. Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:18:27 -0700 From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: STLHE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: AERA-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [Net-Gold] Re: Results from The Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education If you reply to this long (9 kB) post please don't hit the reply button unless you prune the copy of this post that may appear in your reply down to a few relevant lines, otherwise the entire already archived post may be needlessly resent to subscribers. *************************************** ABSTRACT: James Moses (2010), president of the "Primary Research Group," in a recent post pointed to his group's "Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education" and to the fact that the survey covers, among many other things, EFFORTS IN ASSESSMENT. Before paying $149 for the report, some might like to know if any of those assessment efforts indicted the degree of student learning in so-called "Distance Learning" programs. *************************************** James Moses (2010), president of the Primary Research Group <http://tinyurl.com/y2hbz8u>, in a post to STLHE-L wrote [bracketed by lines "MMMMM. . . . ."]: MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Primary Research Group has published The Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education, 2010 Edition, ISBN 1-57440-147-5. The 200+ page report gives detailed benchmarking data from more than 50 participating higher education distance learning programs. The report presents highly specific data on spending on various forms of marketing methods such as Facebook, Yahoo and Google ads, and ezine, magazine, newspaper, radio, billboard and television advertising, to mention a few. The report also gives detailed information on trends in revenues, tuition, financial aid, enrollment and other critical issues for higher education distance learning program administrators. Coverage includes course development costs, use of new technologies, and EFFORTS IN ASSESSMENT and tutoring. [My CAPS.] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For further information view our website at <http://www.PrimaryResearch.com> MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Before paying $149 for the report - see at <http://tinyurl.com/yecjorm> - some might like to know if any of the "efforts in assessment" had indicted the degree of student learning in so-called "Distance Learning" programs. In the abstract of "Can Distance and Classroom Learning Be Increased?" [Hake (2008a)], I wrote HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Professor Scott Overmyer of Baker College, in a discussion list post, raised four points bearing on a question of interest to those involved in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): CAN DISTANCE AND CLASSROOM LEARNING BE INCREASED? My answer: "YES" - judging from the fact that PRE/POST TESTING in courses in Newtonian mechanics has demonstrated an approximately two-standard-deviation superiority in average normalized gains <g> for classroom "interactive engagement" methods over "traditional" classroom methods. Similarly, pre/post testing *might* demonstrate a substantive superiority over traditional classroom teaching for *both* classroom and distance education that recognize recent advances in cognitive science and emphasize learning rather than teaching. But such demonstration probably cannot be achieved if scholars of teaching and learning continue to rely on low-resolution gauges of students' learning. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH "Interactive Engagement" courses are defined *operationally* in Hake (1998a) as "those designed at least in part to promote conceptual understanding through the active engagement of students in heads-on (always) and hands-on (usually . . . [[but not always, as in the case of Mazur's"Peer Instruction"]]. . . . .) activities that yield IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK through discussion with peers and/or instructors." Among gauges of student learning with (in my opinion) low resolution compared with that of pre/post testing (using valid and consistently reliable tests developed by *disciplinary experts*) are [see Hake (2008a) for the references]: 1. end-of-course exams and course grades; 2. Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET's); 3. Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) [MacIsaac (2008)]; 4. National Survey Of Student Engagement [NSSE (2008)]; 5. Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) plus CLAss Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE) [Rhem (2007)]; 6. Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) [Seymour et al. (2005)]; and 7. Knowledge Surveys [Nuhfer & Knipp (2003)]. Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University 24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References (PEDAR) <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi> <http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com> <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake> REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy <http://tinyurl.com/create.php>.] Hake, R.R. 1998a. "Interactive-engagement vs traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses," Am. J. Phys. 66: 64-74; online at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/ajpv3i.pdf> (84 kB). Hake, R.R. 1998b. "Interactive-engagement methods in introductory mechanics courses," online at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/IEM-2b.pdf> (108 kB). A crucial companion paper to Hake (1998a). Hake, R.R. 2007. Distance Learning: Is There Any? online at <http://tinyurl.com/yevjqkh>. A response [similar to this one] to Moses (2007) [similar to the present Moses (2010)]. Post of 9 August to AERA-A, AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-J, AERA-L, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Biolab (rejected), Chemed-L, EdResMeth, EvalTalk, IFETS, ITForum (rejected), Math-Teach, Phys-L, PhysLrnR, POD, RUME, STLHE-L, TIPS, and WBTOLL-L. Hake, R.R. 2008a. "Can Distance and Classroom Learning Be Increased?" International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 2(1), January; online at <http://tinyurl.com/2t5sro>. See also Hake (2007, 2008b) Hake, R.R. 2008b. "Online Education as Institutional Myth" online at <http://tinyurl.com/ydkz4lj> Post of 24 Jan 2008 14:30:00-0800 to AERA-D, AERA-L, ASSESS, Biopi-L, BioLab (rejected), Chemed-L, EdResMeth, EvalTalk, IFETS, ITForum (rejected), NetGold, PhysLrnR, POD, PsychTeacher (rejected), TeachingEdPsych, TIPS, & WBTOLL. Moses, J. 2007. "Results from the Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education," POD post of 8 Aug 2007 12:03:22-0400; online at <http://tinyurl.com/y7haupt>. Moses, J. 2010. "Results from The Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education," online on the OPEN! STLHE-L archives at <http://tinyurl.com/y6jjhm3>. Post of 9 Apr 2010 12:57:44-0300 to STLHE-L and WBTOLL-L. See the similar post Moses (2007). .