View Effective Practices for Learning Effectiveness

• Defining Effective Participation
  Mercy College developes criteria for evaluating the quality of messages to help students post useful commentaries for their peers. -- more...
  
• Applying Research on Presence to Guide Online Discussions
  Herkimer County Community College's practice builds on research on social, cognitive and teaching presence in online course discussions by creating a rubric for guiding discussion and grading student postings. -- more...
  
• Online Peer Evaluation of Writing Assignments
  University of Florida uses peer review of written assignments to increase interaction in online courses and build a sense of community among students. -- more...
  
• Secure Testing for Online Learners
  Pace University develops secure testing procedures that enable learners to take tests regardless of proximity. -- more...
  
• Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory
  University of Maryland University College's Center for Intellectual Property shares resources to support and enforce academic integrity. -- more...
  
• Applying the Same Honor Code Online and Face to Face
  Florida State University employs an integrated academic honor code online and face to face through inculturation. -- more...
  
• Virtual Assessment of and Reflection on Student Teaching
  The Early Childhood Learning Community associate degree program at the University of Cincinnati allows students to complete the student teaching requirements in their local communities. This process could be adapted to many additional teaching and learning situations. -- more...
  
• The Electronic Portfolio - Organizing and Assessing Online Learning
  University of Massachusetts Lowell uses Intralearn to provide each student with an electronic portfolio. -- more...
  
• Orchestrating Online Education: The Creation of an Enriching and Effective Learning Experience through the Development of a Publication in Personality Psychology
  The creation of a publication in Personality Psychology course at the University of Massachusetts Lowell allowed for the integration of original writings of prominent personality theorists, famous case studies and personality assessment inventories. This not only reinforced the material found in the online course and primary textbook but, more importantly, enhanced the development of analytic skills and abilities, personal and professional insights, and collaborative efforts between faculty and students. Successful learner outcomes resulted from this enriching journey into personality psychology. -- more...
  
• Effective Feedback to the Instructor from Online Homework
  Michigan State University has been using LON-CAPA for both formative and summative assessment. Feedback from numerous sources has considerably improved instructor awareness of learner difficulties on the short, and the educational materials on the long run. Analysis mechanisms like the ones provided by LON-CAPA can facilitate research in physics education. -- more...
  
• Activities: Discussion Management
  The University at Albany emphasizes consistent abundant professor-student interaction three times a week for each week of the semester in its online MS program in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology. -- more...
  
• Lesson Plan Development Incorporating Rubrics
  University at Albany creates lesson plans in its online MS program in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology that contain evaluation rubrics for student assessment to help student understand the lessons' objectives. -- more...
  
• Having Students Set their own Goals for a Course
  Students are asked to write their own personal goals for a course at the beginning of the term, consider these goals as the course progresses, and review the goals at the end of the course. -- more...
  

• The Unique Value of Online MBA Course Syllabi
  The course syllabus serves as a useful communication tool primarily between students and faculty as it concisely outlines expectations. We are able to provide students and other interested parties with timely and consistent information on courses and we are able to provide details on key university policies. -- more...
  
• Combining Effective Individualized and Group Instruction
  This practice combines individualized (self-regulated) learning with collaborative problem-based learning to reap the benefits of both approaches in a single, completely online, graduate course in Educational Psychology. -- more...
  
• Learning and Cost Effectiveness in an Elementary Algebra Redesign
  Riverside Community College's elementary algebra course, redesigned to incorporated student interaction, helps students to learn more effectively. -- more...
  
• Integrated Assessment System for Courses, Overall Program and Post-Program Career Impacts
  This practice outlines a system of planned evaluations that together firmly support a process of continuous improvement for a distance degree program at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Key elements include: an evaluation of each course by students and faculty; an evaluation of the overall program at graduation; and a follow-up survey of alumni, their co-workers, and their family members to measure the impact of the program upon professional and personal development of alumni. -- more...
  
• Blended Learning Chemistry Course
  Harper College's blended learning chemistry course delivers instructions effectively through thoughtful course design. -- more...
  
• A New Methodology for Evaluation: The Pedagogical Rating of Online Courses
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology's pedagogical effectiveness index provides a simple yet mutlidimensional tool to the learning effectiveness of the online courses based on media, learning models and interactivity elements. -- more...
  
• Open Source CMS based on Social Constructionist Pedagogy
  Moodle is an open-course course management system (CMS) designed to help educators create quality online courses with emphasis on social constructivist pedagogy. -- more...
  
• Flexible Enrollment Options Offer Students Control of Learning
  Flexible enrollment options offer learners choices and control of their pace of learning at Washington State University. -- more...
  
• Personalized, Student-Centered Life-Long Learning for Adult Learners
  University of Phoenix's online courses are designed for adults to learn efficiently through interactive discussions. -- more...
  

• Tutorial Instructional Model
  The tutorial instructional model approach, developed by Northern Virginia Community College, builds learner-instructor interaction into the learning process, enabling satisfying levels of interaction between faculty and students. -- more...
  
• Actively Learning Online Human Anatomy
  Rio Salado College utilizes active learning methods to improve learning effectiveness, and faculty and student satisfaction. -- more...
  
• Student-Led Discussion Build Complex Understandings of Psychology Concepts
  A grading system developed by Herkimer County Community College that rewards thoughtful questions and thorough answers leads to a better understanding of course concepts. -- more...
  
