Michele,
The "set-up for success from day 1" is what needs to be protrayed to the students. Very good.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Dr. James ,
These are all very good. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Alan,
As you have stated, learners have a number of different expectations and quite often those expectations are not in line with the course objectives. Therefore, in fairness to the learners, I ask upfront “what are your expectations� This listening approach is valuable in constructing my faculty expectations statement. It is critical to discuss the objectives, which will provide a framework to ensure learners achieve results through coaching and mutual feedback.
Barbara, I agree with you that it is detrimental to our students to not require such basic expectations in any classroom setting. When such standards are not required we short change our students and as you argue we do not meet the expectations of what we as educators should be working to accomplish.
I agree with the comments to date. I think it is important to reinforce assignment deadlines, expectations and to encourage students to meet them by providing additional information.
In my experience to date, students appreciate additional information related to the assignment lists. Specifically, a simple announcement with information relevant to the assignments (resources etc) and a reminder of the date can prove very helpful.
While I agree that the assignments are outlined in the assignment list and readily available, posting announcements with additional information shows a level of engagement on the part of the instructor. Students appreciate that additional information and often comment that they appreciate the level of engagement.
Faculty expectations are extremely important. They let the student know what the instructor's policies and are set-up for success from day 1. Moving from one online class to another can cause anxiety for students because of the different expectations. When an instructor clearly outlines their polices and expectations it reducts the student's anxiety and feels as though the instructor wants them to be successful.
James: I would think that it is difficult for any school to demand what should be in the expectations due to academic freedom!
Sandy: I believe that setting the tone of a class is very important, and has to be brought to the table from the beginning to end of the course. What do you think!
Gershom: Even though I did not list feedback as an expectation, it is without a doubt one of the most important items in the learning process for a student. Not matter what the environment!
There are a few important ones that come to mind: First: Inform the student just what manner the written assignments are do.
Second: Make sure the student understands the grading process.
Three: Make sure the student understands the point loss for late submission of assignments.
Four: The student should understand that a group assignment, means a group assignment.
Five: Make sure the student understands the communication process for the course, be it e-mail, discussion boards, or chat rooms.
Madhuchanda,
You are very correct. Good list.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Leigh,
Very thorough. The visual breakup is excellent.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
maryln,
These are all good ones. Very nice.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
It is very important that the course expectations are very clearly stated at the beginning of the course.
Here are some of the things that need to be listed in the expectations, at a minimum.
1) Late policy
2) Use of APA format for Individual Projects
3) Posting requirements on the Discussion Board
4) Plagarism policy
The Course Expectations which I post usually covers basic things like the Late Policy, Participation Requirements, Academic Honesty, How to Contact the Instructor, What to do in case of Emergency, or Computer "Blow ups", etc.. I also like to include a "please do" list, and "please don't" list (with an emphasis on the first), where I cover some best practices and some basic no-no's (like 'please don't use Wikipedia').
I start out my Course Expectations with a description of how much time a student should allot to the course work, and approximately how they should "schedule" their reading and coursework throughout the week. For instance, I suggest they allow 30 minutes per day to apply themselves to the reading and assignments (or one hour every other day). This seems to me to be the type of direction that many students need, but is not always offered. I am not sure that any student has actually taken my recommendations and put them into practice directly, but it gives me some peace of mind to lay this out for them.
One difficulty which I run into is that my Course Expectations is a large document. It is about 2 full pages. I try and break it up visually, and categorize the information, so that students can read it easily (hoping that more will read it), and apply the information. Of course, the same information is gone through in our first discussion, but it is always nice to be able to point to the written word.
Sharing the expectations with the students at the beginning of the term is important. The instructor should let the students how to contact him/her, knowing what the graded components are of the course and also provide a grading rubric. Let the students know what your late policy is about accepting assignments after the due date. Give them a calendar of the due dates for the different assignments.
The expectations should state the importance of using rubrics for evaluation of students work to ensure that the same standard is used with every student. On addition, the expectations should include setting clear course expectations for students, maintaining supportive tone, participating in discussion threads, providing engaging chat sessions, being available for student questions during office hours, etc.
This is an issue, definitely. Faculty grading deadlines are the biggest issue I have found. To avoid any misunderstanding, the deadlines for faculty grading should be made clear to the students. I have noticed, however, that students sometimes do not read the course information in the syllabus, so a separate announcement helps with this.
For many of my students, this is oneof the first, if not the first, online classes they will take preparing for their degree. Ensuring that they know what to expect from me and the course specifically would be helpful for them to set realistic expectations.
I would want my students to understand the basic parameters of the course including how it is organized and the assignments each week. The assignment expectations including length and format would also be helpful for them.
Knowing how to contact me and when I will be available for immediate help with questions as well as classroom synchronous activities would also be useful.
Finally, knowing how soon their assignments will be graded each week and how they will be graded would be good information for students to have.
Derek Outland
Matt,
I mentioned academic honesty in my post, but I forgot to include the late policy. Some institutions have their own standard policy while others allow the instructor to set their own late policy. Regardless of the policy, learners need to hold themselves accountable. In your experience, what has proven to be a well accepted late policy, and why?
Jay Familant
