Are your students ready to take an online math course?
- Identify at-risk students
- Measure Non-Cognitive Skills
- Increase retention and success
- Increase student satisfaction
- Student remediation and support
- Increase student engagement
Ultimately, eMathReady™ was designed to empower institutions with the ability to make sure that their students who are planning on taking an online course are online ready.
The flexibility, convenience and growing acceptance of online distance education is creating a new trend in how college students attend classes and earn their degrees. More and more students are gravitating not just towards blended courses where they attend class lectures and participate in online learning activities, but are selecting to enroll in fully online course programs or courses where more than 80 percent of all content is delivered online, and there are typically no face-to-face meetings with instructors.
According figures from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Sloan Consortium, an advocacy group for online education, the number of students enrolled in at least one distance education course increased significantly between 2002 and 2007, from 1.1 million to 12.2 million--and the growth spurt doesn't seem to be slowing down. The study, "Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States, 2011," also reports that more than 6.1 million students took at least one online class during fall 2010—a 10.1 percent increase over the year before. In fact, by next year, Ambient predicts that the number of students taking all of their classes online will increase to 3.55 million, while the number of students taking all of their courses in on-campus classrooms will drop to 5.14 million.
This is definitely a paradigm shift in the way students are being and will continue to be educated in America. But, with countless studies showing success rates in online courses of only 50 per cent—as opposed to 70-to-75 percent for comparable face-to-face classes— isn't it time we asked ourselves some serious questions? Such as: Are students online ready? And, if not, what can institutions do to assure that students are ready to take an online course?
As individuals, students also invest thousands of dollars in their education and may be hesitant to continue their education for fear that they might not do well. Institutions need to provide student with the means to assess their strengths and provide resources for them to strengthen their weaknesses because students who are confident of their readiness are much more likely to be successful in an online learning course.
It is important that institutions provide prospective students considering taking an online course with the means to assess their level of readiness to learn in an online environment. The purpose of the assessment should be to determine the degree to which they possess attributes, skills and knowledge that contribute to success as online learners. And, in cases where students do not possess the attributes, skills and knowledge, institutions need to provide them with the necessary remediation/support in areas of deficiencies to promote effective online learning. Institutions need to also assist students with making the transition from traditional to online learning.
eMathReady as a web-based assessment and support programnot only assesses students’ likelihood for succeeding in an online course, but also provides an indication of the degree to which an individual student possesses the attributes, skills and knowledge that contribute to success as an online learner. eMathReady also assesses whether a student planning on taking an online course
Ultimately, eMathReady was designed to empower institutions with the ability to make sure that their students who are planning on taking an online course areonline ready.
Due to the flexibility, convenience, and growing acceptance of online distance education is creating a new trend in how college students attend classes and earn their degrees. More and more students are gravitating not just towards blended courses where they attend class lectures and participate in online learning activities, but are selecting to enroll in fully online course programs or courses where more than 80 percent of all content is delivered online, and there are typically no face-to-face meetings with instructors.
This growing population of online learner, especially in online math course created some new challenges– the need to assess student skills, set expectations of course work, clarify requirements, and bridge the gap between the traditional classroom and the online environment. Students struggled with misconceptions about online math courses, not only what skills set were needed but also the commitment required to be successful. Administrators and faculty are recognizing the importance of making sure students who are planning on taking an online course is online ready
To combat this challenge, a student online readiness and support program, called eMathReady™, was developed to assess students likelihood to succeed in an online math course. The program also provided an indication of the degree to which an individual student possesses the attributes, skills and knowledge that contribute to success as an online learner.
A Chi-Square test of independence to determine if there was a significant difference between the success rate of students who completed eMathReady™ and those did not complete eMathReady™. The study was conducted at an “open door” college, where students taking online college algebra and precalculus registered for two separate course sections of which one section completed eMathReady™ (experimental group) before taking their online course while the other section did not (control group).
Students who completed eMathReady™ (control group) before taking their online math course had a 75% success rate (A, B, and Cs) and a 25% non-success rate (D, F, and Ws).
The students who did not complete eMathReady™ (control group) had a 46% success rate and a 54% non-success rate. The experiential group had a 29% higher student success rate.
Chi-Square test result was 4.27 with one degrees of freedom and a p-value of .039. The results represent a .05 significant level. From this results it appears that the students who completed eMathReady™ had a significantly higher pass rate.
Students who completed eMathReady™ before taking their online math course had a 85% success rate (A, B, and Cs) and a 15% non-success rate (D, F, and Ws).
The students who did not compete eMathReady™ (control group) had 55% success rate and a 45% non-success rate. The experimental group had a 30% higher success rate.
Chi-Square test result was 5.38 with one degrees of freedom and a p-value of .020. The results represent a .05 significant level. From this results it appears that the students who completed eMathReady™ had a significantly higher pass rate.
Accrediting agencies as well as other educational oversight groups have recognized the importance of measuring learner readiness for studying online, along with providing the necessary remediation and support to help the learner succeed. Several accrediting agencies require their member schools to document how they determine learner readiness and how they then provide the remediation and support necessary to help the learner succeed.
The Standards for Accreditation (two of the 12 standards below)
An institution must:
Source : www.detc.org/theaccrediting.html
Standards of Quality for Online Teaching
The NACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching contain the following two standards :
Source : www.inacol.org/resources/publications/national-quality-standards/
Policy on Distance Education
"NEA has recognized the enormous potential of online learning -- as well as some of the potential disadvantage. In 2002, the Association adopted a comprehensive policy for online learning. For instance, "Students who take distance education courses should receive the preparation and support necessary to enable them to function effectively in an online environment"
Source : www.nea.org
View Presentation from Dr. Mac Adkins about how our services can meet SACS criteria.
Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs
Source : www.sacscoc.org/pdf/commadap.pdf
The Standards for Accreditation (two of the 12 standards below)
"The school must establish admission requirements for distance education programs and courses of study that assess whether students have the skills, competencies, and access to technology necessary to succeed in a distance education environment prior to their enrollment in the program or course of study."
