Transparency: Course Views

With economics as its focus, Justin Johansen's 2009 dissertation research on open courseware at Brigham Young U concluded that sharing the details of academic courses, along with actual curriculum content, does not reduce enrollment for the course by paying students. That's an important factoid for the institutions that currently or hope to display open courseware on the Internet.

Open courseware probably promotes enrollment but that's a conclusion that deserves testing more broadly. The premise is logical, though: a "deep" view of the course (even if scope is not of the entire course) permits students to preview assignments and even content knowledge. Level of difficulty is evident and perhaps even the professor's personality is, too.

The additional bonus is that learning outcomes are visible in open courseware. Whether for the student shopping for a good fit or the public seeking to understand what the institution offers to students, the display of outcomes provides context for the assignments and content. An ideal display would include assessment results tied to the outcomes from prior semesters of the course. Transparency at its best.

(In keeping with the subject of the research, Johansen's dissertation is available on the web. Use link at top of this entry.)

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.

New blog: Genuine Evaluation

Australia and New Zealand provide the world with wonderful scholarship and practice—and that includes a new blog on evaluation. (Twitter, too.)

Patricia J. Rogers and E. Jane Davidson have been stateside for parts of their career but currently reside in their homelands. With the power of Internet technologies, we can enjoy their takes on evaluation instantaneously, of course.

The name of the blog is Genuine Evaluation, launched in January 2010. Start reading now to follow the development of a site by two talented writers. They incorporate philosophy with practical aspects of evaluation and critical review of based on their own use of methodologies. They also promise an occasional joke.

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.

CHEA Award - Student Learning Outcomes

The 2010 CHEA Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes has been awarded to Capella U, Portland State U, St. Olaf College, and the U of Arkansas - Fort Smith.

Capella U's work in SLOs is tied to the online university's extensive use of electronic rubrics in its courses. Instructors' scoring with rubrics produces a tremendous amount of data that permits reporting on learning outcomes across courses and whole programs. The institution publishes reports on a Learning Outcomes web page: select a degree from "Program Outcome Reports" in the left column. After a pause of several seconds, graphics will load.

Disclosure statement: I serve as a member of Capella University's research faculty. I have not received any compensation or acknowledgment from the institution concerning my writing about Capella. In fact, I do not discuss my blog or other work with anyone at the institution. (This blog's only monetary reward comes through google.adsense links, which are selected by Google, not by me.)

© 2010 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (http://www.marybold.com/, http://www.boldproductions.com/, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.