Confessions of an Online SkepticConfessions of an Online Skeptic

Joseph LowmanJoseph LowmanDepartment of Psychology

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Education, Innovate, Collaborate: A Faculty Showcase

Center for Faculty Excellence, ITSNovember 4, 2011

IntroductionIntroduction

• Increasing numbers of published evaluations of online teaching and learning

• A number of informal comments among faculty, parents, and in newspapers

• I will confess to having been skeptical about online teaching since I first heard about it

• Today I’ll talk about online instruction generally and my own experience as I planned for and taught my first two online summer classes

Basic Terms and ModelsBasic Terms and Models

• Distance Education• Computer Based Instructional Materials• Internet versus Print Research• Hybrid Formats• Synchronous versus Asynchronous Formats• Internet-Based Online Courses

Distance EducationDistance Education

• Correspondence courses• TV teaching• Filming and broadcasting of lecture courses

or seminars• Interactive Seminars with Students in

Different Locations

Computer-Based Instructional Computer-Based Instructional MaterialsMaterials

• Repetition and drill exercises• Problem sets• Simulations

Internet versus Print ResearchInternet versus Print Research

• Alternative ways of finding information:– Text– Photographs– Videos– Personal communication

Hybrid FormatsHybrid Formats

• Face-to-face classes using:– PowerPoint with text and images– Real Life and YouTube Videos– Email communication with students– Discussion Boards or Forums– Blackboard and other support systems

Synchronous versus Asynchronous Formats

• Real time versus non-real timeA MAJOR distinction

Internet-Based Online CoursesInternet-Based Online Courses

• Because of the power of The Internet, these require much less equipment, support staff, and technological sophistication than older formats

• Can involve synchronous or asynchronous activities

• The course I’ll be describing is an Asynchronous Internet-Based Online Course

Diverse Opinions/Attitudes about Diverse Opinions/Attitudes about Online-InstructionOnline-Instruction

• Effective versus Non-effective• Positive versus Negative

Positive Opinions/AttitudesPositive Opinions/Attitudes• Sweeping and strongly optimistic:

“These new techniques will radically transform how faculty teach and how students learn.”

• Administrators encourage faculty to record courses or adapt for online formats

• Administrators see them as a great money-saver on staff and buildings

• And as a way to serve more students from a larger geographic base

• Students can individualize their schedules and work demands

Reality CheckReality Check• Faculty resist redoing their courses or sharing their

materials for possible use by others• Administrators realize class size is smaller in online

classes and that they need more rather than fewer faculty

• Financial incentives come from attracting different kinds of students from a larger area

• Students still need to do work on a regular basis even if they have flexibilty about when they do their work

Negative Opinions/AttitudesNegative Opinions/Attitudes

• Online courses are impersonal, one-way lectures that ignore individual student needs and interests

• They use all sorts of fancy technology to simulate a face-to-face class

• Such instruction focuses mainly on information transfer and ignores higher level objectives

• These courses are cold, boring, anti-intellectual, and inconsistent with goals of a liberal education

• Students (and their parents) don’t want to pay for an impersonal and assembly-line education

Reality CheckReality CheckThe numbers of schools offering online instruction

and students tasking has grown at a high rate since 1995-2000

They are now taken by students on traditional campuses as well as non-traditional students

The primary motivation for most institutions is not to save money (as comes from scheduling larger sections) but to open up options for existing students and faculty and to bring in new students

Empirical Evaluations of Online Empirical Evaluations of Online CoursesCourses

• Victoria Simpson Beck (2010). Comparing Online and Face-to-Face Teaching and Learning. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching (21) 95-108

• Dropout Rate:– 60% online courses with lots of non-tradititonal

students– 11% for traditional ones

• Most studies have not used adequate methods

My Initial Attitudes and Recent My Initial Attitudes and Recent ExperienceExperience

• As a great believer in the interpersonal dimension of college teaching I was skeptical of online courses

• In spite of hearing many presentations on online instruction and reviewing a few online proposals for UNC’s Continuing Education Division…..

• I was a moderately well-informed skeptic• I didn’t really want to change what had worked well

for me over 40 years of college teaching• I love performing and didn’t want to give up the

stage the chance to get to know my students

What Changed?What Changed?

• I applied to teach a five-week summer section of Abnormal Psychology, a course I’ve now taught two times

• I participated in a training program that involved taking two online education courses focused on online instruction

• I met with consultants on the design and implementation of my summer course

• My two online sections filled up quickly (20 students) (most of whom were regular UNC students living at home or elsewhere)

Why Did I Do this?Why Did I Do this?• I teach a required course on college teaching for all

psychology graduate students who plan to teach• Increasingly, our graduate student instructors are asked

to teach online courses for financial support• I realized I needed first hand experience to best prepare

them for their teaching careers• I enjoyed the challenge of seeing if I could offer a course

that would be up to my standards• I’d recently purchased a home in the NC mountains and

wanted to spend the summer there and bet getout of hot Chapel Hill

Goals for my Five-Week CourseGoals for my Five-Week Course1. Offer a challenging and engaging course that

helps students connect the human side of abnormal psychology with the diagnostic system and research findings, as usually covered in face-to-face settings

