Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

12 – Articulation and Transfer of Online Courses
equivalence. 17 While most institutions have developed
satisfactory course outline templates for traditional
courses, they do not always contain the level of detail
necessary to establish equivalence. In the case of an outline
for a new online course, besides ensuring it contains
all the necessary information to ensure that an assessor
can determine equivalence, special attention should be
paid to the following course elements:
• Student evaluation, including how exams are safeguarded,
and authentication measures to identify
students taking exams. The importance of providing
this information can not be overstated. The CIHE
Best Practices document states:
When examinations are employed (paper,
online, demonstrations of competency, etc.),
they take place in circumstances that include
firm student identification. The institution
otherwise seeks to assure the integrity of student
work.
• If proctoring is used, what are the procedures for
selecting proctors, establishing student identity, assuring
security of test instruments, administering the
examinations, and assuring secure and prompt
evaluation?
• If other methods are used to identify those who take
the examination, how is identification firmly established?
How are the conditions of the examination
(security, time limits, etc.) controlled?
• Does the institution have in place effective policies
and procedures to assure the integrity of student work?
• How hours are assessed, and what is expected from
the student for hours of learning versus hours of instruction.
• How labs, practica, field work, or other nonclassroom
requirements are supervised and assessed.
• Expectation regarding academic honesty. For example,
the student Handbook for Charter Oak College
in Connecticut (http://www.charteroak.edu) states:
Charter Oak State College may discipline a
student in the following situations:
17
A Transfer-Friendly Course Outline Form can be found
online at www.bccat.bc.ca/outline. This resource was developed
to help reduce the number of situations where transfer
is denied because of inadequate content and detail in the
outline.
For academic dishonesty, which shall in general
mean conduct, which has as its intent or
effect the false misrepresentation of a student’s
academic performance including but
not limited to: (a) cheating on examination;
(b) plagiarizing, including submission of another’s
ideas or papers as one’s own; (c)
stealing or having unauthorized access to examinations;
(d) falsifying records, transcripts,
test scores or other data or (being represented
by another individual for all or part of
a distance learning course.
By registering for a Distance Learning
course, a student attests that all assignments
submitted and examinations completed are
the work of the enrolled student. Dishonesty
will result in an "F" in the course and may incur
other disciplinary action for Charter Oak
State College students including dismissal
from the College.
• How student learning is supported in the online environment,
including provision for collaboration between
students and interaction with instructors.
• How library or other learning resources are accessed
and used and the expectations for original research
and use of such resources.
• Links to institutional and program URLs, and to any
additional helpful information such as institutional
policies regarding instructor credentials, lists of faculty
associated with the program, or institutional or
program accreditation or authorization.
• Whenever possible, a statement specifying what general
or specific transfer credit the course should be
awarded, including the year level credit. If the course
has already been offered, existing articulations should
be listed, along with a link to any online transfer
guide containing that listing.
All course outlines should provide a detailed list of
the topics covered, even if learning outcomes are also
specified. Faculty members at institutions that do not
design their courses from an outcomes perspective need
detailed topic-based information to determine the best
transfer equivalence.
PRIOR TO REQUESTING ARTICULATION
Check existing articulations. Search your state or provincial
transfer guides, or those for nearby institutions,
for similar courses. By this means it is possible to establish
which other sending institutions have equivalent
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