Effective Practices in the Online Delivery of Developmental Education

Barry Dahl

Barry Dahl dot com

What I learned from Twitter

Donna Gaudet, Scottsdale CC

Teaches Developmental Math, both online and F2F

“Best Practices”

NCDE Director, Dr. Hunter Boylan

Keynote speech: “Best Practices in Developmental Education.”

During Q & A, he was asked to share examples of good practice in offering developmental courses via online delivery.

His Response?

“There aren’t any!”

He Continued

He went on to say that the completion rates (or success rates) in online developmental courses “are abysmal. Way below the rates for on-ground courses. ”

True or False?

Developmental Courses Cannot be Effectively Taught

Online

Online Courses and Developmental Education

Data from Lake Superior College 2009-2010 Academic Year

Case Study – Lake Superior College

Developmental Math Sequence – 3 courses

◦ First taught online during Fall 2002

◦ As of Spring 2010, a total of 91 online sections have been taught.

Developmental Writing Sequence – 2 courses

◦ First taught Spring 2004, now 23 sections

Developmental Reading Sequence – 2 courses

◦ First taught Spring 2005, now 17 sections

AY 2010 Student Completion Results 510 students enrolled in online

sections

2,226 students enrolled in on-ground sections

Course withdrawal rates were identical at 15.7% for both groups.

Grades Earned

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

A B C D F FN W

LSC Developmental Courses - 2009-2010

Online On-ground

Passing Grades in These Courses

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

C or better D or better

60.4%

67.5%

62.3%

66.8%

Passing Grades in Developmental Courses

Online On-ground2009-2010

AY 2010 Results

More A’s were given in online courses:

◦ 25.1% online

◦ 21.3% on-ground

More F’s were given in on-ground courses:

◦ 17.5% on-ground

◦ 16.8% online

GPA in these courses:

◦ 2.37 for online

◦ 2.31 for on-ground.

My Retort

Completion rates (or success rates) in online developmental courses “are NOT more abysmal than and NOT way below the rates for on-ground courses. ”

LSC – 3 yrs – Developmental CoursesPassing Grades: A,B,C

52%

54%

56%

58%

60%

62%

64%

66%

68%

58.5%

60.9%

67.8%

Online Day Night

Effective Practices for Online DE

Strong instructor presence Clear expectations for All Emphasis on time flexibility Timely and useful feedback from instructor Early alert system and actions taken Mandatory online student orientations Online tutoring Student mentors Provide lots of examples Self-assessment (practice test) opportunities Lots of activities and lots of due dates

Strong Instructor Presence

“ If an instructor is not willing to spend hours and hours communicating, interacting, and being available for online students (all hours of the day and night and weekends), then online learning is not a good fit and their students will suffer.”

Donna Gaudet, 2012

Clear Expectations for All

Contact all students via email at least one week before class starts

◦ Begin to set their expectations for the amount of work ahead.

Work hard to set clear expectations during week one

◦ What students should expect from you

◦ What you expect from your students.

Kirsi Halonen, Lake Superior College, 2012

Emphasis on Time Flexibility

Timely and Useful Feedback

Emphasize instant feedback, where possible

Early Alert System & Actions

Mandatory Online Student Orientations

http://barrydahl.com/webinar-archives/

Online Tutoring

Student Mentors

Provide lots of examples

Screencasts allows students to learn by example, seeing every step in great detail.

In most cases the ability to pause or rewind also gives the viewer the power to move at their own pace, something a classroom cannot always offer.

Self-assessment (practice test) Opportunities

Self-assessment can help develop more interest in the course from students.

Self-assessment can aid students’ in taking responsibility of their own learning.

Lots of activities and lots of due dates

An open-ended, “anything goes as long as you get everything in by the end of the term” approach to online developmental courses is a disaster waiting to happen.

Time management skills are usually weak, and need to be buttressed throughout the course.

Topics to Gnaw On

Free MOOCs for Developmental

Competency-based Education

Personalized Learning

Do Away with DE altogether

Alternatives to DE revenue stream

MOOC for Developmental Math

UW – La Crosse, Award-winning class, Actively facilitated

http://www.uwlax.edu/MathMOOC/

MOOC for Developmental Math

Cuyahoga CC

Pre-Algebra - Open Enrollment

Self-paced

http://www.tri-c.edu/online-learning/mooc.html

MOOC for College Readiness

Broward College

Self-paced

www.broward.edu/academics/online/Pages/Free-College-Readiness-

MOOC.aspx

Competency-based Education

Personalized Learning

Personalized learning is defined as adjusting he pace (individualization), adjusting the approach (differentiation), and connecting to the learner's interests and experiences.

Source: National Educational Technology Plan (US DoE)

Personalized Learning

Personalization is broader than just individualization or differentiation in that it affords the learner a degree of choice about what is learned, when it is learned and how it is learned.

Do Away with Developmental

Florida: now courses are optional.

Connecticut: one semester only.

Tennessee: NO remedial at 4-yr U’s.

Colorado: now requires “co-req.”

http://neatoday.org/2014/10/15/another-lousy-reform-idea-eliminating-remedial-education/

Alternative Revenue Sources

How dependent is the college on the current stream of tuition paid for developmental courses?

How can some of these other ideas result in similar revenues?

Do higher rates of persistence and retention offset reduced tuition for developmental?

Q & A

Barry Dahl