August 2003 — Features
Print this article | Email this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
Maintaining the Integrity of a Web-Based Music Course
The third area of student evaluation consists of specific student performance on selected musical tasks (i.e., performance exams). Students perform each task individually or in small groups under "real time" during class meetings. During each performance, the professor observes every student and provides an immediate response.
The final evaluation is a comprehensive final exam that all students must complete during the university's scheduled final-exam time. The comprehensive exam covers information discussed throughout the semester.
Adapting Course Instruction Delivery
It was our intent to adjust and change the instructional delivery protocol without prostituting the integrity of the original course. While converting our course from a traditional on-campus delivery format to an Internet delivery format, we were cognizant of the elements that make up a good course and/or provide for quality instruction. As well as addressing the four evaluation formats discussed above, we arrived at several other instructional elements that needed to be addressed.
In the sections below, I will try to describe how we adapted course and instructional elements from the traditional delivery mode to the Internet delivery mode. The chart on Page 16 provides a comparison of on-campus and Internet delivery across the course and instructional elements. Other authors (Chickering and Gamson 2001; Ragan 2000) delineate many of our items reflecting a good course or quality instruction. Ragan (2000) outlines five categories of "Guided Principles and Practices":
- Learning goals and content presentation
- Interactions
- Assessment and measurement
- Instructional media and tools
- Learner support systems and services
Course description. The description was presented to both course modes via a syllabus, which included goals and learning objectives, text, a description of assignments, grading policies and other relevant information. The goals, learning objectives and text remained the same for both the traditional on-campus class and the Internet class. Descriptions of assignments and grading policies varied depending on the structure and expectations of the class's modality. In addition, the syllabus for the online course was available through the course link.
Quality interaction with the professor. The students had several venues to interact with the professor during the semester. Pictures of the professor were incorporated in the opening to the online course along with contact information such as telephone number, e-mail address, office location and real-time office hours. Students used many of these options to interact with the professor, while the professor interacted with students regularly via e-mail.
The ability for students to ask questions and get answers. Students could pose a question to the professor via e-mail, a telephone call or a face-to-face meeting. Students were informed as to the scheduled time e-mail was viewed and addressed. Usually, e-mail replies were sent within 24 hours, with phone calls also returned in a timely manner.
