Expert

Reviews and Formative Assessment Plan

Designing Online Courses
Nichole Scheutzow
3/8/16

Part One: Expert Reviews

My course was designed and implemented in Blackboard Coursesites and
focuses on the topic of AP Art History. For my expert reviews, I met with content
expert Sara Andes, experienced online teacher Jon Hicks, and Corrine, one of my
students from the target high school population.

Sara Andes is an experienced Art History teacher at Brunswick High School
who I asked to review my course site for accuracy and completeness. I also wanted
to know her opinion regarding the course layout and what she thought of the
articles and video resources I made available to students.

One of the suggestions Sara had from her experience using Blackboard
Course sites was to create a "getting started" folder for students. This would contain
the syllabus, schedule, and weekly content and provide a platform for students to
find this information. Another folder she suggested was a resource folder that could
contain information about doing research online for an Art History class.

Although I do have a link to my syllabus and course outline, Sara also
suggested creating a weekly schedule chart that would break down assignments and
due dates for students. I liked this idea and think it would make the course
structure more manageable for students, especially those students who are not
familiar with online classes or who are intimidated by the course load they can
present.

Regarding what I have so far on my course site, Sara said the articles were
good resources but suggested that instead of just having a link for the article, put
where the article came from and the name of the article, just in case of a broken link.
She thought the Discussion board topics I listed for my course were good and that
they contained strong descriptions and articles linked to Art History topics.

The second person I interviewed is Jon Hicks, an experienced online teacher
and High School Digital Art and Photography Instructor. Jon has experience
teaching college course through Blackboard at Baldwin Wallace University and was
very familiar with my course layout. He was also able to give me some great advice
regarding if my course would teach effectively.

First he commented that my course structure was easy to understand and
had a good layout. The menu is easy to navigate and the course is broken down into
easy to understand units. Jon thought my site provided good opportunities for
students to communicate through discussion boards, blogs, and the message center.
 The suggestions Jon had for my course site mostly pertained to technical
aspects of design to create the most effective online instructional opportunities. His
first suggestion about the units I designed for my class was about setting up the
units in the side bar menu and hiding them until the instructor is ready for students
to unlock them. This allowed the instructor to control the pacing of the course and
does not overwhelm students with the amount of work that would potentially be
accomplished during the course of the class.

Another suggestion Jon had was that each week, assignments that are due
could be highlighted in red to draw the students' attention. The option to hide
discussions was also suggested in order to not overwhelm students and allow them
to only focus on a few main discussions at a time. In correlation with discussions,
there is an option in the grades set up that I was not aware of where the instructor
can assign points possible for each discussion. I thought it was a good suggestion
and helps the instructor to give point values fairly and efficiently to students who
are actively participating in the course discussions.

My third expert was a student from the target population, which in my case is
high school. Corinne is a junior at Brunswick High School and has taken several
online college courses through Tri-C and also some Advanced Placement courses at
the high school. This made her an ideal person to meet with and gain insight on the
effectiveness of my course design.

After meeting with Corinne in person and explaining the course site and that
it was a work in progress, I sent her an email inviting her to join the course. After
she joined and was considered a student, I asked her to complete a few tasks to see
if she could navigate around the course easily. She posted a discussion to the
discussion board, and she commented that she liked how each discussion was
explained in detail so that she as a student understood what I was looking for. She
was asked to find certain assignments and read my blog posting on the website, all
of which she was able to do. She also took the pre-test I posted on my course site
using a link I created to Google Forms. Corrine said the course home page was
designed well with the Units broken down into topics and years. She also suggested
hiding some of the units of study and unlocking them so students don't feel
pressured to work ahead or overwhelmed by the amount of information being
presented.

All three of the course experts I interviewed had great advice that I will be
using in future revisions of my website. They all agreed that having a course
calendar with specific due dates and weekly assignments would be a helpful tool for
students to assist with time management. Overall they liked the layout of my course
site and said it was easy to navigate and understand the links on the side bar menu.
They had some good suggestions for providing students with small pieces of
information and then gradually introducing more as the course went on. I will
change some of the information my students can see all at once so I am able to set
the pace for the course when it begins.


Part Two: Formative Evaluation

Formative Evaluation is defined as the evaluation of educational programs
during their development phase for the purpose of improvement. (Weston, McAIpine,
& Bordonaro pg 30.) In order to improve my course site before implementing it with
a brand new class next school year, I plan to present the site to small groups of
students in order to gain insight and feedback from my target audience, which is
high school Juniors and Seniors. This will allow me to collect data about the
strengths and weaknesses of the course and the site that I can revise before
launching the full course in the Fall of 2016.

The type of data I need specifically focuses on course structure and design. I
want to create an online course that is manageable and easy to navigate for my
target audience. In order to do this, I will have students complete the following
tasks using their laptops in order to collect data regarding my course site.

Student Tasks for navigating in process Course Site:

1. ) Accept an invitation email and create an account to log in to my course on
Blackboard Course sites
2.) Visit the different areas of the course site from the side bar menu: open
each page and make sure you can view them
3.) Open the syllabus and send me a message in the message center about
one part of the syllabus you have a question about
4.) Post an introductory discussion post on the class discussion board,
include information about why you took the class and your hobbies,
interests, and a photo
5.) Take the pre-test on the course home page using Google Forms, press the
submit button when you are finished.

Collecting Data:

These are the following ways I will collect data and formatively evaluate my course
site after the students complete these tasks:

1.) Interview the students face to face to see what suggestions they each have
individually about course design and layout.
2.) Each student completes a Google form that asks the following short answer
questions:
a.) How easy was it to accept the course invitation and log in to the course?
b.) Was it relatively easy to navigate throughout the course menu? If you
were an actual student taking this class, what would make it easier for you to
find assignments and due dates? What would you like to see added to this
course site?
 c.) Is there anything you would change about the class discussion board,
message center, or blog area of the course site? Why or why not?
d.) Were you able to read my discussion introduction post and add your own
with a picture? How difficult was it for you to complete this task?
e.) Do you think the course pre-test was too difficult or too easy? Is there
anything I should add to this to get to know my students better?
f.) Anything else you want me know about the course layout, design,
structure, content, discussion boards or message center?

3.) I will view student information posted in the discussion board and message
center on my course site for accuracy and completeness. I will be able to see
firsthand if students were able to join the class, post discussions, send me a
message, and complete the Pre-Test.

The next steps I take will be to analyze the data provided from the students
completing the tasks, the Google Form, and meeting with me in person. I will use
this data to make revisions to my course site in order to improve it for my target
audience for the 2016 - 2017 school year. Since my course was created in
Blackboard course sites, it is very easy for me to modify information and alter the
course design and structure. This student feedback will provide me with concrete,
real world suggestions in order to structure my site more efficiently and effectively.