《工程力学》网络课程的总体策划及教学设计

本在阐述了网络课程的教学设计理论及教学设计方法的基础上，通过对《工程力学》网络课程进行总体策划和教学设计，论述了以正确的教学思想为指导、分析学习的特征、分析教学内容、选择教学媒体等设计理念及设计方法，介绍了《工程力学》网络课程的基本情况、功能模块和设计开发具有仿真性、交互性和实践性的网络课程的方法。     

Designing Personalized Online Teaching Professional Development through Self-Assessment

Many institutions use a one-size-fits-all approach to faculty development for online teaching, which does not meet the needs of faculty who often have different levels of experience, skill, and self-efficacy in online teaching and learning. To address these issues, the [university name removed] [center name removed] designed and implemented an online teaching readiness self-assessment. The instrument was developed based on key attributes and skills needed for proficiency in online teaching, in three areas: online teaching experience and attitudes, learning management system proficiency, and access to technology. The self-assessment was distributed through a web-based survey tool to faculty who were identified to develop new online courses. Individual results were used to create personalized frameworks of professional development offerings (workshops, institutes, videos, and consultations) and just-in-time resources to support faculty in their development process.     

Exploring the Roles of Social Presence and Gender Difference in Online Learning

Online learning has become more popular in higher education with its advantages of flexibility and accessibility. However, there have been challenges to students’ learning experience in online learning. One critical challenge would be providing interactions between students and instructors as good or effective as in the face‐to‐face environment. However, providing face‐to‐face interactions in online learning is not feasible because students and instructors are not physically present together. In this study, we introduce and empirically investigate social presence as student learning experience in online learning in which physical presence does not exist. Drawing upon the social presence and online learning literature, we propose a research model to explore how the interactivity of communication tools can drive social presence and student satisfaction in online learning. Furthermore, this study examines gender difference as a moderator in the model. Data were collected from undergraduate students who were taking online business statistics courses where an interactive communication tool was required to use for class communication and collaboration. The results showed that social presence driven by tool interactivity had a significant impact on student satisfaction in online learning. We also found that gender difference moderated the relationship between tool interactivity and social presence in online learning.     

Design Recommendations for Self-Paced Online Faculty Development Courses

An increased need for self-paced, online professional development opportunities in higher education has emerged from a variety of factors including dispersed geographic locations of faculty, full teaching loads, and institutional evaluation requirements. This article is a report of ?the examination of the design and evaluation of a self-paced online faculty development course about rubrics. A mixed-methods research design was implemented to collect quantitative and qualitative data from faculty members upon completion. Data obtained from an evaluation questionnaire, rubric artifact, self-reflections, and teaching improvement plan revealed that faculty viewed the course as a positive and useful experience. Specific design recommendations for instructional designers and faculty developers of self-paced online courses are provided. These design recommendations emphasize adult learning principles and transformative learning through self-reflection.     

What drives students to complete online courses? What drives faculty to teach online? Validating a measure of motivation orientation in university students and faculty

Although online student enrollment has shown double digit growth for almost a decade and academic leaders recognize that online education is necessary for enrollment growth, little is known about what motivates students to enroll in or faculty to teach face-to-face (F2F) versus online courses. The psychometric properties of a motivation scale were examined with students (n = 235) and faculty (n = 104) at a large, public, urban university in the southeastern USA. Analyses revealed that the scale was reliable as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for online and F2F courses were similarly constructed for students and faculty; additionally, results revealed that motivations for online and F2F education are distinct concepts. Findings also demonstrated that online extrinsic motivation predicted the number of online courses students completed, while F2F intrinsic motivation negatively predicted the number of online courses a faculty member had taught. These results address several limitations with existing motivation measures and enhance the ability to predict student and faculty outcomes in online education.     

An examination of the relationship between technology problems and teaching evaluation of online instruction

To address faculty members' concern that teaching evaluation in the online environment might be lowered because of technology problems students experience in online courses, a sample of 202 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory statistics course in a college of business administration was surveyed. Students' evaluation of their instructors and the course and their experiences with technology problems when taking the course were measured. As expected, a negative correlation between teaching evaluation and experience of technology problems was observed. Based on the finding, it is suggested that, to encourage faculty members to teach online, universities need to examine the relationship between teaching evaluation and technology problems experienced by students in the online environment and adjust the evaluation skewed by problems that are out of instructors' control. Measurement instruments used in the study and a suggested formula for adjusting teaching evaluation are provided.     

Watch Out for Relatives

In pedagogical literature, asynchronous, computer-mediated courses have been promoted as an interactive mode of course delivery. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of different teaching strategies in this medium. In this paper, I describe the development of my asynchronous course and outline the fundamental dilemmas in attempting to achieve interactivity in this medium of course delivery. I discuss issues of pacing the course, grading, monitoring discussions, and incorporating Internet-based material into the course. Each of these considerations should be addressed in future research on asynchronous courses.     

