Kelli,
Your 'two-pronged' approach sounds like a good strategy. I especially like the synchronous component used to support the asynchronous. Do you experience a better result with this over only asynchronous posting of expectations?
I think this is very important now because everyone is very value consious. They feel that they have some control over the course.
Terry,
The scrutiny of getting 'value' in education is definitely a visible issue in our culture. What kind of expectations should faculty convey to their students at the beginning of an online class to best add value to the educational experience for the student?
I want the students to know my expectations regarding the following:
Preparation time for class - how much and what quality.
Submission of assignments - are late submissions accepted, is there a penalty, etc.
Attention to announcements - Check the CMS and your email twice a day.
Citizenship & Professionalism - appropriate behavior in forums and discussions, language in assignments, etc.
Jake,
This is a good list. Do you set any specific expectations for academic honesty, plagiarism/citations, etc.?
Those kind of items are generally covered in the syllabus, which I do let the class know is a must-read document.
Jake,
That works.
Thanks for contributing your insights.
I feel assignment deadlines are important to stress and what the consequenses are if those deadlines are not met. I also like to let students know that if they do not understand the material they should contact me for further clarification. I think it is important for students to know that they can come to me with questions no matter what the questions might be and not feel afraid.
I am there for support but it has to be a two-way street they need to put forth the effort to learn.
Amy,
These are strong components to a solid approach. Clarity on the deadlines and consequences is a critical part of setting class expectations for a quality learning experience. Emphasizing your availability and desire to answer all questions is very important to the 'two-way' street, as well. Nice job.
It can be very frustrating when teachers or students fail to meet expectations. However, it is even more frustrating when those expectations are not clearly defined at the beginning and they are held accountable to different expectations.
For faculty, the following elements are important when defining expectations:
* Response time - how long should a student expect to wait before receiving a response to any inquiry or submission.
* Availability - if and/or when can a student expect the teacher to be available for more synchronous activities.
* Student Preparedness - How prepared do you as a teacher expect a student to be, prior to attending the course, and prior to asking the teacher for help. Some students become frustrated when they ask a teacher for help and the teacher responds with more questions. You should tell the students how much effort you expect them to put into looking things up on their own prior to coming to you for help.
John,
The frustration you identified is all too common. Your list of 'elements' is a good one. The Student Preparedness is not often mentioned. That is a good description and it is very helpful. What would be the criteria (time, # of attempts, etc.) you would have the instructor use to indicate "how much effort" the teacher expects? I expect it would vary from activity to activity, course to course, and even teacher to teacher, but what are your primary criteria? Thanks for this helpful contribution.
As you mention, the details can vary depending on the philosophies of the teacher and the type of class. The fact that it can vary, however, makes it all the more important to detail for any given class.
Personally, I might add something like this to an expectations statement: "I expect the students to have read and made a reasonable effort to discover answers on their own prior to approaching the teacher for help on a particular problem or assignment. If students meet that expectation, then they can expect that I will make every effort to help them."
You don't want to seem unapproachable, but at the same time you want the students to know that you expect them to take ownership of their own learning. This should help to limit students frustration when they come to you and say, "I don't understand X" and your first response is, "What about X don't you understand and what have you already looked up to try and figure it out."
Other student expectations such as time requirements and number of assignments should be clear either from the syllabus or from the CMS.
One thing I think is particularly important in an online class is to list in the title of each activity how many hours a student can expect to spend on it. Then they can know before they start something about how much time they should allocate to it.
Hi John,
I definitely like your approach. The balance between approachability and requiring student ownership of their own learning is a progressive adjustment with many students who are new to online. The indication of expected work time for each assignment is a great idea!
I have a bachelors degree, which I obtained completely online (due to military service) and then I went on to receive a master's degree in the traditional classroom setting. I can honestly say, a majority of students are not going to read the faculty expectation statement, unfortunately. What should be done, is instructors should be active in the virtual classroom. Almost all instructors I had in my online setting were virtually non existent, so their faculty expectation statement didn't say anything buy hypocrisy. I remain active in my classrooms in the discussion boards and encourage my students to respond to each other and to my questions in the discussion, which can only enhance their grade. Showing you care says far mare than an expectation statement, at least from my point of view.
Hi Kevin,
It is so true that students can be caught up in modifications throughout the term. However, without even modifying I find that as students get deeper into the handling of the deliverables they generate more specific questions of what is expected of them. I really like the idea of confirming with a class that they are aware of the class file uploads and that they need to read the announcements before the class session.
Sincerely,
Ed
Hi Jeremy,
The old addage "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care," is true with many students in the postsecondary online classroom today. Sometimes the expectations statement is most useful for reference and reminders than the initial starting point. It is also a good idea for faculty to remind, with emails and pop-ups, the importance of reading the announcements and the benefit it provides the student in reduction of frustration, etc. Also, very good point about the teacher leading by example. Modeling the behavior that is expected is the best way to get buy-in from the students.
Hello Edward,
Confirmation, timely feedback, proactive announcements and the like, continue to provide higher student success than when they are not present. Most instructors know there is no one best solution, except maybe, an alert professional instructor who has a myriad of instructional approaches to address a variety of student types in the same class. Nevertheless, consistency with the 'old reliables' almost always has a positive impact, though not 100%. Thank you for your insights.
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Hello Sandra,
I wholeheartedly agree with the actions you indicate above, but could you expound a little on each for us.
Thank you for sharing your contribution.
Hi Dr. Vailancourt,
Having a professional background in real estate for more years than I care to remember, I do remember one interesting thing that relates to this. When I started in real estate there was a 1 page contract and 2 page disclosure. Now there is a 10 pg contract and 20 pages of disclosure. All of it proliferated to make sure the parties of the transaction knew what to expect and how the transaction operates.
When teaching, you must offer upfront information to the class and time your class announcements to coincide with the tasks at hand. Then you must taylor your communications to the students appropriately. Finally you must make sure they are downloading and or viewing the communications.
Ed
