The qualitative study on which this article is based examined key individuals' perceptions, both within a research university community and beyond in its external governing board, of how to improve benchmarking as an accountability method in higher education. Differing understanding of benchmarking revealed practical implications for using it as an accountability tool. A change model is presented for enhancing the effectiveness of benchmarking in higher education communities.
Exploration of how to assure effective teaching and learning online is extremely important and timely as many institutions seek to maximize the educational benefits from this constantly developing technology. This study categorizes principles gathered from an extensive review of the literature focusing on current best practices for effective teaching and learning in online courses. It compares the presence of those principles in items gleaned from a review of assessment instruments currently in use by thirteen Georgia institutions and several national online courses. Results, which were used to inform the revision of the University System of Georgia eCore course evaluation instrument, provide a rubric for assessing and informing other instruments used to evaluate online course instruction.
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