Transcript Rossiter ELI 2013 Final

Aligning the Key
Dimensions of Online
Learning Environments to
Enable Student Success
Dr Darien Rossiter
and
Janet Baker
Third international conference e-Learning and distance learning
Australian Higher Education
Key Features
 Government Led Sector Reform  improve completion rates – 2012 - 36.8% of 25-40 year olds
with bachelor or higher degree
(DIIRSTE)
 increase in participation from low SES & indigenous students
 Quality – establish TEQSA, Higher Education Quality
Standards
 Increase in diversity of student population - led to increase in
need for student support
 Growth in online education (18.6% 2008 – 2013)
(Ibis World)
Australian Higher Education
Sector
Online Enrolment Increase 2010-2011 (%)
9.00%
8.30%
8.00%
Commencing students
All students
7.00%
6.00%
4.70%
5.00%
4.00%
2.90%
3.00%
1.70%
2.00%
1.20%
1.00%
0.40%
0.00%
Internal
External (online)
Multi-modal (online components)
Australian Government Quality
Agenda
 Tertiary Education Quality & Standards Agency: Regulatory
“watchdog”
 Higher Education Standards Panel:
 Standards Framework
 Provider Standards, Qualification Standards, Teaching and
Learning Standards, Information Standards and Research
Standards
• Australian Qualifications Framework Council
Diversity of the Online
Student Cohort
 Professionals wishing to upgrade skills;
 Career changers who take up study for entry into a
different profession;
 Mature-aged students who take up units for personal
interest;
 International students of a language background other
than English (LBOTE);
 Students with health issues or special needs
 Students with carer responsibilities
 Traditional school leavers
 Non-traditional students and ‘At-risk’ students
Reasons for Studying Online
5%
32%
54%
work commitments
family or personal
can't get to campus
prefer to study this way
catch up on study elsewhere
36%
41%
Source: OUA Student Survey 2011
Student Feedback
Best and worst things about being an online learner
Worst
Best
Confusion/overwhelmed
Structure
Friendships
Lack of disruptions
Great feedback
Stimulating/motivating
Degree from a recognised
university
Cyberbullying
Online degree not as credible
Having to wait for feedback
Having to give peer feedback
Technology issues
Feeling ignored/neglected
Online lectures
Reduced support
OUA, Griffith University, University of South
Australia, Curtin University Study 2011-2012
What is Student Success and
Who Determines it?
Government
The Student
Employers
University
Senior
Managers
Academic
Staff
Industry
What is Student Success?
 Measures of Success




Completion
Student retention and attrition
Progression
Engagement
 Grades and Assessment
 Student Satisfaction
Grades and Assessment
Students feedback on the influence of grades
Well, for someone who was a C grade student in school I’ve got five passes, two
credits and a distinction … I never, I never considered ever getting a distinction ...
(OUA Interview)
Well, I guess really the most exciting thing for me has been my distinction in every
subject, getting quite good results really in the end, I think really that would be it.
(OUA Interview)
My positives, you know I just, I think really I was daunted, halfway in you know, I
sort of realised, “I can do this”, with my results I got two distinctions with a credit .
(UOW Interview)
University of Wollongong /OUA Study
on Student Engagement 2012
Enabling Student Success
 Institutional strategies for
engagement and motivation
 Effective student support and
interventions
What is Student Engagement?
Student engagement is concerned with the interaction
between the time, effort and other relevant resources
invested by both students and their institutions intended
to optimise the student experience and enhance the
learning outcomes and development of students and the
performance, and reputation of the institution.
(Trowler, 2010)
Effective Student Engagement
Data from the AUSSE surveys tell us:
- Engagement with the learning community is closely linked with
student satisfaction and success
Student engagement in educationally purposeful activities is
positively related to academic outcomes.
(Kuh et al., 2008).
Is Online Learning a Barrier to
Effective Engagement?
