Big, Bigger, Too Big: Online Course Sizing

DIRECTOR’S CUT:

• WHAT DO WE KNOW?

• HOW DID WE GET HERE?

• WHERE DOES THIS ROAD TAKE US?

• THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL COURSE

• ENCORE

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

• VARIOUS STUDIES SUGGEST OPTIMAL SIZING FROM 12 TO 30 STUDENTS

• NO AGREEMENT IN FINDINGS (“MIXED..AND CONTRADICTORY”)

• QUESTIONS REGARDING METHODICAL APPROACH AND APPLICABILITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

SURVEY SAYS…

SURVEY SAYS…

SURVEY SAYS…

SURVEY SAYS….

SURVEY SAYS…

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

“I DON’T RECALL ANYTHING MAGICAL ABOUT THE NUMBER 25.”

-ERIC FREDERICKSON TO THE AUTHOR, 2.6.17

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON…

• SIZING WAS A LOCAL CAMPUS DECISION

• THE APPROACH BY OTHER SUNY CAMPUSES WAS OFTEN EXPLORED AND CONSIDERED

• IN THE EARLY DAYS, (SLN WAS) TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT ONLINE COURSES WERE NOT

A SPACE FOR UNLIMITED ENROLLMENTS

• (SLN) SHARED A LOT OF RESEARCH ABOUT HIGHER LEVELS OF INTERACTION IN THE ONLINE COURSES

(WHICH HELPED WITH THE PREVIOUS BULLET)

WHERE DOES THIS ROAD TAKE US?

COMPETING INTERESTS:

• COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE SECTIONS/RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS

• MAINTAINING A HIGH DEGREE OF INSTRUCTOR/STUDENT INTERACTION

• OFFSETTING ENROLLMENT DECLINES THROUGH ALTERNATIVE ENROLLMENT IN ONLINE PROGRAMS

• MONITORING LEARNING OUTCOMES ACROSS DELIVERY MODALITIES

TIME THE REVELATOR

• Faculty perceptions of workload

• Time-based studies

THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL COURSE

COURSE SIZE IMPACT ON INSTRUCTOR EFFECTIVENESS:

• “LARGE” COURSES (UP TO 30 STUDENTS) WERE NEGATIVELY IMPACTED IN TERMS OF INSTRUCTOR

EFFECTIVENESS. (SORENSON, 2014)

• FOLLOW UP STUDY: IMPACT ON STUDENTS IN >30 SEAT COURSES DIFFICULT TO PREDICT WITHOUT

FURTHER STUDY (2015)

MONEY TALKS

• Course caps increase in summer/winter sessions

• Compensation pro-rated based on enrollment

TIME BASED STUDIES

• TOMEI (2006) FINDINGS:

• 14% MORE TIME REQUIRED FOR ONLINE INSTRUCTION (CONTENT TRANSMISSION)*

• 16% MORE TIME REQUIRED FOR ONLINE ADVISEMENT(STUDENT INTERACTION)

• 8% LESS TIME REQUIRED FOR ONLINE ASSESSMENT

* STUDY INCLUDED “LIVE” SESSIONS AS PART OF INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY

TIME BASED STUDIES

WORLEY AND TESDALL (2009):

• OVERALL TIME SPENT TEACHING ONLINE WAS NOT GREATER THAN F2F

• TIME SPENT PER ONLINE STUDENT WAS HIGHER

TIME BASED STUDIES• “ABOUT A MINUTE PER WEEK PER STUDENT MORE…” (VAN DE VOORD AND POGUE, 2012)

TIME BASED STUDIES

• COVELLO (2017) SUGGESTS TIME-BASED INSTRUCTOR TASK STUDIES TO DETERMINE APPROPRIATE

WORKLOAD

• CONCERNS ABOUT “TAYLORISM”

• ACCOUNTING FOR DIFFERING MANAGERIAL STRATEGIES

SCALING UP: AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?

STRATEGIES:

• RANDOMIZED GRADING OF A SELECT NUMBER OF DISCUSSION POSTINGS

• IMPLEMENTING PEER REVIEW OF FELLOW STUDENTS’ POSTINGS

• INTELLIGENT TUTORING/ADAPTIVE LEARNING TOOLS

• EXPLORING POSTING OF AUDIO DISCUSSION AND AUDIO FEEDBACK

(VAN DER VOORD AND POGUE, 2012)

FINDING OUR WAY BACK HOME

TOOLS FOR OPTIMIZATION

• THE OBJECTIVIST-CONSTRUCTIVIST CONTINUUM

• THE COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY MODEL (COI)

• KRATHWOHL AND ANDERSON’S REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

(TAFT, 2011)

OBJECTIVIST/CONTRUCTIVISTCONTINUUM

• OBJECTIVIST COURSES MAY HAVE NO UPPER LIMIT

• CONSTRUCTIVIST COURSES MAY BE OPTIMIZED AT 20

• MIXED APPROACHES: “JUDGEMENT CALL”

(TAFT, 2010)

COI

• SOCIAL PRESENCE IS OFTEN EMPHASIZED IN CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACHES

• INSTRUCTOR INTERACTION MAY BE SKEWED TOWARDS AFFECTIVE RESPONSES (NON-CONTENT)

• >25% DECLARE THREADED DISCUSSIONS “MOST IMPORTANT AND INNOVATIVE” TEACHING TECHNIQUE

(TAFT, 2011; NAGEL AND KOTZE, 2009; LEGON AND GARRETT, 2017)

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

HIGHER ORDER OUTCOMES TYPICALLY ALIGN WITH UPPER DIVISION CLASSES

AND CORRESPONDINGLY SMALLER SECTION SIZES (TAFT, 2010)

ENCORE

QUESTIONS?

THAT’S A WRAP!