IMPROVING THE RIGOR OF ONLINE EDUCATION: EXPLORING CHARACTERISTICS OF FACULTY AND SYLLABI WITHIN AN ONLINE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT PROCESS

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Education Specialist

Level thesis:degree_level

Education Specialist

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education, Leadership and Public Service

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Hamel, Brad J

Contributors dc:contributor

• Christi U. Edge

• 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

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/574

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.nmu.edu:theses-1607