 AUSSE Briefing (August 2008)
indicates that online learners are
not necessarily less engaged
with their learning and their
institution than the on-campus
students
 Building student identity & sense
of belonging – decrease
alienation – a stranger in a
foreign land (Mann, 2001)
Dimensions of Online Learning
 Course design and development
 Student support
 Staff professional development
 Learning technologies
Course Design and Development
 Personalisation
 Adaptive Learning
 Authentic Learning
 Collaborative Learning
 Supported Learning
Learning, Teaching and
Assessment Model
OUA Model
Student Support
 Academic study skills
 Counselling
 Preparatory and language assistance units
 Services for students with disabilities and special
needs
 Online resources
 Social support
 Careers advice
Value of Support Mechanisms
Support is a condition that promotes student retention. Research points to
several types of support that promote retention, in particular academic and
social support.
(Tinto, 2009).
The most important criterion for staying in college is the student’s social
support network.
(Skahill, 2002/2003)
For non-traditional students - importance of:
validation, when faculty, students, friends, parents and spouses made an
effort to acknowledge these students and what they were trying to achieve.
(Rendon,1998)
compensatory effect of student engagement for students who are
academically unprepared or first in their families to go to college.
(Kuh et al., 2008)
Student Engagement Lifecycle
Career Advice and
Information
Thinking about
studying
–
browsing the web or
talking to Student
Advisors
Counselling services
and
Academic support
and
Student Success Hub
End of the Study Period
–
exams and final
assignment preparation
Enrolling
–
preparation for the start
of the Study Period
Middle of the Study
Period
–
feeling the pressure
Start of the Study
Period
–
learning what to do
Week 3 Census Date
–
making the commitment
PREP units,
Counselling
and
Disability Services
Proactive intervention
emails
OUA Model
Staff Professional Development
Formal Accredited
• Graduate Certificate / Masters in
Tertiary Education
• Short Courses and Modules e.g.
Formal Unaccredited
Self-help Online
Resources
• Engaging Learners in Online Discussion
• Foundations in Learning and Teaching
• Personalisation and Student Learning
• Using Adaptive Technologies
• Designing Learning for the Online Environment
•Just-in-time, Bite–sized
Resources on Specific Topics e.g.
•e-publication tools to enhance student content
•Using social media for collaboration
•Packaging content outside the LMS
•Using technology for Peer Review
•Asynchronous collaboration using wikis
•Sourcing Open Educational Content
•Accessibility
Learning Technologies Framework
• Learning Management
Systems (and beyond)
• Mobile Technologies
• Telepresence/
Simulation
• Web 2.0
• Analytics and
Assessment Tools
Quality Online Learning
Environment
Aligning all components for student
success
• Student support
• Staff professional development
• Learning technologies
• Framework for course design
Importance of Alignment
“All components in the system address the same agenda
and support each other. The students are ‘entrapped’ in
this web of consistency, optimising the likelihood that they
will engage the appropriate learning activities.”
(Biggs, 2012)
Data Analytics
Potential Data sources
• Demographic & geographic
• Survey and eDM
• Study load
• Academic background
• Student service usage (study skills, student coaching)
• Academic performance model, segmentation, intervention
• LMS usage (eg. GA & analytics tools in PREP)
• Interactions with other students (discussion forum)
Data Analytics
Potential Data sources
• Demographic & geographic
• Survey and eDM
• Study load
• Academic background
• Student service usage (study skills, student coaching)
• Academic performance model, segmentation, intervention
• LMS usage (eg. GA & analytics tools in PREP)
• Interactions with other students (discussion forum)
What is Learning Analytics?
“Learning analytics (LA) is the measurement, collection, analysis
and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for
purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the
environment in which it occurs. Learning analytics are largely
concerned with improving learner success.”
SOLAR, 2011, Open Learning Analytics: An Integrated and
Modularized Platform
How Can Learning Analytics Support
Student Success?
 Real time information to
student and teacher on
engagement and interactions
 Insights that are meaningful
and actionable
 “Nudge analytics” – timely
interventions to keep
students moving in the right
direction
 Improve course design
 Predictive modeling
To Conclude...
Student success does not arise by
chance.
It is the result of an intentional,
structured, and proactive set of
strategies that are coherent and
systematic in nature and carefully
aligned to the same goal.
(Tinto, 2009)
Thank You
Questions