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Name
of Project: Creation of an Online Version of ART 160: Introduction
to the Visual and Performing Arts
Description:
Sabrina DeTurk (Art and Art History) and Gary Clabaugh
(Education) worked to develop an online version of ART 160: Introduction
to the Visual and Performing Arts (previously titled ART 270: Art
and Music). This is a course that is required of all Elementary
and Special Education majors in order to fulfill state requirements
for teacher certification. It is hoped that offering an online version
of the course will allow those students more scheduling flexibility,
especially as they will now be fulfilling both the ESE major requirements
and also those for a major in American Studies.
| Goals: |
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| To
create an online version of this course that would include the
following elements: |
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Asynchronous
communication between students and professors |
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Media
resources (Web sites, images, sound, PowerPoint and other documents) |
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Information
on the visual arts, dance, theatre, and music and their use
in the education process |
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Assignments
that would replicate - to the extent possible - the "hands-on"
experiences offered in the classroom version of the course |
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Online
assessment opportunities |
Outcomes:
The
online course was offered in the fall 2002 semester for the first
time with 9 students (all ESE majors) enrolled. Sabrina DeTurk was
the instructor. It was decided to run the course using the Lotus
Learning Space platform and this worked well for providing most
of the desired course elements. A more robust assessment tool, better
options for student portfolio development, and better tracking tools
for student activity in the online discussion area would be desirable.
Hopefully these functions will be included in new course management
software to be purchased in the next year. In terms of student outcomes,
it is too early to have final data but participation rates are strong
and anecdotal evidence suggests a reasonable level of student satisfaction
with the course and the online format. Student work didn't seem
to vary in quality from that produced by students in the traditional
version of the course. The course is being taught in an online format
this spring 2003 by Donna Wake, who is concurrently teaching a "live"
version of the course and will conduct some investigations into
the relative success of each format in terms of student satisfaction
and performance levels.
Lessons
Learned:
A
major lesson learned is that courses designed for the online environment
need to depart fairly dramatically from the lecture-based format.
A major reason for abandoning the initial partner in this project
- EI Online - was that their course management product relied heavily
on videotaped lectures as the primary mode of instruction and that
was determined to be unsatisfactory for the educational goals of
this course. While more work needs to be done on the course structure,
based on experiences with this pilot offering, I am confident that
the material can be successfully presented in an online format and
that, with improved course management software, the level of student
interaction can also be increased.
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