2. Use the same writing intensive assignments and evaluation methods I use in my face-to-face classes

3. Motivate students to work as hard as in a typical semester or summer class

Goals for my Five-Week Course Goals for my Five-Week Course (Continued)(Continued)

4. Educate students before the course began about the amont and type of work to be required of them to counter the attitude an online course would require little of them

5. Make the course so interesting students would be motivated to do the work

6. Promote the same intrinsic motivation I’d seek in a regular face-to-face course by avoiding specific participation points

Specific TechniquesSpecific Techniques

• Email Bombing• Discussion Forums• Open-Book Essay Exams• SuperShrink Computer Case Simulation

Email BombingEmail Bombing• Began sending email messages two weeks before course

began, three or four per week• Communicated positive expectations about the course and

gave examples of items in the news that were relevant to our subject matter

• Sent copies of the syllabus and highlighted dates of the four exams and the due date for the term paper

• In a non aversive way pointed out how much work would be required in a typical week with the daily forums and posts

• Aimed for a relaxed and personal communication style in my written documents and email messages

Discussion Forums (Class Discussion Forums (Class Meetings)Meetings)

• Designed for each of 15 text chapters one or more Forum Assignments involving one or more video case examples (30-60 minutes each)

• Assigned a 1-2 page critical thinking and writing assignment (higher level objectives) for each set of videos from the text publisher or YouTube

• Asked students to post their writing and also one followup post within 24 hours (left Forums open for another 24 or so hours)

Evaluation of Discussion ForumEvaluation of Discussion Forumss

• Did not assign points for each discussion forum posting or follow up posting or impose late penalties

• Even though I was taught to assign points and to be very strict about deadlines

• Told students all their posts would be consolidated at the end and evaluated on overall quantity and quality of ideas with a single grade counting 15% of course grade; I called this the Participation Paper

• My objective was to encourage them to avoid aiming for a minimal level of posts

Open-Book Essay ExamsOpen-Book Essay Exams• Used 2 five-essay exams during the term and a similar

final exam for a total of 3 counting 20% each• Essays were similar to the integrative/application

writing topics assigned for Discussion Forums• Mailed out Exam Questions at 9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. or

7:00 p.m. and asked for their return within four hours• Told students they could use any materials they

wished but that they had to write the essays alone• Wrote comments and grades using Track-Changes and

Returned within one week

SuperShrink Computer Case SuperShrink Computer Case SimulationSimulation

• Originally created in the 1980s using text to give students two in-depth cases to diagnose and apply course concepts

• Converted to video using actors in the mid-1990s and used with CDs

• For my online course staff converted CD video to a web-based version housed on a UNC server

• Students interviewed one of two cases online and wrote and submitted Diagnostic reports (25% of course grade)

Students’Evaluation of My Online Students’Evaluation of My Online CourseCourse

• Alas, only 7 of 18 students who finished course submitted online evaluations the first time and 8 of 17 the second time

• Almost all said they communicated “often” with instructor via email and thought the amount of individualized email was “Just Right”

• About half said their understanding of course material was “enhanced” by instructor communications and “strongly agreed” that the instructor clearly communicated concern for learning and enjoyment

Students’Evaluation of My Online Students’Evaluation of My Online Course Course (Continued)

• About 2/3 reported their understanding was enhanced through discussion forums believed the amount of posting was “just right”

• One or two in each course thought it was “too much”

• Almosts everyone reported enjoying the SuperShrink interviewing a “great deal” and thought they learned a “great deal” from the interviewing and writing assignment

Student Ratings of Bloom’s LevelsStudent Ratings of Bloom’s Levels

• Memorizing (a few rated “Some”)• Applying (Almost all rated “Very Much”)• Analyzing ( “Very Much”)• Synthesizing ( “Very Much”)• Evaluating ( “Very Much”)

Student Performance on Exams Student Performance on Exams and Papersand Papers

• Overall quality of essays and papers seemed comparable to other summer classes

• 1 or two students each summer did not post more than four or five times and received an F on the Participation Paper

• 2 or 3 others each summer did not post regularly or usually posted late and received D’s on participation

• Posting seemed to be highly correlated with performance on essay exams

• Final Grades: A (6,6) B (9,7), C (3,2) (FA (1) »

Changes Over TimeChanges Over Time• Use only publically available video cases• Post video overviews of each chapter rather

than post the written versions to allow more of my personality to come through

Skeptic’s Overall ConclusionSkeptic’s Overall Conclusion• Because of more experience with case analysis and writing

assignments my students got more out of my online class than my face-to-face students

• Students spent more time watching extended videos of actual cases than would ever happen in a face-to-face course; chould be called “Laboratory in Abnormal Psychology”

• The majority who took it seriously seemed to be very engaged with the content and with me and to have enjoyed it as well

• Next time I teach it face-to-face I may ask to offer a Hybrid that meets only once a week

Possible Changes Next Time

• Fewer Tests (two mid-terms and a final versus three mid-terms and a final)

• Wider range of videos (MTV’s “Real Life” in addition to You Tube)

• Use of occasional video messages using Flip Video

• E:\DCIM\100VIDEO\VID00002.MP4

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