• Assuring Connection and Connectivity to Entry Level Students through an Extended, Instructor-Led Orientation Class
  Saint Leo University requires students to take a mandatory eight-week, instructor-led orientation class which assists students with transitional issues, and provides an overview of different support services. -- more...
  
• The Mock Trial Project
  University of Massachusetts Lowell offers the Mock Trial Project as a part of an ethics course to get students to think critically about ethical issues. -- more...
  
• Using Cohorts to Build an Online Learning Community
  The cohort structure of The Masters of Science in Organizational Behavior (MSOL) ONLINE at Mercy College creates an extensive learning community for the students in this non-resident, 12-month interdisciplinary graduate program by providing opportunities for consistent supportive interactions between students, between online students and the larger Mercy community, between students and instructors, between students and their mentors, and between the instructors themselves. -- more...
  

• Offering English GSCE Preparation Online
  The Sheffield College (UK) offers a highly effective online course to prepare learners for the English GCSE qualification exam. -- more...
  

• PBS/WGBH/Nova models The Elegant Universe with multimedia online
  Nova Science Programming's "The Elegant Universe" models effective multimedia, while narrating the Theory of Everything (T.O.E), also known as string theory: the theory of large and small. -- more...
  
• Accounting Online: Practical application of concepts using online resources (EDGAR)
  The development of financial reporting illustrations has been made easier through the use of internet resources and the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR corporate information database. The effective use of financial reporting illustrations in accounting classes at the University of Massachusetts Lowell has helped to improve accounting education, students' satisfaction, and faculty satisfaction. -- more...
  
• Mentored Self-Paced Learning Works for Online K-12 Professional Development Courses
  The Learning To Teach with Technology Studio (LTTS) at the Indiana University School of Education uses a self-paced, one-on-one mentored format for more than 45 courses designed primarily to serve K-12 teacher professional development needs. -- more...
  
• Creation of Focused Educational Planning Environment Meets Army Student Needs
  Empire State College developed a new Educational Planning course designed to focus and streamline the educational planning process for military students, helping to bridge them to an academic environment and adequately prepare them for academic success in upper level courses. -- more...
  
• ViCTORY (Operation Virtual Counselor Transforms Online Resources for You) is eArmyU's model for Soldier academic support and success.
  Operation ViCTORY is a fully integrated proactive student support process that coordinates and promotes outreach to all eArmyU soldiers. -- more...
  
• S.I.D.E. Road - Success in Distance Education
  Long Beach City College's "S.I.D.E. Road - Success in Distance Education" project assists current and prospective Distance Learning (DL) students, as well as faculty, in having a successful distance learning experience. -- more...
  
• Repurposeable Learning Objects: the TALON Learning Object System
  Indiana University-Bloomington creates learning objects which can be easily reprogrammed to fit an instructor's need. -- more...
  
• Seeing Course Requirements Before Enrolling Helps Students Manage Time
  Troy State University, Montgomery allows students to see the full detail of the syllabus before enrollment, which helps students and their advisors make better enrollment choices. -- more...
  
• Social Presence Begins with Introductions
  At Florida State University, perceptions of learning effectiveness correlate with perceptions of social presence, thus providing social presence through opening introductions is helpful. -- more...
  
• Wizards: Student Tutors Help Peers Learn
  Mercy College's "wizards" are peer-to-peer mentors and collaborators that tutor students and assist professors. -- more...
  
• Syllabus Display and Time on Task
  Troy State University--Montgomery posts detailed descriptions of program requirements to enable students to enroll in programs and courses that fit in their schedule. -- more...
  
• Introduction to Course and Professor Welcomes Learners
  Washington State University uses brief RealPlayer videos to introduce the professor and his/her courses and help the students understand the courses objectives. -- more...
  
• Tools for enhancing learning effectiveness
  FernUniversitat Hagen's communication tools help distribute learning materials and reduce transmission costs. -- more...
  
• IVC Online Student Resource Center
  The Illinois Virtual Campus provides a targeted online student service center to orient students to the online learning environment. -- more...
  
• Courselets Designed for Custom Tutorials
  Stanford University uses courselets, self-contained, integrated sets of learning materials to enhance the learning experience for students and reduce the demand for faculty time. -- more...
  
• Online Executive MBA Orientation
  The Orientation course improves learning effectiveness because the content is geared towards learning important course navigation skills, practising online collaboration, and building student confidence for new graduate students. We are able to address student concerns and anxieties up front, before they start their academic courses, and we are able to ensure that students are set up properly in terms of the technology, so that they can start their first academic course (Strategic Management) and “hit the ground running.” -- more...
  
• Transforming Traditional Education
  The University of Vermont College of Medicine transformed its new integrated curriculum by adding a wide variety of educational technology tools and applications to its courses. This transformation is being driven by COMET (College of Medicine Education Tools), a team of educational technologists that has helped to create a hybrid learning environment that includes reusable learning objects, virtual reality models, streaming audio and video, and online exams. -- more...
  

• Learning Effectiveness Also Focuses on Faculty
  Pennsylvania State World Campus launched an online faculty training course that gives the faculty a better perception of the ALN environment. -- more...
  
• Knowing Behavior Patterns Helps Teaching and Learning
  The University of Central Florida investigated learning styles of online learners based on the theories of William LOng, which explain that individuals exhibit four basic patterns of response to ambivalence. Knowing these patterns helps teachers remove obstacles to learning. -- more...
  

• Strategies for Mentoring Online Adult Learners in a Competency-Based Degree Program
  Western Governors University develops useful mentor strategies to help students progress through online degree programs timely and successfully -- more...