An Online Course Design Introduction to Economic Analysis

1. An Online Course DesignIntroduction to Economic Analysis Steven C. Myers myers@uakron.edu Department of Economics - The University of Akron Presented to the Department of Political Science October 14, 2008 Online at http://gozips.uakron.edu/~myers/online And http://learnecon.blogspot.com

2. Today • Origin • Online Design • Research – Online vs. Face-to-face • Tour around Springboard • Other software

3. Origin • College of Business, MBA online • Faculty • General Studies Advisory Committee • E244 – Intorduction to Economic Analysis

4. Face-to-face Lecture Ask questions / lead discussion Draw graphs and equations Show slides 3 big tests Internet / online Can’t lecture Can’t talk to them or discuss Can’t draw Can show slides if prepared 3 big tests invites academic dishonesty and a lack of control. Its not the same

5. Design of the online course • Built in modules • Modules completed in order • Competency based testing • Use student feedback • For student learning enhancement • For modifying & improving the course

6. CourseDesign • DL requires planning for contingencies • 14 Content Modules • Active Learning vs. Passive Learning

7. Pre-class and Module 1: Preparing Students to Learn • Email them http://gozips.uakron.edu/~myers/online/ • Is Distance Learning for Me? • VARK – testing learning styles • Syllabus

8. Module 1: Course Introduction

9. Content Modules 2-15 • Module Introduction & Objectives • Chapter Introductions • Content • Supportive Materials • Assessment of Learning - Quizzes on objectives with multiple trials • Evaluation

11. 2 Research & Writing Assignments • Practice and experience in reflecting on a topic in the current economy. • Practice in analysis of economic trends. • Gaining of confidence about talking about the economy. • Ability to know and use the resources of economic commentary, prior analysis and data.

12. Introductions& Content • Mostly Passive • Learner Centered • Students progress without intervention • Micro – Modules 2-8 • Macro –Modules 9-15

13. GradedAssessment • Competency based • Everyone strives to get a perfect 10 (Mastery) • Three attempts, 15 min. time limit • Questions a mix of (1) Recognition, (2) Conceptual, &(3) Analytic~70% C&A • Random intervention by Professor

14. Role of Module Evaluation • Planned intervention • Forced contact • Focus on the learning • Professorial encouragement • Decreases dropout rates • Process repeats

15. Module EvaluationA Classroom Assessment Technique from Angelo and Cross (1993); tested by Chizmar and Ostrosky (1998) • What comments do you have on this module and your experience in completing it? • What main point have you learned that you did not fully understand before? • What questions … Include any points that still remain muddy or unclear. Do consider posing the muddy points to your fellow students in the discussions. • What recommendations do you have for us as we continue to change and enhance the course?

16. Student Comments / online • “The fact that this course was completely internet based, had no bearing on the level of knowledge I gained from the course. I think I learned as much, or even more, than I would have in a traditional classroom. I contribute this most to the way the instructor organized the course.”

17. Do On-Line Students in a Mastery Based Principles Course Analyze, Synthesize And Evaluate Better Than Face-To-Face Students? (Myers and Nelson) (1) Does the mode of delivery (face-to-face or web-based) have an influence on learning outcomes?  (2) Are students in an online environment as likely to do as well as in face-to-face classes? Will they be able to equal the complex problem solving of the face-to-face students? (3) Will web-based students develop more favorable attitudes towards economics than the attitudes developed by students in the face-to-face class? (4) Do student myths about economics affect their learning outcomes and attitudes towards economics? http://gozips.uakron.edu/%7Emyers/online/ASSA2004/ASSA_2004_Internet_Paper_myers_nelson.pdf

18. Face-to-face Offered by Michael Nelson Regular class times Lecture and active learning collaborative techniques Better than the norm of 83% “chalk and talk” (Becker and Watts) Some minor web-enhancements such as online gradebook Online Offered by Myers (F02) / Nelson (S03) No face-to-face meetings Mastery & competency based learning High professor-student interaction No student to student interaction Full use of the WebCT environment Comparison

19. Online Students More likely to be To be older To be non-white To be female To have taken more credits To be decided in their major More favorably disposed to economics Face-to-face Students More likely To be male To be a freshman To be undecided in their major To spend less time gathering business and economic news. Student Characteristics

20. The online course design has influenced student success ‘Grade’ on pre-test status ‘Grade’ on final examination status Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 WD and Inc ignored

21. The online course design has influenced student success Grades Distribution MC Learning Assessment Breakdown / Online

22. Research design Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments, awareness of the economy, attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics) Pre-test scores total on recall and recognition on simple application problems on complex problems GPA Previous attempt of course

23. Research design Survey of economic facts 20 questions…on trends and facts in the economy. 2 questions: How does the student collect business and economic news. How many hours per week does the student spend collecting news Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments, awareness of the economy, attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics)

24. Research design Three Survey Questions: Level of student report of being interested in economics. Level of student report of liking this economics course. Level of student report about likelihood of taking more economics courses. Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments, awareness of the economy, attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics) 5=strongly agree 4=agree 3=indifferent/no opinion 2=disagree 1=strongly disagree

25. Research design Student’s success =f( student’s initial endowments, awareness of the economy, attitudes about economics, course modality, student characteristics) Online or face-to-face Major Level, e.g., freshman Credits completed Age Gender Ethnicity

26. Dependent Variable: Student Success Outcome Measures • examscore on first 6 chapters • In class exam for face-to-face class • Average of first three module quizzes for online class • Final examination • (FE, FE_recog, FE_apply, FE_complex) • First 3 or 4 levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy • Writing assignment • writing2 • 4th to 6th level of Bloom • Regular Grades in class

27. Results Students’ Initial Endowments • Higher pretest and higher GPA are positive on examscore, writing2 and less so on FE. • Higher complex pretest scores and higher GPA are positive for writing2 and FE_Complex

28. Results Economic Awareness & Attitudes • “Survey” is weakly positive for examscore and writing2, but has no effect on FE. • No combination of “News gathering” is ever significant. • “Attitudes” are strongly significant for examscore and writing2, but no effect on FE

29. Results Student characteristics: • Those with an undeclared or undecided major do much worse than engineering majors for examscore and FE. • Older students do worse on examscore, no effect on writing2 and strongly positive on FE • Females do better in writing2 (strongly significance), but do worse on FE (almost significant)

30. Results Online Students: • Do much better on examscore • Show no significance difference in scoring on analytical and complex reasoning tasks. • Insignificant coefficients in writing2 • Insignificant and small coefficients in • FE • FE_recog • FE_Apply • FE_complex • There is some evidence of a possible interaction with females • Weak suggestion in the data that • Men in online classes do better and • Women in online classes do worse all things equal

31. Springboard + software • Springboard • Virtual Office Hours • Elluminate.com • Adobe Connect • Slidecasting (at sldeshare.net) • RecordPad (www.nch.com.au/recordpad)