You might want to look into the systems in use at the primarily online campuses such as Baker College and the University of Phoenix, Dave. They use 100% online delivery of course material, and for the most part their students learn at least as much in the courses as they do in on-ground ones (my wife is taking courses from Baker right now, and her work is at least as challenging as anything I've seen in a classroom--for example, this is the fifth week of her course on statistics and they're doing ANOVA design already!). The approach these courses take is very different from the traditional model. Instead of using multiple choice quizzes and long lectures, the students are assigned readings from the text (the entire text is covered in six weeks in many courses), as well as being provided with written lectures on the important areas by the instructor. They then have several requirements:
1. They must participate in the group discussions online on at least five out of every seven days. The participation must include significant contributions to the ongoing threads in the Web forum and relate to the subject matter of the week. 2. They must answer one or two discussion questions prepared by the instructor and post their answers to the discussion forum created for that purpose for the rest of the class to discuss and build upon. The questions are geared toward forcing them to actually apply the material they are learning (for example, here's a typical question from my wife's stat class: --------------------------- You have just been awarded a $2 million grant to research a topic you have been curious about for some time. The one requirement to receiving the funds is that you need to use analysis of variance as the statistical method of analysis. Your task is to design an experiment and explain for that experiment the meaning of your ANOVA results. --------------------------- 3. They must complete and submit for grading a quiz based on the material and consisting of a number of open-ended questions such as the one above. 4. The must analyze their learning experiences for the week, including summarizing the relevant information in the text and lecture and the relevant points raised by the discussions and post that summary to a "lessons learned" discussion forum for discussion. 5. Some classes also have midterms and finals, which are essentially essay or assignment oriented questions the students answer and submit to the instructor. Other classes require a term paper (APA format) instead. The approach not only seems to work quite well, but it encourages two very important areas: (1) Students become involved in supporting each other's learning, with the result that they tend to master the material better themselves (the instructors typically step into the discussions only when the students are drawing inaccurate conclusions, to answer questions directed to them, and to add enrichment to the discussions by providing new information or suggestions for discussion if it seems to be fixed in only one direction) and; (2) Students learn to seek out information they need rather than just memorizing facts and terms (which, as we all know, they will forget soon after the class is over). The Internet is used as a resource (students are often instructed to find information on various topics, visit specific educational Web sites, or otherwise interact with the Internet, and students learn to separate solid, useful, information found there from the "fluff." The systems I'm familiar with are blackboard and educator, both of which allow the instructor a great deal of flexibility in his or her class planning, yet tend to focus the courses in productive directions. I do a little teaching online (if anyone knows of openings for an instructor in CRJ Psych or any aspect of business to teach online, a pointer would be GREATLY appreciated) and hope to eventually teach in that way exclusively, so I've tended to examine the online education system a bit more closely than would otherwise be the case. If I can help out, just let me know. Rick -----Original Message----- From: David Campbell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 6:51 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: On-line testing I would appreciate more advice from Lenore and others about how to handle testing with on-line courses. I have been grappling with this problem for two courses that I will be doing entirely on-line (except for the final exam) next fall. I realize that testing for memory of terms and concepts is almost impossible with on-line testing. There is little to prevent my students from gathering in groups to help one take the test. Their combined knowledge is certain to result in a high score (I've tried this in class as an experiment). Then each takes his/her notes to a computer and logs on to get the same high score. (The best I can do here is set up the test so they can't back-track after entering a response for a given item.) One idea is to make the multiple-choice portion of the test timed (I was thinking of 60 seconds per item but this is probably too much time, maybe go with 50 seconds). Then have them logon separately for the short-essay part of the test--with a different time limit, say 10 minutes per question? Another idea is to give up on any requirement for them to commit anything to memory, and simply give them essay items of the "apply this concept to this real-life situation" type. But then this will tend to favor those with higher "verbal intelligence" and will prevent those of more modest mental aptitude from getting a good score by grinding out the extra hours of study. I hate to end up with tests that favor the quick-minded mental elite. I really need good advice here. I'm almost resigned to accept that any on-line testing is doomed to be badly flawed and make the in-class comprehensive final exam count 50% of the course grade, or maybe even 60%. --Dave --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
