Instructional Design & Technology

Evaluating online courses

As with any other course taught at Rutgers University–Camden, online courses are observed and evaluated by the chairs of their academic departments.

To request access to an online course in Sakai or Canvas:

1. The request can initiate only from an academic department chair or dean, but can designate any faculty member as the “official observer”
2. Send email to idt@camden.rutgers.edu requesting “observer access” to the course. Include instructor name, course number and title, and semester
3. The requester, the observer, and the instructor will all receive notice when access is granted
4. Note: if the instructor uses external course systems (such as Pearson MyLabs) as a significant tool in teaching, the instructor must request access to that system, generally via customer service, for the observer

Guidelines for evaluating online courses at RUC:

• Our online courses may be developed in Sakai or in eCollege.
• The course should include an introduction page, a syllabus with schedule (see sample syllabus), and weekly modules presenting all student material by unit
  • Organization and consistency is critical to student success; the student should never feel lost (“What am I supposed to be doing now?”)
  • As in classroom courses, the syllabus should include standard text about academic integrity and disability services
  • Explicit communication and grading policies must be available to students
• In most cases, each weekly unit should include:
  • Explicit, measurable learning goals
  • Readings
  • Original lecture material, generally augmented with external resources (we don’t repackage commercial courses; see Slate article “College in a Box“)
  • Assessments, including regular class discussions, tests and quizzes, writing assignments, projects, homework, etc.—due dates must be explicit
• Ideally, an online course promotes the development of an interactive “community of learners” and motivates student participation with frequent, low-stakes assessments. Look for:
  • Introductions during the first week, shared among students and instructor
  • Regular announcements to the class, from the instructor, with updates, introduction of new units, general class feedback on performance, etc. (minimum: 2 announcements per week)
  • Weekly, interactive, graded discussions among students, with meaningful contributions by instructor (bare minimum: 4 discussions per semester and 3-4 posts by instructor per discussion)
  • Weekly low-stakes assessments with timely feedback. In addition to discussions, these could include computer-graded reading-check quizzes, regular homework assignments, short writing assignments, etc.
  • Grading must be completed quickly so that students receive motivating feedback (for instance, weekly discussions should be graded within 24 hours of close)