The Development of an Instrument for Assessing Online Teaching Effectiveness

Abstract

Traditional student evaluations of teaching do not adequately assess the essential constructivist-based practices that have been recommended for effective online instruction. There is a need for student evaluation of teaching instruments that are specifically designed to provide online instructors with valid feedback about the effectiveness of their online teaching practices. This study was undertaken to develop and validate a student evaluation of online teaching effectiveness instrument based on Chickering and Gamson's (1987) Seven Principles of Effective Teaching. Eight hundred and seven students enrolled in WebCT courses at a mid-sized university in the western United States completed the Student Evaluation of Online Effectiveness (SEOTE) for this study. Results from an exploratory factor of analysis of a randomly selected sub-sample of SEOTE responses of online students yielded four interpretable factors: Student-Faculty Interaction, Active Learning, Time on Task, and Cooperation Among Students. A confirmatory factor analysis of the second subsample found that the hypothesized four-factor model fit the data well. CONSTRUCTIVISM AND ONLINE INSTRUCTIONThe use of Internet-based instruction has become standard practice for delivering coursework to students enrolled in higher education programs of study across the United States. Universities and colleges have embraced the use of online instruction as a strategy for meeting the demands of students who prefer or find it necessary to take classes at a distance. The significant growth in the number of online courses is not surprising considering that many students want to earn degrees that will positively affect their careers while at the same time allow them 227

Designing and Developing Videos for Online Learning: A Seven-Principle Model

“…While there are established student survey instruments assessing the effectiveness of instruction in traditional classroom teaching settings (e.g., Aleamoni, 1978;Marsh, 1982), the extent to which they can be transplanted to the new context of online instruction is questionable, as the instruments were developed when online learning environments were almost nonexistent (Theall & Feldman, 2007). On the other hand, the instrument developed specifically for online teaching (e.g., Bangert, 2006) was intended to assess multiple instructional dimensions. Thus, its use is limited for measuring the effectiveness of video lessons specifically.…”

The Development and Validation of the Student Evaluation of Online Teaching Effectiveness

“…In addition, an open-ended question is administered to capture more individualized and detailed student perceptions of the quality of Web-based teaching effectiveness. The technical features of the SEOTE have been documented in pilot studies (Bangert, 2004(Bangert, , 2005a as well as validation studies involving exploratory (Bangert, 2005b) and confirmatory factor analyses (Bangert, 2006).…”

The influence of social presence and teaching presence on the quality of online critical inquiry

“…Research in the field of online learning in higher education contexts suggests that constructivist compatible teaching practices are well-suited for guiding the design and delivery of online courses (e.g., Bangert, 2006;Bronack, Riedl, & Tashner, 2006;Johnson & Aragon, 2003). Instructional practices rooted in social constructivism are primarily used to operationalize Web-based instructional models that have been posited to represent quality learning experiences for online students.…”