Student‐to‐Student Interaction Revisited: A Case Study of Working Adult Business Students in Online Courses*

Faculty teaching in online environments are universally encouraged to incorporate a variety of student‐to‐student learning activities into their courses. Although there is a body of both theoretical and empirical work supporting this, adult professional students participating in an online MBA program at an urban business school reported being at best indifferent and often negative regarding these learning activities. A case study was performed to explore how pervasive this attitude was and the possible reasons for it. Through various sources of data and exploration, we discovered that common interactive modalities are not associated with either perceived learning or satisfaction. A content analysis of a data analysis course revealed that 64.5% of responses recalled student‐to‐student interactivities when responding to a “learned least from” query. We identified three possible reasons for these negative responses: time inefficiency, interaction dysfunction, and flexibility intrusion. We conclude that, although some working professional students probably do learn from student‐to‐student interactivity, the costs incurred may be too great. If working adult students present a different profile than those students typically represented in academic research and thus have different needs and expectations, we may need to rethink the design of online education delivered to them.     

Course Design,Quality Matters Training,and Student Outcomes

ABSTRACT

North Carolina Central University (NCCU) recognized the need to address the increasing rates of Ds, Fs, and Withdrawal by students matriculating in online courses. Led by two science faculty, a faculty learning community in partnership with the NCCU Division of Extended Studies was created to assess online science course offerings and instruction. Faculty within this learning community completed the Quality Matters (QM) “Applying the Quality Matters Rubric” course. This online training course, coupled with services provided by the NCCU Division of Extended Studies, offered the faculty learning community a variety of pedagogical strategies to meet their instructional needs. All faculty participating in this learning community completed the online training course and all faculty indicated that they implemented changes in their subsequent online course offerings. This article describes the impact of that training and the application of quality course design standards in the Quality Matters Rubric on the design and student outcomes for an Introductory Biology course over four terms. As faculty learning communities are broadly utilized, it is anticipated that this article may present an effective strategy to increase the quality and quantity of online science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses at similar institutions.     

Speaking Personally—With Susan C. Aldridge

Researchers conducted a national survey of administrators at doctorate-granting universities to determine the current status of institutional policies and practices related to the organization and governance of online courses, faculty incentives to develop and teach online, and course ownership. Survey results document a wide variation in policies and practices, yet they also identify common practices. About 82% of the universities gave extra pay to faculty to develop online courses, and 94% provided campus-based faculty development workshops or training on online education. The large majority of institutions hired professional course designers (84%) and provided technical assistance to students (86%). Another 84% had an intellectual property policy in place or were developing one, and 77% shared revenues from online courses with academic colleges, schools, or departments. Although these practices existed on campuses, they were not always instituted campuswide. The researchers found statistically significant relationships for a number of faculty incentives and support services and faculty willingness to be involved in online education.     

The digital course training workshop for online learning and teaching

A primary concern with Information Technology (IT) training has been that IT-based training focuses upon the technical or point and click aspects of learning management system (LMS) platforms and pedagogy-enhancing software without any concern for the content of the courses. The Digital Course Training Workshop (DCTW) approach examined in this article addresses this concern by supporting a content-first approach. The DCTW approach—an initiative at a Midwestern University—is aimed at supporting faculty through the process of transitioning from face-to-face (F2F) courses to online teaching. Participating faculty enter the week-long seminar with traditional course content and leave with digital content transitioned into the appropriate LMS platform. This article is intended to stimulate reflections on the need for systematic faculty professional development programs and activities to help higher education faculty in the transition process from traditional to online courses.     

网络学习社区交互文本编码体系的设计及应用

互联网的飞速发展使网络学习成为人们越来越普遍的学习方式，已有的研究和实践均表明，交互是影响网络学习效果的重要因素。当前，网络交互形式主要集中在文本交互上，因此，分析交互文本也就成了探讨网络学习中交互效果的重要视角。本论文从网络学习社区的特征入手，设计了一套从认知存在、社会存在和教学存在三方面来分析讨论区中交互文本的编码体系，然后利用这套编码体系，对两门混合式学习课程的交互文本进行了内容分析，并提出了指导意见。经过初步证实，这套编码体系能够比较全面地解释在线课程讨论区中的交互效果以及存在的问题，而且编码体系简约、过程简易，且具有可操作性。     

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the Internet and online courses: the case of an American Pacific Island University

Offerings of online courses continue to increase in higher education settings, as institutions attempt to meet students’ (and faculty members’) increasing demands for online access. How do pre-service teachers perceive online education? This paper reports the results of a questionnaire-based survey addressing this issue. The questionnaire focused on the degree to which teacher candidates consider the Internet useful for coursework, and their level of preparedness for taking online courses. The participants were pre-service teachers (N = 237) enrolled in education foundation courses at the University of Guam. This paper discusses educational implications of the results, and makes recommendations for future research. The results from this study may guide teacher education and its efforts to optimise online courses and, at the same time, support the University’s commitment to ensure that teacher education prepares its pre-service teachers to apply and integrate technology in their own future teaching.