Week 2 Article 2

Title:

Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses

Bibliography:

Graham, Charles et al West Valley College. Retrieved April 18, 2007, from Developing an Online Course Web site: www.westvalley.edu/trc/seven.html

Summary:

The authors of this article looked at several courses being taught online at a professional school at a large Midwestern university. The faculty teaching the online course also taught face-to-face courses. The authors looked to identify examples of each of Chickering and Gamson’s seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. They researched four classes and then developed a lesson for online instruction for each practice. The seven principles and lessons are:

Good Practice Encourages Student-Faculty Contact
Lesson: Instructors should provide clear guidelines for interaction with students

Good Practice Encourages Cooperation Among Students
Lesson: Well-designed discussion assignments facilitate meaningful cooperation among students

Good Practice Encourages Active
LearningLesson: Students should present course projects

Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback
Lesson: Instructors need to provide two types of feedback: information feedback and acknowledgment feedback

Good Practice Emphasizes Time on Task
Lesson: Online courses need deadlines

Good Practice Communicates High Expectations
Lesson: Challenging tasks, sample cases, and praise for quality work communicate high expectations

Good Practice Respects Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
Lesson: Allowing students to choose project topics incorporates diverse views into online courses
Reaction:

I thought this article was practical in applying concepts that make good face-to-face teaching to online classes. Although there are many differences in face-to-face class facilitation and online class facilitation, there are many practices that are just good teaching! These practices can, in my opinion, be easily adapted to the online classroom. On the first point, I feel the instructor must set the “ground rules” right up front. It is unfair to the instructor and the students to assume that everyone will be available 24/7. Therefore, instructors have to let students know when they will be checking email, responding to discussion threads, etc. It has been my experience that online discussions can be rich with information and that usually the instructor will post/pose the question and students respond to that. Self-directed learning is necessary for student success and satisfaction in online courses. It is important to engage student in learning and by assigning course projects the instructor can facilitate the students’ learning; this is especially true for a comprehensive project i.e. the project includes all or most of the course concepts/learning outcomes. I thought the forth point was very valid. Students want to know that the information they have posted is legitimate and they also want confirmation that their assignments were correctly posted/turned in. How many times have you wondered if your assignments were missing in cyber space? It is appropriate to expect a high level of work from online students as well as face-to-face students. By providing examples of good work students have a benchmark they can use to measure their own work. The last point is being practiced is most of the CCE/IT courses I’ve had at WWU. I am a true believer that students not only learn from the instructor, but they also learn from other students! There is a lot of talent in our IT 518 class alone . . .there is much to be learned from your peers.