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WINTER 2012 - National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and ...

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Creating Quality<br />

Online Course Design Through<br />

a Peer-Reviewed Assessment<br />

Pamela A. Gibson <strong>and</strong> Pamela Trump Dunning<br />

Troy University<br />

ABSTRACT<br />

In online instruction, the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> the learning experience is manifest,<br />

in part, in the course design (Yang & Cornelious, 2005). The investment<br />

in up-front planning <strong>of</strong> a course is critical to constructing a comprehensive<br />

plan <strong>of</strong> instruction. It expresses the intentions <strong>of</strong> instruction, the methods <strong>of</strong><br />

delivery <strong>and</strong>, most important, the assessment <strong>of</strong> learning necessary to produce<br />

learned graduates <strong>of</strong> our institutions. This paper explores the incorporation<br />

<strong>of</strong> Troy University’s Quality Assurance Initiative (QAI), based on Quality<br />

Matters (QM) principles, to conduct a peer-reviewed evaluation <strong>and</strong><br />

subsequent improvement <strong>of</strong> online course design within its Master <strong>of</strong> <strong>Public</strong><br />

Administration (MPA) program. The authors <strong>of</strong>fer several key components to<br />

quality course design, specific components <strong>of</strong> the design that aid the student<br />

in underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> following course instruction, <strong>and</strong>, finally, suggestions<br />

for continuing to improve online course design to meet the challenges that<br />

come with new technology <strong>and</strong> a new generation <strong>of</strong> students with advanced<br />

technological skill sets <strong>and</strong> expectations from their educational experience.<br />

Online education has grown exponentially during the last decade. According<br />

to a recent Sloan Consortium report, higher education online enrollments are<br />

exp<strong>and</strong>ing at a faster rate than overall enrollments. The compounded annual<br />

growth rate in online students (2002–2008) is 19% as compared to an annual<br />

growth rate <strong>of</strong> 1.5% for the higher education student body on the whole.<br />

Currently, over one quarter (4.6 million) <strong>of</strong> all higher education students<br />

are now taking at least one online course (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Many<br />

degree programs <strong>of</strong>fer classes in multiple formats, from completely online to<br />

a combination <strong>of</strong> online <strong>and</strong> in-class, usually referred to as blended or hybrid<br />

(Allen & Seaman, 2010; Coogan, 2009). The blended, or hybrid, courses<br />

consist <strong>of</strong> some combination <strong>of</strong> both online <strong>and</strong> face-to-face instruction using<br />

JPAE 18(1), 209–228<br />

Journal <strong>of</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong> Education 209

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