Assessment in Online Programs: Use in Strategic Planning for Faculty/Adjunct Development and Course Instruction to Improve Faculty and Student Engagement

摘要

This article describes the use of assessment in the design and implementation stages of launching online courses and programs. While use of assessment for improving student engagement in both face-to-face and online courses has been commonly used, the authors augmented the strategic planning of programs to include assessment as a tool for designing faculty/adjunct training sessions to simultaneously improve faculty engagement. Employed initiatives were based on the hypothesis that high faculty engagement during training would yield higher quality courses, leading to greater course satisfaction and engagement by both students and faculty. Results are provided from two online programs in the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences at the University of West Florida. To demonstrate these strategies, a case example is also provided on the use of Second Life as an instructional tool to improve faculty and student engagement, and to development a sense of online community. Outcomes were tracked along four criteria: (a) quality enhancement, (b) accountability, (c) marketability, and (d) productivity. Results included improved student and faculty satisfaction with engagement inrndeveloped courses, low operational costs due to low turnover rate in trained faculty/adjuncts, and improved tracking of quality enhancement data for accreditation efforts.