Ross C. Alexander - Best Practices in Online Teaching and Learning Across Academic Disciplines

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Ross C. Alexander, Ph.D.

part one Humanities and Social sciences

1Communication Studies

Fostering Effective Communication in Online Courses

Rosalie S. Aldrich, Renee Kaufmann, Natalia Rybas

2Composition and Writing

Embedding Success: Supplemental Assistance in

Online Writing Instruction

Sarah E. Harris, Tanya Perkins, J. Melissa Blankenship

3English

Facilitating Online Learning through Discussions in the English Classroom: Tools for Success and Stumbling Blocks to Avoid

Margaret Thomas-Evans, Steven Petersheim, Edwina Helton

4Political Science

Engaging Students through Effective Instruction and

Course Design in Political Science

Chera LaForge, Kristoffer Rees, Lilia Alexander, Ross C. Alexander

5Criminal Justice

Calming, Critical Thinking, and Case Studies:

The Politics, Pitfalls, and Practical Solutions for

Teaching Criminal Justice in an Online Environment

Stephanie N. Whitehead, M. Michaux Parker

6Psychology

Student Misconceptions of Psychology: Steps for Helping Online Students Toward a Scientific Understanding of Psychology

Beth A. Trammell, Gregory Dam, Amanda Kraha

7World Languages (Spanish and French)

Best Practices in Online Second Language Teaching: Theoretical Considerations in Course Design and Implementation

Dianne Burke Moneypenny, Julien Simon

8History

Teaching History Online: Old Struggles, New Pathways

Justin Carroll, Christine Nemcik, Daron Olson

9Fine Arts (Drawing)

Best Practices in Online Teaching for Drawing

Carrie Longley, Kevin Longley

10Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography

Igniting the Passion: Examples for Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography

Denise Bullock, Katherine Miller Wolf, Wazir Mohamed, Marc Wolf

11Philosophy

The Proof Is in the Pedagogy: A Philosophical Examination of the Practice of Backward Design

Mary A. Cooksey

part two Natural Sciences and Mathematics

12Biological Sciences

Online Teaching and Learning in Biological Sciences

Parul Khurana, Neil Sabine

13Mathematics

Online Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

Young Hwan You, Josh Beal

PART three Professional Programs

14Education

Building Online Learning Communities on the Foundation of Teacher Presence

Jamie Buffington-Adams, Denice Honaker, Jerry Wilde

15Economics and Finance

Using Simulation Games to Engage Students in Online Advanced Finance Courses

Oi Lin Cheung, Litao Zhong

16Nursing

Meeting QSEN Competencies in the Online Environment

Paula Kerler Baumann, Tonya Breymier, Karen Clark

Author Biographies

Acknowledgments

The editor and contributors wish to acknowledge and thank several people and organizations who have supported the writing and publication of this volume. First, we would like to thank our dedicated students, who never cease to impress us. They are an absolute pleasure to teach. Second, we commend our friends and families for their sustained and continued support of our creative activities, including this one. Third, we thank Indiana University East, which has generously supported all of us as faculty members, teachers, scholars, and researchers during a time when support of faculty members at many colleges and universities is decreasing. Finally, we recognize and thank John Warren and Emily Cole of George Mason University Press for their advice, support, and assistance in the publication of this work.

Ross C. Alexander, Ph.D.

March 2017

Introduction

Ross C. Alexander, Ph.D.

This volume is a collaborative effort among 42 current and former faculty members, teachers, scholars, researchers, and administrators at Indiana University East, all of whom possess a wealth of experience and credentialing in online teaching and learning and instructional design. Indiana University East is a regional campus of Indiana University that has been a leader and innovator in online education for over 10 years. IU East offers a wide array of diverse and nationally ranked online programs and certificates at the graduate and undergraduate levels in a variety of disciplines, in addition to scores of individual online courses in over 25 disciplines, serving as the leader in online education for the entirety of Indiana University. Over 50% of all credit hours generated at IU East are derived from online education and the institution boasts students from 47 states, the District of Columbia, and over 15 foreign countries.

The prevailing purpose of this volume is to communicate effective, practical, innovative, and engaging best practices and approaches in online teaching and instructional design that can assist university faculty members and teachers, course designers and developers, and administrators invested and involved in online education. The authors are uniquely positioned and qualified to provide this information and advice due to their extensive, collective online teaching experience; course and curricula instructional design and development success; administrative experience in facilitating and growing online programs; and research and publication record in the area of online teaching and learning. All participating and contributing authors have been teaching and developing online courses for many years and in many cases dozens of courses in each role. In addition to the above-mentioned qualifications in the world of online teaching and learning, the authors are experts in their respective academic disciplines, boasting strong records of scholarship and publications in top journals and, in many cases, books published by academic presses. Additionally, several chapter authors have a strong record of applied research and industry experience that is especially relevant to their respective chapters.

Importantly, the authors are seasoned classroom teachers in the traditional sense and are therefore qualified to compare and contrast face-to-face, traditional teaching pedagogies and techniques with those associated with online teaching and learning, providing a richer context for the reader. The vast majority of authors have been teaching and serving as university faculty members for many, many years, even decades in some cases, and range in faculty rank from instructor through full professor. Many have administrative appointments as program coordinators, department chairs, associate deans, and deans. Finally, with regard to training and credentialing, all 42 authors have earned Quality Matters Level One certification; most have completed Level Two certification; and many have earned additional QM certifications beyond Level Two. Additionally, many authors have earned myriad online teaching and learning certifications through various institutions and universities. Please refer to the extensive author biographies at the end of the book for more information on the experience and credentials of the 42 authors