Evaluating Exemplary eLearning–Best
Practices and an Associated Rubric
Moderator:
Shirley Waterhouse, Office of the Provost
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Panelists:
Adonica Aune and Nick White, Capella University
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Agenda
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Overview - Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program (ECP)
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ECP Rubric
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Overview of 2007 Winners
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A Closer Look: Capella’s Public Speaking Course
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Q&A
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Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program (ECP)
A Program to Recognize Effective eLearning Pedagogy
Early Beginnings at Blackboard – Product Advisory Board Discussions
Early Beginnings at WebCT – Two Individuals Proposed An Award Program
Currently Six Directors Representing Institutions Worldwide
Rubric Was Developed by the Directors-- All Experienced Faculty
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2007 Greenhouse ECP
In Addition to Directors
One-Hundred + Judges
Over One-Thousand Hours of feedback
Ninety+ Submissions
Ten Exemplary Courses; Five Best Practices Courses
Range from Women’s Literature to Nuclear Engineering
Where can I find out more?
http://connections.blackboard.com
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Is Greenhouse ECP Making a Difference?
We Think so!
Provides Faculty and Developers Standards and Guidelines
Can be a Focus for Faculty Development
Provides Faculty a Self evaluation Tool
Institutional Recognition and Rewards for Faculty
Information in Portfolio (promotion and tenure)
Announcements
Award Ceremonies
News Bulletins
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Where can I find out more?
Faculty Participating in the Greenhouse ECP Report:
“I’m going to submit a conference proposal on my course and its compliance
with the rubric.”
“I’m going to write a journal article about my course and its compliance with the
rubric.”
“The ECP helped me to design and teach my course in ways I might not have
without the rubric.”
“Even though I didn’t win, the reviewer feedback was valuable.”
“Using the rubric provided a path for learning new skills and using new
concepts, and a way to make my course better.”
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The Greenhouse ECP Rubric
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Two separate rubrics
prior to Blackboard &
Web CT merger- both
focused on the same
overall outcomesPedagogical
Excellence.
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Combined rubric brings
key components of both
Four Major Rubric Categories
1.
Course Design
Course structure, learning objects, instructional strategies, and accessibility
2.
Interaction & Collaboration
Type and amount of interaction and collaboration, specifically learner-learner,
learner-content, and learner-instructor interaction and collaboration
3.
Assessment
Evaluation of student work towards achievement of learning outcomes,
including quality and type of assessments
4.
Learner Support
Resources made available to students (accessible internal and external to
course)
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Rubric Scale - Six Categories
Exemplary
A model of best practice as related to this criterion
Accomplished
Excellent implementation; comparable to other examples
Promising
Good implementation; however, somewhat lacking in depth or detail
Incomplete
Partial implementation of this criterion; additional work needed; good start
Not Evident
Unable to locate examples specific to this criterion
Not Appropriate
This criterion has little or no relevance for this course
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An Overview of the 2007 Winners
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2007 Greenhouse ECP Winners
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Intro to DeafBlindness (Utah
State University)
Public Speaking, (Capella
University)
Hawaiian Pacific Literature
(Kamehameha Schools)
Introduction to Online Teaching,
(Governors State University)
Nuclear Phenomena for
Engineering Applications
(Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute)
Allied Health Education
(University of Pittsburgh)
Cultural Identity through
Literature (Virtual High School)
Web Design and Publishing
(Regent University)
The Sacred Feminine in Latin
America (University of HoustonClear Lake)
General Biology (Iowa
Department of Education)
Similar: All Exemplary
Widely Diverse
Diversity of the Ten 2007 Winners
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Platform:
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Institution Type:
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7 Higher Ed
3 K-12
Many Disciplines
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6 WebCT CE/Vista
4 Blackboard Academic Suite
Engineering
History
Web Development
English
Etc…
The rubric has
extremely broad
applicability across
platforms, institution
type and discipline.
The Sacred Feminine in Latin America
Teresa Van Hoy
Azalea Boehm
Our students at the University of Houston-Clear Lake are so
grateful for Blackboard! They can now take history courses
on-line with no loss of rigor and content. My course filled in
less than one hour, so I raised the caps five times. The
retention rate exceeded my average for face-to-face
courses. Most poignantly, for many women, it was the first
time they could take a summer course because they had not
been able to afford babysitters to attend class. [e-Learning
technology] permits faculty to reach under-served and
much-deserving students, thereby honoring the mission of
our university, of our profession.
-- Theresa Van Hoy
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School:
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University of Houston-Clear Lake
Description:
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The Sacred Feminine in Latin America
examines pre-Christian, Christian, and
non-Christian practices to explore
ways in which the feminine has been
revered and demonized in Latin
America. It also examines those
expressions of femaleness and faith
deemed non-Christian. These include
goddesses, orishas, curanderas,
women tried by the Inquisition, and
androgynous figures. Underpinning
the course are larger questions of how
notions of purity, piety, dishonor, and
heresy have been constructed in
heavily gendered terms in Latin
America, the Latino/latinaUS, and
beyond. It provides insights into the
ways in which political power and
access to resources in Latin America
are shaped by notions of the sacred,
with particular attention to gendered
notions of divinity.
Nuclear Phenomena for Engineering
Applications
Marie-Pierre Huguet, Thomas Haley & Don Steiner
Just because a blended/hybrid mode was the right
way to go didn’t mean that a computer-Luddite like
me should be part of it! Sure, the course was a
great success, but not until I began to fill out the
ECP Rubric could I take in the big picture: how far
Marie-Pierre Huguet (the Course Developer) had
brought us, and what Don Steiner (the content
expert) had laid the foundation for. The Rubric also
reminded us that there is more to do, but it
confirmed that we are well along the right path.”
-- Tom Haley
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School
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Description
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Nuclear Phenomena for Engineering
Applications (NPEA) surveys the
quantitative and qualitative aspects of
how atomic and nuclear phenomena
apply to our everyday lives through
technology and the environment. In a
world that is increasingly welcoming
and relying on responsible
applications of nuclear technology to
achieve global prosperity, the
knowledge that NPEA provides can
open significant career, discovery, and
technology leadership opportunities.
NPEA also surveys the implications of
nuclear technology to instill
awareness about what “responsible
application” can mean.
A Closer Look: Capella’s Public
Speaking
Adonica Aune, Professor
Nick White, Course Development Supervisor
Capella University
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Capella and SPC1000
A little bit about Capella University
• A team based approach to course development
• Internal standards
and the Bb rubric
• An online public
speaking course?
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Course Design
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Learning goals/objectives
Relevance of third party tools
Navigation
Content is in
manageable segments
ADA Compliance
Interaction and Collaboration
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Synchronous vs. asynchronous
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Asynchronous Speech: Jeremy Fisher – Wedding Toast
Synchronous Speech: Art Gow – Final Persuasive Speech
Peer collaboration
strategies
Learner to content
interaction
IT support
Instructor Role
Assessment
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Competency based approach
Summative assessments
Assessment first course design process
Formative assessment
Learner Support
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Learner support, academic advisors, library, and IT
support
Learner portal support resources
Instructor support
Reflection on Process
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Improves and validates our internal quality efforts
Aligns our internal quality efforts with standards
developed by faculty across institutions
Recognition reinforces the value of our quality efforts
within our institution
Generates needed discussion of benchmarks of quality
in higher education
Effect on learners
Donna Arias – Graduation Toast
Q&A
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