Julie Thomas

Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research

This literature review summarizes research on online teaching and learning. It is organized into four topics: course environment, learners’ outcomes, learners’ characteristics, and institutional and administrative factors. The authors found little consistency of terminology, discovered some conclusive guidelines, and identified developing lines of inquiry. The conclusions overall suggest that most of the studies reviewed were descriptive and exploratory, that most online students are nontraditional and Anglo American, and that few universities have written policies, guidelines, or technical support for faculty members or students. Asynchronous communication seemed to facilitate in-depth communication (but not more than in traditional classes), students liked to move at their own pace, learning outcomes appeared to be the same as in traditional courses, and students with prior training in computers were more satisfied with online courses. Continued research is needed to inform learner outcomes, learner characteristics, course environment, and institutional factors related to delivery system variables in order to test learning theories and teaching models inherent in course design.

Raising the bar: Encouraging high level thinking in online discussion forums

More universities are offering online instruction for students though we know little about effective online learning. Some have found online instruction increases student participation while others have reported that students prefer the traditional face‐to‐face format This study of gifted education graduate students follows the expectation that online students ought to have time to be more thoughtful with online course interactions as compared to the time‐constrained interactions in a face‐to‐face course. Researchers evaluated students’ thinking levels (as per Blooms Taxonomy) in the online discussion forums required by a graduate course in gifted education. Results indicate there was no relationship between the level of the prompt and the level of the responses. Higher level prompts did not necessarily generate higher level responses. The research‐developed Rubric for Evaluation of Online Discussions can be used both as an instructional guide and as an evaluation rubric to assess the level of online discussions.

Validating the Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT -C): Exploring Mental Models and Teacher Beliefs

The National Science Education Standards [National Research Council (NRC), 1996] encourage science learning as an active, inquiry-based activity that children do rather than something that is done to them. Following the explicit goal of the standards to establish scientific literacy for all, students are expected to participate in hands-on and minds-on learning experiences that reflect the intellectual traditions of contemporary science. Standards-based lessons involve children in inquiryoriented investigations, help them to establish connections, encourage questions, promote problem solving, and support group discussions. In the words of the standards,