As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive of the rigor of design for online courses. Knowing what characteristics are likely to fail the course design assessments, extra resources and support can be shifted to elevate the rigor of online courses.
","abstract_html":"<p>As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive of the rigor of design for online courses. Knowing what characteristics are likely to fail the course design assessments, extra resources and support can be shifted to elevate the rigor of online courses.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hamel, Brad J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Education Specialist","degree_level":"Education Specialist","degree_discipline":"Education, Leadership and Public Service","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Christi U. Edge"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:12Z","subjects":["Higher Education","Online Education","Course Design","Pedagogy","Assessment","Standards","Rigor","Quality Assurance","Adult and Continuing Education Administration","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods","Higher Education Administration","Online and Distance Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/574","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Christi U. Edge"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hamel, Brad J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-04-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education, Leadership and Public Service"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Education Specialist"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Education Specialist"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Higher Education","Online Education","Course Design","Pedagogy","Assessment","Standards","Rigor","Quality Assurance","Adult and Continuing Education Administration","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods","Higher Education Administration","Online and Distance Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/574"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive of the rigor of design for online courses. Knowing what characteristics are likely to fail the course design assessments, extra resources and support can be shifted to elevate the rigor of online courses.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["IMPROVING THE RIGOR OF ONLINE EDUCATION: EXPLORING CHARACTERISTICS OF FACULTY AND SYLLABI WITHIN AN ONLINE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PROCESS"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Christi U. Edge"],"dc:creator":["Hamel, Brad J"],"dc:date.available":["2019-04-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive of the rigor of design for online courses. Knowing what characteristics are likely to fail the course design assessments, extra resources and support can be shifted to elevate the rigor of online courses.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/574"],"dc:subject":["Higher Education","Online Education","Course Design","Pedagogy","Assessment","Standards","Rigor","Quality Assurance","Adult and Continuing Education Administration","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods","Higher Education Administration","Online and Distance Education","Other Educational Administration and Supervision","Scholarship of Teaching and Learning"],"dc:title":["IMPROVING THE RIGOR OF ONLINE EDUCATION: EXPLORING CHARACTERISTICS OF FACULTY AND SYLLABI WITHIN AN ONLINE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PROCESS"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education, Leadership and Public Service"],"thesis:degree_level":["Education Specialist"],"thesis:degree_name":["Education Specialist"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:12Z"}