Updated deck from a presentation first made in 2011.

1. Effective Practices in the Online
Delivery of Developmental
Education
Barry Dahl

2. Barry Dahl dot com

3. What I learned from Twitter
 Donna Gaudet, Scottsdale CC
 Teaches Developmental Math, both
online and F2F

5. “Best Practices”
 NCDE Director, Dr.
Hunter Boylan
 Keynote speech:
“Best Practices in
Developmental
Education.”
During Q & A, he was
asked to share
examples of good
practice in offering
developmental
courses via online
delivery.

6. His Response?
“There aren’t any!”

7. He Continued
He went on to say that the
completion rates (or success
rates) in online developmental
courses “are abysmal. Way
below the rates for on-ground
courses. ”

8. True or False?
Developmental
Courses Cannot be
Effectively Taught
Online

9. Online Courses and
Developmental Education
Data from Lake Superior College
2009-2010 Academic Year

10. Case Study – Lake Superior College
 Developmental Math Sequence – 3 courses
◦ First taught online during Fall 2002
◦ As of Spring 2010, a total of 91 online
sections have been taught.
 Developmental Writing Sequence – 2 courses
◦ First taught Spring 2004, now 23 sections
 Developmental Reading Sequence – 2 courses
◦ First taught Spring 2005, now 17 sections

11. AY 2010 Student Completion
Results
 510 students enrolled in online
sections
 2,226 students enrolled in on-
ground sections
 Course withdrawal rates were
identical at 15.7% for both groups.

12. Grades Earned
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
A B C D F FN W
LSC Developmental Courses - 2009-2010
Online On-ground

13. Passing Grades in These Courses
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
C or better D or better
60.4%
67.5%
62.3%
66.8%
Passing Grades in Developmental Courses
Online On-ground2009-2010

14. AY 2010 Results
 More A’s were given in online courses:
◦ 25.1% online
◦ 21.3% on-ground
 More F’s were given in on-ground courses:
◦ 17.5% on-ground
◦ 16.8% online
 GPA in these courses:
◦ 2.37 for online
◦ 2.31 for on-ground.

15. My Retort
Completion rates (or success
rates) in online developmental
courses “are NOT more abysmal
than and NOT way below the
rates for on-ground courses. ”

16. LSC – 3 yrs – Developmental Courses
Passing Grades: A,B,C
52%
54%
56%
58%
60%
62%
64%
66%
68%
58.5%
60.9%
67.8%
Online Day Night

17. Effective Practices for Online DE
 Strong instructor presence
 Clear expectations for All
 Emphasis on time flexibility
 Timely and useful feedback from instructor
 Early alert system and actions taken
 Mandatory online student orientations
 Online tutoring
 Student mentors
 Provide lots of examples
 Self-assessment (practice test) opportunities
 Lots of activities and lots of due dates

18. Strong Instructor Presence
 “ If an instructor is not willing to spend
hours and hours communicating,
interacting, and being available for online
students (all hours of the day and night
and weekends), then online learning is
not a good fit and their students will
suffer.”
 Donna Gaudet, 2012

19. Clear Expectations for All
 Contact all students via email at least one
week before class starts
◦ Begin to set their expectations for the amount
of work ahead.
 Work hard to set clear expectations
during week one
◦ What students should expect from you
◦ What you expect from your students.
 Kirsi Halonen, Lake Superior College, 2012

20. Emphasis on Time Flexibility

21. Timely and Useful Feedback
 Emphasize instant feedback, where possible

22. Early Alert System & Actions

23. Mandatory Online Student Orientations
 http://barrydahl.com/webinar-archives/

24. Online Tutoring

25. Student Mentors

26. Provide lots of examples
 Screencasts allows
students to learn by
example, seeing every
step in great detail.
 In most cases the
ability to pause or
rewind also gives the
viewer the power to
move at their own
pace, something a
classroom cannot
always offer.

27. Self-assessment (practice test)
Opportunities
 Self-assessment can
help develop more
interest in the course
from students.
 Self-assessment can
aid students’ in
taking responsibility
of their own
learning.

28. Lots of activities and lots of due dates
 An open-ended, “anything goes as
long as you get everything in by the
end of the term” approach to online
developmental courses is a disaster
waiting to happen.
 Time management skills are usually
weak, and need to be buttressed
throughout the course.

29. Topics to Gnaw On
 Free MOOCs for Developmental
 Competency-based Education
 Personalized Learning
 Do Away with DE altogether
 Alternatives to DE revenue stream

30. MOOC for Developmental Math
 UW – La Crosse, Award-winning
class, Actively facilitated
http://www.uwlax.edu/MathMOOC/

31. MOOC for Developmental Math
 Cuyahoga CC
 Pre-Algebra - Open Enrollment
 Self-paced
http://www.tri-c.edu/online-learning/mooc.html

32. MOOC for College Readiness
 Broward College
 Self-paced
www.broward.edu/academics/online/Pages/Free-College-Readiness-
MOOC.aspx

33. Competency-based Education

34. Personalized Learning
 Personalized learning is defined as
adjusting he pace (individualization),
adjusting the approach
(differentiation), and connecting to
the learner's interests and
experiences.
 Source: National Educational
Technology Plan (US DoE)

35. Personalized Learning
Personalization is broader than
just individualization or
differentiation in that it affords
the learner a degree of choice
about what is learned, when it is
learned and how it is learned.

36. Do Away with Developmental
 Florida: now courses
are optional.
 Connecticut: one
semester only.
 Tennessee: NO
remedial at 4-yr U’s.
 Colorado: now
requires “co-req.”
http://neatoday.org/2014/10/15/another-lousy-reform-idea-eliminating-remedial-educati

37. Alternative Revenue Sources
 How dependent is the
college on the current
stream of tuition paid for
developmental courses?
 How can some of these
other ideas result in
similar revenues?
 Do higher rates of
persistence and retention
offset reduced tuition for
developmental?

38. Q & A
Barry Dahl