T&L: Thoughts on Expectations and Participation

Expectations for fully online courses

Some courses have very explicit expectations set in the Welcome module or syllabus and others do not. As the instructor in the course, you are responsible, in part, for the behavior of the students in your class. In addition to modeling the behavior you expect from the students (respect, proper grammar and spelling, original works, etc.), you should have a set of expectations for your students to follow. When you have access to your section, take a look in the course for these expectations and decide if they reflect your expectations for your students. If not, feel free to make the expectations clear for your students. Anything not said in an online course is usually assumed to be “not an issue” for students.

Below are copies of two documents dealing with expectations – one for the students and one for the instructors.

Instructors
We tell the students that they should have expectations of you. Below is a list of what the students expect from online instructors:

• Logging in every day
• 24 hour maximum response time to questions you ask
• Providing a voice in the discussions boards on a regular basis
• Providing prompt, individualized feedback
• Careful review of the end-of-term course evaluations

Students

For students, we expect the following:

• Be an active, engaged participant in the virtual classroom, typically logging in 4-7 days a week
• Be able to use technology effectively
• Be able to complete assignments by stated deadlines
• Be able to use written communication effectively
• Be able to work with others in completing projects, as necessary
• Seek assistance from the instructor, Library, Academic Resource Center, and other university departments as needed
• Appropriately cite or reference material that is not your own in all discussions, assignments and other course work

In addition, students are also told they should:

• Be self-motivated and self-disciplined.
• Be willing to “speak up” if problems arise.
• Have regular and reliable access to a computer and the internet.
• Be willing and able to commit to 9 to 15 hours per week per course.
• Pay attention to university deadlines for drops and withdrawals.
• Be able to communicate through writing effectively.
• Communicate with their instructor regularly.

You may want to add your own expectations to these. Here are a couple of examples of expectations listed by instructors for their students:

Example 1

1. Read the Syllabus. Doing this now will help you get an idea of the course, how it is organized, and what the requirements are. Many questions that arise in the first couple of weeks of the course can be answered by the re-reading the syllabus and catching what you might have missed on the first reading of it. 
2. Explore the course to become comfortable with the tools and the content.
3. Plan ahead - Organize the important information and refer to it frequently. Note due dates and plan accordingly!
4. Clicking on "home" will take you to a page that lists all of the topics of the course – these are called modules. Once you are in a module, you can follow the pages sequentially as each page is linked directly to the next in order. Start at the Welcome module to learn more about me and your classmates.
5. This course is asynchronous, meaning that there are no regular hours for any of the assignments or discussions. There is only a schedule for the weekly completion dates.
6. Discussions: These are designed to facilitate learning through readings, activities and interaction with others in the class. The exchange of ideas among class members is a vital element in maximizing learning outcomes. Grading is based on following the directions and the quality of the posting.

a. Responses such as "good points" or "interesting idea" will not count towards the minimum expected quality.

b. Your active participation in online discussions is critical for your successful online learning experience.

c. Don't forget to read other classmates' postings and provide your quality and thoughtful feedback.

7. Communication- I am available via course email. If it is Monday-Friday, you can expect a response from me _____. I will respond as quickly as possible but please do not wait until the last minute to contact me if you have problems.

Example 2

Discussion Expectations

• Students are required to display a high level of interaction and participation in the course by taking part in discussions multiple times per week. I hesitate to put an exact number on the number of responses that I expect but the minimum would be 3 per discussion – 1 original, and 2 substantive responses to colleagues. Keep in mind that these are meant to simulate an in-class discussion so continue the discussion until its logical end.
• Some of the discussions may be set so that you cannot see other replies until you post your first response. This is so you can compose your original response without being influenced by what others have said before you. So do not fear if you don’t see anyone else in the discussion - jump right in! 
• In order for the discussions to have a fair amount of time for conclusion, your first posting should be by Wednesday of each week. Then continue to respond through Saturday night. 
• Be prepared to answer any questions that I or your classmates pose about your response. These questions are not meant to be critical but rather to clarify the issue or to push a little deeper for understanding and synthesis of content. •
• Participation in the discussions needs to be drawn from assigned texts, other readings, other students' comments, online discussions, visits to recommended Web sites, etc. Students are expected to give thoughtful responses to online discussion questions; responses should reflect an understanding of the issue, understanding of the text and other reading materials, and personal views on the issue. Answers such as “good idea” “I agree” “that happened to me too” do not count towards your grade on the discussion.
• I will be reading all of your responses and participating where necessary but do not expect me to leave a comment for every person. I am really looking forward to seeing what you learn from each other and the readings.

Participation

We mention "participation" frequently but it is hard to define what this means for every course. Most of our online courses utilize the discussions for encouraging participation in the course. Usually, at least 10% of the grade is allotted to this area called participation so that it can have a meaningful impact on the student’s grade. If you want students to really "talk" in the discussions about the readings and their experiences, then you have to make it worth their while and yours.

There are basically two factors that will determine the level and quality of participation and interaction in your online course: the course design and the student dynamics. As previously mentioned, the course has been designed by a faculty member from the department based on the expected learning outcomes. Take a look at the discussion questions and the associated expectations to ensure that these will encourage active participation by your students. Enhance one or the other if you feel they are lacking and be sure to model the quality of participation that you expect from the students. For the discussion questions, you may want to use these parameters to change the questions if the students are not responding as expected:

• Narrow the topic
• Do not ask too many questions per thread
• Do not ask a factual question that has only one answer
• Do not respond to the same student every time

While smaller class sizes should be advantageous for more effective learning, they can sometimes discourage participation as the students may not want to stand out. Your encouragement through announcements, private feedback, and requirements for participation will encourage the students to contribute. Threaded discussions also have the option to hide from view the other students' responses until after the person making the original posting submits their reply.