Syllabus
Below you will find information about..... Technology
Requirements.....
Assignment Descriptions..... Grading
Procedures..... Contact Information.....
Technology Requirements
Since this course is being offered almost entirely online, all students
enrolled in the course are expected to have an elementary knowledge of
a microcomputer operating system and basic knowledge of software tools
including word processing, spreadsheet, databases, electronic mail and
Internet browsers. Additionally, the MINIMUM hardware, software, and network
connectivity requirements for the course are:
- Macintosh 68040 -OR- IBM compatible 486 or better (available BOTH at
home and at school)
- 24 MB RAM memory
- MacOS System 7.1 or higher -OR- Windows 95 or higher for PC
- Modem with a speed of 28.8 or higher or a direct network connection
- Internet service provider for home access (must have prior to start
of the course)
- SLIP, PPP, or other TCP/IP connectivity
- Netscape 4.0, Internet Explorer 3.0 or higher version
- Email software (Eudora recommended)
- Access to being on-line for a minimum of 20 hrs/week
Other technology requirements may be added as the semester progresses.
Grading Procedures
In an online course, participation is essential therefore it plays a
part in every portion of the grading system but is not considered separately.
Assignments will be turned in using CTERbase,
a web-enabled database that enables students and faculty to inform one
another about the status of class activities. Although course work will
be done within the course collaborative folder, the URLs for these items
along with a brief description of the work that was done to complete the
assignment (no more than one paragraph) will be entered into the CTERbase
by each student. After a few days, you will receive comments from Chip,
Michelle, or Kevin as well as a graphical indicator for whether or not
the work completed is ready for publication in the center newsletter or
needs revision.
Assignment Descriptions
- Individual Work: (1/3 of course grade)
Each center member is required to complete a formative evaluation project
during the semester. Center members may choose to work individually or
in a small group of their own choosing (2-3 persons). The project is described
in more detail below:
- Formative Evaluation Project: The project
is comprised of the following:
- Project Description: Each center member
will be required to turn in a 1-2 page description of the project/course/program
that they will be formatively evaluating during the semester. Additionally,
this report should also reflect any questions or concerns that center members
would like the center facilitators to address.
- Project Progress Report: At the semester
midpoint, center members will be required to turn in a 3-4 page project
progress report that outlines the evaluation plan, preliminary findings,
and what has been done in reaction to the prelimary findings. As with the
project description assignment, center members should take this opportunity
to document any questions or concerns that they would like the center facilitators
to address.
- Poster Presentation: On November 21, 1998,
the course evaluation center will host a one-day symposium for those interested
in the activities conducted by the center. The highlight of the symposium
will be two structured poster sessions (half of the center members will
present in the morning and the other half will present in the afternoon)
that will highlight the work of each center member. These presentations
may be individual or small group (2-3 persons) presentations. Each structured
poster session will begin with an introduction by one of the center facilitators
followed by a five-minute introduction of each poster by each presenter
for the benefit of the audience members who will gathered as a group. After
the introductions, audience members will be free to wonder from poster
station to poster station and listen to a more in depth presentation by
the presenters and/or engage in discussion with the presenters. After each
structured poster session, time will set aside for a more general discussion
about that poster session with the entire audience once again gathered
as a group.
- Project Written Report: At the end
of the semester, each center member will be required to hand in a 10-15
page evaluation report that reflects the project description, methods,
results, conclusions, and recommendations of the formative evaluation project.
- Small Group Work: (1/3 of course grade)
Each center member has been assigned to an evaluation team that they will
work with throughout the semester. Each team has been provided with a suite
of tools that they may use throughout the semester to collaborate with
fellow team members. The primary project that each team will work on is
a case study of a virtual junior high school and is described in more detail
below:
- Case Study Commentaries: Part of the course
will center around a "virtual" evaluation project that the evaluation
center has undertaken. In this virtual case study, the center has received
a request by the National Education Foundation (NEF) to conduct an evaluation
of an Illinois school district's use of their funds. The school district,
Wynne County, received funds from NEF to implement a "Learning with
Computer Technologies" program in their school district. During each
section, a different evaluation problem will arise that each evaluation
team will work together to solve. The purpose of the virtual case study
is to allow each evaluation team to explore the intricacies of real-world
evaluation of the use of information technologies in a virtual setting.
- At the end of Sections One through Four, team members will submit a
synthesis/commentary (~5 pages) of what they have learned during that section.
At the end of Section Five, they will submit a report of their work on
the entire case study (~20-25 pages). For each section, one member of the
team will take primary responsibility for producing the report based on
the work of everyone on the team.
- Evaluation of Technology in the Course: At the end of Section
Seven, the case study team will produce a special evaluation report on
the technologies they have used in this course. Because each team will
have selected a different suite of tools, the reports will be not be directly
comparable across teams; collectively they will represent a situated evaluation.
- Note: There is no case study assignment due during Section Six.
Counting the evaluation report on the technologies used in the course,
there are thus six case study assignments, one for each of the six team
members.
- Large Group Work: (1/3 of course grade)
Each evaluation team will be paired with another team to reflect on the
readings assigned during the semester. Each team will have the opportunity
to work with three other teams. The activities of these discussion groups
is described below:
- Reflections on Readings: We have selected
a variety of readings on evaluation, in both print and online media. Some
of the articles present general concepts, issues, and approaches to evaluation;
others pertain specifically to information technologies, and especially,
to the use of new information technologies as learning tools in the classroom.
In the large group (groups of 12) discussions, we hope you will engage
with these writers, understanding their variety of perspectives, questioning
key terms, and relating their discussions to your case study commentaries
(small group work) and your own formative evaluation (individual work).
- Each large group will discuss the readings using aynchronous media,
such as a WebBoard conference, and then produce a summary (~5-8 pages),
which will eventually go into the Evaluation News. Two members of the large
gorup, one from each case study team, will be primarily responsible for
completing the summary for a given section. Thus, over the course of the
semester you will participate in the discussions for every section, but
will have primary responsibility for writing only one of the summaries.
There will be no discussion summary due during Section Six.
Contact Information
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