SITE Presentation JANE STRICKLAND (IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY) A. W. STRICKLAND (IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY)

Introduction  3 research facets addressed:  How has online instruction affected the curriculum development process?  How has the abundance of online courses affected the role of higher education faculty?  What research variables have been examined relative to learning outcomes in LMS-managed delivery v. traditional (f2f) course delivery?

Change in curriculum development  Denning, Goldin, & Kats (2012)  As of 2009, for-profit higher education entities growth – from 18,000+ to 1.85 million ◦93%+ through asynchronous instruction only  Student criticisms = inflexible learning protocols  Merrill called for use of carefully constructed ID principles to ensure materials support expected learning outcomes while providing flexibility for today’s learners

Current investigation: 4 key elements to content integrity 1.The goal statement 2.The objectives 3.Thorough analysis of the targeted audience 4.The expected learning outcome(s)

Key instructional elements in the online curriculum of for-profit higher education institutions GoalObjectivesTargeted AudienceLearning Outcome(s) Institution 1: Education (MS)1000 Education (PhD/EdD)1110 Nursing (BS)1100 Psychology1000 Institution 2: Education (MS)1000 Education (PhD/EdD)1000 Psychology (MS)1000

Key instructional elements in online curriculum brick-&-mortar higher educational institutions: 1 st institution … GoalObjectivesTargeted AudienceLearning Outcome(s) Institution 1: Biology (BS)1111 Education (MS)1100 Education (PhD/EdD)1100 Anthropology (BS)1100 Mathematics (BS)1000 Psychology (BS)1101 Psychology (MS)1000 Nursing (BS)1110 Dental Hygiene (BS)1111

Key instructional elements in online curriculum brick-&-mortar higher educational institutions: 2 nd institution … GoalObjectivesTargeted AudienceLearning Outcome(s) Institution 2: Business (BA)1111 Education (BA)1111 Psychology (BS)1111 Accounting (BS)1111

Changing role of faculty in for-profit and brick-&-mortar higher education institutions (N=2) For ProfitBrick-&-Mortar YesNoYesNo Do you create the online course curriculum?70130 Do you create the assessment instruments?25130 Do you deliver the instruction?70130 Do you create the delivery method for the instruction?07130 Do you monitor individual student online course progress?70130 Do you grade student discussion responses?6270 Do you grade student assessment responses?61130 Do you grade student attendance?7058 Do you use the # of student discussion responses per forum as an evaluation tool?70013

Brick-&-Mortar Traditional Faculty Role  Develop course content  Deliver instruction  Determine the instructional delivery method  Determine frequency of instructor-student interaction  Create assessments  Determine the assessment type  Determine the frequency of assessment  Determine the relative value of each assessment  Grade assessment  Monitor student progress  Report final grades Current Brick-&-Mortar Online Faculty Role  Develop course content  Deliver instruction  Determine the instructional delivery method  Determine frequency of instructor-student interaction  Create assessments  Determine the assessment type  Determine the frequency of assessment  Determine the relative value of each assessment  Grade assessment  Monitor student progress  Report final grades Differences between faculty roles in traditional & online brick-&-mortar institutions

Faculty role in for-profit online institutions For-Profit Online Institution Faculty Role  Deliver instruction  Grade assessment  Monitor student progress  Report final grades Institution determines …  Frequency of instructor-student interaction  Assessments  Type of assessments  Frequency of assessments  Relative value of each assessment

Conclusions from current study …  Curriculum development is being affected by the rush to move to online formats.  This could undermine possibilities for full instructor-to-peer engagement  Content experts, instructional experts, and IDEs must be seen as partners (team members) to effectively meet the needs of diverse learners (the consumers of content).  Role of higher education faculty is changing … from content experts to instructors who deliver what someone else designs.

Ongoing research …  Three data benchmark years were examined: 2002, 2007, and  15 institutions were contacted and asked to participate in a follow-up survey.  Five of the institutions expressed no interest in participating.  10 institutions agreed to respond to questions regarding instructor responsibility for creation and evaluation of online course assessments. However, only seven of the 10 provided data for the three benchmark years.

Supplementary survey investigation  Degree of faculty participation in creating assessment instruments for student performance in asynchronous online courses. YearUniv 1Univ 2Univ 3Univ 4Univ 5Univ 6Univ

Table 1: 2002 analysis  In 2002 (Table 1) all of the seven institutions had online delivered courses utilizing an instructional design model that included instructor-created course assessment instruments.  The percentage of instructor participation in this process ranged from a high of 30% to a low of 20%.

Table 1: 2007 analysis  In 2007 (Table 1) all of the seven institutions had online delivered courses utilizing an instructional design model that included instructor-created course assessment instruments.  The percentage of instructor participation in this process ranged from a high of 20% to a low of 10%.

Table 1: 2014 analysis  In 2014 (Table 1) all of the seven institutions had online delivered courses utilizing an instructional design model that included instructor-created course assessment instruments.  The percentage of instructor participation in this process ranged from a high of 15% to a low of 0%.

Assessment trend results

Conclusion  It is obvious from the research submitted and the ongoing investigation that there is a diminishment of faculty participation in course creation and assessment.  To improve student performance in asynchronous, synchronous, and blended formats more emphasis is needed in faculty involvement in curriculum development.