Standards of Good Practice For Teaching Online

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Standards of Good Practice For Teaching Online

• Christina Sax
• University of Maryland University College

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Instructional Models

• Transmission of information
• traditional view of education
• classroom based education
• Mentoring of students
• Creation of a learning community

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What should I do . . .

• to insure student learning success . . .
• to make the process go smoothly . . .
• to manage the class effectively . . .

in the absence of face-to-face contact with
students?
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What should I do . . .
to be a really successful, dynamic, and
creative online instructor and inspire my
students without spending all my time online
and without losing my sanity in the process?
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More Questions ...

• How much time should I expect to spend online?
• How often should faculty members communicate with
  students?
• How quickly should faculty members respond to
  student questions/work?

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And More Questions . . .

• How often should students interact with
  instructor and/or each other?
• How much time should students spend on course
  work?
• What kinds of activities should students engage
  in?

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And Still More Questions ?
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Seven Principles of Good Practice
Chickering Gamson June 1987 7 Principles for
Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
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The Seven Principles

• 1. Encourage student-faculty contact and
• interaction
• 2. Encourage cooperation among students
• 3. Encourage active learning
• 4. Give prompt feedback

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The Seven Principles

• 5. Emphasize time on task
• 6. Communicate high expectations
• 7. Respect diverse talents and ways of
• learning

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Two Additional Principles
8. Let students know what to expect - from
you and in the course 9. Make effective use of
the technology
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How to do I Put Best Practices into Action?
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1. Encourage student-faculty contact

• Use e-mail for announcements, news, updates,
  reminders, etc.
• Encourage student questions, inquiries, feedback,
  input
• Refer to students by name
• Hold virtual office hours
• Instructor input into discussions

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2. Encourage cooperation among students

• Activities that promote cooperation
• team learning
• asynchronous problem solving
• group projects, presentations, debates
• peer reviews
• chats
• Students exchange phone numbers and email
  addresses

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3. Encourage active learning

• Learning is not a spectator sport
• Pose questions that foster thinking and problem
  solving
• Interrupted Discussion method
• Each one teach one

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3. Encourage active learning

• Students provide and critique URLs
• Students design/create Web pages
• Students develop knowledge artifacts and concept
  maps
• Encourage opinions as well as facts

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4. Give prompt feedback

• Hold virtual office hours
• Return graded work in one week
• Post grades regularly
• Acknowledge all student questions

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5. Emphasize time on task

• Let student know time-on-task is important to
  success
• Award points for all work
• Require discussion participation
• Provide specific learning objectives for each
  unit
• Use assignments that allow students to apply
  learning

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6. Communicate high expectations

• Course goals and objectives in Syllabus
• Post examples of excellent, average, and poor
  work
• Model through example

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6. Communicate high expectations

• Make your expectations of students clear with
  respect to
• facts, concepts, critical thinking, analysis,
  writing, format, quantitative reasoning, internet
  usage, frequency of check-ins, frequency of
  interaction

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7. Respect diverse talents and ways of
learning

• Recognize that online classes are not the
  preferred environment for some
• Allow options for demonstrating student
  achievement
• Recognize, respect and reward creativity

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7. Respect diverse talents and ways of
learning

• Be sensitive to possible cultural differences
• Understand and appreciate the distant learners
  lifestyle

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8. Let students know what to expect - from
the instructor

• Response time from instructor
• Lecture, support, mentor, facilitator?
• What replaces seat time/contact hours of the
  face-to-face class?

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8. Let students know what to expect - in the
course

• Total amount of time per week
• Interactive vs. independent
• Rigor
• Schedule and due dates

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9. Make effective use of technology

• Does your discipline have specific requirements?
• What technologies/materials are available in your
  discipline?
• What technology/materials are available to your
  students?

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9. Make effective use of the technology

• Is it an effective means of content delivery and
  instruction?
• Where are your students located?

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Is Online Teaching Really That Different?

• student-faculty interaction
• student-student cooperation
• active learning
• prompt feedback
• time on task
• high expectations
• diversity
• communication
• effective use of materials

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Future Questions, Comments, Suggestions, Ideas .
Chris Sax UMUC 301-985-7625 csax_at_umuc.edu

Teaching Science Online Discussion Group -
www.mdfaconline.org/ mdfaconline/facfellows.html