August 2003 — Features
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Maintaining the Integrity of a Web-Based Music Course
The second format used to evaluate students' knowledge and skills involved the development and demonstration of music lesson plans. Similar to the traditional on-campus class, students developed four music lesson plans, each incorporating one of the four main areas covered by TEKS. Each completed lesson plan was submitted electronically for evaluation. Students teach one music lesson to a group of peers, family members or age-appropriate students. Each student's lesson demonstration was recorded on video and submitted to the professor for review and feedback.
The third area of student evaluation consisted of specific student performance on selected musical tasks. There were a total of 10 exams for students to demonstrate minimal proficiency. Students had the option of attending a scheduled on-campus performance exam time with the professor or record themselves performing all 10 tasks on video. An immediate response was given for students attending the on-campus performance exam time, while an assessment for students completing their performance exam on video was given via e-mail, telephone or an individual face-to-face meeting.
The final evaluation was the comprehensive final exam. The same comprehensive exam was given to both the traditional on-campus class and the Internet class. The exam covered information presented during the entire semester. Students in the Internet class attended a scheduled exam time (a variety of days and times were offered) on campus that was proctored by the professor.
Conclusion
It was our intent to provide WTAMU students with an alternative to attending an on-campus course in order to satisfy the teacher certification requirements, while maintaining the intellectual integrity of our course. Although the challenges were substantial, throughout the delivery of the course we collected data and conducted research that provided evidence that we achieved our purpose. The findings indicate no significant performance difference between the on-campus group and the Internet group on overall final grade distribution and scores on the comprehensive final exam.
Clearly, there are advantages and disadvantages to the Internet delivery protocol. We concede to the argument that the best instruction is face-to-face and one-on-one. This format, however, is not the most cost-effective and restricts opportunities for many students. At the same time, the Internet delivery protocols provide additional learning opportunities. The vast array of material on the Internet can be used, through hyperlinks and other devices, to provide enhanced learning opportunities of current technologies long before the same information could be adapted for traditional on-campus delivery.
There is no doubt that delivering instruction via the Internet has its challenges. Naturally, some of the content and courses are more difficult to deliver over the Internet than in the traditional classroom. However, through thoughtful inquiry and with a focus on the integrity of course outcomes, instructional techniques and learning activities can be adapted to ensure quality delivery.
References
Chickering, A. and Z. Gamson. "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education." Online at www.uncg.edu/tlc/seven.html [accessed Sept. 21, 2001].
Ragan, L. 2000. "Good Teaching is Good Teaching: The Relationship Between Guiding Principles for Distance and General Education." The Journal of General Education 49 (1): 10-22.
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