• If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Giannamore Critique 1

Page history last edited by Kathleen Giannamore 7 years, 5 months ago Saved with comment

E-LEARNING QUALITY ASSURANCE:

A PERSPECTIVE OF BUSINESS TEACHER

EDUCATORS AND DISTANCE LEARNING

COORDINATORS

       Betty F. Chapman, Ronda G. Henderson

Summary

In this study, the researchers were trying to determine the extent to which the web-based Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP), benchmarks were present in online business education courses and programs. This research is important because the number of students enrolled in online programs is growing rapidly and there is a push by school administrators to grow these online programs even further. Educators such as these business teacher educators as well as distance learning coordinators have a responsibility to deliver quality online programming. While many studies have been done regarding the effectiveness of online learning, prior research revealed a hole in the literature regarding exactly how quality is assessed in online programs.

The study attempted to answer the questions:

1. What are the personal and employment characteristics of business teacher

educators and distance learning coordinators who offer business teacher education programs at their institutions?

2. To what extent are quality assurance benchmarks present in institutions that offer business education programs?

3. To what extent are additional quality assurance benchmarks considered important by business teacher educators and distance learning coordinators?

The study surveyed a population of 64 business teacher educators and 62 distance learning coordinators who, with the exception of one Canadian institution, were from institutions of higher education located in the United States.

Instrumentation included a 24-item elearning quality assessment survey.  The study yielded a 39% response rate. The respondents were made up of 33 business teacher educators and 16 distance learning coordinators. Descriptive data were used to answer the research questions. Data were analyzed to compute frequencies and compare means and percentages between the two groups of respondents.

Results indicated that overall, the business teacher educators and distance learning coordinators generally agreed that the 24 e-learning quality benchmarks from the IHEP were present in their online courses and programs and that the additional 19 benchmarks were important.

Evaluation

It’s interesting to note that in this particular study, the researcher discusses the limitations prior to any mention of methodology, procedures and the like. While the study proposed the research to 62 Learning Coordinators of the National Association of Business Teacher Educators ( NABTE), only a small sample (16 total) actually participated.  For that reason, the researchers start off by indicating that the results of the study are not generalizable. Additionally, the presence of the individual benchmarks was self-reported by Business teacher educators and distance learning coordinators from the 16 schools and not by an outside reviewer. 

Demographic information was collected to answer the first question regarding the qualifications of those teacher educators and distance learning coordinators involved in online programming.  The information was self-reported and included things like level of education, number of years teaching at the university level, age, rank, etc. This was an appropriate method for the first research question.  However, for questions 2 and 3, respondents filled out a likert-type survey indicating their perception of the presence, first of the 24 IHEP benchmarks, and then of the importance of an additional 19 benchmarks. 

The study then compared the two groups’ (educators and coordinators) answers for consistency and based upon the level of consistency between them, came to the conclusion that IHEP benchmarks such as institutional support, course development, teaching and learning and course structure are present in their courses.  This part of the research is flawed in that it merely measures the perceptions of each group without substantial evidence that these benchmarks actually exist.

It would be wise to have a member of the research team or an objective party, examine the online program including a sample of online business courses in order to determine whether or not these benchmarks are actually being adhered to and to what extent. In this way, recommendations could be made for program improvement as well as for the potential for future research.

That being said, however the results were consistent with two previous studies from 2002, indicating the use and importance of the 24 IHEP benchmarks. In the end, the researchers make some sweeping statements regarding general characteristics of online business teachers such as – most are females over 50 years old, which really seem a little unwarranted considering the earlier warnings that the study is not generalizable. They also make a general recommendation that administrators closely monitor new courses for the presence of these benchmarks without definitive proof that they are actually adhered to in the current courses. To the researcher’s credit, however, they did once again suggest that this research be retried with a larger and more diverse sample of the population.

 

Chapman, B. F., & Henderson, R. G. (2010). E-Learning Quality Assurance: A Perspective of Business Teacher Educators and Distance Learning Coordinators. The Delta           Pi Epsilon Journal, LII(1), 16–31.

 

 

 

Comments (1)

Chip Ingram said

at 10:56 am on Oct 18, 2016

I would have liked some more detail here. Specifically, why might this study be considered important and to whom? In the early part of the paper, what do the authors say about that? Second, how well does the methodology actually fit the questions being asked. Is the self-report of the people involved actually tell us what is going on? How might you do this study better?

You don't have permission to comment on this page.