Designing an Effective Online Developmental Literacy Course David Caverly, Ph.D., Texas State University National Association for Developmental Education Greenville, SC, February 27, 2015

Online or Hybrid DE Courses How many of you have taught or are teaching an online or hybrid developmental education class? How do you differentiate between an online and a hybrid class? How effective would you say either is? How do you measure “effective?” Did you design your course following guidelines? For those of you who have not designed or taught a class, why would you want to teach a DE class online or as a hybrid? What would be your goals for this class?

Proliferation of Technology - World

Caverly & O'Connor (2015)

Proliferation of Devices - US cell phones dekstop or laptops smart phones e-book readers game consoles tablets mp3 player

Online or Hybrid DE Courses Nearly 50% of community college students have taken at least 1 fully online course (Jaggers, 2011) 65% of DE Math and 47% of DE Eng withdraw 20% math or 32% English take gatekeeper class; Lack of technology and the skills to use it, lack of a structured learning environment, and lack of social and emotional connection few courses required any kind of social presence and consequently a sense of isolation, lack of structure, and a lack of support Solution was to adjust using sound online course design through Community of Inquiry (CoI) model

Community of Inquiry model -Social Presence -membership -communicating -developing relations Garrison, et al. (2010)

Community of Inquiry model - Cognitive Presence - triggering event - exploration - integration - resolution Garrison, et al. (2001)

Community of Inquiry model -Teaching Presence -design -facilitation -direction Garrison, et al. (2010b)

Community of Inquiry model Garrison, et al (2001)

Community of Inquiry Model ElementsCategoriesIndicators (examples only) Social Presence Personal/Affective Open Communication Group Cohesion Self projection/expressing emotions Learning climate/risk-free expression Group identity/collaboration Cognitive Presence Triggering Event Exploration Integration Resolution Sense of puzzlement Information exchange Connecting ideas Applying new ideas Teaching Presence Design & Organization Facilitating Discourse Direct Instruction Setting curriculum & methods Shaping constructive exchange Focusing and resolving issues

Design of READ 0200 Block scheduling adopted and reduced class meetings to 2x Fully online section piloted then discontinued – 29% vs. 55% success rate Hybrid and F2F sections – no significant difference in success. 80% of sections are delivered as hybrid – one day in smart classroom, second in computer classroom

Fall Course re-design following CoI Online activities are integrated with F2F Standardized course organization - TP – SP – CP Modules by week and match syllabus News page recaps/reminds in-class and online activities Grading of assignments – TP – SP – CP Utilize voice recording functions Longer more encouraging comments align to rubric Discussions - TP – SP – CP Instructor actively modeling and guiding discussions

What we learned Formative adjustments after Fall 2014 Discussions still weaker than expected Use F2F discussions in class about concepts during Guided Practice then, moving to texting discussions in class about the concepts, and comparing the affordances of each then, moving to online discussions during computer lab day of class and comparing the affordances to texting, to F2F Twice weekly News updates Tighter syllabus alignment with D2L modules

Future Research Collect data over bother semesters Course completion % Semester-by-Semester retention % Gateway course success

Questions