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Boston University Sturggles with Student Privacy

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Boston University Sturggles with Student Privacy

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Jack Kelnhofer

E.D.D Student Drexel University

Dean of e-Learning at Ocean County College

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Best Practices in Online Instructor Evaluations

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Best Practices in Online Instructor Evaluations, Time Elements, Face to Face Evaluations, Technology Skills, Types of Online Courses, CREATING VALUE!

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My developing research questions all seek to identify the a single process for conducting evaluations of online course instructors that accurately reflects the results that instructor is garnering with his or her students and offers pathways for that instructor to improve his or her online teaching.

What tools are needed to accurately assess an online instructor’s effectiveness?

How can an instructor evaluation be corrective while also being encouraging?

What are the particular needs that online instructors have that traditional evaluations fail to consider?

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CoCo: Core Content Materials: The content provided by a third party that is placed inside an online course.

LMS: Learning Management System: One of the many available products that are used by educational institutions to provide online courses.

LOM: Learning Objectives Manager: A tool used in an online course that measures which of the course objectives are presented or assessed by a particular item of course content.

TAC: Textbook Agnostic Course: An online course design intended to be independant of a particuliar textbook.

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Distance learning programs are growing larger and more numerous each semester, yet research shows significant deficits in quality and value of online course and instructor assessment.  In fact, research argues that the clear professional need for reliable and verifiable assessment tools and techniques is partially to blame for the slow accepts of distance learning programs in higher education. Despite large numbers of institutions offering distance learning courses no unified system of assessment has been endorsed by accrediting bodies, such as the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, of online course offerings and the faculty that instruct those courses.  Thus, research details that over 80% of online faculty report feeling uninformed about assessment expectations. In order to improve online learning programs it is essential that institutions create, establish, and maintain an administrative faculty assessment system that adds “real” value to the work of online course delivery. By synergizing analytic driven data with “the human touch,” online assessment of faculty work becomes a series of constructive events rather than a routine task that yields little or no worthwhile outcomes. To engage best practices in online faculty assessment new and innovative processes and tools were developed that are presented and shared in this presentation. Literature suggests that while most institutions utilize assessment tools developed in face-to-face courses in online courses, the action of online teaching holds far more differences than commonalities to face-to-face instructions. Thus, online course instruction assessment tools and processes must be developed with the actualities of distance learning as the objective.

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The growth of distance learning course offerings create a need for value-based assessment procedures and tools for supervisors of online faculty. Yet, a persistent and unmet professional learning need that hinders the development of online and blended course instructors in colleges and universities is the erroneous reliance on instructor assessment tools created for use in face-to-face courses.

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Most leaders in higher education indicate that economic and cultural factors point to a growth in the market demand for distance learning programs. Rapid globalization, revolutions in technology, expanding infrastructure, and developing logistical capacity all propel globalization. As a result, distance learning is growing and expanding every year and as the need for quality control and accountability becomes more glaring so will the need for a system to provide those needs.

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The growth of distance learning programs in higher education generates a need for administrators to engage in assessment of online faculty. The focus of this inquiry is to create a fully deployable system of evaluating online faculty that provides pragmatic theory-based methods of improving online course quality.
Distance learning courses are becoming increasingly more popular with students and college administrators, but the novel nature of the course delivery and the learning environment make tradition tools used in faculty assessment inappropriate. New paradigms in education call for new methods of assessing pedagogy.
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A project of this breadth has a number of important areas

of research. Here are three literature streams the project will pursue:

Administrative Assessment of Online Faculty

What is the best rubric to use? Should observations be announced? What is the value of student assessments of courses? Who is the ideal course observer?

Excellence in Online Instruction

Define “excellence” in terms of online teaching. What specialized skills? What knowledge? Asynchronous or synchronous course model? How do different academic disciplines affect online teaching excellence?

Innovations in Online Assessment of Pedagogy.

Learning Management System design? What analytical tools are available and how do these affect instructor performance? How does “real time” applications affect teaching outcomes? How does provided content aid or detract from instruction? How do automated grading systems affect teaching?

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The literature that currently exists on the topic of assessing faculty members that teach exclusively online tends to examine student reactions forms and ignore the obligation of administrators to assess faculty quality. This gap is, in some cases, addressed but most often by using tools created for face-to-face faculty members. Also, the literature rarely considers how tools and process for administrative evaluation should differ in new modes such as online or blended courses. Finally the literature is nearly silent on the use of LMS analytical tools as part of administrative assessment practices. The LMS can now measure faculty time on task, engagement, and many other factors. How will these quantitative tools effect assessment? How will those changes affect how we teach online?