As many of you know we have subscriptions to a couple of Magna Publications including Online Learning. I have referenced Online Learning in several blog posts and have heard from many of you that you have gotten great ideas from this publication.
Magna Publications also publishes a free e-newsletter called Faculty Focus. This publication has a lot of great information about online learning and provides great insight into many topics that concern faculty in Higher Education.
Recently, Faculty Focus published an article about using self check exercises in online courses. This is a great article about the importance of these self check exercises and how they can improve learning in online learners. Here are a few highlights of the article:
What are self check exercises?
They are problems (with answers) given to learners that allow them to assess how they are doing on an ongoing basis
Why are they helpful?
Studies show that these types of activities help learners keep tabs on their progress and adjust their efforts, know when to seek help, and stay on track
Where does a course designer begin?
Are there concepts that learners consistently have problems understanding? Are there terms that learners need to memorize or concepts that they need to understand? These might be the best places to start.
If you are able to work self checks into the courses you are designing your students will only benefit from them!
I also wanted to make you aware of a few changes that are happening to the course standardization requirements.
- Test Set-Up: Tests should be set up as one question at a time with backtracking enabled. This set up allows for the least amount of student issues.
- Extra Credit: Extra Credit should not be in any course. Extra credit can diminish the rigor of our courses, as well as contribute to grade inflation.
Have a great week!
Amy
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